18 Resolution

After knocking out Rodolphe, Manon took him to the church for treatment. There, she waited for him to wake up.

After dismantling Rodolphe's understanding of the world, she couldn't afford to just leave him like that.

...

When he woke up, Rodolphe remained silent, thinking.

'If my own strength won't be enough in the short term, what can I do about it? What do I need ?'

'It's not that I don't believe in the power of humanity. If they wanted, then all of us would be safe. The thing is, they don't want to help. Nirl, like other villages, just aren't worth it.'

Rodolphe was a little depressed. Even if he thought about it all day long, he was sure he wouldn't be able to found a solution. That was why he thought about becoming stronger. But apparently, this wouldn't be enough.

''Rodolphe ?'' Manon called him out.

''ah... you were there. '' he glanced at her before looking away from her eyes in shame. '' Thank you'' he says blushing.

Manon smiled.

''Alright, I'll help you a bit''

''?''

'' What you need is knowledge. Only if you discover and understand the world can you really change things.'' She didn't wait for an answer and continued.

'' So let me give you my understanding of this world. Of how big it is. ''

'' In this world, there are many powers. The first being the royal power. Divided in two, between the royal family and the nobles, all have troops at their disposal. However, their help can only be exchanged for something of similar value.

The second power is the religious ones. Although we can't classify them as a unified power as they are extremely different.

Divided into three parts, first are the 'protector', the strongest power. They are charged with guarding important places or artifacts. They aren't exactly linked to the religion but since the Church had the most useful artifacts, they have become attached to them over the centuries. Even if they don't have the same values. As a matter of fact, they won't help anyone, even if they come from the Church. So they are the least likely to help us.

The second influential group is the purists, basically the camp where Emilie belongs. These people respect the ancients' writings to the word, including the one on benevolence. However, they are realistic and will not help just anyone. It's better not to expect any help from them.

Next, we have the sects' Alliance. Religious groups with strong beliefs are extremely different from each other. These have the power and may actually help, but are difficult to reach, and generally... 'passionated' we could say. Some are even willing to die for their beliefs.

Lastly, there is the army. The army is made up of forces from all countries, and even tribes. However, they have no reason to help. Expect for benefits that are. But if there were any, then all powers would try to help. Because in all of them there are utilitarian, even in the 'Protector'.''

Seeing the puzzled look on Rodolphe's face, she realized that this wasn't helping him a lot.

''Let's look more locally. Our region is rather weak but is big. There is numerous place to defend, and distance is the biggest problem.

Cleppe can of course help, but considering the past... well it's already a lead I guess.

Then, there are some villages not far away. But the raids being too fast, I'm afraid they won't dare to leave their village in these times.

The last help we could try to get belongs to the one who controls the area, Duke Pepin, but I don't know much about it.

Also, groups like the adventurer's guilds and so on could help, but their influence on the border is very small.

So we don't have much of an option. ''

''So what to do?"

'' That's the question you need to think about''

***

The next day - Nirl, training center.

Eloise looked at the hundred or so villagers who had been convinced by her words yesterday and smiled. Then she started her last lesson.

...

After the lesson ended.

''I'll let them in your care from tomorrow onwards, alright?''

Manon nodded.

She had made her decision. If the difference between the two individuals was too great, then the fight could not even take place. That is why, rather than numbers, she chose strength.

But she knew that following the traditional path would not help her. After all, she was not talented.

So she had to innovate.

She had to try something new with her energy.

The problem was, the dangers were many. A deviation could damage her body, if not kill her. That's why one usually waited for the energy creation level, a level where one would create an energy that was not differentiated from the body, not able to damage it, but still impure energy, able to hurt her enemies.

But that did not matter to her. She wanted strength. For that is what she had always lacked.

***

House of Louis.

Since yesterday, his son has changed. He no longer wanted to be strong only physically, but also wanted to develop his intellectual capacity. That's why he asked him to help him with this task, for him to learn to get influence.

'Maybe it's time'

It was time to train the new generation, as they had already decided four years ago. It didn't matter if he was to be trained as the future administrator of the area or the village chief, anyway, the roles didn't change much. Both had to be at least a little educated. Afterward, the variations in the dispositions would be obvious.