Shepherd Tantra

Chapter 766: Give them three bishops
"……fear?"

Isabel was stunned when she heard this.

"Yes. Because they are all slaves of the goblins, and slaves cannot take other people's things without permission. It is a shame for their masters and means humiliating their masters' poverty. Slaves who take other people's things without permission may even be sentenced to death.

"But similarly, slaves do not have the right to refuse gifts given to them by others. Because the people of Avalon are all free people, slaves have no right to refuse gifts from free people.

"So they knelt down, actually they were scared and begging for mercy... 'Please, don't kill me' - that's probably what they meant."

Aleister vividly described the new knowledge she had learned from the Church, and she was quite proud of having learned something new and showing it off to her girlfriend.

"——Can extraordinary people become slaves?"

Isabel was very surprised: "Then..."

Aleister shook his head. "Later, it should be the goblin manager in the engineering team who opened up their authority and allowed them to accept the gifts. After all, it is not convenient for them to publicly execute slaves in Avalon - it is too barbaric and bloody for us.

"...Their subsequent greetings and blessings were the trolls' way of expressing their gratitude. If nothing unexpected happened, the trolls should have really blessed the residents... because they could not understand the Avalonian culture of 'just asking for blessings verbally'.

"After all, the trolls can really bestow blessings on others through rituals - but blessings themselves are considered abilities of the Path of Devotion. It is very difficult to forcibly imitate them with the Path of Transcendence, or to maintain them for a long time. Using their low energy level, it is very likely to shorten their lifespan."

"It's actually like this..."

Isabel became serious. "Then I have to order them not to ask the trolls for blessings. They come to build the railway for us for free, and we can't cause trouble for them... If it gets out, people will look down on us Avalonians. Thank you, Alai... The information you gave me is very important. Do you want a kiss?"

"nothing."

Aleister whispered, turning his head away as a silent protest.

But when she mentioned the construction team, she thought of another thing: "What about the railway? How is the construction going? I remember Grandet mentioned that he would give us ten locomotives... Did he deliver them?"

"No, they are said to be purchasing. The railway is almost halfway done..."

Isabel recalled.

"After all, the contract states that the traffic will be open before August."

Aleister nodded in satisfaction and stressed, "But don't rush to open the road. Remember to send experts to check it first. Although the possibility is small - they probably don't dare - but based on my understanding of the goblins, the managers and persons in charge of the execution below may completely pass off inferior products as good ones and embezzle a lot of funds."

"Okay, I'll check it strictly."

Isabel nodded and wrote it down: "Anything else?"

"Don't just sit there and watch the goblins decide the direction of the railway. The contract says, 'All cities with three or more bishops must have access to the railway.' Go back to Minister Hermes and tell him to draw up a list of 'cities that urgently need trains to pass through' and see if you can come up with three lines.

"As for the disconnected cities, that's also easy to solve. Go to the church and ask Bishop Mathers to issue a decree to transfer the bishops to the cities we need, with three bishops in each city - I mean, all the important cities, give them three bishops.

"If the bishops want to return to their previous locations... then tell them to wait for half a year, just as an experience. Once the railway is open, then ask them if they want to return to their original locations."

"……Is this okay?"

Isabel was a little worried: "Is this...too mean?"

"How can it be."

Aleister laughed, his eyes bright. "Don't underestimate the cunning of the goblins. Since the goblins put forward this condition, it means they have expected this scene. It's like a casino. If one person makes money, two people will lose money. But the casino owner will never lose money.

"It's just like the buildings they built for us. Although these buildings are free of charge according to the contract...but the decoration does cost money. Whether it's the exterior wall decoration or the furniture and daily necessities needed inside, it's too troublesome to transport them from inland.

"The best way is to open a factory in Midsummer County. Or we can directly purchase goods in bulk from the port. No matter which option we choose, it means increasing domestic demand. We still have to buy things from the Goblin Chamber of Commerce."

Come to think of it, now that the war has stopped... maybe I can use the connections in the church to build a bridge and contact Xing Tin.

Aleister thought.

If Avalon and Star traded, on the one hand, the people of Avalon could buy cheap and useful things, and on the other hand, the economic collapse of Star could be slightly alleviated... For some Star people, this might be considered a miracle of "savior from heaven".

"In fact, the goblins are also happy to see this situation. The biggest advantage of a city with a bishop stationed is that it is difficult for undead disasters to occur. Undead disasters in the interior - especially in dense forests or swamps, are more severe than drought and flood disasters.

"Because it means that ordinary people's trade and travel are extremely risky. Without the regular cleanup by the Wild Hunt, once they encounter a large number of undead in complex terrain, they may become one of them.

“When wandering undead spirits gather together to form a disaster, they will impact places where there are many living things—farmland, pastures, and even rural towns may be affected.

"For most mortals, 'dying' is the easiest way to become stronger in their lives. Many ordinary people can become undead spirits with extraordinary powers after death, and once these undead spirits gather together, people who are alone or without weapons will have no way to resist them.

"So a core condition of a 'big city' is that the church here cannot be too small, at least the clergy must be able to cover the funerals and weddings of local people.

