Chapter 43-Moonlight

After the ritual, Frank thanked the participants and began to consider his follow-up plans. Simply relying on the adventurer's guild to release information seemed like it wouldn't accumulate faith particularly quickly.

It made sense; discovering a tidbit of information, hearing that there once was a goddess in this world, would only hold value to most people up to a certain point. Even nearby farmers wouldn't pray to Vicky so easily just for a good harvest.

The impoverished masses are practical; either offer various benefits or tirelessly wear a robe, preaching to brainwash them. This happens to be one of the behaviors that Frank dislikes the most. In his view, people who forcibly instill beliefs in others must have ulterior motives.

So, he pondered if there was a way to spread his beliefs without personally preaching. He preferred to be a behind-the-scenes puppeteer, someone whose name is known but face remains mysterious, filled with the essence of mysticism. That's where missionaries come in. If Tiffany was trained a bit, she would surely be willing to run errands for him.

However, Tiffany bears a slave mark on her forehead, a status lower than even farmers, making it unfeasible for her to preach outside; it's too dangerous.

Moreover, he has grown accustomed to the attentive care provided by this thoughtful little slave, both in bed and out. Without exaggeration, Tiffany has become unquestionably indispensable to him. This kind of girl would definitely stay behind as a saint after founding the church; she shouldn't be running around doing rough work all over the place.

So, who else could he use? He now has considerable financial resources. With nearly fifty gold coins earned in five days, it should be enough to hire some help. But merely using money to get things done is more suitable for a company than a religious organization. Pulling someone in with a recruitment fee would inevitably turn into a pyramid scheme. That would take him off course.

How about... buying some people from the slave market? He could get the cheapest men, wholesale about ten of them, gather them together, provide food and shelter, and conduct intensive indoctrination of theology. For these people at the bottom of civilization, becoming missionaries would indeed be a significant upgrade in social status, making it very appealing to them.

As for whether these people with slave marks would encounter danger when going to the church to preach... they are all men, even if they encounter criminals with special preferences, it's just a little discomfort in the end. After all, it's traditional for religious people to mess around with buttocks; they might as well adapt in advance.

With this preliminary plan in mind, as he bid farewell to the participants and tidied up the room, Frank casually asked Tiffany what male slaves usually do in the market and whether they need to learn anything.

"They just endure beatings, um... they're not allowed to learn anything. I often hear the enforcers over there say that male slaves are sold like donkeys," Tiffany thought for a moment and said, "Master, why are you asking about this? Are you planning to buy slaves again?"

"I'm thinking about helpers. At least slaves bought are more loyal..." "That's hard to say," Tiffany shook her head decisively, "Male slaves have never experienced the kind of training female slaves have.

They mainly rely on being tied up and whipped to force them to obey. When they are sold, the contract will state that the master is responsible for keeping an eye on them; if they escape, the master is not held accountable."

Hmm... that's true. People naturally long for freedom; those who obediently endure beatings and kneel down are ultimately a minority. Dealing with such a group of illiterate people would be difficult to educate. After teaching them, if they were released, they might even become troublemakers.

"Would female slaves be more obedient comparatively?"

Tiffany honestly replied, "Ivanka escaped only once before..." He'll have to teach her not to hit someone's face or expose their flaws.

As Frank descended the stairs, halfway through, he saw Joan hastily approaching from below. She grabbed his hand and hurriedly led him back, quickly ushering him into the administrator's private lounge.

"What's wrong?" He realized that something seemed off, so he called Tiffany in and locked the door.

Joan hesitated for a moment, then whispered, "According to the rules of the Adventurer's Guild, we have a certain obligation to confidentiality regarding special commissions. But... I've received so many benefits from you, pretending not to know anything and still asking you to continue making potions for us seems... too... despicable."

"Special commissions?" Frank furrowed his brow, "Could it be... aimed at me?" Could it be that the pharmacist is worried that I'll snatch his business and undermine his position, so he hired assassins here?

"No. It's not that. The Adventurer's Guild does not accept assassination commissions against innocent people. But... this is closely related to you." Joan sighed, "Someone has offered a high price to the Adventurer's Guild to hire experts in intelligence gathering to investigate Vicky. That is... the goddess behind you."

"Is there anything wrong with that?" Frank immediately breathed a sigh of relief, "Maybe they just want to understand a little more. That's a good thing. I think after deepening their understanding, there will be an opportunity to establish faith and become a servant of the goddess."

