The Dark Middle Ages.
Within a week, through extensive communication with villagers from a village 10 miles away from the small workshop and the occasional merchants who passed through the area, Li Lin made this visual assessment based on the level of Earth's civilization development.
Humans and beastmen each held sway over one side of the ancient continent, with the Ves River and the Besgen Mountain Range forming the boundary. To the east was the beastmen's Ross United Duchy, and to the west were the various human kingdoms. The world was in a precarious state of facing two major political and military factions, with sporadic outburst of hot wars.
The Ross United Duchy to the east of the boundary line was nominally a unified Beastman country, but from current fragmentary information, seemed more like a loose union of tribal clans, and could not be simply regarded as a unified country. Further intelligence was needed to verify this. But since Li Lin's dealings with them places this on a lower priority, it was postponed for the time being.
The situation of the relatively clear human kingdoms was almost clear. Although it was somewhat complex and there were many discrepancies and even contradictions in the information, by inference and simulation, the overall situation could be grasped:
The Plain Kingdom with the largest area in the ancient continent - Charlemagne;
The offshore land of the islanders - Alubeon;
The winter kingdom in the ice and snow forest - Lapland;
The mountainous kingdom in between towering mountains - Castile;
The Lake Country - Ceres, which is sparsely populated and overlooked;
The Holy City where the Papacy resides - Ymir;
Among the aforementioned human kingdoms, the island kingdom of Alubeon and Charlemagne located in the northwest of the continent have been in fierce conflict over the leadership of the human kingdoms. The issues of "who is the lord, who is the subject" even escalated into a struggle that lasted for 118 years, which can be understood as an archenemy relationship. The Castile in the southwest of the continent is a martial kingdom and is an ally of Alubeon. Lapland, located in the northeast of the continent, undertakes the responsibility of preventing the beastmen from crossing the border, and has a treaty with Charlemagne. Ceres is too weak to be taken seriously, and the small country with a population size in the hundreds is happy to maintain their perpetual neutrality. The most interesting one is Ymir.
In terms of territorial area, it is just a medium-sized city-state, the main population consists of clergymen and armies who do not engage in production. However, in reality, they have a huge influence on the entire human circle - Ymir, where no king or noble dares to underestimate its energy, not to mention ordinary people.
Having the right to interpret the Mother Goddess Mafa's teachings in the "Scriptures", the Church and its priests are indispensable from birth rites, listening to the crowd's confession and distress till the burial rites. A word from the Holy City carries more weight than the nobles for the poor, and the call for "Holy War" can lead countless ignorant people into the fiery pit - in this world that worships the Mother Goddess Mafa, in the circle of human survival. The "Mafa Holy Church" has such a profound influence. Although the Ross United Duchy also has a similar "Mafa Orthodox Church", its influence does not seem as powerful as that of the Papacy.
The Church plays a guiding role on the frontline of the confrontation between the two heavily fortified camps, and at the same time maneuvers the balance between countries behind the scenes to ensure its own interests are maximized.
Such an inference has a touch of conspiracy theory and lacks much evidence to support it.
The only barely convincing argument is this phenomenon: "Whenever the conflict between the human kingdoms on the continent is about to reach the critical point for minimum deterrence of the beastmen, there will be papal envoys shuttling between courts of the various countries to promote peace". Moreover, the interpretation of "the Papacy's efforts to coordinate the balance of power among the various parties without drawing fire to itself, ensuring a strategic advantage over the Ross United Duchy" stands true. Until further information is obtained, Li Lin didn't intend to delve too much into this matter.
There was bound to be conflict with the Church and various countries in his future plans, but there was plenty of time and still much to do.
"To be able to maintain this stalemate for over a thousand years, should they be praised for their extraordinary patience or is it just too boring? It could be a research topic."
Faded poor-quality parchment was folded together, the cold sigh became a summary of the knowledge review, and the slightly furrowed brows added a touch of humanity to the exquisite, yet lifeless face. The subtle expression changes were caught by the dwarf who was finishing a gem setting work, even Alberish, who had seen a lot was stunned.
In his opinion, the person sitting by the tea table was always amiable and perfect when dealing with people. Besides that, he seemed more like a moving, talking statue in the workshop. Full of beauty, yet lacking life's vitality.
Now, has the statue gained a soul and life?
Alberish, who has dealt with countless jewelry crafts, had this feeling, yet faintly felt that was not the case.
The inexplicable intuition was sometimes astonishingly accurate, but more often not. He shook his head, throwing out this strange thought that was eerily close to the truth.
What's called the "true story behind the scenes" was simply an emotion simulation test.
Speaking of which, he always did well. "Friendly young man", "understanding", "respectful towards the elderly", "courteous", "willing to help others", these types of good impressions had been basically established. The villagers of Shafar Village near here maintained a favorable impression of "the apprentice Alberish has taken in", which lived up to expectations. Currently, public opinion guidance and intelligence operations could only be used for simple intelligence collection and business expansions. If anything more was desired, the Inquisitor from the Church might come knocking soon.