Alanis
"Welcome to Panar, Bishop Alanis," greeted Fex as I stepped out of the carriage.
"Thank you, Priest Sutton," I replied and looked at the building behind him, which was now complete.
We didn't build a full church but modified the dilapidated building. It used to house the offices of the mining company, but now, it is our church.
We would have opened it a few weeks ago, but I decided to expand it. It will be formally inaugurated at dusk with the sermon.
"Mr. Amellus had done a wonderful job in the church," praised Fex as he led me toward the church.
He opened the gates, and we entered the church.
"Good space," I said, looking at rows and rows of pews with a lot of space behind them to stand as well.
"It could house three hundred faithful easily," He replied, and I nodded and turned to the big altar. On it is a huge symbol of the goddess of dusk carved from the grey rock.
It is carved by the Cardinal herself.
To the left is a choir platform, and above are beautiful lights. That will create dusk even in the day.
He showed me the other parts of the church before we walked to the hospital, which was a separate building beside the church but within a church compound.
"There seemed to be a lot of patients. I don't think there had been a skirmish in the past two days?" I asked. A little confused.
The injuries of these people didn't seem that serious either.
"They are the people of Lt. Colonel Uram," he replied, and I armed a brow. "His training isn't for the faint-hearted," he added, shuddering.
Orok Uram.
One of our most faithful and also the highest ranked in the military we were able to get.
It is hard to get orcs because of the shamanic belief system, but here we are, getting a lot of them. Especially those without tribes.
We are even getting the people from tribes as well.
We are also getting a lot of humans. It helps a lot, for being the only church in the Greltheaven. It is the first time something like this has happened to us.
In other places, there are always churches.
"Despite the danger. It was a wise decision of us to come to Greltheaven," said Fex.
"Goddess is wise," I replied with a smile.
It is not like the other churches aren't trying, but conditions to come into the Greltheaven are tough. Not everyone is as desperate as we are.
Though, as the greltheaven grew. The inquiries had begun to increase.
It won't be long before other churches start coming, but we have an advantage and will prove our worth to the city. It will take others a long time to achieve.
As Fex said, it is a wise decision to come here, and we are seeing the benefits of it.
The faithful are growing, and those who took risks to come here have benefitted as well.
Both of the Paladins had gone past the Lv. 30. The priests have reached near it.
Fex is quite close to Lv. 30.
Normally, he wouldn't get the responsibility of a church of this size. It is the reward of the risk he had taken in coming with me.
There was resistance to it from the higher-ups, given his age and experience, but I pushed his name forcefully, and the higher-ups had to accept.
"Incoming," said the loud voice.
The next moment, the people came, holding men and women on the stretchers. They quickly placed the beds, and within seconds, nearly all beds were full.
I looked at patients before walking to the one closest to me.
Holy Scan.
I activated the skill and the grey light-covered sleeping patients.
Soon, everything became clear, and a shock couldn't help but appear on my face. I have dealt with training wounds before here and in the merchant state, but these are extreme.
I looked at the others, and they had nearly the same type of injuries.
"Is he trying to kill them?" I asked. "It feels like it when you watch the training," replied Fex with a smile.
Though it was without any mirth.
There are muscle tears. Joint and ligament damage. Bone and skull fractures and blisters.
It feels like these people had suffered some kind of torture.
"Have you talked to him about it?" I asked. "Yes, but he is saying this will be the norm," replied Fex with a sigh.
"He is working with alchemists and healers specialized in it to increase the resilience of those he had been chosen," he added.
Which gave me some relief.
He has been given a big responsibility, and I hope he does well and does not take things too extreme.
It makes things worse than better.
I cast Mass Heal, and their bodies got covered in dusky energy. Their injuries are not that serious; the spell would be enough to heal them.
From the hospital, he took me to the cemetery. There are already graves there.
Seeing that, I sighed and offered a prayer before returning to the church and walking into the office to meet the staff and look at all the details.
There will be nine people here. Priests, deacons, and acolytes, along with administrative staff.