"But there are signs of Moonlight Church activity behind the commission." Joan adjusted her glasses strap with her hand and said seriously, "The Moonlight Church is a very ancient monotheistic religion. They should all believe that the moon goddess Mivnarmas created everything in the world. I don't think those believers who are investigating the deeds of the goddess of abundance are doing it out of goodwill."

Uh... I haven't even left the newbie village yet, and now I have to face an inquisitor of heresy? Frank was taken aback and asked in a low voice, "What should I do? Should I run away?"

If I don't run and get caught, will I be put on the stake? Will the unwaveringly faithful Tiffany be judged as a witch? Thinking back to the hardcore adult games I played in my past life with similar themes, he shivered.

"It shouldn't... be that serious. The influence of divine power is already very weak within my understanding, and even before I met you, I actually didn't believe there were gods in this world.

The old powerful theocratic countries in history are now almost powerless, and the Moonlight Church's reputation is also very peaceful everywhere. I guess, at most, there will be some troubling information gathering activities for you. For example, hiring adventurers skilled in this field to get close to you." Joan glanced at Tiffany and chuckled, "With someone like you who always has a little slave girl by your side, there might even be seduction."

Frank laughed, "Well, I'd be very welcome to that."

Although he said that, once he left the Adventurer's Guild after receiving his wages, he quickly stopped hiding his nervousness, constantly reflecting on whether his series of actions were a bit too conspicuous.

The Moonlight Church that came this time is relatively peaceful. What if the next group of heretics comes with explosions? He only has one life, and there are no save points for resurrection.

Even if he gives Tiffany a good luck tonight and randomly gets a useful combat skill, with the gentle and obedient nature of the little slave girl, she wouldn't make a good bodyguard. At most, she can jump in front of danger when it comes.

Tiffany might be able to hold off for a moment, and in an emergency, throwing Ivanka could buy some time. But if the opponent has the strength to pursue and deliver a third blow, it's game over for good.

He felt a bit uneasy about that.

After dinner, Frank went to buy two daggers for Tiffany and helped her secure the sheaths to her belt on either side, covering them with her shirt. Tiffany understood his intention and practiced drawing the blades carefully, taking it seriously.

Fear often stems from the unknown, so as a precaution, before the Adventurer's Guild closed for the night, he asked Joan for a friendly price and bought some information about the Moonlight Church. The thick tome contained years of accumulated information. Back at the Moonlit Slumber, Frank quickly skimmed through a portion of it.

The pantheon of the Moonlight Church was entirely centered around a single goddess. Overall, their style seemed to attribute everything to Mivnarmas, crediting all good things to moonlight and all bad things to sunlight.

Was the founder of the church perhaps a bat enthusiast? Did they have such a dislike for daylight?

Skimming through the remaining portion, Frank roughly confirmed two things.

Firstly, he acknowledged the importance of establishing mythological systems and religious ideologies. The core of Moonlight Church's belief propagation essentially boiled down to one sentence: "Believe in me, and your good deeds will be valued, allowing you to pass through the gates of the afterlife to reach a better rebirth." Paying the price in the next life was the lowest-cost operation and allowed for the exploitation of believers in this life to the fullest. It seemed to bear striking similarities to his original world.

Secondly, he realized that the efficiency of religious dissemination in this world was not particularly high. Even established churches like the Moonlight Church only had a credibility rating of two stars for their official pamphlets at the Adventurer's Guild, which was lower than the credibility of the recent goddess legends he had spread. However, this didn't mean that the people of Rubihart had advanced technologically to the point where they no longer needed spiritual support. Instead, most of them placed their faith in the Guardians who had not yet become religions.

For example, Lucia, the Tranquil Breeze, was undoubtedly the most worshipped "idol" among the Federal believers of Locrara.

Religions struggled under the halo of the Guardians, which explained why they viewed his sudden emergence of a new pantheon as a major threat — after all, there was little leftover, and every bite taken from their plate meant less for them.

When buying the book, he also purchased a copy of "Assassination for Beginners" for Tiffany. However, judging from her two-hour practice that evening, her talent in this area was quite worrisome. It's possible that even a night of practice might not activate her basic Level 1 skills.

However, the knife in Tiffany's hand became several times more agile when she picked it up to peel an apple. Most likely, her talents and skills were more inclined towards domestic skills.