Let go of that monster girl!

"Squeak!"

The mouse girls cheered.

The local merchant representatives and several minor nobles nearby nodded in agreement, occasionally exchanging a few words in hushed tones. The horsewoman knight who owned this land stood aside, glancing at Moren from time to time and giving him a smile.

Molen didn't even remember what she looked like. This world is not lacking in rat girls, nor in noble ladies.

After the simple Mass ended, Sister Mouse jumped down from the platform, scooped up holy water from the wooden bucket, and prepared to sprinkle it on the onlookers. However, she looked up at the snowy weather, hesitated for a moment, and then poured the holy water back.

Instead, she turned around and took out mushroom cakes from the box that had been delivered from the low mountain, and began distributing them to the watching farmer mouse and mouse mice.

The mushroom cake was round and grayish-brown; the rats in the sunlit areas had never seen it before.

The mouse girls took the food, curiously examined it from all angles, and then cautiously took a bite.

"It doesn't taste good."

"It tastes better than tree leaves."

"Thank you, Baron."

Another characteristic of church schools in this era was that they accepted both adults and children, and provided room and board.

Just one glance at the massive amount of supplies that the hills had moved over makes it clear how extraordinary the number of students Morren had planned for this school.

As for the fact that a large portion of the current curriculum consists of scriptures and the like, that's a minor, temporary inconvenience.

Molen has already arranged for Ma Niang to be a teacher. If he can squeeze out some more time, he can compile a few sets of wordless picture book teaching materials.

As Mass ended, Sister Mousen approached Morren, clasped her hands tightly, and respectfully offered her blessing:

"Your Excellency, thank you for not being like those noble ladies who only care about their own preferences and never care about the beliefs of commoners. Compared to you, they are simply wild beasts."

"May the glory of the Goddess of Creation shine upon you forever, may your family prosper for generations to come, and may Aishan flourish forever."

It's not that they don't care about their own preferences, nor that they care about the beliefs of ordinary people.

Molen silently complained in his heart, but he was too lazy to correct her.

The village is being renovated around the church.

The mouse girls climbed ladders to repair the roof, carrying planks and tools, and worked around the low church frame, laying bricks, painting, and installing doors and windows.

Another rat-woman nun was tending a large pot of hot soup, distributing it to the working rat-women villagers.

"Come, come, have some hot soup to warm yourself up!"

The mouse girls gathered around, holding their wooden bowls, and sipped the water slowly, their faces showing satisfaction.

The construction of the church spurred the expansion of the surrounding villages.

Meanwhile, out of Morren's sight, food and gold coins were being transported to various parts of Sweet Radish Territory on public rat wagons.

The newly built church, the newly opened school, the foundation of the future factory—the form doesn't matter. Morren just wanted an excuse to distribute supplies to the rat girls without arousing too much suspicion from the countess.

This actually doesn't cost many gold coins. Considering the shortness of the Rat Girl Church, building a church from scratch only requires about twenty gold coins, and these resources are even cheaper.

Even if Dwarf Mountain doesn't participate in these constructions, the Rat Girls will realize the existence of this wild, neutral NPC from the mushroom cakes that suddenly appear in their hands.

The rats drank hot soup, ate mushroom cakes, and watched the village being repaired.

One of the farmer ratwomen approached Morren timidly and said:

"Thank you, Your Excellency. May the goddess bless you."

The other rats dared not approach this unfamiliar nobleman, but they held their mushroom cakes and cast grateful glances from afar.

One of the horse-woman soldiers next to Morren muttered to himself, while another soldier laughed and said something.

"He might have done something wrong."

"He might just like the rat girl."

Just then, a clear and somewhat cute voice came from below.

“Even if you give the things to the church, not much will reach the rats, and you'll still have to repair this useless cathedral.”

Molen was still looking up at the sky, wondering if there was a warm spot where he could bask in the sun. Not paying much attention, he casually replied:

“That won’t do. If we give it directly to the Rat Girl, she’ll be snatched away in less than a day. Whether it’s for missionary work or to continue receiving funding, the state church won’t go too far. It’s different for noble ladies.”

