Chapter 64: Extortion
Having settled the affairs within her territory, Charlotte departed the next day for the Green Plains Duchy.
Despite admiring her father's political acumen, Charlotte harbored a personal distrust for the ambitious Stanley Mellerfield stationed in her lands. However, she couldn't dismiss him, as he was under orders to support her. Thus, Charlotte had no choice but to accept the situation with gritted teeth.
Before leaving, though, Charlotte entrusted Celine with Cecilia's close protection. She instructed Celine to prioritize Cecilia's safety should anything unexpected occur.
There was simply no other option. If Cecilia were to clash with Stanley, she would undoubtedly be at a disadvantage. Charlotte was unwilling to lose a valuable assistant for a needless reason.
The carriage bumped along the rough road. Inside, Charlotte lay against the cushions, rubbing her sore bottom, and grumbled, "I'm being shaken to bits! The moment I have some free time, I absolutely must have a smooth road built from the Lanwan Isthmus to Riverside Castle."
"My lady has so many aspirations," Renee commented, placing a velvet pillow under Charlotte's arm to make her more comfortable.
"Indeed, so many," Charlotte agreed with a nod. She dreamed of excavating the Lanwan Canal, establishing a formidable giant eagle cavalry, and conquering the Sokoya Peninsula...
Yet, she understood that these ambitions couldn't be realized overnight, or even within a year or two. Charlotte knew she needed to remain cautious and patient.
Lost in thought, Charlotte turned to the next page of the document Cecilia had given her the previous day.
While Jonathan Harkman was purging Ambratu County, Cecilia's agents had discreetly integrated themselves to conduct a registration survey of the Ambratu citizen families. Ostensibly, it was an investigation into criminals, but the true purpose was to identify and register children from these families with extraordinary talents.
The survey results took Charlotte by surprise.
Among the eligible children tested, roughly 4,800 in total, 141 displayed a talent level of four or higher – the church's benchmark for "qualified." This represented a pass rate of 2.9%.
While 2.9% might not seem high, the last time Charlotte tested the eligible children within her own territory, the result barely exceeded 0.5%.
Why was there such a significant disparity in the test results between two neighboring populations?
Could it be as simple as the citizens of Ambratu having a better diet?
This was the first thought that crossed Charlotte's mind.
Before Charlotte's arrival, her people had a diet comparable to the landlords' livestock. No, that wasn't quite right. Even the livestock were fed adequately, while her people struggled for basic sustenance. Although a wealth gap still existed among the citizens of Ambratu, as the ruling class, they at least had consistent access to food.
This implied that children in the Lanwan territory were inevitably suffering from far worse nutritional intake than their counterparts in Ambratu citizen families.
But was that the complete explanation?
Charlotte then considered the nobles of the Oran Empire. At least 20% of their children boasted of reaching the church's "qualified" threshold.
Could the difference in nutrition alone account for such a significant advantage in extraordinary talent among Oran noble children compared to Ambratu citizens? Did this mean the Oran Empire's nobles' tradition of overeating was actually beneficial? This seemed highly improbable. When both groups had enough to eat, it was hard to argue that Oran noble children consumed significantly more nutrients than those from Ambratu citizen families.
Of course, the boasts of Oran noble children were also notoriously unreliable and could only be taken with a grain of salt.
"The data is still too limited," Charlotte murmured, turning another page. Suddenly, her eyes caught three consecutive children's names circled in red. A red circle indicated a talent level above four.
Intrigued by the consecutive entries, Charlotte casually flipped to the family background information of these children and was surprised to find that the fathers of all three were individuals with extraordinary abilities.
Charlotte's interest was rekindled. She reclassified and counted the eligible children who had been tested. Among them, 518 had fathers with extraordinary abilities, and of those, 19 children displayed extraordinary talents above level four, resulting in a pass rate of approximately 3.7%.
What did this figure suggest?
Did it simply mean that the children of individuals with extraordinary abilities had better access to food than the children of ordinary people?
Or did it imply that the research findings of the necromancers were flawed, and that extraordinary talent was, in fact, hereditary?
Charlotte noted this question, intending to investigate it further in the future.
After a day's travel, the caravan was forced to camp overnight in the wilderness once more.
Upon stepping out of the carriage, Charlotte had a signpost erected at the campsite and declared, "I will build another new city here someday."
