Alien Knights

"What?! 61 Silver Moons plus 36 Bronze Stars, so much?! They just rented some simple farm tools and bought a few bags of seeds!"

Hearing Todd's loud questioning, the businessman in Muxi Town, who was in charge of negotiating with the creditor, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and said in embarrassment: "My lord priest, it is true that there is no need to pay back so much money, but those creditors seem to have been instructed by others to take advantage of the loopholes in the loan contract to increase the interest."

"Get the instruction?!" Todd, who was on fire, asked angrily, "Who gave the instruction?"

"The original owners of those farmers."

Todd froze.

The businessman continued to explain: "Those farmers were originally attached to the farm owners and nobles, but because of the notice from Muxi Town, they escaped and came here secretly. Because of this, those people are dissatisfied with you, but they are afraid that the power of the church will not be easy to attack. This time, they just seized an opportunity."

Todd sat back in the chair dejectedly, and waved his hand: "I see, thank you for your hard work."

The businessman crossed himself and bowed his head.

A bunch of robbers taking advantage of the fire! Todd cursed a few words in his heart, walked out of the church quickly, and headed into the warehouse of the laboratory.

Under the floor of the warehouse, there is a secret compartment, which hides the locked wooden box where he stores money and belongings. With a mood of anticipation, he opened the lock and looked inside. Todd's heart suddenly became cold.

The small half box of coins looks like a lot, and it is quite heavy to hold, but most of them are copper stars, and occasionally you can see some silver moons.

These are not enough.

Thinking about it now, after handing over the silver refinery to the monastery, his source of property suddenly lost a lot. Now there are only negligible holy benefices issued by the church every week; and pitifully small taxes paid by the residents of Muxi Town.

Some time ago, I just paid the deposit for the production of the "Sutherland Archaea" petri dish, and now I want to take on the debts of the farmers, so I have to find a way to make up for the huge funding gap.

Increase town taxes?

This method won't work. Now all the industries in Muxi Town have just started, whether they are fishermen, blacksmiths or craftsmen, they are all spending money. Raising taxes at such a time will disrupt practitioners' fund use plans on the one hand, and will also damage their loyalty and confidence on the other.

Selling glass in stock?

It still doesn't work, the stock of glass on the market is small, if it is sold without authorization, it would be too conspicuous. And it is very possible that the church already knows that it has mastered the manufacturing process. Selling crystal relics at this time, if the matter is leaked, it will affect the image of one's clergyman and worsen one's relationship with the church, which is really not worth the candle.

Um? Is there any way to obtain funds to help farmers tide over the difficulties?

Todd's eyes drifted to the laboratory table, and saw a few animal bones that hadn't been crushed in the grinding bowl.

bone?

———————————————

A new notice was posted outside the church, attracting the attention of the passing crowd.

The letter above reads: In order to celebrate the five-month establishment of Muxi Town, Father Todd plans to hold a "tea party" that all residents can participate in at noon three days later in the square outside the church.

What is a "tea party"?

The residents looked at each other in blank dismay, not knowing what to say. However, since the priest mentioned the celebration and also said that everyone can participate, it is not a bad thing after all.

During these three days, in the tavern, beside the field, and in the workshop, people in Muxi Town discussed the "tea party" the most. Some said that the Holy Son was going to give a persuasive speech, and some said it was a blessing from the alchemy of the Heavenly Father to the believers. There are different opinions, but one thing is the same. The residents are all looking forward to the early arrival of that day.

In the early morning of the announcement day, a huge platform was built with wood on the square of Muxi Town, and colorful cloths for decoration were hung around the platform.

There are smart people who got up early on purpose, and those who dragged their families prepared dry food, carried small stools, and occupied a good position. Seeing this, other people called their friends and came to the square early.

As a result, before eleven o'clock, the square was already crowded with people.

A little later, catechumens from the church carried four large baskets out of the church under the watchful eyes of hundreds of people. Those with good intentions took a closer look and found that it was full of fried beans.

The 100ml small corner spoon was held in the hands of every catechumen. They scooped out a flat spoonful from the big basket full of fried beans, regardless of men, women, young or old, and industry ranks, everyone took a handful. At first, some people didn't understand why fried beans were distributed. It wasn't until someone put the beans in their mouths and chewed them slowly that they realized that they were distributed as snacks.

After distributing the food, the catechumens worked together to bring out two large buckets later. When I opened it, one bucket was a light yellow liquid with a faint fragrance, which was still warm; the other bucket was a light green, cold and clear liquid, which was helpful for clearing the fire. Someone recognized the two barrels as common beverages: barley tea and sage tea. As the simple small wooden cups were distributed to everyone, people chose drinks according to their own preferences. The vat quickly ran out, and the catechumens lifted the empty vat to the church to refill it.

Alfonso and Huggins sat together. The former held fried beans in one hand and sage tea in the other, and asked his old friend through the iron mask: "What is this 'tea party' about?"

Huggins was also confused, but he was still a little worried and depressed because Todd hadn't mentioned this to him beforehand.

Walton, who was sitting behind the knight, stuffed a bean into his mouth, and said grinningly, "Could it be that the people in the town should pay back the taxes?"

Leslie took the steaming barley tea from Adelina's hand, and squinted at the short and fat man: "Didn't he just prick you with a needle, so he used it to hold grudges?"

Walton glared at the boy and snorted.

In the side entrance of the church.

It was rare for Todd to put on the priest's holy order uniform given by the church today. From time to time, he adjusted the niche hat on his head and adjusted the sacrificial clothing on his body. He felt nervous, and inexplicably remembered the scene when he first went to a sponsor to seek research funding when he was teaching at a university in his previous life.

Walking slowly to the chapel, Rachel and Karin in nun's attire stood under the cross, waiting for him quietly.

"Miss Rachel..."

The woman pinched the cross on her chest with her index finger and thumb, and shook it towards the priest.

Realizing his slip of the tongue, Todd quickly changed his words: "Sister Rachel, thank you for your help. If you didn't borrow my craftsman, the wooden platform might not be so fast..."

"Father, we are all Heavenly Father's servants, helping you is helping me." Rachel drew a sign of the cross on her chest, crossing her fingers, pious and holy.

The woman squinted at Karin, who was still not used to wearing a nun's attire. The girl let out a cry like waking up from a dream. She quickly made a sign of the cross, lowered her head, and looked at Todd with a smile on her eyes.

The latter looked at her mischievous expression, and the serious and nervous expression gradually eased, and he also laughed.

Four bells rang in the sky above Muxi Town.

"it's time."

Hearing the voices of people beside his ears, Todd turned his body to the square of the church, pushed hard with both hands, and the door opened in response.