Pioneer Lord: Starting From Daily Intelligence

Chapter 1012: Chapter 143: Governing Blue Mirror Territory and Aid from the Dwarf Tribes (Part 2)

”This land is very fertile, but it seems to lack effective crop rotation and composting techniques. The Goddess Reya has granted us the wisdom of harvest, and I hope to share it with everyone.”

After that, the simple Reya shrine that Sister Eira carried with her (a wooden carving of a cornucopia, wheat ears, and domestic fowl) was quickly set up in a corner of the abandoned granary. There was no compulsory worship, but every dawn, when Eira ground herbs there or taught farming, that calm, focused figure and the herbal fragrance permeating the air themselves formed a new, vibrant ”Holy Land,” silently drawing the villagers in—especially those women and elders tormented by illness and yearning to improve their livelihood.

And after a period of exchanges, the villagers also came to understand a little about the two Churches newly arrived in the village.

The Dawn Goddess Church is the Church that worships Reya. Reya is usually regarded as the Goddess of nature, harvest, family, and healing, and has broad influence in rural regions. She is a Goddess of plenty, but never indulgent; honor her appropriately and she will bring food, but she will never reward greed. She blesses lovers with romantic intimacy, rather than coercion or domination. Reya’s opposition to the Dark Prince Slaanesh is rooted in the distinction between generosity and indulgence.

Each year, Reya’s faithful proclaim the arrival of summer and the passing of Yurik’s Winter Rule. Then, as night falls, Reya yields the land to the Wolf God, because she knows that life must be allowed to rest if it is to be reborn in spring.

In the Nun’s depiction, Reya is a Goddess who walks barefoot above the wheat fields, often accompanied by handmaidens, Natural Spirits, and lesser Goddesses who serve her in the soil at her feet. Though Reya is a kindly Goddess, she is not as merciful as Shalya. Those who harm the young, neglect the land, or forget to offer sacrifices to Reya should be prepared to face a cold wrath.

The Sun Goddess Church is the Church that worships Violet, a Goddess of glorious war, civilization, military strategy, Warriors and officers. Her Church is devoted to the study and exploration of every extreme of the art of war, in order to cultivate the Old World’s most strategically minded military talents and to train the finest soldiers in military discipline.

Furthermore, the Order is devoted to collecting military-strategy texts from all over the world, and to unearthing those works that set forth ancient or foreign modes of warfare, tactical skills, and records of battles long lost. Every rediscovered, once-lost military book is treated as something no less than a sacred relic, and is fully copied and carefully translated.

Beyond daily military training, the faithful spend vast amounts of time reading, conducting tactical debates, and replaying classic campaigns. Of course, war on paper is ultimately only war on paper—the Sun Goddess Church knows this well, and all theory ought to be tested on flesh-and-blood battlefields. Thus, when war breaks out in the Old World, Knights and Priests go to the front, forecasting the ever-changing tides of battle, verifying the truth or error of theoretical knowledge, and recording those tactics never mentioned in any book. Finally—when it suits the Order’s interests, or when some side grossly defiles the Goddess’s ideal of glorious war—they themselves join one faction in the conflict.

Moreover, a number of Church Knight Orders such as the Flame Sun Knights have long maintained sizeable ranks of Ranger Knights. These men and women roam to the very ends of the Old World, learning through countless skirmishes on their travels, seeking instruction from every human strategist in the Old World worthy of respect, and extending a helping hand to those unable to protect themselves, thereby spreading Violet’s Divine values. Consequently, although strategic insight is the foundation on which every General in the Old World makes a living, the greatest strategists mostly come from Violet’s sect.

The Knight Veikem who had entered the village was precisely such a wandering Resident Knight, and he would remain in the village for the next year or two.

The villagers quickly felt the impact of the Blazing Sun Knight Veikem’s presence. He was like an invisible wall, severing the influence that the Manan Priest had once been able to exert. The Priest’s drunken rants and calls to war, under the Knight’s cold gaze, became pale, feeble, even laughable. Meanwhile, the health and hope brought by Reya’s Sister Eira swiftly drained away the Manann Church’s last remaining foundation—the villagers’ reliance on violence born from fear and hopelessness. The Monastery gate grew increasingly deserted; the old Priest either slunk away in shame, or could only reminisce about the past in his drunken dreams. The pillars of the old faith were swiftly crumbling, silently and without a sound.

At the same time, Knight Veikem was far from idle. He regularly patrolled the village’s outskirts on horseback, especially the forest’s edge. When a small, foolhardy Beastman raiding party tried to attack another village, he struck swiftly with only a handful of conscripted village lads, cleanly routed them, and brought back several ferocious Beastman heads to hang at the village entrance as a warning. This was more effective than any speech. For the first time, the villagers tangibly felt the safety of ”being protected,” though that protection came alongside a reverent awe toward the Knight’s authority. Order was no longer a legend from some distant castle, but Iron Armor and Sharp Sword that could be seen and touched.

Sister Eira’s herbal knowledge began to show results: children’s coughing lessened, simple wound treatment prevented infections. The planting and crop-rotation methods she taught made the yield from a small test field noticeably better than in previous years. It was like dropping a stone into a still lake, stirring ripples. More and more people, especially women, began to draw near to Reya’s Sister of their own accord, learning, seeking aid. Under Reya’s name, a new community bond founded on practical mutual help and gentle faith was quietly being woven.