Chapter 363 - Request and Demand

One education was to help students mature with different strategies, even with the hope that students could end up better than their teachers. Another type of education tried to fool students so they would listen to the teachers blindly and forget about fighting back. The students were more like penned sheep.

The two approaches to education had their own strengths and weaknesses. The former could speed up the development of society and strengthen the social dynamic in general, but it also made someone aspiring to climb the ladder work very hard to get what they wanted, because someone was always better and they could be easily surpassed and forgotten. The latter type of education could cause society to move backwards, but the upper classes were in much better shape. They only had to manage a group of sheep. There was nothing to make them nervous. It was not easy to turn sheep into wolves, because they had given up too much just struggling for enough food and shelter.

When 4,000,000 were under the leadership of 100,000 knights, no one could know whether this was planned or accidental.

The education in Mage Union and Church of Light were quite different. Church of Light cared more about beliefs. There were many contradictions among different theologies. For example, other races believed God created the world, while Church of Light did not mention the god who created the world, rather contributing all the glories to God of Light. Religious believers did not need learn about the truth behind a religion, only about its beliefs. Of course, there would always be some talented people who were hard to deceive. The church would recruit them, assimilate them and have them become part of the administrative team. This method was smart. A person could refuse to work for others but would definitely work for their own interests.

Mage Union seemed to have more freedom. They did not require students to believe in anything. They only instructed them to feel the element surges and learn to control them. They did not require students to owe them anything, nor did they interfere with students’ freedom. When the students were qualified to train outside the academy, they could go anywhere they wanted, even becoming a priest in Church of Light.

Because students had differing talents and abilities, many gave up half way through the academy. They had to make a living, so they became businesspeople, tried to practice combat power, or even went home to become farmers. Such were their options when they gave up the academy. Some people were just average students when they practiced magic, but could become famous priests in a short time. Slanbrea was a good example.

No could Priests or Knights of the Light be apart from the constraints of the church and do something else other than being Priests or Knights of the Light. Otherwise they would face serious punishment, or even endless pursuit until being killed.

Anfey had heard stories about the historical situation from Ozzic and Ossie during their travels. He was worried about Martin at the beginning, but felt relieved when he saw how he provoked Knights of the Light. It was undeniable there were some drawbacks to bondage education. Bondage education did not ask believers to differentiate right from wrong and only asked them to believe in the religion and follow the instructions of the church, so it stopped the believers from developing their talents. They were indeed unified. That was also why Martin could stir up the Knights of the Light as he wished, even though he was not a mature spy yet. Anfey had no idea what decisions Captain Stephens would make, but the Knights of the Light whom Martin brought over all looked naïve and ignorant.

"Who is the guy looking more provoked than Martin?" Anfey asked quietly.

"Maybe Hilde." Ozzic was not sure who he was.

Anfey nodded and slowly walked toward them. He yelled, "What is going on here?"

The mercenaries who were in conflict with Knights of the Light suddenly made way for Anfey. Tiger stood at the front of the mercenaries. When he saw Anfey, he gave a dirty look to the Knights of the Light facing him. He stuck his ax in his belt and got close to Anfey. He said quietly, "Master, they want to enter the underground."

No wonder Ozzic and others were mad. The underground city held the most important secrets in Moramatch. Even Ozzic had very few opportunities to enter the underground city: how could they let others get in?

"We have to ensure the safety of all arms and supplies, on orders from Fernando," the Knight of the Light named Hilde yelled. "Here is the order. You can read it yourself, but move first!" Hilde took out a sealed envelope and shook it in the air.

Elizabeth hesitated for a second because she did not know whether she should take it. After seeing Anfey nod, she went over and took the envelope. She turned around and passed it to Anfey.

Anfey casually opened the envelope. There was no order inside. It was just a letter to Anfey from Fernando. The letter showed a lot of respect to Anfey. The main point of the letter was to ask to if he could leave the arms and supplies in the underground city for the sake of safety. Only talented and smart people could be recruited to the church administration. Slanbrea was one of the them, as was Fernando. In terms of management, those Knights of the Light were not comparable to Fernando. He used a friendly and compassionate tone in the letter, which made the reader feel good.

