In the courtyard of a large workshop in the artisan district west of the city, the capital of the Ifusen Theocracy at the northeastern end of the continent, a figure crept through the night, came to the penultimate room of a series of rooms, looked left and right for a moment, took out the key from his waist, stabbed the lock with his body on his back, and disappeared into the dark room in a flash.

Of course, this sneaky man did not dare to turn on the light, but he was extremely skillful in rummaging through the cabinets, and in three or two clicks, he touched the target of this trip, but it was a thick book. Fingers swiped over the secret mark, confirmed that it was correct, hid it in his arms, and slowly touched the door. Perhaps the first half of the process had consumed enough luck points, and when the thief locked the door and turned around, he suddenly felt a chill, and subconsciously turned around, and saw a black figure, judging from the fat size, it was the owner of this large workshop, the old Iza known as the White Feather Crow.

"Dear lord, why are you ......" The thief was in a panic, naively thinking that he could get away with it, but he felt a pain in his stomach and a cold, and the strength of his body poured out as if he had opened the floodgates, and he shook twice and sat on the ground against the wall.

"I ask myself why you steal from you...... Hmm......" said old Iza, unhurriedly reaching out and groping in the thief's bulging arms for a moment, but continued with a frown: "...... Why did you steal the account books?"

Regardless of the world's large or small enterprises, the core idea of operation is to be streamlined, and this is no different for this large textile workshop. And the locked room is not only the accounting office and responsible for the distribution of wages, but also the place where the drawings of the spinning machinery are located, and it is also the place where the money is stored.

And this thief is a bookkeeper, an ordinary person. After all, the salary of craftsmen who can do magic is not low, and there is no need to waste more money on things that have nothing to do with magic.

Old Izaben had two guesses, one was to steal some coins or valuable objects, and then flee to the countryside to live a happy life, and the other was to take advantage of competitors and steal the drawings of the core components of the textile machine, and finally still flee to the countryside to live a happy life. But he never expected that the goal of this bookkeeper was actually the account book, and at the same time, a not very good guess came to mind.

Sure enough, the bookkeeper covered his stomach and scolded in a weak but exuberant voice: "You traitor who evades taxes, a traitor who pretends to be pious, I will watch you in Heaven suffer forever in the fire!!"

"Crazy!" Old Iza cursed in a low voice, but quickly looked left and right, and was not so careful when he had just stabbed the knife. After confirming that there was no one, he squatted down, stabbed him again, stabbed directly into the thief's heart, and said in a low voice: "I have contributed so much to the Divine Cult, if there is really a heaven, I will go, not you." ”

In the darkness, there was no way to see the thief's last look, and there was no way to know how much the other party heard this half-argument and half-self-consolation words, but no matter what, old Iza had to face the tedious work that followed: disposing of the corpse and cleaning up the scene.

The reason for this, of course, is the fear of the canonical law, but it is only a small part, after all, an ordinary person is just an ordinary person, a large amount of indulgence coupons and a certain amount of pension can be done, but if you can save a sum, why not. The more important reason is that I don't want to dirty my house, just like swatting a fly on the wall, I will carefully wipe off the ugly black marks.

I wanted to call my two sons out to help, but I thought about it. The eldest son's devotion was similar to that of this madman, and when he saw the corpse, he might go to the church to report it, forcing himself to buy more indulgences. The second son would not be like this, but his physique was already weak, and he practiced magic diligently during the day, so it was better not to disturb. As for the youngest of the three money-losing daughters who remained at home, old Iza never thought much about it.

Pulling out the stolen key from the corpse, opening the door, taking out the magic lamp and lighting it, the nearly sixty-year-old Iza tossed around and finally finished the work before dawn. Beat your sore back, go back to your room and catch up on sleep, after all, there is an important pink date today, and you can't show your tired old age.

......

Soon after, when the sky was bright, old Iza opened his eyes at the light call of the old servant.

"Sir, you've finally woken up, and you won't be able to catch breakfast any later. ”

"I see, let's get out. ”

Dressed and washed, tidied up his beard and sideburns, put on a headscarf, twisted left and right in front of the mirror to make sure there was nothing inappropriate, walked out of this lounge dedicated to staying up late for work, and came to the dining room to sit in the main seat.

