Ch.102102. Bjorn and Beginner’s Mind (1)

Everything was going smoothly.

The recent assassination of the Tribune had served as a catalyst, expanding my reputation throughout the entire Rom Empire. This expanded fame naturally resulted in people with grievances against the Rom Empire taking an interest in me.

Of course, letting such interest slip away would be the most foolish thing in the world.

Therefore, through the quick feedback to prayers characteristic of evil gods, I was bestowing blessings after appropriate screening to those who simply professed belief in me.

In the past, when I only possessed the divine aspect of vengeance, the basic blessing I granted was merely physical enhancement that responded to vengeful emotions. But now, having grown to become one of the highest among the intermediate ranks, I needed to be different.

For people who turned to me because their daily lives were difficult, I needed to provide blessings more useful than physical enhancements linked to vengeance.

Currently, I mainly bestow upon ordinary people blessings that increase fatigue recovery, enhance natural healing, and add a slight but noticeable physical strengthening.

Since none of these are particularly helpful in combat, the faith consumption is minimal—barely perceptible even after hundreds of applications—but the impact these blessings have on believers’ daily lives is reportedly beyond imagination.

For example, thanks to increased fatigue recovery, sleeping just six hours feels as refreshing as ten, and with enhanced natural healing, minor wounds heal without scarring within a day.

The physical enhancement increases strength and agility by exactly ‘1’ according to the status window, which, considering that most adult humans have base stats of 10, represents nearly a 10% increase.

Moreover, since this 10% enhancement improves the performance of all muscles in the body, the actual impact on daily life is naturally beyond imagination.

Of course, the blessings I bestow upon actual soldiers and warriors are different—blessings like “Instinct of Violence” that provide innate combat talent and are genuinely helpful in battle.

Anyway, using this excellent blessing-granting ability characteristic of evil gods as a foundation, I wanted to add minor effects to draw out even more faith from these believers.

The concept was simple.

On days when they offered sincere prayers, their blessings would become slightly stronger, and continuous prayer would gradually enhance the blessing.

This uses about 20% of the faith gained from each prayer, effectively reducing faith intake to 80%, but I don’t regret it.

Being stingy with faith in such matters would be a terrible act that would only diminish existing faith.

And while these blessings exist for casual believers, for those who make formal contact with the church and join the community, there is the church itself.

For example, believers who need jobs to support their families are employed at businesses owned by the Church of Vengeance or helped to find employment elsewhere.

Believers can also obtain quality necessities at very low prices from the church, and their children or believers seeking education can study at the private schools operated by the church.

On the surface, the private school run by Gracchus teaches alphabetic writing based on my memories, Rom Empire script, and various academic subjects according to interest and field of study.

As a result, the literacy rate within the church has increased, providing the great advantage of having more skilled personnel who can contribute in various areas.

Additionally, the priests of vengeance, whose numbers have been rapidly growing recently, can use a dedicated divine magic called “Blood of Life.”

Though difficult to store, this blood maintains the efficacy of a level 1 potion for a full hour, and its applications are truly endless.

Even without this, priests, regardless of their rank—even if most are novices or apprentices below grade 9—can cure all manner of diseases and poisons with a single spell.

Particularly, non-magical diseases that afflict most believers can be cured with a single cast of the level 1 universal divine magic “Cure Disease.”

A church that provides magical treatments free to believers—treatments that would cost enormous sums at the Pantheon—is practically regarded as a homeland among believers, creating a new sense of identity.

If this is described as a crude recreation of modern welfare in ancient times, it’s certainly understandable.

Perhaps due to these continued good tidings, manpower that would normally have flowed into the empire is now coming to the church. With this natural improvement in the quality of personnel, the Legion of Avengers continues to grow.

Recently, formal members exceeded 2,000, with nearly 1,000 trainees, clearly demonstrating the church’s current situation.

While the church itself was progressing smoothly, the underground city I ambitiously established was also thriving and expanding.

Four additional underground cities, each similar in size to the central city, have been built. Each has its own role in supporting the central city.

The city near the surface produces food, the deep underground handles mining, and the newly built auxiliary cities provide educational facilities and residences for the ever-growing population.

The population is also growing quite steadily.

While some children are born to residents, most of the population growth comes from other sources.

We free those who have been captured as slaves or were already enslaved, and they join us according to their will. Some are believers of the church whom I have personally screened and found impeccable in every way.

Additionally, there are dwarves who, dissatisfied with the extremely closed and conservative atmosphere of the Dwarf Kingdom, apply for immigration seeking more freedom.

One piece of good news was that with the addition of skilled personnel and those of proven loyalty, the train and facilities that circulate through the mountain range were finally completed.

This magical train running underground is so innovative that even the conservative Dwarf Kingdom is willing to abandon its stubbornness to acquire the technology.

This is understandable when considering how important the popularization of trains and railways has been in human history.

From the ability to transport large quantities of goods quickly to enabling faster human movement that easily expands living areas, and further, how all these features greatly influence national total warfare.

Thus, the underground city is racing toward a quasi-modern level on its own, and combined with my faith, a quasi-technological worship is emerging.

The number of dwarves who regard the modern knowledge I’ve shared as “knowledge bestowed by the god” is increasing, somehow causing my faith to spread within the Dwarf Kingdom.

Fortunately, this technological worship doesn’t add sanctity to make technology itself sacred—a situation I was prepared to personally descend to address if it occurred.

Therefore, looking at all these factors comprehensively, it would be no exaggeration to say that my church and I had entered a period of high growth.

‘Hmm…’

Yet paradoxically, I was currently troubled by a certain concern.

The reason for my worry was quite simple.

“Huff! Huff! Huff!”

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

Bjorn, whom I was watching now—Bjorn who should be acting as the ultimate weapon against the Great Pantheon—was somehow gradually losing his fighting spirit and vengeful heart.

Well, the reason itself is easy to understand.

Unlike in the original timeline, he has a reliable patron in me, so he feels more at ease. Having gained the special power of chaos, he feels possibility and hope, and with his growing strength, he’s developed certain expectations.

But that shouldn’t be the case.

While he doesn’t need to be like the Bjorn of the original timeline who crawled up from the gutter with one last chance, at the very least, maintaining his vengeful heart would increase our chances against the Pantheon.

However, recklessly pushing Bjorn into suffering would be stupid, as it might build resentment toward me.

After careful consideration, I came to a conclusion.

I would remind Bjorn of the vengeful heart he had when he first contracted with me—his most brilliant time—and return him to his original mindset.

And the method I chose was to temper Bjorn through vengeance, returning him to his most brilliant state.