Chapter 1002: Section 648: Eastern Observations (Part 4)_2
If Malin hadn’t known exactly what the Church of the War God truly believed in, he would have stepped in long ago to serve justice on behalf of the heavens.
According to the High Priest of the Church of the Goddess of Harvest, every day they had to go into the wilderness to gather mushrooms and fruits to dry and stockpile. Otherwise, when winter came, there would be no guarantee they could survive it—just like the previous High Priest. When Malin asked, it turned out that several predecessors had perished in winters past, having distributed too much food to the poor, leaving none for themselves.
Looking at this High Priest, there was no guarantee they wouldn’t meet the same fate one of these winters.
The members of the Church of the Goddess of Harvest carried no guilt in their hearts. For his part, Malin, as a red-robed High Priest, once specifically asked the Crown Prince about where all this faith tax ultimately ended up. The latter’s vague and evasive response, coupled with an explosively awkward expression, spoke volumes.
Whatever. It’s said that this tax has been collected for over a thousand years. Asking a pitiful Crown Prince about it probably wouldn’t lead anywhere. Malin could only laugh it off in the end, while planning to demand a complete ledger of the faith taxation lists for each church and diocese in the Eastern Kingdom. Once this matter was settled, Malin made up his mind to visit every single church, one by one.
"Your church roofs are leaking and crumbling from age? As the lords, shouldn’t you contribute some funds to give poor parishes a chance to hire free farmers to renovate them? After all, the Goddess of Harvest will grant abundant harvests to your lands (if Malin Gaiate doesn’t crack your skull first)."
Surely the nobles would understand the dire needs of the Church and open their wallets generously.
What’s that? You say you’re poor? Oh, no problem. You could always rally the wealthier folks in your domain to help donate generously. If even that couldn’t be achieved... well, Malin could only arrange for a group of bandits from the western wastelands near Sydney to drop by for a visit.
Yes, those very bandits who could fire volley guns, dig foxholes, wield recoilless rifles, and even boast powerful Transcendent combatants. Surely, they couldn’t belong to Malin’s private militia. Absolutely not.