We will increase or decrease it, seeing how the church does. Though, I hope it does well.
Hours passed, and soon, it was a five. I changed into my priestly robes and looked at the preparation. Everything is good.
Soon, a carriage with flags of the city stopped, and a beautiful woman stepped out of it.
"Thank you for coming, Governor Knox," I greeted the woman at the door. "It is my honor to be here, Bishop Alanis," she replied.
I smiled and led her in.
"I hope you are satisfied with the work our church is doing," I said to her.
"Yes, very much," she replied.
"But I hope you will increase the number of paladin and priests here," she added.
"I am doing everything I could, Governor. For more paladins and priests, the church will need to do better," I replied, and the woman smiled.
There are currently five paladins in Renwell.
Two came with me, while three were sent here by the church.
They are precious, and the church guards them zealously, but they sent the three, seeing how fast the two came with me had advanced.
Paladins aren't easy to make.
One needs to have potential and faith to become one. We have around fifteen of them, with a third of them being here.
It would have been easier if we had permission to recruit the holy force.
We had that till a century ago, before the merchant state revoked it under the pressure of the other churches. Aside from Paladins, we cannot have any other force.
I am trying to get permission for it from Silver, but he is resistant to it.
Though he is loosening up.
If we prove our worth in a few more battles and provide something extra, we might be able to get the permission. It will help us tremendously.
Soon, General Stone came with Lt. General Azalea. I welcomed them personally before other guests and faithful began to come, including Lt. Colonel Uram.
I will talk to him later, after the sermons are over. There are a few things I want to talk to him about.
Finally, the whole church is filled with people. There is not a single seat that is unoccupied. Hundreds of people are standing in the area behind the pews.
We have gained a lot of followers here after Greltheaven conquered the city.
Those poor souls needed hope and support, which the church had provided to them.
'It is time,' I thought and opened the holy book. I didn't have to. I remember every word by heart, but it provides an effect and reassurance.
Serene Voice. Glory of Dusk. Faithfuls Home.
I activated my skills and began the sermon.
"Brother and sister, we gather today in the soft glow of dusk as the sun surrenders to the embrace of night. In this sacred hour, we honor the Goddess of Dusk, She, who reigns over the threshold between light and darkness.
"Dusk reminds us that life is filled with transitions. As the day ends and the night begins, so do we face moments of change—sometimes quiet, sometimes uncertain."
"Yet the Goddess of Dusk teaches us that these transitions are not to be feared. They are sacred pauses where we can reflect, release, and prepare for what lies ahead."
I continued with the sermon while they listened.
I could feel their faith in people like Orok Uram is shining the brightest. It is a wonderful thing to see, and made it all the hard work and sacrifice we made worth it.
....
Church of God of War, Inam.
"Your Excellency, Archbishop Kraniz," greeted the old man as a red-haired, middle-aged man walked inside.
"Bishop Song," replied the man and sat down before placing a note in front of him.
He read it, and anger flashed in his eyes.
"Those whores of the goddess of dusk had captured Silvers's heart with their dark arts," cursed Bishop Song.
"They are growing in Greltheaven and opened another church in the Panar today," archbishop Krazis said, looking at the old man pointedly.
He shuddered internally.
"We wanted to bathe the Greltheaven with our lord's merciful light. Purify the evils of his sin of the den had spread to his city, but the bastard isn't even letting our priests enter his city,"
"And he even dared to place wretched conditions on us to reestablish our church there," the old man replied and was seething by the time the last word came to his mouth.
On the other hand. Middle-aged man's expressions remained unchanged.
"Agree to his conditions and reestablish the church as soon as possible," ordered the Archbishop.
It surprised the old Bishop. No, shocked him. It wasn't long ago that these people were cursing Silver and talking about finishing him off.
"Your excellency, those conditions," said the old bishop hesitantly.
"Yes, I read them, but Silver has shown potential, and his city is growing fast. Ignoring it would be a mistake," replied the archbishop.
He is unwilling, but the archbishop's word is final.
"As you will it, Your Excellency," agreed the old bishop finally.