If Fernando had been a newbie without consideration of others, Yolanthe would not have wasted time on him. There would be no point for Yolanthe to plan anything. Yolanthe could fire him at any time. Pope William recruited Fernando. Logically, Pope William should be allied with Yolanthe, yet it was not clear Fernando was acting in the king’s best interests.

Anfey put the letter back into the envelope with a smile, passed it to Elizabeth and signaled her to give it back to Hilde. Anfey said calmly, "You guys perhaps misunderstood." No wonder it was said to be easier to talk to the big boss than his assistants. Most of the time, a big plan was ruined as it was carried out by these lower-level people. If Anfey had never dealt with Church of the Light, he would have agreed with Fernando when he read the letter. However, the attitudes of these Knights of the Light would definitely have changed his mind.

"Anfey, what do you say? Don’t forget this is the order from Knight Fernando. Do you dare to act against him?" Martin stood up and yelled.

Anfey stepped up. Without anyone seeing how he did it, he had already moved more than a dozen yards. He raised his hand and slapped Martin really hard. Martin rolled on the floor like a ball.

"I told you yesterday. You should add "Master" before my name. If you have such a bad memory, I do not mind reminding you a few more times." Anfey stood in front of dozens of Knights of the Light, but looked calm and not threatened by them. "You made a mistake. Moramatch is my territory. Do you understand?"

Martin looked at Anfey as he covered his cheek with a hand. He did not understand why Anfey slapped him. He was shocked and could not make a sound. Instead, Hilde yelled loudly, "Master Anfey, you are not only acting against Archknight Fernando’s orders, but also attacking a Knight of the Light in public. What do you want?" He was smart enough to add Master in front of Anfey’s name. He was just a paper tiger. Did he want this confrontation to reach the point where there would be a fight in Moramatch? They could only wish, since the border guards of Blackania would not listen to them. If they fought with thousands of mercenaries, it was obvious which side would lose the battle.

"Don’t panic over it. I was just teaching him some manners," Anfey said calmly. "In terms of Fernando’s orders, Alice, bring the contract to me," he said with a chuckle.

Alice, who just arrived, smiled and took a piece of paper from her Dimensional ring. Anfey was shocked for a second. He wondered when Alice got a Dimensional ring. He had never noticed it before, but it was not a good time to talk about it. Anfey held the contract out and shook it in front of Hilde. He said casually, "Can you read? I have had absolute authority in Moramatch for two years."

"Master Anfey, this is a special time. We are at war now," Hilde said.

"So what if we are having a war now? Should not my rights be protected during wartime?" Anfey said coldly. "If you go to Sacred City in Maho Empire now and tell them we are at war, would Sacred City be yours?"

Hilde did not immediately think of a response. Mercenaries laughed at him.

"You could be either guests or enemies in Moramatch, but would never be a host." Anfey gave the contract back to Alice. "Do you understand?"

"Master Anfey, if anything happens to the arms and supplies, who is going to take responsibility?" Hilde asked.

"It is funny. I am not your general. Why are you asking me that. I know one thing: you have to listen to me in Moramatch. Otherwise, get out of here," Anfey said.

Hilde was embarrassed, mad and upset. The color of his face changed frequently, but he dared not talk back to Anfey. This time they had come with an excuse: with Martin’s words, they wanted to vent their anger with the help of Fernando’s letter. If Anfey did not agree with their request, they would cause trouble for Anfey.

"What are you standing there for? Do you need me escort you out?" Anfey showed disdain in his tone.

"Master Anfey, I will report what happened today to Archknight Fernando as it is," Hilde said, taking a long breath.

"Not only Fernando, but even if Pope William were here, he would have no right to take my rights away," Anfey said coldly.

"Good." Hilde forced that word out. He turned around and helped Martin up. They walked out together.

Anfey quietly watched the Knights of the Light walking away. He slowly called out, "Armin."

Black Eleven hurried over, "Master?"

"Find a way to tell Martin that he should not have acted so actively. People could find something suspicious about him," Anfey said very quietly.

"I got it," Black Eleven said.