The Pathway Of Wisdom-Chapter 11: The First Step.

Although it was difficult to find a clean set of clothes in this poor and dying town, they still managed to get decent ones for Alex.

Alex’s own luxurious clothes had become dirty and they had become smeared in his own blood.

It was uncomfortable to wear them even if they were luxurious and embedded with gold and diamonds.

Alex cleaned his body with a wet towel and wore the simple clothes given to him.

The clothes even had patches showing that they were sewn to fix the rip and tear damage.

’Phew~ although they are only a thin shirt and a loose pants, the brownish travelling robe is nice...’

After wearing his ’new’ clothes, Alex grabbed the bread and the glass of milk from the table as he walked out of the house.

The old guard had already talked with a few younger people of the town, and they had arranged chairs and tables for Alex and Ethan outside the town head’s house.

Alex walked up to a chair and sat down as he chewed the hard bread and gulped down the milk.

He didn’t have the audacity to complain, as he already knew that even this bread and glass of milk was already the best these poor people could do for him.

Their livestock barely had anything to eat as their farms were not really producing anything, and the forest was very dangerous as powerful monsters were crawling inside it.

Ethan, who had already had his share of the meal, stood beside Alex as his guard while the old guard brought a young man with him.

When Alex came to this village, it was early in the morning, and now it was noon; he had already rested enough while waiting for food and clothes.

"Lord Saint, this young man is the most intelligent in our town; everyone praises him for his quick-thinking mind..."

"He’s even able to read and write!"

The young man nodded his head at the words of the old guard and spoke.

"I am Aru. Your Holiness, there was a traveller who settled in our town once and before he died of old age he taught me how to read and write, as I was his adopted son..."

Alex nodded his head at Aru’s words and asked,

"Good, how many friends do you have and how many people in the town are your acquaintances?..."

Aru was confused by Alex’s question but answered truthfully.

"I am friends with almost all young people in the town... also, I know roughly, everyone in the town... there might be a few I don’t know too well, though..."

The old guard also nodded his head at Aru’s words.

"Lord Saint, Aru is a very kind young man; he’s helping everyone in need!"

Alex finished his bread and gulped down the rest of the milk in one gulp as he got up from his seat.

"That will do; you are good enough. get on your knees..."

Aru looked at the old guard with confusion, as he didn’t know why Alex was asking him to kneel, but the old guard also didn’t have much of an idea.

"I don’t have time to dilly-dally; hurry up..."

Aru could not keep hesitating after being pressured and knelt down in front of Alex.

Alex nodded his head and looked at Ethan before speaking.

"Gimme that medal you had..."

Ethan handed over the medal that symbolized his status as a member of the god of wisdom church to Alex without hesitation.

Alex was pleased that Ethan followed his orders without questioning, and he placed the medal in between his hands as he made a gesture to pray.

"I, Alexander Augustus, the Saint of the Church of Wisdom, hereby declare that Aru is a member of the ’LeonBrave’ family from now on!"

"From now on, you are Aru LeonBrave; you will be the mayor of this town and will be responsible for the future of this town!"

"May the god of wisdom bless you with a bright future!"

While giving a simple prayer, Alex made Aru, who was loved by everyone in the town, the town head on the spot!

Ignoring the shocked looks on the faces of Aru and the old guard, Alex handed the medal back to Ethan.

’I don’t have enough time to educate all these people and make them understand that they don’t need to cling to a single-family line for choosing their town heads...’

’The family inheritance system is deeply engraved in this world’s people; it will take decades or even centuries to deal with this kind of thing...’

’So, I can only do what is better for now...’

Aru is liked by many in the town and is the most knowledgeable in their town; he would receive less criticism if he became the town head.

And since it was a direct blessing from the ’saint’ of a church, no one can question Aru afterwards whether he’s worthy or not to be the town head.

"Good! Now that you are the town head, let’s figure out a simpler and easy-to-implement solution to your town’s problems..."

Alex didn’t even give Aru and the old guard time to question him about anything and walked towards the nearby farms with Ethan tagging behind him.

"But won’t this cause unrest in the town, your holiness?"

Alex grinned at Ethan’s words as he spoke.

"It normally would cause quite a bit of unrest but if he manages to improve the situation of their people... everything will settle down..."

"In fact, he can even use this to become the ruler of this town if he wants..."

In a dog-eat-dog world where only benefits and profits matter the most, feelings and interpersonal relationships change accordingly in very short time spans!

In Alex’s previous world, people would value you more if you earned a lot and your presence was beneficial to them.

Even your own parents sometimes start hating and criticizing you if you don’t earn enough or are not good enough to be a proper people pleaser.

If Aru manages to implement what Alex is going to teach him, he will not have to face criticism, but he might become loved even more.

’You just need to know how to manipulate people’s minds by using benefits and strategies...’

While thinking this, a wide evil grin appeared on Alex’s face, which caused Ethan to feel a chill run down his spine.

"Err... your holiness, uh... you are quite devious... no but you are a saint and a saint can’t be devious... uh..."

Alex just shrugged his shoulders at Ethan’s words.

"Devious? Nah, I am just a little bit smarter than the average people..."

While whispering quietly to each other, they walked towards the farm.

The entire farm was barren and dry; it seemed like it was not even suitable for farming anymore, and there were even cracks in the ground.

Alex bent and pointed at an earthworm crawling on the ground before saying with a smile on his face.

"This here is the little hero who can make your land nice and awesome once again!"

And with that simple grin on that young face, Alex unknowingly took his first step towards the ’Pathway of Wisdom’!