When the Saintess Arrives, No King Exist

The autumn wind is bleak, and it is already the autumn of 1459.

The cold wind has painted the world in a withered yellow, and pedestrians on the black and gray streets have all changed into brown-gray woolen coats.

Designers from Falan have modified the uniforms of the Holy Alliance Army, tightening the puffed sleeves, loosening the waist, and using a firmer woolen fabric.

At the same time, compared to the high collar used in monk cloaks, this type of clothing, called a work jacket, uses a lapel.

Originally, this design was not very reasonable as it exposed a large area of the chest to the cold wind.

Thick woolen coats for autumn and winter need high collars for warmth.

This year, it can be done like this only because compared to last year, people wear a wool sweater underneath.

From inside the carriage, looking at everyone with a piece of wool sweater, Horn had no choice but to admit the citizens’ wisdom and even more so their yearning for a better life.

In the development of the Holy Alliance, the woolen textile process would eliminate or leave behind large amounts of soft, fine, short wool, which cannot be used for weaving woolen cloth.

This wool used to be hand-spun, making sweater production very complicated.

The women workers would collect it, and it is unknown who first created crochet hooks and knitting needles, leading to the formal scaling of sweater production.

Horn deals with countless affairs every day and also studies theology, not everything can be thought of.

But even without thinking of it, the citizens themselves created the knitting needles and crochet hooks and started selling sweaters and towels.

With only Horn’s guidance, the Holy Alliance could never develop quickly.

Regarding this sweater industry, André and Mande County both have their eyes on it, recently making arrangements.

As for who will earn or lose, we’ll see later, each to their ability.

The wheels rolled past Central Avenue, the riverbank, Parra River Bridge, Slime Street...

The scenery outside the window constantly changed as the vehicle moved, with golden leaves covering the flagstone streets.

What used to be dirt roads has now completely transformed into cement concrete avenues, with pavements on both sides made of flagstone.

As for both sides of the road, they are lined with visually striking seven-story Vites-style apartment buildings (with attics).

Ivory-colored walls, columns decorated with acanthus leaves, and intricately carved iron balconies.

The facade is horizontally lined with cornices and vertically with rectangular vertical windows, and at the top are double-sloped orange roofs that can drain water on both sides.

But more conspicuous are the slender chimneys above the roofs, and the tall water towers and the spring machines standing beside them.

Fireplaces, three-eye coal stoves, tap water, fluorite lights...

These theological inventions recently developed by the Holy Alliance are beginning to enter thousands of households.

Yes, though Horn habitually refers to them as scientific inventions, most people still call these theological inventions or miracles.

The Pope has said that the Holy Father conveys truth through this way, so new inventions are naturally new revelations.

So invention equals miracle, inventor equals priest, it’s all good.

In fact, current inventors or engineers recognized by the Holy Council will be awarded a divine rank.

Horn watched the silhouettes behind the glass window, and his pride gradually faded.

It’s said that miracles enter thousands of households.

But these thousands of households mainly reside within the core area between the Mechanical Palace, Slime Street, Clock Square, Central Avenue, and Holy Seat Mansion.

The tall Vites-style buildings blocked people’s views, unable to see the outskirts of the city where civilians live in Insula Apartments.

However, Horn also has a few words to justify for himself.

It’s not that he is unwilling, but renovations take time.

Furthermore, with so many people pouring into the ry Court Barracks, compared to the time-consuming and complicated construction of Vites-style apartments, Insula Apartments are more practical.

Currently, the lifelong dream of many ry Court Barracks citizens is to buy a room in a Vites-style apartment.

Even if it’s just the attic.

Exhaling a heavy breath, Horn’s gaze shifted from the attic to the street level.

The rapid development period of a country often determines the architectural style of most of its towns.

Just like the current ry Court Barracks, due to the current popularity of the neoclassical or El Renaissance style.

So the shops on the street side, besides having large glass windows, are all neoclassical style buildings.

