Have You Heard of the God of Knowledge?

"It's all because of that damned Dursley! Oh, and that hateful Slyshadow Shatterstone too—those two bastards!" Rena cursed bitterly. "The God of Radiance ought to send them both to hell! Scum!"

Pete had heard Dursley's name for the second time, and this time, there was also someone called Slyshadow Shatterstone.

The latter did not sound human. It sounded more like one of the names commonly used by Greenport's goblins.

"What happened?"

Rena explained angrily, "It's a long story. This is how it started."

"My father used to be a member of the Rayak Kingdom Stonemasons Association. There hadn't been any major construction projects in the royal capital in recent years, so to find work and make money, he came to Greenport with some friends from the association to see if there were any jobs they could take."

"When they first arrived in Greenport, they had no foothold here, so naturally they stuck together and helped one another whenever they ran into trouble."

"To make communication easier, my father took the lead in organizing a small Stonemasons Brotherhood here."

"A few years ago, a gentleman from the Upper District wanted to renovate his estate. My father accepted the commission on behalf of the Stonemasons Brotherhood, but there was an accident during the work, and a stone crushed his left hand."

"Because of the injury, he could no longer work as a stonemason. He also spent a great deal of money hiring a healer to treat it. Later, his friends pooled their money to help him buy this house and open a small tavern, serving passing sailors."

Pete understood. "So the tavern is called Moni Brothers Tavern because it was opened jointly by Mr. Moni and his good brothers."

"That's right. Father always says he wants to share the profits with his fellow stonemasons, but none of them have ever accepted." Rena spoke with great sincerity. "Father's friends are all truly good people."

"When the tavern had just opened and there were barely any customers, they would deliberately come here after work to have a few drinks. That was how the place gradually began to draw a crowd."

"Half a year ago, the Brotherhood got very lucky and landed a huge job—a wealthy Rayak Kingdom merchant named Mong planned to build a large vacation estate here in Greenport."

"Mong hired a goblin broker named Slyshadow Shatterstone to put the project out to bid in Greenport. In the end, the Stonemasons Brotherhood won the contract, and Slyshadow Shatterstone entrusted us with everything from design to construction."

"Back then, everyone calculated that once the project was finished, each person would earn more than two gold coins on average!"

Two gold coins were definitely no small sum for ordinary people.

Even for a baron from a remote borderland of the Rayak Kingdom like Pete, nearly half a year's food expenses only came to about two Rayak gold coins.

For an ordinary family, if they spent carefully, one gold coin could cover the whole family's food for an entire year.

"To complete this major job, everyone in the Brotherhood worked extremely hard. Even my father helped plan the blueprints. He barely rested for days, and in the end, we successfully finished before the promised deadline."

"But then..." At this point, Rena grew visibly furious. "That hateful goblin was just like Dursley. They're both rotten scum who should be cleansed directly by the God of Radiance!"

"The Stonemasons Brotherhood had always followed the old custom of collecting only a small deposit before finishing the work. After everyone had worked so hard for so long, we went to Slyshadow Shatterstone for the remaining payment, and he actually started making excuses!"

"First, he said the quality was substandard and the finished work did not meet the client's expectations, shouting that he would deduct half our payment. Then he claimed he was short on money recently and needed time to raise it."

"My father went to that goblin several times, but he could never get the money. Greenport's police were too lazy to deal with business disputes like this, and the last time he went to demand payment, that goblin actually hired that bastard Dursley to beat up everyone from the Brotherhood and throw them out!"

"Dursley used to be a thug running with gangs in the Lower District. Later, who knows how, he suddenly learned how to harness his rage and advanced from an apprentice warrior to a first-rank warrior."

"By being ruthless and fearless, collecting debts, beating people, tearing down homes, and running prostitutes—there was no evil he would not commit. He quickly rose through the ranks of the Bloodfang Gang and became one of its upper echelon."

"Then the Bloodfang Gang's leader disappeared, and Dursley took over as its new boss."

"Over the years, he opened several casinos and clubs in the Lower District. No one knows how much money he has made, and his strength has risen from a first-rank warrior to a second-rank one."

"That goblin scoundrel brought in Dursley to back him up. He obviously intends to swallow the payment!"

"During this time, Dursley has kept sending people to harass us. He even specifically warned the people of the Stonemasons Brotherhood not to think about demanding that money again, or else it would be more than just smashed doors and harassment."

"Those two bastards! They're maggots from the same stinking gutter, rotten to the core!" The more Rena spoke, the angrier she became. She took a huge gulp of ale in resentment.

After learning the whole story, Pete felt somewhat sympathetic toward Rena's family. Ever since coming to Greenport, they had run into one misfortune after another. Their luck truly could not have been worse.

"Goblins... Those little green skins who only care about money really don't have many decent ones among them. Never expect goblins to honor any so-called fair deal when doing business with them. Goblins are the race that cares least about the terms of a contract."

Rena took another drink, a faint flush appearing on her face as she agreed indignantly. "Mr. Pete, you're absolutely right."

"Actually, when we received this commission, I wanted to remind Father that he had to make that goblin pay in advance before starting work. At the very least, they should have had the agreement notarized at the Greenport Bank. But Father was too kind. He still followed the old traditions of the Stonemasons Association, and this time, we suffered terribly for it!"

As she spoke, Rena let out another worried sigh, her brow clouded with lingering concern:

"Now that damned Dursley sends people to harass us every day. The tavern can barely operate normally."

"Everyone in the Stonemasons Brotherhood is an ordinary person, but the Bloodfang Gang alone has five first-rank professionals, not to mention Dursley, a second-rank warrior."

"If this continues, the tavern will have no income, and the others in the Brotherhood won't dare go out looking for new work. We may have no choice but to abandon the foundation we worked so hard to build here and go elsewhere to find another way out."

"Sigh... If only I could become a powerful mage like you, Mr. Pete. Then perhaps I could find a way to drive off those bastards from the Bloodfang Gang."

The speaker had not meant anything by it, but the listener had taken it to heart.

A soft chime suddenly rang beside Pete's ear.

"Ding."

[Quest issued.]

[Quest: My Lord's Truth Illuminates the Earth (Repeatable)]

[Objective: Recruit a new believer and make them believe in the God of Knowledge]

[Reward: 5 Knowledge Points]

Pete pondered for a moment.

"Um... Rena..."

"What is it, Mr. Pete?"

"...Have you heard of the God of Knowledge?"

The believers are about to start spreading from person to person. Please vote with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets, thank you~~~