The Religion of the North (2)
That day.
What Aiden had said in his office quietly rippled out across the entire North.
Who could have spread the word?
Aiden certainly wouldn't have gone around broadcasting such embarrassing sentiments himself, so there were naturally four suspects: Jamie, Kalisa, Roland, and Felix.
At this line, which sounded like something straight out of a fairy tale, the residents of the North would laugh it off to his face, saying things like:
"Aye, you said it! Our Lord, who filled our bellies and kept us warm, is worth a thousand times more than those gods who were nowhere to be found when we were desperate!"
"If I have to believe in something, forget the gods. I’m just going to believe in our Lord. Should I start setting out a bowl of clean water every morning and praying for his health starting today?"
They would giggle with half-joking remarks like these, but behind his back, they all secretly wiped away tears.
They say there are always people worse than beasts who repay kindness with malice, but the indigenous people of the North, who had only ever had their neighbors to rely on in this barren land, and the so-called "B-grade Imperial citizens"—those who had hit rock bottom and drifted here because no one, not even their own hometowns, would reach out a hand—were ready to band together tightly for the sake of this current peace.
Because of this, Aiden, who was already enjoying peak popularity in the North, now found it daunting to even step out for field work.
"We need to pick up the pace. We have to be ready for the opening in the spring. I know the snow makes things difficult, but I’d like you to pay a bit more attention to the schedule."
"I will take care of it. We can just increase the workforce, so please don't worry too much."
The building under construction next to the trading post was bustling with activity. It was the stock market, set to begin full-scale operations come spring.
Though it was still in a rudimentary form, the existence of a stock market had begun to spread through the trading post, the credit union, and the chamber of commerce. Those in the North with a bit of money were already salivating.
Countless business proposals had been rejected by the credit union for being too risky or for requiring more capital than could be provided. Merchants looking to raise funds for those ventures were spending their nights obsessively refining their business plans to attract investors as soon as spring arrived.
The newly wealthy Northerners were no different. Even though they were well aware of the risks of a stock market—some had even been tempted to dabble in loan sharking—they couldn't help but drool at the prospect.
Aiden would have been horrified to hear it, but then again, it is precisely these kinds of people who keep capitalism turning. In fact, if you really think about it, dumping money into a stock market isn't even that dangerous in this world of romance and peril.
After all, this is a world where even if you just pack a bag and start out as a peddler, there is a very real risk of meeting a monster and having your head separated from your body. From that perspective, a stock market where you might lose some money but your life is never in danger might actually be considered a safe investment by the standards of this era.
"Let's start with a meal, Administrator. My stomach is about to stick to my spine. The sun is already setting. We haven't had a single bite since breakfast."
Jamie complained, seeing Aiden trying to calm his anxious heart while staring at the building under construction.
"You won't die from skipping one meal."
"Do we eat just for survival? There's such a thing as the joy of food. You might regret that missed meal deeply when you're on your deathbed."
"It's almost dinner time anyway, why not just hold out until then?"
"……."
"Fine! Let's go, let's go."
Aiden surrendered, throwing his hands up because Jamie was staring at him with such a sour, fish-eyed expression that he felt he had no choice. He seemed to have accepted that he would be worked hard, but he clearly couldn't tolerate missing a meal, so Aiden figured he had to give in where it mattered.
'Well, I suppose we all live to eat.'
Of course, Aiden, who thought work itself was a joy, couldn't agree with that sentiment at all, but he knew well enough that not everyone thought the way he did.
"Let's grab something simple. We have a meeting about introducing new crops this evening."
"Hehe. How about some stir-fried tripe?"
"That's a drinking snack. I told you we have a meeting."
"What about fried chicken?"
"Can you eat that without beer? If so, then let's go."
"……Let's just have some Yukgaejang."
"Good idea."
Aiden, who could no longer bring himself to call it by the ridiculous menu name, "Red Stew Infused with the Lord's Passion," had started calling it Yukgaejang on a whim. The unique pronunciation must have sounded cool, because the people working at the Lord's castle started using it too. It naturally settled as the name for the spicy, red meat soup packed with beef and vegetables.
He heard that Melania, who had first started selling it, was a bit disappointed, but Aiden chose to play dumb, relieved that he no longer had to say that embarrassing name out loud.
However,
"Administrator! Please, take this!"
As Aiden stepped out of the carriage to see how the shopping district had changed, merchants from all sorts of stalls suddenly began thrusting items into his arms.
"This is the leather we just started selling! It’s the best quality, so I want to give it to you as a gift, Administrator! Please, take it!"
"This is an ointment passed down from my grandfather; it makes your face glow! Take it all!"
"Um... Lord, could you please take this too?"
