Goddess Kaleidoscope

However, compared to these things, the most urgent task at present is to organize spring plowing. Food is always the top priority!

In Pine Village, staple foods like grains and potatoes are almost exhausted, and they can't eat them all; some must be saved for seeds for spring planting. Although the temple still has some meat provided by Nidhogg, the storage time for meat will be greatly shortened as temperatures continue to rise, so the food crisis is not over.

Therefore, the reclamation of new fields is of utmost urgency. As soon as the soil thaws, we will immediately concentrate our efforts to accomplish this important task.

It's worth mentioning that when the Knight of Jegan was still alive, he promised Lud and the villagers that he would definitely get them relief food.

As it turned out, the Earl did indeed open his granaries immediately after receiving the news and send a batch of relief food and urgently needed warm clothing to the disaster-stricken border region. However, these supplies did not reach Pine Village, which housed the most refugees, but were intercepted by the town of Riverwood when they passed through.

To be fair, Riverwood did suffer considerable damage in this incident, and they were also given a share of this relief food. However, it is clear that Riverwood did not just want a portion, but wanted it all!

The town mayor, in collusion with the town's priestess of the Four Seasons, under the guise of "unified distribution by the town," seized all the supplies from the Earl's army escorting the relief grain. It wasn't until more than half a month later that Pine Village learned of the relief grain in Riverwood.

Upon learning of this, Ludd immediately sent Ron with the handwritten letter left by Sir Jegan to the town to ask for relief food. Ron was gone for a week, and when he returned, he hadn't received a single grain of food, only a few dozen hats and less than ten linen garments.

Ron trembled with anger as he recounted his ordeal in town. He had gone to ask them for food, explaining that Pine Village now had several thousand people. However, the mayor's men looked at the tall and burly Ron and said, "Looking at how strong and clumsy you are, your village must have plenty of food." So they refused to give them any food, only providing them with a few clothes to send them away.

Upon returning, Ron told the villagers about the incident, and the previously conflicting old and new villagers instantly united in their hatred of the enemy.

Lude was also furious with these bastards. He had originally planned to share some of his surplus meat with the town after receiving the relief food, but now it seemed that they had no intention of sharing the burden with them at all.

Winter is almost over, and as long as spring planting goes smoothly, they will be able to harvest their first crop by the end of June, and everything will be alright then.

Putting down the ledger, Ludwig felt his eyes were a little sore. He closed his eyes and did a set of eye exercises that were ingrained in his bones. When he opened his eyes again, he saw a pair of big, watery golden eyes staring at him. It was Kanna, Nidhogg's youngest daughter who was being fostered by him.

After observing it for a winter, Lud has now determined that although this mutated female dragon hatchling can eat other things, it can only continue to grow by consuming divine power.

Lude thought this situation would make Aina very unhappy, but he didn't expect that his goddess was not as stingy as he imagined. As long as he didn't drain her dry all the time, Aina didn't mind sharing good things with her cherished friend.

As for the young dragon Kanna, she can be said to be the first "peer friend" that Aina made. The two, a god and a dragon, have an extremely good relationship and almost always sleep together in each other's arms every night. On the contrary, Rud is left aside and is overwhelmed by the amount of paperwork he has to do every day, to the point that he wants to quit.

End of this chapter

Seeing Kanna come closer, Lude didn't stand on ceremony and directly picked up the little one and stroked her silky smooth fur.

The little guy hasn't grown much in size over the past few months, but his black and white fur has become increasingly soft and smooth. He also loves being petted by affectionate people and will make a very comfortable purring sound like a cat.

Therefore, Lud really enjoys taking a short break from work to pet the baby dragon, which greatly relieves his mental fatigue.

Just then, there was a knock at the study door, and Shanis entered carrying Ludwig's lunch. The goddess-like young lady had completely adapted to her new role as a nun, and was even more composed than Aina. The only problem was the natural, alluring charm she exuded, which always managed to make one's heart flutter unintentionally.

After placing the lunch on Lud's desk, Shanis didn't immediately turn and leave. Instead, she stared intently at Lud. Lud knew from her expression without even saying a word that she was there to urge him to update his work.

