Foreign Land Reclamation By a Vegetable-growing Skeleton

Only Auburnli still remembered this place. She occasionally came to clean and remember her teacher’s likeness. A flame lit by the zealous believer slowly faded out.

After Auburnli’s teacher passed away, his students did not disperse. During that time, the Church of Light persecuted all kinds of heretics and pagans, many of whom escaped to this place. Adopting her teacher’s practice, Auburnli, along with her senior and junior fellow students, was very willing to teach anyone who was willing to learn.

Over time, more and more wizards flocked here. Someone suggested building a Mage Tower.

Thus, at first a simple Mage Tower was erected, which then continuously expanded over the following hundred years, and was finally renamed the Stellaris Mage Tower.

It was a tough time. The hardest part was for Auburnli, the only undead among all the students. After her seniors and juniors passed away one by one, she was left to teach their students.

With the increasing scale of the Mage Tower, prominent students kept on emerging. The tower even gave birth to Truth Mages, leading to its growing fame, and eventually becoming a Holy Land for mages across all planes.

Having repelled the church’s expeditions several times, forcing them to negotiate, the senior members of the Stellaris Mage Tower felt it was time to establish a nation. The scale and power they had now was beyond what a purely educational Mage Tower could organize.

And thus, the Republic of Stellaris was naturally established.

From the time Auburnli’s teacher arrived here, to the founding of the Republic of Stellaris, it took three hundred and twenty-four years. The efforts of seven or eight generations finally made Stellaris shine at the end of this land.

Hearing Auburnli recap the fragmented history and looking at the grinning bronze dragon statue in the hall, Negris felt a mixture of emotions, overwhelmed with bitterness.

What kind of feeling was that? It felt like he was at a Goblin Guild lottery, where he won the third prize, and the person beside him, who borrowed money to participate, won the grand prize.

What was it with your believers being more successful than you? And that wasn’t because he provided guidance, but because they randomly messed around, completely without Negris’s involvement. The achievements they obtained thus ended up even greater than what he had achieved himself.

What was happening? When he was diligent and attentive, he did not have a single ardent believer. But when he was locked up and knew nothing, a passionate believer emerged, who not only cultivated a group of students, but also built a temple for him.

Did this not indicate that everything he had done before was in vain, even counterproductive, and that it was correct to leave things alone?

“How did you, the God of Knowledge, become like this? If it weren’t for the reaction to your divine name, I wouldn’t believe it was you. How could you become so skinny?” Auburnli flicked her fingers lightly, and flares floated away, lighting up the oil lamps inside the temple, making the interior brightly lit.

“Ah, it’s a long story. I was sealed and had no way to respond to your calls.” Negris said.

“I see. My teacher believed that it was his lack of dedication that made you not respond to him. According to the scriptures he collected, you are the least pretentious god, always responsive, unless it’s during a test.” Auburnli said with sudden realization.

“I certainly won’t help you cheat. I am the God of Knowledge, not the God of Cheating.” Negris scratched his nose, embarrassed.

He was embarrassed because, in the past, the most common occasion for believers to pray was during exams. Only at those times would they remember the God of Knowledge.

“By the way, I still don’t know what your teacher’s name was.” Negris asked.

“I don’t know my teacher’s actual name, but we all call him Red Star.” Auburnli said.

“Red Star?” Negris murmured. When the name came out, Negris suddenly felt that the temple was a lot brighter, as if small stars were converging towards him, finally forming a red star in front of him.

Ange and Negris alone could see this star point, which Auburnli couldn’t. Evidently, it was the power of faith at work. Negris nonchalantly grabbed the Red Star, planning to examine it further once he was back.

As he was about to leave, after flying about ten meters, Negris suddenly remembered something. He turned around and asked, “Auburnli, are you a follower of mine?”

Auburnli responded with an apologetic smile: “I no longer believe in any deities. I have touched the profound mysteries of truth. I am the God of Truth and Law.”

The reason why Truth Mages could be considered gods was that to some extent, they had the same power as the deities. They understood the mysteries of the world and roughly knew what being a ‘God’ entailed. How could they devote themselves wholly to weaker gods who might not even be as powerful as them?

“I knew it would be like this. When you invoked my divine name, I couldn’t even obtain the slightest knowledge-feedback. Since you’re not my follower, it’s simple then. Your students have skipped on paying their bills because you came. You can help them pay.” Negris pulled out a long bill, where the parchment used to keep accounts hung all the way to the ground.

“What have they purchased? So much? Let me see.” Auburnli had taught countless students over the centuries, and she had occasionally helped students pay their bills, so she was quite adept at handling such situations. She swiftly took the bill.

However, when she saw the total amount at the end of the bill, she couldn’t help but yell, “Why is this so expensive!? Are you just robbing them!?”

Negris grinned, a familiar expression her eyes, and said, “Faster than theft indeed, but this is the price. We clearly informed your students, and they all agreed to the price. There absolutely was no fraud.”

“I don’t believe that anything can be this expensive. Did they buy divine artifact magic ornaments? Let me take a closer look. If I see one overcharged item, I will dismantle your place.” An irate Auburnli said.

“Purify Skin, Tender Complexion, Whitening, Clean Teeth, Hair Regrowth? Health care?… What are all these? How could you dare to charge so much for minor magical improvements on living creatures! I’m going to tear–…” A furious Auburnli began ranting.

Before she could finish, Negris added a single sentence: “Even witches can use.”

Auburnli stopped in her tracks, glanced at Negris, and then turned back to the list of services on the bill. After a while, she crumpled the bill forcefully, “I will verify these things first with them. If they voluntarily consumed these services, Stellaris won’t shirk the bill. I’ll take this bill for now.”

With her cloak billowing, Auburnli quietly arrived in the Goddess of Beauty City on the same night, confirming each item on the bill one by one.

…

Riding a Bone Dragon and flying from the Republic of Stellaris toward the Goddess of Beauty City, Negris stared at the flickering Red Star, sighing in regret.

He had never imagined that the Republic of Stellaris had such deep connections with him. Blazing fanatics had established it, but alas, Negris in his sealed state was completely oblivious to it. As a result, the Divine Fire had extinguished, and there was no connection between Stellaris and him anymore.

Alas! If he had perceived it, people would have likely grown disillusioned and would have not passionately believed in him.

Now that he had some of the Red Star left, he had no idea what to do with it.

Ange tilted its head. During their journey, Ange hadn’t spoken a word, but it had heard their entire conversation. Seeing the regret in Negris’s eyes, Ange asked curiously, “Are you thinking of reestablishing your faith?”

Ange’s question took Negris aback. He quickly shook his head, “No, not at all. I finally understood that I am utterly unsuited to being a god. Even a knight’s novel seems to have a more significant impact than me.”

“In retrospect, I have always just enjoyed giving people advice, not aspiring to be any deity. It’s better this way. I just feel it’s a pity. I have never had any zealous believers. This advanced zealot, I don’t even have the chance to respond to him. It’s a true pity. I wonder what I can do for him.”

Ange tilted its head and touched the Red Star.

Suddenly, the Red Star emitted a dazzling light. An unwavering belief spread from the Red Star: Strength from the fall of gods, the stars dim, the Red Star still shines…Don the armor, wear the magic robe, the Heroic Spirit protects our homeland…

Negris gasped, “It’s a Heroic Spirit!”