Chapter 35: Ch 35: The Feast

The feast started without any trouble. Aiden put Goddess Apophis on her seat and filled her glass with the offering liquid that was presented to them.

His goddess took the first sip before she narrowed her eyes.

At the same time, Lord Rain raised his own glass and spoke calmly.

"Today, we are going to welcome a new God in this temple. I shall step down and hand my mantle over to someone who will take my name as well as my position and look after you all. Goddess Apophis will bear my authority now."

For Aiden, this was a new experience, but the people of this world seemed to know what was going on.

He could barely make out the faces from behind the curtain, but he could sense confusion and hesitation in the gathered followers.

Still, since their god had made a declaration and people had seen the kind of Miracle Aiden had performed when he took an oath in God Aldaric’s name, this all convinced them to become hesitant followers.

[Goddess Apophis has gained 100 followers]

[Current follower count: 823]

[You can now change this temple to a potential temple. Would you like to acquire the temple’s authority grounds?]

The system asked, and Aiden pressed yes.

[You have acquired a temple.]

[Current temple count: 3]

[Status: incomplete.]

[Please finish construction on the main temple and the subsidiary temples to change status and gain additional reward.]

The system decided to give Aiden more work, but he did not mind it...mainly because it was mostly position work that would help him and his goddess.

God Rain was still addressing his people, and the outrage was slowly starting to die down.

Due to the system’s notification, Aiden already knew that these people had become followers of his goddess. It was only a matter of time before they accepted their new reality as well.

"Priest Aiden, would you like to say a few words as well?"

Lord Rain asked, and Aiden nodded. He had a lot to say to these people, but the first thing he needed to do was convince them that he and his goddess were not their enemies.

"Everyone, Goddess Apophis is a benevolent goddess who cares for her followers. If you are able to get your worries to me, then I promise I will do everything in my power to help you in my goddess’s name."

He made a promise, and since it was on his goddess’s name, it reassured people. They nodded one by one as they looked at him and picked up their cups.

Aiden did the same and raised his glass.

"Then, let this be the toast of our first relationship."

He brought the cup to his lips, only for it to be smacked away by his goddess. Seeing this, the others stopped as well and looked at Aiden’s form behind that thin curtain.

"Goddess Apophis?"

He questioned, not doubting the necessity of her actions, but he did feel like he should ask the reason behind her actions.

The snake goddess hissed as she looked at the glass like it had personally offended her before she grabbed Kael’s wrist.

"Someone poisoned the food. I was waiting to see if the culprit would confess or not. But it seems like the culprit has no intention of showing themselves."

The goddess’s voice was clear and seductive. For Aiden, it was the same refreshing voice he heard, but to a normal human, it was like a charm had been cast.

The power in Apophis’s words made them unable to question her words. They could only nod along in agreement and show their outrage.

"How dare someone try to poison us-"

"We will find the culprit and bring them here-"

The people who were about to die suddenly looked full of vigour and conviction. But the bigger question was—who was responsible for this mess?

While everyone was yelling to catch the culprit, there was only one person who questioned Goddess Apophis’s words, and that was Selene.

Her clear eyes looked at the goddess who had bewitched everyone, and she dared to open her mouth and ask her a question.

"How dare you be so sure that the food is poisoned? You look just fine after waiting for it. What if you are making a baseless accusation? Someone will get hurt if they are falsely accused of a crime they did not commit."

Selene’s voice was neutral, but Aiden could hear a hint of satisfaction as he watched her speak.

And suddenly, Aiden no longer had a question about the culprit. He could immediately tell that Selene had outed herself by speaking.

"Hmph! A little human girl like you is not worth my time. Aiden, I have made my decision about the culprit. The one who poisoned the food is Selene, so she needs to be punished. See to it that she is."

Goddess Apophis did not give any reason behind her suspicion. She simply declared what she knew to be right, and the others were left to question her decision.

The satisfied smirk on Selene’s face told Aiden that this was what she wanted. She wanted to shake everyone’s faith in the Goddess and make them question her judgement.

Aiden did not want to tell her that she was expecting too much from the villagers.

They had just found stability, and their former god had introduced Goddess Apophis as their protector. Besides, the reputation Goddess Apophis had gained was all positive, and that made people trust her even more.

Selene would soon realize she was fighting a losing battle. But she still tried her best to fight till the end.

"Everyone, is this the kind of goddess you want to serve? She has no evidence, but she is still willing to slander me. Lord Rain can attest to my innocence. Right, Lord Rain-"

She asked, turning to look at the former god for backup. But the longer she looked, the more Lord Rain pretended he could not see her.

And the longer it took for him to reply, the smaller Selene’s smile became.

"Lord Rain..."

She called once more, looking at her former god to take her side, but Lord Rain just sighed and shook his head, making her realize she was being abandoned.