Inheriting a Lost Bloodline, My First Task is to have heirs?!-Chapter 663 - The Saintess of Radical Changes (Part 1)

The elders’ eyes widened at the sudden question or rather the condition that I presented to accept the position. The pope looked down as if thinking carefully and deeply about the sort of changes a woman like me might be thinking of implementing in a territory such as theirs.

One of the older members of the council asked, "May I know what type of changes you are thinking of implementing? We just want to know if it will be for the good of everyone or it may result into the destruction of everything our ancestors have built over centuries?"

I looked at the elder that talked and smiled. I followed it with a question, "Do you think I would waste my time accepting the position of saintess just for the organization to crumble after a short amount of time? Your church seem to not be doing so well anyways no matter how you pretend everything is alright in front of me. I can just watch all of your crumble to dust in a few years at most. I only care about Clarence and maybe the pope for just a bit since he is this fool’s grandfather."

I can hear audible gasps around the room after my blunt statement. One of the paladins by the door even let go of his spear by mistake. The clang of metal to stone echoed throughout the room, making the others’ shoulders flinch in surprise. The man hurriedly apologized as he picked up his weapon from the floor.

The pope coughed once to get everybody’s attention and asked me for the first time, "What do you know about our church, Madam Luna?"

I simply answered, "Everything I needed to know. I have Noir and a few other credible sources working for me to give me all the information that I needed."

The pope nodded and replied, "As you know, we do have believers but the number haven’t had increased that much. As the older generations died of old age or even sickness, the next generation of their families do not have the same strong belief as their parents or grandparents. Less believers mean less tithes. Less tithes mean that we will have less resources to keep the church running and even keeping the members fed."

I knew it. An economy built on donations. tithes or goodwill can easily crumble when the believers stop giving them money. The church has to have its own source of income independent from the tithes which is a very unstable resource.

I looked at the pope which is also my soon-to-be grandfather-in-law and asked, "I think the best solution is to find another source of income that is independent from tithes and donations from believers. At the same time, look for a way to increase believers either by creating miracles like healing a sick person or a more tangible thing like a healing potion or holy water. Something of that sort should work I believe?"

One of the elders immediately interjected as he said, "Miracles are given by the goddess so they are free for everyone. We do have holy water but we give it freely to believers as a gift for their faith. We don’t sell those things."

I looked at the elder and replied, "That is where the issue lies, old man. Don’t you use resources to produce that holy water, to fund the sending emissaries to other places or to implement those charitable work that you do? Yeah, it sounded like selling but you won’t be putting a huge price tag on it. Maybe it can be a small fee akin to a donation for the holy water, healing potion, a blessing, a prayer or a visit. I don’t think that’s too much, that is, if you want this church to still exist for many more centuries to come."

The elder who was trying to contradict my suggestions suddenly kept his mouth shut, not having anything to retort with. He knew I was right. Since it has gone quiet, I asked another question, "How do you get you basic needs like your food, clothing, heating, water and medicine for common illnesses?"

The pope immediately responded, "From the tithes of believers, of course. Some of the priests that like to take care of plants keep small gardens in their courtyards where we get some fresh vegetables. Some of the paladins go to the forests to forage and hunt too when there is nothing much to eat."

I quickly suggested, "Then why not make farming more widespread and the hunting and foraging a regular thing? Don’t you dare tell me that nobody had the time to do it if it was scheduled beforehand because everyone’s praying all the time or nobody is left in the church to do it. Even young children can take care of plants or animals in a farm if they were given simple tasks."

I suddenly looked at the paladin not far behind the pope and asked, "You, sir paladin, do you think you would be able to forage more edibles if you could only concentrate with guarding the people with you or if it is done regularly enough that you get used to the environment in the forest?"

The paladin was stunned at first but he still nodded his head. After he calmed down a bit from being asked, he added, "If I could focus on one task like either protecting those foraging or just focusing on hunting animals only, I think our trips to the forest would be more productive. We used to do it when it is only deemed as needed by the elders. Once we are there, we have to make our own decision as to what we think we needed to bring back and not because we are assigned to a specific task so it is confusing most of the time."

I thanked him for his honest response and for sharing his personal experiences whenever he joins the resource team. I looked back at the pope and suggested, "It would be helpful if you could assign a team to do the foraging and hunting once a week. It can also serve as wilderness training for the paladins as well as learning experience for those that are learning about botany and alchemy. It will also give a constant supply of resources to your commissary. Tell me if I am wrong." 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Well, I do not know who coined it first but I always believed that "Mercy is in God while work is in man". You have to combine faith with your own hardwork for your life to get better. You can’t just depend on others to give you the things that you need or think that faith can fill an empty stomach.