Subscriber of the Gods Chapter 383 - The Fruit of Labor

Ethan headed towards the territory of the Twelve Families where he had promised to build a temple.

Starting with Duke Yellowd’s domain, the closest territory of the Twelve Families, Ethan planned to visit all the lands he had promised.

However, this time he didn’t intend to go to distant cities.

He planned to summon them all to the Whiskers territory later, intending to handle everything at once then.

The Yellowd territory, close to the Whiskers domain.

Duke Yellowd was quite surprised by the report on the temple’s construction results.

“It’s a strange thing.”

“Yes, Your Grace. I was truly astonished as well. Usually, when a new religious facility is introduced, there’s strong opposition. But this Moonforce Order temple is being accepted without any resistance.”

“Moreover, the reaction of the Holylight Order, which had already established itself in the territory, is exceptional. The Holylight Order is typically quite hostile towards other religions, but they say the Moonforce Order is fine. In fact, they provided considerable assistance in building the Moonforce Order’s temple.”

“Is there no one managing it?”

“According to the Moonforce Order’s doctrine, the most important thing is to pray freely. Count Ethan Whiskers instructed that anyone should be able to enter the temple without feeling watched. As a result, people are coming and going from the temple comfortably. I expected it to backfire, but surprisingly, it’s quite effective.”

“Did everyone just quietly pray and leave? I thought the underworld folks would come in and cause trouble.”

“I thought so too, but it’s not like that at all. The public safety has actually improved.”

Every territory has its back alleys.

These are literally the places where people operate in the shadows, and no matter how much you try to sweep them away, they keep sprouting up like weeds.

It wasn’t something that could be eliminated by force alone.

Therefore, a temple that could be freely accessed could have become a hideout for the underworld, negatively affecting public safety.

But that didn’t happen.

Instead, many of the underworld people would quietly pray and leave.

“How curious. Is this Count Ethan Whiskers’ power?”

“It seems so. Count Ethan Whiskers rose from a local nobleman to become one of the Twelve Families, didn’t he? I also heard he suffered from a serious illness. Though it seems he’s better now.”

A man who rose from the bottom.

That’s why Ethan became a beacon of hope for those in lower positions. As a result, even the underworld people quite liked Ethan.

Until recently, there were some who jealously resented him, but now even they had come to respect Ethan.

“So they believe in the Moonforce Order.”

“It appears that Count Ethan Whiskers’ existence gives them hope. The crime rate has significantly decreased since the temple was built. Thanks to that, other residents are quite satisfied, and the number of people who believe in both the Holylight Order and the Moonforce Order has increased.”

“Hmm!”

Amidst various reports being exchanged.

“Count Ethan has arrived!”

“My, what excellent timing.”

In truth, he had accepted Ethan’s request without much certainty.

It was a request that couldn’t be refused. To maintain a good relationship with Ethan, it had to be accepted even if it meant taking a loss.

But far from causing harm, the result was having a considerably positive impact on the territory.

“Count Ethan! Have you come to check on the Moonforce Order’s temple? Look! How splendid it is! It’s having a very positive influence on our territory!”

The heads of the Twelve Families all greeted Ethan joyfully and showed the same reaction.

“I look forward to your continued support, my lord.”

Ethan exchanged brief pleasantries with them and continued to visit other territories. The other domains, like the Yellowd territory, were experiencing many positive effects.

They had welcomed Ethan before, but now that the temple construction was proving quite beneficial to their territories, they welcomed him even more warmly.

‘Even I didn’t anticipate these developments.’

The heads of the families said that public safety had improved since the temple was built.

They said that those operating in the back alleys of the territory had a change of heart following the temple’s establishment and were now regularly visiting the temple.

Usually, when underworld figures regularly visit a place, they’re often up to something, so they sent people to investigate separately, but they found that these individuals were just praying and leaving.

With such a change of heart, it was only natural for public safety to improve.

‘They’ve become my followers.’

Originally, when the number of followers increased through the apostles’ evangelism, the apostle’s name would appear.

A notification would come saying which apostle had increased the number of followers by how many.

But lately, there were cases where notifications came without an apostle’s name.

Just a notification that the number of followers had increased.

It was puzzling, but now the mystery was solved.

“Usually when followers increase, a notification shows which apostle’s evangelism led to the increase. But for some, it doesn’t show.”

It seemed that when followers increased in this manner, the apostle’s name didn’t appear.

“It’s thanks to the free doctrine, Goddess.”

The doctrine of Moonforce is quite difficult for other religions to imitate. The drawbacks that the vassals of the Twelve Families had anticipated were manifesting as they thought.

The fact that only advantages were realized without any notable incidents was possible because Ethan was the head of the Moonforce Order.

