Goddess Kaleidoscope

So without them even introducing themselves, the crowd in the square had already vaguely guessed their identities. They quickly changed from kneeling on one knee to prostrating themselves on the ground, wanting to look up and catch a glimpse of the goddess's beautiful face, but daring not to do anything disrespectful and invite divine punishment.

The Steelwhip Clan dwarves and volunteers from Pine Town present were extremely surprised and excited, because they all knew these five goddesses!

For a believer, it is undoubtedly a great honor for their own god to suddenly descend before them.

"Goddess! It's our goddess!"

At this moment, the white-haired goddess rose from her throne. With each graceful step forward, white lotuses formed from holy light bloomed beneath her feet, like steps, carrying her to the burning incineration platform on the ground.

The originally orange-red flames instantly transformed into a holy milky white, and the people in the square could clearly feel that as the goddess approached the ground step by step from the air, a sweet fragrance gradually filled the air, which was invigorating and made their bodies feel much lighter.

Some people exclaimed inwardly, "Could this be the goddess's fragrance?" They subconsciously took a couple more breaths, and sure enough, they felt more energetic than before!

Under the watchful eyes of over 100,000 people, the goddess finally stood less than five meters from the top of the incineration platform. Then, she plucked a leaf from the emerald green branch stuck in the jade bottle in her hand, gently blew it into the burning flames.

Then the crowd in the square heard the goddess speak gently in a voice that was ethereal and melodious yet had a deep, resonant quality.

"Arise, my child! Now is not the time for rest; the world still needs you. I will grant you a second life, a reward you deserve, and the beginning of a new trial. Good luck!"

After the goddess finished speaking, she gently lifted her skirt and gracefully turned back to sit on her throne. The other four goddesses clapped and applauded. Although it was a very simple action, it represented the congratulations and recognition from the gods. In a trance, it seemed as if joyful music came from the clouds.

As the music gradually faded, the crowd on the ground finally came to their senses. When they looked up again, they saw that the goddesses had already left, and the fire on the incineration platform had been extinguished silently.

To people's astonishment, the platform, which had been ravaged by the fire, was not only unharmed but was also rapidly transforming. New shoots were visibly sprouting from all the timber, and within minutes they intertwined and transformed into a giant banyan tree, its canopy so large that it could completely cover the entire central square.

Then people noticed that the original steps of the cremation platform were still there, and a person was walking down from them. The person who came down was a handsome young man, who looked to be no more than twenty years old, but his demeanor revealed a mature and steady air.

Winnig, who was closest to the other party, noticed that this unfamiliar human boy was wearing Lud's robes, carrying the "Fire Kirin" sword, and had a pair of clear eyes that felt very familiar.

"You, you are..."

"What's wrong, old buddy? Don't you recognize me?"

The young man smiled and spoke, and although his voice had changed slightly, Winnipeg recognized it immediately—it was Ludd's voice. But just like his appearance, it had become very young.

The old dwarf, who had witnessed everything, was stunned. Before he could ask a question, a figure suddenly rushed up from the side and pounced on Lud, who had come back from the dead and was now younger, with lightning speed.

"Master!!!"

The first one to rush forward was none other than Aina, Lude's closest disciple. This once innocent and lively silly girl had been in a very low mood for the past few days since her master's death, often locking herself in her room and refusing to see anyone.

Throughout the entire funeral, Aina kept her head down and remained silent, seemingly trying to suppress some kind of emotional outburst. However, when Lud was miraculously resurrected, this girl was the first to rush forward, hugging her master and crying uncontrollably.

This scene looks incredibly touching (it's genuine).

The sudden miracle transformed what was supposed to be a sorrowful funeral into a grand pilgrimage ceremony. Five goddesses descended to earth, not only resurrecting the priest Rudd but also granting him a second youth, transforming him from a seventy-year-old man into a seventeen or eighteen-year-old "young heartthrob."

The crowd erupted in jubilation, tears streaming down their faces as they cried out the goddess's name and kowtowed repeatedly at the closed "Gates of Heaven" high in the clouds.

