When the Saintess Arrives, No King Exist
Chapter 54: Candied Fruits and Rice Crispies

Chapter 54: Chapter 54: Candied Fruits and Rice Crispies

After Horn’s sincere speech and explanation, the villagers all began to look forward to this tournament.

They originally had a lot of concerns, but after the explanation from His Holiness, it seemed not so dangerous and unacceptable.

This special event is neither a war nor an opposition to the Church. If you die, you get to go to Paradise Mountain; if you survive, you get money and a title.

A win-win situation.

Beneath the monastery’s gate, Armand’s registration area was soon overwhelmed by the crowd.

"Don’t push, don’t push!"

"One at a time,"

Seeing Armand’s frail and helpless figure surrounded by numerous big men, Horn nodded in satisfaction.

He called Danji over, asking him to bring some people to maintain order, then called Busak, asking him to collect all kinds of ironware, even rusty ones if possible.

After arranging everything, Horn headed back to the monastery.

He had more important matters to attend to.

To build an army with certain combat capabilities, training, equipment, and morale are all essential.

The previous measures only solved the morale issue; now there are two more important problems, namely training and equipment.

As for training, Jeska has fought for so many years and is quite familiar with it, so it can be entrusted to him.

But the weapons equipment becomes a big problem because, unlike training, weapons can’t be practiced by oneself.

According to Diya’s information, most of the Church Faction’s troops are ragtag refugees and Public Register Farmers.

Yet among them, one can still see the presence of Armored Soldiers and Night Guards.

Armored Soldiers are those Armed Farmers capable of providing their own leather or chain armor, with some even practicing breathing techniques.

They participate in Church-organized hunting activities and basic swordsmanship training during agricultural downtime, so they’re often called half-knights.

Night Guards are mostly recruited from poorer Armed Farmers and town residents, seldom trained, responsible for security and night patrols.

Generally, if there’s a refugee riot or villagers causing trouble, Night Guards are the ones suppressing it.

If they face the Secret Faction or bandits, Armored Soldiers are deployed.

They aren’t like Tommy’s thugs who rely on scraping by to win.

Criticism with weapons can’t replace the criticism of weapons.

Horn knows his own situation; however strong the villagers think he is, it’s just an illusion.

He’s already thought of the means to manufacture weapons, and the key lies with Jeanne.

While thinking, Horn arrived at his bedroom door.

For some reason, Jeanne has been visiting him frequently lately.

Horn is actually aware of Jeanne’s feelings towards him, but he made a vow beforehand to be cold-hearted and never love anyone again.

Yet his life and fortune must rely on Jeanne, leaving Horn quite conflicted.

Shaking his head to clear those thoughts, Horn opened his bedroom door.

"Let go! This is a gift from Brother Horn to me!"

"You let go. Papa’s things are always mine."

"It’s a gift from Brother Horn to me, you already have yours!"

"I tied my hair with this ribbon the day before yesterday, so it’s mine."

Inside Horn’s bedroom, two Saintesses, one tall and one short, were each pulling at a colorful hair ribbon, glaring at each other.

Pressing his fingers against his throbbing temple, Horn truly didn’t want to see this scene again.

These two have argued or conflicted many times before.

He doesn’t know when it started, but they’ve been fighting daily, and when Horn deals with these situations, he feels like a kindergarten director.

One is six or seven years old, the other twenty-something, fighting over things like "she hit me" and "she stole my possessions" daily.

At first, Horn thought Jeanne was just immature and Jia Li’s amnesia made her mentally very young, so both seemed a bit childish.

But when Jia Li complained to him about Jeanne sitting on the butt mark on her bed, Horn felt these two were truly childish.

"Brother, look at her!"

"Papa, she bullies me."

As expected, upon seeing Horn enter the room, they immediately began to complain.

"Alright, alright." Horn quickly stepped forward, grabbed the nearly snapping hair ribbon, "Both of you let go."

Jeanne and Jia Li shot fierce glares at each other, but listened and released their grip.

"Jeanne, wait for me outside the door. I have something to discuss with you later."

Jeanne flushed visibly, while Jia Li made a playful face at Jeanne.

The door slammed shut heavily, the accumulated old dirt on the doorframe shook off.

As Horn sat beside Jia Li, she reached out before he could speak.

"What?"

"That colorful hair ribbon just now."

"You don’t even like that hair ribbon, why do you want it?"

"I like it now."

Horn took a deep breath; ever since Jia Li got familiar with them, she’s become increasingly mischievous.

"Here you go."

Looking at the sweet-smelling preserves in her hand, Jia Li seemed a bit dazed.

"Hide and eat them secretly, don’t let your Sister Jeanne see." Horn fished out another hair ribbon from under the rabbit fur pillow and began tying Jia Li’s hair.

Jia Li shook her head: "I want to eat them right in front of her."

"Tsk." Horn tapped his knuckles on her forehead, "Then won’t Jeanne know that I prefer you?"

"So what?"

"Your Sister Jeanne is my sister, and I’ve grown up with her since childhood. Wouldn’t it be pitiful for her if I favored you more?"

"Hmm..." Jia Li swayed, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, just whining.

Horn tied her hair into simple twin ponytails with the ribbon: "So, you already know I prefer you, right? Jeanne is so pitiful, why not let her have it, okay?"

"...Alright."

Closing the door behind him, Horn looked up and saw that numerous sword slashes and lightning scars had appeared on what used to be the church’s pillar.

And in a corner of the hallway, Jeanne squatted in a corner, back facing Horn.

Hearing Horn’s footsteps, Jeanne hurriedly rubbed her eyes and stood up with a stony expression.

"Here, this is for you." Horn took out a few rice candy crisps from his pocket and handed them to Jeanne, "These are just for you, don’t let Jia Li see them."

Upon receiving the rice candy crisps, Jeanne asked delightedly: "Where did you get these?"

"Knowing you like these, I specially asked the kitchen to make them." Horn reached out and tucked Jeanne’s hair behind her ear, "Don’t let them touch your hair."

Jeanne wanted to smile but quickly suppressed it: "You still remember what I like? Aren’t you standing by that big fool?"

"How could that be? We’ve grown up together, so I must be on your side."

"Then why are you still speaking up for her?"

"Jia Li lost her memory, has no family, so pitiful already. If I don’t pretend to like her, wouldn’t she be even more hurt, right?"

"But..."

Before Jeanne could finish, Horn stuffed a piece of rice candy crisp into her mouth: "I’ve always been closer and more inclined towards you than her."

Even though Jeanne forcefully pressed her lips together, her gradually crescent-shaped eyes betrayed her inner emotions.

"Hmph."

As Jeanne hummed, Horn interrupted:

"Alright, come with me to the courtyard where the electric arc iron furnace is; I’ve got a big task that you need to help me with. Jia Li can’t help at all, I’m counting on you."

Chewing on the rice candy crisps, Jeanne chuckled foolishly.

"Okay."

Rice candy crisps, so sweet.