With my avatar’s newfound freedom of movement, I was… okay, honestly I wasn’t able to do much that I couldn’t do before. My vision from the watchtower didn’t extend far enough to let me visit any other cities, so I was just given slightly more room to walk around than before. In reality, nothing really had changed for me.
With that in mind, I sent my avatar back to the manor, having confirmed what I wanted to confirm. Even with the rolling hills, my vision had expanded more than a kilometer beyond my borders in each direction.
Once my experiment was finished, I offered to let Wesley assign a skilled scout to the watchtower to serve as our sentry. There weren’t any specific jobs that the system allowed me to use the tower for, so it might as well be used for its normal, practical purpose. And now that we had Jamie steadily supplying us with coin, there was no reason not to pay for such services.
The next couple of days, I claimed plots of land stretching out to the east from my town to build the graveyard. Although the only person to have died here so far was the dwarven woman possessed by the awakened sword, I felt like it was better to buy the graveyard now, rather than waiting for it to become a problem.
Like the farms, the graveyard occupied an entire plot of land. Its effects prevented anyone buried within it from rising as an undead, and also allowed me to claim points from people being buried. I had no desire to exploit that second feature, but it was still good to know.
At the same time, I had enough points built up for another spawner, so I created a D-ranked spawner for horned rabbits, together with a nest inside the forest. This nest appeared to be similar to the goblin nest, though with a much smaller interest.
Horned rabbits should have a high reproductive rate, so it shouldn’t be a problem for them to grow and produce more points for me as time goes on. At the very least, they could serve as food for the goblins.
With the appearance of the graveyard, a few villagers seemed to think that it was an ominous sign, though Wesley quickly stepped in and calmed everyone down. He explained that this was just another new building I had the ability to create, and I was preparing for the future.
Rather, it was the building that came on the day after the graveyard that had me concerned…
It was early in the morning, and Wesley had just awoken from his slumber. As usual, he got dressed and left his home, wanting to head to the treasury to see if there were any new buildings that had yet to be uncovered. Since the Land had entered another growth period, this meant that there were bound to be more and more fantastical options available in the coming days.
However, waiting outside of his house was none other than the reclusive Lord Cain, who seemed to have an uneasy expression on his face. “What happened?” Wesley asked, his drowsiness disappearing as if he had just been told that a dragon was on its way.
“We need to talk, in private,” the lord said, and Wesley stepped aside, inviting him inside the home. Cain entered, finding a chair to sit down in, and gesturing for Wesley to do the same. “There is something that Nathan Invar didn’t explain to Prim when he discussed this world, so I need to hear it from you now.”
“What?” Wesley asked, leaning against the table and keeping his eyes on Cain’s features.
“What is religion in this world? What are the gods, priests, divinity, all of it?”
Wesley was taken aback by this strange question, though found that it made sense after a few moments. “There are… various theories regarding this. Many of them are seen as heretical, obviously, but they can’t be completely stifled.”
“The theory regularly accepted by the church is that the gods simply… are. They exist as a spiritual being beyond the bounds of mortal comprehension, granting their blessings unto their most devout followers. Typically, those blessed gain the ability to cure wounds and smite evil.” The source of this chapter is g.com.
“And the other theories?” the lord asked, causing Wesley’s fists to clench. He had a feeling he knew where this was going.
“The one you’re interested in… is the theory that gods are simply the spirits of items that have awakened to a high enough degree to impart blessings on those that believe in them.” After saying that, Wesley took a deep breath. “A church appeared as an option, didn’t it?”
Cain nodded his head in confirmation, and Wesley groaned. “I’m not surprised. If my theory on how your point tier system works, you needed two hundred people before you could enter your current tier. That’s two hundred people that could be classified as your followers, living thanks to your blessings. It would be enough for a small religion to be formed.”
“How do most churches react when a new god appears?” the Lord asked, his expression serious.
“They don’t typically mind, unless you start trying to directly take away their own followers or spread rumors that could be seen as tarnishing their image. For instance, if you spread the belief that all gods were simply inanimate items that had obtained a high enough level of power to become a greater being, most of the churches in the kingdom would probably layer you an evil god, bent on spreading lies throughout the world.”
After he said that, he looked at Cain directly. “Are the benefits of the church worth the risk?”
Cain hesitated at this, seemingly unsure himself. “The description says that it gathers faith from believers, and converts that into points. In addition, those who offer sincere prayers have a chance to awaken divine powers.”