Old Iza, as the head of the family, clapped his hands gently, glanced around the dining table to confirm that the family members were complete, and said, "Open the meal!"

The ten men at the table, and the two old servants standing in the corner, closed their eyes and put their right hand on their breasts and chanted in unison: "All-knowing, Almighty, I thank you for bestowing and blessing your servants with food and drink, for you are holy, and so are eternity, from eternity to eternity, and from eternity to eternity." ”

Probably just last night when he was disturbed by a pious madman, old Iza was tired of this article that he had been reading for decades, and his disgust increased by three points, especially the loud voice of his eldest son Afri beside him. By the way, I once again remembered the question that I had in my heart for more than ten years, no matter what the 'blessing' was, this table of meals was all earned by Lao Tzu's hard work, why did the whole family go to thank the Lord for his 'gift'?

At the dinner table, the atmosphere was quite harmonious, everyone chatted about gossip while eating, or complained about the price of several competitors cutting prices again, and talked about the parents of the neighbors, and then the topic was drawn to the rumors of a certain high priest. It wasn't until the eldest son reminded everyone to pay attention to his words in the canon that he relented.

The eldest son, Afri, is the Five Rings, of course, according to this statement, it is the Five Rings of Divine Art, a reserve intermediate priest. Chinese New Year's Eve is thirty-five years old, and his words and deeds are in line with the canon, and this is not counting, and even the details that are not specified in the canon, such as the style of the beard and the frequency of picking ears and nose drops, have also consulted the bishop of the artisan district, and persisted in the other party's dumbfounded nonsense answers for more than twenty years. And because of this incident, it has a little reputation around, and it has mixed reviews.

After finishing the preaching, the eldest son turned his head with a comfortable expression and said to old Iza: "Father, I want to go to the Great Temple to pray for blessings in the near future. And you are always sad when you come in, but there is any confusion that requires me to pray to God and ask for guidance. ”

Several other textile workshops are about to push the price of cloth to the end, why is Lao Tzu worried, you don't even have a beep in your heart?

With such a slander in his heart, the corners of his mouth twitched slightly, but he could only put on a smile and said: "It's really a blessing to have a devout believer like you, but the problems at home are all trivial, and you don't need to bother the god." ”

If the 'request for guidance' is free, old Iza doesn't matter, but in fact, the 'guidance' of the temple in the artisan district is not cheap, and the 'guidance' of the main city temple is really a stab in the heart.

The eldest son, Afri, nodded and continued to eat, and his brain was fooled by the canon with zero emotional intelligence, and he couldn't see the perfunctory and excuse on his father's expression, and completely believed the literal meaning.

The second son, Ariba, saw this scene in his eyes and understood his father's distress, but he didn't feel that the eldest brother had done anything wrong, so he smiled and said: "The eldest brother is also worried about his father, you should always be happy." ”

Aliba is Chinese New Year's Eve years old today, with four rings of earth, his body is weaker, and his mind is quite dexterous. is already the heir to the workshop of the inner designation. At the same time, he gradually took charge of the account room, and was the man's immediate boss last night, of course, he was clear about his own tax problems, and his heart wavered, and he abolished old Iza's lips and tongue before acquiescing to this matter. After all, judging from the books, the tax is the same as before the previous year before the Holy War with the evil magician, and everyone can be forgiven for their efforts when the war starts, and the tax is still not lowered after the war, so it can't be blamed for doing something tricks.

As for why there is no sign of sibling rivalry, it is obvious that the eldest son Afri is devoted to teaching, and he does not look down on these things that hinder him from going to heaven, so he directly gives up his inheritance.

"Happy, of course happy. Old Iza smiled and steered the conversation away.

......

After the meal, the family came to the workshop, and the whole family went into battle together, plus a few hired magic craftsmen, and began to produce work. Specifically, it is very simple, it is to run five textile machines.

Staffing is also not complicated. First of all, the power source is two five-ring water magic warriors who shake the long pole, or the master of the life god art who is favored by the son of life. The two masters and apprentices who are responsible for the preparation of bleaching and dyeing potions, or the masters of fire magic who are favored by the Flame God. Two six-ring qi magicians who are responsible for spatial teleportation and transportation of raw materials and finished products, or spatial magic masters who are favored by the space gods. Finally, there are a few ordinary laborers who stack and carry raw materials and finished products in the workshop.

