Roman, seeing that the desired effect had been achieved, took a deep breath and pulled out the entry-level membership card given by the Golden Grain Merchant Guild, which had faint magical patterns on it.
“This is a Golden Grain Merchant Guild membership card, and it contains ten gold coins.”
He spoke calmly, but the villagers below erupted.
“What? Ten?!”
“God of Commerce! This is impossible!”
Roman didn’t wait for these words to sink in. He waved the membership card and continued, “This is a membership card for the Golden Grain Merchant Guild, famous throughout the entire kingdom. As long as I wish, I can withdraw these ten gold coins at any time.”
“I don’t believe it, it must be fake!”
“It must be fake!”
“Just a few days ago, when Lord Andrew came to collect debts, you couldn’t even produce half a copper coin!”
Immediately, an opponent jumped out from below. The rat-eyed man shouted hoarsely, veins throbbing in his neck.
Rose frowned, her small face filled with worry. She didn’t understand why these people were so angry, and she was even more concerned that her Young Master might not be able to withstand this barrage of doubts and denigrations.
Roman strolled to stand before one person.
When he had just scanned the entire scene, he had identified a “spectator” who would certainly win everyone’s trust.
Broken Sword Kane.
He possessed the strength of a Knight’s Squire, lived a relatively more affluent life than the other villagers, and was also his sword skill teacher. Before, he also served as the captain of the Lieshi Territory’s guard.
Minor disputes in the territory were handled by him, and both sides generally had no objections. Moreover, he had personally repelled invading magical beasts multiple times, earning him a reputation of high prestige in Lieshi Territory.
“Teacher Kane, please verify the purity of this gold coin.”
Roman confidently handed over the gold coin, meeting the other party’s astonished gaze.
Everyone’s attention shifted from Roman’s hand to Kane’s hand.
He carefully examined the patterns and purity, even employing battle qi techniques, and finally spoke with a solemn and steady voice.
“I can swear on my honor that this gold coin is real.”
The surroundings immediately buzzed with excitement.
A huge sum of eleven gold coins!
Roman cleverly conflated the gold coin and the gold coins within the membership card.
He indeed had a genuine gold coin and a genuine merchant guild membership card.
The villagers’ fervent gazes made Kane’s heart race. He quickly handed the gold coin back.
Roman took it, and under the envious gazes of the crowd, he placed the gold coin and the Golden Grain Merchant Guild membership card together and waved them.
“Impossible, you must have borrowed usurious loans from Nelson! What trick are you trying to pull? Are you trying to swindle our money?!”
The buck-toothed man spluttered, emitting a foul stench, causing those around him to instinctively move a few steps away.
Roman smiled softly.
“I was just about to explain the source of this money, my people. I hereby solemnly declare to you, I, Roman Lierles, Lord of Lieshi Territory…”
He paused here, ensuring that everyone’s attention was focused on what he was about to say.
“…have received divine revelation yesterday!”
The execution platform was silent for a moment. The villagers, who had gradually begun to trust Roman due to Kane’s guarantee, couldn’t help but become suspicious again.
And those who were already suspicious now jumped out even more vehemently.
“What a joke! How dare you so blasphemously disrespect the noble and esteemed…”
Roman raised his hand high, standing perfectly straight, and shouted loudly, “Next, I will ask everyone to witness a miracle.”
“What?!”
“This…”
Those who initially thought Roman had gone mad were firmly captivated by this statement.
More and more people were drawn by the commotion and were hurrying towards the center of the territory.
Even the few initial skeptics who had been jumping around began to waver.
Roman was too confident.
This demeanor was completely unlike the despondent, gloomy, and constantly anxious person he had been before.
If one were to ask what kind of great power could bring about such a change, in the not-so-complex minds of the Lieshi Territory villagers, perhaps only a divine miracle fit their understanding.
“Then, my loyal subjects, please follow me to the place where I shall summon the miracle.”
Most of the disbelieving villagers followed, but a few quietly departed, flowing against the crowd into the shadows of the surrounding houses… “This… isn’t this just an ordinary wheat field?”
The buck-toothed man burst into laughter, lifting his straw sandal, which was barely held together by a tattered rope, and gently shook a stalk of wheat stuck to it.