That lovely voice hummed.

"Aren't you also an aristocrat?" That's probably what she meant to say.

Moren turned to look at the source of the sound. A mouse girl with white hair tinged with pink stood there. Her round ears had some white fur inside, but there was a large gap in them, and a scar was drawn on the corner of her eye.

But the scar didn't make her look fierce. You can't expect a ratgirl to look like a tough thug. Their anger is more like a tantrum until they jump up and bite off your finger.

A snow mouse, whose appearance was not particularly special, blended in with the surrounding dirty little mouse girls, and most people would not be able to tell her apart.

But she possesses a unique quality, like a piece of cheese with sharp edges.

For Morren, standing among the rats was as incongruous as a featured character standing among ordinary cards.

Even though he had never seen her before, Morren instantly recognized her. He casually moved a step, placing himself between the guerrilla fighter and the horse-woman soldier, and then spoke:

"I think I heard that Sweet Radish County has been having a mouse problem lately, but obviously they wouldn't be brave enough to attend this opening mass."

"But if I were a guerrilla, I would probably wait until next spring to do something."

“This ordinary little mouse girl, please consider my proposal. We’ll meet again.”

Molen casually pulled a mushroom pancake from the pocket next to him and handed it to her.

The mouse girl hesitated for a moment, exchanged a glance with Moren, then turned her head and began to eat like the other mouse girls.

-----------------

Sweet Radish Collar, Countess Carrot's Castle.

The blonde horsewoman merchant strode into Countess Carrot's study, her face beaming with excitement. She excitedly pulled a bottle of molasses from her bag, held it high up against the light from the window, and showed off the pure color of the liquid in her hand.

“Countess, I have already sent people to test it. The purity is unbelievably high. It can definitely produce the best alchemical potions.”

She then poured a small bag of grayish-white granules from another cloth bag and carefully placed it on the table.

"This is the latest product from Aishan. It is said that if you just sprinkle it on the fields, it can increase grain production by three to four times. It's winter now, so we can't verify it yet, but if what those little mice said is true, it would be a terrifying creation that could change everything, more useful than an entire army."

Countess Carlot put down her quill, looked up, and casually asked:

"How's the construction of the school he wanted going?"

"There are ten sites in total, and construction is underway at each one. He only delivered the supplies and didn't send any of the rats from the low mountains to manage them. But it's really interesting; he seems quite concerned about whether these little rats can survive the winter."

Countess Carrot leaned back in her chair and said casually.

"A little mouse is just a little mouse, it doesn't matter. Let him feed it if he likes it. What did the Blood Infusion Guild say?"

The blonde horsewoman merchant's smile grew even brighter as she pulled a blood-red pill from her pocket and respectfully presented it to the countess.

"They also provided many good things. Experiments have already been conducted on the mouse girls. As long as they take this pill, they not only feel no fatigue or pain, but their reaction and strength are greatly enhanced, and they also exhibit a strange self-healing ability."

“Even when we cut off the rat girl’s ears, they grew back, but her hands and feet didn’t.”

The countess toyed with the strange pill, sensing the eerie magic flowing within it, raised an eyebrow, and asked noncommittally:

"What about the side effects?"

“If you don’t take it on time, you will go crazy and then die, but as long as we keep cooperating with the Chamber of Commerce, they promise that they will have as many pills as we need.”

"Furthermore, the Chamber of Commerce also stated that as long as we pay for the goods, they can provide golem girls to bolster our army."

"With the addition of other resources from the low mountains, by next spring, Sweet Radish Territory will be stronger than ever. No matter what moves the Duke and Queen make, we will be able to secure our interests."

However, she also realized that there was more to the story than met the eye, so she asked:

“Your Excellency, Baron Moren clearly wants to support the Rat Girls within Sweet Carrot Territory, but we promised the Bloodline Merchant Guild that we would pay the Rat Girls.”

Countess Carrot gave a cold laugh, picked up the teacup on the table, and took a sip.

“I neither promised Dwarf Mountain that I would protect Rat Girl, nor did I agree that the Blood Infusion Merchant Guild could collect payments on its own.”

"Let them figure it out themselves."