Goddess Kaleidoscope

The artisans' reluctance to pass on their skills clearly stemmed from their fear that their apprentices would starve them in the future. However, in Ludwig's view, this kind of hoarding of skills actually seriously hindered the world's technological progress.

So, in order to dispel the concerns of these artisans, Lud promised to give the artisans who served as teachers tangible benefits, the first being generous compensation. Each teacher would receive an annual salary of fifty gold coins, a figure that almost no commoner could refuse.

Secondly, there is a promise that these artisans will be able to invest their skills in the soon-to-be-established factory, receiving substantial dividends. Furthermore, these shares can be considered personal assets and passed down to their descendants.

This is also the most important part of Lud's industrial upgrading plan; he wants to set up factories and start businesses locally. As a Chinese person with industrialist genes in his bones, Lud has never given up his ambition to industrialize in another world. The reason he hadn't started before was mainly because the timing and conditions weren't ripe yet.

However, there's an old saying on Earth: "To get rich, build roads first." Pine Tree Village is located on the northern border of the kingdom and is a newly developed area. The local road conditions are extremely poor, and road construction is a time-consuming and labor-intensive project. It would be difficult for Pine Tree Village to complete it independently.

So Lude came up with a plan. He had previously used medicine to open up avenues for wealth, letting outside merchants and dignitaries know that he had good things. Although this would attract some ill-intentioned covetousness, if used properly, it could also serve as advertising, bringing them convenience.

Lud knew that the two neighboring lords both had designs on this newly acquired land on the northern border, but neither dared to actually send troops to occupy it before the king's official investiture.

So Ludwig sent Hume and Fallenleaf separately to the Earl of Ramley and the Duke of Gamelin to spread false information, making them believe that the other side planned to build a road to the border to strengthen their own influence in the area, so as to monopolize the potions produced by the local Medicine God Cult in Pine Village.

These deliberately spread rumors indeed worked. Although the two lords could not immediately confirm the accuracy of the information, they at least knew the purpose of the roads. Therefore, based on the principle of "better safe than sorry," they started a road-building race almost immediately. This allowed Lud to gain two usable trade routes for free without spending a penny.

With the road problem solved, Lud could then focus his efforts on setting up factories. Considering the local conditions, Lud planned to open a brick and tile factory as his first venture. There was a clay mine downstream of the river to the east of the village, which Lud had discovered while sourcing materials for pottery.

One advantage of bricks and tiles is that they are easy to sell. Pine Village itself has a considerable domestic demand, and with the continuous influx of people from the kingdom's interior, other surrounding villages will also want to upgrade their housing. Anyone with even a little ambition would not be content to live their entire life in a simple wooden hut or adobe house.

It is worth mentioning that this brick and tile factory will adopt a shareholding system. As the main investor, Lu De will naturally hold the majority stake, holding 70% of the shares in the name of the Medicine God Cult, and Lu De will appoint himself as chairman.

The remaining 30% of the shares are divided equally among the following groups: 5% for the village chief Luo's family who invested money, 10% for the artisan teachers at the school who contributed their skills, and the remaining 15% is shared equally among all adults aged 15 and above in Songshu Village.

This decision means that once the brick factory is built and put into operation, as long as it operates without losses, almost every household in the village will receive dividends. Moreover, Lude promised that his brick factory would give priority to hiring local people, which made the villagers, who originally thought that the brick factory had nothing to do with them, excited.

By combining religion and economics, Ludé has truly formed a more solid community of shared interests with the local villagers.

It is no exaggeration to say that at least 70% of the villagers have become devout followers of the God of Medicine, and their loyalty and trust in Lud has unknowingly reached a level that surpasses that of kings and lords.

End of this chapter

For the entire industrial upgrading plan, Lude proposed a complete framework and process, while Elijah, as the secretary, was responsible for compiling accounts and perfecting the plan and other documents. The ghost lady's elegant, aristocratic handwriting was far superior to Lude's disgraceful "dog-paw" handwriting.

After glancing through the proposal, Lu De nodded in satisfaction, thinking to himself that this was the kind of experience a boss should have: he only needed to come up with ideas, while his excellent employees worked hard overtime to complete the project.

“Fantastic! I could never have done this myself. Thank you, Miss Elaine, it’s so great to have your help.”

"Hehe, it's not as good as you say!"

Hearing Lude's praise, the female ghost smiled innocently, completely unconcerned about being exploited.

After all, Elijah had spent three hundred years in solitude and idleness, so now that she had something to do and someone to talk to, Elijah was very happy.

That's certainly true, at least for now, given the relatively small workload!

After finishing their work-related conversation, the human and the ghost started chatting. Elijah knew she was a ghost and that sunbathing might cause her to turn to ashes, and most of the living people outside were afraid of her, so she always stayed obediently in the basement, living the life of a "homebody ghost" who never left the house.

Lude was worried that Elijah would get bored and that staying in the dark basement for too long would cause her to develop mental problems like other undead. So he would come down to chat with her from time to time and tell her about his experiences in the outside world.

