Leia knew that she wanted to make a paradise like Chaos, but with death being the guardian for this race of short-lived beings, taking that away would only be detrimental for them.
In such a case, how should she create a paradise for them?
She didn't know the answer.
'If I give them a better life, they wouldn't know what they had suffered to earn this chance. But if they know about their past, death is no longer something that keeps order. It is now something for them to look forward to. Some might even seek it out in hopes of reaching the next life sooner.' Leia thought to herself in frustration.
Scratching her hair, she sighed and glanced back at the village. She'll figure out the answer sooner or later since she had plenty of time here. Plus, she was going to bless the water so that they would live a little longer to fulfil their goals.
'A blessing for the people here would be good too. I suppose I can try to make this a miniature paradise for now. Extended life and blessings so avoid illness.' Leia thought to herself as she made her way towards the well.
Without anyone looking, she imbued the water with her mana.
While her nature was to destroy, she just had to modify the target of destruction to the things that harmed the body. Once that was done, it'd be similar to the blessings that her sister gives out.
A satisfied smile appeared on Leia's face and she walked back to the church. She was grateful for this opportunity given by Chaos, a chance for her to understand the ephemeral creatures that live upon the surface.
If it wasn't for this chance, she'll still be confused about their purpose. Why death was such an important factor for them despite their fear of the end. How it creates order within their lives and makes them strive towards good.
'Aria has her job and I have mine. Though being able to bless things instead of destroying it does feel nice.' Leia mused.
Time passed on and the general health of the village continued to improve. People started to live a little longer despite their prior illnesses and energy would fill their bodies every day. The harvest was good as they had used the blessed water to grow the crops.
In a few short years, Leia had helped transform this tiny run down village. Everyone lived with smiles on their faces and would pray more often at the church, thinking that it was the work of the God of Light. While they weren't correct, they weren't exactly wrong either.
Their village was just blessed by a God of Destruction instead.
With her role as the saint, Leia had to watch the prayers they offered to their saviour and couldn't help but feel amused as the God that blessed them was right in front of them all this time.
But she had to admit, hearing their gratitude and appreciation gave her a warm feeling in her heart.
However, with their health and crop yield improving along with the quality of their crops, they were bound to attract the attention of the local lord that governed over this area.
They had ignored this village before and didn't care about whether or not it was still around or destroyed. They couldn't earn much tax from this place and traders rarely approached. Everything changed once rumours started circulating about this village.
Rumours of a beautiful saint that could cure all wounds, rumours about how all those that live here live in safety and eat bountiful meals everyday. It almost sounded too good to be true until more merchants started to visit.
They would trade for the crops they harvested within this village and realised those that ate it would experience improvements in health. But that's only if they ate it often.
With the trades now booming, a new tax law was now being enforced on this village. They didn't even communicate with the villagers and only left notes on their bulletin board in the centre of the village.
Hearing loud murmurings amongst the villages, Leia woke up to a large crowd gathering at the centre of the village.
Exiting the church, she called out to one of the fruit sellers that she had bought from often.
"Aunty Helan, what's going on?" Leia called out as Helan turned her head.
"The lord of the area is enforcing a new tax on us since we're doing too well. They used to ignore us but they can't anymore." She sighed and gestured towards the bulletin board.
Making her way through the crowd, Leia read the notice and frowned.
Not only did they have to pay 50% of their earnings in coins along with a base tax of living in the area, they also had to hand over 70% of their crop yield to the local lord.
"This is ridiculous! They didn't care for us years ago and didn't even send help but now they're asking for 70% of our crops?!" One of the farmers shouted out in anger.
With them needing to hand over 70% of their yield to the lord, they could only keep 30% to themselves. Which is then also taxed because if they decide to sell any of it to pay for the living tax to stay in this area.
"What can you even do about it though? Complain to the local lord? Or should we complain to the king? You know they don't care about us. We're only tools to them." Another farmer sighed deeply as life was going to become tough from now on.
Staying silent throughout all of this, Leia had a dark look in her eyes. She could tell that this was what the father mentioned many years ago when he passed on. The lord was most likely one of the bad people in the world that greeded for more. He seemed like those who would jump at the chance of immortality in a bid to maintain his power.
'Should I end his cycle early?' Leia thought to herself.
Suddenly, a hand patted her shoulder as Leia glanced back and saw Aaron looking at her with a smile.
"I know you're angry with this notice but that's just how life is. Let's see how we fare before we protest. And if I'm being honest, we should have been paying taxes before but we were simply too poor to tax from." He shrugged his shoulders helplessly. Leia reluctantly nodded her head since he wasn't wrong.
They were indeed poor before and barely managed to hold on. Had the lord decided to tax, many would've died. But now that they started earning, it was only right for them to pay what they owe.
"But just because we owe them doesn't mean I like this outcome." Leia complained, causing Aaron to laugh.
"I know. Well I'm sure if it gets bad the merchants will say something. They love their profits after all and they seem to be excited by the harvest from our village. I know people haven't asked but was it you? Our harvest has never been this good before and people rarely get ill now." Aaron asked as Leia only smiled and placed a finger over her lips. She could trust Aaron since he had done nothing but help their church for many years.
"Hahahah I knew it. You're truly a blessing to us. But remember, outsiders may not treat you kindly for your gift and might even try to claim you as their tool." Aaron warned.
Nodding her head, Leia already knew this and the notice only proved her point. If she was to expose to the world that she could bless things with ease, it would only turn her into an object of desire.
Since Aaron had suggested seeing how they fare for now, Leia decided to lay low and observe.
At first the villagers weren't used to the tax but as more merchants arrived, it became easier to survive. They slowly increased the prices of their wares since they simply couldn't keep up with the demand.
The crops from this village soon became a luxury as the lord started to expand the farm land and ordered the farmers to harvest more.
Leia watched all of this happen without imputing her own thoughts. This was the best time to see human nature at work. She had thought about this before, how if someone reaches their goal early they would change for the worst. Aaron was proof that this wouldn't happen to everyone but she wanted to see how her little paradise would react.
Would they succumb to the greed of the blessed crops she granted them, or would they stay true to themselves.
She could already see many of the villagers being swayed by the profits they could gain, even if they had to hand 50% over to the local lord. It was still an exorbitant amount that they could never imagine before. They started to live in luxury and their values changed.
Rarely do they go to the church anymore, if they had time to go to church they would rather plant more crops or harvest the ones ready so that they could earn more profit.
All while Leia watched on in silence.
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