When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

Chapter 1122 The Dawn of New Life: The Federal Republic and Jeanne and Love

At dawn on November 11, 1456, the morning mist, like a veil mixed with ice, enveloped the town of Riverwood in the southern part of Dawn Island.

In the town square, the cobblestones were covered with a thin layer of frost, and they crunched underfoot.

Despite the freezing weather, nearly two hundred people are crammed here.

Their breath gathered into wisps of mist in the cold air, only to be quickly dispersed by the draft.

On the east side of the square were farmers and helpers dressed in coarse cloth jackets, as well as several veteran Christian guards carrying clockwork guns.

To the west were small merchants dressed in fine woolen robes, stewards of old noble families, and even two guild leaders wearing feathered hats.

They carried bronze hand warmers, their boots gleaming, and looked impatient.

“I’m telling you, we’ve been waiting for ages. I’m afraid the Holy Alliance is going to pull another trick?” Bakery owner Tamler wrapped his mink vest tighter around himself. “They said they’d reduce our rent, but the tax collectors are coming here more often than the Leia people.”

Standing on the east side, farmer Matt immediately retorted: "They were measuring the land. Is it because the Holy Alliance is stabilizing grain prices and suppressing your bread prices that you've been holding a grudge until now?"

"What benefits did you receive to speak to him like that?"

"They accepted me. My youngest son got into the literacy class run by the Holy Alliance. He won't have to be illiterate like me. Guess what? It's free and they even provide meals!"

"Can literacy put food on the table?" Tamler sneered. "Once the Holy Alliance divides your land, you won't even have enough to eat. What do you peasants know about the treacherous nature of politics?"

"Politics is like selling us moldy bread?" Puck, a veteran of the Apostolic Guard, slammed his wind-up gun on the ground. "I think you're just a remnant of the Vallée Ten!"

"Hey, what do you mean?"

"Don't make false accusations! I could say you're the Shadow Man!"

The people on both sides were immediately in an uproar; this was no casual accusation.

If they find fault with something, they might be interrogated by the legendary Chikara!

Amid the commotion, the two sides drew closer and closer, hurling increasingly vulgar insults.

Just as a fight was about to break out, a crisp sound of horses' hooves suddenly came from the town entrance.

"Tattoo!"

Although the volume was not loud, it instantly drowned out the noise in the square.

Everyone looked toward the town entrance, where a messenger in a gray uniform was galloping on horseback through the morning mist.

He waved a roll of newspaper with the ink still wet in his hand, his voice already hoarse from shouting: "Great news! Great news! The Valeris Ten have been defeated!"

The square fell silent for a moment, then erupted into a clamor of discussion, like a spark falling into a haystack.

Tamler's face turned pale instantly, and he subconsciously took half a step back, while Matt leaned forward, his ears perked up.

The messenger reined in his horse and nearly fell on the frosty ground as he jumped off.

The farmers helped him up, and he staggered to his feet. Holding up his newspaper, he shouted, "Valeris, Gredin, and Gatz, the three ringleaders, have all been hanged! Right there in the square of Longbow Castle, yesterday at noon!"

"Good!" Puck was the first to cheer, raising his wind-up pistol above his head. "These traitors deserved this fate!"

The farmers cheered, a few helpers whistled, and even raised the black and red flag of the Holy Alliance.

It was sewn from coarse cloth stained with ink, and the edges were still frayed.

The man from the west was ashen-faced. Tamler gritted his teeth and cursed, "A bunch of rioters! I think Dawn Island is doomed sooner or later!"

Before the messenger could catch his breath, he raised the newspaper again and shouted: "Newspaper! Newspaper! Under the leadership of Her Majesty the Great Saint Joan of Arc, 715 delegates have voted to approve it!"

"Dawn Island's Longbow Keep, Waterwheel County, Wonyu City... and all other districts are united to form a new nation—the Dawn Federal Republic!"

"A republic?" Matt was stunned for a moment, then realized what he meant and slapped his thigh, exclaiming, "It's our own country!"

"Patriarch of the Republic, Her Excellency Joan of Arc has been confirmed by vote! The Permanent Deputy Patriarch is Her Excellency Bradak..."

Before the messenger could finish speaking, the cheers completely drowned out his voice.

Unable to find anyone to celebrate with, the men in town simply lifted the messenger up and tossed him into the air, startling him into screaming.

Several old women drew the character "屮" while chanting "May the Holy Father bless you," and some peasant women even shed tears.

Seeing this, Temler and several other Franz followers tried to sneak away, but were stopped by the farmers after only a few steps.

"What? Aren't you going to congratulate our republic?" the farmers asked with a smile.

Tamler blushed, muttered incomprehensible words, and awkwardly pushed his way through the crowd and ran away.

Behind him, people burst into uncontrollable laughter.

Just as they were cheering, a convoy of several hundred people was slowly moving forward on the main road outside the town.

Inside the carriage, Jeanne was leaning against the cushions, her fingers unconsciously stroking the sword at her waist.

That was the Holy Steel Sword that Horn had given her, with the word "Piety" engraved on the hilt.

Hearing the cheers outside, she was slightly taken aback, then lifted a corner of the curtain and listened intently.

In the morning mist, shouts of "Long live Lady Joan of Arc!" "Long live the Republic!" "Long live the Holy Grandson!" could be heard intermittently.

Her lips unconsciously curved upwards, and a hint of warmth flashed in her eyes.

The scene from a month ago kept replaying in her mind.

