What did you do with the dice?

Hey, don't rush to say this is nonsense. Let me ask you again, what do you think I am trying to gain by lying to a dying man like you?

Rusalka's question left Cyril speechless. Yes, he didn't know why Rusalka lied to him.

He probably will never understand in his lifetime that there is a kind of person in this world who uses all means to present facts and reason, exaggerate and brag, make up true and false schemes and start arguments, and can argue with you from the moment they open their eyes to the moment they close them. In fact, they don't want to achieve any purpose, nor do they want to change your mind, but simply to win the argument.

Fighting is fun!

Fighting, so cool!

Win the battle + win the argument, so cool!

Rusalka looked at Viscount Cyril, who was beginning to fall into self-doubt. Compared with his initial rebelliousness, she felt very happy.

"So, if friends are no longer friends, home is no longer home, and the kingdom is no longer a kingdom, then may I ask you, the traitor you're referring to, that is, me, Lord Rusalka of Pearl Tears, what exactly did I betray? Just the name of Sneedy? Or, conversely, as a loyal and devoted person, what are you planning to do now?" Rusalka spread his hands. "According to my intelligence, the Second Prince is a follower of the Church of Nature, the Great Duke Gode wants the knights to usurp the throne, and Alice City is ruled by the Cult of the Seven Sins. Viscount Cyril, let's speak with all conscience. If you were in my position, who would you be loyal to without being called a traitor?"

"I…this is impossible."

"Don't keep thinking it's impossible. From my perspective, I'm simply working with the Esidi Alliance to purge the kingdom of those who truly want to subvert it and restore its innocence. As for which prince will take the throne, or if a new system is established, what does that have to do with me? I only want a pure, human-led Sneidi Kingdom. And you, ignorant fellow, you talk about being loyal, but in reality you've been deceived and sold, still counting the money. You're the clown recorded in history books as someone who thinks he's loyal but is actually motivated by evil. You're the greatest traitor."

Rusalka's set of truly hurtful remarks completely broke Viscount Cyril's defense, and he collapsed in his chair.

So, he delivered the final blow: "Go away! I'm going to expel you and your family. If you refuse, you can verify the truth of my words with your own eyes. But I believe that even without my intervention, you, knowing all this, will be dealt with by the Grand Duke, whom you trust most. If you survive and change your mind and come to me, I won't mind accepting your apology and making you mayor, considering your stubborn character."

After saying that, Rusalka ordered the soldiers to carry the viscount, who could no longer walk, and his imprisoned family members out of the city lord's mansion, and kindly prepared carriages and food for them.

But Viscount Cyril still had some hope in his heart, and said stubbornly, "If everything you said is a lie, you will definitely regret letting me go the next time we meet on the battlefield."

"Still being stubborn at a time like this? Come on, you're not worthy enough to fight me on the battlefield? How many dishes have you eaten and how much you've drunk? I can kill ten of you with one punch. Coachman, these four silver coins are the fare. Take them to their designated place."

Rusalka watched the Cyril family leave.

Of course, it was his idea to break Cyril's defense, but it was Sanita's idea to let Cyril go.

According to Sanita's words, Cyril would definitely stop in a nearby city to rest along the way. He would be the best loudspeaker on his side, telling the surrounding viscounts what exactly happened here and spreading fear so that these unruly people around him would surrender without a fight.

----

After taking over Changqing City, Rusalka chose to hand it over to Esdi's people to manage. Developing cities and planning have always been Sanita's strengths rather than his, but he couldn't leave his brothers here, as his own Pearl Tear Territory was still waiting for him to go back and clean up.

The larger the territory, the more troubles there will be. It is better for me to go back and check on the processing plant. Although Mingyue City has been handed over to the three major chambers of commerce, I still have to pay attention to the progress report and the report from Mengjili.

Also, keep an eye on the battle reports from the central front. It's been almost a year, and while Alice City hasn't been taken, there have been battles, big and small, right? So, is it that Grand Duke Oaks of the North is holding his own, or has he completely given up and retreated to Alice City, with both sides maintaining a siege without attacking?

