Chapter 77
Chapter 77
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 77
Chapter Title: Divine Power
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"The church needs money!"
A hush fell over the room in an instant.
The saintess, of all people, bringing up money.
'Does that mean the church's finances are in that bad a shape?'
'Is that why the saintess came all the way here herself?'
I didn't want the church to go under, either.
While we were at odds in the realm of politics and religion,
on a broader scale, the Earth Church and I were in the same boat.
After all, there were other churches out there—Sun, Moon, Fire, Water, Wind.
And even the Destruction God faith.
'So, should I offer tribute to the church?'
There was a way: collect temple taxes and hand over a quarter to the church.
That would provide major relief to their finances.
But,
'I don't like that...'
A quarter of the 10% temple tax.
That meant 2.5% of the Frontier territory's income leaking out every year.
In other words, it was like poking a hole in the giant jar called Frontier.
'It's not like pouring water into a leaky barrel. How could I hand over 2.5% to outsiders every year?'
Tap tap.
Someone tapped my shoulder.
Isaac had come right up beside me.
"My lord, perhaps say something..."
"Huh?"
I snapped out of my thoughts and back to reality.
A heavy silence was pressing down on the room.
The temple knights were fidgeting restlessly,
and the saintess's face was flushed red, as if about to burst.
'Oh no...'
I needed to say something quick.
To break this awkward tension.
That way, her embarrassment would ease up too.
'But what do I say?'
'I haven't even sorted out my own thoughts yet?'
In the end, what the church needed was money.
If I wasn't going to give it to them directly,
I could help them earn it themselves.
'How? How can the church make money?'
The saintess shifted restlessly.
She squirmed in her seat as if uncomfortable.
Her unease made me anxious too.
I needed to find an answer fast,
but nothing came to mind.
'Hmm... money... money... money for the church...'
It took five minutes before
a solution hit me.
In the meantime,
the saintess was sweating from the effort of overcoming her shame.
Her posture had completely unraveled.
"Saintess."
"Yes... Heir Elwin."
"Would you care to go into business with me?"
There were plenty of ways to help the church one-sidedly.
But what I wanted was a win-win path,
and I'd found it.
"Business?"
I stood and fetched the stack of soap bars from the lectern.
"The soap business."
As the topic shifted,
the saintess's expression returned to normal.
"I'll publicly announce that I've handed the soap production method to the church—and only publicly."
"You're giving us the soap recipe?"
The saintess's face lit up.
"No. It's only public like that. The details..."
I explained my idea.
There were a few issues holding back the soap business expansion right now.
1) The 30% transit toll in Callas territory.
2) And the good relations with Viscount Callas were a burden too.
A way to solve both problems at once had emerged.
First, problem one.
The soap factories were on the island, but the massive market was on the continent.
Callas territory lay right in between.
How to bypass the Callas transit toll in the current situation?
Simple.
'Can't move the market, so move the factories.'
Produce on the continent, sell on the continent—no need to pass through Callas.
That's where problem two came in.
Viscount Callas surely already knew about the soap.
Production ramping up would mean sales across the continent,
and he'd be expecting more toll revenue.
Moving the factories out would disappoint him.
'Callas territory is key among keys. Relations with him are vital.'
Now there was an excuse even Viscount Callas couldn't argue with.
Sharing the goddess-given soap recipe with the church—what could he say?
"So, Heir Elwin, you're saying... use the church's name to make money?"
"In return, I'll give you 10% of the soap sales profits."
The saintess closed her eyes again, deep in thought.
I provided extra info to help her make the right call.
"Current soap production costs..."
"In six months, mage fees will be gone..."
"Especially, gold soap profits are huge..."
"Selling soap across the continent would bring massive gains..."
Time passed,
and finally, the saintess spoke.
"All right. Let's do it. But if soap profits fall short of expectations, we'll renegotiate. Devotee Elwin."
"Of course, Saintess."
.
