Even though this was only a concept being suggested by Erwin, Christine couldn't help but be captivated by the possibilities.

Throughout the history of the entire world, no one had ever raised the idea of replacing Loonies with paper money. This was perhaps the most radical idea that had ever been proposed in all of history! If the idea were to be implemented on a widespread basis, it was no exaggeration to say that the entire world would be changed. At the moment, it was only an idea, a fragile and insignificant seed, but if it could come to fruition, then the future of the world would take on a completely different complexion.

This was not just a matter of ambition, it was also a matter of imagination.

Changes in the world always came from imaginative people.

Countless people went their entire lives without making any significant changes to the world, yet there were some extremely fortunate individuals who were able to capture a spark of imagination, an idea, a concept, and transform the entire world with it. Life simply wasn't fair, and that was a fact that everyone had to deal with.

"This is an incredible idea, Brother Erwin. I need some time to digest it." Despite what Christine was saying, her inner businesswoman was already barely able to control her excitement, and she was already obsessed with the idea. She had realized the massive business opportunities hiding within this seemingly excessively radical idea.

"It will indeed require some careful planning to implement something like this," Erwin mused. "But you're far more adept in this area than I am. Also, after you get back to Lomu, tell Sherry and the others to come and find me. I'm currently living on Flying Deer Street."

Erwin provided Christine with his current address as he spoke.

"Do I already have to leave? We've only been talking for a short while." Christine could see that Erwin's attention had already drifted away from their conversation, and a displeased pout appeared on her face.

"Be a good girl now. I have to go pay Lia a visit." Ever since Christine revealed Lia's identity to him, Erwin had begun plotting something else in his mind.

"Fine," Christine sighed in a reluctant manner.

After that, the two of them emerged from the art supplies shop and went their separate ways.

...

Erwin headed straight to the Holy Jade Cathedral, and he just so happened to encounter Joe, the young freckled missionary, in the corridor of the cathedral.

"Where is Elder Lia right now? I have to see him urgently."

Erwin had grabbed onto Joe as the two were walking past one another, and Joe almost fell over as he was wrenched back by Erwin. "Please come with me."

Thus, Joe led Erwin to Lia's room.

Lia was sitting in front of a desk, reading a book, and he was rather surprised by Erwin's visit.

"Mr. Erwin, how can I help you?"

As soon as Erwin stepped into the room and saw the arrangement inside, he couldn't help but be amazed by Lia's frugality. "Wow, you're certainly living a very compact lifestyle. How did you manage to fit these bookshelves and a bed into such a tiny room? I feel like there's not even a single inch of breathing space for these pieces of furniture."

An amused smile appeared on Lia's face, and he replied, "All of the clergymen of our Universal Church are assigned rooms of the same size, regardless of whether they're the archbishops of a parish or a young missionary."

Erwin nodded in response, then caught sight of a stack of books that were piled up on top of each other in the corner, which he decided to use as a seat. Lia had stood up to vacate his chair for Erwin, but Erwin hurriedly turned down the offer, gesturing for Lia to sit back down. "It's alright, I can just sit here."

It seemed that Lia was vacating his seat out of politeness, but in reality, he was much more concerned that his precious books would be crushed under Erwin's rear end.

Joe also wanted to step in to stop Erwin, but he wasn't able to make it in time, and before they knew it, Erwin had already sat down onto the stack of books.

Erwin could tell from their reactions that the books that he had sat down onto were no ordinary books, so he pulled out the top book on the stack. "What are these? Hmm? Aren't these the wereleopards that I saw in the mountain ranges?"

A stunned look appeared on his face as he examined one of the pages of the book. "So these things are known as Flat Mountain Leopards?"

He then quickly flipped through all of the pages of the entire book, then looked up at Lia with an incredulous expression. "Where did you get these books from? Why do they contain records of so many different species of magic beasts in the mountain ranges?"

"Teacher authored these books himself over the course of many years!" Joe replied with a proud expression.

"Wow, that's incredible!" Erwin said as he quickly flipped through the pages of the book again. The book contained detailed descriptions of many species of magic beasts, including their history, their likes and dislikes, their languages, and their habits and traditions. 

"This is like a magic beast encyclopedia!" he exclaimed.

The descriptions on here are far more detailed than the ones on Onean's magic potion book, Erwin thought to himself.

"That's not the only one, Mr. Erwin. All of the books that you're sitting on right now were written by Teacher Lia," Joe said as he pointed at the stack of books beneath Erwin's backside.

Erwin immediately sprang to his feet upon hearing this, then gently patted the cover of the book that he had just sat on with an apologetic expression to try and smooth out the creases that had been left by his backside.

Lia was quite amused by his reaction.

Erwin was truly amazed by these magic beast encyclopedias, and he was flipping through the pages much more eagerly than he had ever flipped through the pages of his textbooks back at Teedus Academy. "There are even records of the magic beasts' languages in here. How did you manage to find out all this, Elder Lia? Could it be that you've studied the languages of these magic beasts before? If so, where did you learn those languages from? I don't think I've ever heard of anyone offering magic beast language classes."

"I've been wandering around in the mountain ranges for most of my life. During that time, it's only natural that I would've picked up some of the basics of the magic beasts' languages, wouldn't you agree?" Lia asked with a smile.

