Subscriber of the Gods Chapter 337 - A New Plan to Become Stronger

“I’d like to build a shrine at Ivecar Academy.”

“A shrine?”

Ethan was thinking of further developing the Moonforce’s Descendant, a growth-type class.

‘There have been limits to growth until now.’

“A shrine for Moonforce? I heard a Moonforce shrine was recently built in the capital. Is that…?”

“Ah, yes. That’s correct. It’s the goddess I believe in. Since she’s now completely forgotten, I wanted to build a shrine to keep her from being forgotten. There aren’t many believers.”

At Ethan’s request, the principal nodded vigorously.

“What’s difficult about that! There’s nothing difficult at all. Rather, it could be a great way to… heal the wounds from this recent incident. I’ll take full responsibility and have it built. I’ll also make sure students can pray freely. Since it’s the deity you believe in, everyone will like it.”

As Moonforce’s influence grows, so does Ethan’s power.

‘I’m going to seriously expand Moonforce’s influence.’

This could create various risks. But now is the time to take those risks.

If he had been safely accumulating experience for survival until now, it was time to challenge himself to become stronger.

Despite the difficult tasks ahead, Ethan felt somewhat excited.

It felt like shackles somewhere in his heart had been unlocked.

‘Let’s do this.’

***

News of the attack on Ivecar Academy spread quickly throughout the Holy Empire.

-They attacked Ivecar? They completely broke the unwritten rule? Who on earth did that?

-It’s those followers of the Moon, I hear.

-Huh! If it’s them, they’re the type to do it without hesitation. They’re really the worst!

-Someone might hear! Shh, keep it down.

-What’s there to keep quiet about! No matter what, attacking an academy is not okay!

An academy is where young students attend.

Therefore, no matter what grudge one might have, attacking an academy was absolutely forbidden.

Of course, there had been a few precedents of those who broke this unwritten rule, but there had never been a group that attacked an academy en masse like the followers of the Moon.

Because of this, the followers of the Moon received severe criticism.

-Then what about the students… what happened to them?

-Don’t be surprised when you hear this. Not a single student was hurt!

-What? Didn’t you say the followers of the Moon attacked? It seems like they attacked with a plan, how could there be no casualties?

-Well… you know Count Ethan Whiskers? He’s currently a teacher at Ivecar. They say he stopped them.

-Stopped them? What do you mean?

-They say Count Ethan defeated the strongest among the followers of the Moon.

Since not everyone knew about the existence of the Apostles, the rumor spread that Ethan had defeated the strongest among the attacking followers of the Moon.

Of course, it didn’t spread solely by word of mouth.

Until now, Ethan had taken measures to minimize mentions about himself when various rumors spread, but this time, he intentionally fanned the flames to make stories about himself spread more.

-Ethan Whiskers? Isn’t he the one who elevated the Whiskers family to one of the Twelve Families?

-I heard he runs a Merchant Guild.

-I’ve heard he treats magicians very well.

It was because he had nothing to be wary of now.

There were no forces left in the Holy Empire that could oppress the Whiskers family, and Ethan had become a saint-like figure who saved Ivecar’s promising students through this incident.

As a result, the nobles who had sent their children to Ivecar all began to praise Ethan.

Even the nobles who had been disapproving of Ethan completely turned to his side because of this incident.

Therefore, Ethan actively spread rumors.

‘As expected, spreading rumors through the Merchant Guild is quite effective.’

Moreover, the reputation Ethan built through this Ivecar Academy attack incident had a significant impact on the numerous projects he had undertaken.

Unrecognized magicians headed to the Whiskers territory, and the sales of David Merchant Guild and Garnet Merchant Guild, which were associated with the Whiskers family, began to increase dramatically.

Of course, that wasn’t the end of it.

-Apparently, the followers of the Moon also went to the Whiskers territory?

-I heard they couldn’t even enter the territory because of the magic fortress spread there.

As rumors spread that the magic fortress had perfectly blocked the invasion of the followers of the Moon, people began to flock to Count Whiskers’ territory like crazy.

To exaggerate a bit, it could be said that all the people on the continent were gathering in the Whiskers territory.

The Whiskers territory, which had been expanded in anticipation of many visitors, was now bustling with countless people visiting.

“We expanded because there were many people, but to think even more people would come…”

“Please lighten this for me!”

The magicians at Ethan’s workshop cried and laughed at the same time.

Countless people were becoming captivated by their magic. On top of that, promising magicians were constantly coming, wanting to learn their magic.

“This is the prime of my life…”

“We can’t miss the prime that Count has created for us!”

All of this happened because Ethan had successfully thwarted the attack on Ivecar Academy.

Whiskers territory.

Ethan was examining a blueprint in his room in the lord’s castle.

Three days had passed since Ivecar was attacked.

Along with the start of restoration work, injured teachers were given vacations.

‘It’s hard to have proper classes anyway.’

