Goddess Kaleidoscope

But more than these, Lud actually values ​​the dragons' labor force!

Lud, who had flown with Dragon Airlines a few times, once asked Nidhogg out of curiosity what the heaviest object could be carried into the air. The black dragon thought for a moment and said that he didn't know the exact weight, but he could carry a boulder as heavy as three of himself into the sky when he exercised.

Lude roughly estimated that the carrying capacity was at least fifty tons, which was comparable to that of large transport planes on Earth.

So from that moment on, Lud had an idea: to hire a group of dragons to form an air transport fleet, specializing in high-end logistics services. Not only would it be fast and have a huge capacity, but it would also be incredibly prestigious!

Of course! Given the dragon race's combat prowess, if Rudd truly had a group of obedient dragons under his command and was only interested in making money, then being a mercenary would definitely be the most lucrative option. However, compared to killing and destruction, Rudd prefers management and development. If he encounters someone who's too blind to reason with him, it's not too late to teach them a lesson!

Lude's initial hope for a partnership was with Nidhogg and Tawawa. He planned to find an opportunity to talk to them after they returned from the Dragon Clan Conference and encourage them to start a "husband-and-wife business." In the future, when their children grew up, it might even develop into a "family business."

Now, not only have the couple returned, but they've also brought back an "unexpected surprise"!

Unlucky Amy was forced to submit to the dragon's protection under the barrier. At Lud's insistence, she signed a binding divine magic contract, promising to serve as a volunteer in Pine Town for three months to compensate for the various losses she had caused to the area.

At first, Amy objected, saying that she had only crushed a small wooden house, which was not worth much money. Why should she, a dignified dragon, work for the locals for three months for free? Wasn't that bullying an honest dragon?

So Lude patiently explained to her what "mental damage" meant. She flew into the town without warning, which not only startled all the townspeople, but also caused the local livestock to panic. If something bad happened, the chickens would stop laying eggs and the cows would stop producing milk. Would that be a small loss?

Amy was completely bewildered by Lude's manipulations. Although she still felt that something was wrong, she still signed the contract of servitude in a daze.

After the contract took effect, a ring of golden runes appeared on Amy's slender neck, looking at it like a collar at first glance.

Therefore, it's subtle... a little bit sultry!

The contract, built upon divine power, possessed immense binding force, which even dragons could not easily violate. Therefore, Rudd confidently removed the barrier. Amy got up and stretched, scratching the spot on her neck where the rune was located, staring at the smiling Rudd with an extremely complex gaze.

"The contract is in effect, human. What do you want me to do?"

"Haha, let's not rush to do the work! Today is a day to celebrate the harvest in our town. We can talk about anything after the festival."

At Lude's call, townspeople soon brought over two whole roasted pigs and a large barrel of ale. Pig farming was the most successful livestock project in Songshu Town this year. The more than 300 piglets that were bought in batches last year not only all survived, but this year, with Shanis's help, they produced piglets like crazy, and the herd has expanded more than five times. Only the breeding pigs are getting increasingly haggard.

Looking at the steaming roasted pig in front of her, Amy hesitated for a moment, then picked it up and carefully took a bite, a look of great enjoyment gradually spreading across her face.

"Humans! What did you put in this pork? Ugh (chewing)... Why does it taste so good?"

"It's mainly various spices, and also onions. Eat slowly, there's more if you're not full!"

Emi devoured the roasted pig in a flash, finishing one in no time, and then eagerly grabbed the other.

Most dragons eat raw food, though some are more particular and will cook it by breathing fire to remove the gamey smell. But adding seasonings is not an option in the wild.

Having lived for nearly three hundred years, this was the first time Amy had ever tasted such a delicious and visually appealing meal. In less than ten minutes, she had devoured both roasted pigs clean, and her expression clearly showed that she was still somewhat unsatisfied.

Lude, who had been silently watching her eat roast pork, knew that the girl had fallen for his trap.

The food festival that day became famous for months afterward because of this little incident. "Crispy roasted pork that's so delicious it can make a dragon stop in its tracks" became the signature dish of Pinetree Town, attracting a large number of diners. Lud even took the opportunity to create a very eye-catching trademark for the local roasted pork - a red dragon taking big bites of roasted meat.

As night fell, the food festival came to a temporary close, and Ludwig led the distinguished guests from all over to the open-air opera house to watch a new play performed by drama students. The red dragon Amy was also there, lying on the hillside where Nidhogg and Tawawa had stayed last year, laughing uproariously at the comedy on stage, showing no trace of the humiliation he had suffered that morning.

