"Mr Fool is far more reliable than that stupid Sea Snake."
"I can only say I'll do my best…" Klein naturally knew that Lynn was comforting him. He sighed without making any promises but began calculating how he could assist the Resistance.
He would still restrain the actions of the Sea God Church, preventing them from carrying out those primitive and bloody practices. At the same time, he would also help the rebels resist the colonizers who oppressed them.
Seeing Mr. Fool deep in thought, Lynn couldn't help but smile and said, "Actually, you can talk to the Church of Storms about this. Don't forget, Archbishop Kottman received a divine message to fully support us. This could naturally include supporting the Sea God Church after everything is over…"
"In the end, the Church doesn't care whether the rulers of the Rhosid Archipelago are from Loen Kingdom or the local population. Their only concern is faith. In the past, the Sea God Church had no backing and was competing with the Church of Storms for believers. So naturally, the Storm Church suppressed them. But now that we have their backing, we can negotiate."
Klein's eyes lit up at first, but he hesitated. "But the Sea God Church will still compete with the Church of Storms for believers in the future…"
"It's fine. They will accept it grudgingly." Lynn patted Klein on the shoulder. "Besides, we're not trying to push the faith of Storms out of the Rhosid Archipelago. It's just that each church will compete to spread their teachings in their own way."
Klein glanced at Lynn after hearing this. Although Lynn didn't explain why the Lord of Storms would have to tolerate it, Klein recalled what Mr. Door had mentioned about Lynn's past "deeds." In that moment, Klein understood something.
'I hope the Lord of Storms is fine.' While praying for Lord of Storm, Klein's brain was also working fast, thinking about how to approach the Storm Church for negotiations.
He wasn't naive enough to think that with the support of the Storm Church, the Resistance could immediately defeat the Loen military and achieve their goal of self-governance for the Rhosid Archipelago. After all, the Loen military wasn't weak, and the Storm Church didn't have complete control over Loen's actions.
Klein couldn't expect the Storm Church to outright oppose the Loen military either. Not suppressing the rebels and offering some aid was probably the most they could hope for.
But no matter what, this would be much better than their original situation—essentially removing one of the two major obstacles in their way.
...
As it turned out, Lynn's assessment was correct. Even though the Lord of Storms' followers might have been inwardly frustrated enough to want to smite someone with lightning, when Klein and Lynn explained their intentions, not a single bolt came down.
Klein's own assumptions were also accurate. After hearing their proposal, the Church of Storms grudgingly agreed to let the Sea God Church grow and spread its teachings legally. They also agreed to provide some assistance to the Resistance and the Sea God Church.
However, when it came to the question of returning the Rhosid Archipelago to the local people for self-governance, the church were clear in their response. "If you can get the Governor's Office to back down, the Rhosid Archipelago will be yours. Otherwise, unless you want the Storm Church to go to war with the Loen military, I can't decide this alone," Archbishop Kottman said coldly. If emotions could affect the temperature, the area around him would have frozen solid.
This wasn't surprising. For Kottman, not only had he lost what he thought was a sure thing, but now he was being asked to help the Sea God Church compete with his own for believers and to support the rebels against Loen's colonizers. Honestly, it was as if they were asking him to stab himself. The fact that he hadn't already struck them down with lightning was a sign of his self-restraint.
Jahn Kottman's statement wasn't merely to make things difficult for them either. Unlike in the original storyline, where the Loen military had been significantly weakened by the death of George III and the ensuing war, the current Loen military and monarchy, while still weaker than the major churches, were far from powerless. They had nearly installed a Black Emperor, after all.
Given the circumstances, while the Storm Church held significant influence in the Rhosid Archipelago, Archbishop Kottman couldn't entirely ignore the Loen military unless the two sides were ready for an all-out confrontation.
"The Governor's Office of the Rhosid Archipelago, huh…" Lynn rubbed his chin thoughtfully, as if recalling something amusing. "Actually, I wouldn't mind paying them a visit. I wonder if the Bitch Tree is also looking to have a child with me…"
'What are you even talking about?' Klein gave Lynn a peculiar look.
Lynn glanced at him, then laughed and patted Klein's shoulder. "Don't look at me like that. You almost fathered a child with it yourself."
Klein: ?
Klein: !!!
Even though Lynn's words were cryptic, Klein quickly understood that he was referring to something that might have happened in the original timeline.
And because he understood, Klein found himself feeling genuinely creeped out.
"Hahaha!" Lynn laughed loudly before looking at Kottman, who was frowning and giving them a look that seemed to say, "What nonsense are you talking about?" Lynn smiled and said, "But for the sake of a certain evil god's well-being, I'll stay out of it. However, Mr Kottman, you might want to warn Admiral Amyrius to watch out for the little cult his lover follows. They worship a genuine evil god."
Hearing this, Archbishop Kottman's frown deepened.
Lynn didn't offer any further explanation, only smiled.
He wasn't planning to meet with Admiral Amyrius personally. After all, unlike Archbishop Kottman, Amyrius didn't have the authority to decide whether the Rhosid Archipelago should be returned to its people. That decision rested with the higher-ups in the Loen military, or even the Loen monarchy.
In fact, if Kottman were only thinking of his own interests, he probably wouldn't have had the authority to decide either. But with the Lord of Storms himself grudgingly allowing it, there were no further obstacles from that side.
Lynn's solution was simple: since the decision was in the hands of the Loen monarchy, he would go directly to them to settle the matter.
After all, he was planning to cause trouble for them anyway!
(End of Chapter)
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