"Young master, we've received news that a Gold Priest of the Church of the Goddess of Wealth wishes to meet with you, and will arrive at Morningstar Port before long!"
At this point, the Claire sisters, having snapped out of their daze, blushed as they served Jacob a glass of mixed fruit juice — a drink that had spread from the elves, and one Leilin was quite fond of.
"A Gold Priest? I would have thought sending a Silver Priest would have been sufficient..."
Leilin reclined half-lying in an elven-crafted rattan chair, his expression languid and relaxed, radiating an air of unruffled composure.
Within the Church of the Goddess of Wealth, her priests were divided into several ranks. Above them all was the High Priest, but the rest were designated by various coinages — copper being the lowest and gold the highest.
A Gold Priest was equivalent to an archbishop, ranking considerably higher than Tabris, the Bishop of the God of Knowledge here. Tabris, when converted to the Wealth Church's hierarchy, would only be at the Silver rank.
The fact that the Temple of Wealth had dispatched a Gold Priest meant that the volume of trade on Faolan Island had reached a staggering level — to the point where it had even attracted the attention of the Goddess of Wealth herself!
"I see. Give the order — receive them with the full honors befitting a distinguished guest."
Though it was a significant matter, once Jacob received Leilin's instructions, he actually relaxed. It was as though so long as he followed Leilin's commands, everything would surely turn out well.
This was the authority Leilin had accumulated over time — in certain moments, it possessed the power to turn the tide.
"The Goddess of Wealth, hm? Not bad..."
After watching Jacob leave, Leilin took a sip of his juice, a strange smile forming on his face.
Morningstar Port was now essentially Leilin's personal domain. Though nominally everything belonged to Baron Jonas, Leilin held the actual power, managing the entire port with impeccable efficiency. He had not constructed a single temple.
This had naturally drawn the displeasure of Bishop Tabris.
But neither Leilin nor Baron Jonas wished to see the Church of the God of Knowledge achieve total dominance on Faolan Island.
Aside from the God of Suffering, the Goddess of Wealth was arguably the deity most attractive to nobles for worship.
A noble's primary faith was in their own interests and power, but after that, the Lady of Wealth held enormous appeal — after all, who could refuse those glimmering little treasures?
Baron Jonas had once very much hoped to attract the Church of Wealth to build a temple, but Faolan Island had been far too impoverished at the time, and with the Church of the God of Knowledge actively obstructing them, the attempt had failed.
But this time, it was the other party who came requesting! They had even sent a Gold Priest — a clear indication of how seriously they took this.
Leilin was welcoming toward the Church of Wealth's establishment here. The benefits of the Temple of Wealth to regional economic development were obvious.
Those Wealth Priests were extraordinarily skilled at making money. Besides getting their own hands dirty and running various profiteering businesses themselves, there was virtually nothing they wouldn't do — from storing valuables and gold transfers, to currency exchange, even loan sharking. As long as there was profit to be made, there was nothing they dared not attempt.
But it had to be admitted that with the Temple of Wealth now in place — an institution that effectively served a banking function — there was nothing but benefit for the development of trade and the economy.
However, since it was the other party seeking a favor from him, how could Leilin possibly let this golden opportunity to drive a hard bargain slip away? He could also take the chance to exact a small measure of revenge for their past behavior.
At the thought of this, the curve of Leilin's lips widened further. He glanced once more at his status panel.
【Leilin Farell — Age: Sixteen. Race: Human. Level 9 Wizard. Strength: 4.5. Agility: 5. Constitution: 6. Spirit: 9. Status: Healthy. Innate Talents: Robust, Erudite. Spell Slots: Level 4 (1), Level 3 (3), Level 2 (5), Level 1 (???), Level 0 (???)】
【Weave Analysis Progress: Level 0 Weave — 100%! Level 1 Weave — 100%! Level 2 Weave — 25.17%! Level 3 Weave — 8.89%! Level 4 Weave — 0.001%!】
Over the course of this year, Leilin had also repeatedly acted in the shadows, helping the Scarlet Tiger pirate crew eliminate their enemies.
Isabel, known throughout the open seas as the "Scarlet Witch," had earned a fearsome reputation — and fully half of that notoriety was thanks to Leilin.
Meanwhile, the Devil's Blood Dagger had seized the opportunity to drink its fill of enemy blood, pushing Leilin all the way to the rank of Level 9 Wizard.
Level 9 Wizard! A being capable of touching the Level 4 Weave! At this stage, one could say Leilin had essentially graduated under Ernest's tutelage.
In truth, had it not been for the fact that Ernest had been so stimulated by Leilin that he had spent the last few years pushing himself desperately and finally reached the Level 10 Wizard rank, Ernest would have been too ashamed to face his own apprentice.
"Now that I can cast Level 4 spells, there's precious little left for Master Ernest to teach me..."
Leilin sighed. Ernest, at this point, could also only cast Level 4 spells, and due to his specialization constraints, aside from Abjuration and Evocation, he had rarely ventured into other spell templates — a regret, for Leilin.