Chapter 222: The Kindness of the Goddess of Agriculture
After the members of the Mage Association set sail to investigate the islands, Port Leyton entered a state of calm activity, beginning the construction of a new port and defensive barriers. This situation remained unchanged even as the remaining reinforcements sent by the kingdom arrived one after another. These reinforcements, who came by land to Port Leyton, were all military personnel with no ulterior motives like those greedy mages from the Mage Association or the nobles behind them. Or rather, even if they had such plans, they gave up because Port Leyton remained intact.
While Port Leyton was peaceful, the royal capital was filled with undercurrents due to the news coming from there. With a once-in-a-century attack by sea beasts and various schemes thwarted by Donald’s intervention, how could they not harbor resentment? Thus, during the noble council’s discussion on the ownership of the Emerald Dream Islands, these people actively tried to obstruct and manipulate things, both openly and secretly.
But Donald had thought everything through and made proper arrangements. With the support of a female countess backed by the queen and the king’s approval, and the military’s tacit consent under the Ansel family’s influence, those people could not stop Donald from acquiring ownership of the islands.
At the same time, the temple of the Goddess of Agriculture in the royal capital issued a statement, shocking all factions in Thelos. It quickly spread throughout the kingdom, further boosting Donald’s reputation as a hero of the realm.
The lord of Dalaran, along with church members, went underground to destroy the largest city of dark elves in the northern dark regions? This stance by the Goddess of Agriculture Church showed their support for this local noble, much to the surprise of the royal family.
Fortunately, the Merlinna family was also an established noble house in the kingdom, relying mainly on their magical prowess, so they would not side with any of the godly churches, thus avoiding concern from the royal family.
Seeing that their efforts were futile, those opposing forces also withdrew. Although they had offended the Merlinna family, a rising power within the Goddess of Agriculture Church, it was merely a matter of interest, not deep-seated enmity, so they weren’t worried about retaliation. This was an old tradition among the upper nobility of humans.
Within three days, the royal envoys sent to grant rewards arrived at Port Leyton. Accompanying them was not only Countess Catherine, who returned to reunite with Donald, but also a member of the Goddess of Agriculture Church.
This was none other than Sod, the middle-aged priest who had gone to the Dark Lands together before. After the reward ceremony, Sod, an old acquaintance, began to talk with Donald about what had happened since they left. It turned out that because he had performed exceptionally well on their last mission and was acquainted with a young mage favored by the goddess, he was ordered to remain at the temple in the capital of Celt to handle communications with Donald, the mage lord. This time, the Goddess of Agriculture delivered an oracle to the High Priest of the Kosovo Temple, causing a significant change in the church’s attitude toward Dalaran and its lord. Naturally, it was Sod, this acquaintance, who was tasked with conveying the contents of the oracle to Donald, the young man favored by the goddess. “The oracle of my lord commands you to proceed freely; ownership of Starfall Bay is not an issue,” Donald understood the hidden meaning behind these words, feeling reassured that his earlier assumptions were correct—no forces from the gods’ churches would now seek to exploit the Emerald Dream Isles. With that, the ownership of the Emerald Dream Isles was settled, and there seemed to be no further changes likely. Only then did Donald feel at ease enough to start dispatching workers via alchemical airships, purchasing supplies in Port Leyton, and hiring professionals to begin large-scale construction on the islands. First, there were the thirteen large islands. On the main island, aside from the temple of Nozdormu, he planned to build only one large manor for himself as the lord. As for housing for the rest of the population, Donald had no immediate intention of recruiting islanders, leaving that for the future. He also had no plans to make changes to the other twelve large islands, deciding to let them maintain their natural appearance to enhance the beauty of the Emerald Dream Isles. Instead, he selected suitable locations on the shore of the main island and on the nearest small, barren island to establish shipyards for docking passing ships. He also acquired several transport ships to carry construction workers and materials. Since Port Leyton was only a hundred miles away, travel was convenient, and transport ships were sufficient for coastal navigation. If ocean voyages were needed in the future, larger ships could be ordered from Port Leyton. As for the goddess’s attitude, Donald had already anticipated it—he swore by a true god that if such a god showed no reaction, it couldn’t be a true god. Yet he never expected the goddess to care about him so much as to personally deliver an oracle to look after him. Had she discovered something?
Donald was confident that his greatest secret—the Book of Truth—was well hidden. Unless he revealed it himself, it would hardly be discovered as long as he avoided confronting beings at the level of a true god’s incarnation.
“By now, the Agricultural Goddess Church’s declaration is equivalent to legitimizing my forces in Starfall Bay. It positions me as a pawn supported by the Agricultural Goddess to oppose the Ocean Lord Alliance. This way, other godly churches won’t interfere, as they don’t really have any influence in Kalt either.”
“I believe that most of the human true gods, aside from that Sea God, are likely pleased with my rise.” Of course, these were conclusions drawn by Donald from various pieces of information, and in reality, they should be more or less accurate.
Though the gods stood high above, they couldn’t escape some of human traits and habits. After all, these gods were created by humans, not those ancient primordial deities or non-human deities.
Previously, Donald thought the Ocean Lord, the Bottom-Dwelling Demon Fish worshipped by these merfolk, was a false god—a type mentioned by the continental godly churches as one that hadn’t reached the demi-god level but still gathered followers and beliefs through certain means.
To the true gods, such false gods were like thieves or rats—whom everyone would hunt down once discovered. So, these false gods usually went to remote places to spread their beliefs or even gathered intelligent non-human races as followers to secretly build power, avoiding attacks from the godly churches.
Strictly speaking, Donald, with his divine bloodline, could also be considered a false god. But thanks to the protection of the Book of Truth, his acts of absorbing beliefs remained hidden. Moreover, living in the Northland Kingdom of Kalt, where the influence of the godly churches was weakest, it was almost impossible for anyone to discover him.
Even when the avatars of the major true gods met Donald last time, they only saw him as a mortal with divine bloodline from a sacred artifact. You see, if a false god actively absorbed beliefs to strengthen its divinity, it would be easily detected. But Donald relied on that statue and the Book of Truth to do this, so he had no such concerns at all.
But now it is known that the Ocean Lord is by no means a false god, but rather a ruler recognized by the will and laws of this world. Thus, Nozdormu’s claim to sovereignty over the Region of Falling Stars Bay will face even less opposition from the forces of the godly churches. The only concern is that the church of the Sea God might have some objections, but since Nozdormu is its subordinate, it essentially belongs to the human faction. If the Sea God wants to seize control of the Region of Falling Stars Bay to strengthen its own power, it would be an internal struggle, so it can only give up and seek other non-human factions as its next target. Otherwise, such an internal conflict would likely be forbidden by the gods who desire to expand the power of the human pantheon. Moreover, this place is located in the north, far away from the Storm Sea in the southern continent where Thalos is, separated by thousands of miles. Even if the forces of the Sea God’s church try to infiltrate, it would take a considerable amount of time to travel back and forth. By the time they arrive, Nozdormu’s power will have grown even stronger.