Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Looking at the fully armed Paladins, Hill, who was levitating in midair, smiled and nodded, "Indeed, it's been a long time, how have you all been?"

He glanced lightly at the merchants taking water from the Temple and the stern-faced regular customers at the inn's entrance, and sighed softly.

They hadn't been this cautious and careful even when they knew that the bartender, Terry, was a Giant Dragon.

Even those Luskan fellows, who were no different from Pirates, still drank in the tavern without any reservations.

They just paid a bit more attention to their behavior, not wanting to anger the bartender.

But before these Knights had even entered the inn, many people were already armed with knives, guarding the entrance.

Hill knew that if he let them into the inn, it would definitely lead to big trouble.

He showed his most sincere smile, "You're riding Pegasus, right? Please fly up! There's enough space in my courtyard."

The Paladins looked at each other in surprise, as few people were willing to host them in their own homes.

"Of course, no problem," the Paladin Captain replied with a hearty laugh. Their steeds were clearly not ordinary animals, obviously with their own intelligence. Soon, their hooves began to glow, and treading upon the wind, they followed Hill down into the courtyard.

"Would bluegrass and ryegrass be okay?" Hill asked after landing in the courtyard. He retrieved seeds for the horses' favorite grass from his seed pouch, just in time as there was an empty patch of ground in front of the building.

"Certainly," the Paladins dismounted, watching curiously as Hill scattered the seeds with a wave of his hand and then cast Nature's Blessing.

The grass grew rapidly, and the unicorns galloped over, burying their heads and starting to eat voraciously.

"Mr. Hill," the Captain asked curiously, "we've seen Druids accelerate growth many times, but yours seems quite different. Our Pegasus don't like food that has been forced to grow."

Hill hesitated before replying, "They make plants grow by utilizing the plants' own life force. The faster the growth, the quicker the nutrients deplete.

Pegasus are smart and won't like that kind of food."

Just like Puppets delivering fruits, the Pegasus love to eat them but would never consider them as their main diet—it's a dessert after dinner.

"Please come in," Hill said with a smile to the Paladins, "This is the first time I am hosting guests, so if there's something amiss, please tell me. After all, I'm a foreigner, and I might get some customs wrong."

The Paladins smiled kindly and followed Hill into the tall hall.

Besides the main hall, there was only a large kitchen and a washroom on the first floor, so the space was very expansive.

Even with a dozen or so tall Paladins walking in, there was plenty of room.

The couch in the center of the hall, enough to accommodate everyone spaciously, must have been swapped in by List commanding the Puppets on the spot.

"Mr. Hill, I am Thorne, Captain of the Silver Shield under the Righteous Knights. It was I who led the team to that small world last time, almost ending in total annihilation." As Hill invited them to sit down, the Captain said very gravely, "We've come here to express our thanks. My lord also sends his gratitude.

Although the Believers of Tyr do not fear death, no one wishes to die meaninglessly.

Especially for many young people, Tyr also doesn't wish to see them in the Divine Kingdom so soon."

He and his men gave Hill a standard Knight's salute.

Hill, smiling, accepted it.

He was well aware that the Paladins of House of Tyr always did things by the book and letting them express their gratitude fully would save them from greater pain.

"Please, have a seat," Hill insisted, settling down in a spacious armchair, "I am quite casual, and my living space is mainly about comfort. I'm not sure if you're accustomed to this kind of seating."

Hill looked at the Paladins who were also trying to sit upright on the couches with a sense of helplessness. List should have put in benches instead.

"They're still too young," Thorne said with a smile as he put aside his armor, comfortably leaning into the couch, "Paladins don't necessarily have to live austerely; avoiding luxury and decadence is sufficient.

But they haven't reached my age yet and fear that if they relax, they won't be able to regain their discipline."

Hill nodded in understanding.

Even after hearing their Captain's remarks, the Paladins still sat very straight, but they also took off their armor.

The Paladins were all good-looking, each could be considered handsome, but some wore a gauzy eyepatch over one eye.

Probably the more zealous kind.

The others merely wore a leather wristband on their wrists.

That was one of the signs of being a Believer of Tyr.

However, as someone who had been commended and sincerely thanked by Tyr himself, they all had a good attitude towards Hill.

"Mr. Hill," Thorne asked with utmost seriousness, "My lord wishes to build a chapel on your land, would that be acceptable? We will not proselytize here, so as not to affect the Goddess Agleya, but we wish to keep an eye on the Bhaal Temple to the northwest.

