"Hm, would you mind if I offered something to Exile?" Bjorn finally said as he opened his eyes to stare at the women.
"Of course not!"Ania happily chirped. After all, if Bjorn witnessed what they did, it would mean a new believer for Exile. If he was to confirm Exile's existence, then there was a good chance more people in the village would turn to Exile.
Sarri walked behind them as Ania showed Bjorn to the small shrine she had made. Bjorn's expression became complicated as he stared at her attempt. There was nothing grand about it at all. 'If this works, I'll convince others to help me erect a proper shrine for Exile.'
Bjorn had not come prepared for this, so he did not have anything on him that he felt was truly worthy of giving to a God. It was just a test anyway, right? Bjorn settled on placing a single gold coin by the shrine before getting on his knees to pray.
"Tch, stingy…" Colt complained as he looked at the coin, making Ania giggle.
Bjorn did not pray for anything except for Exile to accept his gift. His eyes opened just in time to witness the coin disappearing in golden motes of light. Bjorn's eyes went wide as he momentarily froze before wet streaks ran down his cheek.
[You have received 1 Gold]
'Damn! I didn't even have to retrieve that!' Colt grumbled as he stared at the notification. If he could receive coins from his believers, that meant there was definitely a currency system for the players. So he could feel sure that players would try and amass as much wealth as soon as possible.
'Is it too soon to demand Gold from them?' Colt sighed as he glanced at the trio standing before his shrine. 'Probably is. I should just be grateful for what I get right now.'
Bjorn chose that moment to finally stand back up. "Ania, I hereby confirm that the God of the Hearth, Exile is a true God. I shall petition the village to adopt him as our guardian deity and to build a proper shrine or temple in his name."
"And you shall be his High Priestess. This is only right since you are the only one that can seemingly converse with him freely. Sarri, I cannot stress enough how blessed you are to have a daughter that can communicate with the Gods! We must do all that we can to please Lord Exile!" Bjorn sounded rather excited as he spoke, and it gave Colt the creeps.
[+1 Fanatical Follower Received]
Colt cursed as the system confirmed that he was stuck with having Bjorn as one of his followers! 'Could he at least tone it down a bit!'
"We have a lot of work to do!" Bjorn stated solemnly before marching off as if he was a man with a purpose.
Over the next few days, Colt spent his time collecting prayers at the Small Shrine and performing Miracles to help Bjorn convince the villagers of his existence. So far, he had caused a wolf to die from being pecked to death, a young girl's acne to be cleared up, cured another person's toothache and various other things.
All in all, things were going rather well for Colt. Even if it was a bit boring at times. The villagers had set aside a piece of land to construct a temple. Which would essentially be his house and where Ania would be expected to live as his High Priestess.
Of course, not everyone in the village was excited about the recent developments. They were usually the ones who did not want to believe that there was a higher power who could judge them for all the wrongs they had ever done.
However, one young man was currently kneeling in the forest in prayer. This man had coveted Ania for himself, but he never dared to make a move while she was betrothed to Harald. However, she was a free woman now, and he believed that as long as he got a God of his own, it would only be natural for them to be together!
The sound of snow crunching beneath a pair of boots suddenly entered his ears. The young man turned in excitement, expecting for a God to have heard him and had come to answer his prayers!
The last thing he saw was the glint of metal as an axe embedded itself in his brow, killing him on the spot…
"Was it really necessary?" The middle-aged man asked in the silence of the woods as he retrieved his axe.
"I see…" The man continued to have a one-sided conversation with himself as only he knew what answers he received.
"What about the Oracle he mentioned?"
"Should I be worried?"
"Hm, if this is really what you desire, then I will do all that I can to make it happen."
"I'm not worth your praise Lady Silkyhair."
The middle-aged man bowed to an empty space beside him before turning to stare in the direction of Eraldsfen. The winds howled around him as he set off to complete his task.
"Lord Exile! What do you think?" Ania asked excitedly as they stood inside the husk of the building that would serve as the village temple.
"It's… great…." Colt glanced around at the stone and wood that had been used to build a longhouse.
"Over here is where we will put a throne for you to sit on. Then, right here, we'll set up an altar for sacrifices! You're going to love it!" Ania ran around excitedly, pointing to various empty spots on the floor as she described how it would be decorated.
Colt was of a mind to tell them to forget about the part that involved sacrifices. It was pretty challenging to come to terms with as a modern man, even if it was in a game. Just as he was about to voice his own opinions, he felt a strange connection with something that was coming closer by the second!