The story of the black silk female knight

"After witnessing what it means to have divine grace as vast as the sea, the Americans have now witnessed divine power as severe as a prison. Although our Church of the Sun has a rule of not interfering in the internal affairs of a country, we will retaliate if we are declared war upon."

It was a meaningless, one-sided, crushing battle... However, our church didn't completely wipe out the Merchant Alliance; we only eliminated a few of the greediest and most powerful families.

It is said that the Sun Goddess herself performed a miracle, creating a magnificent golden sun tree in Arant, and ordered all the family members to be hung on the tree like fruit for more than half a year.

Finally, many believers said in their prayers that the corpses on the tree always frightened children to tears, so Her Majesty the Goddess withdrew the wonder and burned all the corpses with the power of the sun.

Since then, the Chamber of Commerce has become incredibly obedient, cooperating with any request from our church.

But they didn't give up... Although they dared not oppose our church anymore, they kept trying various ways to save the food and clothing industries.

After generations of refinement, the current law was formed... Any American who has received aid from the church will no longer be able to enjoy high-end consumption.

If it were just this law, it might not be very effective, but there are also various promotional entertainments that the Chamber of Commerce intentionally promotes.

For example, the various stories on the streets and alleys, and the various best-selling novels, many of them are legendary stories of starting from scratch and eventually accumulating amazing wealth... Well, they're similar to the knight novels popular in Fran where the protagonist slays powerful monsters and beast commanders and then marries a noble lady.

With these inspiring stories, if the Business Alliance then truly promotes a few individuals whose life experiences resemble those of novel protagonists and continuously publicizes their legendary success stories, many young people will naturally want to emulate them.

As a result, many young people leave the countryside and small cities to start businesses or seek opportunities in big cities like Arant or Gundia, dreaming of becoming famous and rich overnight.

But legendary experiences are not so easy to replicate... There are people who achieve great success, but most people fail in their business ventures and end up penniless or even in debt.

Some of the losers, disheartened, chose to return to their hometowns and live off church aid. But many more were unwilling to give up. They chose to band together for support and wait for an opportunity, which eventually led to the existence of slums in big cities.

That's right. Slums like these don't exist in rural areas or small cities; they only exist in large cities like Gandhi and Arant... and the larger the city, the larger the slums.

Moreover, the people living in these slums are not lazy and uneducated people; on the contrary, many of them are quite capable. They just had bad luck or were cheated, which led them to this situation.

so……"

Ilana hesitated slightly at this point before continuing:

"If you need to hire people to help you with anything, you might want to try the slums. People with good eyes and luck can find treasures there, and the prices are much cheaper than on official hiring platforms... Not only are the fees in the slums low, but more importantly, there are no handling fees."

Of course, you can try your luck in the slums for some unimportant things, but for truly important matters, you can ask your brothers and sisters in the church for help.

"Are most of the people in these slums talented but unlucky...?"

Valensa pondered for a moment, then her eyes suddenly lit up:

"Can I post quests in the slums just like I post quests at the Adventurers' Guild? How do I do that?"

"of course."

Ilana smiled and nodded, then looked on with curiosity:

"Little Sasha, you want to post a commission in the slums?"

"um, yes."

Valensa chuckled softly:

“I’ve been looking for a special ore, and I’ve already placed a commission in Fran. There’s no need to bother the brothers and sisters in the church with this kind of thing, so perhaps we could give those who have failed in their entrepreneurial ventures a chance?”

"Little Sasha, you're looking for a certain kind of ore? Then coming to America is definitely the right choice!"

Ilana said without hesitation:

"Just as no one understands ingredients better than the hunters and chefs of Fran, no one understands minerals better than the people of America! Ingredients are truly scarce here, but minerals are truly abundant... As long as the mineral you're looking for actually exists in this world, America will definitely have it!"

"That's really nice."

Tia couldn't help but exclaim with delight:

“We need that kind of ore right now… It’s not urgent, but it would make things much easier for us in many ways.”

"Let's go then, I'll take you for a tour of the slums."

Ilana is a decisive person; otherwise, she wouldn't have abandoned her duties as the High Priestess of the Fran capital and hunted down the Church of Abyss Spirits across the continent to avenge Valensa's father.

She immediately led Valencia and Tia off the carriage and headed towards the slums.

As she passed the Sun Church relief station at the entrance to the slums, Ilana tapped on the table, startling a few nuns who were slacking off.

