Reborn: Imperial Officer Promotion Guide

Ling was preparing breakfast when Hull woke up.

Linghuahua placed three plates on the dining table in the living room, with a slice of bacon and two eggs for each person.

Hull gave the two fried eggs and bacon on his plate to Ling.

Ling glanced at the empty plate in front of Heer and said, "Teacher, aren't you going to eat?"

Hull shook his head: "I'm fasting."

Ling was a little confused. What kind of weird commandments was this? How could a devil like her teacher have any beliefs?

No matter how worried you are about not having enough supplies, you shouldn't even skip meals.

However, considering Hel's identity as a magician, skipping a meal or two should be no problem.

She was so hungry. She had a lot of things to do today, and when she got busy she wouldn't even have time to eat or drink.

Ling accepted Hull's kindness without hesitation.

At this time, Mosbia, who had just woken up from the bed on the floor in the living room, smelled the fragrance and hurried over to sit at the dining table. He looked at the breakfast on his plate with a bitter expression.

"…What's wrong? Eat quickly, Mosbia." Ling had already stuffed the egg into her mouth and started chewing it.

"Um... is that all?"

Two eggs and a slice of bacon are not a very sumptuous breakfast, but is there something wrong with this guy Mosbia's brain?

The beggar complained that the food was rotten. Even though we had given him a share of our precious supplies, he still showed some disgust.

A few days ago, Hull started drinking only water without eating every day to prepare for a certain ceremony.

He had to make his body weaker.

Of course, there are many ways, including saving supplies.

"If you don't like it, don't eat it. Ling, you come and digest it for him." Hull said as he was about to take away Mosbia's plate.

"No! I'm fine!"

Mosbia stuffed the egg and bacon into his mouth in two bites.

Indeed, even if you were a slave to a wealthy noble, you could eat delicacies that ordinary people could not enjoy.

Even after becoming a slave, Mosbia still did not change his love of enjoyment.

They said how difficult life was and how miserable the life of slaves was.

Yesterday, he even drank the dirty water from mopping the floor, and then he complained that his breakfast was not rich enough. It must be said that even Hull couldn't help but "admire" Mosbia's willpower in this regard.

How could he still be alive today with such a character, and does he have any other intentions by coming to my side?

Thinking about this, Hull picked up the glass and drank the half cup of water in it, then stood up and walked out the door.

"I'm going to check on the people outside the city today. Ling, you come with me."

After three consecutive days of interrogation, which lasted until late at night almost every day, Hull finally had a day off.

Taking advantage of this rare holiday, Hull plans to go out and check on the situation of the surrounding people.

"Huh?! I haven't finished eating yet."

"Then don't talk and finish your breakfast quickly."

"Um……"

As usual, he did everything in a rush.

After some preparation, Hull and Ling traveled light and took about an hour to arrive at a settlement in the suburbs.

This arid desert far away from the oasis is extremely hot, and the sunlight seems to be setting the earth on fire.

Except for a few cacti, there is no green around, only endless yellow sand.

Dried corpses can still be seen everywhere, but there are far fewer than when I first came to East Territory.

They are called settlements, but in fact they are refugee camps built next to the ruins.

We continued walking like this and arrived at the center where the tents were densely packed.

When the people there saw Ling, they knelt down as if they had seen God.

Hull looked calmly at the kneeling crowd. Not long after, an old man who looked like he was buried in the ground from the neck down walked over tremblingly.

He should be the elder of this settlement.

"You are very welcome to come to our settlement, Lady Saint!" As he said this, the old man also prostrated himself in front of Ling.

"Grandpa, please get up quickly, I really can't stand it! And... please don't call me like that." Ling quickly helped the old man up.

Perhaps she was embarrassed by the title of saint, Ling's face turned red with shame.

"No... You extended a helping hand to us without asking for anything in return or complaining. You are the one who brought salvation, Saint Aphaf! We sincerely thank you for your selflessness."

"In fact, this Helheim——"

"Ling, no need to explain." Hesen interrupted Ling immediately.