Of course, Ethan, who had faced the formidable enemy of the 3rd Apostle, was also given a vacation. Although Ethan had recovered quite well after focusing on recovery for three days, he didn’t refuse the given vacation.

‘I have things to do.’

Ethan summarized the results of this incident.

“With this, there’s no need to think about danger within the Holy Empire anymore.”

The most widespread rumor from this incident was, of course, Ethan’s exploits.

Although he had won against the 3rd Apostle, rumors were spreading as if he had single-handedly stopped the attack on Ivecar Academy.

“This will be a powerful deterrent.”

It was natural, given the tremendous reputation gained from defeating the 3rd Apostle, backed up by word of mouth.

Now, no one would dare treat the Whiskers family carelessly. They wouldn’t even dream of attacking.

“And the followers of the Moon within the Holy Empire won’t be able to move freely either.”

Since they had scraped together all the useful followers of the Moon for the 3rd Apostle to attack Ivecar, there shouldn’t be any proper troops left, but there are always crazy people who would attack without caring about such things.

However, due to the severe criticism they’re receiving for this Ivecar attack, their movements will be greatly restricted.

“Now I can move more freely.”

In fact, it would be fair to say that there were no forces within the Holy Empire that could touch Ethan.

“But I can’t be satisfied with this. Safety upon safety.”

Therefore, Ethan made a new plan.

‘I realized while fighting the 3rd Apostle. I’m still very lacking.’

The fight with the 3rd Apostle wasn’t overwhelmingly in his favor.

Rather, if Ethan had made a wrong judgment, he could have really died.

That’s why he needed reinforcement.

“A new plan.”

Ethan was thinking of putting a period on it altogether.

“Until now, the Twelve Families within the Holy Empire haven’t been on good terms.”

Because of this, when dealing with Marquis Dren’s family, he gained many benefits from the connections he had made in various ways.

‘I’ll use that in reverse.’

Increase the cohesion between the Twelve Families within the Holy Empire.

More precisely, he was thinking of making the Whiskers family stand at the very center and become the connecting link between the other Twelve Families.

‘For now, the core families have already entered the Whiskers territory’s market.’

As several families like Felix and Ramsdale had already entered the Whiskers market, the cohesion led by the Whiskers territory had already buttoned its first button.

Ethan was thinking of creating a new bond on top of that.

‘Along with the cohesion between the Twelve Families, I can also increase my own power.’

“Building a shrine. A shrine for Moonforce.”

The blueprint he was looking at was the design plan for Moonforce’s shrine.

Ethan recalled the Moonforce shrines that were abandoned here and there across the continent.

“Majestic like the Grand Horn shrine guarded by the white tiger, and yet showing the power of the goddess Moonforce.”

And there was one most important element.

“There’s a Holylight Order branch anywhere in the Holy Empire.”

In this period when the followers of the Moon are rampaging, even if one builds a new shrine and asks people to believe in a new god, they’re likely to hesitate to join.

But what if he rides on the coattails of the Holylight Order, the largest religious organization in the Holy Empire?

“We can approach more familiarly. Above all, I’ve got permission from the emperor.”

‘I remember seeing something like this before. The strategy of a low-cost franchise cafe benefiting by opening next to a very famous franchise cafe.’

Ethan was planning to take advantage of the Holylight Order.

After all, Ethan was an honorary bishop of the Holylight Order.

‘If there’s any backlash, I’ll just go see the Pope.’

And so, Ethan began the Moonforce shrine construction project.

***

Yellowd family.

Since Mason met Ethan and reformed, Duke Yellowd had developed considerable fondness for Ethan.

“To think Teacher Ethan would visit in person, if you had contacted us in advance, we could have prepared a better reception. By the way, I’m really grateful for what you did this time. If it weren’t for Teacher Ethan, the students of Ivecar Academy would have been seriously injured. There might have even been fatalities. But thanks to Teacher Ethan’s good defense, not a single student was hurt, and instead, they’ve come to trust Ivecar more.”

“It wasn’t just me. The other teachers also went through a lot of hardship.”

In the reception room of the Yellowd family.

Duke Yellowd laughed heartily as he looked at Ethan Whiskers sitting across from him.

As the Duke said, this attack incident clearly demonstrated the level of Ivecar Academy.

One might think that students would be transferred out in reaction to the attack, but in reality, not a single parent even mentioned transferring.

That’s because in this attack incident, only the teachers were injured, and not a single student was hurt.

Of course, Oz was injured, but rather than stories about his injury, only stories about how he protected the lower grade students and his exploits against the followers of the Moon had spread.

“I heard that student Oz is also Teacher Ethan’s favorite disciple. My, it seems all students who learn under Teacher Ethan become like that!”

Duke Yellowd’s eyes shone.

“So I’m curious about why you’ve come to our Yellowd. I don’t think you’ve come just to talk about the attack incident.”

“I didn’t come for academy business, Duke.”

“Not for academy business? Then you’ve come as Count Ethan Whiskers.”

“Yes.”

Ethan said.

“I’ve come to make you a very good proposal.”