Chapter 42: Before the Banquet Begins, the Various Priests

By the time Jier had finished washing up and felt completely refreshed, the servants who helped him maintain his weapons and equipment had also finished their work at just the right moment. These people were clearly experienced at their jobs; they neither made Jier wait around bored, thereby missing the upcoming formal banquet, nor did they finish maintaining his gear too early and then watch Jier wash up in front of everyone.

That would annoy some short-tempered Knight Lords. These little servants of the Sasi Family could not afford to provoke an angry Knight Lord.

If they were to be scolded or beaten for nothing, they would just have to take it, and the servant leader at the next level up would even have to apologize to the knights who did the hitting.

So, just as Jier finished washing and came out, these people "happened" to finish the work in their hands, lowered their heads, bowed, lifted the heavy weapons and equipment, and handed them to Jier.

The clothing Jier wore inside his armor had been simply washed, quickly dried in an oven with charcoal fire, and a little floral essential oil had been sprayed onto these inner garments.

Jier's custom-modified metal armor plate full-coverage armor had also been carefully wiped by the servants using fine cloth dipped in oil, and some rust on the plates had been removed, making it bright and clean overall, as if it had just been forged.

His several weapons had also been carefully wiped. The Heart Fire dagger was a magic dagger, so the leader of these servants was the one who performed the maintenance on this expensive weapon. This person carefully wiped the entire dagger, which was made of special material, and used a brush to meticulously clean the dagger's hilt. Without doing too much grinding or processing, they carefully placed this magic weapon on a purple velvet cushion and held it carefully as they handed it back to Jier.

As for the Hunting Sword, it was carefully cleaned by two servants, who then used a special whetstone to painstakingly grind the edge, barely managing to make the blade sharper. Afterward, the two of them carried the entire long sword and handed it to Jier.

As for the knight sword Aipiedela, it was the most difficult to deal with because the entire sword was quite damaged, and monster blood filled the gaps of the long sword from top to bottom, which left the two servants cleaning and maintaining this knight sword at a loss for how to begin.

With no other choice, they had to ask for the opinion of Jier, who was still bathing at the time; they just simply used a water-dampened brush to slightly scrub away the monster blood in the gaps on the surface of the long sword, and did nothing else.

Jier was only carrying these weapons and equipment at the moment; his other weapons and equipment were placed on the weapon rack on the back of the Tianxuecao, so there was no need to carry them on his person, and naturally, no need for maintenance.

"Thank you all. I have indeed been a bit slack these days, not properly maintaining my own weapons and equipment." After finishing his words of thanks, Jier naturally would not just thank them with words alone; it is better to offend a gentleman than to offend a petty person. Therefore, Jier generously took out his coin purse and rewarded every servant who helped him maintain his weapons with one Silver Coin.

This money was not much, but it was still about half a month's wages for these servants. Having received the reward, they were even happier, and pleasant words kept coming out of the mouths of these servants, making the few servants who had just helped Jier wash up feel extremely envious.

By the time Jier was led by a servant to the Sasi Family's dining room nearby, some people had already taken their seats, waiting to dine.

The place was not small; it was enough for even a hundred people to dine. Because it was a banquet requested by Bell on short notice, even at this moment, chefs and waiters were constantly moving through the side door of the dining room, setting up and arranging the dining tables. A butler was even constantly whispering to the chefs coming in and out to confirm the dinner menu, needing to flexibly adjust the food they liked according to the people dining.

As for strong individuals who had undergone Knight Training like Jier and Bell, this butler specifically requested the chefs to prepare more meat. Because these butlers and waiters who often came into contact with knights all knew that knights were a bunch of big eaters; don't look at how their bodies were not much taller than normal people, but they could eat several times the food of a normal person. Moreover, some good-looking and delicious food did not really suit the knights' tastes; only meat dishes with plenty of grease, plenty of sauce, and heavy salt could best satisfy the knights.

Besides that butler being busy, many waiters were also busy to the point of exhaustion.

They lit the smokeless candles used for lighting throughout the dining room and carefully adjusted the reflectors next to the candles, allowing the light to hit every part of the dining room evenly, ensuring the dining room's lighting was uniform, bright, and appropriate.

This dining room did not have a specialized lighting system like the one Jier saw last time when dining in the Sasi Family hall; clearly, such a lighting system that did not rely on burning materials was also a very expensive thing for the Sasi Family.

Besides this, the personal servants of some Sasi Family members also carefully placed the diners' personal tableware on the dining table and carefully aligned them. They would also whisper to the Sasi Family members who had already arrived and were qualified to dine at the table, asking them what they wanted to eat tonight, and would promptly relay it to the butler, letting the butler record it before further informing the kitchen behind the dining room.

