Heroes of Might and Magic: Grand Consul

Chapter 136 Scheming in the Mysterious Sanctuary
The high priest brought not only two treasures, but also resources promised by the kingdom: 20000 gold, 40 raw stones, and 20 rare resources each.

As a bishop of the Church of Light, Jonia possesses the teleportation key to the Boundary Spirit, and by paying a certain price, she can directly send resources into the council space of Langlit Castle.

It is only thanks to being a parliamentary building that it has the function of receiving and transmitting data; ordinary government buildings can only store data.

Boundary stones have always served various purposes and have been the foundation of the kingdom's rule. Without the areas demarcated by the spirits of the land, their cities would be no different from wild cities.

Without order, a castle ceases to be a force.

The once empty underground warehouse became noticeably fuller after acquiring dozens of boxes of resources.

With winter fast approaching, the plains are still ravaged by war, and multiple harvests have been lost. Even with the high yields of food in the Hero World, some areas are still facing famine.

Maggie could only send caravans to the western heart of the kingdom to purchase large quantities of grain for winter storage.

Unexpectedly, major grain producers in the hinterland hoarded their grain and raised prices to dozens of times the usual rate. Even so, ordinary nobles could not buy enough grain and clothing and could barely make ends meet.

I heard that the second prince of Finaxia has gone to the trading city of Kaunaston to deal with unscrupulous merchants and regulate the flow of goods, but so far there has been little success.

Thinking about it, it makes sense. Cross-border trade is a huge business with extremely high investment, which is beyond the reach of ordinary nobles. The financial backers are the kingdom's great nobles, or even grand dukes who are related to the royal family.

To lay a hand on them? Congress would immediately erupt in a storm, and all the supplies and manpower to support the front lines would be wasted. How could this national war be fought then?
Left with no other option, Maggie had to ask the High Priest for help. Jonia then wrote a letter and sent it to Corneliuston, asking the believers to allocate some grain to trade with Longleatburg at the normal price.

Even someone as esteemed as the Bishop of Light could only use his personal connections to gain certain advantages.

The trading city is backed by a complex web of powerful forces. Even if high-ranking figures in the kingdom were to speak up and demand some concessions, it wouldn't solve the fundamental problem. If pushed too far, they might simply walk away, causing the entire kingdom's trading market to shut down—that would be a real disaster.

"These parasites of the nation, Elton will be destroyed by them sooner or later!"

Jonia supported the bone-cutting treatment. He had always been a hardliner in the religion, but unfortunately, the country's political problems were too deep-seated, and the royal family dared not take any major action. In the event of a war between the two countries, they could only postpone their actions.

Of course, the high priest wouldn't complain to his subordinates; he would simply distribute the rewards and then move on to the next place to bestow titles.

Before leaving, Jonia and Sumu introduced some of the cult's concepts and the benefits of joining.

Joining this path was no ordinary matter of faith; it was a baptism of light, leading to entry into the papacy as a full-time priest. This path was clearly unsuitable for nobles. Therefore, the Church established unofficial positions, the Holy Lords, who could serve the Church of Light and also possessed the power of nobles.

The Church of Light is characterized by its special baptism of castle troops, which suppresses dark and undead creatures, increases the damage of some spells, and grants them Holy Shield or Undying Light to prevent dispel spells from taking effect.

Overall, the Church of Light plays a significant role among many religions, especially among the lower classes, where it has a very strong reach.

Given that Su Mu follows the ruling bureaucracy, he is unlikely to join the cult. However, once his power grows, developing a religion is a viable option.

The two had a pleasant conversation, and the high priest left him a token, instructing him to contact the Tribunal Priest Lean Regan for assistance if needed, as he was stationed in a city in the western hinterland.

To say that the High Priest admired Su Mu was not quite accurate, but Jonia was willing to show some goodwill to someone who was favored by the Knight Commander.

The Trial Priest Team is a Level 5 unit that has undergone the baptism of light. It is very powerful, and this unit may be particularly effective in Su Mu's attempt to deal with the Undead Grand Duke.

Sumu and others escorted the high priest out of Langlit Castle, and the people worshipped him devoutly.

It must be said that in times of hardship and adversity, the power of faith often sustains people's hope.

