When the Saintess Arrives, No King Exist

"Yes! Of course, there is!"

Horn glanced around at everyone present, raising two fingers: "We have two examples. The first is introducing external forces, like Duchess Hemashi bringing in the Great Monarch Norn (from the ancient barbarians, with dual belief), or Catherine bringing in the Secret Faction from Black Snake Bay."

"We can't do that." Jeanne knew well, "We ourselves are not strong enough, no external forces would support us for free."

With a slightly surprised glance at Jeanne, Horn continued, "The second option is to slowly cultivate our own power internally, like the Blago Monastery in Kasha County and the Secret Faction in Black Snake Bay."

"Still not feasible, we only have three months, while it took Dean Juanuo two generations to reach this point, preaching for thirty years, and the Secret Faction has a history almost as long as the Empire." Qianqian retorted.

After listening and thinking for a while, Busak's smile turned bitter, "For us, the former requires channels, the latter requires time, and both require economic support and political capital, none of which we have."

Horn has only a clockwork gun, the Holy Father's bloodline, and an elusive reputation.

The clockwork gun still faces issues of power, firing frequency, and the number of shots, while the Holy Father's bloodline is uncertain. Horn himself doesn't know when to spread the Holy Father's favor or whom to give it to.

"Don't be so pessimistic." Horn continued to analyze, "If we look beyond the phenomena to the essence, we'll find that their essence is introducing authority independent of the Church and Empire, based on material security."

"Take the Secret Faction as an example, they don't consider themselves Imperial People, nor the people of Miseria, so they don't fear the Empire's Knights and Priests.

What they are afraid of is the extraordinary itself, not the Knights.

And our refugees, when facing the Empire and the Church, don't see them as enemies, but as the righteous side, as if their rebellion is a mistake.

Even when fighting, it's just promoting surrender with battle, using war to force the Church to accept their surrender."

This widespread mindset is a manifestation of the lack of cohesion within the Salvation Army.

The lack of cohesion, lack of confidence in the future, and a deep-seated fear of the Imperial Church are the biggest crises within the Salvation Army now.

Simply put, the refugees are unwilling to give up their current interests in exchange for greater future benefits or for the greater good.

"Isn't this a dead end then?"

"Not at all."

All this time, Horn had been pondering these issues by combining his interaction with the refugees and the Public Register Farmers.

If traits like unwillingness to sacrifice oneself, a desire to defy normal practices, unrealistic fantasies about reality, unscrupulous methods, and refined self-interest are seen as insect-like qualities.

Then eliminating individual insect-like qualities is almost impossible, but suppressing collective unconscious insect-like qualities is doable.

There are many things that can suppress collective insect-like qualities. In Horn's view, what suits the current level of world civilization is the imagined community.

Take a simple example of the imagined community, "Even the most impoverished farmer would stand taller before a witch when he thinks of Miseria's strength and purity."

The Church of Miseria is a classic example of an imagined community.

When it comes to individuals, it's about what the refugees identify as.

Are they Thousand River Valley People? Or Imperial People? Or followers of the Church of Miseria?

Clearly, the refugees' identification as believers surpasses their identity as Thousand River Valley People, or even as humans.

With Angels descended, how can one not believe in the divine?

As a follower of Miseria, are my actions blasphemous? If last night's actions were wrong, should I continue down the wrong path?

"Transferring from one imagined community to another is relatively simple, and there might even be a zeal among converts, but constructing an imagined community is a very long process. We don't have enough time to construct a new imagined community, and other imagined communities are mostly on the side of the Church and Empire."

Horn raised a finger: "But Juanuo gave us an inspiration. You see, although the Juanuo Faction's opinion is against the Thousand River Valley Church, why are the villagers still willing to follow them?

Because in the villagers' eyes, they still see them as part of the Miseria system, representing authority.

In other words, it's much harder for a Priest to write a new scripture than to distort the old one."

Carrying the symbol of the cross while opposing the cross? Anyone can do that.

Horn's Church of Miseria has been altered beyond recognition by him, and now he just needs to continue changing it to suit his vision.

The common people have been so deceived by the Church that they no longer know what the Church of Miseria truly is, so Horn can say whatever he wants about it.

Their blind faith in the Church of Miseria, originally used by the Church to suppress them, now provides an opportunity for Horn.

Just as Miseria could swing her chains to vanquish sinners, Horn could also use this shackle to crush the head of the Church.

"Let me be frank, our Pope Country must continue, and perhaps the Holy Father may even descend." At this point, Horn's bitter smile slowly faded, "However, whether our Holy Father and the Church's Holy Father are the same is another question."

"Are you suggesting we establish a new sect of the Church of Miseria?" Armand gently asked, "Then how do we determine our doctrine?"

"There are many doctrines, like 'equality for all,' rejection, whoever we need to attract, we add whatever doctrine... but this issue isn't urgent, we can take it slowly."

"Then, Sir, how should we communicate with the refugees and believers?"

"Isn't it simple?" Horn shrugged, "If the Church is in such a state, there must be a devil before the Holy Father's throne. After the Blue-Blooded Orphan, the devil has already emerged, one is the Duke, and another is Archbishop Constans of Feiliu Castle."

"Not mentioning the Pope?"

"Not yet, the refugees can't handle that for now. After Constans, we can then accuse the Pope. For now, just throw mud."

René suddenly asked: "But if it's as you said, what if Johnny VIII sells out Constans? Won't the refugees betray us again?"

"As long as we withstand the military pressure, the probability of them rebelling again is very low." Horn stepped forward and patted René on the head, "The refugees' lack of confidence fundamentally stems from military insecurity. As long as we can, in three months, train a force capable of defeating the Extraordinary Knights head-on, instead of relying on a witch's army, this won't be an issue.

By then, they will genuinely shout 'Unjust people slay the unjust.'

René nodded half-understanding, and after Horn's departure, his eyes sparkled with a mysterious light: "...I have some doubts."

Turning around, looking at everyone present, especially Armand and Jeanne, the frontline top brass, Horn said seriously:

"During this time, your job is to propagate this, and don't say we're opposing the Church or Empire. Our actions should be painted as an internal factional conflict within the Church, aiming to purge the devils within!"

"But this doesn't seem sustainable, does it?" Armand said hesitantly.

Horn shook his head: "It doesn't matter if it's sustainable; the priority is to soothe people's minds. We have other means up our sleeve."