After watching the performance, when Lud returned to the temple, Fran, a member of the islanders' youth group, suddenly approached him, saying that the goddess of the hearth, Marigis, who had been asleep, had awakened and wanted to meet with Lud to talk.

Marigsis last appeared two weeks ago, but after a short conversation, she fell into a deep sleep again due to exhaustion of her divine power. Previously on the island, Marigsis would have needed at least two to three months to regain consciousness, but this time it only took fifteen days. Her rapid recovery is largely attributed to the food festival.

In front of Ludwig, Fran developed rapidly once again, transforming back into a curvaceous goddess, and looking much more energetic than the last time they met.

"I must admit, your abilities are truly remarkable, even the gods would take notice. I received a massive influx of faith today; how did you manage that?"

"Rely on this."

Lude smiled and pulled a piece of paper from his pocket, handing it to Marigis. It was a flyer for the food festival, which every visitor to the festival could pick up for free from the roaming mascots. The front featured a promotional poster with the book's title, while the back was a guide to the food stalls.

The posters were made by the town's United Printing Paper, with Lud in charge of the illustrations and the dwarven master craftsmen making the printing plates. As a result, the finished products were quite exquisite. Many people were attracted by the exquisite images after receiving the flyers and were reluctant to throw them away.

The poster features a goddess who looks very much like Marigius in the center, wielding a spatula and cooking in front of a stove. Around her are many local deities familiar to the people, including the God of Medicine, the God of Love, and the three sisters of the Goddess of Crafts, creating a harmonious and joyful scene.

The accompanying text explains the origin of the food festival, saying that on this day every year in the divine realm, the goddess of the hearth, Marigish, would personally display her "first culinary skills among the gods" to prepare an unparalleled feast and invite the gods who were closest to her to her temple as guests.

Mortals imitated the goddess's actions, and thus, food festivals came into being.

With just a flyer, along with some Easter eggs related to Marigsis embedded in various activities, Ludwig successfully brought the name of the goddess of the hearth, which had been submerged in the annals of history, back into the public eye naturally.

When people saw the promotional poster, they discovered there was a goddess of the hearth named Marigius, who was also the best cook in the divine realm. And when they came to believe she was a deity, faith naturally arose.

Based on this understanding, the faith produced by a single individual is extremely small, but the entire Pine Town is blessed by Lud's primordial fire, ensuring that this meager faith can be quickly absorbed by Marigis and not dissipate midway. Tens of thousands of people, like grains of sand forming a tower, naturally make the total amount quite considerable!

After explaining his operation, Marigis was amazed by Lud's superb missionary methods. He was so good at coming up with such a clever trick that he was far superior to the priests and missionaries of the Age of Gods hundreds of years ago!

End of this chapter

Counting the time, it has been almost four years since Lude transmigrated to this world, and he has been a priest for more than three years. However, the more he understands the mechanism of faith, the less sacred these so-called "gods" seem in his eyes.

Of course! This is also largely related to the fact that the gods that Rude has actually come into contact with at this stage are generally weak.

Aina and the three sisters were his "children," and Shanis was the orphan left to him by the old astrologer. These were all new gods still in their "growth stage," and at this stage, they could only be described as having "promising futures." As for the older gods, such as Hume, their divine power was sealed, and the current Marigsis was so weak that she could not even maintain her consciousness.

The most powerful one is probably the goddess of wisdom, Kumirad, but this goddess is associated with the labels of "deception" and "conspiracy," which don't sound very good. She's clearly not a proper goddess.

Of the goddesses mentioned above, apart from Hume, who was a fourth-order deity before being sealed, and Kumirad, who claimed to be a fifth-order deity, the rest were all lower-order deities.

In terms of pure power, most lower-level gods are not actually any different from the most powerful mortals. Only by ascending to the fourth rank and becoming a mid-level god can one truly gain an overwhelming advantage over mortals.

However, it is not easy for a god to break through to the fourth tier. The first three tiers mainly depend on the total amount of faith absorbed. Once the amount is reached, it will naturally be achieved. However, breaking through from the third tier to the fourth tier has certain thresholds. In addition to requiring a certain level of divine power, some additional conditions must be met.

There isn't just one path to breakthrough; one of them is to acquire additional divine positions, becoming a composite deity. Therefore, even before Aina reached the second tier, preparations were made in advance to add a "Fertility" divine position for her. As for whether two divine positions alone will be enough, that will depend on the actual situation when Aina is close to reaching the fourth tier.

