Fall behind

Marianne couldn't read, but Damian had learned Latin, although not very proficiently, at least enough to understand the content of the text.

Bishop Matt likely believed that few nobles in Gothingen County could read, hence he confidently wrote his true purpose in the letter. he wanted to arrange for his illegitimate child to live with a mistress as a foster child and requested the child be trained as a knight.

"Quite impressive. Bishop Matt's thoughts are truly unique. While others send their sons to become priests, he actually wants to send his illegitimate son to become a knight," Damian sarcastically remarked after closing the letter.

No wonder Bishop Matt was so concerned about this matter after Scoke's death; it turns out the relationship between these two runs deep.

Bishop Matt is a rare bishop who rose entirely from the ranks of the poor. Damian doesn't disdain the rise of the poor, but Bishop Matt's ascent wasn't due to his own efforts but rather by squeezing the parishioners of the diocese. From tithes to various strange sales of 'holy' items, he rose to the rank of bishop through numerous scams.

Although he taught himself Latin, he took the wrong path. "The more knowledge one has, the easier they are to rebel" seems to hold true.

While Bishop Matt appears debonair in public, privately he is an old lecher who seduces noblewomen into bed and is a miserly penny-pincher.

He's been trying every means to become the godfather of his illegitimate child since its birth and now has arranged a foster family for the child, clearly aiming to make the child a noble, knighted heir. This way, he can secretly leave behind his own descendants.

"Bishop Matt has an illegitimate child?" Mariannene slightly opened her mouth, surprised that the deceased Scoke still harbored such a mystery.

"Yes. In the neighboring county, but belonging to the Gothingen County diocese. The master of the house probably thinks it's his own son. Little did he know that the child's godfather is actually the real father," Damian flicked the letter, saying, "He definitely didn't expect the evidence to fall into our hands."

The diocese does not coincide with the county or village; early dioceses were very large, often covering several counties, even half a principality. Today, with redundant church members, dioceses are being divided further. Correspondingly, the ratio of priests to be supported per thousand people is constantly increasing.

So here's a question: Is Bishop Matt colluding with Schmalen?

Damian suddenly thought of this crucial question, breaking out in a cold sweat.

Generally speaking, bishops do not intervene casually in local wars, but there are exceptions. Many bishops are secular nobles who lead monastery warrior monks and go to war with their brothers.

If Bishop Matt is causing trouble behind the backs of Conosa and Gothingen Castle, no matter how smoothly the front-line war is going, there will be big problems.

"I'm not sure… It doesn't seem right either. Dean Andreas seems to have had a conversation with Schmalen's envoy before. But recently, it seems they've had a falling out and parted ways," Mariannene shook her head, "Men's affairs are too complicated."

It is better to believe something is real or true than to believe it is nonexistent or false.

Damian hid the evidence, not bothering to count how much money there was, and instead had Mariannene relay a message to Lady Shayla: "I want to summon the knights of the domain."

Leaving Mariannene's estate, Damian became more and more suspicious of Bishop Matt, so he decided to recruit more peasant mounted archers and spearman units with a limited budget and placed them near Gothingen Church.

Then, Damian began mobilizing for war.

Currently, he had two squads of peasant mounted archers, who were decent against enemy auxiliary troops, but facing regular troops would be very difficult.

So Damian chose to recruit another squad of longbowmen and a squad of forest hunters to fill the long-range gap.

And as the cornerstone of war, infantry is always the key to victory or defeat. Damian had to spare no expense and recruited five squads of peasant spearmen and two squads of forest axemen as a strategy for surprise victory.

The money flows away like a river. Because the recruitment in the military camp is time-sensitive, Damian can only wait while communicating with other nobles.

Having high-quality melee units would be quite convenient.

Damian thought somewhat regretfully.

…

Milhousburg.

The name of this city is naturally Germanic in style. Unlike the mages teleporting everywhere in WOW, the people of Milhousburg don't know magic; they only understand the technology of mining copper.

But in the Middle Ages, the light of technology and civilization was only possessed by the monasteries that mastered cultural technology.

Apart from designing molds for minting copper coins, those craftsmen enduring deafening noise also only acknowledge the protection of the church.

Who made the means of most common nobles even more despicable than bandits?

So, the copper mines of Milhousburg either sent copper to the monastery to be cast into rough copper coins, or they were made into expensive copperware by craftsmen. Ordinary people benefited little, and their lives were naturally impoverished.

Most of the people hurrying between castles had dull expressions and vacant eyes.

This is not only because of Schmalen's exploitation but also because a large number of bandits have flooded into the castle, committing all sorts of atrocities.

They rob on the streets at night and steal from shops in the middle of the night. Under their efforts, the remaining commerce in the city has been almost completely destroyed.

"I know, no need to report anymore. The most important task at hand is to capture the Gothingen County. If the people of Milhousburg are dissatisfied with me, they can wait until after the war to discuss it." Schmalen paced back and forth, reprimanding his subordinates.

If the bandit knights want to rob, let them rob.

What's the unwillingness to lose some property for the lord?

"Report to the Count, we have assembled 67 knights and more than two hundred attendants. If we include foot soldiers, we can muster up to hundreds of cavalry and nearly five hundred infantry! There is also almost an equal number of bandits and bandit knights supporting!" Schmalen's stable manager came to report the situation of organizing the army.

Schmalen, who had bet everything, organized an army of almost a thousand people. This number is usually only achievable by Grand Duke Diodorak.

Schmalen couldn't wait any longer, so he decided to move his troops to the northwest and attack Gothingen County on that day.

As they approached the frontline, he ordered the bandit knight Henrik, "You were defeated here, so you go ahead and lead the way."

Henrik nodded nervously, and there was another knight with him who moved forward together.

"What's your name? I don't think I've seen you before." Henrik looked at the other knight and asked with some confusion.

The knight took off his helmet, smiled, and said, "My name is Jeffrey, Count. I've been wandering outside for many years and only recently decided to come to Milhousburg to make big money."

"Jeffrey? That's a strange name."

Henrik didn't think much and continued to wait with the army. But Jeffrey, who was next to him, kept signaling his subordinates to 'disappear' and reported Schmalen's marching information to Damian.

It can be said that from now on, Schmalen has already fallen behind Damian.