If she could become the saint in everyone's mind, the following things would be much easier.

"We will continue to provide everyone with valuable daily necessities, and will continue for the next three months." Hull stood in front of Ling.

"Lady Saint, who is this?" The old man asked Ling about Heer's identity.

"Ah... he is——"

"I am the servant of Her Majesty the Saint." Hull introduced himself first.

"Servant...servant!? Please wait a moment, why..." Ling became a little flustered.

"Am I right, Your Highness the Saint?" Heer winked at Ling beside him.

The little girl immediately stopped answering, and after thinking for a moment, she nodded heavily at the old man.

"I see! Are you also a servant of Her Highness the Saint, just like us?"

"No, if you must say, I am the Saint Lady's chief servant and have been working under her for many years."

"Oh, that's really rude of me."

The old man bowed deeply to Hull.

"As a servant of the Saint Lady, I have a question for you. What are your plans for the future?"

The old man hesitated, and the others looked at each other.

Heer looked around, then focused his attention on the old man in front of him: "I think you can guess that unfortunately, even the Saint Lady cannot provide you with supplies forever. The relief like before can only last for three months at most."

"What are you going to do after three months?"

"Well... Actually, we have already made up our minds. We are grateful for the three months of assistance. However, it is really shameful to say that even with the gift from the Saint, we still cannot get rid of the current predicament... People are dying every day, not to mention the future..."

Other people also bowed their heads.

Even though they have seen the Saint named Hope appear before them, everyone still has no confidence in their future.

"...Then, are you willing to follow the orders of the Saint Lady?"

Heer smiled and said, "In fact, the Saint Lady has found a way to change your current situation. Even if it is impossible to save all the children of the desert, at least this land can be reborn."

"Really...really? Lady Saint!" The old man and the people around him were all excited.

Heer smiled faintly and nodded to Ling: "Right? Saint Lady."

Even though Ling didn't know what Hull was planning, since things had come to this, she had no choice but to agree.

"...Yes." Ling had a bitter expression on her face.

But in the eyes of the people waiting to be rescued, it is a noble gesture of compassion for the world.

Ling, dressed in white gauze, seemed to be shining in the sun.

That is the light that represents hope.

Hull then inquired about the nearby geography, hoping to find an undiscovered oasis.

Sadly, there is no such thing.

This was also expected.

"There used to be many scattered oases here, but due to the war, many oases were not well protected and are now dry."

All I could see was still yellow sand, and I could vaguely see some weeds buried in the gravel.

This place must have been lush and green in the past.

A thought flashed through Hull's mind, and the [Silver Snake] wand appeared in his hand.

The old man and the people who followed him immediately exclaimed.

They seemed to believe more in Hel's identity as the Saint's chief servant.

Heer summoned the [Silver Snake] not to show off in front of this group of people.

He actually wanted to find a source of water through the telekinesis of the [Silver Snake].

Unfortunately, the control distance of [Silver Snake] is about fifty meters.

After a slow search around the area, including underground, I did not find any water veins.

However, Hull did confirm one fact - there was indeed water in the loose rock strata underground.

But the water is very scarce and buried too deep, the sand layer is about thirty meters thick.

The water source is about 40 meters deep.

Even if the [Silver Snake] was used to pump out the water, it would be absorbed by the sand before reaching the ground.

"Ring, let's go."

"Eh? Are you ready to leave now?" The old man followed.

"Yes, we still have to go to the next settlement to confirm the situation. We'll take our leave today and we'll come back later."

After saying that, Heer left with Ling.

After that, Hull and Ling visited more than a dozen settlements.

Without exception, people everywhere showed extraordinary enthusiasm and faith in the bell.

A ten-year-old girl who provided supplies free of charge, worked tirelessly to personally provide relief to the people, and was enthusiastic about saving lives.

It is extremely consistent with the myths and legends that have been passed down in this area for many years.

Or perhaps, the people here live such a miserable life that everyone is willing to believe in even a glimmer of hope.

