Chapter 38

Episode 38

#38. The Faith of the Northern Region (3)

The northern region has worshipped ancestral spirits since ancient times.

No one knows exactly when this indigenous faith began.

It is said that in the distant past, when the people of the north were barbarian druids, they worshipped both nature and their ancestral spirits.

Perhaps this practice evolved from the worship of the ancient nature mages of the golden age, the distant ancestors of the druids.

Anyway, even when the northerners split from the druids after the corruption of natural beliefs by the white snakes, they never abandoned their ancestral spirits.

This ancestral spirit faith quietly held the hearts of the northern people, like an old tree.

Through the fanatical Holy Age, the self-destructive Dark Age, the terrible Age of Barbarism, and even to today’s Silver Age, this indigenous faith has continued without interruption.

However, the northern faith could not manifest divine power.

From the clerics of the Theocratic Church of the united kingdom during the Holy Age to the clerics of the Empire’s sect, which is now considered heretical, everyone used divine power.

In other civilizations of the southern and eastern continents, various sects were established, each manifesting their own divine power.

Even orc shamans who venerate the white snake and druid priests use divine power.

This means that divine power is essentially a kind of magic that expresses belief and faith as mana.

Strangely, though, the northern ancestral spirit faith does not manifest divine power.

Despite this, the northerners stubbornly continued to worship their ancestral spirits, offering sacrifices at home for bountiful harvests and good fortune.

They also prayed silently to their ancestral spirits before battles or hunts, even without divine power, blessings, or any reward.

Because of this, people from the empire have long despised the northerners as those abandoned by the gods.

Even orcs and barbarians looked down on the northerners.

Still, the northerners remained steadfast in their worship of ancestral spirits.

“It’s just that their faith isn’t strong enough.”

And I roughly figured out why the northern faith doesn’t manifest divine power.

“The northern faith is all over the place. There’s practically no doctrine.”

The faith of the northerners is very deep.

The problem lies in the direction of this faith. Due to the concept of different ancestral spirits existing in each household, the depth and direction of belief are scattered.

Unlike the unified doctrines of the imperial sect or the Theocratic Church, or the single idol of the white snake worshipped by orcs and barbarians, the north lacks such unity.

But this wandering of faith is about to end.

The wandering faith of the north is now converging on one point.

“Let’s pray together! To the fervent followers of Lenslet!”

“Lenslet! Rune Lenslet!”

As I ride in Arad Company’s yellow-painted carriage through northern villages, I can see villagers gathering to pray everywhere.

“Wow, didn’t expect religion to emerge through fertilizer. This butterfly effect is something else.”

I initially just wanted to maximize the use of this world’s chemical fertilizers and thought it would be good for PR too.

Then the nickname of the late Duchess Mary got involved, and things spiraled out of control.

The scale of this project surprised even me, making me mutter “What is this? Scary.”

Fortunately, High City is cooperating well. They have no reason to reject the birth of this new religion anyway.

Right now, the bureaucrats of High City are combining various legends, myths, and superstitions floating around the north to create doctrines for the Lenslet Order.

If this continues smoothly, we should be able to cultivate clerics who can use divine power in the north within ten years.

“Let’s stop here. Tell the village chief to gather the villagers.”

After touring one of the few villages in the north where wheat can be grown, I had my men stop the carriage.

“We’ll distribute here.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Stop the carriage!”

“Bring out Mary’s Blessing!”

There were four carriages in total visiting this village. Three were filled with fertilizer, and the remaining one carried knights disguised as company employees and their supplies, sent from High City to protect me.

“So, the Golden Carriage is finally getting some real action.”

“Golden Carriage? It’s just painted yellow.”

While lowering bags of fertilizer with Sir Eopte, disguised as an employee, I replied with a smirk.

Nowadays, Sir Eopte and I speak to each other respectfully.

Being the head of a royal-authorized trading company with a title higher than baron, I deserve respect.

“Sir? You should speak informally to me right now.”

“Ah, right. My mistake. Still getting used to being formal nobility.”

We’re in a master-servant relationship now, so I need to speak informally to him.