"After all, when you reach the level of bishop, you can teach ordinary people simple rituals and divine arts...so it makes a big difference whether there is a bishop or not. And with the third-level devotees, even if a big shot passing by is suddenly injured or sick, he can get effective treatment immediately.

"With these conditions and the opening of the east-west railway, it will be easy to become a densely populated city. Once the population is densely populated, there will naturally be more merchants."

“…There is such a saying.”

Isabel nodded and quickly memorized it.

Adhering to the principle of asking when you don't understand and not pretending to know, she thought for a while and then asked carefully: "What happens after the bishops leave? Wouldn't these big cities suddenly become empty?" Aleister laughed: "No. Not to mention, we also need more bishops... And Isabel, don't forget, these people can't be refreshed out of thin air..."

"——Refreshed?"

Isabel blinked: "Oh... I think I understand what you mean."

"Yes. They must have migrated from other places, which means that the population in other places has decreased, and the demand for clergy has naturally decreased.

"And church schools would have been sending a steady stream of graduate interns to rural towns to serve as clergy. In fact, this is just transferring more clergy from backward rural towns to transportation hubs.

"This is actually a win-win situation - they don't want to live in a backward place, and these hub cities have more clergy. When people are relaxed and work voluntarily, it is easier to be promoted to bishop. From this perspective, it can even be considered a win-win situation for all three parties."

At this point, Aleister paused and added thoughtfully: "And, taking a step back... I might be able to get a group of ready-made bishops. But I'm not sure about that."

She was talking about the population of Xingti.

After receiving the comfort and support from Aiwass, she planned to organize a new force in Xingti.

Originally, the forces of Xingtan were already very complicated: the Royal Alchemy Association of the Path of Balance, the Forbidden Society of the Path of Transcendence, the Spirit Tower of the Path of Dusk, the Red Castle of the Path of Love, and the Leipzig faction...

Strictly speaking, the royal family should belong to the Royal Alchemy Association. But it is clear that the royal family's alchemy technology is not enough to make the association completely loyal. Therefore, the royal family can be regarded as an independent fifth force.

But there is actually a problem here - Xingti actually has the Church of the Nine Pillars, and there are quite a few clergymen.

After all, Xingti’s land area is large enough and it is well developed.

Compared to Star Antimony, any city in Avalon except the Glass Island seems like a countryside.

With this kind of population density, the number of Star Antimony priests is actually far greater than that of Avalon.

It is precisely because the political situation on Xingti is extremely complicated, and no matter who controls Xingti, the Church of the Nine Pillars will be needed in the end...so the church directly chose to remain neutral.

——Then, what if someone gathered and led these priests to form a new force?

Go save those people—that's what Aiwass said to her.

Aleister prefers to call it a mission or an order.

If everything goes well, she will lead these people to save the Xingtan people from suffering.

And if the plan fails, or the planet is so rotten that it cannot be saved... Aleister can't just abandon these priests who are forced into the political vortex and walk away leisurely.

At that time, at least Aleister could find a safe enough place for them - take them directly back to Avalon. In this way, they could avoid the disturbance caused by the coming of the Fallen Angels and would not arouse suspicion from the Rosicrucians.

At this moment, Isabel suddenly yawned, and her body gradually began to become transparent.

——This is a sign that she is about to wake up from her dream.

So Aleister quickly added: "By the way, Isabel - remember to give some benefits to the residents of Midsummer County, such as extremely low or even temporarily free rental prices, and make good use of those empty high-rise buildings, and you can also rent them to some companies at low prices as offices.

“The population will slowly flow over, which will be too slow. It is also very likely that the original residents of Midsummer County will become rich too quickly, and will develop a rejection mentality towards later immigrants… They may think that those people have taken away the wealth that originally belonged to them.

"In order to avoid this situation, we need to transfer as many people as possible. Providing welfare support is a better option than forcing them to do so..."

"All right, all right—I'll remember it all."

Before Aleister could finish, Isabel suddenly interrupted him.

Before disappearing, Isabel knocked on Aleister's head in annoyance, who was concentrating on business, then suddenly bit her ear and disappeared like a bubble.

Aleister touched his ear which was bitten for no apparent reason, looking confused but his cheeks gradually turned red.

"…Why are you biting me?"

She touched her red earlobe, lowered her head and muttered aggrievedly: "I'm talking about business..."

Aleister tilted his head, looking at the empty house where he was the only one left, but the corners of his mouth gradually rose and his eyes were peaceful and clear.

The empty soul has been healed, the anxious heart has been calmed, and the fearful spirit has been tranquilized.

...Maybe, Isabel can really save me.

I came to save the world, and she saved me...

Thinking so, Aleister slowly rolled over and moved to where Isabel had been lying before. He imitated the way she had hugged him just now, hugged his curled up left arm, and embedded his body in the soft big bed, in the depression that still retained warmth and fragrance.

"Good night, Isabel."

The doll-like girl whispered.

Aleister closed his eyes and fell asleep alone in a sweet dream.

(End of this chapter)