I was an apprentice in Ferren

Chapter 147 I'll Teach You How to Be a Priest
Elves, also known as the Elegant race, have a long history and once defeated the Dragon Empire to dominate Toril. They possess a magnificent and brilliant magical civilization, but a terrible civil war and low birth rate caused the elves to decline after the civil war. The defeat in the War of Crying ended the last breath of the elven empire.

Humans began to dominate the earth, while the elves returned to Evergrande Island to enjoy the blessed land protected by the gods.

Even a broken ship has three nails; even though most of the elves have retreated to Evergrande to serve the principle of glorious isolation, the elves' power should not be underestimated.

With a double-digit number of legendary mages, hundreds of high-ranking warriors, and dragons accompanying their fleets, the elves who came to the Timeless Isle enjoyed lasting peace, except for that eternal enemy. Occasionally, a more curious elf would become an adventurer and venture out to explore, and would receive a high level of courtesy.

After all, although they are talkative and arrogant, most of them are quite wealthy and can cast spells. They also rarely abandon their teammates, making them reliable teammates comparable to dwarves.

Of course, being handsome/beautiful and easily fooled is also a universal value.
Everyone present was stunned when DuPont made that provocative move.

These people were not only dressed in spotless clothes, but their armor plates were also waxed and reflected the light under the candlelight. Anyone who goes to the church more often will know that these guys don't look like busy adventurers at all.

The female elf frowned and took a step back, her disgust so obvious that even the tavern owner could see it. The two elven guards behind her stepped forward, sword hilts in hand. Behind her stood a tall female elf with silver hair and red eyes, who looked at Dupont with a lukewarm gaze: "Lord Dupont, this is not proper hospitality."

"You talk like I invited you here." DuPont was about to provoke them further when the paladin kicked his shoe under the table, so he could only shrug: "Are you here to cause trouble or pick a fight?"

Seeing the conflict inside, the other diners quickly paid their bills and left. The owner also replaced the wooden sign on the wall that read "Welcome" with one that said "Damaged items must be replaced and compensation must be paid." He then squatted at the bar, only his small eyes showing.

This guy named DuPont is really weird. Ever since he came to this little shop, something has been going on all the time. Next time, we really have to make him eat at his old rival's place!

I'd even give you money.

"Boss, please take a break." The white-haired female elf took out a platinum coin. The boss and the bartender immediately understood what she meant and went out to act as security guards. The blonde female elf in the lead released a silencing barrier: "Very good, the humans here are still polite, except for one guy, of course."

"So, are you just doing odd jobs for that moon elf behind you?" DuPont looked at the blonde female elf with a mocking gaze. "While the moon elves have indeed been the rulers of Evergrande for the past few hundred years, have you sun elves become so lowly? Even if you can't draw your King's Sword, you don't have to grovel and act as bodyguards, do you? If I'm not mistaken, you seem to be a spellcaster as well, and you don't seem unhappy at all. Are all you elves so feudal and outdated?"

"Heh, how could you, a short-lived wretch, know of our honor?" The leading female elf said, a smirk playing on her lips, her eyes filled with pity and mockery. "I thought you were a peerless genius at such a young age, but you're just a smooth talker. You're probably being used without even realizing it. If the younger generation of Harua is only at your level, I'm afraid its prosperity won't last long."

"Lady, now that you mention it, I thought the Harua people were being slit in the throats by long-eared black coal monsters crawling up from the ground every day." DuPont smiled and glanced at the others: "If my history lessons were correct, you still haven't won the civil war with the Drow, and ancient evil creatures keep coming out to hunt your people. You can't even sort out your own problems, yet you have the leisure to come to other countries to stir up trouble. Have you been eating vegetarian food all the time and started hallucinating?"

"First of all, we have already won the Crown War. Secondly, we elves do eat meat, we just eat less of it. And I am not spreading rumors, but rather offering a friendly reminder to our allies. Finally, I am also a department tutor at the Yarakh Council Academy."

The Sun Elf produced a silver medal engraved with the name Galanord Vermilion: "I am an elven mentor who spreads the way of sword chanting. Normally, even if I am not your academy's mentor, as an apprentice you should show humility, instead of sitting there rudely and pretentiously."

"You won? Then why is your territory getting smaller and smaller? And I don't see the drows have declared the war over. Now they're still coming up to slaughter villages. Do you elves consider this a way of expressing intimacy?" Ignoring the paladin's gaze, DuPont remained rooted to the spot.