"High Priest... High Priest? What brings you here?"

"I've come to arrest you lazy girls and take you back to Her Majesty the Goddess for punishment!"

Ilana first pretended to frighten the three nuns, then snorted and pointed at Valensa:

“This sister from France wants to post a commission in the slums. Send one of you who knows the business to come and help get things done.”

Chapter 44 Strange Cult

The nun who works at the slum's shelter every day certainly knows the slum better than High Priestess Ilana.

Led by one of the nuns, Valensa and her companions soon met a woman known as Grandma Paran in a bakery in the heart of the slums.

On the way, the nun had already given a brief introduction to Grandma Palan.

Grandma Paran ran a bakery in the slums, selling bread at very low prices and even allowing credit to those who were truly in need.

This semi-charitable act earned Grandma Paran a good reputation and a lot of trust in the slums.

So besides selling bread, Grandma Paran was also the biggest intermediary in the slum, helping clients hire people and post jobs in the slum.

Unlike other platforms and guilds that charge exorbitant fees, Grandma Palan's intermediary work is completely unpaid, receiving no compensation from either clients or slum residents.

But the more this happens, the more money Grandma Palan has... Those who successfully escaped the slums or even started new businesses with her help would give her generous rewards and gifts.

Grandma Palan basically accepted all the gifts offered as a token of her gratitude.

Simply put, Grandma Paran invests in talented but down-on-their-luck individuals by selling them cheap food and giving them opportunities.

After actually meeting Grandma Palan, Valensa knew that Sister Paran's information was correct.

Despite having "grandmother" in her title, Grandma Palan doesn't look old at all; she appears to be only in her forties or fifties.

Unlike other slum dwellers who are destitute, she is dressed in fine clothes and jewelry, looking somewhat like a noblewoman, or more like a madam in a brothel.

Grandma Palan smiled when she learned that Valensa wanted to commission the search for a special mineral:

“Miss Paladin of Fran, you’ve come to the right place… We Americans are best at finding and mining ores.”

"What kind of ore do you desire, Miss Paladin? And how should we deliver it once you find it?"

"The ore I'm looking for is rather special. Bringing back samples would be ideal, but if you can't bring back samples, just information will do. As long as you're not trying to scam me, I'll pay you. As for the delivery method..."

Valensa glanced at Ilana:

"Let's go to the Cathedral of the Sun Church in Gangdia. High Priestess Ilana will make the arrangements."

"Going to the cathedral in Gangdia to see High Priestess Ilana, right? Okay, I've got it."

Grandma Palan quickly scribbled a few lines in a notebook, then continued to ask:

"So? What kind of ore are you looking for, Miss Paladin?"

"What I'm looking for is a ore with special curse power, which can allow people who want to make money off me to start with various rumors and legends about strange curses..."

Valensa first gave a brief overview of the harm radiation causes to humans, and then said:

"The curse on this type of ore is very special, and commonly used magic scrolls and alchemical potions for dispelling and protecting against curses are not very effective. You must use magic or qi to tightly wrap your body and isolate it from the outside world when entering the cursed area in order to avoid being harmed by the curse."

If you have already been harmed by the curse, please go to the local cathedral as soon as possible for divine healing. Do not seek out other spellcasters to dispel the curse; it will most likely be ineffective.

"understood."

Grandma Palan scribbled these down with lightning speed:

"Any other details you'd like to add?"

"Gone."

The commission was successfully completed, but Valensa and her companions did not rush to leave the slum. Instead, they took the nun's lead and explored the area more thoroughly.

After exploring the slums, Valensa discovered that the conditions were better than she had imagined.

Although the people living here are very poor, they have difficulty even eating and dressing, let alone taking a bath, and they are all disheveled.

The area is relatively safe; there are no thugs or petty criminals bullying people, nor are there any fools trying to steal from Valencia and her group. At most, some people will approach them and offer their services, hoping to get opportunities and employment.

In short, it felt much better than the completely dirty and chaotic slums I had imagined, and even had a very inspiring atmosphere.

So after leaving the slum, Valencia casually remarked on it.

"No, there is still a lot of evil and danger in the slums, it's just that these evils and dangers are well hidden in the sunlight."

Ilana shook her head at Valensa's praise, and after getting back into the carriage, she sipped her milk tea and explained seriously:

"Slums are where most failed entrepreneurs band together for warmth and wait for an opportunity, but they also hide real vicious criminals and cultists."