Even a small child ran up, handed him a wooden doll they had been playing with, and scurried away. It was a much larger-scale version of what he had experienced back in the early days of settling in the North, before it had grown this much.
What used to be a single apple, a fish, or a piece of jerky had now become a whole tanned animal hide, a dozen jars of ointment, a basket of dried fruit, and a slab of smoked pork shoulder.
"I'm going to be crushed to death at this rate."
"Hahaha! So it's true that your popularity has hit the ceiling again, Administrator. Isn't this a sight to behold?"
"Sight to behold my foot! Can you go call the carriage, or at least carry some of this stuff for me?"
"Hehe. Just a moment."
Because the residents would throw the items in front of him and run away before he could even refuse, Aiden was left standing in the middle of the shopping district, unable to move. He couldn't carry it all, but he couldn't just throw it all away either.
He felt like the statue from the old fairy tale, The Happy Prince. Well, the difference was that the prince in the story had stripped away his own gold leaf and jewels to share with the poor, while here, the residents were the ones showering him with goods.
Jamie was clutching his stomach and giggling, saying it was a scene too good to miss, when suddenly—
"Please let me get a hundred on the dictation test next week!"
A small child stopped in their tracks, clasped their hands together, and started praying right there.
"……?"
For a moment, Aiden really wondered if he had become the statue of the Happy Prince.
"Hehe!"
As the child, who had made their wish with eyes squeezed shut, skipped away into an alley with a relieved expression, several other residents who had been watching began to clasp their hands and close their eyes toward Aiden.
Among them, a middle-aged man with a rugged build who looked every bit the hunter rummaged through his pocket, then surreptitiously tossed a coin toward Aiden, pretending he hadn't. It was exactly like a tourist tossing a coin into a fountain, believing it would grant their wish, and Aiden was left gaping, speechless in his bewilderment.
"W-wait... y-you can't do this! What is everyone doing!"
Even Jamie, who had been giggling from the sidelines while Aiden was tied up by the residents' gift offensive, realized something was wrong when things escalated this far and began to block the residents.
When Jamie stepped in, the knights and soldiers who had been following as guards also broke a sweat trying to disperse the residents who were praying to Aiden.
'What is this?'
Aiden still couldn't understand the situation.
Melania's restaurant. A private room.
"……."
"……."
The food had arrived, but both Aiden and Jamie were sitting there, souls departed, unable to even pick up their spoons.
Grumble-rumble!
After a long silence, a loud roar echoed from Jamie's stomach.
"...Let's just eat."
"...Yes, Administrator."
Slurp.
"*Cough*, *hack*! *Ugh*, *cough*!"
"Water, water! Here, water!"
The Yukgaejang at Melania's restaurant, which he hadn't visited in a while, seemed at least twice as spicy as the last time. Jamie, who had been coughing up a storm from the unexpectedly fiery heat, opened his mouth with a dazed expression.
"This getting spicier is all because of you, Administrator!"
"Why is everything my fault?"
"Because the rumor spread that you like it spicy, the food in the shopping district has been getting hotter and hotter lately!"
"...I suppose the consumption of spices must have skyrocketed."
"That thing that just happened out there is probably in the same vein, too."
"You mean me becoming a wish-granting statue?"
"How does it feel?"
"How do you think?"
"The feeling of becoming the living faith of the North."
Now that the spiciness had finally subsided, Jamie was back to cracking jokes. But there was a sharp edge to the words that made them feel like more than just a joke.
"Faith, you say. What kind of nonsense..."
"This is a land that never had a single temple to begin with."
Jamie, a native Northerner, began to explain the incident on the street from the perspective of the people of the North.
"Since it's a land the gods don't look after, we Northerners abandoned the gods, too."
"I see."
"Well, in truth, it would be more accurate to say we never had the luxury of looking for gods. Hehe."
If a devout religious person were to hear this, they might fly into a rage, asking how they could dare to treat faith as a transaction. However, Aiden didn't want to blame the Northerners. They had fought that much more fiercely and desperately to protect their lives in a world without gods.
"That was when you spoke up, Administrator."
"About what?"
"That you were most terrified of us going hungry."
"That's not exactly a grand..."
"For people who had never been protected once in their lives, what could they have wanted to hear more than that?"
"……."
"The person who said what even the gods wouldn't say is standing right in front of them—how is that any different from a god?"
"What?"
"What is religion, anyway? If I want to believe in it, that is religion."
It seems the Northerners have decided to make you their religion, Administrator.
At Jamie's added remark, Aiden couldn't even take a single bite of his cooling Yukgaejang, and could only sit there like a statue for a long time.
How much time had passed?
"But Jamie."
"Yes, Administrator."
"Was that rumor... something you started?"
Jamie's eyes desperately darted elsewhere.