That's not how you use a witch!

Chapter 64 Pavar

"Okay, I understand."

Ronan nodded, not surprised by the chief knight's report—in fact, he knew this moment would come sooner or later after the banquet that day.

If there was anything unexpected, it was that the nobles were surprisingly weak, unable to even last one night. Ronan had initially thought that even a weakened camel is bigger than a horse, and that they should be able to hold out for two or three days without any problem.

This suggests that in addition to their own poor strength, the rebels must have had inside agents or similar figures who were able to quickly dismantle the defenses of the western core area.

"In this way, the western border is divided into two parts. The Duke's best strategy now is to fortify the territory and prevent it from being quickly infiltrated and destroyed by the rebels. However, this is a last resort, because the rebels control the core area and have a constant supply of resources, while the territory controlled by the Duke cannot withstand the same losses... Unless the outer territories of the western border are integrated and form a pincer movement against the rebels, there may still be a fighting chance."

Looking at the ultra-high-precision map of the Western Regions drawn by Scarlett in the room, Ronan fell into deep thought.

"My lord, although what I am about to say may be somewhat disobedient, I do not recommend that you send troops to provide support."

Bart nodded and said, "Although our militia is well-trained and well-equipped, their numbers are too small to play a decisive role. The reason we were able to repel the rebels last time was mainly due to the natural defenses of the Fulong Valley."

"Don't worry, I won't make unnecessary sacrifices. Your judgment isn't wrong, but it's based on our current situation. And things will soon be different."

Ronan raised the corners of his mouth and pushed the powder on the table toward Bart. "Take a look at this."

"It smells of saltpeter and charcoal..."

Bart pondered for a moment, "Is this some kind of fuel? Like a steam engine boiler that can provide power?"

"In a sense, your understanding is correct. It's just that it powers weapons, not machines."

Ronan carefully wrapped the prepared gunpowder. "In the next couple of days, I will work with Madonna to build a prototype based on the corresponding blueprints. If we can mass-produce it, even if we only have a little over a thousand people, we can still crush an army of thousands."

"That's wonderful!"

Bart clenched his fist excitedly.

Although he did not yet know the specifics of the new weapon, he knew that Ronan always kept his word.

Just then, Payne suddenly knocked on the door. He was the leader of the militia group on patrol that day.

Ronan couldn't help but stand up—according to the militia's discipline, routine tasks such as clearing out evil beasts and patrolling only required reporting to the battalion commander directly under them, and did not need to be reported to him personally unless it was an emergency.

"While we were patrolling with the Mountain Territory's guard, we discovered two men and a woman traveling together. Their clothes and armor were badly damaged, and they were all injured. They have been temporarily housed in the Mountain Territory. The man in armor specifically asked to see you, and Viscount Vanse also hopes you will come to visit him."

Payne paused, then said in a slightly nervous tone, "That woman had light gray hair and dark green eyes, and she gave me a similar feeling to Miss Meryl, so she must be a witch; the other man was wearing a church robe, which I remember was the style of a missionary."

"And people from the church..." Ronan frowned slightly upon hearing this.

At this point, he was fairly certain that the three men were sent by the Duke to seek help, but the missionary was a completely unexpected variable.

The reason he dared to undertake large-scale construction in the Thorn Territory and the Mountain Territory was that he was confident the Church's reach would be temporarily limited—he never expected to make contact with the Church in this way.

Whether this is the Duke's intention or the Western Parish's, the next steps are difficult: keeping the missionaries around could lead to unforeseen complications, but eliminating them outright seems inappropriate as well...

"Okay, I'll be right there."

"Sir, are you going alone?"

"Of course. Meidel and Scarlett will be training, while Liyan and Haiyue will be in charge of defense."

Seeing Bart's somewhat worried expression, Ronan smiled. "Don't forget I also know a little about martial arts. If you bring others along, I'll have to spare some energy to protect them."

Bart opened his mouth, only to find that he couldn't refute it.

After entrusting Bart with the care of the house, Ronan didn't take a carriage and went straight to the mountain territory on foot.

For a knight of his caliber, traveling alone would actually be the easiest option, especially on foot.

Vance had been waiting for a long time, and as soon as Ronan arrived, he led him to the appropriate room. Inside, a man and a woman were resting separately; the man was sitting quietly to recover from his injuries, while the woman was unconscious.

"Lord Ronan!"

Houston, who was sitting quietly in the room recovering from his injury, suddenly brightened up.

"Chief Knight, it's you?"

Ronan was also somewhat surprised. "Is His Excellency the Duke alright? What happened?"

"To cover my retreat, my lord personally led the troops in a fierce battle against those rebels throughout the night. Many of us died..."

Houston closed his eyes and painfully recalled the events of that night.

Henry's feint attack was completely seen through by the rebels, so they did not find a particularly good opportunity to break through. Henry had no choice but to go all out, using a strategy that would cause heavy casualties to both sides to forcibly break through the rebel defenses and escort the messenger team to break through.

However, things did not go smoothly afterward: the rebels in the rear were well prepared and launched one siege after another. The messenger team, which originally consisted of dozens of people, was reduced to only two. Henry's chief witch, Dorothy, also nearly lost control due to overdrawing her magical energy in the battle and fell into a coma after disengaging from the battle.

Houston and Dorothy made a difficult journey toward Thornholde, encountering rebel pursuers along the way. Fortunately, a passing missionary came to their aid, helping them repel the pursuers.

"Wait, you mean—the missionaries aren't with you?"

Ronan then realized that only the chief knight and chief witch were in the room, while the missionary he had been most concerned about before setting off was not there.

"no."

Houston looked puzzled. "He said his name was Pavar, and he had been a priest in the capital before being sent to the West Frontier. He met us on the way. But he was surprisingly good at fighting, almost like the Duke back in the day. I've never seen such a good priest before."

Is this guy even a missionary? Even his name is so catchy… Ronan looked at Vance, “Uncle Vance, where is that missionary right now?”

"Well, considering his long journey and the fact that both the Knight and the Witch need to rest, I arranged a separate room for him."

Vance's words sound nice, but in reality, it's a combination of isolation and house arrest.

After all, although the changes in the Mountain Territory were not as significant as those in the Thorn Territory, they were still considered unorthodox in the conservative and backward West Territory.

Even if the Duke didn't care, Vance didn't dare gamble that this missionary from the capital wouldn't care either, as that was the most traditional place.

He was extremely distressed: he had finally managed to get rid of a pastor a while ago, but a missionary came in just two days later. Did he owe the church something in his past life?

"Would it be convenient for me to have a brief chat with him?"

"So convenient! It's so convenient!"

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