"What?!61 Silver Moons plus 36 Bronze Stars, so much?!They just rented some improvised farming tools and bought a few packets of seeds!"

Listening to Todd's loud questioning, the merchant in Twilight Town, who was in charge of negotiating with the creditors, wiped the sweat from his forehead and said in embarrassment: "Father, it is true that there is no need to repay so much money, but those creditors seem to have been instructed by others to take advantage of the loopholes in the loan contract to increase the interest. ”

"Given?!" Todd, who was on fire, asked angrily, "Who's instructed?"

"The original owners of those farmers. ”

Todd was stunned.

The merchant continued, "Those peasants, who were originally attached to the farmer and the nobles, had fled here because of the notice in Twilighttown. Those people are resentful of you because of this, but they are afraid that the power of the church will not be easy to attack, and this time they just seized an opportunity. ”

Todd sat back in his chair and waved his hand: "I know, thank you for your hard work." ”

The merchant drew a cross on his chest and bowed his head.

A bunch of robbers who took advantage of the fire!!

Underneath the floor of the storeroom, there was a hidden compartment in which he had hidden the locked wooden box in which he stored his money. With anticipation, he opened the lock and looked inside, and Todd's heart suddenly cooled in half.

The small half-box of coins looks like a lot, and it is quite heavy to hold, but most of them are bronze stars, and occasionally you can see some silver moons.

These are simply not enough.

Now that I think about it, after handing over the silver refinery to the monastery, I suddenly lost a large chunk of my wealth. Now there are only negligible weekly salutes from the church, and a pitiful amount of taxes paid by the residents of Twilight.

Some time ago, I just paid a deposit for the production of "Sutherland Archaea" petri dishes, and now I want to take on the debts of farmers, so I have to find a way to make up for this huge funding gap.

Increase taxes in small towns?

This is not going to work, and now all the industries in Twilight Town are just getting started, whether it is a fisherman, a blacksmith, or a craftsman, it is time to use money. Raising taxes at such times can disrupt practitioners' plans for the use of funds on the one hand, and undermine their loyalty and confidence on the other.

Selling glass from stock?

Still no, the stock of glass on the market is already small, and if it is sold without authorization, it will be too conspicuous. And the church has a good chance of knowing that it has mastered the manufacturing process. At this time, if the matter leaks out, it will affect the image of his clergy and worsen his relationship with the church, which is really worth the loss.

Well, what can be done to get the money to help farmers tide over this difficult time?

Todd's eyes drifted to the table in the lab, and he saw a few unmashed animal bones in the grinding bowl.

Bone?

————————————————

A new notice was posted outside the church, attracting the attention of the passers-by.

It reads: In order to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the founding of Twilight, Father Todd plans to hold a "tea party" in the square outside the church at noon three days later, which all residents can attend.

What is a "tea party"?

The residents looked at each other, confused. But since the priest mentioned the celebration and said that everyone can participate, it is not a bad thing.

During these three days, in the tavern, by the fields, and in the workshop, the most discussed thing in the town of Twilight was the "tea party", some people said that the Holy Son was going to give an exhortation speech, and some said that it was a blessing from the alchemy of the Heavenly Father to the believers. There are many differences, but one thing is the same, and the residents are all looking forward to the early arrival of that day.

Early in the morning on the day of the notice, a huge platform was erected out of wood in the square of Twilight, and colored cloth was hung around the platform.

There are smart people who deliberately got up early, dragged their families to prepare dry food, carried a small stool, and occupied a good position. Seeing this, the others also called for friends and came to the square early.

As a result, before eleven o'clock, the square was already crowded with people.

A little later, there were catechumens of the church, who carried four large baskets from the church under the gaze of hundreds of people. Someone with good deeds came closer to see that it was full of fried beans.

A small horn spoon of 100 milliliters was held in the hands of each catechumen. They scooped out a mediocre spoonful from a large basket full of fried beans, regardless of men, women, children, and industry ranks. At first, some people didn't understand why fried beans were distributed, until someone put the beans in their mouths and chewed them slowly, and everyone understood that this thing was originally eaten as a snack.

After the food was served, two large buckets were carried out by the catechumens together. When you open it, you can see that one bucket is a pale yellow and fragrant liquid that still has residual warmth, and the other is a pale green cold and clear liquid, which helps to clear the fire. Some people recognized that these two barrels were the usual drinks that everyone drinks: barley tea and sage tea. As the humble wooden cups were distributed to everyone, and the people chose their drinks according to their preferences, the vats were quickly bottomed out, and the seekers carried the empty barrels to the church and refilled them.

Alfonso and Huggins sat together, the former holding roasted beans in one hand and sage tea in the other, and asked his old friend through the iron mask, "What exactly is this 'tea party' for?"

Huggins was also confused, but he was still a little worried and frustrated that Todd hadn't mentioned it to him beforehand.

Walton, who was sitting behind the knight, stuffed a bean into his mouth and exclaimed, "Isn't it for the people of the town to pay back the taxes?"

Leslie took the steaming barley tea from Adelina and glanced at the short and fat man, "Didn't he just prick you with a needle, and used it to hold a grudge like this?"

Walton glared at the boy, snorting in his nostrils.

The side entrance chamber of the church.

Todd rarely wore the full dress of the priestly rank issued by the church, and from time to time straightened the niche hat on his head, and the whole sacrificial dress on his body. He was nervous and uneasy, and inexplicably remembered the scene of the first time he went to a sponsor to ask for research funding when he was teaching at a university in his previous life.

Slowly pacing to the chapel, Richer and Karin, dressed in nuns, stood at the foot of the cross, quietly waiting for him.

"Miss Reicelle......"

The woman pinched the cross on her chest with her index finger and thumb and shook it towards the priest.

Realizing that he had made a mistake, Todd quickly changed his words: "Sister Rachel, thank you for your help. If you hadn't borrowed my craftsman, the wooden platform wouldn't have ...... so fast."

"Father, we are all servants of the Father, and to help you is to help me. "Rachel drew a cross on his chest, with his fingers crossed, and he was holy and pious.

The woman glanced at Karin, who was not used to the nun's clothes, and the girl woke up from a dream, quickly drew a cross, lowered her head, and looked at Todd with a smile in her eyes.

The latter looked at her mischievous expression, and his originally serious and nervous expression slowly eased and he laughed.

Four bells rang in the sky over Twilight.

"It's time. ”

Listening to the buzzing voices in his ears, Todd turned his body to the square of the church, and with a push of both hands, the door opened.