“Will you really not make more of those real Golden Carriages?”

“Too expensive to maintain. Operating twenty regular carriages is cheaper. Only made it because of the special circumstances of the Magic Realm.”

“Doesn’t make financial sense?”

“Exactly. Even selling food 10 or 20 times more expensive in the Magic Realm barely covers the maintenance costs.”

“Still, it’s a shame to scrap the Golden Carriage.”

“It’s just on display in High City. The witches are studying and researching it extensively, so in a way, it’s the biggest magic textbook in the world.”

Understanding the nature of witches, I turned it into a silent teaching material.

When formal knowledge transmission begins, basic knowledge will be necessary.

Of course, security is strictly maintained. A boundary allowing entry only to authorized witches was created with the head witch.

“But we’ll probably need them for large-scale expeditions to the Magic Realm in the future.”

“At that time, we’ll need to make much better carriages.”

Sir Eopte and I chatted while moving the fertilizer.

Around us, the regular knights and elite soldiers accompanying Sir Eopte also moved bags of fertilizer out of the carriage.

“Where are the two of them?”

“Do you mean Sir Roji and Sir Karot?”

“Weren’t they with us at the start? Haven’t seen them for a while.”

“They’re probably at the castle by now.”

“Castle? Ah… I see.”

At Sir Eopte’s meaningful reply, I slowly nodded. It seems this area will soon become the direct territory of the duke.

After setting up all the fertilizer bags,

I looked around and muttered.

“It’s a pity Lady Mary isn’t here for the first distribution of Mary’s Blessing.”

Following the village chief’s instructions, the villagers gathered somewhat chaotically around the carriages.

“Well… Isn’t it unavoidable?”

Hearing my muttering, Sir Eopte shrugged.

“I’ll have to tell Mary how happy the people were when I return to High City.”

“She’ll be pleased to hear that.”

‘Even if she’s a bastard, status is still status.’

Both Sir Eopte and I understood Lady Mary’s absence similarly.

“My lord… All the villagers are gathered.”

At that moment, the village chief spoke humbly.

He seemed unable to imagine that I, as a merchant representing Arad Company, was actually a baron-level noble.

To him, I was just a high-ranking official sent by High City to distribute relief rice to the commoners.

“Good.”

After receiving the report from the chief, I climbed onto a platform made of stacked boxes prepared in the meantime.

Taptaptap

I then took out a megaphone-shaped magical device and placed it near my mouth.

It was indeed enchanted with sound amplification magic.

[Let us praise the fervent followers of Lenslet.]

As I began speaking, the amplified voice spread clearly to even the farthest back, as if speaking right next to each person.

“!!”

“Dear me!”

“What’s this voice?”

Startled by the first use of the megaphone, the villagers’ eyes widened. Some nearby villagers even fell to the ground in shock.

Then, like a propagandist or a sect’s missionary, I began my prepared speech.

[The prayers of our esteemed duke, Lady Ariana Rune Lenslet, have been answered. Of course, your prayers, participated alongside Her Highness, were also greatly helpful!]

Likely at this moment, bureaucrats and envoys in other northern villages are giving similar speeches.

[Do you remember the former duchess, now part of the snowfield? Lady Ariana’s mother, known by the familiar nickname Mary.]

Thanks to my MAX level skill in rhetoric, the villagers listened intently as if hypnotized.

“Mary? Are they talking about Duchess Mary?”

“Ah… The late duchess…”

“Our mother of the north.”

When I mentioned the name of the previous duchess, the villagers’ eyes became moist with nostalgia.

Recently, I learned that Ariana’s mother was much more beloved in the north than the previous duke, Bykal.

While Duke Bykal ruled the north with awe and charisma, Maryna governed with love and compassion.

The current low tax rate is her legacy, as is the initial policy of providing standardized weapons and armor to even the lowest-ranking soldiers, and the monthly provision of food and salary to wounded veterans started in her time.

[That’s right! This here! Is the blessing, grace, and miracle achieved through the prayers of Her Highness and our people!]