.
With the negotiations done,
the saintess departed Plain.
She left behind some accompanying priests and a few temple knights.
She promised to dispatch more priests and knights once back at church HQ.
If a bunch of priests came here...
"Time to start a new business?"
"Pardon? What was that, my lord?"
Isaac looked at me curiously.
"Nothing. Just talking to myself."
Priests were treasures.
Ways to make money with priests kept popping into my head.
True to her word, the saintess dispatched priests and temple knights to the island.
I sent them to the villages with temples.
River, Terra, Alp, Yuran, Iron, and even Plain.
All areas under my strong administrative control.
And in those regions, temple tax collection began.
As agreed, I was in charge of the collections.
"My lord, the temples in Plain and its satellite cities are still under construction."
"Send them to temporary temples."
The other cities' temples were complete.
But Plain and the satellites were still building.
Hence, temporary temples.
"New buildings?"
"I've contacted them all. Construction should be starting by now."
To make money with priests, we needed fitting new buildings.
"Good."
I read the report Isaac handed me.
'This is the projected revenue?'
After meeting the saintess,
the future revenue graph's slope shot upward.
Straight toward the sky.
I read the notes from the author below.
[Covering previous expenses with temple taxes.]
Temple construction costs.
Temple operating costs.
Temple maintenance costs.
All had come from my pocket before.
Now, temple taxes covered them.
[Even after temple-related and neighbor aid expenses, about 40% remains.]
Collect 100 in temple tax,
after various costs, 40 left over.
That 40 was purely mine.
Temple tax wasn't tied to the territory or empire.
The saintess had permitted me to use it.
"How are the territory folk reacting?"
Adding the 10% temple tax had dramatically improved finances.
But it was bad news for residents facing extra taxes.
"Little backlash in most cities."
"Really?"
"Most are slaves or wanderers from the continent. They accepted temple taxes as a given."
Island natives found temple taxes unfamiliar.
They'd gone without for so long.
But continentals were different.
Temple taxes were normal to them.
"Plain has some resistance, though."
"Figured. What's the response?"
"Promised high-quality jobs."
Good jobs meant farming.
Relatively safe, decent pay.
"Added welfare too."
"Welfare?"
"School construction. Free education and childcare promised."
"Good. Contact Grandfather about the schools."
Underground corridor.
Thud. Thud.
Thud. Thud.
With each step of the Paonia family head,
footfalls echoed.
Thud. Thud.
Thud. Thud.
A familiar path.
Yet today, her steps felt especially heavy.
Thud. Thud...
She arrived at the door,
and temple knights searched her.
Always unpleasant.
But today, she wished they'd take longer.
Once inside, even more uncomfortable talk awaited.
Pat.
The search ended in a flash.
Felt shorter than usual today.
Creeeak.
The door opened,
and a priest waited inside.
The priest cut straight to it, no greetings.
"I told you to hurry."
"...I'm sorry."
"The Earth Church has dispatched priests and temple knights."
"...I'm sorry."
Nothing else to say.
Paonia's investigations showed
Elwin had no ties to the Earth Church.
Sounded odd to outsiders.
A devout believer like Elwin not meeting the Earth Church?
But it was fact.
So she'd felt relieved, in part.
Yet...
"Elwin even met the Earth Saintess in person. Surely the Paonia family head knew this too?"
"...I'm sorry."
"What now!? Fifty years. Fifty years in the shadows preparing. And yet!!"
Bam!!
The furious priest slammed the desk.
The enclosed space amplified the echo.
"I'm sorry. But every heir on the island is watching Paonia. If we move now..."
Kaboom!!
The desk shattered and collapsed.
The priest had unleashed divine power.
"So, we just hand the island to the Earth Church? To that pathetic Earth Church of all!!"
"..."
The family head had no retort.
The priest was right, but immobility was fact too.
"Move."
"But..."
"Move now. We can't wait longer."
"...Understood."