A Hospital in Another World?-Chapter 843: Want to Make Ham? Kneel Down and Beg the Druid!

"What is the Atonement Ceremony like?"

Garrett finally heard something that piqued his curiosity. He struggled to shake off some drowsiness, opened his eyes, and lowered his voice to softly ask the Tower Master sitting beside him.

He really hadn't seen it before! Whether it was the God of War temple or the Spring Goddess temple, he had never seen it!

As for the Church of the God of Nature, in Garrett's impression, they were all kind-hearted people. Of course, kind-hearted people could get angry too, and when they did, it was even more terrifying. But what was the Atonement Ceremony like?

In all his past and present experiences, Garrett had only heard of one such ceremony:

It was said that an emperor, after being deposed by the pope, wore the simple garb of a penitent monk in the dead of winter, walked barefoot to the mountaintop, and stood, or knelt, outside the church for three days and nights, relying only on a single blanket for warmth.

But that wasn't the style of the druids... What would their ceremony be like? What would they require the penitent to do?

The eighth-level mage glanced at him and sighed helplessly. Nordmark, it seems you are also a druid of the God of Nature! It was you who escalated the matter and demanded accountability!

The rules of the Church of the God of Nature, why are you asking me...

Luckily, his voice was very low, and the clergy present pretended not to hear. Elder Etto cited scriptures, arguing with the Archbishop of War and the High Priest of the Spring Goddess back and forth:

"Didn't you demand that those who blaspheme the God of War carve a life-sized statue of the god from a rock, wear sackcloth, and carry the statue to the temple on foot to offer it personally?"

"That’s for the highest level of blasphemy... and you don’t seem to have a statue..."

"The last duke who injured a priestess walked barefoot from the temple square entrance to the main hall in sackcloth and held the ceremony of repentance before the goddess, didn’t he?"

"True, but you don’t seem to have a temple? Do you want Count Rosscon to walk into the wilderness? Or climb the mountain barefoot? That mountain is covered with thorns!"

Walking barefoot on the temple square's stone pavement and walking barefoot through the wild thorns are entirely different concepts, right?

Arguing and arguing, they finally reached a consensus—of course, it still needed the confirmation of Count Rosscon, who would be returning from the capital. The severity of the Atonement Ceremony and the compensation for blasphemy were generally closely related—

"Just compensating the profit from the ham is absolutely not enough!" Elder Etto, representing the surrounding druids, especially those who had already selected a team and were preparing to return to Count Rosscon's territory, sternly condemned:

"What, raising pigs on your ancestral grave for decades, then telling you to pay for the pigs sold? If this is such a good deal, we’ll also occupy the count's castle and raise pigs in it for decades!"

"But we really can’t come up with anything else..." The count's second son was in tears. In his fifties, usually pampered, he now lowered himself to weep and beg, almost rolling on the ground:

"Everyone knows how thin farming profits are! Our family relies on raising pigs and making ham to barely make some money, and most of it goes to the capital! The money is all in the count’s hands, I can only use this much! If it’s not enough—"

He waved his hand, drawing a large circle:

"The cellar still has three batches of ham, from last year, the year before, and the year before that, waiting to be sold after aging! You can take all of them! There’s nothing else!"

Seeing the conversation going out of hand, Garrett couldn’t stand it anymore and coughed lightly, joining the discussion:

"Did the Church of the God of Nature... originally have any properties in Count Rosscon’s territory?"

As far as he knew, there should be. Near Hartland City, the church had two small villages, and a few rundown houses in the city. In Nevis, the church was quite wealthy, owning entire mountain ranges.

What about Count Rosscon’s territory? That’s still a county! The church's properties shouldn't be few!

After the church left, their lands, houses, and the villagers living on those lands...

Who did they belong to?

Who divided them?

The room fell silent instantly. From behind Elder Etto, a middle-aged man stepped forward, full of indignation:

"Yes! They have!—Around the ancestral land, two mountains, a small river, and the villages by the river, all belonged to the church! And other scattered pieces of land..."

He raised his hand slightly, manifesting a map of Count Rosscon's territory in the air, outlining the church’s former properties. Garrett watched intently, quickly calculating that these properties occupied about 1/20 of the county’s area.

Although most of the land wasn’t particularly good, it was still substantial in total. More importantly, the Church of the God of Nature’s properties were always the final pressure relief valve for the locals: 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

When the lord’s exploitation was too severe, and there was nothing to eat, the church-owned fields could be rented secretly; the church-owned woods allowed people to pick wild fruits freely without fear of punishment...

"This land belongs to my family!" A noble scion behind the count’s second son, whom Garrett didn’t recognize, suddenly jumped up:

"Our family bought it! We paid real money for it! There are transaction documents and city hall registration!"

"This piece too! We bought it!" Another noble scion chimed in. Garrett slowly scanned the room, noting several nobles who didn’t dare speak but wore gloomy or worried expressions.

Looking again at the mage and the two temple leaders, there was no need to ask; clearly, everyone had a share in dividing the church's properties.

To take back all the properties from everyone?

To have the Church of the God of Nature return and immediately offend all the nobles and powers in this county?

Forget it, I'll be the bad guy this time!

"From now on, pigs in Count Rosscon’s territory probably won’t eat acorns anymore." Garrett lowered his head, his eyes downcast, and spoke softly:

"The so-called acorn-fed pigs, making ham with the taste of acorns, this specialty industry is likely to disappear."

"What?"

"What did you say?"

Apart from a few clergy who kept their composure, everyone else present spoke almost simultaneously. No more ham? No more industry?

The entire county of Count Rosscon relied on this largest, almost sole profitable industry! Without it, the county’s income would drop by more than sixty percent!

Garrett's face was solemn, his voice cold. He spoke slowly:

"Yesterday, when I was praying in the ancestral land, I told those oak trees not to bear too many acorns in the future. And I asked them to tell the other oak trees not to bear many acorns anymore. These days are the flowering and pollination season for oak trees—"

He raised his head, his gaze sweeping around, meeting every anxious pair of eyes:

"With the speed of pollen spread, I estimate that by now, all the oak trees know this news. Of course, they might not listen to me?"

With a loud crash, Elder Etto stood up, turned, and leaped out of the window. He didn’t even take the stairs but spread his arms, flying out of the mage tower like a large bird. Landing at the edge of the clearing, he grabbed an oak tree trunk...

The second oak tree, the third oak tree. After a while, the elder returned to the room with a solemn expression and nodded to everyone:

"They know. I asked about ten oak trees nearby, and from now on, they will bear only a few acorns each year."

Falling to the ground, trampled into the mud by wild animals, pecked by birds, picked up by squirrels. Then, sprouting and growing in other places...

Enough to grow new oak trees, but no way to feed the wild boars in the woods.

As for how to make the oak trees return to normal fruiting?

Elder Etto raised his chin high and confidently surveyed the anxious or pretending-to-be-calm nobles in the room.

Well, go and beg the druids, and talk to each oak tree!