He hasn't become a marquis yet, but he has already begun to work non-stop. Once he becomes a marquis, Rusalka really feels that he will not be able to take care of farming and development, so how can he have time to lead the army to fight?

No wonder the nobles always like to have many children, some like five or six. The older the nobles are, the more they like to have relatives and branches. The reason may be that there are too many things to deal with, they can't take care of them themselves, and they don't trust outsiders, so they can only find ways to let their family members share as much as possible. In this way, even if they want to be greedy or bad, they can deal with their own affairs, and they can't be too bad.

Rusalka: (How about we let Phoenix kidnap them now and say it was all done by the Church of the Seven Sins!)

Sunita: (Shenjing, you're going to take care of her after I bring her back? I don't believe you'll take her seriously. You're the type who finds it troublesome to even walk a dog. You used to say you wanted to be inseparable from Phoenix forever, but these past few days, I see you've become so inert that you don't even bother to contact her unless she contacts you.)

Rusalka: (Oh, if only raising a child was like raising a Ram or a Tamagotchi. Every day, I just need to feed it, bathe it, and click on its toys to increase its mood value, and it will grow naturally.)

Sanita: (You wish.)

Rusalka and Sanitta left Esdi's army in Evergreen City and led the local soldiers such as the Shadow Legion back. Esdi's knights were unable to return home due to the expedition, but the army here still wanted to go home for the winter.

Less than half a month later, winter was about to arrive, and the foundation of Evergreen City's wall had not yet been laid. Just when Rusalka and Sanitta had just sorted out the affairs in Silver City, established some new laws, paid off the mercenaries, and hired some instructors for the army, letters of surrender from the other two viscounts arrived, and were delivered to Silver City by Esdi's messenger at full speed.

In the letter, they acknowledged Rusalka's status as a marquis. As for why the reply was so late, it was because the messenger was sick/had something to do/his horse died on the way and was delayed. They hoped that he could forgive them and would send an envoy with gifts to apologize soon in winter.

The border nobles of the Kingdom of Snidi were all sensible fence-sitters. When they saw that Rusalka had even let go of Cyril, a prominent figure, and that he did not seem to be a bloodthirsty and brutal guy, they knew that at the moment, distant water could not quench the nearby fire, and the Grand Duke and the Earl had no time to take care of themselves, so they, who were closer to Rusalka, simply lay down and surrendered.

There was no actual loss in surrendering. They had never expected to take over the Marquis's territory during the chaos. Now all they had to do was give the taxes that were originally going to the Marquis and the gifts that were going to the inspector to Rusalka instead.

Besides, if Rusalka falls in the future and the Grand Duke has time to take charge of this side, the worst that can happen is that he can just surrender and go back, which is just a loss of face. The Grand Duke has been in that position for so long, and he can't be such a stubborn person. He fights even though he knows he can't win. This is not loyalty, it is stupidity.

Surrender is just a stopgap measure to preserve strength so that one can better serve XX in eradicating heretics and traitors and restoring order in the kingdom.

As for who this XX is, they don’t care, it could even be Rusalka.

——It doesn’t matter who the county magistrate is, I just want to be the county magistrate’s wife.

Chapter 135 Border Integration (6)

The news that Rusalka had unified the eastern border quickly spread throughout the neighborhood, and when people heard the news, almost no one was not shocked.

After all, two years ago, when the kingdom was still on the brink of chaos, Rusalka was still an unknown little baron who had just taken office. With his entire family away, he was simply unable to do anything on his own, and the rumors at the time were still at the stage of "the territory under his command, that is, the town of Pearl Tears, was so poor that he couldn't even afford salt."

Unexpectedly, after more than two years of development, Rusalka took advantage of the turbulent times and took advantage of the fact that no one in the central region could control him. By joining forces with Esdi, he directly took over the entire eastern border and became a marquis.

Although his reputation is good, it is actually not good in the eyes of most people in the Kingdom of Snidi. Although Esdi is not a bad country and everyone still recognizes the label of lawful good, this is a civil war in the kingdom after all. They occupied 5 border cities and many villages and towns in the name of Rusalka, and even swallowed up the national border defense line. No matter how you look at it, it seems a bit inconsistent with the "non-aggression principle".

