Chapter 228: House Fortemps' Dilemma and the King's Orders
It was clear that House Fortemps was willing to use any means to protect their own people.
To Hanjun, these were just excuses.
Hanjun thought that if King Varis didn't care about the demon issue, he wouldn't have asked him to come to the Royal City of Orinthia.
Since the King requested this meeting, it meant he highly valued Hanjun as the Holy Son of the Church of Light.
From this, Hanjun could guess the King's position.
The King was willing to send the Royal Knights to defend Ulon City, which meant he still hoped for a glimmer of hope to keep the demons out of Ulon City.
So, Viscount Hereford, who let the demons in, would surely be very annoying to the King.
In the end, whether the King would protect House Fortemps or support Hanjun, the Holy Son of the Church of Light, was still uncertain.
House Fortemps had already thought of this.
They clearly understood the King's intentions, so they wanted to warn Hanjun early, scare him into forgetting about Viscount Hereford, or threaten him with the name of House Fortemps not to go against them.
This way, they could protect Viscount Hereford's life.
In front of a nervous Edmont, Hanjun's expression showed that he was not threatened at all, "There is, of course, evidence. But of course, the King should be the one to judge this matter. If you truly believe there's no problem, then just wait for the King to make a decision tomorrow, right?"
That made sense.
Seeing his words didn't work, Edmont softened his tone and asked, "Alright, then what do you want?"
Hanjun chuckled lightly, making Edmont feel that he was very hard to read.
"What do I want? Isn't it more about what House Fortemps wants?"
Edmont gritted his teeth and said, "Viscount Hereford is still a member of House Fortemps..."
Hanjun didn't want to waste time listening to more excuses and directly said, "I want all the lands under Viscount Hereford's name."
Edmont was shocked by his demand and blurted out, "That's impossible!"
Without his lands, Viscount Hereford would just be a Viscount in name, without any territory.
That was something House Fortemps could not accept, especially since they valued Viscount Hereford's territory the most.
Seeing Hanjun's expression, Edmont quickly tried to change his tone, but Hanjun wasn't interested in hearing more.
"In that case, have a nice day and see yourself out."
As the heir of House Fortemps, Edmont couldn't stay and lose face any longer.
Under the gaze of the players, he had no choice but to retreat for now.
After he left, Master PungPong leaned over to Hanjun and asked, "Hanjun, are you really going to release Viscount Hereford?"
Hanjun had talked about taking Viscount Hereford's land but never mentioned any punishment.
Could it be that Viscount Hereford would get away with everything?
Besides, they had heard of the many cruel things Viscount Hereford had done.
After all the evil he committed in Ulon Town, it would be hard for the players, who hated injustice, to accept that he might get off so easily.
"Are we just going to let him go like that? This storyline is really trash! I can't accept it!"
"There's gotta be a twist, right? We've caught him; letting him go would feel so wrong."
"I say he deserves to rot in the deepest pits of hell."
Before Hanjun could respond, Spicy Flavor Fairy calmly analyzed, "The King won't execute Viscount Hereford over something like this. After all, he's a noble. In this world, nobles don't die over the lives of commoners, do they?"
What he said was true, but it didn't make anyone feel better.
Seeing the players so troubled, Hanjun suddenly said, "In that case, I have a mission for you."
The players' eyes were lit up.
A mission was good news—it meant a main storyline quest was available, and they could gain favor and earn more experience.
Hanjun said, "Viscount Hereford's backing is House Fortemps. As the saying goes, 'Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will never be defeated.' Why don't you go investigate House Fortemps's secrets? If House Fortemps falls, no one will be there to protect Viscount Hereford."
Hanjun had indeed given them a good idea.
The players who were eager to accept the mission, rushed out the door with excitement.
After everyone left, Hanjun tidied himself up a bit and slowly walked outside into the sunlight.
He had heard from Father Barry before that there was a ruined church in the Royal City of Orinthia, even more dilapidated than the one in Lindblum City.
It hadn't been visited in hundreds of years and was in a state of ruin.
Hanjun's goal this time was to check out the condition of this old church.
After all, his main purpose in coming to the Royal City of Orinthia was to restore the Church of Light.
He would have to find a way to repair the church, and with Thordan's help, there should be no problem.
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But when Hanjun arrived at the church ruins, he found that the overgrown weeds had mostly been cleared away.
From the marks on the ground, it seemed that someone had recently cleaned the area.
The church had been swept clean, and behind it was a large courtyard.
However, it now looked like it had become someone else's private garden.
Hanjun stood outside the courtyard and looked around but saw nothing out of the ordinary.
On his way back, Hanjun noticed that more workers had appeared at the church ruins.
They were moving things around, cleaning, and getting ready to give the church a complete makeover.
Hanjun pulled one of the workers aside and asked, "What are you doing here?"
The worker looked annoyed at first, but when he saw that it was a fifteen-year-old boy with a gentle and handsome face, he replied, "I don't really know. The king suddenly ordered us to repair the church and restore it to its original condition, so we're here to do the work."