Another item was added to Charlotte's ever-growing "to-do" list.
The following day, Charlotte and her entourage continued their journey, entering the territory of the Earl of Quake Forest before noon.
However, as they ventured deeper into the Earl of Quake Forest's lands, heading towards the more prosperous areas, Charlotte increasingly sensed an unsettling atmosphere. Pedestrians hurried along the road, farmhouses with rising smoke stood silent, and along the roadside and outside the church, unfamiliar crosses occasionally came into view.
It wasn't until Charlotte witnessed the corpse of a man nailed to a cross in front of a seemingly peaceful and serene village that she grasped the purpose of these crosses.
"Who is that person? Why have they been crucified like this?" Charlotte inquired, stopping a passing merchant.
The corpse on the cross was pierced by seven large nails driven through its arms, legs, forehead, heart, and groin, resembling some deliberately designed ritual.
"Doesn't your Excellency know? This is a demon captured by the church," the merchant replied with a hint of bewilderment. "Recently, the church has been rounding up demons everywhere, and those they catch are nailed to crosses like this."
As he spoke, the merchant glanced around nervously, as if afraid of being overheard.
"Demon?" Charlotte couldn't help but click her tongue in disapproval.
The caravan continued its progress. Charlotte saw many more people affixed to crosses – men and women, young and old, some in tattered clothing, others in more respectable attire. She couldn't fathom how the church determined who among them were demons.
"Stop! Stop!"
Suddenly, the procession was halted.
Feeling the carriage come to a stop, Charlotte drew back the curtain. She was intensely curious about who in the Green Plains Duchy would dare to intercept the Mellerfield family's caravan.
Knight Rayne Nazares, leading the way at the front, shared Charlotte's curiosity. He pointed to the Mellerfield family crest on the rear carriage and addressed the people blocking the road, "Do you know who is in this carriage?"
"I don't care who it is! Tell your master to come out and speak immediately," a wretched-looking man in a church priest's robe stepped forward from the crowd, tilted his chin at Rayne Nazares, and declared, "Otherwise, you'll face the consequences for delaying the important affairs of the church."
Rayne Nazares's face darkened, his right hand instinctively moving towards the hilt of his sword. His gaze swept over the dozen or so individuals obstructing their path, as if calculating how quickly he could dispatch them all.
Fortunately, the voice from within the carriage intervened at that moment: "What important matter does the church have?"
The man in the priest's robe, upon hearing Charlotte's voice, immediately disregarded Rayne Nazares. He approached the carriage, offered a slight bow through the window, and then said with a smile, "Why, it's the crucial matter of the demon trials, noble one. We are investigating demons who blaspheme the divine lord."
"What? Mister Priest, are you suggesting there are demons within my caravan?" Charlotte inquired.
"Demons are cunning and can appear anywhere without raising suspicion," the man replied without hesitation, lifting his chin and looking down his nose at everyone.
This was the first time in her life someone had dared to address her with such insolence. Charlotte found it somewhat amusing. "So, how does Mister Priest intend to ascertain if there are demons in my caravan?"
The man instantly plastered on a smile and said, "Normally, we would have everyone taken to the church to be immersed in holy oil, but as you are a noble, such inconvenience is unnecessary. Our church possesses demon-exorcising amulets. If you purchase one for everyone in your caravan, you can guarantee that no demon will dare to possess you or your servants. Even if someone is already possessed, the amulet can drive the demon away. Each amulet costs only one Fuso."
The man produced the so-called demon-exorcising amulets, which were nothing more than small iron plates, about two fingers wide and one finger long.
"Is that so..." Charlotte nearly laughed in exasperation. Someone actually dared to try and rob her on the open road. "But I don't particularly desire to purchase your so-called demon-exorcising amulets."
The man's expression immediately soured. "Noble, you should reconsider. If you don't buy them, it will cause us difficulties. Even the Earl of Quake Forest has purchased our demon-exorcising amulets. Do you consider yourself more important than the Earl of Quake Forest?"
Hearing this, Charlotte nodded. "Your point is well-taken."
She casually grabbed a handful of Fusos without bothering to count them and extended them towards the man.
The man eagerly stepped forward and accepted them with both hands.
"Have a pleasant lunch," Charlotte said softly, her gaze fixed on the man.
