Chapter 314 Valen Taylor and Andre
"...Our most beloved Waterwheel Knight Danjihede fell in a pool of blood."

Sitting on a simple wooden box, Valentyl closed the "Saint Sun's Expedition" in his hand and looked at the group of tearful teenagers.

"Read two more paragraphs."

"Yes, Uncle Valentyl, read two more paragraphs."

Sitting around Valentyl were seven or eight teenagers around ten years old.

They wore the simplest linen vests, revealing their bare wheat-colored arms, and sat cross-legged on the mud, staring at Valen Taylor eagerly.

Golden sunshine, swaying reeds, and slender fir trees inserted in the green land.

Amid the layers of reeds, the fishermen's simple huts stand on the island in the middle of the river.

Fishermen sing in the evening and row their boats towards the shore.

Valen Taylor reached out and stroked the head of one of the children: "Tomorrow, you should go to eat."

"Read two more paragraphs, at least don't stop here!" the young man complained.

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep at night."

"Hahahahahaha." Valen Taylor threw his head back and laughed. His messy white beard began to tremble and tears came out of his eyes.

His son was this age when he disappeared.

No, I was even younger than this, I was less than ten years old at that time.

"Go, go, don't let your papa and grandma worry."

Pulling the boys up from the ground one by one, Valentinel urged them to go home.

Ever since the incident at the Blue Blood Monastery broke out, he has been running around, spreading the news about the Blue Blood Monastery.

As the news spread more and more, people began to follow him and help him spread and attack the church.

Before he knew it, more and more people were following him.

At first there were only a dozen or twenty, but later the number suddenly soared to hundreds or even thousands.

So far, Valentyl has controlled five or six groups of the Holy Sun Army, scattered in several townships, with hundreds of people in each township.

They relied on forests, rivers and reed marshes to attack everywhere, spreading the evils of the Thousand Valley Church while violently attacking knights, priests and even their families.

In the past, this kind of villain would have been wiped out by the church long ago.

Since the uprising of the Three Giants, the knights of Hotham County were transferred to several directions, and the supervision was immediately relaxed.

Under the manipulation of Valentyl and others, many people secretly converted to the Sansun sect or the Juano sect, and they could not tell the difference.

This is thanks to the church and monasteries' act of encroaching on land, which made the church the peasants' direct lord.

Without the rapid suppression of front-line military nobles such as the knights, although more income was obtained, the control power was reduced.

Apart from paying taxes, many villages pretended to obey the church's orders but actually disobeyed them.

Not only did they hold back and not contribute during the encirclement and suppression campaign, they even took in the Saint Sun Army. There was even a situation where being a night guard was their job and being a Saint Sun Army was their livelihood.

Thanks to the support of the people of Hotam and the well-connected water system.

These Shengsun righteous troops relied on attacking supplies and destroying roads to delay Prince Condai for three full weeks before he sent out his troops.

It was all Valen Taylor could do.

On the front battlefield, he had no way of defeating those extraordinary knights; the Big Three were his only hope.

"Those little radishes are coming to you again?"

A rough voice sounded from behind Valentyl's head. He turned around and saw a man in his thirties with black hair and blue eyes jumping off an approaching fishing boat.

The man opened the front of his shirt, revealing his hairy chest, his eyelids were half open and half closed, and a thick knight's sword was slung around his waist.

On the small boat behind him, fishermen jumped off the boat carrying several large boxes of food and goods, and there was even a dishevelled woman.

Valen Taylor rushed over without any hesitation: "Andre! What are you doing again? Where did this woman come from?"

"Don't worry." Andre laughed, "I, Andre, am a real man. I would never do anything to force a woman to do something bad. She is a poor woman who came here on her own."

The blonde woman, half of her white shoulders exposed, smiled coquettishly and winked at Valen Taylor.

Valen Taylor’s forehead veins throbbed: “Oh, I’m a pig, I can’t recognize who she is… Don’t you know how dangerous we are?”

"Baby, go to my room and wait for me first." Andre slapped the woman's plump butt with his big hand. The woman screamed "Oh~" and walked towards the house.

