That afternoon, they used the money they got from selling the crushed crystal ore to bury their parents, but the Croft family's suffering did not end there.
They still had many problems to deal with. Fortunately, Edrick was very calm and had three primary goals in order of importance:
1.Kill Griff
2.Make money
3.Extend their lives
Griff was also plotting against Edrick's father. It was clear that he was not just attracted to Hannah, and that his intentions were not simple. He would not give up easily, so Griff had to die.
At this time, he was mixing lime with coal, not only to improve their living conditions but also to make weapons.
After all, he needed a reasonable excuse for bringing a pile of lime into the house for no apparent reason.
The second objective was very practical. The Croft family's financial situation is dire.
They were living in a one-room apartment with an attic in the Rust Belt, which was considered decent by local standards. Though only 15 square meters, it at least had a window, and the rent was 4 shillings per week.
Their main food was black bread and oatmeal porridge, with fresh meat and a small amount of milk once a week, costing about 5 shillings. Coal, candles, and soap cost 3 shillings a week. There was also a parish tax of 1 shilling and a protection fee of 2 shillings…
"Damn it, isn't the parish tax supposed to help the poor!?" Edrick couldn't help but groan as he looked at the expenses he had listed, "Why won't they help the Croft family!"
The total weekly expenses amounted to 15 shillings. Previously, his father and mother could earn 10–14 shillings between them, plus Edrick's 5 shillings and Hannah and Miryam's 4 shillings each week, barely enough to get by. Now they couldn't possibly afford such exorbitant rent.
"Perhaps I could…" Hannah hesitated, her lips cracked from vitamin deficiency, as if she were about to make a major decision.
Edrick, familiar with the history of the Industrial Revolution, turned pale and immediately interrupted Hannah:"Don't say such nonsense! Things aren't that bad yet! Give me two more days, and everything will be fine. I promise. First, we need to move."
It wasn't just because of the rent; Griff had his eye on them, and it wasn't safe to stay here any longer.
However, to find a place cheaper than their current one, they would have to go to the border between the Rust Belt and the slums.
Fortunately, the Crofts didn't have much, as most of their furniture was rented, and it wasn't difficult to find a temporary place for three people to live in the slums—if you didn't consider the security and environment.
The next day, the three spent the whole day moving and settling in. Their new home was a basement in a slum five miles away from Grayrat Alley.
It had no windows, was damp and moldy, and was close to a slaughterhouse, so it smelled foul all day long. However, the weekly rent was only one shilling and nine pence, so they didn't have to worry for the time being.
That day, they had nothing to eat except for some black bread in the morning. After settling in, they spent 3 pence at the slaughterhouse to buy two blood puddings, made from pig's blood and oats. The price and taste were both quite impressive.
If he hadn't been so hungry, Edrick would have found it hard to swallow. Even so, after finishing, his stomach immediately began to protest.
Miryam's voice came from behind him: "Brother, where are you going?"
"To take a shit!"
Edrick rushed into the public outhouse and relieved himself.
The smell here was quite impressive. Modern people cannot imagine how terrible a public toilet directly connected to a septic tank is, but fortunately, transmigrators adapt quickly.
During his master's program in China, he had interned at a phosphate fertilizer factory for half a year.
The stench of hydrogen fluoride and thiourea was hellish. The senior workers at the factory said that if the couple didn't work at the same factory, the wife would even demand to sleep in separate rooms at night because the odor had permeated their work uniforms and seeped into their skin.
While taking a shit, Edrick pondered a way out.
Compared to the first two problems, extending his life was not so urgent. First, he still had nine months to live, and second, he didn't have a solution yet, only a vague idea. After all, the Village Deity was a deity, even if only a trainee, so he couldn't live shorter than a rat.
Edrick's mind raced, trying to find a money-making business from the fragments of his memory.
Other transmigrators either relied on their golden fingers to kill everything in their path or used their modern knowledge to earn a fortune.
But Edrick's starting point was already dire. Many inventions that could be quickly monetized were already commonplace in this world, such as soap, windmills, waterwheels, movable type printing, distillation for brewing, textile machines, and even steam locomotives, all of which had already been commercialized.