The priests present stared at the frenzied crowd and the young Lud in the distance, their feelings a complex mix of jealousy, confusion, but mostly envy and longing.

They did not doubt the miracle before them, because they knew better than most whether the gods were real or not, and they dared not imagine that this was an organized and premeditated plan, because the gods they knew were all rulers who were high above and issued orders to believers through divine pronouncements.

Expecting these arrogant fellows to cooperate with mortals in putting on a show is something that ordinary priests wouldn't even dare to dream of!

End of this chapter

Without any questioning, Rudd, who was resurrected after death and regained his youth, was immediately canonized in Oyster Harbor and received unanimous recognition from almost all the local people. It could be said that no one else recognized him!

As for the religious figures, although everyone had mixed feelings, they at least offered their congratulations on the surface, which was a tacit recognition of his "saint" status.

It is also thanks to the fact that this world has been a multi-god and multi-religious society for many years, and the lesson learned from the near destruction of the world by the war of gods three hundred years ago, that the relationship between the various sects, while not exactly harmonious and friendly, has at least maintained a public peace, and even when they resort to underhanded tactics, they are relatively restrained.

Of course! Emotional factors were also one of the reasons. After all, they had worked side by side to fight the plague. To be fair, Lu De did a really good job as a senior leader in the health bureau during this period and was highly respected.

After his resurrection, Rudd stepped down from the banyan tree. The crowd in the square chanted his name, reaching out to touch this "freshly made" saint. This scene reminded Rudd of fan meetings on Earth, where he was the idol adored by millions!

Maintaining a polite smile, Lud waved frequently to those around him, trying his best to respond to the cheers of the believers. In his eyes, above the crowd was already a dazzling "sea of ​​light," with hundreds of thousands of people temporarily transformed into fanatical believers, frantically producing faith under the blessing of the primordial fire.

It's no exaggeration to say that the earnings in just one minute are several times more than what Lud earned in the two years he spent working in Pine Town! This is where the advantage of the population density of big cities lies.

With the idea of ​​taking as much as he could, Lude lingered in the square for a full half hour, interacting extensively with the crowd and even giving an impromptu speech, thanking the people and the goddess. Only when the crowd gradually calmed down did he leave the square surrounded by his disciples and friends.

No one could have imagined that what was supposed to be a very sad funeral would turn into a joyous celebration because of a miracle. For a long time afterward, all the people who witnessed this event regarded it as their most proud topic of conversation, and they would seize any opportunity to tell it to those who didn't know about it, becoming the spreaders of the news.

But they may never know that everything they saw that day was actually a pre-designed "performance," except that the performers were not charlatans, but real priests and goddesses!

In fact, even before arriving at Oyster Harbor, Ludwig had already planned to change his "disguise." He disguised himself as the old priest using a divine artifact, but while this artifact could fool ordinary mortals, it would immediately expose him when he encountered a god of a higher rank than Hume.

Therefore, as the church grew and expanded, for security reasons, Ludd believed that he should find a way to remove the mask and show people his true self.

His initial idea was to have Old Lud fake his death, and then he would pretend to be the "direct disciple" who had come from afar to inherit his master's mantle, and then take over the sect he had created.

However, this "alt account" strategy has two drawbacks. First, the new identity cannot fully inherit the prestige already established by the old account in the local area, and the goodwill with the villagers might have to be built up all over again. Second, there is still a risk of being exposed. If you accidentally use the old name when facing an old acquaintance, or say something that the alt account shouldn't know, it will be very troublesome to explain.

After much thought, Ludwig came up with the idea of ​​"rejuvenation"!

To achieve this "artificial miracle," Lude mobilized almost all the manpower and resources at his disposal, calling all the people left behind in his hometown to participate in the operation.

Aina, Shanes, and the three sisters went into battle in their true forms. Aina, who was crying and holding Lud on the ground, was actually a snake girl named Hydra in disguise. Lud had taken a fake death potion generously provided by Kumirad and was carried onto the cremation platform by the unsuspecting dwarves like a real corpse. He was only saved from being actually roasted because Hume had tampered with the flame runes on the cremation platform beforehand.