Elizabeth expressed her deep admiration for Ludd's plan and ideal of establishing schools to enlighten the people. Even more than three hundred years ago, during the most prosperous period of human civilization, knowledge was one of the "privileges" that the vast majority of the lower classes could not easily access.

Eliven came from a noble family and served as a lady-in-waiting in the royal court. The former queen of the Kingdom of Manas had once conceived the idea of ​​establishing basic education, but unfortunately, she was unable to do so before the country was destroyed.

The world today is far worse than it was back then. Not only are the common people at the bottom of society uneducated, but even many nobles are illiterate, believing that swords are more suitable for ruling their territories than words.

This shows that the decline of civilization in this world has not actually recovered along with the increase in population!

However, Ludwig wasn't in the mood to chat about his experiences today; instead, he complained to Elijah. He told her about his conflict with Aina and asked her to give him her opinion.

Watching Lude ramble on and on, like a father lamenting his daughter’s growing disobedience, Elijah almost burst out laughing.

"Lord Ludwig, you really care about Miss Aina!"

"Sigh! The problem is that that brat doesn't appreciate it at all. She used to be so well-behaved."

"Don't worry, this is how children grow up."

Lude rested his chin on his hand and looked at Elijah, but after thinking for a moment, he ultimately decided not to tell her the truth.

When Ludwig first discovered Eliven, he once thought that this ghost girl who had been spying on him in the shadows for months must know a lot of his secrets, including his "true face" and Aina's identity, etc.

But Lud soon realized he was completely wrong. Elijah had indeed been his neighbor underground for over half a year, but aside from a brief period at the beginning when she tried to scare him with weak methods like shaking the cabinet, she mostly didn't dare approach Lud, after all, priests were the nemesis of the undead.

However, considering that Elaine's existence is quite special and there is almost no possibility that she will inform the outside world, Lud is willing to tell her some truths so that he can formally include her in his "core team". Otherwise, it would still be difficult to entrust her with some work involving important secrets.

The two, one human and one ghost, were chatting happily when suddenly, a cabinet in the corner of the room shook without warning. Hearing the sound, Lude was slightly startled, then pointed at the cabinet and asked Elijah.

Did you do this?

"No, it must be the book in the hidden compartment that's moving. This is the third time today. It's quite startling when it happens so suddenly!"

Without complaining that Elaine, an undead, was startled by the cabinet, Lude got up and went to the cabinet. He moved a few books and documents on the second shelf to reveal a hidden door behind it, and then took out a locked wooden box from inside.

Behind several bookshelves and cabinets along the south wall of the secret room are hidden compartments used to conceal special and valuable items. These include Elijah's urn and the pendant she used to sleep in.

Inside the wooden box held in Lude's hands was a special item they had recently recovered—the Book of Ashes!

This book was originally just a tool Lud used to deceive the lizardmen; it possessed no special abilities of its own. However, the Grayscale Clan, who obtained it, believed the book's fabricated contents without question and, through their fanatical faith and sacrificial rituals, imbued it with a trace of divine power.

Back in the dwarven dungeon, most of the adventurers who participated in the operation thought that the book had been taken away by the surviving lizardmen. But in fact, the lizardmen who were carrying it had not gone far when Hume caught up with them and intercepted the book, taking it back.

After successfully retrieving the item, Lud initially thought the lizardmen had turned it into a "divine artifact," and he had gotten a great treasure for free. However, after Hume's appraisal, they discovered that the book was far from being a true divine artifact; it only possessed some preliminary characteristics similar to one. If anything, it should be considered an unfinished, half-finished product!

So theoretically, if Ludwig really started a cult and gathered enough faith to summon the "demon god Miyazaki Hidetaka" he made up, then the Book of Ashes could become a true divine artifact.

But while that's what they say, they can't actually do it!

Lude did indeed plan to create some new gods in the future, but he never thought of creating evil gods, especially such "malicious aggregates" that enjoy harming people. If he really created one, it would cause a big problem wherever he went!

Thus, after being retrieved, this useless "Book of Ashes" was shelved by Lud and stored away in a secret compartment in a hidden room.

However, no one expected that less than a month later, the previously dormant Book of Ashes suddenly came to life, as if something sealed within it had finally awakened from its slumber.

End of this chapter

Taking the Book of Ashes out of the wooden box, Rudd could immediately tell that the book had "recovered" significantly from its condition when it was first retrieved a month ago. It felt almost alive; Rudd reached out and gently stroked the cover, even feeling it tremble.

It was novel, yet subtly disgusting!

Lud speculated that this "magic book," nourished by faith, either possessed a certain degree of restorative power, or that the surviving Grayscale clan was still providing energy to the book.

When the Grayscale Clan was initially targeted in the campaign against the Lizardmen, they fell for a human's diversionary tactic, and their stronghold was destroyed. However, a considerable number of able-bodied Lizardmen survived. Given the vastness of the Void Forest, it would indeed be difficult to find several hundred Lizardmen if they chose to hide.

These survivors who escaped with their lives may now be filled with deep-seated hatred for humanity, praying to the demons fabricated by Ludwig, and these beliefs nourish the Book of Ashes.