With the village's population surging, Ludwig had to worry about everything, big and small, and he spent the entire winter dealing with these matters, neglecting even his duties as a priest. This directly led to a significant decrease in the number of times he preached publicly. Although more and more new villagers were converting, these believers were all joining the Medicine God Cult, and Shanis didn't receive much benefit. She could only barely gain some meager faith by making cameo appearances in stories.

Looking at Shanis's resentful eyes, Lud knew that it was wrong of him to show favoritism, so he quickly tried to comfort her.

"Shanis, don't worry. I've been very busy lately, but the story is really being written. When have I ever lied to you?"

"But Master... just listening to stories won't fill my stomach."

"Uh... don't rush me! My cameo in the story is just a warm-up. I'm already preparing for my subsequent missionary activities, I just need to wait for the right opportunity... Don't look at me like that, I'm serious this time. If you don't believe me, come and see, I've already prepared the proposal."

Seeing that Shanis seemed somewhat skeptical, Ludger quickly produced the solid evidence he had on hand—a document with ink still wet.

Seeing this, Shanis walked around the desk to Lud's side and looked down at the contents of the document. Because the two were very close, when she bent over, her heavy breasts swayed and touched Lud's cheek. Although Lud was wearing a divine mask, the mask did not block his sense of touch, so the warm, soft, and faintly fragrant scent wafted over him, making Lud very distracted, and he even forgot to continue stroking the baby dragon he was holding.

"Stay calm, you have to stay calm, this guy's real body is bigger than me!"

Stealing a glance at Shanis, this beautiful nun with a gentle face and graceful figure, although she looked like a fairy, Lud knew very well what her true form was, so he was always a little reserved when he was with her.

Lud still remembered when Shanis first arrived, he couldn't resist his curiosity and asked her why she was now in human form.

Shanis told Lud that she actually had two forms, and the monstrous form was only one of them. She remembered the old astrologer dancing excitedly around her enormous monstrous body when she was first born. Shanis knew she was created by this human, who was like her father.

Out of gratitude, Shanis immediately transformed into human form, but before she could express her gratitude to the old astrologer, the old man, who had just been jumping around, suddenly fell silent and uttered three very cold words.

"Change back!"

"..."

It was also thanks to the fact that the old astrologer was really busy at that time, and his energy was limited due to his age. In addition, his sect was investigated by the Sun Knight the next day, which prevented many disastrous things from happening.

Thanks to the fact that the first group of believers developed by the old astrologer generally had a good level of literacy, Shanis was born literate, so she could understand the contents of the document. However, after looking at it carefully, she couldn't help but wonder what the matter had to do with missionary work.

"Master, what is this group wedding?"

"As the name suggests, it's a group of people getting married together."

"Wouldn't that be incestuous...? It seems like that's okay!"

"Pfft... You misunderstood. A group wedding doesn't mean that. To be precise, it means several couples get together to hold a wedding ceremony, not that they... do that together... Do you understand?"

"I understand, but doing it in private shouldn't be a problem, right?"

"...Shanis, I'll be setting up a new moral education class for you and Aina tomorrow. I think some of your ideas need to be corrected, otherwise they'll definitely cause trouble in the future."

Wiping the sweat from his brow, Lu De realized that as they spent more time together, he could always find some "mind traps" left by the old astrologer in Shanis. This goddess, who controlled desire, sometimes acted very innocently, blushing and her heart racing at kissing scenes in love stories, but then she would turn around and utter some professional jargon that only "veterans" would understand, catching people off guard.

Lude isn't afraid that she'll lead Aina astray; he's afraid that she'll lead Aina astray astray!

Lud had actually been planning a mass wedding for a long time. With the village's population surging, there were naturally more men and women who were attracted to each other. Moreover, many of them were widows who had lost their spouses in the disaster and wanted to rebuild their families.

Since the beginning of spring, the village has weathered its most difficult days, and these couples have taken the initiative to approach Rude, hoping to hold a simple wedding ceremony in accordance with the ancient wedding customs of this world, witnessed by the most respected elder in their village.