Furthermore, although this world had magical creatures and spells that seemed supernatural to Ederick, these things were difficult to obtain, and Ederick, as a low-level laborer, knew very little about them.
Was there really no way out?
Looking at the cesspool under his butt, Ederick's eyes suddenly lit up. He thought of a way to kill two birds with one stone.
Just you wait, Griff!
After finishing his business, Edrick hurried home to gather his tools: a rough cloth, a wooden spoon, a clay pot, a small amount of kerosene, and a pile of charcoal.
Charcoal was not cheap for the Croft family, so Edrick explained that he planned to sell some of it to alleviate their financial crisis.
While this amount of money was insignificant for their financial shortfall, it was crucial for Edrick's plan.
He intended to give the natives of this world a small taste of technological marvel!
Before officially starting his plan, Edrick returned to the dilapidated temple on the mountain top and turned on the TV. After a day of neglect, the little blue man was still arrogant, but his attitude had softened considerably.
"Okay, this Mama admits you. We can talk now."
"Hehe, even the Flower Maiden knows how to give in." The little red man gloated, and then inevitably got beaten up again.
After the beating, the little blue man finally vented his anger and said calmly, "Let me introduce myself. I am the Flower Maiden, and this one who deserves to be beaten is the Wealth-Scattering Lad, and you, young man..."
Flower Maiden saw that Edrick's hand was about to turn off the TV, so she immediately deleted the previous words and said, "And you, my friend, are the chosen land. Although you are only an apprentice at the moment, as long as you persevere and work hard, you will eventually become a full-fledged deity."
"What are these Faith Essence Points used for, other than purchasing books?" Edrick asked.
"Those books contain the exclusive skills of the Land Gods, which you can easily learn by purchasing them. In addition to purchasing skills, Faith Essence Points can also be used to upgrade your godhood and unleash some special spells."
"Like reincarnation?" Edrick raised his eyebrows, thinking of his own resurrection.
"You're very perceptive," Flower Maiden praised him, which was rare. "But you're not entirely correct. It is inevitable that you will obtain Edrick's physical body, and it will consume Faith Essence, but repairing that fatal wound will cost 1,000 Faith Essence Points."
"Can I recover every time I suffer a fatal wound?" Edrick asked.
"Think again. The first time was a special benefit. After that, you'll have to purchase the corresponding spells and treasures to repair your injuries yourself," Flower Maiden teased. "Spells and treasures that can quickly heal injuries are very precious, so you'd better be careful."
Thinking of his experiences since he had traveled through time, Edrick, who didn't have high hopes to begin with, accepted this calmly and asked the two most important questions he had come to the ruined temple to ask: "How do I obtain Faith Essence? Also, what is the situation with my lifespan?"
This time, the little red man who had been beaten and hadn't spoken a word rushed to answer: "As long as someone prays or makes offerings to your god statue, you will obtain Faith Essence Points. As for your lifespan, don't worry, as your Faith Essence Points increase, your lifespan will also increase accordingly. (`・ω・´) ゞ "
It was pretty much what Edrick had expected, which was to become a charlatan and deceive believers.
Edrick noticed that the two little men seemed to be much more active, talking more than before and even using emoticons, but what bothered him more was, "How many Faith Essence Points can extend my life by one year?"
"Take a guess (~ ̄▽ ̄)~ "
Edrick felt like smashing the TV. The blue little man had a bad temper and was difficult to deal with, while the red little man seemed obedient but was actually not so serious.
"Ten candles for one year of life." The blue little man looked like he wanted to hit someone again. "If you don't want to die, hurry up and collect Faith Essence Points."
"How many?" Edrick was shocked. Poor Miryam had worked diligently for half a year and still didn't have 2,000 Faith Essence Points, which wasn't even enough to extend his life by half a year!
"You are a deity, a great deity (in training)! Collect more Faith Essence Points from your followers and you'll naturally have enough (´・ω・)ノ"
Edrick was still a little confused: "How can I collect followers without that deity statue? They can't pray directly to me, can they?"
"It doesn't matter, just make another statue yourself. It doesn't matter if it's rough at first, as long as it can connect to your godhood, even a stone from an outhouse can be used as a statue.