Thinking about it this way, it seems to make sense.

Driven by this curiosity, Ludd opened the Book of Ashes to check its restoration progress. The contents were unremarkable; they were all fabrications by Ludd, written in an ancient script by Hume. A closer look even suggested a rather cringeworthy sense of childish embarrassment.

So Rudd flipped directly to the "Pokémon Encyclopedia" section at the back.

When Lu De was writing the book, he was simply indulging in a kind of wicked fun unique to transmigrators, and he included the Pokémon summoner theme. As a result, those idiot lizardmen were really daring and daring, and they actually went so far as to sacrifice their guardian serpent.

That eight-headed serpent was also incredibly unlucky, now falling into Lud's hands along with the Book of Ashes.

Turning to the page with the giant snake at the head, sure enough, the original "damaged encyclopedia" had changed significantly. The giant snake on the page had recovered to about 70-80%, and all the heads that Nighogg had torn off had grown back to their original state, but its coiled posture was still very weak.

At this moment, Lud noticed that the giant snake in the painting suddenly began to move slowly, raising one of its heads and "looking" at Lud outside the painting.

"Amazing! You can see me?"

As soon as Lude finished speaking, a character appeared below the giant serpent's illustration.

"Yes."

Seeing that the giant snake had indeed responded to him, Lude suddenly became interested. Elaine, who was standing nearby, also came over and was surprised to find that Lude was actually having a "cross-dimensional" conversation with the creature in the painting, which was beyond imagination.

"Priest, is it... is it alive?"

"Yes, it's alive."

"He looks... kind of cute!"

"..."

Upon hearing Elizabeth say the eight-headed serpent was cute, Lud was momentarily speechless. Before the lizardmen tricked it, this serpent was a formidable monster lord, its strength only slightly inferior to an adult dragon. Given a more favorable home environment, it might even have had a chance to turn the tables!

Fortunately, this giant snake has now become a summon in the book. As long as Lude doesn't release it, it can only stay obediently in the "two-dimensional world" and be a paper snake.

The giant serpent trapped inside the book is now trying to "negotiate" with Lud, saying that she knows about the treasure the lizard people have hidden deep in the forest, and that she will take Lud to find the treasure if he releases her. It is clear that she wants to trick Lud into releasing her from the book.

Unfortunately, Lud was not an easily fooled lizardman and remained unmoved by her eloquent enticement, coldly laughing as he spoke to the giant snake.

"Don't waste your energy. I won't fall for it. At least until I figure out how to control you, you'd better stay inside."

"Your own mother was killed by a dog-headed man..."

Seeing that Lude was completely unmoved by her sweet words, the giant snake sealed in the book became furious, but no matter how much she bared her teeth, she could not break through the seemingly thin layer of pages.

Before she could launch a personal attack against him in "Zuan Snake Language," Lude preemptively slammed the book shut, and the giant snake's overwhelming rage instantly turned into a slight, painless tremor.

Lud, who was in complete control, was now completely at ease. The giant snake was now like meat on his chopping board, and there was no rush to deal with her.

So Ludwig picked up the Book of Ashes, intending to put it back in the wooden box and lock it, but just then, he suddenly thought of an interesting "little experiment".

Under Elizabeth's puzzled gaze, he turned and took some sulfur powder from the lab table beside him, opened the book to the page with the giant snake, and before the paper snake could even start spraying, he sprinkled a handful of sulfur powder on it, then quickly closed the book again.

This time, the book shook much more violently than before, but it was only as strong as a mobile phone vibrating. Lu De put some shock-absorbing linen in the wooden box, which reduced the vibration to the point where it wouldn't shake.

"Keep her locked up like this for a week, then take her out to check on her next week."

Having dealt with the restless paper snake, Lud probably figured it was almost dawn outside, so he casually gave Elijah a few instructions, got up and left the secret chamber, returning to the temple on the ground.

As usual, everyone in the temple was awakened by Rudd at dawn to prepare for a busy new day. And today happened to be Monday, so Rudd had a new business to launch.

This service is called "accurate time reporting".

Before this, Pine Village, like most villages in the world, lacked a relatively strict concept of time. Activities were basically based on sunrise and sunset, and the village's chickens were the primary means of telling time.

But Lud felt that this was far from enough, so during the temple renovation, he commissioned the village blacksmith Bank to make a loud bronze bell, which was then installed on the roof. He then used Hamilton's connections to order a magical timer from the Three-Person Tower.

This item is quite expensive, and only top-tier mage associations like the Three-Person Tower have the capability to manufacture it. It's one of the very few items in the world capable of precisely calculating time. Therefore, for Lud, who doesn't know how to make clocks, spending this money wasn't entirely wasteful.

Once the magic timer and bronze bell were in place, Lud officially announced to the villagers that timekeeping would be one of the main services of his temple, and that the bell would be rung three times a day at 6:00 AM, 12:00 PM, and 6:00 PM to provide convenience for the villagers.

As the first bell rang in the morning, the villagers of Pine Tree Village awoke from their sleep. The sound clearly told each of them... it was time to get up and do radio calisthenics with the priest!