Goddess Kaleidoscope

Kumirard, on the other hand, is a new face. To outsiders, he is an old acquaintance of Hume, an elven scholar who is currently traveling, and his name is Jaina.

The arrival of these two elves did not attract much attention from all sides. At most, people privately envied Master Lud's good fortune with women. Not only were the two female disciples beautiful, but even the security guards at the gate were voluptuous elf ladies.

Privately, Lud and Kumirard reached an agreement to avoid interfering with each other as much as possible. Unless Lud actively sought help, Kumirard would simply remain a spectator.

In the following days, Lud's plan continued to proceed in an orderly manner. More and more patients were cured in the isolation area, while fewer and fewer new patients were being added outside. Apart from Lud himself becoming increasingly unwell, everything seemed to be developing in a positive direction.

Due to the impact of the previous poisoning incident, the reputation of Evanrus and the Cult of the Four Seasons has rapidly declined in the local area. Even without concrete evidence, rumors spread rapidly throughout the city, driven by certain individuals with ulterior motives.

Especially in this special period, any attempt to harm Lud is a public enemy of the entire Oyster Harbor, and even if you are the bishop of the Four Seasons Goddess Cult, you will not be spared.

Evanrus was also very frustrated. He had prepared many plans to teach Lud the "outsider" a lesson, but before he could even start, someone else had already taken action, and did it so poorly.

As a result of this incident, Evanlus became a suspect, putting him in a very passive position. From then on, no matter what went wrong for Ludd, even if he couldn't defecate, Evanlus was always the first to take the blame.

Left with no other choice, Evan Ruth has been behaving himself lately, halting all previous plans and even symbolically sending personnel and supplies to the quarantine zone. While this hasn't completely silenced the criticism against him, it has at least quelled the anger of some.

Sometimes Evanrus was puzzled as to why the timing of the poisoning incident was so coincidental, and why, within a day after the incident, rumors in the city were all directed at him, as if a large chunk of wet yellow mud had been forcibly stuffed into his crotch.

Evanlus felt wronged by these accusations. He did intend to harm Ludd, but the problem was that he hadn't even had a chance to do it yet!

So Evanrus has been behaving himself lately and has ordered his men to behave as well as possible.

As a religious group, they were far more concerned with maintaining their reputation than noble lords. Unless they were shady cults, they always wanted to present a righteous and benevolent image to their followers.

Even Evanlus "openly" admitted to his subordinates that they had indeed lost this round. They had failed to stop other sects from encroaching on their parish again. But as mentioned before, this was only the first round. Now that they were in, let them in. There would be plenty of time in the future, and they would still find a way to drive them out of Oyster Harbor.

The Church of the Four Seasons is currently the largest religious sect in the world in terms of the number of believers and the widest distribution of its denominations. Since the current pope took office twenty years ago, they have adopted an active "advance strategy," constantly sending missionaries to encroach on the territory of other sects. Moreover, their goal is not peaceful coexistence, but rather exclusion and expulsion to establish their own religious dictatorship.

This aggressive and confrontational stance, while bringing substantial short-term gains to the Four Seasons Goddess Cult, also rapidly deteriorated their relations with other small and medium-sized sects.

Evanrus initially understood why the current pope was pursuing such a radical missionary strategy, and the council bishops of the Central Order did not object.

Fortunately, Evanrus had a family network behind him. He received information from an uncle in a high position, who demanded that the lower realms use any means necessary to accelerate the collection of faith. In fact, it was a divine decree personally issued by the goddess, who seemed to need a large amount of faith to accomplish something very important.

Evanrus didn't know why the goddess had given such a divine decree, nor would he actively seek out the secrets of the gods. But since it was the highest leader who personally ordered them to frantically "boost production," it was undoubtedly a good opportunity to show off.

As long as he could win the goddess's favor, Evanlus didn't care about sacrificing hundreds or thousands of mortal lives!