Seeing that so many people wanted to get married, Lud had an idea to hold a mass wedding for them. He planned to draw inspiration from both Western and Eastern wedding styles on Earth, selecting some simpler but meaningful ceremonies to hold a grand ceremony for them in the temple.

If this matter is handled well, it will be like setting a template, allowing the temple to expand into new businesses and have new revenue streams.

Before this, the temples of the world's major religions had very simple functions: they were religious places where priests preached and believers prayed collectively. No one had ever held a wedding there.

This time, Lud not only plans to hold a wedding, but also intends to formally expose the god of love, Shabakorn Yenis, and at the same time put forward his long-conceived concept of a "pantheon".

Rudd believed that as long as this concept was accepted by the believers, there would be no problem with him not only having two goddesses to worship, but also continuing to create new goddesses to fill the temple.

End of this chapter

Traditional weddings for the lower classes in this world are very simple. Basically, the couple goes through a simple process at their own doorstep, kisses each other in front of relatives and friends, and then they can go straight to the bridal chamber.

Noble weddings can be very grand and lively, but they are always held in one's own courtyard, not in the temple hall of the religious sect.

The reason why no religious sect attaches importance to weddings and funerals is mainly because the positions of the gods in each sect are different, and the upper echelons of the sects are controlled by conservatives. Therefore, they cannot keep up with the times in terms of ideology and lack the spirit of pioneering and progress.

Of course, the main reason at the end of the day is that these sects have not recognized their own position. Many lower and middle-level priests think that just because their job titles contain the word "official," they are really high-ranking officials, and they despise the peasants at the bottom of their hearts.

As long as they don't get blamed by their superiors, they naturally do whatever is easiest, only caring about fleecing others, but never thinking about properly managing the flock.

Many other religious sects also have a fixed mindset, believing that they should do things in accordance with their own gods. For example, followers of the God of War, the Heavenly Madness, are mostly valiant warriors, and their priests are a group of warmongers and violent fanatics who encourage their followers to solve all problems through duels.

If you let these bastards officiate at a wedding, they'd probably just hand the bride and groom two machetes on the spot and make them fight it out!

However, it was thanks to the inaction of these traditional sects that Ludd was able to seize these important positions whose significance was seriously underestimated.

Lude plans to hold a unique new-style wedding in the village, taking advantage of the existing conditions. The ceremony will be held in the temple. It doesn't matter that the hall cannot accommodate several thousand people. The ceremony can be divided into two parts. The key is to make it a meaningful ceremony so that everyone in the village can see and experience it.

Although the weather is still a bit cold this season and the snow on the ground has not completely melted, some tenacious plants have already sprouted tender buds and bloomed with bright flowers.

Lu De referenced the wedding procession in the Celestial Empire on Earth. On the wedding day, the bride would first dress up in her best attire at her own home, while the groom would arrive with a bouquet of flowers to fetch her. The bride's family would then prepare three simple questions to test the groom before allowing him to take the bride away.

After completing the wedding procession, the dozen or so couples will gather in the town square, then walk hand in hand along the main road to the temple of Ludwig to hold their final marriage vows and officially become husband and wife.

The whole process is not complicated, but it is grand enough. In addition, on the day of the mass wedding, Lud will also officially put the statue of Shanis into the temple.

Rudd had actually begun planning the Pantheon's setting a long time ago. In his system, there exists a divine realm that coexists with the mortal world; it is the kingdom of gods, inhabited by many, many deities, both good and bad.

When someone prays on earth, there's a chance their voice will be heard by a deity in the divine realm. This probability increases as more people pray. Some of these deities who hear the prayers will choose to respond, descending to earth to become the corresponding deity.

This framework provided the necessary theoretical basis for Rudd to create other gods in the future, and also laid the foundation for the establishment of the pantheon. Because Rudd had emphasized more than once that although he was a priest of the god of medicine, he also served other gods who were willing to protect mortals. The temple and priests were the bridge and messengers between mortals and gods.

Thanks to Lud's current prestige, this seemingly reasonable explanation has gradually been accepted by most of the villagers. So what Lud needs to do next is to make a statue for Shanis, or rather, the goddess of love and desire, Shabukorn Yenis! With previous experience and many more helpers, Lud is confident that this time he will be able to do it easily.

