A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 504 I Retreat, Enemy Advance

"Old Merkle, I've come to discuss something with you today." The village chief nervously touched the box. "This gold... it was given to me by your son, Rorschach."

The couple were only slightly surprised, but quickly replied, "If Rorschach gave it to you, just take it. He received so much help from you back then."

"No, it's not for me personally!" The village chief picked up the gold coin: "Your son means to use this money to help the children in the village go to school."

"No wonder, that explains why you suddenly had money to continue sponsoring," Merkel said, realizing something, but still didn't give the gold coins much attention.

"Sigh, let me explain. It's about this," the village chief sighed. "You know the situation this year. Most of the older children have gone to the front lines, and they're past school age. As for the younger children... there aren't many left in the village these days, and there's a public school, so it won't cost much."

In other words, Rorschach gave them too much back then; they couldn't possibly spend it all.

The village chief shared his thoughts: "Recently, an unexpected situation has arisen. The grain requisition team from above is coming, saying they'll leave us some rations, but it looks like they're just here to rip us off. This year is a bumper harvest, but if we pay according to the standards stated in the official document, we're guaranteed to starve!"

"So, I was thinking of using this money to do some things, like offsetting grain taxes with cash, giving the villagers as much as they can. Since Luo Xia isn't here, I'm discussing this with you to see if it's feasible?"

Old Merkle was still pondering when his wife spoke first: "Yes, of course. Rorschach left this money to do good for the village anyway."

But old Merkle muttered, "Since we have money, why not wait until there's a real food shortage to buy it? What if we don't need it?"

"Because having grain in hand means you can eat your fill, but gold can't fill your stomach. If what the village chief said is true, and this year's harvest is all taken away by the empire, then by winter and spring, grain prices will only skyrocket, and even if you want to spend money, it will be difficult to feed the whole village."

"That's right, that makes sense." The village chief nodded, then froze halfway through, the voice clearly saying, "Rorschach?"

Rorschach appeared in the living room, startling the "local sage" Merkle. Mrs. Merkle rushed over, touching and hugging him to make sure it was really her son.

After confirming it wasn't a hallucination, Mrs. Merkel called up to the second floor, "Angel, your brother's back!"

Rorschach had no time for reminiscing; he went straight to the point: "Who's that miller? I've never heard of him before."

His tone made old Merkle even more nervous; he wasn't like this before.

The village chief remained calm: "He's an outsider. Compared to mills owned by nobles or the government, his mill basically doesn't charge money or take grain, so people from the neighborhood love to go to him. Some even drag their grain for dozens of miles just to save that money."

"After the villagers accepted him, this guy started organizing some kind of charity and aid society. In my opinion, he's just a missionary. And quite a few people have joined."

"Why didn't you say so in the letter?"

"Because..." Old Merkler was still stammering when the village chief muttered, glancing sideways, "When I wrote the letter for him, I even tried to persuade him to discuss it with you, but he just wouldn't listen. Hey, Rorschach, don't you know, the biggest benefactor of the Charity Association in the village is your old man!"

"Huh?" It was as surreal as telecom fraudsters stealing the pensions of anti-fraud officers' parents. He really didn't come back often, and he never expected old Merkle to play such a joke on him.

Luo Xia almost laughed out of anger: "Why didn't you tell me? Did you know it was wrong? Then why did you send the money?"

His questions grew increasingly louder and sharper with each question. Angel interrupted Luo Xia's relentless questioning: "Big brother, Mom and Dad don't believe that outsider's nonsense! Don't you know why you're sponsoring him?"

Angel's response after coming downstairs surprised him: "Huh? Why?"

"You're not home, and my second brother has gone out to join the army. Are there any strong young men left in the family? Outsiders all know that our family is rich. If Dad doesn't pay the money, that outsider will instigate other ill-intentioned people to bully our family. If something goes wrong, will it be too late to write to you?"

"Your parents didn't want to tell you in their letter that our family had been robbed several times. If it weren't for Uncle Village Chief's hunting rifle, who knows what terrible things might have happened."

The village chief nodded slowly.

"Why not hire servants for protection?"

"Where can we hire them?" the village chief added. "The young ones have all gone to the battlefield, and the adventurers' guild is about to close down. The old ones are all doing well for their respective employers. No matter how rich the Merkle family is, they're just commoners on the surface. Who would want to jump ship from some earl or viscount's mansion? Even if your parents were willing to pay, they wouldn't be able to find a job."

But Rorschach wouldn't accept that: "I do have my problems. I was only focused on supporting you with money and didn't pay attention in time. But I absolutely disagree with your fallacies."

"They shouldn't have kept it from me, from the person most capable of solving the problem. And isn't funding a cult run by outsiders just empowering them to harm even more people?"

Rorschach had worried that bringing his family to Byrne would cause problems by using his name, but now it seems his worries were misplaced: Old Merkle, you really don't use my name at all! The Archmage's theoretical relatives have actually been reduced to being threatened by a lowly missionary and obediently paying tribute.

Sigh, now I can rest assured and take them to Byrne. Rorschach made up his mind: "Alright, let's not dwell on right or wrong anymore. Everyone in the house, come with me to Byrne. It's safe and prosperous there, and I can take care of you anytime."

When Luo Xia last returned, he was a gentle young man, but now he exudes an undeniable aura, even though he is the second youngest in terms of age.

"I can't leave," old Merkle finally said, able to speak properly. "What I fear most is that you'll take us away, away from this land, away from our home. And if we move away now, what will happen to Franz? Will he still be able to find us, and will we be able to find him?"

"You don't need to worry about that." Rorschach took out a letter that his younger brother would never normally receive: "I've found Franz. He's still in the army, but he's auditing classes at a military academy. He's safe."

"When I returned to the village, the miller was inciting the villagers, saying that staying any longer would only increase their danger."

The empire itself lacked a powerful church, and as a substitute, with the resident mages being conscripted and mobilized, many parts of the empire, especially rural areas and small towns, fell into a state of vulnerability on the mystical level.

As the saying goes, "In any realm, if you don't actively fight for it, it will be occupied by the enemy." The once-vanished Mother Goddess Cult has resurfaced, and the mages who were originally responsible for putting out the fire have all joined the army. Judging from the Moncado Fortress incident, the Mother Goddess's awakening process is still progressing, and the cult and similar entities will only continue to develop as it invades.

Especially in regions where war has brought death, forced sacrifices, and suffering. Even in a peaceful little village like this, infiltration has occurred.

(End of this chapter)