They removed the intricate style of the vampire Gothic, and the appropriation of classicism is sparse but refined.

The most prominent features are the pediments and bas relief moldings.

They emphasize a solemn simplicity and rational order, which is also the overall style of the Holy Alliance.

Especially the consistent moldings and angel reliefs, as if waving at the passing papal carriage saying, "Greetings, Your Eminence."

This is not the civil engineering department flattering Horn, as their relief theme is indeed "Greetings, Your Eminence."

Amidst the "Greetings, Your Eminence" reliefs, the carriage slowly moved from the urban area into the park area outside the Mechanical Palace.

The vibrant flower sea of spring is long gone, and amidst the faint fragrance, Horn saw a patch of red spider lilies.

Beyond the red spider lilies, a wooden disc-shaped self-propelled spring cannon was quietly parked.

Instead of calling it a self-propelled spring cannon, Horn preferred to refer to it as a Leonardo tank.

It looks very much like a turtle shell, inverted conical structure, surrounded by slanted wooden frames covered in steel plates.

This way, even if the enemy’s cannonballs hit, they can be deflected by the slanted armor.

The Leonardo tank has a diameter of about 9 meters and a height of about 4.5 meters, capable of accommodating 12 to 16 soldiers.

The side of the vehicle has 24 firing holes, with 3 six-pounder cannons on the side, and 1 twelve-pounder cannon at the top.

Additionally, there are pipes on both sides, which can emit dense smoke and flames.

Sounds enticing, right? But currently, it can only be considered an ornament.

According to calculations by many engineers from the Holy Council, even if mithril is used, it weighs over 50 tons.

Without tracks, no spring machine could move it.

Even when packed with spring machines, the speed is only 3 kilometers per hour.

And due to material and design issues, even though Horn proposed the concept of a track, it couldn’t be built.

Not to mention the cost issue, making one of these was estimated to cost at least 8000 gold pounds.

After spending nearly 2000 gold pounds, Hilov urgently halted the project and severely criticized Leonardo at the council meeting.

Actually, Horn had a tank design in mind, even though he never drove a tank, hasn’t he seen a tank run?

However, considering the current situation of the Holy Alliance, on one hand, the technology does not meet the requirements, and on the other hand, there is no need for such a war demand.

The Holy Alliance hasn’t even fully grasped linear tactics, and spring machine guns are still in development, let alone tanks.

Even bringing tanks and machine guns to the battlefield, Horn is unsure if they could achieve their effects in the original world.

For instance, with tanks, what if vampires use shadow spells to sabotage the tracks?

So, certainly, improvements are necessary, such as placing extraordinary monks inside the tanks.

Thinking about this issue, Horn was momentarily dazed, thinking of something else.

The report from Armand about the battle on the outskirts of Grewood City was just submitted by Cheka a few days ago.

The inexplicably appearing towering Foot Knights are truly eye-catching.

In some sense, these Foot Knights could even be considered human tanks.

With high defense, even a spring-bolt gun couldn’t penetrate their armor.

They come with projectile platforms, and their immense strength allows them to carry 3-pounder level projectile weapons.

Melee can’t defeat them, long-range can’t penetrate, and even trying to kite, they have bolt guns.

The only drawback is their slow movement speed.

But this drawback is compensated by their relatively small size (compared to the giant Leonardo tanks) and the flexibility it brings.

On the battlefield of Grewood City, these giant Foot Knights easily crushed the elite corps of Falan and overturned the Military Police Knight trying to flank them.

But from their performance, they seem almost comparable to the Great Knight.

The difficult part for Horn is that using giant Foot Knights and tanks, yet their bolt guns are still at the 18th-century level.

Since the information is known, there is no reason not to prepare early.

To counter these giant Foot Knights, the Holy Alliance must come up with its own countermeasures.

The biggest problem currently is having not engaged them before, and capturing one of these giant Foot Knights would be even better.

The Mechanical Palace and Cheka must be ordered!