Chapter 11: Saint (1)

[System]

• You have completed a challenge!
• Skill: Bond of Faith is now active!

Bond of Faith?”

I slowly reached my hand toward the notification window in front of me.

And then.

[Divine Power increases!]

[Divine Power increases!]

[Divine Power increases!]

[Divine Power increases!]

[Divine Power increases!]

Suddenly, dozens, hundreds of message windows popped up.

At the same time, a blinding radiance wrapped around my entire body, again and again.

[Due to the effect of Bond of Faith, your Divine Power has increased by a total of 300 points.]

[Divine Power: 60/6060/360]

“What is this…….”

In the blink of an eye, my maximum Divine Power had increased to 360 points.

Soon, a new system window appeared before my eyes.

[System]

• Bond of Faith: The Creator gains additional Divine Power according to the number of Believers.

※ Have you ever heard that there is power in faith? The more Believers you have, the stronger and more united your faith becomes!

It seemed the explosive increase in Divine Power was thanks to the new skill, ‘Bond of Faith’.

‘Since I have 300 Believers, my Divine Power must have increased by 300 points.’

Honestly, Divine Power was something I always had to be careful with.

Even though it recovers every midnight in proportion to the number of Believers, it was always too little to use freely.

……I am the Creator, after all, so I should be given a bit more generously.’

As I was thinking this, a clear, oriole-like voice suddenly rang out.

「Oh God.」

Looking down, I saw Jeanne d’Arc and the residents of the Slums.

With her hands respectfully clasped, Jan wore a shamefaced expression.

「I am truly sorry. I failed to consider offering food to God before anyone else.」

It seemed she felt guilty for not giving the food to me first.

But in the first place, that food was sent to feed the people in the Slums.

……If I got angry over something like this, wouldn’t that make me a psychopath?

“It’s alright. As long as everyone ate their fill, that’s enough.”

At my words, the Believers’ faces lit up brightly.

「……Ah. As the Saint said, God truly thinks of us before anyone else!」

「Thanks to God’s care, my sick mother has regained her strength! Thank you so much!」

「God, we shall serve you all our lives to repay this great blessing you have bestowed upon us today!」

「Hrk……. Thank you. Thank you so much!」

Watching the Believers offer up prayers of gratitude again and again, Jan smiled faintly.

Soon, Jeanne d’Arc lifted up a bowl containing the remaining food.

「Merciful God, we wish to offer you this humble meal as an Offering. If it pleases you, may we offer you the same food we ate ourselves?」

“Of course. I will eat the same food as all of you.”

I had been curious about what the Grilled Salted Anchovy and Cereal with Berries, blessed by the Creator, would taste like.

But to the Believers, it seemed to hold a slightly different meaning.

[System]

• The faith of your Believers grows even stronger!

Suddenly, the Believers began to gaze up at the sky, their eyes shining.

「Everyone! God eats the same food as us! And God walks the same path as us!」

「God thinks of our position first and speaks with such deep understanding!」

「Ah, truly, God’s mercy is like that of a loving mother……!」

It seemed there was a bit of a misunderstanding.

But.

‘……Well, it’s fine.’

Soon, the Offering sent by the Believers was transmitted to my hand.

[System]

• Will you accept the Offering? …….

(Y/N)

• Offering: 『Grilled Salted Anchovy』, 『Cereal with Berries』
• Origin: Sunlit Path of the Fortress World, Humble Cabin

[Grilled Salted Anchovy]

• Anchovies grilled with Salt.

Perfectly grilled, crispy on the outside, moist inside. The seasoning is perfect!

[Cereal with Berries]

Crisp Cereal topped with wild raspberries and forest berries.

The sweet taste of the Cereal and the tangy flavor of the berries create a perfect harmony.

Grrrgle!

Reading the food descriptions written on the system window, a sudden hunger hit me.

‘……Come to think of it, I haven’t eaten anything since I woke up today.’

I’d been too busy providing daily sustenance to the Believers.

Besides, the state of the Offering transmitted this time was much better than before.

If yesterday’s potato soup was only enough for a taste, today’s food was enough for two good bites.

‘It must be because my Creator level has gone up. The higher my level, the more worthwhile it is to receive Offerings.’

Thinking that, I brought the transmitted food to my mouth.

But the Blessing of the Creator was even more amazing than I’d expected.

‘……I’d actually pay money for this.’

The stale, soggy Cereal was now crispy as if freshly made, and the fishy, frozen anchovies had turned into freshly grilled fish.

As I savored the taste, a thought occurred to me.

‘Should I just send all the old ingredients lying around my house to the Fortress World? Then, if I get them back as Offerings, I’d make a killing, wouldn’t I?’

While I was seriously (or so I thought) contemplating this, the Believers were busy cleaning up.