Because his original plan was interrupted by the sudden appearance of the powerful old man Lud, Evanlus had no choice but to convene a meeting with his subordinates to discuss how to make amends from other sources, especially given the rapid loss of local believers. In just over ten days, several thousand people had been lost, and if no action was taken, things would go wrong.

After much discussion, everyone concluded that they were no match for the health bureau led by Lud in terms of treating the sick and saving lives. The Medicine God Cult, a third-rate sect, did indeed have a knack for fighting the plague, and they should try to find other ways to make full use of their expertise.

Their religion worships the goddess of the four seasons, whose primary role is to govern the changing seasons. Spring is currently halfway through, and summer is fast approaching, a time when all things begin to flourish. According to the religion's rules, a "wind festival" should be held at the turn of spring and summer to pray for favorable weather and abundant harvests this year.

Evanlus thought it was a good suggestion that this year's Wind Festival could be held in a grand manner to reunite people.

The public's memory is "time-limited." Since the epidemic will soon be resolved, it won't be long before those forgetful civilians forget their fear of the plague and their current gratitude to Lud. Their attention will soon be drawn to new hot topics.

When that time comes, it will be time for Evanrus to launch a counterattack and settle scores!

However, just as Evanrus was imagining how he would retaliate against the other sects after regaining the initiative, a monk suddenly stumbled into the conference room and whispered a few words in Evanrus's ear in a panic. The bishop's fat face immediately fell.

End of this chapter

Since the Health Bureau was officially established, in less than a month, the locals of Oyster Harbour have developed the habit of checking the street notice boards for updates every day.

The reason is simple: in addition to conveying government orders and updating the latest daily epidemic prevention data, these notice boards have added a lot of extra content, including some novel and interesting life tips, anecdotes from various places, and even serialized adventure stories.

For the dull and monotonous lives of ordinary people, these bulletin boards added a lot of fun to their lives. And it wasn't just the poor who couldn't afford to enjoy themselves; even the rich loved to look at them. But they generally wouldn't be willing to go to the streets and squeeze in with those dirty, mud-covered people in their eyes.

Therefore, most of these powerful and wealthy people would choose to send a literate servant to copy a notice from the street. However, if they came across a comic book, they would be helpless. So, some resourceful people would try to buy a printed copy directly from the Golden Axe Merchant Guild, which was responsible for printing the notices, to read back at home.

As a result, the group didn't manage to buy the printed copies, but they did manage to buy a new type of paper publication called "newspaper" from the dwarf who hosted them.

Compared to bulletin boards, newspapers offered richer content and were the perfect size for handheld reading. A single copy cost only six copper coins and was published weekly, with plans to increase it to daily updates. As a result, it quickly became popular among the middle class and the wealthy and powerful.

This "Port City Daily" and the bulletin board together formed Ludd's media organization in Oyster Harbour, conveying the messages he wanted to convey to the local people.

It was Lud's idea to start a newspaper. He approached the dwarves of the Golden Axe Merchant Guild and Viscount Maup to form a three-way cooperation. They first tested the waters with bulletin boards to confirm that the local people were indeed very interested in this thing before finalizing the project.

As a transmigrator from Earth, Lu De was well aware of the importance of controlling the media, a crucial battleground in the war of public opinion. The key was to first establish this information platform and firmly control it; then, even if the local literacy rate was less than 10%, it wouldn't be a major problem.

According to the information in newspapers and bulletin boards, local residents quickly learned that the health department had issued new epidemic prevention instructions. In order to prevent a possible recurrence of the epidemic, all group activities in the city are prohibited from being held under any name, and people are required to maintain a social distance of more than two meters as much as possible.

The authorities explained that the new order aims to further curb the growth rate of infections. Currently, throughout the Viscount's territory, although over 90% of infected individuals have been sent to quarantine areas for treatment, a small number of patients remain outside, continuing to act as sources of infection.

Some of these unisolated infected individuals deliberately hid, some still distrusted the lord and the health bureau, and others had identities that couldn't be revealed, so they didn't dare to come out at all.

