”I am honestly not sure. I have set rewards for reaching certain numbers of NPC followers. And the rewards were something that could benefit them.” Zach shot a glance at Ninia and continued, “But Nothing would change for you as all those things I mentioned are already given to the players. But you can get food, money, and shelter if you join my religion.”
”So it’s like a guild, but not a guild?” Elina asked, finally breaking her silence to show her interest in the conservation.
”Something like that, yes,” Zach nodded in response. He turned to Ninia and said, “I will give you money for everything later.”
”There is no need for that. I have a room full of money stored in this church,” Ninia stated. “I am a healer, after all. And I get a lot of money from healing the players.”
”But that’s your hard-earned money. You should use it for yourself,” Victoria quipped from the corner.
”I agree with Victoria,” Zach seconded her.
”Mee too,” Aria joined them.
”But I have no use of the money. I can cook my own food and stay in the church. I have no expense for myself.” Ninia smiled at Zach and said, “I plan to use all my fortune to expand your religion.”
’Stop that. Don’t be so kind to me. You have already showered me with your favors. If you keep doing that… I might develop feelings for you…’
”Still, I will give them money.”
”I wouldn’t allow you to do that—”
”Ninia. It’s my religion,” Zach said in a loud voice. “You cannot do everything.”
”I… understand…” Ninia uttered with a dejected look on her face.
”…” Victoria opened her mouth to say something, but Aria shook her head at her as though she was trying to justify Zach’s action.
’Zach did the right thing. It may sound harsh to others, but I know why Zach did that.’ Aria bit her lips and continued, ‘Zach’s religion is going to spread regardless of when and how. And he had made Ninia his prophet. IF he let Ninia do God’s job, who will do the prophet’s job?’
’It’s for the best. Zach needed to make it clear to Ninia and remind her of her position in his religion. I don’t want to pry much into their personal relationship with each other as I have no right to stop her or Zach if they truly decide to break the boundaries and commit a taboo act.’
”Master Zach, we will join your religion!” Noah chirped.
”…” Zach looked at the cheerful look on Noah’s face, but Elina didn’t seem happy about it.
”Noah, the first thing to learn as a man, is to never speak for others unless you have a right to do so,” Zach said to Noah in a calm voice.
”I… see…” Noah glanced at Elina, who seemed angry at him for saying ‘we’ without even consulting her about it.
”I only said it because… I want to stay together with you…” Noah said with a little flushed face.
”We can be together even without joining any religion.” Elina glared at Zach and uttered, “Will you kick us out if we don’t join your religion?”
”Of course not. You can stay here as long as you want.”
”And why should we join your religion if there is nothing in it for us?” Elina asked as though she was annoyed at Zach for trying to get them into joining his religion.
”As I said, I don’t know what the benefits are. Maybe there are benefits. Who knows? Maybe you will have them after I reach a certain number of followers or once I get strong?” Zach responded with a shoulder shrug.
”The other gods are giving us favors from the Karma Points. They give an incentive to the players to get them to worship them. So if you want the players to worship you, you will have to give them an incentive too,” Elina asserted and flipped her hair after speaking the last sentence.
’She is surprisingly smart for her age…’ Aria thought. ‘Heh! I think I now know who will have the upper hand in their relationship once they grow up.’
’What can I give them as an incentive?’ Zach wondered. ‘I am already providing them money, food, and shelter. That’s a basic thing a player would need to survive. But Elina is right. I need to give them something they will never find someone else.’
After pondering for a while, Zach thought, ‘What if I provide them free MP potions? Their demand keeps increasing, and if I make them exclusive for my followers, I will become famous in one night.’
’However, there is a major drawback. I can’t charge my followers for the potions as they can buy them from the magic shop anyway. And suppose I don’t get money from the potions. In that case, I will eventually run out of money since I will provide resources to my followers.
’Perhaps, I shouldn’t make potions exclusive, but then the impact of the incentive will be sub-par. Hmm… how about a discount? I will give a 50% discount to my followers, and they will be the first ones to get their hands on potions as soon as I make them.’
After thinking about it for a while, Zach decided to proceed with his plan. However, there was still one thing he had to do before announcing his religion openly to the players.
’I will have to change the deal I made with Xie Lua since she is the one providing me with the materials to create the bottles.’
”The lunch is ready~!” Victoria announced. “Go wash your hands. I will set the table.”
Zach got up and said, “I will help you.”
Ninia took the kids to wash hands while Aria stood dumbfounded in the middle.
Aria stared at Zach and licked her lips before thinking, ”I don’t know what we are going to do for the rest of the day, but I think I know what Zach and I are going to do tonight.’
***
Total players in the game- 1,482,566
0 new players logged in.
3 players died.