“Are you perhaps going to say that this wheat field, which is about to yield a harvest, is a miracle you prayed for from the Goddess of Harvest?”
The scrawny, rat-eyed man cooperatively joined the jeering. Even the farmer who had initially believed Roman, and even Kane, shook their heads slightly.
The farmer naturally understood that this wheat field was cultivated with his own hard work, and had nothing to do with a miracle, not even a copper coin’s worth.
Kane, on the other hand, guessed Roman’s underlying intention.
“This kid wants to regain the people’s support!”
But it was too risky!
He should have stopped after just showing the gold coin. Now, bringing up gods and miracles, even those who believed would stop believing!
Kane frowned, looking at the few people nearby whose expressions varied.
Ragnar the blacksmith, Wood the carpenter, and Ovis the merchant… They had originally been shocked by the gold coin. If Roman had known when to stop, he could have completely stabilized these few people with the prospect of future benefits, and then used that as a springboard to slowly regain the villagers’ trust.
Now, bringing up gods and miracles… If the words hadn’t already been spoken, Kane would have wanted to ask Roman to retract these blasphemous statements.
Roman smiled, ignoring the doubts of these petty clowns.
“No, of course not.”
He pointed to the soil of the wheat field.
“Beneath this land lies unknown defilement. The gods have revealed to me that I must purge it. When the defilement is cleansed, the miracle will manifest.”
The accompanying commoners discussed amongst themselves.
Roman’s earnest demeanor, coupled with his previous display, made it hard for everyone not to believe.
And such an unsubstantiated matter always leads people to various associations.
“I do seem to have been feeling unwell lately. I always feel like some evil spirit is constricting me.”
A freckled-nosed youth, with clear, pure eyes, spoke up, looking at Roman for help. ‘That’s because your shirt is on inside out, you little fool.’
Roman did not voice his inner thoughts, but instead nodded encouragingly to the other party, adopting the posture of a compassionate saint.
Those around him also felt that they had been experiencing various misfortunes lately, and as everyone recounted their experiences one by one, even those who were initially firmly disbelieving now felt a hollowness in their hearts.
“Then… what should we do?”
Ragnar the blacksmith spoke. Lately, his forge fire kept inexplicably extinguishing, and he had no other business, so his shop had been closed for several days. Now, as everyone compared notes, he suddenly understood.
So it was defilement at work!
“It’s very simple. As long as we shout devoutly and stomp the ground together, the evil spirits buried beneath the soil will naturally disperse!”
Roman said decisively, while gritting his teeth and pulling out all his assets apart from that one gold coin—twelve copper coins.
“As the recipient of the revelation, I shall bestow a full twelve copper coins upon the one who contributes the most to this exorcism ritual!”
The villagers looked at each other, their eyes filled with greed.
They dared not fantasize about that one gold coin, but the reward of twelve copper coins was right before their eyes.
“Lord, please tell us quickly, what do we need to do for the exorcism ritual?”
A gaunt, sallow-faced poor farmer rushed to the front. He didn’t care about gold coins, miracles, or even the Lord, but twelve copper coins could truly allow his family to eat their fill for several days.
To make room for his children’s rations, he and his wife had been close to starving for the past few days.
“It’s very simple. We just need to shout devoutly and stomp the ground together, and the defilement will naturally disperse.”
Roman looked sincerely into the other person’s eyes and spoke slowly.
“Ah…! Ah! Ah…!”
Upon receiving the answer, the poor farmer immediately began to shout, while stomping the muddy ground with all his remaining strength.
He looked like a madman, but the commotion wasn’t very loud.
He roared, giving voice to his feelings.
He couldn’t understand why he worked so hard for a year, yet still couldn’t eat his fill when harvest time came.
He couldn’t understand why some people could just sit and eat sweet white bread and drink rich, sweet wine.
He couldn’t understand where his blood and sweat had gone.
This grievance was like a thorn stuck in his throat, unable to be coughed up or swallowed down.
He fiercely trampled the ground, shouting loudly like a madman, trying to vent some of his pain.
It didn’t take a gold coin, just a dozen copper coins to make a poor farmer fierce.