Regarding Marigis, Ludwig believed that the first priority should be to help her regain some public recognition, while rebuilding the sect could be delayed, or even not done at all.

Keep in mind that the goddess of the hearth and her followers have lived in seclusion for three hundred years, and have long been forgotten by the general public, only occasionally mentioned in a few documents. If you suddenly announce that you want to rebuild the cult of the hearth and recruit people to worship a goddess they've never even heard of, you'll most likely be seen as a cult member.

Therefore, in the first phase, Ludd would guide the people to "rediscover" the goddess of the hearth, Marigius, and to popularize and even entertain the related doctrines.

As long as Marigsis's name is known to everyone and her symbol can be found all over the world, making it easy to gather faith on a large scale, then even without establishing a sect, she, the goddess of the hearth, can live a very comfortable life.

After listening to Lud's explanation, Marigis thought to himself that although he was a god who was hundreds of years old, his understanding and knowledge of faith was far inferior to that of the seemingly young human youth in front of him. He felt quite emotional, thinking that his trip out of the island had actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise!

"So what are your next steps? Will you hold food festivals like today's in other places as well?"

"It doesn't necessarily have to be a food festival, and festivals like this can't be held often. So my next step is to turn your image into a trademark."

"Trademark? What's that?"

"A kind of iconic symbol, like a statue of a god, is a mark that represents you as a deity. It's just that the trademark is not placed in a temple, but affixed to goods that can be sold."

Seeing Marigis's puzzled expression, Lud simply took out a physical object: a bottle of Divine Tears Recovery Medicine, which their Medicine God Cult sold to the public.

Since the town became more prosperous, Lude also upgraded the packaging of his flagship products. The potion containers were changed from the previous small wooden bottles to more upscale crystal bottles.

Lachesis, the youngest of the three craftswomen, is a super-strong little girl who loves digging. She's been in charge of the main excavation work in the Abyss Labyrinth. As a byproduct of her digging for survival, she's also unearthed a lot of strange things from underground, including a large amount of crystal.

Following the principle of making the most of resources, at Rude's request, the three sisters' messengers crafted these crystals into bottled containers. The multifaceted bottles were engraved with the emblem and profile of the Goddess of Medicine. Because of their exquisite craftsmanship and the hardness of the crystal, making them more durable than the previous wooden bottles, and because Rude didn't take advantage of the situation to raise the price, they were an instant hit. Many people would subconsciously glance at the goddess's image on the bottle before drinking, seeking blessings.

Lude explained the function and benefits of a trademark to Marigsis, which greatly impressed her. She wanted Lude to get one for her too, but Marigsis was, after all, the goddess of the hearth. Although it could be applied to cooking, she couldn't think of anything she could put her trademark on for the time being.

You can't exactly use a mold made from the goddess's real body to bake a giant loaf of bread for believers to take home and eat, can you?

Lud reassured Marigis that he already had a good idea.

"This year, the most produced spice in the town is chili peppers. The total yield of 1,500 mu of chili pepper fields is nearly 400,000 jin. In addition to what I eat and what I sell, I have specially kept 100,000 jin to make flavored chili sauce. I plan to put your trademark on the jars of chili sauce."

"Huh?"

When Marigish heard Lud said he was going to put his portrait on the hot sauce jar, she frowned.

When a deity hears this, their first reaction would definitely be that the mortal in front of them is humiliating them. It's one thing to use a crystal bottle to hold healing potions, but using an earthenware jar to hold chili sauce is just too low-class.

Lude noticed that Marigs seemed somewhat disgusted with the hot sauce, so he patiently explained.

"Don't look down on chili sauce. Let me tell you, if I didn't think your position was more suitable, I really wouldn't be willing to give up this good spot to you!"

"What kind of good spot is the chili sauce jar?"

"Do you understand the concept of market penetration? Recovery potions cost five gold coins a bottle, primarily targeting mercenaries and adventurers who live on the edge, as well as wealthy and powerful individuals who value their lives. My potions can be life-saving in critical moments, but that also means those who buy them won't use them unless absolutely necessary. On the other hand, chili sauce only costs thirty copper coins a bottle, making it affordable for the vast majority of ordinary people. Which consumer group do you think is larger? And which is used more frequently, recovery potions or chili sauce?"