The Slum residents put out the campfire used for grilling the meat and cleared away the crumbs scattered around.

‘……With around 300 people, the cleanup scene is something to behold.’

Suddenly, I noticed the baskets set in front of the Cabin.

The baskets were overflowing with leftover Cereal and anchovies.

‘But no matter how many ingredients I have, feeding this many people every day will never be enough.’

The moment I thought that, a new Quest window appeared before my eyes.

-Ding!

[Quest]

A New Home

• 1. Help the Believers solve their food shortage.
• 2. Help the Believers solve their housing problem.

[Experience +30, Divine Power +3P]

The Quest was simple.

Solve the food and housing problems of the Believers.

Of those, food—the most basic need for survival—had to be the number one priority.

“So, what am I going to do about this…….”

The easiest way was to send over the ingredients from my house like before.

But that wasn’t a fundamental solution to the food problem.

It would be like endlessly pouring water into a bottomless jar.

More importantly, I wasn’t exactly born with a silver spoon in my mouth.

‘……Here, I have to spend real money to buy ingredients.’

At that moment, a blue exclamation mark floating in the middle of the forest caught my eye.

“Huh? I’m sure that wasn’t there yesterday…….”

As I stared at it, a system window appeared above the blue exclamation mark.

[Plains of the Sun]

• This land has gained a mysterious energy due to the Blessing of the Creator ‘Medicasol.’

It was the very same plain where I had applied Medicasol Ointment to the dying Jeanne d’Arc.

…Flaaash!

At that moment, a pure white light began to shine over the wide plain.

As the light faded, the blue exclamation mark vanished along with it.

It looked like all the Medicasol Ointment scattered across the plain had seeped into the ground.

‘……What is that?’

There, standing alone in the middle of the field, was a plant that seemed to command attention.

I zoomed in on the screen and immediately recognized a familiar crop.

“This is……. a potato…?”

A potato, half-buried in the earth.

This was definitely the place where I had given Jeanne d’Arc the ingredients.

Apparently, in my rush, I had dropped a potato from the paper bag.

But the noteworthy thing was that the potato stuck in the ground had started to sprout.

On every stem, clusters of small baby potatoes were hanging in abundance.

[This area has gained a mysterious energy due to the Blessing of the Creator ‘Medicasol.’]

Mysterious energy.

It seemed any crops planted here would grow very quickly.

In that case……..

Suddenly, a well-known saying came to mind.

‘Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.’

Resolved, I turned to Jeanne d’Arc and spoke.

“Jan. Please bring everyone to the place where we first met yesterday.”

A short while later,

The Believers, who had arrived at the center of the forest, looked around with wide, astonished eyes.

「Where in the world…… Was there ever a place like this in the Sunrise Forest?」

「No, this land used to be nothing but barren, with only weeds growing.」

「That person’s right. The soil here was always so dry and crumbly, you couldn’t farm. That’s why even the lord abandoned this land.」

It was a field that, just yesterday, had been nothing but a thicket of weeds.

But overnight, all sorts of flowers, plants, and young trees had sprung up.

At that moment, Jan, who had been sifting through the soil, suddenly jumped up as if she’d realized something.

「I see……! Now I understand God’s will!」

Her eyes sparkled under the sunlight.

「A place full of sunshine. And now, soil this fertile. There is only one reason God led us here!」

The Believers swallowed nervously, but no one dared to speak first.

At last, Jeanne d’Arc spread her arms wide and proclaimed.

「That’s right! God has given us this fertile land so that we can till the soil ourselves and harvest the daily bread we need!」

Only then did the Believers, their faces now much brighter, begin to look up at the sky.

Once again, I thought to myself how capable Jeanne d’Arc was.

At that moment, an elderly farmer raised his thin hands in prayer.

「The only thing an old man like me has left is skill at farming. To use that to serve God is an honor beyond words.」

Then, the farmers from the Slums began to step forward one by one.

「I’ll lend a hand too! By tomorrow morning, we can clear this area and till the land. But the problem is……..」

The faces of the farmers, who had been so full of energy just moments before, suddenly darkened.

「……Even if we till the land, there are no seeds to plant. We used up even the seedlings we should have saved for next year’s crop to keep from starving. We have nothing left. I am ashamed.」

Even if there was land, there were no seeds to plant.

Of course, there were no spare seeds left for farming.

The residents of the Slums had been so desperate, they’d chewed on roots and tree bark just to survive.

Jeanne d’Arc’s face, too, was etched with worry and anxiety.

But a smile appeared on my lips.

“Don’t worry. Everything is already prepared.”

[……?]

Jeanne d’Arc looked up at the sky with a puzzled expression.

Meanwhile, I grinned confidently and checked the smartphone in my hand.

On the phone, this message appeared.

[GoodPang Rocket Delivery order complete!]