When the Saintess Arrives, No King Exist

The city hall of Joan of Arc Castle was once again brightly lit, but this time sitting in the council hall resembling that of El was not citizen representatives called overnight but the esteemed Duke.

Beside the window, Bamanda used a feather fan to cover his mouth and nose, also sitting on a velvet chair.

Duke Kush, in his pajamas, angrily shouted at Zandebeck, "When did I ever say that I wanted to turn every fifteen-year-old of Joan of Arc Castle into wine?"

"But that's what they said."

"Also, when did I order to have them all killed?"

"I don't know, maybe because we were too oppressive before, they hold a grudge..."

In fact, even if the Duke wanted to purge Joan of Arc Castle, he couldn't, because he didn't have the power.

Let alone turn all fifteen-year-olds into wine, such an insane thing.

Even if he did, so much wine would only cause the price to plummet, and the shelf life of Blue Blood wine is very short, that'd be a complete loss.

Besides, he is a distributor, not a producer.

As for the order?

Prince Kongdai cherishes his feathers; the massacre in Xiaochi City is pure nonsense, concocted by citizens and small workshop masters who were robbed and extorted by mercenaries.

Besides, the Duke knows immigrants are poor with no fat to extract when taxing, does Prince Kongdai not know?

Prince Kongdai came to Joan of Arc Castle firstly to answer the church's order to catch Horn for the Pope to account, and secondly to make money.

He at most causes trouble for local citizens, merchants, and armed farmer landlords, haven't those informed masons already fled to the countryside to hide?

"What should we do now, they are already at the canal bank."

Dane looked at his wife Bamanda, who hid half her face behind the feather fan.

She hadn't expected her extreme pressure tactics to collapse, mainly because she didn't anticipate that Horn had not fled Joan of Arc Castle and publicly exposed the Blue Blood Orphanage incident.

After taxes on floods, bonds, and grain prices exploded in succession, resulting in immigrant riots, it was within Bamanda's prediction, but their ability to mobilize over ten thousand young and able-bodied to reach Joan of Arc Castle was indeed unexpected.

Back then, during the Falan Blood Winter uprising, when 300,000 farmers set out from home and reached and sieged the Royal Capital, there were only 100,000 left.

The remaining impulsive Pu Xin farmers all directly abandoned their teammates and ran without looking back.

The fact that these immigrants made it here intact is a miracle.

Should we simply retreat a step? Or bribe the leaders and public representatives on the other side?

After contemplating, Bamanda made the final decision: "During the Falan Blood Winter uprising, we sacrificed 50,000 farmers and 3,000 citizens, you also should have this awareness!"

The rebels must be killed, it's impossible not to, originally wanted to slaughter them slowly, but once the Blue Blood incident was exposed, both sides tore faces, leaving almost no room for maneuver.

The opponent's leader is Saint's Grandson Horn, such a stubborn person on the church's wanted list.

The only option is to kill them dead.

"Well, Friscia, I appoint you as the full authority..."

"No way." Before Dane could finish, Bamanda forcefully interrupted, "We have to stay here to command, don't you know if we leave, local soldiers might be persuaded over or directly desert?"

This is valuable experience learned by the Falan after suppressing numerous rebel uprisings and Secret Faction revolts — outsiders are always more trustworthy than locals.

"If you're not present, they might believe you can't see their betrayal, don't underestimate this tiny difference, often it determines who laughs last."

The Duke immediately became slightly uneasy: "Why don't I go to the other side closer to the castle?"

Gazing at Dane in disdain, Bamanda sighed impatiently: "You go set up defenses over there, I'll supervise the battle on Citizen Road."

The couple discussed and separated, while Bamanda turned to Friscia and asked, "Where are they?"

"They went to the labor district first."

"Pretty smart." Bamanda mumbled.

The entire Joan of Arc Castle was built along the canal, with citizen, artisan, and labor districts running parallel to the canal.

Each of the three districts has a road that runs parallel to the canal, with Citizen Road made of paved stones and wide enough for cavalry to function.

The roads near the labor and artisan areas are muddy and relatively narrow, with the canal on one side, making cavalry ineffective.

Horn's purpose in going to the labor zone first includes avoiding cavalry by advancing directly along the westward Citizen Road on the smooth ground.

But if they move along the labor and artisan district's vertical roads, reach a position parallel to the castle and city hall, then attack laterally through alleys between houses, it's entirely a narrow tactical location disadvantageous for cavalry.

Although they would still encounter Knights in front of the city square, it's better than facing their wave after wave attacks on Citizen Road with nowhere to hide.

At this moment, according to the original plan, when reaching the position parallel to the city hall, Horn halted the massive army, over ten thousand troops slowly stopped.

Based on information from a local spy from a fellow citizen who wished to remain anonymous.

Both the Duke and Duchess were in the city hall, the Citizen Road was lined with mercenaries and hundreds of knights.

This actually conforms well to Horn's assessment of the Duke's strength, more than 2000 but less than 3000 infantrymen, with about half being weak Night Guards and half decent mercenaries.

The main concern was those nearly two hundred Extraordinary Knights, as long as they could settle those Extraordinary Knights, it was only left to capture the Duke and the castle.

In the blazing fire, a solid line formed on the iron chain bridge above the canal, spears like a forest reflected moonlight, firelight, and the red glow in immigrants' eyes.

The thick iron cables lifted the solid wooden bridge, four bridge piers, about 110 yards across, and they could reach the district where citizens were located.

Unfortunately, what Horn thought of, Bamanda also thought of.

"Toot toot toot—" The urgent whistle echoed in the night sky.

"Enemy troops, the enemy is here!"

But at that moment, standing on a rooftop, a deployed spy shouted loudly in Horn's direction.

Just as he finished speaking, a crossbow arrow shot out, and although he instinctively dodged, the arrowhead pierced his left cheek and exited his right cheek.

That spy rolled down from the rooftop on the spot.

Orderly footsteps approached, metal reflections shone in the darkness.

On the slab road along the river of the opposite citizen district, from the dark alleys and streets, batches of mercenaries wearing blue-black felt coats surged out from the alleys, raising spears and axes in their hands.