A Guide to Becoming a God Starting from a Monastery

"She's... the Archduke's daughter?" Thomas didn't believe it. Although he had never met the Archduke, a daughter of the Archduke... even if illegitimate, would at least be a Grand Master of the Knights Templar! Or perhaps the abbess of a church... or even a wealthy monastery.

The position of the judge is still a little bit off.

Furthermore, daughters were important political resources and crucial tools for marriage alliances. No lord would send his daughter to such a position. Politicians should make the best use of their resources.

"That's a little short, but not by much. Her father is one of the most famous warriors in Kiev, and even the Grand Duke would give in." The clerk sighed. "Neither the Patriarch of the Church nor the higher-ups of the Knights Templar dare to offend him."

"From...a prominent family?" Thomas was a little surprised.

"Do you know about protecting the country?"

"I know. Is she a protector of the country? Or is her father a protector of the country?" Thomas was very curious. The teacher once said that in this era, at least officially, there was no protector of the country.

"Even if it's not the Protectorate, it's pretty close," the clerk said. "And the family is quite powerful."

"Dear brother, why do I feel like you are hiding so much from me?" Thomas pressed on.

"Brother Thomas," the clerk's eyes flickered. "Now that the matter has been settled, there's nothing else to do. You can go to Sister Prynne's residence to learn more about the rest of the matter."

Section 14 Changing Positions 3

The White Inquisitor's residence was in a city adjacent to Kiev.

According to the standards of Thomas' previous life, it can be understood as a county under the city of Kiev, or a town under the county of Kiev.

It depends on what standards you use to judge.

Logically, where would the Inquisitor be stationed? Shouldn't they be traveling around, searching for heretics and pagans? But that didn't matter. All rules restrict those who follow them; those who don't follow them won't be restricted by anything.

This Judge Bai Lan is obviously not a man who follows the rules.

She has the capital to break the rules.

This subsidiary city is far away from Kiev and it takes half a day to get there by horseback.

The land of Russia is vast. If it were in Bohemia, it would be almost the distance between two counties.

But Thomas didn't go straight over.

What happened today made him smell some kind of crisis, especially the sympathy in those people's eyes.

This is not as simple as changing jobs!

He regretted that he had spent most of his time in the library reading and searching for secret information, but neglected to build connections. So at this critical moment, he found that he could not find a suitable source of information.

But then again, without the ability to predict the future, who would have thought that such a thing would happen?

I randomly asked a few people I knew, but all I got was some absurd, even contradictory, information. It was clearly all just rumors. It was hard to disbelieve them, but also hard to believe them completely.

If he had to say it, he knew the woman's nickname: "Horror Rose".

There was only a wrong name, not a wrong nickname. This information made Thomas even more uneasy.

Finally, he had no other choice but to prepare another bag of gold coins and go to the deacon in the steward's office again.

After all, the household registration of all the knights is in the steward's office, so he must know a lot that others don't know.

The steward's house was quite far from Thomas's residence, so Thomas led his horse out. After a few steps out of the door, he met a stranger.

A young man who was slightly younger than Thomas, about seventeen or eighteen years old, was also leading a horse.

Thomas figured he was eighteen, but this guy wasn't necessarily.

The young man wore a robe over his armor, but his robe was different from Thomas's.

Thomas's robe has a cross painted in the middle, and around the cross are sunflowers, a trident (the family emblem of the Grand Duke of Kiev), and a sword, representing his status as a formal member of the Knights Templar.

This person's burqa is just a sunflower.

It's clear at a glance that this person is the lowest level of the Knights Templar... a sergeant!

In other armies, they are considered grassroots backbones, lower-level officers. But in religious knight orders, sergeants are the bottom layer.

The kind that has no hope of getting promoted or getting rich, but is destined to take the blame and die.

Usually it is held by a person who is not of noble birth.

As for ordinary soldiers... at least this Knight Order didn't have any. They would need to borrow troops from the Grand Duke or recruit mercenaries.

Although Thomas was actually born into a peasant family, he had a letter of recommendation. With the letter of recommendation, he was tacitly considered a knight. Although he was at the bottom of the aristocratic system, he was still considered a noble.

In this era, the aristocratic systems of different countries were mutually recognized. However, the evaluation criteria for nobility appointments varied slightly, and these differences could lead to bugs. For example, Thomas was currently the beneficiary of such a bug.

This person's horse is also a level lower than Thomas's.

An old horse.

Although Thomas's horse is a relatively inferior prairie horse in terms of breed, it is definitely a good young horse.

This man's horse is one of those old horses that has long passed its prime - the kind that only truly poor people would use.

"Are you... Brother Thomas?" the man asked.

"Yes, I am." Thomas asked doubtfully. "What can I do for you?"

"My name is Janos," the young man said excitedly. "I was assigned to Inquisitor Bai Lan... They said you were assigned to the same position?"

"Ah... yes, I received the notice too." Thomas replied.

He noticed the look on the other side. Was it that...excited?

It's not fear, it's excitement.

Thomas became even more confused.

"Are you leaving now?" Janos asked, looking at the horse Thomas was leading. "Please allow me to follow you."

Well... Thomas really wanted to say that he wanted to go to the steward's office, but he felt that it was a bit inappropriate to say so.

Well, it doesn't matter if he doesn't go. After all, the situation is already established, and whether he likes it or not, he has to report to that woman.

