Chapter 115: Ch 114: Repaying the debt

"I will take your words for it. Since we have checked for the authenticity, it is time to reach a price agreement. What do you suggest, sir?"

The shopkeeper asked in a hushed voice. He did not want this medicine to be sold by the others since he wanted to make a profit. He was convinced that such miraculous medicine could not be cheap.

But Aiden chuckled and brought out a crate.

"This is all one coin. My goddess dictates that we help all those in need of her help. The vials are labeled so that you won’t mismatch them. So sell them at a low cost while making a profit, or I will be forced to open a free medical shop at the temple."

Aiden’s words were a threat to the shopkeeper, and he nodded to show that he understood.

Medicine was expensive and rare in this world, so a single village hardly had one or two medical shops run by the wealthy, meaning there was no real danger of competition. This was also why Aiden was not worried about selling his medicine through these channels to one or two shops.

These medical shops were also more than happy to sell his medicine as long as they could make a profit from it.

The only ones not profiting from this outcome were the huge-scale landlords who had been using their lands to cultivate these herbs. But considering that most of these ’herbs’ were narcotics that left the land barren, that was a good thing.

As for those employed by these landlords, they could be deployed in the cultivation of other crops. Their pay would remain the same anyway.

’Still, this may cause some people to lose their jobs, so I should open some vacancies in my own fields to help those people out.’

The news of the new medicine spread across the village by the end of the day, and by the next day, the demand far exceeded the supply.

Aiden was in clear need of expanding the medical products and exports in his territory. He could buy from the system in bulk, but he did not want to keep spending coins like that. Especially since he was already in debt.

Well, speaking of debt...

’I should go and check on the relics that this place has. Hopefully, I will be able to pay up the debt fully.’

It was a gamble he had taken, and now it was time to see if it paid off or not.

...

Aiden returned to the temple once the sun started to go down. By now, the temple felt like his goddess, and her presence had soaked into even the foundation.

The people of the village were slowly starting to notice that their god had changed, but they were too excited to get the new medicine to notice it much.

Their easy acceptance made Aiden feel relieved, and he quickly headed toward the relic room that was locked tightly.

"Who are you and what are you doing? Hey, don’t open it or God Vital-"

The former priest in charge of the door did not seem to notice what had happened today. He was still under the impression that this place was being run by God Vital.

Aiden looked at the former priest and smiled.

"You should already know that God Vital has lost this territory. Goddess Apophis is the new goddess here, and that means everything inside this temple now belongs to her."

The priest’s face paled when he heard those words. He looked toward the relic room as if he could somehow protect it with his life.

"You cannot do that! Those relics have been collected by our god for generations. They are sacred treasures-"

"Sacred treasures that now belong to my goddess."

Aiden calmly interrupted him before placing his hand against the locked door.

There was a loud clicking sound as the lock opened by itself, and the priest’s eyes widened in disbelief.

"You...how did you-"

"The lock was not particularly difficult."

Aiden stepped inside without giving him another glance.

The relic room was far larger than he had expected. Shelves covered the walls, and dozens of different artifacts had been carefully stored inside. Some were weapons, while others were pieces of jewelry, strange stones, books, and objects whose purpose Aiden could not immediately understand.

His eyes immediately lit up.

’This is it. If I can sell enough of these, I might be able to clear my debt.’

The system immediately began scanning the room.

[Scanning relics.]

[Warning: Several items contain divine power.]

[Some items may be useful for the development of Goddess Apophis’s territory.]

Aiden’s expression changed when he heard that.

He had originally planned to sell everything that was useless, but if some of these relics could help his goddess, then he would have to think carefully before getting rid of them.

He walked toward the nearest shelf and picked up a small silver bracelet.

[Divine Artifact detected.]

[Name: Bracelet of Wind.]

[Description: Increases the user’s resistance against wind-based attacks.]

Aiden nodded before selling it to the system. He was going to take what he could in order to reduce his debt.

He continued checking the relics one by one, and the further he went, the more interesting the collection became.

Then the system suddenly gave him another notification.

[High-value divine relic detected.]

Aiden froze.

His eyes immediately moved toward the back of the room. There, hidden behind several old artifacts, was a small golden box.

’Could this be the thing that finally clears my debt?’

Aiden quickly walked toward it, his excitement growing with every step. The moment he touched the box, the system responded.

[Special relic detected.]

[Would you like to appraise this item?]

Aiden grinned.

"Absolutely."

[Relic: Star Defender. This can protect you from a fatal blow one time.]

[Note: This is a one-time-use item which will break once it is used. Would you like to sell it?]

[Market Value: 500,000 coins]

This single item could cut his debt in half, but at the same time...it was far too valuable.