Life has dealt a heavy hand to a weak demigod like me.

-

Chapter 81 I'm Showing My Hands

"Knowledge is wealth." Taking out the key, Charles slowly opened the door of the manor.

The main body of the manor castle had already been built, and a lot of furniture had been delivered. In theory, all they needed to do was recruit some servants so Charles and the others could move in.

However, in this extraordinary world, there are still many steps to be taken in this manor.

For example, the planned artificial lake and forest haven't been excavated yet, let alone the ornamental supernatural creatures that can be kept in it. The flower gardens haven't been stabilized by supernatural power, and there are no protective measures around them...

Although it looks habitable, the construction of the entire manor is actually not even halfway complete.

At present, the entire manor is only equipped with one low-level Horcrux, which can purify the air in the manor and convert the exhaust gas emitted by the factory into coal that falls into the fireplace.

In fact, Charles was not very clear about the significance of the existence of this magic circle, and even the significance of the existence of the fireplace was not very clear to him. After tens of thousands of years of development, the use of energy by extraordinary people can be said to have long since moved from the initial battles to people's livelihood. There would basically be Horcruxes with constant temperature in large manors.

But every large manor still has a fireplace and a Horcrux that purifies the air. In winter, the manor owner will still light the fireplace in a pretentious way - perhaps it is not pretentious, but he feels that the coal piled there cannot be wasted?

"Do you like it?" Charles touched Lily and Lorna's heads, then turned and asked Melnadette.

"After a while, this will be our new home."

"I'm laying it all out. I'm not just an ordinary lecturer. I'm a very wealthy lecturer."

"You know, there is a lot of wealth contained in language and writing."

While showing Mernade and the others around the unfinished manor, Charles explained the rationale behind the manor's existence.

"So..." Charles placed his hand on Mernadette's shoulder.

“As a brother, there are many things I can’t do.”

"But... just making sure you're well fed and well clothed is still manageable."

"I know that because you just moved in, you're not used to having another person around you yet, and you feel like you're living under someone else's roof. So you feel a little restrained when doing many things."

"But I hope you know. To me, if there is anyone most important in this world, it must be you."

This statement is not false.

Melnadette is not only a support for him, a channel for obtaining the truth, but also a person of the same era. She completely changes his existence at the fork in the road.

If it wasn't at that time, she would have cast her eyes on him.

A lot of things would probably be different.

"I, I was really full just now..." Mernadette's cheeks turned a little red.

What was originally a serious matter, but after hearing her say it like that, Charles couldn't help but laugh. "Lying in front of my sisters will set a bad example. They'll hate me for it." Charles said with a stern face.

Hearing his words, Melnadette couldn't help but panic.

"me..."

"No, we love our sister the most." Lorna hugged Melnadette's arm, and so did Lily beside her.

"So you don't like your brother anymore?" Charles squatted down and looked at them with a smile.

It's just that because they haven't been together for a long time, although Charles treats them very well, there are still some things that he can't let go of.

"e=(?o｀*))) Oh, what a pity! I was planning to install a slide and a sand pool for you guys to play in, but now it seems..."

He originally intended to use this to attract the two children, but... it didn't work at all.

If you think about it carefully, kids from slums these days don’t know what a slide is or what a toy is.

When Mernade was in school, Lorna would spend most of her time going to the garbage dump to see if she could find anything useful - although because of her young age, most of the things she took away were not what others would value.

She didn't get into any trouble because of the scary birthmark on her face.

Lily was at home trying to repair the things she brought back.

For them, the greatest entertainment was when Mernadette told them stories occasionally. They had never heard of things like slides, so naturally they had no appeal to them.

Ciel patted their heads and then changed his words, "I originally thought you guys really liked me, but now it seems that's not enough."

"Looks like I'll have to buy some new clothes tomorrow to please you guys~ But I'll have to wait a little longer for Mernadette's new clothes~"

"No!" Lorna looked at Charles nervously. Meeting his smiling gaze, Lorna quickly grabbed his hand and said awkwardly, "We... love you the most, too."

Charles rubbed her head and said, "In that case, I'll take you to buy new clothes tomorrow."

Mernadelle pulled at the corner of Lachar's clothes and wanted to say something, but when she saw Lily and Lorna's expectant eyes, her gaze gradually softened.

"Let's go and see other places." Charles reached out and placed his hand on her cheek, pinching it gently. Then he took her hand and walked towards the castle in the center of the manor.

It is not a majestic castle, but it is a brand new experience for Mernadè, Lily and Lorna at this time.

The key opened the door, and the first thing that came into view was a spacious hall filled with all kinds of expensive and exquisite furniture.

There are two exquisite spiral staircases on both sides of the building leading to the upper level, and on the stairs is the place reserved for Charles and his friends to live.

But this time, Charles did not take them there first, but slowly walked to a small door at the innermost side of the hall.

This door is the entrance and exit of a servant's passage. Considering that this is a servant's passage leading to the hall, and many banquets may be held in the hall, this passage is not narrow but rather quite wide.

Charles lit up the surrounding lights and led a few people slowly down the servant passage.

After passing the kitchen and spice room, Charles led them into the warehouse where grain was stored.

Wheat, corn, dried vegetables, processed bacon, smoked meat...

The food was piled neatly here like a small mountain. Facing Melnadè's gaze, Charles smiled and said, "With me here, you don't have to worry about being hungry anymore."