However, since it was impossible to work outdoors in winter, and he was also preoccupied with other trivial matters, Rud waited until now and took the time to reorganize the entire temple.

Because the temple has more guests and more belongings, most of the rooms are now being used. The three goddesses all live on the second floor, while Rude and Fallen Leaf, disguised as a man, live on the first floor. The remaining rooms have been converted into a study, kitchen, storage room, and workshop.

It's worth mentioning that while tidying up the storage room, Ludwig also cleared the entrance to the underground passage that had been blocked by cabinets, and then took Hume and Fallen Leaf down for a look.

Contrary to Lud's earlier guess, the tunnel didn't lead to a treasure room or a mysterious cave, but rather to the sewers of an ancient city, or rather, the remains of a sewer system. After hundreds of years, there was no longer any stench or filth here, and you could clearly feel the air flowing, so breathing wasn't a problem.

After descending, the group explored the cave, finding only some ordinary animals that posed no threat and a skeleton that had been dead for many years. Based on his expertise, Ludger deduced that the skeleton likely belonged to a young woman who had taken refuge in the sewers during the war and died quietly there.

Out of respect for the deceased, Lude collected her remains and had Hume quietly bury them in the public cemetery on the east side of the village.

To increase the usable space in the storage room, Lude cleared out the section of space near the entrance to the passageway, then sealed it with walls to create a cellar, where he stored some miscellaneous items that were not currently in use, as well as some items that were not convenient to be made public.

Currently, the sketch and three-view drawings of Shanis's statue have just been completed. Lud has to rack his brains to ensure that the statue is frontal enough while also using some of the "designs" of old astrologers to ensure that there is a sufficient connection between the old and new images and to avoid creating a completely new god.

To put it bluntly, this is a complete "whitewashing"!

Fortunately, Shanis's human form is just a very ordinary, sexy black-haired mature woman, without any strange parts, so Lud's modification process was relatively simple.

Shanis, in her goddess form, primarily wears black and red clothing, symbolizing the goddess's duality and implying intense desire. Her evening gown-like dress features black patterns resembling thorns entwining her body, with only a rose-shaped red lace cutout at the chest.

The goddess sat in a very alluring posture, with her legs crossed and one seductive bare foot stretched forward. Her right hand gently lifted her long, black hair, and her ambiguous smile was both captivating and dangerous.

End of this chapter

Shanis looked at the portrait Ludd had drawn for her, picked it up and examined it carefully for a moment, then plopped down on the desk, struck the same pose as in the portrait, and asked Ludd.

Is it like this?

"Uh... um."

Lude nodded, swallowing unconsciously.

Although Shanis was currently dressed in a very conservative nun's habit, with no skin showing except for her hands and face, the clothes couldn't conceal her stunning curves, nor could they hide her innate allure. Furthermore, the fact that the two of them were alone together in a room gave off a feeling that something might happen next!

Fortunately, at that moment, the baby dragon Kanna flew in through the window. Because she couldn't control her speed, she crashed headfirst into Shanis's chest, making a "soft landing." This instantly destroyed the somewhat "banana-like" atmosphere.

In the following days, Lud was mainly busy with two things: making statues of Shanis and preparing for the villagers' weddings.

The statue was relatively easy to make. There was some clay that had been stockpiled last year in the temple's backyard. Lud was in charge of sculpting the figure, while Aina and Shanis assisted. A 1:1 statue was quickly made, and then it was fired according to the "old recipe." The finished product was even better than Aina's.

The current statue of the God of Medicine enshrined in the temple is pure white and flawless, giving it a very holy feel, but being a solid color, it looks somewhat monotonous. The statue of Shanis, the goddess of love and desire, perfectly replicates the color scheme used in Rudd's portrait, with black and red clothing, milky white skin like the God of Medicine's statue, and even a slight pink tinge on her fingernails and toenails.

Shanis was extremely satisfied with her idol, and Aina looked at it with great envy, begging Lud to get one for her too.