Aina had prepared for this scene for a long time beforehand. While others thought she was hiding in her room in seclusion because of her master's death, she had actually secretly slipped out of the city and was having intense rehearsals with Shanis and others who had rushed over. The brief few minutes of performance in the square were a condensation of her entire week's worth of hard work.

In short, the show was a great success because it was so realistic. The seven goddesses either acted in it or provided technical support, ensuring the "resurrection" of Ludwig. Even if the priests present did not blink throughout the entire performance, they would not be able to see anything amiss.

That's what you call "professionalism"!

It's worth mentioning that before the performance began, it was Kanna, a "new recruit" from the Medicine God Cult, who promptly transported the people left behind in their hometown to Oyster Harbor. Thanks to Kanna's advancement, the young dragon that had been feeding on her divine power also experienced a rapid growth overnight.

The little guy was less than a meter long from head to tail, and weighed about the same as a cat. Although he could eat a lot without gaining weight, which was the envy of others, it bothered her a lot, especially when she saw her two older brothers back home growing like balloons. She was so envious that she became withdrawn.

Unexpectedly, Aina's advancement also caused the young dragon to grow, gaining a very cool transformation skill. This indirectly proved Lude's previous guess that Kanna, who grew up consuming divine power, had indeed become a "Medicine God's Messenger" in essence.

After transforming into a dragon, Kanna's size instantly swelled to seven or eight meters long. Although this was not yet the size of an adult dragon, she was more than three times larger than her two brothers, and her body also became much more slender.

With her help, the four goddesses from her hometown who had not yet mastered the ability to teleport boarded "Young Dragon Airlines" and arrived at Oyster Harbor smoothly in just one day.

After their "performance," the goddesses, under the cover of holy light, ascended directly above the clouds. Kanna, in her transformed form, waited there carrying a dwarven miner's basket. The five goddesses quickly flew into the basket and were then carried out of the city by the young dragon.

Before leaving, Shanis glanced down. The clouds obscured the crowds on the ground, but they couldn't stop the surging power of faith rising above them. Feeling that unprecedented surge of energy, Shanis swallowed hard with envy.

"Wow, that's great! There's so much!"

"But most of them belong to Aina! After all, she's the main character!"

"Ah! I really want to advance too, I wonder when I can get one?"

Several goddesses huddled in the gondola, chatting and enjoying the breeze. Aina, who had been traveling with Lude for over two months, had gradually gone from being excited to feeling homesick, so she took the initiative to ask about the situation in Pine Tree Town.

Shani thought for a moment, initially not thinking that anything particularly noteworthy had happened, but then she remembered the latest message they had received just before they set off, and suddenly slapped her forehead.

"Oh dear! I've been hiding outside the city for the past two days rehearsing, and I forgot to report something important to my master."

"What's wrong?"

"A new lord is coming to our town soon!"

End of this chapter

The day after the event, Viscount Mauper declared that the day of the miracle would be designated "Easter," a special festival unique to Oyster Harbor. The central square became the new landmark of the area, and the enormous banyan tree did not disappear after the goddess's departure; instead, a spring gushed forth from its roots.

However, just when everyone thought that the Medicine God Church, with its rising prestige, would surely replace the Four Seasons Goddess Church as the most powerful sect in the area, Saint Rudd announced at a celebratory banquet hosted by the lord that the Medicine God Church would not establish a temple in Oyster Harbour.

The day he succeeds will be the day he returns home.

Ludd's decision came as a complete surprise to all the guests present. Oyster Harbour was the wealthiest city in the North, and countless religious sects were vying for a place there.

On the contrary, Ludwig, who could have taken advantage of the situation, established himself in the local area, and gotten the biggest slice of the pie, chose to give it up without a second thought.

However, although Ludwig made it clear that he would not establish a temple in Oyster Harbour, he did make some demands of the Viscount.

The first priority is to erect a monument under the large banyan tree in the current central square to commemorate the innocent civilians who died and the medical workers who sacrificed their lives in this epidemic.

