Warmth in the Camp

The result of the vote was overwhelmingly one-sided.

Only a single-digit number of knights disagreed with the subjugation of the beast pack, and Gregory was naturally one of them.

He stubbornly clung to his own argument and refused to give way, believing that the interests and stability of the Knight Order and the Church themselves should come first.

In his view, subjugating the beast pack offered very little benefit and might even bring chaos, so he absolutely refused to acknowledge it.

Daphne had no intention of persuading him.

All she could say was that different people viewed problems from different angles, and Gregory’s thinking could not truly be called wrong.

In “COG,” Gregory Henry was also a fairly well-known character.

On the surface, he had a foul mouth, but in reality, he cared deeply about the protagonist, so players jokingly called him “Little Tsundere Greg.”

When players first met him, the Blazing Sun Templar Order had already disbanded.

Gregory, who had originally possessed a secular noble title, chose to return to his estate in Ian’s Territory and continue serving as a secular knight loyal to the Prince-Elector of Ian’s Territory.

In the fifth expansion, “The Queen’s Revival,” during the Bloodkin riot that broke out in Ian’s Territory, Gregory led a guard unit of barely a dozen men to hold back nearly a hundred frenzied Bloodkin in order to cover the retreat and evacuation of the players and local residents.

In the end, he died a heroic death.

This fellow was not the kind of stingy, harsh person who valued his own life above all else.

It was just that some matters did not rank as highly in his heart.

However, Daphne could now be considered to have made an enemy of Gregory.

After the voting result was announced, he silently lifted the tent flap and stormed away in a huff.

Before leaving, he even glared fiercely at Daphne twice.

“Judging from the traces at the scene and the list of victims, your group was fully capable of resisting.”

“It was only because of the presence of Klogotia’s necromancer that you were caught off guard—that is my deduction.”

During the vote, Gwynevere had been thinking about something the entire time.

Only after the result was announced did she find Daphne and ask her question.

“But that is not consistent with the experience you just described…”

“Miss Ellenore, may I ask whether I overlooked something, or if there were other influencing factors that I failed to notice?”

‘It was all made up. It would be a miracle if it was consistent!’

Daphne was actually grateful that Gwynevere had not interrupted her speech midway and exposed her.

That would have been far too awkward.

“This is the assignment I am leaving for you.”

“When the next meeting is held, I want to hear your new understanding.”

Daphne spoke faintly in a voice only the two of them could hear.

“Understood. I will do my utmost.”

Gwynevere took half a step back and nodded slightly.

Daphne turned her head away, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Although this girl was very easy to fool, her intuition and powers of observation were abnormally sharp.

It would be very easy for Daphne to have a flaw caught by her.

Daphne truly did not know how long she could keep up her disguise under Gwynevere’s nose, but judging from her current situation, she could only take things one day at a time.

“A splendid speech, Miss Ellenore.”

Valentine walked toward them while applauding.

“The last time I felt something like that was during His Holiness the Pope’s mobilization speech.”

“Before that, no one could have imagined that he would be able to gather one hundred and fifty-six Templars willing to follow him on an expedition.”

“That is not true, Mr. Valentine.”

“Edith and I have always believed in His Holiness the Pope.”

“He is omnipotent.”

Gwynevere interrupted Valentine in a calm voice.

Valentine laughed awkwardly.

He looked toward Daphne, then shrugged.

“That is indeed true.”

“He sounds like a great and wise figure.”

“If there is ever a chance, I would truly like to speak with him personally.”

Daphne said this with regret.

“What a shame, letting a fellow believer from St. Mary’s Religious Territory witness our embarrassment.”

“Now we can only believe that His Holiness the Pope has his own plan, rather than having met with misfortune.”

“His Holiness the Pope has always been deeply calculating and farsighted.”

“Perhaps this, too, is part of his plan.”

Grek suddenly joined the conversation from the side.

The moment he opened his mouth, he displayed absolute trust and reverence toward the Pope.

“We only need to do what we ought to do.”

“His Holiness the Pope led the expeditionary force here precisely to protect the people of this land.”

“We must not put the cart before the horse.”

“If that is truly the case, then nothing could be better.”

Daphne smiled stiffly.

‘Nonsense!’

‘If your His Holiness the Pope were really that godlike, she would not have fallen into the embarrassing situation of being teased and toyed with in turn by her two adopted daughters!’

Daphne discovered that these old subordinates of hers were all especially good at making excuses for her.

Even if the great and wise His Holiness the Pope accidentally tripped over a stone while walking down the road and fell flat on his face in an especially ugly manner, they would immediately come up with countless strange and ingenious excuses to explain it away.

‘There is no helping it.’

‘After all, according to the original timeline, the Blazing Sun Templar Order should have been rotten to the core by now, standing on the verge of disbandment.’

It was Bertram who turned the tide and propped up the collapsing edifice.

Through sweeping reforms in economic income, bureaucratic systems, talent selection, and many other areas, he rescued the Knight Order, gradually developed and strengthened it, and restored it to its peak condition.

Although this process offended many people, what he gained even more of was unconditional worship and trust.

That Pope, rumored to be greedy and selfish, truly seemed to possess some miraculous methods.

He could make rotten things look brand new, and with just a few words, he could seize people’s hearts and make countless lost souls follow behind him.

But no matter how formidable he was, he could not escape the joke fate had played on her.

Who would believe that this half-blood girl was once that Pope who could bring about miracles?

Fortunately, Daphne was not some pessimist.

She had always firmly believed that she could find a path forward even from a desperate situation.

It was still that same saying: cherish the present.

Clearing out the beasts was also one of Daphne’s original objectives in launching the expedition.

When Klogotia launched its large-scale attack against the Nors Territory, these threats from the rear could not be ignored either.

Although, with morale on the front line scattered, it was not very realistic to gather all the knights to subjugate the beast pack leader, “Trampler” Miodix Blackhoof.

However, sweeping away this small beast pack around Kohl Town was not particularly difficult.

The only obstacle might have been the passive faction within the Knight Order.

But now that Daphne had personally taken action, this final problem was no longer a problem.

Ellenore’s identity was very useful.

It allowed her to easily gain goodwill and trust within the Knight Order.

After this incident, Daphne felt that she could completely use this as a foundation to take root within the Knight Order and gather a group of supporters that belonged to her.

Through this method, she could regain control over the Knight Order.

It sounded good, and it was feasible.

Since she could not return to being the Pope, she should at least reclaim a portion of power.

Having something in hand felt much more reassuring than having nothing at all.

“Miss Ellenore, are you smiling?”

Gwynevere noticed the subtle change in a certain half-blood girl’s expression.

“Hm?”

Daphne’s heart tightened, but immediately after, she naturally revealed a smile.

“Ah, I was thinking that the mortal world is truly fortunate to have someone like Pope Bertram.”

“Even I cannot help but admire him.”