Because the people there were unwilling to readily accept church aid, the paladins found it difficult to intervene. The Merchants' Union's enforcement teams were also rarely willing to go to the slums, making them ideal havens for crime and depravity.

Some people who commit crimes will run away to hide in the slums... Anyway, many of them are so unkempt that it is difficult to tell their identities.

Some cults even like to cause trouble in slums, tricking people with weak wills into becoming cult followers.

Some of these cults have even grown to a considerable size, making it difficult even for the Church of the Sun to take action against them.

"Hey?"

Valensa couldn't help but be somewhat surprised by this:

"A cult that even the Church of the Sun couldn't handle? Are they that powerful? Could they be even more powerful than the Abyss Spirit Church at its peak?"

At its peak, the Church of Abyss was undoubtedly the strongest among all cults, as evidenced by the fact that they were able to deploy two Moons and six Stars when they attacked Valensa's father.

However, right now... the Church of Abyss Spirits is probably at its weakest. After its failed attempt to cause trouble in the capital of Fran, it went into complete hibernation and has now disappeared without a trace.

"No, in terms of strength, those cults are far inferior to the Abyss Spirit Church; it's just that the methods they use are very unique."

Ilana seemed to recall something unpleasant, and even her milk tea became hard to drink. She could only sigh and put the teacup away.

"For example, the Goddess of Trade and the Maiden of Wealth, who are worshipped by many businessmen, both claim that their faith is a true God faith, and they say that they will abide by the law... at least on the surface they do abide by the law."

Moreover, many who are willing to worship the goddess of trade or the maiden of wealth also still worship Her Majesty the Sun Goddess… They can make devout and proper prayers as required, and may even receive the goddess's blessings and protection… This makes it very difficult for us to take action against them.”

Chapter 45 America's Oddities

Faith is sometimes quite similar to love.

Who says liking multiple beautiful girls at the same time can't be true love?

Similarly, it is not uncommon for humans to maintain faith in multiple deities simultaneously, worshipping whichever deity is in whose territory they are in.

Like Valencia in her previous life, there were many such general believers with flexible limits to piety.

While the Church of the Sun is the largest religion in human civilization and the only officially recognized church of God in various countries, it is not considered extremely xenophobic.

In the land blessed by the Sun Goddess, not believing in her at most means not receiving her protection or enjoyment of salvation. As long as one does not oppose the Sun Church or blaspheme the Sun Goddess, the paladins will not actively seek trouble.

Those who are hunted down by paladins are cultists; heretics are at most ignored or occasionally bullied.

For law-abiding believers like those of the Goddess of Trade and the Goddess of Wealth, who are only considered general believers and have not abandoned their faith in the Sun Goddess, the Sun Church indeed finds it difficult to take action against them.

but……

"Aunt Ilana, you just said that the followers of the Goddess of Trade and the Maiden of Wealth are cultists?"

Valensa expressed her doubts:

"Why do you say that? Is it because they only outwardly abide by the law, but secretly do a lot of bad things? But the Goddess of Trade and the Maiden of Wealth... don't they sound like evil gods? At most, they're neutral false gods, the kind that would protect unscrupulous merchants?"

"They have done a lot of bad things in secret, which is only one aspect, and we only have suspicions about it without any solid evidence."

Ilana's expression turned serious:

"What truly led us to label the followers of the Goddess of Trade and the Maiden of Wealth as cultists was a divine oracle descended from the Sun Goddess... The Goddess said that there are no such deities as the Goddess of Trade and the Maiden of Wealth in our starry sky; they are merely fabrications created by those cultists themselves, tools used by them to recruit new people and swindle wealth."

A religion whose deities are fabricated and used as a tool to swindle money—can it not be considered a cult?

"That is indeed the case... to even call them cultists is an insult to cultists. At least cultists actually believe in evil gods, but they are just a bunch of liars."

Valensa pouted:

"So what? Since we have Her Majesty the Goddess's divine decree, why not take down these two fraudulent gangs that have disgraced the cult?"

"Because they do abide by the law on the surface, and even did a lot of charitable activities like our Sun Church, which provides free assistance to the public, and received a lot of support."

Ilana shrugged helplessly:

"We tried sending paladins to fight them a few times, and we successfully destroyed many of their strongholds and captured a lot of people, but guess what happened?"