However, in the "New Pearl Tear Territory", Rusalka's reputation is quite high - everyone may not have seen Rusalka, but they all know that since he came, their lives have been much better than before.

Schools, churches, roads, markets, clinics, all public infrastructure were gradually built up. A large number of construction projects provided a large number of jobs, which promoted a large influx of population. The large influx of population attracted merchants. Once there were more merchants, all supporting facilities in the city gradually caught up, and residents' consumption levels and tax revenues increased accordingly.

Apart from leaving a portion of the extra tax revenue to Rusalka, Esdi did not take a penny of the remaining money and invested it all in construction and transportation projects.

After all, Theresa is an old antique who doesn't feel sorry for selling her father's land. Not only does she control most of the national strength of Esdi, but she also has the mentality that sooner or later everyone will be doomed together to achieve her own unspeakable little secret. Therefore, worldly money is really external to her. At this stage, when she is pretending to be a good person and building a good reputation, she is really willing to spend money on construction.

The good reputation she earned for her generosity was naturally sucked away by Rusalka, who was nominally engaged in expansion. It was very reasonable for her to take the blame while also receiving some banners.

In addition to the soldiers recruited by Rusalka, a large number of young people in the territory have responded to Esdi's call to join the army. Although it is very strange that the Snidi people join Esdi's army, train as Esdi knights, and learn knight doctrine, the residents who have benefited from Esdi have no objection, and most of them are even proud of it.

No matter what period, the people who have always lived on the edge of survival only believe in one dogma: they will follow whoever treats them well.

Moreover, to be honest, the national strength and customs of the neighboring country, Esdi, are indeed much stronger than those of Sinidi. The fact that the residents of Esdi are not burdened by the nobles who exploit them is enough.

Perhaps not every priest in the administration of Esdi is a good person. There are also some villains who are as greedy and selfish as most of the Sinidi nobles and exploit the people. However, in Sinidi, their behavior is in broad daylight and is not surprising; while in Esdi, such behavior is like a rat crossing the street, and can only be done secretly.

For residents, the choice is between choosing a revolver loaded with five bullets and shooting yourself in the head, with no one caring whether you live or die; or choosing a gun with only one bullet, with a chance that you and the person who shot you will die together after firing. Even a fool knows which one to choose.

As the saying goes, "A tree that is moved will die, but a person who moves will live." Among those who joined the Esdi Army, many planned to bring their families and follow the army to settle in Esdi after the war.

After hearing Sanitta's recent account of the public's opinions on Rusalka, Rusalka played his cards and asked Phoenix, "So, how old is Theresa? Last time, Skat said he had met her as a child and claimed Theresa was no more than 30 years old. But then I asked Ono and the other Paladins, and they all gave different accounts.

Some say Theresa has existed since the creation of the world, others say Theresa was the object of his admiration whom he had seen in the next village when he was a child, and was the same age as him, which meant she was at most 20 years old?

But Phoenix, you said she was the one who ordered the hunt for you. That was a hundred years ago, right? If that's the case, she's at least a hundred and twenty years old. But the paladins next door don't seem to be bragging. They all sound like they've definitely seen Theresa before. What the hell is going on?

After Rusalka finished speaking, she sighed deeply.

He threw the cards on the table, glanced at Sanita and Phoenix, and sat there quietly in thought.

His serious attitude made the latter two put down their cards, raised their heads and looked at Rusalka, waiting for the crucial words he might say next.

Rusalka said slowly, "Hey, go ahead. My hand of cards is already rotten. You two can play."

Phoenix gave a very vivid look of looking at the weirdo. She was not yet used to Rusalka's tantrums like Sanita was.

Sanitta asked, "How old do you think she is?"

Rusalka answered without hesitation: "17 years old."

Phoenix gave him a swipe at his calf.

Rusalka then added, "A few thousand months. It would be more appropriate if she could find a way to place wards everywhere."

Sanitta didn't complain about Rusalka's bad jokes, but asked: "Actually, I've always been curious, does Theresa really have her own independent body?"

Rusalka thought for a moment and asked, "You're saying that it's possible that Theresa isn't just one person, but a collective that can share thoughts and memories, similar to a hive mind. Or that Theresa can mass-produce the Mirror of Love and distribute it to many people, then randomly descend upon Esdi every day?"

