Fantasy Lord: I Have a Moving Castle

The caravan had halted suddenly halfway through its journey, as two priests from the Eternal Sleep Church, carrying a stretcher-like plank, walked into a nearby mountain path. It wasn’t long before they reappeared, carrying down a body.

Soon, the body was placed onto a cart, and the priest named Elvin from the Eternal Sleep Church made a prayer gesture towards the newly arrived body, as if to console the departed soul.

Char noticed that the chest of these priests was adorned with a symbol consisting of a tombstone and a death crow, clearly the divine emblem of the Eternal Sleep Church—the symbol of the tomb and the Eternal Sleep God.

As the priest Elvin made the prayer gesture, people from Fireplace Town, lining the road, whether they were human, dwarf, or elf, began making gestures to soothe the souls as well.

Even Freyja was no exception.

The Eternal Sleep God had a wide following across the Siran Continent. Even those who were not devout followers were still shallow believers, and they possessed some basic knowledge about the Eternal Sleep God and the Eternal Sleep Church. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Char had no intention to stand out. As he mimicked Freyja’s gestures, he quickly glanced around.

In fact, there were very few dwarves and elves present, and other than himself, there were no half-elves or half-orcs.

This was because the area was close to the slums, where these priests from the Eternal Sleep Church had come from, and the slums were primarily inhabited by humans.

It was likely all humans.

Compared to humans, races such as dwarves and elves had much better individual quality on average and generally did not sink to the bottom of society.

Unless there were racial conflicts, where humans enslaved these groups.

But in Fireplace Town, although there was a clear rift between humans and other races, the power of humans was not overwhelmingly stronger than that of the other races’ alliance.

What’s more, the broader alliance of Fireplace Town had not fractured. Everyone still needed to pull together, collectively facing external threats. How could fierce, relentless conflicts possibly arise?

Thus, most of the humans could only live in the slums.

And it was these people who were dying of hunger every day.

Fireplace Town was essentially divided into three areas: the upper district where the elite class lived.

This section was predominantly occupied by dwarves, since they were the original owners of the place.

Besides dwarves, there were also some elite humans and a few elves, half-elves, and half-orcs.

Next came the common district, home to the remaining dwarves, elves, half-elves, and half-orcs, though it was mostly inhabited by humans.

And finally, there were the slums.

Being close to the slums, it was natural that other races such as dwarves and elves were rarely seen.

A shadow flickered in Char’s eyes.

This was supposed to be dwarf territory, where dwarves kindly took in humans, yet the humans turned around, seeking power and profit. From the dwarves’ perspective, there was every reason to be furious.

But from the humans’ perspective, with people dying daily in the despair of hunger and cold, the fight to survive was natural.

It was only early winter now, and already people were starving and freezing to death. By the time deep winter arrived, with colder weather and scarcer food, who knew how many would die.

The will to survive is an instinct shared by all creatures. Under the threat of death, the human struggle for life cannot be overly blamed, can it?

The situation in Fireplace Town, it was hard to say who was right or wrong.

In the somber and solemn atmosphere, the hearse caravan moved slowly forward until it turned a corner and disappeared from sight, and only then did the sounds of people return to the roadsides.

By overhearing the quiet exchanges among the townspeople, Char was able to learn more about the situation.

The Eternal Sleep God, through holding divine offices like controlling tombs and eternal rest, wielded a portion of the power over death. Beyond these divine offices, the Eternal Sleep God also held something akin to palliative care.

Therefore, of the priests from the Three Great Churches, only those from the Eternal Sleep Church would enter the slum areas, distributing a bit of food and bringing palliative care to those about to die, soothing their souls filled with fear, pain, and despair.

Then they would properly collect the bodies of those who had died from hunger or cold and ensure they were well buried.

This was the most important work for the priests of the Eternal Sleep Church, apart from preaching; or rather, this was essentially a part of their preaching.

So even if these miserable dead couldn’t afford the burial fees, lacking even the money to erect their own tombstone, let alone craft a coffin for themselves.

Even so, the Eternal Sleep Church would still properly bury every deceased individual, pray for them at their burials, and even erect a tombstone for each one.

Even if it was just a simple tombstone made of wood, it was enough to console the general populace.

Thus, before the divinities of other planes had entered the Siran Plane, while the Siran Continent was still relatively peaceful, the belief in the Eternal Sleep God was already widespread. Now with several powerful divine forces from Ferren invading and continuous disasters on the Siran Continent, with thousands dying daily, the worship of the Eternal Sleep God had become even more widespread.

On the way back, both Char and Freyja were quite silent.

When they returned to the valley, Char threw himself into his farming endeavor.

The situation in Fireplace Town wasn’t something he could reverse by himself.

His own strength couldn’t even match the three advanced professionals of Fireplace Town—though these three had just surpassed level 10 and had hardly progressed in the advanced realm.

How could he, a castle owner with barely half of an advanced combat power, have the capability to reverse the dire situation that Fireplace Town was facing?