Ludger personally designed the monument's shape. The blueprints were drawn before his "death," and after his resurrection, he made considerable modifications based on the changes that occurred in the central square. The project will be handed over to the Golden Axe Merchant Guild for construction.

The entire monument is composed of eleven separate pieces, forming a circular wall that surrounds the large banyan tree. The front of the monument features a mural depicting the heroes of the fight against the epidemic, while the back lists the names of all the victims.

It's worth mentioning that each stone tablet bears a statue of one of the eleven deities worshipped by the eight religious sects that participated in the anti-epidemic efforts. The Lake God Sect, which withdrew first, was ignored, and although the Goddess of the Four Seasons was still there, she was placed in the worst possible position.

Secondly, the health bureau and the hospital on East Street should be preserved. Although the plague has been defeated, people will still get sick, and someone needs to monitor the public to continue to maintain good hygiene habits in order to prevent the plague from making a comeback.

Lude was the nominal dean, while Nanting Physician, who had already joined the church, served as the vice dean. After Lude left Oyster Harbor, he continued to manage the hospital's affairs. At the same time, two-thirds of the medical students that Lude brought with him were left behind for him.

Thanks to this anti-epidemic campaign, the reputation of doctors in the local area has been restored and even significantly improved, and they have begun to be respected.

These young people have already officially graduated and have accumulated considerable practical experience in the previous two months of the fight against the epidemic. They have been assigned to the municipal hospital in Muligang, which can be considered as a job placement guarantee after graduation.

The entire hospital, from top to bottom, is staffed by Lu De's people!

Finally, he used the 10,000 gold coins bestowed upon him by the lord to build a primary school in Oyster Harbor. He even had a name for the school in mind: "Hope Primary School"!

The school's arrangements were similar to those of the hospital. The teachers were also sent by the Medicine God Cult from Pine Tree Town. They were all recent graduates, and the most outstanding elites among them.

Although it may seem like Songshu Town is constantly sending out talent, these graduates go to Oyster Harbor as primary school teachers, and when the primary school students they teach graduate in the future, the top students among them will also be sent to Songshu Town for further studies.

In this way, the schools in Pine Tree Town can establish their advantageous position as "institutions of higher learning," and they will then be the ones attracting talent.

There are approximately five to six thousand school-aged children aged six to twelve in Oyster Harbor. Lud plans to use the ten thousand gold coins given by the lord to build a large boarding school in the area, and to enroll as many of these children as possible.

Many religious figures present believed that Ludwig was using the guise of building schools to proselytize among minors. Naïve children, inexperienced in the ways of the world, were easily brainwashed, leading them to marvel at this clever tactic. Some cunning individuals were already secretly planning to imitate it in other regions.

But they would never have guessed that Ludwig's purpose in building the school was not to develop underage believers and brainwash them from a young age, but to genuinely teach these children knowledge and give them the power to change their destiny.

Lud's three demands were well thought out. Not establishing a temple was a gesture to avoid direct conflict with other sects, but the hospital and school were under his control, the influence of the Medicine God Cult remained in the area, and it even extended its reach to the "next generation".

Given Rudd's current status as a saint and his unparalleled personal prestige in Oyster Harbor, the lord naturally wouldn't refuse these seemingly reasonable and advantageous requests. Therefore, he agreed without hesitation, and was even more cooperative than expected.

"Mochi, Hima, come here."

At the banquet, in front of all the guests, the Viscount summoned his two children, the same two mischievous kids who had been saved by Ludwig's plasma therapy after contracting the disease.

The twins are eleven years old and very beautiful, especially the younger brother, who is said to look exactly like the Viscount when he was young.

However, given that the viscount is over forty years old and his hairline has already receded to the opposite slope of his head, and that hair loss can be hereditary, the child's future may not be bright in all aspects.

The siblings have now fully recovered and regained their former vitality. Hearing their father calling them, they came hand in hand to Ludwig and obediently gave him a standard aristocratic bow.

The viscount then pointed to his child and spoke to Ludwig.

"Master, I have a request, and I hope you can grant it."