"I asked you to investigate the whereabouts of Prince Kongdai, not to do something so shameless." Valentyl looked at Andre's unruly face, and sighed at the end. This is Andre, the second-in-command of Hotam's Saint Sun Army.

Although he is a refugee from France and a wanted criminal of the church, he is Valentyl's closest comrade-in-arms.

It can even be said that more than half of the survival of the current Saint Sun Army and its current size are due to this greedy and lustful Andre.

It was he who proposed the name of "Shengsun" and it was he who led the tactics of hiding in villages and attacking logistics.

Although he looks careless and unreliable, he is actually quite reliable in actual battles and often makes the church run around in circles.

Valen Taylor really had no good way to deal with Andre.

"Don't worry." Andre patted Valentyl's shoulder vigorously, "It's not like I haven't done anything."

Valentyl looked around and led him towards the temporary wooden house outside the village.

Wisps of hot wind blew through the woods, and wisps of smoke slowly rose from the reed marshes.

At the door of the wooden house, there stood several guards in leather armor. However, judging from the calluses on their hands and their hairless calves, they must have just changed their jobs.

After entering the cabin, the two sat down, and Andre briefly repeated the news he had heard.

After listening to Andre's story, Valentel touched his chin and said, "You mean to say that Prince Kongdai has left Feiliu Castle?"

"Yes, if my estimate is correct, our useless Prince Charles should have left Hotham County in the morning." Andre rapped sarcastically.

Valen Taylor followed up by asking, "Which direction are they going?"

"Is there any need to ask? They must be going to retake High Castle City." Andre twisted his mouth and said, "If the civil war in Leia leads to the independence of the Thousand River Valley, only Meliati can become king."

"why?"

“First of all, Meliati is a noble. She is the Prince of Thousand Valleys. This is considered a dispute within the aristocratic world, but the means used are dishonorable.

Not to mention anything else, even though we sing and call him Holy Grandson every day, those who have the ability to influence will prefer Meliati.

Letting a farmer become a prince or a king, is that crazy?

Secondly, now that Duke Kush is dead, only Meliati can be recognized by the Kingdom of Faran and the Kingdom of Norn.

To the Norns, Meliati is one of their own.

For the Franks, Meliati is the granddaughter of Grand Duke Hermash, and the independent territory is the Kingdom of Leia, which is double the joy.

It’s clear who they will support.”

Seeing Valentyl's face showing some frustration, Andre hurriedly comforted him, "Don't worry, if Grand Duke Hemashi wins, Shengsun will definitely have a Thousand Valley Metropolitan Bishop.

I suggested using the Holy Grandson's name, because the Holy Grandson is kind-hearted, and if he follows the Grand Duchess, he won't have such a happy life."

"How many troops did they bring?"

"I don't know. I can't get you the specific distribution of troops." Andre thought for a moment and added, "But they left an imperial decree company in Feiliu Castle."

"What about Rapid City?" Valentyl's starting capital was provided by Rapid City, and the book "Saint Sun's Expedition" in his hand was obtained from Lady Catherine.

"According to the responses from the merchants who passed by, the two Imperial Order Companies that were there after the fall of High Castle seem to have finished their rest. At this moment, they should all be attacking Anson Castle."

Fort Anson is an important fortress located upstream of Rapid City. Once it is breached, it is possible to go downstream and capture Rapid City itself.

"Can you hold it?"

"Ansenburg is impregnable, but it depends on the number of people who can defend it." Andre said without blushing, "Defend it for me. I can defend it until Charles dies of old age."

André always called Prince Condé by his first name.

"Then do you think we can win? Can we, the farmers and the common people, win?"

"It's fifty-fifty." Andre said with a smile without any worry, "Charles's backer has fallen, and it's hard to replenish the Imperial Company. One less person is one less.

He is now a rootless person and is unwilling to place a bet. The odds are too low, so he can only play at the table by himself.

The Grand Duchess slowly moved against the castle, and it became a matter of time before she could bear it any longer.

We are too weak, so don’t always think about a quick victory. A victory that is won through hard work is still a victory.”

After reporting the news, Andre couldn't wait to sprint all the way to his house.

Leaning against the door and gazing at the blood-red surface of the Nauan River, Valentyl prayed silently to the Holy Father in his heart, asking him to hold on.

(End of this chapter)