Thanks to my rhetorical skills, the speech was extremely effective.

Now I fully understand why I hesitated to name the fertilizer after Mary when deciding its name.

[Now our north too! Under the name of Lenslet! Can create miracles imbued with divine power! All thanks to Her Highness and our prayers!]

The villagers haven’t yet seen what this miracle is.

“Lenslet! Rune Lenslet!”

“Lenslet! Rune Lenslet!”

“Lenslet! Rune Lenslet!”

Still, the villagers cried out like fanatics, tears streaming down their faces, repeatedly muttering Lenslet.

Similar phenomena occurred not only in this village where I was but throughout the entire northern region.

* * *

People rely on superstition and religion more deeply the deeper they fall into despair.

This applies equally to educated and uneducated people.

It’s not a matter of knowledge or intelligence but of the instinct called fear.

A farmer joined the daily morning prayers with fellow villagers out of desperate hope.

His pregnant wife and growing children also joined the prayer line.

Since the rye fields were completely dead anyway, there was nothing immediate they could do.

All they could do was pray.

How long did they pray?

Yellow-painted carriages from High City visited the village.

The confident bureaucrat who disembarked declared that the prayers of the duchess and the people had been answered, resulting in the blessed powder to save this land.

The name of this powder is “Mary’s Blessing,” the nickname of the late duchess.

“Fertilizer, isn’t it?”

The farmer briefly wondered when he first heard about Mary’s Blessing but quickly shook off the thought.

“Whatever am I thinking… Lenslet! Rune Lenslet!”

Just in case, he reinforced his faith by shouting Lenslet Rune Lenslet.

The farmer and his family struggled to carry the large bags freely distributed from the golden carriage (which everyone called a golden carriage despite being yellow) back home.

The fertilizer bag featured a picture resembling a golden carriage and neat lettering below.

Someone who could read said it said “Arad Company.”

“Is this Arad related to Arad Salt?”

Though illiterate, the name Arad was unforgettable to him.

Because it was the name of the salt that made poor farmers’ tables joyful and was very grateful.

Of course, the farmer’s thoughts about the name Arad didn’t go further than that.

What was urgent was restarting farming as soon as possible.

“Is this… Lady Mary’s blessing?”

Opening the bag at home revealed dark brown powder labeled as Mary’s Blessing.

“A bag of wheat seeds too! Glory to the pure and compassionate duchess!”

Inside was also a bag of wheat seeds.

“It smells nice, dear.”

“Yeah, it doesn’t smell like fertilizer.”

Mary’s Blessing was a powder with a warm, earthy smell. Smelling it, the farmer was convinced it wasn’t fertilizer but truly Lenslet’s blessing.

Would any fertilizer in the world smell this good?

“Let’s plow the field right away.”

“Yes, dear.”

“You take it easy. You haven’t been eating properly lately.”

“But…”

“Right! Mom, we’ll help Dad!”

Leaving his heavily pregnant wife at home, the farmer went to the field with his children.

He started plowing the dead land.

The children helped awkwardly with their tiny hands, slow but certainly better than nothing.

“How long has it been since we farmed?”

The farmer felt happiness and joy. His body was tired, but his mind was at peace.

After finishing plowing, the farmer sowed wheat seeds while sprinkling Mary’s Blessing on top.

He covered it with soil, and the children poured water in between.

An official earlier said experiments in High City showed this method was most effective.

“Will it really grow well? We’re way past planting season…”

The lingering uncertainty still shadowed the farmer’s eyes.

They said with Mary’s Blessing, growth would be extremely fast and yields abundant.

But he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes yet.

With only immature faith and desperation due to lack of options, he tried it.

After sowing seeds, watering, one day, two days, and a week passed.

“Good heavens…”

The farmer’s family stared at the farmland in awe and emotion.

“Wow…”

“Dear, we’re saved!”

“Lenslet! Rune Lenslet!”

Not only sprouting quickly but growing knee-high green crops greeted the farmer, and further, the north.

Within a week, the farmer couldn’t deny it anymore.

Mary’s Blessing was truly a divine miracle.

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