"This……"

Rudd's words left Marigish speechless for a moment, because she shared the same views as many traditional deities, believing that religion should be "sacred," and that to be sacred, one must be "detached from worldly affairs" and not be tainted by secular influences.

But Ludwig took the opposite approach, popularizing religious rituals and advocating their integration into daily life. This was somewhat difficult for Marigish, whose mindset had not yet shifted, to accept, but reason told her that what he said seemed to make some sense.

End of this chapter

In the study of the temporary lord's mansion, Lady Srina, who had just returned from the open-air opera house, did not change her clothes and go to bed after putting her son and daughter to sleep. Instead, she came to the study alone and looked through the reports that had been delivered during the day. They were all neatly stacked in a wicker basket on the desk, so that the old lady in charge could easily access them at any time.

Since the villains, including Maine, were eliminated, the administration of the territory returned to Srina. However, the old lady knew that she, a woman, was simply not capable of governing a large town with a population of over ten thousand, and her only trusted confidants were the three knights and an elderly nanny, neither of whom were skilled in internal affairs.

So, on Ludwig's advice, the old lady reinstated the former mayor, Rom, and put him to serve the baron.

To be honest, for a while, even though Lady Slina knew that it was Ludwig who saved her life and helped them overthrow the traitor Maine, she still harbored suspicions about him.

The old lady herself had little desire for power. Her greatest wish was to hand over the territory intact to her son Lothar when he came of age, so that she could retire peacefully and wait for her husband and sons, who had passed away earlier, to come and take her away.

But Lude's existence made her very worried at one point.

You have to understand that the Baron's family were lords who "sent down" from the sky. They had absolutely no connections or background in the area and were complete outsiders.

Ludwig, as a local strongman, was the town's religious leader, educator, and large landowner. He was wealthy, powerful, and deeply loved and supported by the local residents, and he also had close ties with many powerful figures in the surrounding area. Most feudal lords would not want someone more powerful than themselves to be above them in their territory.

The old lady was very worried at the time. If Lude also harbored evil intentions, then their family's situation would probably be even worse than when they were in Maine's hands!

However, after spending some time with him, the old lady found that she really couldn't feel any ill will towards this kind-hearted and erudite priest. Especially after learning about his deeds, she couldn't help but feel admiration for him.

The fact that Songshu Town was able to develop from a small village of a few hundred people into a prosperous town with tens of thousands of residents in just three years is largely thanks to this master. On the contrary, his family reaped the benefits without ever sharing the hardships with the locals.

So after that, the old lady quietly changed her attitude toward Rudd, put aside her suspicions, and humbly sought Rudd's advice on many matters of governing the town, trying to regard Rudd as a trustworthy elder, even though he looked about the same age as her second son.

Opening the report sent by the mayor, and looking at the neat handwriting, Si Lina knew that it was not written by Mayor Rom. The lame old man was a semi-literate man who could read but not write, and all the reports that were routinely submitted to her were actually written by his youngest son.

The old lady had met several of Rom's sons before. The eldest son, Ron, had been knighted and was currently following Ados. The second son, Roddy, was running an inn. The third and fourth sons had gone to the nearby Earl of Ramley to serve as soldiers. The fifth son, Rocco, was the youngest carpenter in town. The youngest son, Roli, was still a minor and had originally been an apprentice to Bank, the best blacksmith in town, before entering Ludd's school.

The old lady had a good impression of the boy. He had just turned fourteen this month and was a very clever and quick-witted young man, the most educated of old Rom's six sons. Lady Srina planned to recruit him into the Baron's mansion as a clerk when he came of age next year, to cultivate a capable future confidant for her son.

There weren't many documents in the wicker basket, just two in total. One was a briefing submitted by Mayor Rom, mainly about the recent situation in Pine Town over the past week. The old lady glanced through it and found everything was normal within the territory. The other document was the census report that had just been completed.

Normally, a census is the first thing every feudal lord does upon arriving in his territory. Only by knowing how many people, fields, and livestock he has can he begin collecting taxes the following year.

The entire baronial territory encompasses a radius of fifty kilometers centered on Pine Town. Besides the town itself, several surrounding villages also fall under the baron's jurisdiction. According to the census, the baronial territory currently has over 15,000 official inhabitants, with an additional 1,000 or so new settlers who migrated from the interior this year and are willing to submit to the baronial rule.

If we also include the transient population from outside, such as adventurers or caravans, the daily population of the Baron's territory should fluctuate around 20,000. On holidays like today, it can quickly soar to over 30,000, and if this trend continues, even more people will come to visit in the future.