"May your journey be smooth," the man replied with a smile, handing Charlotte a large bag of demon-exorcising amulets.
Charlotte waved her hand, and a squire knight took the bag.
Watching Charlotte's caravan disappear into the distance, the man waved to his lackeys behind him and said, "Let's go. Drinks are on me when we get back."
The lackeys cheered enthusiastically.
The man's name was Steve. In reality, he wasn't a priest at all, merely a priest's apprentice who had joined the church less than two months prior. Two months ago, he was just a notorious idler in the surrounding villages. Now, he hadn't even managed to learn all the words in the "Canon."
A little over two months ago, the oracle of the Red Moon was proclaimed from the Oracle Temple, and the church had initiated a widespread demon trial movement across the continent. Some local church organizations, facing an increasing number of demon trials and a shortage of personnel, had recruited many priest apprentices like Steve. While these apprentices might even misspell the divine lord Ig's name, their dedication to catching demons was undeniable.
Steve and his men didn't return to the church but instead went to Steve's home. Steve knew that if he returned to the church with such a large sum of money, it would all end up in the pockets of the official priests. Back home, he couldn't wait to take out the money Charlotte had given him and count it.
"There are actually twenty-two Fusos!"
Steve's men stared at the glittering Fusos, their mouths watering.
Steve himself couldn't help but swallow hard.
In fact, Charlotte's group included more than forty knights and squire knights alone, along with over twenty coachmen and servants. However, these lackeys had clearly never seen so much money before.
"These nobles are truly wealthy. Those church officials even told us not to cause trouble for them."
"Yeah, those church officials sell demon-exorcising amulets to the nobles themselves but won't let us sell them!"
"Tch, they just want to keep all the money for themselves!"
"..."
Steve's men chattered excitedly.
However, Steve, standing to the side, swallowed twice more. Looking at the gleaming coins, he felt an overwhelming urge to eat them. He wanted to consume them but was also reluctant to do so. The internal conflict raged within him for a long moment, eventually succumbing to the increasingly powerful desire to eat.
Under the stunned gazes of his men, Steve reached out, picked up a Fuso, put it in his mouth, and chewed vigorously.
"B-boss, what are you doing?" a lackey asked in shock and confusion.
Steve swallowed the first Fuso with difficulty. "Having lunch. I'm hungry." Then he picked up another Fuso, put it in his mouth, and chewed, unable to stop even though his mouth was already full of blood.
"Boss, if you're hungry, I can help you buy some wine and dishes," one of the lackeys said nervously.
"It's alright, I can just eat this." Steve, likely finding the pace too slow, simply swept all the Fusos into his palm, stuffed them into his mouth, chewed them quickly, and swallowed.
Fresh blood streamed down the corners of his mouth.
"I'm not full. Is there anything else to eat?"
Without waiting for a response, Steve stood up and began searching for more food, ignoring the flour, pancakes, and black bread in the corner of the kitchen. Instead, his eyes landed on a small box of demon-exorcising amulets.
Without hesitation, Steve grabbed a large handful of the iron amulets and crammed them into his mouth. The sharp edges cut his cheeks, and the iron broke his teeth, but it did nothing to quell his voracious appetite.
Hunger, an intense, all-consuming hunger, seemed to obliterate Steve's ability to think, driving him to relentlessly devour anything in his deranged mind that he considered edible.
Steve's men watched from the side, their bodies frozen in fear, their legs heavy and unmoving, until a demon-exorcising amulet pierced Steve's throat, and he collapsed to the ground.
"Demon! Demon! He's possessed by a demon!"
One of the lackeys finally broke, screaming and bolting for the door.
One person's terror immediately triggered a chain reaction. They were all petrified and desperate to escape this place.
However, a sudden gust of wind swept through the room, and the group attempting to flee fell like harvested wheat, blood spraying everywhere. Silence descended instantly.
After the gust subsided, Renee's figure appeared in the house, a knight's sword dripping with blood in her hand.
Steve lay unconscious, still feebly trying to eat the demon-exorcising amulets, but the light had already gone from his eyes, and blood pooled all around him.
Seeing Steve, Renee sighed in relief and muttered, "Luckily, you're still alive. My lady certainly knows how to create trouble for people."
Renee raised her sword and with a single stroke, beheaded Steve, ending his life.