The Goddess of Harvest's church wasn't particularly wealthy.
Even though the number of believers in the Goddess of Harvest was the largest among the three main faiths, most of her followers were commoners, especially farmers. As a result, the donations the church received were quite limited.
Especially in Chaos City, a place known for its thriving trade, not agriculture. Most of its food was imported from the empire's heartlands.
So, the number of believers here was even smaller.
Naturally, the Harvest Church in the southern district of Chaos City appeared somewhat run-down.
Aside from the main hall, two side chapels, and some modest living quarters for church staff, there were no additional structures.
This was a sharp contrast to the glorious, gold-gilded temples of the War God and the God of Healing, just two streets away.
So, when Ron walked into the church wearing his elegant clothes, he immediately caught the attention of the priest leading the prayer at the front.
The priest gave a subtle nod to a nearby missionary, who quickly understood and silently walked over to Ron, who was already seated on a bench.
"Sir, is there anything you need?" the missionary whispered respectfully.
Ron smiled and shook his head. The missionary went quiet but didn't leave—he simply stood nearby, waiting in case he was needed.
Ron sat upright on the bench, drew the symbol of wheat over his chest, then closed his eyes and joined the priest in prayer.
Half an hour later, Ron stood up and walked to one of the side chapels. There, he dropped 50 gold coins into the donation box.
The missionary who had been following him stood dumbfounded behind him, staring as coin after coin clinked into the box. The sound echoed in his ears—and in his heart.
50 gold coins.
That was probably the church's entire monthly donation total.
This man was a real rich guy!
The moment Ron turned to leave, the missionary rushed back to the main hall and whispered urgently into the priest's ear.
The priest immediately halted the prayer and hurried to the side chapel to catch Ron before he left.
"Hello, I am Father Theresa, the priest of this church. It's a pleasure to meet you," he greeted politely.
Ron nodded with a warm smile. "Nice to meet you. I'm Ron Andre. I just recently moved to Chaos City and finally got settled, so I couldn't wait to come pray today. It brings me a great sense of peace."
"You are clearly a devout believer. I'm sure the Goddess herself would be pleased," the priest said kindly. "The church can open a private prayer room for you, or I can ask the bishop to personally perform a baptism for you. If there's anything else you need, don't hesitate to ask."
"No need to go through all that trouble." Ron shook his head with a smile. "Before the Goddess, we are all equal. No need to treat me any differently. In fact, I quite enjoy praying in the main hall with everyone."
The priest understood Ron's meaning and nodded. "As you wish, then."
Ron drew the wheat symbol again over his chest and said, "I'll be back next week, Father Theresa. See you then."
The priest did the same, devoutly saying, "May the Goddess's light be with you always, Mr. Ron. See you next week."
"See you."
After saying his goodbyes, Ron left the church.
"Oof, that hurts..." he muttered, walking down the street and feeling the weight of his now-lighter wallet.
Still, he wasn't hurting for money at the moment, and spending 50 gold coins to get the church's attention was actually a great deal.
This trip to the church was a bit of an experiment for Ron—and the results were surprisingly successful.
Because while he was praying earlier, the system had popped up a notification:
System: "Daily mission triggered."
[Daily Mission] — [Receive a Miracle from the Goddess of Harvest]:
"[Specific Requirement: Pray devoutly to the Goddess of Harvest and ask her for a miracle.]"
"[Reward: The Goddess's blessing is the greatest reward!]"
At the same time, the System Shop displayed a new item:
[Shop]
[Miracle of the Goddess of Harvest] — 10,000 Wealth Points for 1 use
(Temporary item. Will remain in the shop until the related quest is completed, then disappear.)
"10,000 wealth points… Isn't that a bit much?" Ron grimaced, staring at the price tag.
Still, he was shocked that the system could actually go this far.
During his prayer, he had only silently wished for the Goddess to somehow respond to him.
Of course, he knew the Goddess of Harvest wasn't going to just reply out of boredom.
But Ron had learned that when he had a strong desire, the system often generated quests around it—and sometimes even added items to the shop that helped fulfill them.
So he decided to try this little trick.
Why?
To complete that earlier daily quest—the one requiring an explanation for his shop's mysterious supply chain.
Since all his Nether Orchids were grown in a dimensional space, making up a fake supplier could easily backfire if someone tried to investigate.
After studying many mythological texts, Ron came up with a new plan:
Use the name of a god as a cover—and let them take the fall for the mysterious supply source.
From what Ron had learned, the gods of this world did exist, but they were usually asleep and only rarely responded to their followers—often once every few centuries or millennia.
So he wasn't too worried about making the Goddess of Harvest angry.
But then there was that system item...
"Wait… this 'miracle'—is it the real deal?" Ron asked mentally.
System: "[All system products are guaranteed authentic.]"
"But I don't need a real miracle!" Ron protested. "I just want something that looks like a miracle to trick people!"
System: "[The church has specific methods for verifying whether a miracle is real. If it's fake, the Host will not achieve his goal.]"
"But doesn't this mean the Goddess will find out?" Ron groaned. "Aren't I basically knocking on her door and asking her to take the blame?"
System: "[The Host need not worry. All system products are free of side effects. Anything you do using them will not draw the Goddess's attention.]"
"…That's seriously high-level." Ron raised an eyebrow, then shook his head and stopped thinking about it too hard.
Anyway, he was nowhere near 10,000 wealth points yet—no need to rush.
In the meantime, he'd just keep coming to church to pray, donate, and slowly gain the church's trust.
Once he had their attention and enough wealth points, he could buy the miracle in front of the entire congregation—and instantly become the talk of the city.
At that point, no matter how magical the plants in his flower shop seemed, he could just shrug and say:
"A gift from the Goddess."
If they had questions, well… they could go ask the Goddess themselves.
Ron chuckled smugly to himself.
I really am a clever little fox.