With the High Priest's personal certification of the Viscount of Thorns, the nobles of Langlit Castle looked at Su Mu with much greater respect. After all, they were deeply influenced by the doctrines of the Light Church and highly regarded its fairness and universality. Su Mu's ability to obtain this honor demonstrated his strength. The arrival of the High Priest of Light not only brought treasures and resources but also legitimized Su Mu's reputation, and more importantly, the boundary stone.

Five truckloads of boundary marker stones were transported to the military area of ​​Langlitburg, ready to be sent to Kuraki at any time.

The building behind the Internal Affairs Hall is the Parliament, which requires a large number of boundary stones. The High Priest has solved half of the problem. The remaining task is to make another meritorious application and retrieve the boundary stones previously left in the ruins. Then, the construction of the Parliament will not be far off.

Su Mu even speculated that there were more boundary stones in the ancient ruins, enough for him to build a council.

[Council (Level 3): Obtain tax payments and refine spell power, earning 2000 gold coins daily.]

Towns are allowed to build castles, level 3 magic guilds, temples, temples of light, docks, and supply warehouses.

Resources required: 5000 gold coins, boundary stone

Unable to build advanced temples and equestrian training grounds, and without the corresponding mountain fortresses, the parliament can only wait for the parliament to build them in order to obtain priests and champion knights.

After upgrading advanced units, their combat power increases significantly, but unfortunately, the cost of building a parliament is too high. In addition, the kingdom controls titles and boundary stones to a certain extent, so not many can be built.

Temples are special religious buildings. Previously, they even required approval from the Church of Light to be built smoothly, and the church needed to send its own priests. Therefore, even if lords were able to build temples, most would prefer to storm the council and plan the highest-ranking troops for their castles rather than accumulating monks.

After the war with Isildur began, the temple delegated the authority to build temples. Any territory with a council could build temples without reporting to the Church. On the contrary, the Church of Light was willing to send a powerful priest to help. Whether the lords used these priests was another matter entirely.

In addition, building temples can reduce the resource consumption of the Mysterious Sanctuary, which is Su Mu's real purpose.

【Mystic Sanctuary: This is where you can train Mystic Prayers and promote monks or mages to Mystic Prayers (promotion does not consume a quota).

Building costs: 15000 gold, 20 logs, 20 stones, 10 gems, 10 mercury, 10 sulfur, 10 crystals; Arcane Map or Philosopher's Stone (if the town has a temple or mage tower, the resource cost can be reduced by half).

Basic output: 3/week;
Recruitment cost: 750 gold coins per person.

【Mysterious Prayer: (Neutral Special Tier 6 Unit): Attack 18, Defense 12, Ammo 36, Damage 12-18, Health 30, Speed ​​9, Small Size.

Element: None. Ranged unit.

Arcane Power: Allows free switching between magical and physical damage (magical damage attribute is based on the hero's mastery of the element; if multiple masteries are available, the hero can choose freely). Melee combat damage remains unaffected and is not affected by walls.

Echo of Prayer: Immediately upon entering the battlefield, grants a blessing or curse to surrounding troops (requires the hero to learn the corresponding magic, with priority given to Advanced Elemental Mastery, and upgrade to a group spell), and applies the curse again at intervals (approximately every 3 rounds of attack and defense).

Sanctuary Protection: When hit by a critical strike or a fatal skill, there is a 40% chance to dodge the damage.

The strength of the Arcane Prayer is comparable to that of a Tier 6 unit. Originally, it would have required the cooperation of several special buildings and a cult to build.

Kuraki possesses Forrest, which under certain circumstances allows for a higher overall level of city construction, making it one or two levels higher. This is one of their greatest advantages, and they must make good use of it.

The Mysterious Star Chart and the Philosopher's Stone are both special treasures of the Tower, somewhat similar to the Heavenly Gift Components, except that they are only for a certain level of unit in the Tower and can only be purchased from the Tower's treasure shop.

Previously, things were a bit difficult, and he considered relying on trading caravans to purchase the items. However, now that he was facing the Void God Cult, whose star gates could only be built with special materials, he was certain they possessed such materials. He planned to make some arrangements, catch a big fish, and exchange it for the treasures he needed.

He didn't want to wage a major war against the Arcane Empire, but he had to make it clear that the Hillin Plains were not something they could touch.

(End of this chapter)