Sanita: “No, actually I have already done a survey on this issue.”

The second half of Sanita's words were said in the private chat channel: (Before you recently became curious about Theresa's age and conducted research to satisfy your curiosity and some unspoken little thoughts.)

Rusalka: (Don’t slander me, or I’ll sue you for defamation.)

Sanitta: "There's something very interesting. I randomly interviewed people from all walks of life in the Esdi army, and everyone claimed to have seen Theresa. When I asked them if their families had seen Theresa, almost all of them would think about the question for a while, and then give an uncertain answer of 'maybe' or 'probably not'."

Rusalka: "What does this mean? Hey! Phoenix, it's my turn to play a card now. Just because I'm slow to react doesn't mean you can snatch it out. Take the card back, Phoenix. In our place, snatching a card out is a very bad habit, but since you're my favorite cat, I'll forgive you."

Phoenix reluctantly put away the cards in front of her.

After Phoenix put the cards away, Rusalka smiled at her and said, "Haha, actually I can't afford it. You play it."

Phoenix was stunned for a moment, and while playing the cards he had just taken back, he narrowed his eyes slightly at Rusalka.

Sanita: (Oh, someone is going to get into trouble tonight, but I won’t tell you who it is, to keep it a mystery.)

Rusalka: (Aba Aba.)

Sanitta: "I think Theresa's ability should be some kind of permanent 'friendship technique' that doesn't require direct contact and can be spread through some kind of meme, making everyone who is affected feel that they have seen her before, and she appears in their memories as the most perfect image at that time.

This beautiful memory isn't a bad thing, for example, it can inspire the knights to strive for progress, serving as a role model and encouraging them to do good deeds. The human brain, in order to protect itself, subconsciously tries to forget painful memories and deepen the good ones. That's why Theresa's influence is growing stronger and stronger."

Rusalka was shocked: (It's over, I must have been tricked! Brother, do you have a purification spell? Please help!)

Sunita: (No, the scariest thing is that you didn’t get hit.)

Rusalka laughed and said, "Haha, this reminds me of that joke about my college roommate stuffing O-Brother into my candy box and then I had to work as a pool manager."

Sanitieta was so angry that he laughed: "How can you still laugh?"

Although the two people's conversation would switch PL channels from time to time, Phoenix didn't quite understand the Earth words they spoke. She just listened and took notes, planning to slowly think about the meaning after returning so that she could gradually integrate into their conversation.

The assassins of the Filin clan were the most adaptable, and she didn't want to bring shame to her bloodline.

Rusalka: "That's very strange. Theresa's ability definitely doesn't come from the God of Light or the God of Truth, and it must have existed before she came to power. So what exactly is her identity? Who was she originally a believer in?"

Sanitta: "Actually, there was a very subtle loophole in the words of the God of Truth. I don't know if he made a slip of the tongue or made a subjective judgment. He said Theresa was the common enemy of the Twelve Gods. But in reality, as long as they are native to the Extraordinary, except for the knights in Snidi, they basically have faith."

Rusalka: “That’s right.”

Sanitta: "If this statement is 100% correct, and if Theresa was not originally a believer of the God of Light, then before joining the Council of the God of Truth, she was already a Grand Saint. This means that she had already betrayed the God before receiving the blessing of the disguised faction of the God of Truth."

Rusalka and Phoenix both raised their chins and frowned, their synchronization rate 100%: "Oh, right, so she was originally a believer in the god Light?"

Sanitta: "No, she should be a follower of the Goddess of Pleasure. That would explain how she got her abilities."

Rusalka: "But the faith of the goddess of pleasure has..."

Sanitta looked at Phoenix, his meaning self-evident: (Before you, there is a successor to a fallen faith, still wielding the power of the gods, and growing stronger.)

Rusalka: "Yeah, even if faith disappears, God will still exist. But that's not right. Isn't the Goddess of Pleasure on the side of... Damn! The Goddess of Pleasure is really on the side of good!"