"Secondly, I would like to offer a friendly reminder to the allied nations that you should approach the parliament rather than me. After all, I was merely expressing my opinion, and it would be an honor if it were adopted. If it wasn't, it would mean that I am rather shallow and still need to learn. But as it stands, my ideas are indeed closer to the decisions of the parliament."

DuPont picked up the glass of wine and swirled the cool well water inside: "Finally, you said you're a sword chanting instructor? If I remember correctly, this is a tradition that only elves and half-elves can learn, right? Although you elves are fully developed by the age of 30, you don't officially come of age until you're 110. Because it emphasizes the dual cultivation of magic and swordsmanship, a qualified sword chanter needs at least 10 years of training to graduate and also needs extremely strong talent. This is a very niche category even on Evergrande Island. How many apprentices are there in Harua? You're just a silver medalist, what can you teach? You're probably just here to scam funding."

"There are plenty of half-elves in Harua, so how can you accuse us of swindling funds? It's as if no one in the Silvermoon Federation wants us. On the contrary, you mages are the ones who most easily deceive innocent elves into love, even your Dean..."

Before the Sun Elf could finish speaking, the Moon Elf behind her coughed lightly. Emerald Star immediately realized she had spoken out of turn and stepped aside without saying a word, but her eyes still flickered with the flames of resentment.

“I must say, DuPont is indeed eloquent and has excellent debating skills. Some truths have become blurred with time, and dwelling on these things won't change reality.” The Moon Elf pointed to the table next to her: “Can we sit here?”

"I'm not the boss, do as you please." DuPont looked at the other person. He vaguely felt that the face was familiar, but he was certain that he did not know this elf. After she sat down, he asked, "Didn't you ask me anything?"

“Laziar Moonflower, a priest who served after Avando, has been studying at the Yarach Cathedral in recent years. You can also call me Jasmine.”

DuPont was somewhat surprised to hear this: "Wow, you, the pastor of other churches, have all been ousted? That can't be true."

“Of course not.” The moon elf took out a soft cushion, placed it on the bench, and then sat down. “In fact, I applied voluntarily, wanting to see what this place, which is known as barren, is really like.”

"Have you seen it?"

“In the afternoon I visited the surrounding villages, and to be honest, my senses are not bad.” The moon elf pointed outside the door: “Even this northwest region is considered rich in my eyes. There are large tracts of arable land and farms here. Because mages can change the weather, there is no shortage of rainfall and the land is quite fertile. Farmers have no shortage of livestock, and there are even mechanical crops to assist in farming. Some cities in the Silvermoon Federation cannot compare to this place. This even makes me confused about the word ‘barren’.”

“But this place still can’t compare to Yarach. Who wouldn’t prefer a more bustling big city with more opportunities?” DuPont put down his glass. “If Harua was just like this beer town, I doubt Miss Moonflower would have come here.”

“That’s true.” The moon elf readily admitted after a couple of seconds of thought: “Could there be another meaning behind your advice?”

“The mage doesn’t really need to care too much about this order, because the mediocre will die on the adventure sooner or later. After all, unless he’s content to be just an honest taxpayer, those without ambition will be eliminated in the academy.” DuPont looked at the other person: “On the contrary, I think the clergy are the ones who need more real-world experience.”

"That's an interesting point of view, but as far as I know, pastors in smaller towns seem to advance more slowly, which is an undeniable fact."

"The reason they advance more slowly is because they have different information and resources. After all, only those without a background are sent to remote places. The profession of priest is similar to that of bureaucrats in reality. As long as the descendants are not too bad, they can pass on their power smoothly. Even if their descendants are not as good as themselves, they will still have no worries about food and clothing. Just have more children to try to increase the chances."

"But from a macro perspective, besides pleasing the deity they believe in, the most important duty of pastors is to help their deity spread the faith, and secondly, to make the faith of believers stronger, so that more devout believers will emerge instead of superficial believers. From this point of view, the strength of a pastor is not important, and even the amount of perception is not important. Charisma is the most important thing."

At first, the elves standing to the side had a lingering disdain in their eyes, but by the end they couldn't help but look at each other, and even Deva on the side was a little dazed.

A pastor can interpret it like this?
(End of this chapter)