Wesley sighed, nodding his head. “Now that we have a graveyard, we need a priest to handle funerary rites. In addition, it would be best if we had a healer, just in case a situation arose.”
“That said, if anyone asks about the church… let’s go with the idea that it was a god that saw this budding land and offered to grant their guidance. From what I’ve heard of other people from your world, there is no shortage of gods that you believe in. Some religions even claim to have different gods for individual households, and an infinite number of divine spirits.”
Cain pursed his lips when he heard this, but ultimately agreed. “I’m not sure if ‘sincere prayer’ would count if they didn’t really know who they were praying to, but if we frame it as a partnership between me and the ‘god’ of this church, it might just be good enough.”
Why was religion always such a tricky subject? No matter what world, or what era, religion was never something that could be taken lightly.
Still, after talking with Wesley, I ultimately purchased the church, placing it next to the graveyard for convenience. There were no customization options when I purchased this church, just the option to place it down where I wanted.
Within the church itself was rows of pews, an altar, as well as a raised pedestal. At the back of the church, surrounded by stained glass windows, was a statue depicting… me. Thankfully, not the current me, but how I looked before I was brought into this world.
Seeing this statue, I was immensely thankful that I had modified my appearance when creating my avatar, otherwise our plan to disguise the identity of this newborn god would have been over before it began.
When the church was spotted, it was like a beacon had been lit. Everyone in the village walked over to the marble building, entering and offering prayers one by one. Wesley did his best to explain the situation as per what we had discussed, but it didn’t seem to matter to most. All that the villagers cared about was that there was now a god watching over the village. Read the latest chapters at novelping.com.
Among the two hundred and twelve people who offered prayers, only two awakened divine power. The first one truly surprised me, as it came from one of my created entities. All three of them had gone to the church before anyone else, offering sincere prayers before the statue. However, the only one to elicit a divine response was none other than Prim, whose body shone with holy light. As for the second one…
Brock and Sylphy stood side-by-side as they took their turn to enter the church. As the first to awaken to divine powers, Prim was guiding the others through prayer, directing them to offer their sincere gratitude for whatever they desired.
When it came to the two of them, they knelt before the altar, their hands lowered. Brock clasped his hands together, thinking to himself. Thank you, lord above, for providing us with shelter and safety, for giving people a place where they can belong. Though this village may not be grand, I swear to stand by it and protect it with all my strength.
At the same time, Sylphy clasped her own hands together. Thank you, lord above, for your delicious food. The macaroni offered in the tavern is exquisite. The sodas are amazing in all of their flavors. The steaks, the chicken, everything here is just so delicious that I feel like I could die happy with every meal. Thank you for giving me the chance to experience such culinary wonders!
As the two of them offered prayer, a brilliant, golden glow began to shine over Sylphy’s body, seeping into her. She opened her eyes, which now seemed to reflect the golden light around her, and stared at the statue above. She had never expected to awaken divine powers, and had only offered her sincere thanks for all of the delicious food available in the village.
Seeing this, Brock looked over in surprise. “You were chosen? What did you pray for?” he asked, genuinely curious.
“I uh… just thanked him for all the good food?” Sylphy chuckled innocently, causing Brock’s eye to twitch.
“Congratulations, Sylphy,” Prim smiled, stepping forward and offering the girl a hand getting up. “Starting today, you are one of the followers of the Lord, and may wield divine power in his name.”
Yeah… I was confused, too. Still, I wasn’t going to say no to having a priest among the village’s adventurers. At the very least, she was going to be able to handle herself better in a fight than Prim would, and could act as a combat priest.
As for the others, none of them triggered the divine blessing on the first day. I didn’t know if that meant that these particular individuals just didn’t have the affinity for it, or if there was still a chance that they could do so later. All I knew was that Prim officially had a new job, because there was no way that I was going to leave managing the church to the carefree Sylphy.
According to my original plan, the next item I bought should have been the butcher, which had the same price as the church. Although we weren’t currently hunting, and it was still far too soon for the grovines to produce offspring, it was another building that was nice to prepare for the future.
However, the next day, when I performed my regular check to look for new unlocks, something jumped out at me that I knew I had to buy, without a single moment to waste.
T1 School
250C
A small school, able to teach twenty students. As students learn in the school, new features may be unlocked, including items, buildings, and skills.
Even if I currently only had a single child in my village, how could I not want to buy a research facility?! That was the cornerstone of development in any civilization game.