Every step was handled by everyone in an orderly fashion, and Jier was also invited by a dedicated waiter to the main dining position of the dining room, right on the right-hand side of the main seat. Next to Jier was a young man who did not look very spirited; the sky had not been dark for long, yet this person kept yawning, complaining about why the meal hadn't started yet.

A middle-aged woman sitting opposite him reprimanded the young man with dissatisfaction: "Bell hasn't come yet, so of course we cannot start dining. When my older brother is not in town, Bell is the most important person in the family. You must respect this order and these rules."

After she finished reprimanding the person who seemed to be her own child, she also looked at Jier with an apologetic expression: "Apologies, Knight Jier. Bell needs to dress and change his clothes, so it will take a little time. After all, inviting you to dine today is an important matter. I previously thought that since you hadn't returned for so long, something had happened on the road."

Jier waved his hand to show his understanding; the more importance the host who invited him placed on the preparations, the more it naturally expressed their attention and regard for him personally, which was good.

"A lot of things did indeed happen along the way. It's not something that can be explained in a sentence or two, and there were even some very bizarre things that occurred. I didn't have a chance to tell Bell just now; when he comes later, I must tell him about that matter first, and I hope he can understand and remain calm."

Jier's words immediately made the Sasi Family members in the dining room who were preparing to dine feel curious, and just as they were about to ask Jier about the situation, some guests who had been invited to dine walked in through the main entrance of the dining room.

Most of these people were familiar faces to Jier; they were the local Church Priests who had appeared in the previous Battle of the Lumber Yard. In many local churches, not everyone could be appropriately sent out to assist in battle. Some priests were either old, and although they possessed the Divine Power of the gods, their legs and feet were inconvenient, so they naturally could not follow the combat troops out to fight.

Even riding in a carriage with the troops to fight was not very feasible, because people with poor health would be dizzy and nauseous from the bumps of a horse-drawn carriage, suffering from severe motion sickness, making it difficult to perform prayers or blessings.

So, the ones who appeared last time were these Church Priests, and this time, it was highly probable that they would be the ones fighting alongside the troops again.

The various god churches had enjoyed so many benefits and conveniences in Yemei Town; when the town needed them, they had to provide enough priests to assist in the battle. This was their duty and could not be refused.

Jier hurriedly stood up to greet these Church Priests whom he hadn't seen for a while. The priests of the Church of the God of the Dead, the priests of the Church of the God of Wealth, and even the priests of the Sun God Church only returned the greeting simply. Only the priests of the Agricultural God Church walked quickly to Jier's side and began to converse with Jier in a friendly manner.

Although priests could not communicate over long distances, Bata'er Jiaoshi prayed to the Agricultural God every day and would still inform the god of the things happening around him, and the Agricultural God would occasionally relay needed news to other praying priests during prayer.

Therefore, even though they were separated by over a hundred kilometers, these Agricultural God Church priests in Yemei Town still knew quite a bit about what had happened in the south. Especially the establishment of New Xiwang Town and the matter of Torito Village.

Torito Village? New Xiwang Town?

Many of the people present were quite familiar with many place names in Sasi County; many of them had even been to various villages in the county, but this was the first time everyone had heard that there were these two places in the county?

Those with more active minds had already thought that this might be related to what Jier was about to say.

Following behind the priests and invited to dine together were also some powerful Merchant Guild leaders in the town, or family members of the Knight Lords under Sasi Baron; these powerful people were also invited by Bell together.

This made the butler in charge of management and command busy for a moment, sweat seeping from his forehead, as he recorded everyone's dinner while also having to send people to ask the newly arrived guests one by one what they wanted to eat.

Generally speaking, invited guests follow the host's arrangements; whatever the host prepares, the guests eat. But the Sasi Family had a dedicated dining room, and behind the dining room, there was a professional kitchen and chefs. They could order whatever they wanted on the spot, unless it was a dish that took a long time to prepare; otherwise, it could be made on the spot for the guests to enjoy.

This was also one of the hallmarks of a qualified Noble family.

In regions where the Noble Council system was strict, if a Noble family wanted to raise their title, besides making contributions by leading troops in battle and having solid military strength, the population of the territory, the taxes paid to the province or the Kingdom, the number of towns in the territory, the development of professional trade guilds, the construction of the Noble family's mansion, and the demonstration of knowledge accumulation and organizational ability were all areas that the higher-level council needed to consider.

After all these were in place one by one, through the approval and recommendation of the Noble Council, the confirmation of the King's Regent, and the recognition of the God of Nobility, the lower-level Noble could be promoted in title.

It was useless for other Nobles in the same region to disagree; even if the Viscount family of Borisfa City was unhappy, they could not stop the Sasi Family's potential rise in title.

