New Habsburg.

On the towering stone walls, the Double-headed Eagle flags flapped in the wind.

Every evening after a day's work, the villagers of Sego Village would bow in reverence under the large oak tree towards this "castle wall that rose overnight."

Guard Officer Leonard had a different view on this: "A wall that rises overnight might also be a Miracle, but it's something we've gotten used to seeing."

"That giant oak tree growing at a visible rate every day is the rare Miracle!"

Around the Tree of Life.

The originally dull and yellowish desert started to sprout clusters of greenery.

Sweet clear springs emerged again from the dried wells, and even the scorching heat became bearable.

The closer one got to the Tree of Life, the cooler and greener it became.

"These days, I lead you all in worshiping the Divine Tree, and I feel ten years younger—this is an adult blessing, a gift from the Heavenly Father in this desert."

Leonard prayed devoutly under the tree.

A soldier stood up, dusting himself off: "Old Leonard, the Sacred Oak truly is a Miracle, but I can't help but feel it resembles a Miracle from the heretical Druidism more."

Leonard snorted: "What Druid? You know nothing!"

The soldier retorted with some dissatisfaction: "Old Leonard, don't forget, my father was a Breton, and my mother was said to be a Priest of Druidism."

"Though I've never seen her, among her belongings from childhood, I found a stamp with an image of such a Sacred Oak."

"Oak trees aren't anything rare."

Leonard stubbornly pouted: "In any case, don't compare those strange pagan gods with the adult. The adult is the Holy Son!"

"Well, I think so too, but..."

"No buts!"

In an instant, Leonard's expression turned somewhat ferocious.

The soldier was startled, hurriedly saying: "I understand."

Leonard's expression softened again: "Come on, let's supervise whether those heretics are slacking off."

He brandished his whip, climbing down the dirt slope to the base of the wall.

Watching those laborers using rolling logs to transport giant bricks and stones.

Old Leonard flicked his whip: "Put more effort into it, the adult employs you with treatment far beyond the market to build this city, and allows this to replace this year's compulsory labor service, it's not for you to linger here for free meals!"

The hired workers didn't take Leonard's pretentiousness to heart.

Old Leonard wasn't a cruel person, as long as they weren't too lazy, he wouldn't make a fuss. Plus, although the work was hard, the treatment was quite satisfactory.

Not only was there meat for meals, but also they only had to work ten hours each day, with an hour of lunch break at noon, and they got plenty of shiny silver coins.

In the past.

Never mind wages, even dying from exhaustion on the building road, they would still be stuffed into the city walls by stingy overseers to be buried with the mud and bricks.

A heretic laborer sentenced to labor service by Losa for poaching put down the stone brick in his hand and gazed at the seemingly miraculous Divine Tree below.

"If the heretic gods can bring greenery and water sources to this eternally yellow land, maybe converting isn't so bad?"

He was immediately frightened by the sinful thought that emerged in his mind and recited "With the Holy Flame" several times.

But once this thought took root, it grew wildly like weeds and couldn't be dispelled.

Faith, in this era, had enormous power, but it wasn't unshakeable, just like the Turkified Greeks of Asia Minor.

…

Within Jerusalem City.

Losa had just finished reporting the "task completion status" to Baldwin IV with Hans.

The two walked together, discussing how to fill the gaps left by the dismantling of the powerful heretic factions in their territories.

The ownership of the land was indeed reclaimed, and it was distributed to the converts for cultivation.

But someone still needed to collect taxes and manage it, right?

Even though the soldiers were converted by the system, and were reliable and loyal, they were often illiterate, and the knowledge granted by the system didn't include reading and arithmetic.

That's the reason why Andreas came to be highly valued by Losa. People like Andreas, who could read and calculate, were genuinely rare talents.

Losa pondered for a while and, in a short time, it seemed the most reliable idea was to "let the knights under his command, take over the tax-collecting duties of the Tax Collectors."

They could also conduct basic military training for the populace to prevent them from becoming a ragtag bunch when Losa needed to summon troops, only able to serve as cannon fodder.

The priority in land distribution could only be given to the converts, so they were expected to perform military service.

Those who insisted on not converting could only continue farming their original plots or remain as peasant slaves.

Of course, the number of people choosing the latter was very few.

Even though this wasn't a particularly merciful action, Losa still garnered high prestige among the heretic populace.

Because in this era, even for tenant farmers, half-tax, or a fifty percent tax, was quite normal, whether in the East or West.

If it were peasant slaves, they could toil all year and still not fill their stomachs.

Hans suggested: "Sir, why don't we ask the Church for assistance?"

Losa immediately frowned.

Indeed, the Church had the highest literacy rate during this era.

Those who couldn't become Clergy but received theological education, such as clerks, and copyists, were quite suitable to serve as assistant tax officers to collect taxes for the knights.

"But, Hans, you must understand, the land these heretics hold, ultimately, its ownership belongs to me."

Losa emphasized: "I reclaimed the authority for managing these lands on my behalf, not to hand it back to the Church."

"Hiring Church personnel to manage the estates is essentially no different from relying on heretic Tax Collectors."

The pie is only so big, and the people from the Church aren't like the system-converted soldiers in terms of loyalty; they had bigger appetites. In the end, it wouldn't be much different from collecting taxes through Tax Collectors.

This contradicted Losa's original intention—to create a win-win situation where both he and his people could reap more benefits.

Hans came to an understanding: "I understand now."

"In that case, sir, we could establish a military school to teach simple arithmetic to knights and soldiers. Given their loyalty to you, they surely wouldn't object."

Losa nodded: "For now, that's the best solution, fortunately, the tax collection deadline is still far away."

He wanted to use Hans' Armored Cavalry Lance to unlock the military camp but quickly abandoned the idea.

The camp and soldiers would come eventually.

A Divine Artifact that could enhance the entire cavalry, although new ones could be obtained in the future, if the Attributes didn't overlap, who would mind having less positive buffs on them?

…

Returning to Constant Manor, Losa finally had the leisure to study this simulation battle.

The reward for killing the Demon was: you will complete the simulation battle to accomplish the Ascension task.

In other words, the simulation battle was just a task, not a reward. The real reward was "Ascension."

Losa initially thought the Ascension was for the attendants under him, but after thorough research, he realized this "Ascension" was meant for his own pitiful "Three-star Template."

System: The simulation battle script you obtained is: 1453, the Fall of the Ottoman. Play as Constantine XI, defeating the Ottoman before the Conqueror's Commander-in-Chief's grand army, shattering the Conqueror's ambitions.

Difficulty: High.

Unlocked Attendant Template: Six-star.

Detected that you possess the Six-star Attendant, Jeanne D'Arc, gaining an additional simulation battle script: Hundred Years' War.

You will play as the Crown Prince of France, Charles VII, shattering the ambitions of England and Burgundy to divide France.

Difficulty: Medium.

Unlocked Attendant Template: Five-star.

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