Erwin nodded in response. It was no wonder that he had encountered Lia in Belama. It seemed that he wasn't just there to spread the faith of the Universal Church. Given Belama's close proximity to the mountain ranges, it was definitely a good place to venture into the mountain ranges from.

But not just anyone can enter the Terarody Mountain Ranges. Could it be that Lia is a grand magic mentor or a powerful martial artist? But he doesn't look like either of those things, Erwin thought to himself in a perplexed manner.

Lia could tell what Erwin was thinking, and he smiled as he explained, "I go into the mountain ranges with hunters who hunt for magic beasts in there."

"I see," Erwin replied.

"You didn't come to see me just to read these books, did you?" Lia asked as he cast his gaze toward Erwin, then gave Joe a subtle look, indicating for him to leave the room.

Joe did as he was told, quietly departing from the room. He knew that Lia had something to discuss with Erwin.

"I know who you are in the church hierarchy," Erwin said in a direct and straightforward manner as soon as Joe left the room.

Lia didn't display any surprise toward this, and his expression remained calm and tranquil as he smiled and replied, "If you know, then you know. It's not like it's an embarrassing secret or anything."

In Lia's eyes, it wasn't strange for someone like Erwin to be able to uncover his identity through certain avenues. He was not so naive as to believe that Erwin really was just a painter.

Erwin nodded in response. "That's why I came to see you."

"I'm guessing the matter you want to discuss with me here is more important than your compensation for the mural, right?" Lia asked with an amused smile.

Erwin was rather taken aback to see Lia joking around at a time like this. It seemed that Lia was also feeling rather hesitant, clearly aware that what Erwin was going to propose was most likely going to be rather complicated.

"I want to arrange an army for the Universal Church," Erwin declared, finally revealing the purpose of his visit.

Lia's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, clearly not expecting the direction the conversation had suddenly veered toward.

"But our Universal Church has never had an army throughout the entire duration of its existence," Lia said as he cast his gaze toward Erwin. "We are not the same as the Holy World Church. They need to involve themselves in battles for power, so they require an army. In contrast, our Universal Church mostly caters to the common folk and the underprivileged. As I'm sure you wouldn't be surprised to hear, these people have no interest in getting involved in any power struggles."

"Only after arriving in the north did I discover that the nobility here are nowhere near the height of their powers. In fact, it wouldn't be inaccurate to say that they're almost a spent force. In contrast, some of the wealthy trade guilds have far brighter futures ahead than the nobles." At this point, Erwin didn't mind revealing to Lia that he was from the south.

"I'm assuming that's why Mr. Lucidy has decided to approach you, right?" Erwin asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"We're just normal acquaintances, I wouldn't say we're close by any stretch of the imagination," Lia replied in a calm voice.

"That may be true, but it doesn't change the fact that they want to approach you." Erwin was certain that the Farody Family had to also have been aware of Lia's identity.

"What are you trying to say, Mr. Erwin?" Lia asked.

"I want to ask if Lucidy has also approached you to discuss a collaboration," Erwin said as he cast a meaningful gaze toward Lia.

Lia was silent for a moment before nodding in response. "He has indeed approached me for that purpose in the past. Of course, they're not going to turn to the Holy World Church, and the New Light Church is full of pretentious hipsters who won't amount to anything, so they could only turn to us."

"Looks like the head of the Farody Family is at least decently competent. He's able to identify that if he wants to expand his power and influence here in the north, he needs the support of one of the churches," Erwin said. "Of course, when I say church, I'm not referring to a dogmatic and outdated church like the Holy World Church. So how did you respond to their offer?"

"I didn't agree, nor did I turn them down outright," Lia replied as he looked back at Erwin.

This was a very interesting response.

"Why is that?"

"Because they asked for too much," Lia replied. "The Universal Church isn't an organization that will bow down to them and follow their every instruction in exchange for Loonies. These people will never understand that religion is a sacred entity used to cleanse the hearts of the people, not a tool to be used in battle."

"But you didn't reject them, either."

Instead of answering Erwin's question, Lia raised a question of his own. "Even after contending with one another for so many years, our Universal Church is still inferior to the Holy World Church. Do you know why that is the case?"

"Is it because the Holy World Church is still the orthodox church in most people's eyes?" Erwin speculated after pondering the question for a moment. "Of course, when I say most people, I'm referring to most of the people who hold significant power."

Lia nodded in response. "Hence, if I want to elevate the Universal Church to new heights while I'm still alive, to the point that we can completely overtake the incompetent and pedantic Holy World Church, then I have to think of some radical measures. Unfortunately, those nobles in Tellier seem to be perpetually convinced that what our Universal Church needs is more Loonies."

A hint of derision flashed through Lia's eyes as he spoke.

"When you think about it, if you want to fell a tree that has already been rotting away from the center for many years, the most effective and straightforward way to do it would be to take an ax to it, wouldn't you agree?" Erwin asked as a meaningful smile appeared on his face. He finally understood why Lia was maintaining a connection with the Farody Family, but was also keeping some distance from them. As it turned out, these business people had no idea what the Universal Church truly wanted.

Loonies could accomplish many things, but even if the Universal Church were to receive a huge influx of funds, all they would be able to do would be to expand their base of followers, which didn't result in any fundamental changes. If the Universal Church wanted to overtake the Holy World Church, then the only way to do so would be to instigate a war between religions.

If they wanted to win such a war, Loonies alone wouldn't be sufficient, and that was the purpose for Erwin's visit.