"What?" The 13 people of the Spiritual Church simultaneously eximed as they looked in surprise at the soldier who had just said that.


    They had not expected that young Stuart would y hard to get and prevent their group from entering Dry City.


    After all, regardless of the problems faced by the local ruler and the families of the kingdom, the church was a continental organization that had a lot of influence!


    What could he do if the very citizens of this ce were dissatisfied with the absence of the spiritual church in this city?


    That is, rulers could be drastic in many measures, not giving certain rights to their citizens or charging excessive fees. But taking away people''s faith was something that could be very dangerous!


    There was a limit to how much people could handle, something that needed to be under control so that those at the bottom of the social pyramid would not revolt. For this, rulers would have to give up at least small things for their citizens to ''rx'' a bit and not reach too high a level of dissatisfaction.


    For this, some used religion, others used entertainment, the politics of bread and circuses, etc. There were many ways to work this out, but they all served to keep society in order and avoid tragedy.


    Imagine a civil war with millions of people...


    Even the royal forces in this region could not withstand this without suffering heavy losses!


    Because of all this, these church members believed they were doing Minos a favor bying to his territory...


    Yes, they would suck resources and people from this city to their side. But they would also guarantee local stability.


    It was a fair trade, right?


    They thought so.


    For them, this city could be under the control of the local sovereign at the moment because this ce was still too small. But once millions of people lived here, the church''s presence would be indispensable.


    Hell, maybe Minos himself would decide to ask the Spiritual Church for help in the future.


    As such, they were offering a great deal of help to the local government!


    After some moment of silence, the person leading this group finally said something. "Pardon me, did I hear that right? Are you people refusing us?"


    "Sir, you heard that correct."


    "We are refusing to receive you at this time." The same soldier from before said in a normal tone as if he was talking to some ordinary person.


    "Why? Why is little Dry City refusing us? Do you guys think we have bad intentions here? On the contrary, we are here to help you!" The Priest from before said this while several church members talked among themselves.


    "Tsk!"


    "What idiots..."


    "Maybe this ce would already be much better if we were already helping them..."


    "Those bumpkins... They don''t know how to spot an opportunity when they see one!"


    Another Priest then looked at that soldier and said. "And don''t tell me that your recursion is on ount of the Brown family. We have nothing to do with your affairs!"


    <i>''These arrogant people...''</i> Some soldiers thought to themselves, as they saw the reaction of some church members in that ce, who wereughing and talking among themselves.


    <i>''The worst of it is that they are just frogs at the bottom of the well, using the church to support their thoughts of grandeur when they have no power at all...''</i>


    <i>''Pathetic!''</i>


    The soldier from before then looked intensely at those three Priests in front of him, ignoring the rest of the people there. He was genuinely ufortable with the manner of those people, feeling angry and wanting to smash their overbearing smiles.


    But he understood very well that this was not the proper way to act.


    Hence, he swallowed his anger, took a deep breath, and then said what he had to say, something that all the soldiers in the army were aware of. "In the words of the young master, we know that the Spiritual Church is an impartial organization as far as our region is concerned. But the same cannot be said for the members of the church in our region..."


    "We have no reason to believe that you are not in agreement with the Brown family to try to weaken us in our negotiations."


    "We know very well that regional Bishops and Priests do have their preferences, and so, their actions sometimes deviate from what is expected of such an organization."


    "Therefore, we have to refuse the entry of church members into our city until our regional affairs are resolved." He said, looking steadily at those three but not letting his feelings get out of hand.


    Hearing all this, all those individuals understood these people''s point.


    After all, their justification was usible since many church members in this region did have their preferences.


    That was not exactly something anyone could know, but it wasn''t a big secret either.


    Hence, they could not help but feel a little frustrated by the actions of these people.


    Minos had not epted the church in this city, but this was because of a problem with the regional members of the church and not because this ce was contrary to this organization.


    So, it would be difficult for them to justify actions against this city just because of such a refusal.


    That was even more true, considering that none of them were there because of the justification of these soldiers. That is, they were not in agreement with the Brown family, nor any other regional organization, to try to weaken this ce.


    They were there only as an order from the church for that organization to reach a new region.


    And as much as that sounds contradictory, it wasn''t. Since they had no other interests in this ce, they had no reason to force things when the other side already said that it could be different in the future.


    "Tsk!"


    "What a good excuse!"


    "We have nothing to do with those matters of yours..." Someone was about to say but soon stopped talking as he realized it was useless.


    <i>''The agreement of the Brown family and this ce shouldn''t take many weeks to finish... So, in any case, we can return here in a few more months.''</i> One of those Priests pondered over the matter, feeling bad that he couldn''tplete this mission in one go.


    After that, the leader of the group then said. "So, that''s the excuse you guys are going to use..."


    "Well, if that''s the case, we''ll leave today, but we''ll return as soon as your affairs are settled."


    "Hmm, see youter!" The soldier from earliermented with a smile on his face.


    That group then began to head back to those two carriages.


    But as they were doing so, that level 46 Priest stopped in the middle of the road and looked back. "But know that the church branch in our kingdom will not forget the unwillingness of the ruler of the ck in to receive us!"


    ...


    In another part of the Brown Kingdom...


    After a week since his departure from Dry City, Minos had finally arrived in the Miller family''s territory, in a ce bordering that domain.


    That ce was closer to the central regions of the Brown Kingdom, where several small noble families were located, as well as some of the mid-sized powers, such as the territory of House Gill.


    In this ce, Minos and his Miller family allies were preparing to act against the Silva family, attacking a portion of that organization''s outposts.


    The Silva family had previously spread part of their troops throughout the Brown Kingdom, in ces where they had fixed posts in the past. But even though they had received a negative response from King Brown in their recent attempt, part of these troops were still outside their headquarters.


    They knew that it was advisable to return to the Red Valley, and part of these forces had indeed done so.


    After all, they depended very much on the kingdom''s action to act more efficiently.


    But part some of these forces had stayed in these advanced ces in case the kingdom changed its attitude concerning the ck in.


    After the previous refusal, the Silva family had found out about House Brown''s negotiations with the organization behind Dry City. And because of this, they couldn''t help but prepare themselves for the possibility of such a thing going wrong.


    They were hoping for it!


    And so they had left part of their forces at these strategic locations, where they could act more quickly when the time came!


    Precisely because of this, Minos and his allies could act now!