Of course, the better the material of the statue, the better the conversion effect of the Faith Essence. If you really use a stone from an outhouse, the conversion rate will probably only be 1%..."
After getting the answer, Edrick nodded and then asked another question that had been on his mind: "What is the whisper from the depths of the fog?"
His intuition told him that these whispers were important, but they weren't going to kill him right now, so he didn't necessarily need to get an answer today.
"Those whispers..." The Wealth-Scattering Lad didn't say anything, but the Flower Maiden popped up a dialog box instead. "That is your mortal enemy, the kind that will never die, like water and fire, cats and mice, plague and the sick..."
"That analogy doesn't seem quite right."
"That's right, you are fire, a mouse, a patient. That whisper is so terrifying that we can't even tell you its name, otherwise it will sense your presence. You can refer to it as 'the master of murmurs.'"
"The master of murmurs, huh... That sounds pretty cool." Edrick wasn't too discouraged. Optimism was one of his strengths. "Anyway, it's still a long way off."
Now Edrick wanted to consider a more realistic question: "Can you give me a discount on the Cat Control Spell? It's only 200 points short, give me a discount!"
The Wealth-Scattering Lad did not respond to Edrick's haggling, but instead typed out a line hesitantly: "That... Although it is very far away, as long as you can hear that whisper, He has already begun to corrupt you... Especially now that you have awakened as a deity..."
Edrick froze: "What the hell is that?"
In the temple, under the dimly lit statue, everything was silent as usual. Just as Edrick was delighted to be haggling with these two little creatures, a cold wind suddenly blew in from outside, carrying faint cries.
Accompanying the cries were sounds like fingernails scraping against a coffin, intermittent and chilling.
The incense ash on the ground drifted silently, and the broken eye sockets of the deity statue seemed to have shadows writhing within.
Edrick's heartbeat quickened. He held his breath and listened intently.
The wind sounded like a tangible entity, lingering outside the door, mingled with low whimpers, as if something forgotten was slowly awakening.
Broken tiles in the courtyard were crushed by something, emitting a faint "click" sound. Edrick's nerves were stretched to the limit, and he breathed cautiously.
A flash of red appeared and disappeared in the night mist. The figure stood quietly in the darkest corner of the courtyard, its long robe dragging on the ground, as if it had merged with the night.
Her hair hung down, obscuring her face, leaving only the vibrant red robe visible as it trembled slightly in the mist. The wind blew, lifting the hem of her robe, revealing pale, slender ankles standing barefoot on the broken Bluestone slab.
She made no movement and uttered no sound, simply standing there as if waiting for something, or perhaps watching the movements inside the temple.
Every time the wind blew, the broken branches and fallen leaves in the courtyard gathered silently at her feet, as if drawn by some invisible force.
"Is this what you call... pollution?" Edrick's palms were already sweating.
He dared not move, afraid of disturbing whatever was in the courtyard. The shadows beneath the statue seemed to grow darker, and even the two little figures stopped talking.
The night grew deeper, and the cries and scraping sounds grew closer and farther away, as if the entire courtyard was shrouded in an invisible net.
Edrick felt his shadow tremble slightly on the ground, as if it might be pulled out of the temple door by that red figure and sink into the endless night mist.
In the suffocating silence, Edrick stared intently at the red figure in the courtyard outside the door. Fear made him forget to breathe and forget to blink.
But his eyes eventually grew too sore to bear, and he couldn't help but blink, taking a deep breath in the process.
When he opened his eyes again, the courtyard was empty, but the red figure had mysteriously reappeared on the threshold of the dilapidated temple door, just a step away from him.
Her hair hung down, her face still indistinguishable, and her red robe fluttered silently in the night wind.
Edrick held his breath, his heart nearly stopping. His vision blurred for an instant—he blinked again.
The doorway was empty. There was no trace of the red figure in the courtyard or on the threshold.
A bone-chilling coldness descended from above. Edrick stiffened and looked up, only to see the red figure standing motionless on the beam of the dilapidated temple, its hair swaying slowly, as if gazing down at him.
He couldn't even breathe. The world went black, and his consciousness plummeted into an icy abyss.
Edrick was dead, killed in what he had believed to be the safest haven.