Therefore, in order to prevent the people from becoming complacent too early due to the improved situation, Ludwig persuaded the lord to agree to issue this new decree.

Most people in the city didn't think the order would have a serious impact on their daily lives, since they didn't usually have many large events to attend, and the authorities had even gone to the trouble of explaining why they were doing this.

The only group severely affected was the Church of the Four Seasons, which was preparing to hold the "Wind Festival." Evanlus, who was hoping to salvage the situation through a large-scale religious event, looked at the large print in the newspaper and felt an urge to curse out loud.

“That Lud, how dare he…”

He angrily slammed the newspaper his subordinate had brought in onto the table. Several priests present quickly picked up the newspaper and read it, and they all understood what had happened to make their bishop so furious.

"Your Excellency, with this ban in effect, I'm afraid we won't be able to hold our Wind Festival this year."

"Do you even need to tell me that? No way! I have to see the Viscount right now. If we keep backing down like this, that old bastard will take advantage of us and start shitting on our heads!"

Fuming, Evanrus left the temple and sped to the gates of the lord's manor in his carriage. But unlike usual, the guards at the gate did not open the door for his carriage. Instead, they set up a roadblock at least thirty meters away from the main gate and intercepted him.

Evanrus was surprised that even a lowly guard dared to disregard him. He was about to get out of the carriage and berate the guard when his female disciple, Iria, stopped him in time and got out of the carriage to negotiate.

As soon as Iria stepped out of the carriage, she noticed the change in the lord's guard's equipment. Thanks to his wealthy territory, Viscount Map was able to equip his guard with very luxurious gear, with most infantrymen wearing light plate armor produced by the Golden Axe Merchant Guild.

But at this moment, these soldiers had changed into full-body black robes and wore strangely shaped masks. From a distance, you could hear their heavy breathing coming from under the masks.

The guards' attire reminded Iria of the medical team currently in the quarantine zone; they were dressed much the same way.

Upon seeing this, Iria frowned. Her intuition told her that something must have happened at the lord's manor, but their spies inside the manor had not relayed the news in time, which would have been impossible more than a month ago.

Thinking this through, Iria temporarily suppressed her doubts and swayed her alluring figure toward the guard opposite her. Although she couldn't discern the guard's appearance or age, his physique was undoubtedly male. Having been "educated" by her mentor for so many years, Iria already knew very well how to properly utilize her advantages.

Judging by appearance alone, seventeen-year-old Iria is undoubtedly the kind of pure and beautiful girl who looks very innocent at first glance. Her figure may not be hot, but it is slender and just right. She is the kind of delicate and frail type. Coupled with her pitiful eyes, she can easily arouse men's protective instincts.

But her usual negotiating approach unexpectedly met with resistance here; the guards called out to her before she could even get close.

"Stop! Don't move! Where's your mask?"

"Huh? What? What kind of mask?"

Iria was completely bewildered after being yelled at. As a clergy member who had not participated in the treatment efforts in the quarantine area, Iria had not developed the habit of wearing a mask when going out, nor did she think that such a thing was of any use.

Fortunately, another guard who knew Iria came over at this moment and sent away the recruit who had just yelled at her, which gave Iria a way to ask him questions.

“Brother, what happened at the lord’s manor? Why are you all dressed like this all of a sudden? My bishop is in the carriage and has important business to discuss with the viscount. Please inform him.”

"Miss, the lord is probably not available to see you today. Please ask the bishop to come another day!"

"What on earth happened?"

Faced with Iria's questioning and the gold coin she slipped to him, the guard glanced around furtively. Seeing that no one was watching him, he quietly slipped the coin into his glove and whispered to Iria.

"Don't let anyone know that I said it was you, Lord's child... is sick!"

End of this chapter

The lord's two children were sick. Although the guards who had been paid did not specify what the illness was, Iria could easily guess what was going on from the strange attire that the entire guard had suddenly changed into.

She quickly returned to the carriage and reported the situation to Evanrus.

"What? You're saying the Viscount's child is sick too?"