As the high priest of the Church of the Earth, if he starved the goddess, he would probably be laughed at by other churches for the rest of his life.

Farming and producing food is what the Church of the Earth is best at.

Although many extraordinary ways have emerged in this era, many minerals and resources like oil have become unlimited from limited.

However, the extraordinary path similar to the farmer's path that can increase food production gradually declined with the decline of the Church of the Earth.

Perhaps in many countries there are still low-sequence extraordinary people in the church such as "farmers", "pastors" or even "harvesters", but in terms of quantity compared to the entire country's population, it is still a drop in the bucket.

-

Chapter 82: The Man Who Started the War

After returning from the manor, the relationship between Charles and Mernadette, and Lily and Lorna was obviously better than before.

While Charles' mood was getting better and better, others felt increasingly heavy in their hearts.

The shadow of war still hung over the Kingdom of York.

The situation that Charles originally thought was stable was on the verge of collapse.

The cause of this incident was Charles himself.

"Have the blessings around the church been discovered?" Feeling the increasingly solemn atmosphere, Charles couldn't help but flip through the newspaper in his hand.

This time the headlines in the York Daily News had shifted away from Perozzi and Blackfire.

[Miracle! The earth and the Church of Abundance, which had been devastated for a thousand years, have regained their glory!]

[The gods reappear? A new era is coming!]

[Pune Kingdom issued a statement: Hotlat has always been an inseparable part of our country]

King York publicly denounced King Poon: "You are shameless!"

Hotlat is the former site of the Pun Kingdom and the location of the Cathedral of the Earth.

Although the Church of the Five Gods declined, and many of its chapels and chapels were demolished, most of its cathedrals still existed. However, their condition was similar to that of the cathedrals Ciel had seen when he first arrived in this era.

It is in a dilapidated state, and the area within a thousand miles is basically uninhabited.

It's like a lost area.

No one would take the initiative to destroy them, but the population and cities were slowly moved away from the areas with cathedrals.

As for the Pun Kingdom that published the statement in the newspaper, it basically has nothing to do with the Pun Kingdom where the cathedral was previously located - except for the name.

However, for some people, just having the same name is enough to make them do something "bumping into porcelain".

For example, the current Hotlat is located in the Kingdom of York, but the Kingdom of Pun located in the western continent claims that this place is its own.

And was willing to sell the land to several countries surrounding the Kingdom of York at a "reasonable" price.

If it were before, this kind of thing would not have been possible.

But now, Hotlat is no longer that worthless place. After being blessed by Charles, the fertile land within a thousand miles has an annual grain output that is enough to feed the entire country!

"The Holy Book stipulates that this blessing is irrevocable. As a high priest, it is not easy to violate it." Charles read the newspaper while drinking tea.

As for the war...

Maybe it is really going to explode. After all, it is a vast fertile land, and this is the symbol of the high priest of the Church of the Earth.

Although it is not like the Dark Ages now, the Church of the Five Gods has completely declined.

There is not much conflict between the new batch of demigods and the church.

but...

They also absolutely do not want the church to revive.

Of course, with the power of the church, they would not be able to stop it if it really revived.

Therefore, it would be a good idea to use this war to find out who caused this kind of thing.

The interests between countries, the fertile land that suddenly appeared, and the breaking of the seal of the black fire.

If it weren't for the emergence of the fertile land of Hotlat, this war would have ended in a mutual confrontation at best.

After all, neither the demigods behind the Kingdom of York nor the people behind other kingdoms want to make the world too chaotic.

But the events of Hotlat Cathedral have silenced some people.

When the demigods do not intervene and things are left to develop naturally, war may really break out.

"To intervene...or not to intervene?" Charles fell into deep thought.

For him, there are benefits whether he intervenes or not.

War may not be a bad thing for the world or for the Kingdom of York and the surrounding countries.

Although it sounds nonsense, it is true.

After all, whether it is the Kingdom of York or other kingdoms, internal conflicts have gradually been exposed.

The appearance of Blackfire was like a fuse.

War can at least shift some conflicts from internal to external.

While Ciel was thinking about what he should do, there was a knock on the dormitory door.

He slowly stood up and opened the door.

The visitor was a person who surprised him quite a bit.

"Ms. Perozzi, long time no see." A gentle smile appeared on his face.

"Yeah...long time no see, Rocks." Peroz took off his top hat and followed Charles into the room.

"Compared to before, you've changed a lot." Peroz exclaimed as he looked around the dormitory and Charles's attitude towards him.

"After all, I encountered a lot of things and found some people." As he spoke, Charles looked at the portrait hanging on the wall with gentle eyes.

Above it hung a portrait of Charles and Mernadette.

"When a person has someone in their heart who is worth cherishing and protecting, they grow up overnight." A smile appeared on Peroz's face. "My father told me that before I was born, my mother was like a child, always doing things that made him laugh and cry. But after I was born, her growth speed surprised my father."

Charles smiled sheepishly and changed the subject, "I've read the latest reports, Peroz."

"You have grown into a man that Mr. Rawdon would be proud of."

Then he looked at her with a rather worried look, "Ms. Perozzi, is the scar on your face okay? I can ask Professor Endsworth to think of a solution."

Peroz shook his head. “This is a warning to myself.”

"Is there anything you need this time?" Charles asked again.

Peroz shook his head. "Nothing, probably just wanting to talk to someone."