The Church of Harvest

Once everything had settled down, the priest introduced himself. "My name is Utravsky. I'm the only member of the clergy at the Church of Harvest, part of the Church of the Earth Mother, here in Bexland."

"You may call me Father Utravsky or Bishop Utravsky. Either is fine."

The two of them then introduced themselves in turn. "Good day, Bishop Utravsky. My name is Altair Sheffield."

"Good day, Bishop Utravsky. My name is Vera. I'm Count Altair's personal maid."

When Bishop Utravsky heard Vera's introduction, he turned his head and began sizing Altair up again.

From his observations, Altair could tell that the priest seemed to have taken an interest in him. Does he want to convert me?

When Utravsky realized he had been rude, he quickly looked away and asked, "May I ask what brings you two to the Church of Harvest? Is there anything I can help you with?"

"You're very kind, Bishop."

Altair replied politely and explained their reason for coming. "We heard there was a church of the Church of the Earth Mother nearby, so we came to have a look out of curiosity."

"I'm afraid we were rude to come here out of curiosity. May the Mother Goddess forgive us."

After hearing his explanation, Utravsky calmly replied, "I don't think the Mother Goddess would bring down Divine Punishment over this."

"The core tenet of our church is 'Life is precious, and harvest is cause for joy.' Besides, the church is open to worshippers at this time. There are just so few followers of the Mother Goddess in the Loen Kingdom that I had to leave the church for a while."

As the sun neared the horizon, Altair and Vera left the Church of Harvest and climbed into their carriage to head home.

Vera, who had been bursting with questions, asked curiously, "Count Altair, is the Church of the Earth Mother really like Bishop Utravsky said?"

"I find it a little strange. If what he said is true, why are there so few followers in the Loen Kingdom?"

Vera's question went unanswered. Altair was thinking about what he had learned from his conversation with Utravsky.

At first, Utravsky had tried to get him to believe in the Mother Goddess, but something had made him give up.

It was probably because of Altair's status. Ordinary methods might not persuade him to become a believer and could even backfire.

As for using supernatural means, Utravsky might have feared getting caught and giving the Church of the Earth Mother an excuse to lose its right to preach in Bexland for good.

But he had been very attentive toward Vera. After all, she had no faith, and Utravsky was a clergyman who was always urging her to become a follower of the Mother Goddess.

Their conversation had revealed that Frank Lee had left the Church of the Earth Mother long ago and gone overseas.

Altair had actually quite wanted to meet this Mushroom King.

After all, Frank's reputation was no small thing. He was said to be able to awaken inside the Mother Goddess and overcome his superior.

Altair had also wanted to try giving him knowledge related to botany, biology, genetics, and other fields to see what he could come up with.

But unfortunately, Altair had arrived too late. Frank had already left, so he would have to look for another opportunity.

When Altair came back to his senses, he looked at Vera. She was still gazing at him with her round, bright eyes. He said helplessly,

"I don't know much about the Church of the Earth Mother, either. Its headquarters aren't in the Loen Kingdom, so there's no way for me to learn more."

"But if you want to believe in Her, it wouldn't be a bad choice."

At that, Vera turned her head to face Altair in profile and said, "I'm not going to believe in Them."

By the time the sun had completely set, the carriage had returned home. When they went inside, they found that Hahn, Freya, and Irene had already come back.

After a simple dinner, Vera brought out the little cakes she had bought that afternoon. Altair kept a slice of lemon cake for himself, then let her take the rest to share with everyone.

A layer of sweet-and-sour lemon icing covered the soft, buttery sponge. The cake's sweetness and the lemon's fresh, tangy flavor balanced each other perfectly. It was light and melted in the mouth.

After eating this way for a while, Altair understood why so many women in his previous life liked all kinds of little cakes.

Whenever they had a moment, they could have a bite to pass the time and enjoy something delicious—a win-win.

Maybe it was just his taste, but although the cake was good, he didn't want another piece after finishing one. Too much of it still felt cloying. Perhaps they had added too much sugar.

After finishing dinner, Altair went to the study to hear that day's work reports from Hahn and Freya.

Hahn spoke first. "Everything needed for the Suburban Manor banquet has been arranged. Some of the servants have been left there under the direction of a supervisor to make sure tomorrow's banquet goes smoothly."

"I've also taken those Special Items to the manor and hidden them, and Simon's team is staying behind to guard them."

"Count Altair, isn't this a little rushed? The items have been tested, but the factory says they could still be improved. Once optimized, they should bring in even greater profits."

Hahn's words finally put Altair at ease. After all, this matter was closely tied to his plans for the future.

He then said, "The schedule is certainly tight, and the goods have unavoidable flaws as a result. But that's also one of their selling points. After all, an item that never breaks isn't a good product."

"Forging them in a hurry now leaves room for future upgrades. We only need to make sure they're safe."

The conversation between the two left Freya baffled. Wasn't the banquet being held tomorrow?

How did this have anything to do with selling goods? Were the two things connected? Did Count Altair intend to use tomorrow's banquet to promote the products?

When Freya heard that the two men had stopped talking, she looked at them. Seeing that she could speak, she said,

"Following your instructions, I personally delivered the invitations to the other nobles this afternoon and watched them read each one. They all gave the same response: they said they would definitely attend tomorrow, on time."

"But I feel like they were overly enthusiastic. From the moment I arrived until they finished reading the invitations—if you'll forgive my bluntness, I felt they weren't very good at controlling their emotions."

Hearing Freya's words, Hahn, who knew the real reason behind the banquet, understood why they had been so enthusiastic. He couldn't help thinking, If you're not eager to welcome someone bringing you money, the others will find an excuse to kick you out. There are too many participants, after all, so each person gets less.