To be honest, no matter how much you know, it is not as good as seeing it with your own eyes.

You can also save this money!

"Do you know Judge Prynne?" Thomas asked.

"I know! A very famous inquisitor." Yanos said.

"You seem really excited?" Thomas asked, puzzled. "I heard she often suffers casualties under her command."

"Her style is very... unique," Yanos said.

"Ah, how is it unique?"

"I have a fellow countryman who worked for her," Llanos said. "He retired last year due to injury."

"Ah, seriously injured?"

"But he told me that he served under the Inquisitor for two years and earned more money than he could spend in a lifetime!"

Thomas was a little surprised. Was this why Janos was so excited?

Fortune and wealth are achieved through risk, and this is something that is easy to understand.

The two men rode out of Kiev together.

They chatted as they walked. Thomas had gotten a lot of information about Bai Lan, but he had also gotten a lot of information about Janos.

Just as he thought, this person was a local resident.

His family was not aristocratic, at most he was a middle peasant or rich peasant.

When he was young, he paid to find a coach, studied for a few years, and then joined the Knights directly after he became an adult.

He joined the Knights Templar for about the same time as Thomas, just a few months, and was also a newbie.

It's just wishful thinking to say that he has lofty ambitions. He actually just wants to be a soldier and get paid.

If there is a chance to bring honor to the family, that would be even better. If not, just hang around for a few decades, retire and buy some land in the countryside to spend the rest of your life.

So it’s a bit exciting to have a position that is said to make you rich.

This man's martial arts skills are not bad, having passed the assessment of the Knights. I guess he is at the level of a mid-level or lower-level warrior.

Although there was not much information about Bai Lan, Thomas knew another thing besides her income.

That is, if there is any dangerous work, or any work that other judges think is dangerous, they will throw it to Bai Lan.

It is obvious that as an outlier among heretics, this female inquisitor was marginalized.

Maybe that's why this happened.

There is another thing, that is, this inquisitor named Bai Lan has a magic sword.

In this era, it is a very rare thing.

Section 15 New Position 1

Thomas saw Judge Prynne again at dusk.

Although he did not measure the distance, Thomas felt that this was the farthest satellite city from the city of Kiev itself.

The city itself is alright, of a decent size, with perhaps ten thousand inhabitants, and has everything a city should have.

There are taverns, brothels, hotels, theaters, various craftsmen, and various shops. Compared with Kiev itself, the difference is also in scale and grade.

Outside the city there is a castle-like building - that is the prison of Kiev.

It was said that a detachment of the Grand Duke's troops was stationed in the prison.

Perhaps for this reason, there was no military garrison within the city proper. Certainly, there was no city defense force or self-defense force. There was a vicher, the city's self-governing council, but only a handful of militiamen stood guard at the city gates.

Rather than being a tributary of Kiev, it seems more like it was built based on a prison.

Bai Lan's residence is a medium-sized building, not a big building, but larger than a small building. It is right next to the church in the city.

Rather than being the judge's residence, it looked more like a villa belonging to a wealthy family, the kind that could house dozens of people.

Thomas remembered that an Inquisitor usually had an elite team of about ten people under his command.

As for Bai Lan's subordinates, either their living conditions are very comfortable, or there are probably about thirty or forty of them.

"Hello, Judge Bai Lan, I am Thomas, an apprentice knight of the Knights Templar, reporting to you." Thomas reported to the other party honestly, but his eyes unconsciously turned to the other party's sword.

Magic sword...a rare thing.

This time, Bai Lan looked Thomas up and down, and Thomas also had the opportunity to look at his direct superior.

She doesn't seem like a typical Mao girl, perhaps a mixed-race? But her figure is indeed well-proportioned, with the well-proportioned and agile physique unique to martial artists.

"Good to be here! It's time for the night patrol, so don't wear this knightly robe," he said. "Go to the warehouse and get a set of equipment. I heard you're skilled in archery in addition to swordsmanship? Remember to get a bow and arrows, too!"

Bai Lan was pleased with Thomas's height and sturdy build and nodded slightly. It seemed that she was lucky to have found a new Knight Order member, and a newbie with good skills.

"Yes!" Thomas said. "Anything else?"

"Don't call me Judge from now on. Just call me Captain," Bai Lan said. "Also, from now on, you are my subordinate. You must obey me. Do you understand?"

"As you command, Captain!"

Once, a deputy captain wanted to get gilded from her, but he disobeyed orders and was severely injured by her sword on the spot and pulled back. After that, when she was short of people, she had to take the initiative to ask for them from the Knights, or even recruit them.

Because no one would come to her voluntarily.

"Okay, someone come here." Bai Lan turned around and called out.

Two soldiers came over, wearing leather armor that seemed custom-made?

"This is your new deputy captain. Take him to the warehouse to get his equipment. Also, explain the basic rules and what we have to do every day." She said coldly.

Thomas quickly received a set of standard leather armor and a bow and arrow, and walked out again.

Janos was a step slower than Thomas, but just as fast.

Bai Lan had brought more than thirty soldiers and gathered them in the courtyard.

There really are thirty or forty people!

Following standard procedure, the new vice-captain Thomas and new member Janos were introduced to everyone present.

After introducing each other, Thomas was surprised to find that these more than 30 people were all (self-proclaimed) core members.

Of course, a few civilian staff such as logistics and record keeping are not counted.