As for the old Iza family, they are responsible for the condensation of most of the mechanical parts under the wooden shell of the textile machine, and take this as their housekeeping skill, which is the core secret of running this workshop.

And old Iza was so sad that his eldest son also noticed it, and this was the case. Recently, several other workshops in the artisan area in the west of the city have lowered the price of cloth one after another, and this workshop has to follow suit.

However, after a little inquiry, the old Iza heard that the two companies that took the lead in reducing the price were not because of the lack of money in the family, so they made small profits but quick turnover, but because they got some inspiration in mechanical design and made changes in the condensation of the core components, resulting in an increase in the efficiency of the textile machine. In this way, the nature of the problem is different, and even if he has no economic education, many years of business experience tell the elder that this is a completely different and very fatal crisis, and that the workshop will be doomed if it is not enough.

But it is useless to try to break the scalp in front of the drawings, and old Iza has no choice but to rely on the small favor he got last time in the priest's college to slightly relieve the pressure on taxation, so that he can still keep some profits after following the trend and reducing the price.

Today, as usual, the condensation of mechanical parts is completed. The difference is that after the loom has turned far away, old Iza makes a round, comforts his eldest son with a tired face, looks at the daylight to estimate the time, and then changes into clean clothes and goes out.

Arriving at the rendezvous half an hourglass earlier than the agreed time, old Iza was surprised to find that the ordinary-looking girl was already waiting there in plain clothes, and was very satisfied and confirmed at the same time: a stupid woman who was eager to get out of the miserable situation of the ghetto and was a little clever.

Don't be surprised, this is a meeting for couples with a slightly larger age span.

It all started at the beginning of spring. Jossa, who was in the slum to liaise with old Izza, suddenly came to the door and told the story of a girl named Bai Yang.

The father and daughter depended on each other, and when they traveled with the caravan to the city of Divine Grace to live in the slums temporarily, they happened to get involved in the chaos in the slums. First separated from the caravan, and then his father died tragically, without relatives, he had no choice but to fall into the slums. And entrusted people in every possible way to introduce, with all the savings as a dowry, only to marry into the craftsman area.

At first, when old Iza faced this situation, he didn't think much of it, but just asked his second son's opinion. According to the canon, a capable man can marry up to three wives, and the elder Iza only married two, not because he was more than dedicated, but not enough. The eldest son married one, and after having an heir, he had no interest in this area. The second son only married a wife because of his weak health, and shook his head with a wry smile in the face of his father's inquiry.

In this way, the elder Iza rejected Josa and told him to find another home, where there was no hope. But unexpectedly, Josa came to the door a few days later, saying that he had just learned that this Baiyang girl was still a patron of the Son of Life, although there was only one link, but for the sake of old friends, he was the first to ask you about the white feather crow.

Of course, old Iza understands that if there is an heir who can receive the favor of both the god lord and the son of life, the whole family will be different. Asked the second son again, the second son hesitated again and again or shook his head, old Iza was helpless, and he didn't want to give up, so he started the idea of going into battle in person. As the sixth ring, marrying a young wife is also a beautiful talk in the craftsman area.

After expressing this meaning clearly, I thought that the girl's side would not agree, but I didn't want York to send back the good news that night, and the girl's family wanted to meet and see.

Therefore, throughout the summer, the old and the young have developed from meeting for the first time to talking about marriage. If it weren't for the drop in cloth prices, Old Iza was busy with the workshop, and there were other chores delayed, I am afraid that he would have already married into the door.

And although old Iza has established the impression of Bai Yang as a 'stupid woman', he still understands his distress very well.

It is not easy for a teenage girl to be able to calmly think about the need to get out of the slum and make a decision at the expense of her body in the face of such a sudden change in life circumstances. On the other hand, although the means of pleasing himself are plain but not annoying, he speaks and acts in a restrained manner and tries his best to pretend to be mature, which is obviously a disguise of his nature, but it is also excusable and still within the scope of tolerance.