The farmers' representatives clutched their ballots, their hands trembling. Some of them were illiterate, so they had a monk read out the names on their ballots.

During the parliamentary debates, Braddak argued heatedly with the merchant-turned-senators. On the day of the election for Patriarch, when the vote counter read out Joan of Arc's name, the applause in the chamber nearly shook the dust off the roof.

Without even casting a vote, Jeanne's position as patriarch was officially appointed through cheers and applause.

This republic is still very young.

Most of the delegates were illiterate, and their arguments often went off-topic during the debates.

The tax system is not yet streamlined, and some counties are still paying taxes in kind.

Even the national emblem has not been decided yet. Some people suggested using a black and red flag, some wanted to use a white flag, and some wanted to use the Joan of Arc flag.

But however clumsy they may be now, this group of people who were once exploited and looked down upon by the nobles of Leia are now learning to manage their land and decide their own future.

Just like the struggling Holy Alliance back then.

The Holy Alliance's territory expanded by at least 300,000 square kilometers and gained millions more people through this new republic.

Because the first national policy decree of the Dawn Federal Republic was to join the Holy Alliance.

“It seems that Dawn Island is really settled.” Vivian, sitting opposite, suddenly spoke, her voice tinged with weariness. “My mission is complete, it’s time to return to Thousand River Valley.”

Jeanne's smile vanished instantly: "What do you mean you've completed your mission? If it weren't for the fact that you're Pasric's widow, you'd be sitting in a prison van right now."

Vivian smiled, flicked her wrist slightly, and the iron chains rattled: "Then I really have to thank you for showing mercy."

She paused, then turned her gaze to the outside of the carriage.

A carriage followed behind, the outline of a black wooden coffin faintly visible in the morning mist, inside which was a vampire from the Soridor clan.

Once upon a time, decades ago, when Serfaye was still in Black Snake Bay.

Vivian was responsible for their communication, but this connection was severed when Serfaye disappeared.

Jeanne's eyes turned cold: "I still don't understand why you betrayed the Holy Alliance."

Pasric was a pioneer of the Holy Alliance, and you are his wife; you should have protected his legacy.

“Betrayal?” Vivian shook her head, a complex smile on her face. “The Holy Alliance is the achievement he values ​​most in his life. How could I betray him?”

If we're talking about betrayal, I betrayed the Soridor clan; otherwise, why would I have come to you to confess?

Jeanne frowned: "Then why are you passing messages to vampires? What kind of connection do you have with those blood-sucking monsters?"

Vivian was silent for a moment before slowly speaking: "Jeanne, the binary opposition between vampires and humans ended a hundred years ago."

The current royal court is neither the monster's lair that used to only suck blood, nor the loosely united clan federation that later compromised.

There is a great terror behind Serfaye; the Serfaye of the past and the Serfaye of the present may not be the same person at all.

Only her clan, the Soridor, knew her past, her weaknesses, and what she truly desired.

"So you used attending Pasric's funeral as a pretext to contact them?" Jeanne's voice rose a few decibels. "What is this if not betrayal? You betrayed your love for Pasric, you betrayed everything he did for the Holy Alliance!"

“Love?” Vivian repeated the word softly. “You know what? I’ve always thought of love as a religion, and marriage as the ritual of that religion.”

Pure love is the orthodox sect, harem is the divisive sect, and actively seizing someone else's partner is heresy.

Look, how similar this is to the Messianic religion?
The Messianic religion states that one must be baptized to be considered human, and those who are not baptized are heretics.

Love is the same; it must go through rituals like being moved and making promises to be considered true love. Otherwise, it's fake.

She looked at Jeanne, her gaze sharp enough to see through people's hearts: "Just like you and Saint-Sun Horn, you are always entangled in your feelings for each other, entangled in the Horn in your heart."

You hope he will only be good to you, that your relationship will be pure and untainted, and that he will love you as much as you love him.

Jeanne, have you ever considered that what you love might not be His Majesty Horn, but love itself?

Do you love the love itself, or Horn the person?

Vivi paused for a moment, then continued, "Pasric and I don't have that many moments of excitement."

He was busy supporting the Secret Service uprising, while I was busy delivering food to Black Snake Bay.

We might not see each other for three to five years at a time, and we rarely say "I love you," but we know that we are striving for the same goal.

Do we really need to rely on love to prove that we love each other?
Must we hold a grand ceremony to be considered pious towards the Father?
Can't we bypass these formalities and simply love and believe?

She looked at Jeanne with a gentle gaze: "You are a smart girl. You are better than many men at fighting and governing."

But you tend to get stuck on things and confine yourself to a framework.

You always feel that Horn doesn't love you enough, but he has to be responsible for the entire Holy Alliance. His love has never been just for you.

Jeanne opened her mouth, but couldn't come up with a single word.

She sat there, her fingers trembling slightly, as if trying to say, "I'm not."

But the words just wouldn't come out.

For some reason, she remembered how Horn had stayed up for days and nights for the reform of the Holy Alliance, and how he had given long and arduous debates in the council.

She recalled the way he looked at her; besides tenderness, there was also a heaviness in his eyes that she couldn't understand.

The morning mist gradually dissipated, and sunlight streamed through the car window, falling on Jeanne's face.

As she looked out the window at the fields passing by and at the farmers working in the distant fields, a sense of bewilderment, unlike anything she had ever felt before, welled up in her heart for the first time.

(End of this chapter)