Of course, it was still too early for the Sasi Family to want to rise from Baron to Viscount; not only was the population of Sasi County insufficient, but the development in various places was also relatively slow. In the entire county, besides Yemei Town, there wasn't even another town, only a large number of villages.

Such a place could not possibly be promoted.

At the very least, they would need to expand the population and town area of Yemei Town, completely transform the town from Yemei Town into Yemei City, and have it govern two or three other towns with large populations and good economies, while the population also had to break through the threshold of one hundred thousand. The number of knights also had to double to reach more than a dozen.

Only such a Sasi Family could possibly make a push for the title of Viscount at the Southern Province Noble Council. Because the Bolisi-fa Ling of the Borisfa Viscount met all the above requirements.

It was just a pity that at this time, the area around Borisfa City was also in chaos. Because of administrative errors, a large number of villages outside the city had erupted in resistance activities under the instigation of spies from a neighboring southern country who posed as local Agricultural God Church priests. Farmers numbering in the tens of thousands had already surrounded Borisfa City, and the two sides had been deadlocked and in conflict there for a long time.

At this moment, most of the people invited to the dining room understood what the Sasi Family Heir, Bell-Sasi, who had invited them over, was aiming for today.

It was not the first time Bell's "Grand Plan" had been told to others.

Especially the various Church Priests who had fought together before; they had been sought out by Bell more than once, and the various churches had also given different reactions.

The priests of the Church of the God of the Dead sat on their chairs, old and composed, not engaging in conversation with the people around them, just leaning tiredly against the wooden chair backs to rest when they could. A while ago, when expanding the trenches outside the town, the number of villagers captured and killed by monsters was not very high, but during the construction, the conflicts and brawls between villagers from various villages caused by friction had resulted in many casualties among the commoners.

Even now, these priests of the Church of the God of the Dead were still busy dealing with the hundreds of farmers and farm wives who had died because of the conflicts at that time. Some died in miserable states, and it was necessary to deal with the corpses and the resentful spirits lingering on the corpses before they died, repair the broken corpses, use Divine Power to communicate and resolve the resentful spirits who were unwilling to die, and guide the souls of the humans who had died during this period to the Land of the Dead of the God of the Dead.

And most importantly, they also had to find a way to burn the corpses of the villagers that piled up in the rooms separately while the town's fuel was insufficient. Having no other choice, the priests used many methods not commonly used before, including directly turning Divine Power into acid to corrode the flesh on the dead, leaving only the bones, then using a Great Hammer to smash the bones, dry them, and put them into wooden boxes or pottery jars, which were then returned to the relatives and friends of the dead after Prayer.

These days, the priests of the God of the Dead had been busy with this work; many priests were busy day and night, relying entirely on the Divine Power of the gods to hold on, which was the only reason they hadn't collapsed directly.

The priests of the Church of the God of Wealth behaved very differently. After they entered, they directly discussed cordially with the Merchant Guild leaders who had been invited, and constantly encouraged them to support Bell's actions this time.

Because Yemei Town was surrounded by monsters, the dye raw ore trade, which was still relatively prosperous locally, had been completely cut off. The situation where this kind of business could not be done not only made the people of the various Merchant Guilds very troubled, but even the priests of the Church of the God of Wealth were also troubled.

Although business problems had appeared in various places in the Southern Province, large or small, because armies were gradually gathering in various places, some Merchant Guilds and Caravan merchants who specialized in military business actually saw their business improve.

Some priests who had close relationships with those merchants naturally received more attention from the gods, and their Divine Power also rose with the tide. This forced the priests of the God of Wealth in various places to have to take more initiative to do something.

The priests of the Sun God Church behaved very strangely; they just sat quietly on their chairs, neither as tired as the priests of the Church of the God of the Dead, nor as anxious as the priests of the Church of the God of Wealth. They not only appeared quiet, but also faintly had a sense of pride, and even arrogance, about them.

Many people unaware of the inside story might find them strange, but those with high-level and well-informed sources already know that the Human Sun God has moved His Divine Kingdom from the ground to outer space orbit.

Because the Divine Kingdom is placed in outer space planetary orbit, the Human Sun God possesses the ability to receive Prayer from believers across the entire planet, project Divine Power across the entire planet, and even project high-end combat forces.

And because the structure and technology of His Divine Kingdom are special, it also possesses the terrifying ability to destroy the civilizations and environments of all races on the surface, making Him a powerful deity recognized by all the gods.

Manifesting in the present, this means the Priests of the Sun God have changed their past demeanor, becoming confident and even arrogant.

?? Welcome everyone to subscribe to this book, add this book to your favorites, follow this book, cast recommendation votes and monthly votes for this book, and provide support through tips. Thank you, everyone.