889
The Feynapotter man staggered away.
Edward opened the newspaper in his hands again. A small section covered the earlier news of a "Feynapotter farmer beating a pastor of the Church of the Storm to death." Almost the entire article described how innocent the pastor who had died so tragically had been. The photograph showed a weeping woman and a child who understood nothing. Another small section briefly summarized the unrest in the East Borough, while a notice from the Church of the Earth Mother occupied considerably more space:
"Normal trade with Loen will resume on the tenth of this month."
In other words, the free bread at the Church's relief stations would soon disappear, and the cheap, high-quality grain in the various grain shops would soon return to its original import price.
This news has only just been reported. Looks like there'll be some panic buying next... But restoring normal trade should at least give some Feynapotter people a little comfort, and redirect some of the conflict.
"Should I have the Devil Family take this opportunity to sell some stored grain?"
"...Forget it. Intervening this early would change the opposing sides. It would probably be better to leave it to them."
Toward evening.
After the last believer left, Emlyn was preparing to close the church when he suddenly felt someone watching him from behind. He looked in that direction and saw that the man who had left in anger two hours earlier had appeared near the church again.
His own anger had already subsided. He felt that, as a demigod, he had no need to get angry over something so trivial. He had plenty of other things to do.
But when he saw the man approach, Emlyn still asked:
"The church isn't open tonight. If you need somewhere to