He attempted resurrection at Baldur's Gate not long ago but was defeated by a powerful hero. No one knows if he had prepared another escape route here.

There are just too many of Bhaal's bloodline, and the Hand of Tyr cannot possibly uncover them all.

Instead, he would definitely make use of these temples."

"So you came over only after Agleya's divine light appeared?" Hill said noncommittally, "When did you know I was here?"

"The Tyr Temple in Neverwinter also started investigating after learning that someone was establishing a territory in the Undead Swamp," Thorne said earnestly, "Your mark is quite distinctive, and anyone with a bit of knowledge about things on the side of Faerûn would recognize you.

And your appearance has been made known to all high-level priests and paladins by our lord; he wishes for Tyr's believers to help you adapt to life in Toril.

However, we didn't expect that you would handle everything so well on your own.

We had thought of coming earlier, but our lord said that Goddess Agleya was also here for evangelism.

If we, the paladins of Tyr, showed up here, the impact would be too significant, and it's likely no one would want to stay.

Our lord told us to wait for the right moment."

"In the springtime of Agleya, there might be…"

"Who would care about Ambori?" Thorne blurted out.

"If you don't interfere, neither Agleya nor I mind having other temples in the territory. Do you need my help?" Hill said bluntly.

"We brought materials with us," Thorne replied, overjoyed.

He didn't expect Hill to agree so straightforwardly.

Many cities would flat-out refuse to allow the temple of Tyr to settle in.

If it weren't necessary, Tyr would not impose; they only take a hard stance in dark places.

But for someone like Mr. Hill, who has done great favors for them, they definitely would not go against his will.

Even though the Undead Swamp had previous owners, the merchants of Deepwater City would never agree to let the Righteous Knights enter their territory.

Even if they had no plans to develop it.

If the knights insisted on coming, they could only stay above the Bhaal Temple.

But that would be too dangerous for the low-rank knights and common followers who accompanied the knights, and Tyr had rejected their request.

After all, the reason the Undead Swamp was previously uninhabitable wasn't just because of the undead; it was also a place without fresh water.

Most of the Sword Mountain Range was rock, without even a creek.

Baal, such a cruel creature, would certainly want to destroy everyone around him when he was destroyed. All of the fresh water sources were polluted by him.

Although the Tyr Temple always paid great attention to this area, they could only check every few years to see if the God of Death had any hope of resurrection. No one knew, but it was something Tyr cared greatly about.

They also didn't expect that Hill, along with his daughter of the Kind Alignment and Sea Goddess, would come to Faerûn and plan to proclaim the name of Agleya here.

Tyr was very pleased after learning about it and had already notified all gods of the Kind Alignment and even some of the Neutral Faction, hoping they would not do anything to affect the establishment of the Sea Goddess's name.

Most of the gods in Ambori were quite detestable, but since there would always be a deity in the ocean, it was better to keep her than an unknown.

Nobody expected there really would be a Sea God from a kind god system.

What does chaos matter? The ocean was never going to be orderly anyway.

Some well-informed evil god systems in Toril also knew about this matter, but surprisingly, Shaer suddenly expressed support.

Therefore, all gods showed no unusual behavior, and both Neverwinter and Deepwater City maintained their silence.

Now, Tyr has received the best possible reward.

The abilities of this goddess truly fit the Kind Alignment—she so easily summoned pure, clean water, completely unaffected by those polluted veins.

As Hill listened to his endless sentiments, he first inwardly praised William, who had licked his way to having everything, then showed an expression of numbness: "I have already lowered my estimation of this Ambori's strength to the lowest I can imagine.

But it's still a bit shocking.

Summoning clean water is the very foundation for a Water Deity, right?"

The Sea God is first and foremost a representative of the Water Law! It's just because the ocean is the largest source of water on a planet that powerful Water Gods naturally become Ocean Gods.

"She doesn't have much authority over the oceans now, and nobody knows if she still has that ability.

But from the beginning, she only showed her destructive side and never summoned clean water for her believers.

We don't know what a Sea God is actually like," Thorne shrugged, "Right now, she even needs her own embodiment to successfully rob a slightly more powerful merchant ship.

Even the Storm God wouldn't act on her behalf, but he might compete with her for the authority of the Sea God himself.

A lot of that authority has already been snatched away by him in Ambori."

Hill smiled and didn't mind. Agleya hadn't planned to compete for much authority in Toril; she simply didn't want to waste the avatar.

If even the Storm God wanted to snatch that little authority, then they would be fearless—Hill was very skilled in absorbing and combating Thunder Element.