After busily checking the temples, Ethan headed to his final destination.

The capital of the Holy Empire.

This was the place Ethan was looking forward to the most.

“Oh my.”

Originally, a massive temple stood in this capital of the Holy Empire.

It was the Holylight Papal Office, the symbolic building of the Holylight Order.

“I didn’t ask for it to be built this close. It’s right next to it!”

The Moonforce Order’s temple was built right beside the Papal Office. Even Ethan was surprised; at this point, it could be considered practically next-door neighbors.

Moreover, it was incredibly large.

“It seems they built it with determination. Did Princess Evangeline have some influence?”

The similarity in feel to the Papal Office suggested that the architect who built the Papal Office was directly involved here as well.

‘I asked for it to be built smaller than the Papal Office.’

While it was clearly smaller up close, from a distance it looked similar in size.

“This can’t be helped. I’ll have to pay my respects.”

No matter how accommodating the Holylight Order was being, building it like this put Ethan in an awkward position.

Ethan immediately visited the Papal Office.

He prepared a gift before visiting.

Given the situation, and now that they had become neighbors, a gift was essential.

‘This would be better than any other gift.’

It was a precious leather that Ethan had acquired some time ago. Making the Pope’s vestments with this leather would be beneficial in many ways.

“It’s Honorary Bishop Ethan Whiskers!”

“Is the Pope inside? I didn’t make an appointment.”

“He is inside! Please come in! His Holiness has instructed that Honorary Bishop Ethan Whiskers should be admitted regardless of the reason for his visit!”

Ethan entered, guided by a Holylight Order holy knight.

As during his previous visit, the interior of the Papal Office was quite simple.

The Pope’s chamber.

In that equally simple place, Pope Frederick was present.

“It’s been a while, Ethan. This is the first time since then. I’ve heard so many stories that I know everything you’ve been up to.”

The Pope greeted Ethan with a gentle smile.

“It’s been a long time, Your Holiness. I’ve been moving about quite noisily, so everyone I meet after a long time says similar things. They say it doesn’t feel like it’s been a long time.”

“It really doesn’t feel like it’s been a long time. Hahaha.”

Saying that, the Pope suddenly pulled something out from his chest and handed it to Ethan.

“I’ve heard about the great demon Cesare. If it weren’t for you, Ethan, it would have been a disaster. The archbishops and cardinals of our order are also very grateful for your help. This is what they collectively created.”

“This is.”

Ethan examined the object he received.

“It’s an artifact. It’s a treasure of the order, created by combining my power with that of the cardinals. We make one each year, and this year’s creation will be a gift to you, Ethan.”

The artifact handed over by Pope Frederick was an object filled with holy power.

If Ethan receives power from the goddess Moonforce, then the Holylight followers receive their power from the goddess Holylight.

This artifact was an object filled with the holy power of the goddess Holylight.

“This artifact suits me perfectly right now. I came to pay a light greeting, but I wonder if it’s alright for me to receive such a precious thing.”

It was an artifact that could instantly deploy a powerful barrier using holy power. Not only that, but it could also be used offensively, making its utility limitless depending on the user.

‘This is incredible. It contains not only the Pope’s holy power but also that of the cardinals.’

With this artifact, it seemed that most attacks could be blocked by forming a barrier.

As Ethan rejoiced, the Pope also looked at him with satisfaction.

“I see that Lady Moonforce’s temple has been built quite nicely. It seems there’s no one managing it as it’s just been built, is it intentional not to have a manager?”

Ethan explained the current situation of the Moonforce Order he believed in.

The Pope he had encountered in the underwater city was truly a person worthy of respect.

‘He’s a trustworthy person.’

If he couldn’t trust the Pope, Ethan felt that perhaps no one on the continent could be trusted.

“First of all, congratulations. It’s as good as reviving a forgotten god with your own hands.”

“I only did what needed to be done.”

“There are many cases where people know what needs to be done but can’t do it.”

The Pope said with a smile.

“Allowing anyone to freely come and go seems to be quite the right choice. There’s no need to do it like our Holylight Order. Rather, if that freedom is Lady Moonforce’s principle, it would be good to spread it even more.”

“Yes, I’ve built temples in various places, and I plan to operate all temples in this way.”

The Pope was newly surprised by Ethan’s confident voice. Ethan had become a much greater person than he was during the underwater city incident.

“I look forward to it. In many ways.”

Just looking at Ethan’s actions so far, there were many surprising things. Most of them were beyond his predictions, which made it all the more so.

Moreover, this proactivity. The Moonforce Order temple built in the capital was a prime example of Ethan’s proactivity.

The Pope was quite excited to see what Ethan would show next.

“Probably more than you expect.”

Ethan said.

“There will be many interesting things, Your Holiness.”