——That is the saint, that is Her Highness Saint Afaf.

Hull couldn't help but sigh: "This is really beyond my expectations."

Hull believed that even if he personally went to provide relief, he would not be able to achieve such an effect.

No, no adult could have kept the veil of myth around this matter.

Only a little girl like Ling could do that.

"I'm also surprised. Goliath and I did refer to the myth of Saint Alphav, but I didn't expect it to turn out like this. It's probably too widely spread."

At the beginning, Ling agreed to use mythological stories to enrich her own character only because she was worried about the lack of cooperation from the people and the serious shortage of manpower, hoping to get the cooperation of the people.

It happened that day that Hull mentioned the story of St. Alphave, and Ling also did some research on it.

At least in that they were both young girls, Saint Afaf was indeed very similar to Ling at this moment.

Similar costumes were also prepared based on the legendary dress of Saint Alphaf.

At first everyone was skeptical, but as supplies were distributed day by day, and with Goliath's extraordinary physical fitness, more and more people began to believe that Ling was the Saint Aphaf, and Goliath was the loyal retainer who protected the Saint from escaping the empire's pursuit.

"Ling, you did a great job. From a faith perspective, the existence of the divine will make believers obey unconditionally. This will make our next task very easy. Even directly establishing a new sect will not be a problem."

Of course, that was just Hull's casual remark. He didn't want to establish any church. It would be troublesome if he was targeted by the imperial center.

"No! There's a problem! I don't agree!" Ling firmly objected.

"Why? As your believers, they will follow any orders you give them. If we can attract some local big landowners and big businessmen to become believers, we won't have to worry about funding."

"Because this is blasphemy against God! It's taking advantage of people's faith! I can't do it!"

Unexpectedly, Ling is quite reserved in this regard, which is good.

During the day, Hull also discovered underground water veins near several settlements.

Of course, the amount is still not enough, and it is buried very deep. Even if a deep well is dug, it is not enough for drinking.

None of them are of any use.

However, it is enough to confirm that there is water source underground.

"I've been wanting to ask you, Teacher, what exactly did you come here to confirm? Is it just to confirm whether everyone really regards me as Saint Alphav?"

"No, that's a bonus. I'm trying to find a location to build an oasis."

At this moment, Hull's feet slipped and he almost fell, but fortunately Ling supported him in time.

Hull has not eaten anything except water these days.

The fasting life for several days and the big review consumed too much energy.

A large amount of magic power was consumed today to confirm the underground water veins through the [Silver Snake].

Under the multiple effects, Hull felt weak.

"Teacher! What's wrong with you?" Ling rarely saw Hull showing such a weak expression, and she suddenly became a little worried.

"I'm fine. I haven't eaten for a few days, so I have low blood sugar... Don't worry, humans are not such fragile creatures. They can survive for thirty days without food and seven days without water. I have survived for more than ten days on the most intense battlefield relying only on rainwater. It's no problem at all now."

"Teacher, you haven't eaten for several days?! Why?! You can't save money like this. Besides, what's the point of cutting your rations alone!"

Hull shook his head: "Didn't you say before that there is no magic wand that can make rain in this world?"

Ling nodded doubtfully: "Yes, I have investigated and asked Reinhardt. There is definitely no such convenient magic wand in this world."

Hel just smiled: "Magic never comes out of nothing..."

At least not according to the laws of this world.

"But if we pump up the hidden water sources underground, we can also artificially create an oasis."

"Okay, let's talk about this later. Let's go back now. I still have something to confirm."

Before Ling had the chance to ask what that meant, Hull had already stood up and walked towards the city.

It was already late at night, and the star-filled night sky illuminated this peaceful desert.

Only the city gate became lively.

A large number of people gathered in the relief shacks that had been built, and Goliath and Kiana were distributing supplies.

After seeing Ling's graceful figure approaching, many people gathered around.

"Teacher...How about I stay and help distribute the supplies?"

"No, I want you to go somewhere with me..."

With that, Hull strode back into the castle with Ling.