Sanita: "Chaotic good is also good, and chaos and neutrality are only a fine line apart. This world's vertical grid judgments should be based on deeds, not intentions. As long as Theresa behaves normally and doesn't do chaotic things for fun, it's not impossible for her to be judged as lawful good.

You know, some ultimate fun people can honestly be Lawful Good their entire lives before achieving their once-in-a-lifetime goal, just to make a big move in the end, and this is the Chaotic camp. "

Rusalka: "She betrayed her own faith, and the Goddess of Pleasure can tolerate this?"

Sanitta: "Why not? Are you trying to guess what the Chaos Faction is thinking? Every action of the Chaos Faction could overturn the previous one in the next second. If the Goddess of Joy is a follower of the Way of Forgetfulness, not only would she not blame Theresa for betraying her, she would even strongly support her to become the Great Saint of the God of Light.

Doesn’t it sound interesting that the last heir of a declining faith actually became the leader of the world’s number one faith?

Furthermore, according to historical records, the Goddess of Pleasure's faith was destroyed by the combined efforts of the God of War and the Goddess of Wealth. Light truly is the iron fist of the good faction that opposes them. For Theresa, joining Light is like leveraging the power of her neighbor to help her seek revenge. It's simply perfect."

Rusalka admitted that it did seem a bit interesting, and if she had been defeated, she would already be unwilling to accept it, and now she still had one last powerful trump card under her, she would definitely pretend to withdraw from the stage and go behind the scenes to secretly v her 50.

What happened afterwards made sense. Theresa was bewitched by some unknown factor, or perhaps she came into contact with some taboos of the gods, and she gradually began to have some blasphemous thoughts. Eventually, under unknown influences, she became the messenger of the end.

Because her lack of loyalty was detected, she was pulled into the council by the God of Truth and "pretended" to become a believer of the God of Truth.

After using the power of the God of Truth to disguise herself, she deceived three gods at the same time. Relying on her already impeccable identity and status and the information gap in the Council of the God of Truth, she began the plan of the Messenger of the End.

"Master Sanitieta, perfect reasoning." Phoenix wagged his tail and couldn't help but applaud Sanitieta.

Rusalka followed Phoenix's praise and said, "But your reasoning is still flawed. For example, you used 'I don't know' and 'unknown impact' in the middle. It's like 'I forgot the beginning, I forgot the middle, I forgot the end, anyway.' You're filling in the blanks for the examiner, right? I'll deduct points! I'll punish you by inferring what happened in the middle that turned her from a follower of the Goddess of Pleasure into the Messenger of the Apocalypse."

Sanitieta couldn't help but laugh out loud: (Have you been fooled by Phoenix O? What nonsense is she talking about? Even God doesn't know, how should I know what happened in between? Why don't you just go ask her in person?)

Rusalka pretended not to hear what her brother said in the private chat channel and said seriously, "Now that we have a rough idea of ​​Theresa's abilities, we must first determine if anyone around her has been affected."

Sanitta: "There's no need to alert the enemy. The effect of this ability will diminish as strength increases. For example, Mongili's impression of Theresa is just a memory of having seen her before, that's all. And someone at Sarolt's level can only roughly remember when they saw her, and can no longer clearly recall her specific appearance or the scene."

Rusalka nodded, rolled her eyes, and asked Phoenix maliciously: "Cat, answer me honestly, have you met Theresa?"

Phoenix rolled her eyes at him and didn't answer.

The same thing happened when she didn't do it twice.

If she answered no, Rusalka would say she was lying because she had seen Rewi Alley; if she said she had seen him recently, Rusalka would laugh at her and say she must have been tricked and was a loser.

Later, I will drag Rusalka back to the room and "answer" him harshly until he has no energy to ask any more questions.

Chapter 136 Total War

Rusalka completely integrated and occupied the border, rested and recuperated for about half a year, spanning the long winter and the busy spring planting season, and then began to prepare for war.

Mingyue City has been basically repaired. Now we have a solid pass and we don’t have to worry about being stolen from the rear, so we can go to the front line with peace of mind.

He didn't expect to be able to take over Alice City. The two grand dukes had been working together for almost two years and couldn't take it down. Rusalka still knew his own limitations, but that didn't stop him from wanting to find an opportunity to destroy those two damn marquises.