"Yes, it should be Mochi and Hima."

"Hahaha! This is just too..."

Upon hearing this information, Evanrus was overjoyed. If it weren't for the fact that there were still many guards under the lord outside the carriage, he would have been laughing very unrestrainedly.

"This is a golden opportunity!"

Evanrus was a master of scheming and intrigue, and very adept at using underhanded tactics. So when he heard that the lord's child was sick, his first thought was that he finally had "ammunition" to rightfully attack Lud.

It's worth noting that when Ludr spearheaded the establishment of the Health Bureau, he boasted to the lord in front of Evanrus and many others that he was capable of eradicating the plague within two months.

Subsequent events proved that Ludd was indeed capable, and the epidemic in the city was significantly brought under control. At this time, Ludd was truly riding high. Evanrus wanted to cause trouble, but he hesitated to act because Ludd was under the spotlight.

Now things are looking up. The lord's child is sick. Knowing Viscount Maple as he does, Evanrus knows that the rather indecisive bald man will be furious right now. All he has to do is fan the flames and point out a "target" for him.

Thinking of this, Evanrus wished he could lift his large, skirt-shaped belly and rush into the lord's mansion at full speed.

"Quickly! Immediately inform them that I heard someone in the lord's manor has fallen ill, and I have come here specifically to share the viscount's burden!"

As Evanrus instructed, Iria got out of the carriage and negotiated with the guards. After much persuasion and offering them a lot of "hard goods," she finally got them to announce her entry, and the lord agreed to let them into his mansion.

Having received permission, Evanrus immediately alighted from his carriage, walked proudly into the lord's mansion, and soon, led by a maid, arrived at the door of a bedroom located on the seaside side of the mansion.

Evanrus, who had met here more than once in the past, knew that this was the room of the lord's two underage children.

Evanrus had seen these two children before. The lord doted on them greatly and used to invite the bishop of the Church of the Four Seasons to bless them every year, ensuring their good health. Moreover, it was the highest level of blessing, a genuine divine intervention, not just a few words of flattery as he would for commoners.

It is no exaggeration to say that these two children were the Viscount's darlings, the last two "treasures" left to him by his deceased wife. But it was precisely for this reason that Evenrus risked angering the Viscount by repeatedly and patiently persuading him to use these two children as sacrifices in the ritual.

Because the two children were still young and had always been well cared for by their father, Evanlus could see the innocence that belonged only to children in their clear eyes, untouched by the taint of the world, making them, in a sense, the "highest level" sacrifices.

Evanrus was planning in his mind that the first thing he would do when he entered the house was to use his omnipotent divine magic to heal the poor twins in front of the lord. Then, while the lord was still moved, he would strike while the iron was hot and offer him some "advice".

Once the lord's trust is regained, the rest will be much simpler!

However, just as Evanrus happily knocked on the door and entered the room, the solemn, "business-like" charlatan expression on his face froze completely the moment his eyes met those of the person inside.

"Aren't there quite a few Bishops of Evanrus here? You've arrived!"

"you……"

In the room filled with all sorts of toys, Mochi and Hima lay on their beds, with the viscount standing beside them, his face full of worry, and Lude standing right next to him. Seeing this, Evanlus struggled to keep his face from showing a gnashing of teeth, but inwardly he was wailing.

"I was there first! That was supposed to be my spot, damn Lud... you motherfucker! Why?"

Looking at the seemingly calm Evanrus, Lude's face remained composed.

As the saying goes, first come, first served, and he knew about the lord's children's illness a full day earlier than Evanrus.

Despite having more than one spies from the Cult of the Four Seasons lurking within the lord's manor, they couldn't withstand the help of the God of Thieves on Ludd's side. Since arriving in Oyster Harbor, Hume had been keeping a close watch on the lord's manor 24/7, and not a single letter sent out by those traitors had reached Evanrus.

Therefore, in terms of espionage, Evan Ruth, who did not receive direct support from his own goddess, was in a completely crushing disadvantageous position.