Chapter 5

Sand from the Hagal Desert, which stretches beyond the capital, had accumulated on the ground in the slum area. In the center of the slum stood a well that once quenched the thirst of its residents. However, for several years, sand had piled up in the well, burying it completely. There were no other places to get water in the slum, and the residents had to go to a communal well far from the capital to fetch water. This task alone took up most of the day, leaving no time for work and thus no income for the day. For households with only weak women and children, fetching water was a heavy burden.

In the slum, young brothers, Hind and Domi, looked into their empty water bottles and frowned.

"Brother, we have to go fetch water."

For the young brothers, fetching water was a full day's work. If they spent the whole day fetching water, they couldn't work and would lose their daily income.

"There's no choice. Let's go."

Each carrying a water bottle, the brothers walked toward the communal well. However, when they finally arrived, they found that the residents of the slum who had left earlier were arguing with some men.

"There's no such ridiculous story!"

"That's the decision. If you can't comply, you can fetch water from somewhere else."

A man who looked like an official was sitting with his arms crossed, looking important.

"If you use the well of another residential area, you must pay a usage fee. This is the communal well of the eastern residential area. If you want to fetch water, you must pay 20 rupees each time."

"Bullshit!"

A slum resident confronted the official. Incidentally, a cheap loaf of bread could be bought for 10 rupees. The slum residents couldn't afford to pay 20 rupees just to fetch water.

"The well in the slum has been buried in sand for years and is unusable! We've been asking for help, but nothing has been done! And now you're saying we can't use the wells in other residential areas!"

"Shut up! This is the king's order!"

The official stroked his beard with a condescending look.

"If you don't want to pay, you can fetch water from the sewers."

The slum residents clenched their fists in anger. They restrained themselves from hitting the official, knowing they would be arrested immediately, but their insides were boiling.

"Brother..."

Domi clung to Hind, looking worried. If they couldn't fetch water here, the slum residents would have no way to survive.

***

In the slum, Johannes saw a girl wearing the clothes of a holy maiden. It must be Alm, he was sure. Knowing this, he wanted to bring Alm back as soon as possible. However, just as he was about to go, a problem arose at one of the small temples, and Johannes had to deal with it.

In addition to the main temple in the capital, there were twelve small temples in other towns and villages. Managing these was also the job of the priests serving in the main temple in the capital.

"Damn it... The head priest of the Bagansea small temple has caused a similar problem before!"

Holding the report, Johannes gave orders to the holy knights, his eyebrows furrowed. The complaint was that the residents of the Bagansea small temple's jurisdiction were forced to pay 30,000 rupees each for the temple's renovation.

While priests might be thought of as virtuous, most of the priests in this country were corrupt. This was because they had not become priests out of faith but had bought their positions with money. In essence, the role of priest had become a fallback for younger sons of noble families who could not inherit their family's estate or secure a position on their own. The root of this problem was that the king had the authority to appoint priests to the small temples. It was common for parents to make large donations to the royal family to buy a priestly position for their son. These were people who could not forge their own paths. It was unrealistic to expect them to become virtuous just because they became priests.

In most small temples, the priests only acted important, while the actual work was done by monks and nuns. It would be better if they did nothing, but there were many who tried to enrich themselves or live extravagantly, leading to embezzlement and unfair collection practices.

The main temple in the capital was different. To become a priest at the main temple, one had to pass a qualification exam, and it was impossible to buy a position with money. This was because the holy maiden lived in the main temple, and protecting her was an important duty of the main temple's priests. It was impossible to entrust this to incompetent people.

(We shouldn't be dealing with this! I need to go and bring Alm back as soon as possible... Damn it!)

What renovation fees? They probably just wanted to make their rooms unnecessarily luxurious.

(Why do I have to clean up after these fools!!)

Suppressing the urge to punch the wall, Johannes put more force into his hand as he wrote the orders.