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Ellergest invited me to eat inside the cathedral, and I accepted after thinking about it for a little bit. We walked inside the building and we made our way into the gardens that it had in the “backyard” where there were a few other priests eating round wooden tables. I saw Seth and Jack in there. The two were eating what seemed to be stew with mushrooms, meat, and potatoes, while drinking some wine in wooden mugs.
“Ah, but if it isn’t Blank. You came quite late.” Said Seth, the man’s eyes were increasingly sharper as he glared at me. He seemed to be hiding his anger because I came late, but it isn’t as if I can do anything about it, I just came late and that’s about it. He cannot complain against me too much because that would weaken our relationship, and these priests still value me rather highly.
“Where were you?! You said you were coming today in the morning, but you were nowhere to be seen!” Said Jack, he was growing furious, the man had red hair, and when he grew angered it looked like he was being set on fire.
“I was busy attending to my farm, after that I helped my mother cook lunch… I am a busy person despite my age.” I said. I sat down at the side of Jack, while Ellergest sat down at the side of Seth.
“I see…” Said Seth, accommodating his glasses. “Do you believe that you can get away with it by giving us some measly excuses? Your share will be reduced by minus ten percent for being late.”
“So you’re trying to benefit from this?” I asked.
“Benefit? Children must be taught discipline-”
“Come on, Seth, cut it out. Don’t be so overly strict with him, he’s not really our pupil for you to waste your energies lecturing him. Also he seems as stubborn as you. You two will only end up discussing more and I want to eat in peace.” Sighed Ellergest, quickly shutting down Seth.
“A-Ah… Very well, I apologize…” Sighed Seth, as he resumed his meal and closed his eyes while eating. He completely changed personality the moment he was scolded. Jack also looked at me angrily for a few seconds before eating in silence. Ellergest also started eating as a young priestess girl with blonde hair suddenly brought me a small plate of stew.
“Here it is… Blank, right?” She said with a smile.
The girl seemed to be seven or eight, she was probably going to either become a nun or a priestess, although her clothes were closer to nuns in fashion. Her hair was long and fluffy, almost as shiny as gold. Her eyes were filled with light, and the pupils were of a clear yellow. There was something strange about her. By just looking at her presence I felt a strong holiness dwelling within her. Could this be the power of her Spirit or the magic affinity she has? She definitely has a holy light affinity like everybody else here, but she seemed even stronger…
Her Holy Aura had hints of Fate, Life, and other light-aligned elements of the bright spectrum of elements. This was strange. The only thing I could compare the aura of this girl that came out of nowhere was to… the old Angels I once encountered and fought in my previous life.
Angels, much like demons, exist. I had encountered a few of them, but unlike I thought, they never felt that their duty was to defeat demons, or well, the angels of nowadays thought like this. Each time I found one of them, they were often rogues that traveled across planets, another was a female bounty hunter that was paid to slay me, and the most dignified I ever found was a knight serving the duke of a corrupt planet. He ended up being killed and absorbed by me, which granted me an affinity with light, life, and other bright spectrum elements.
Unlike demons who were everywhere and whose origins were widely known, angels were mostly a mystery, but by devouring his memories I had learned they came from another dimension named Heaven, where a self-proclaimed “Only God” created them to rule and protect the Universe.
Of course, something happened that made them not do it, and also made them so rare… Apparently there was an era in the Universe that everybody referred as “The Dark Ages” where little is known, but it was said that an Evil that came from another Universe invaded our own, and all the Angels, led by the Archangels, had to slain him, many died, and their forces were weakened severely ever since then. The angel I devoured back then had no memories of participating though.
And this girl, for some odd reason, had the aura of one of such angels. Even Eleanora within my spirit orb sensed it. But the girl was not ominous, she seemed innocent and mostly just another human of this world. But what’s with this weird aura? It makes me feel uneasy, but I cannot really show my face of uneasiness or they’ll think I am acting suspiciously.
I accepted the girl’s plate and she smiled back politely, she sat down near Ellergest as the old man petted her head and smiled, the girl also began eating from another small plate at the side of Ellergest.
“Thank you.” I said.
“No problem!” She said happily.
“Hoho, surprised by her beauty? This girl is Elisabeth, or that’s the name I choose to give to her. She is a girl with great talent that I adopted as my disciple from the orphanage.” Said Ellergest.
“An orphanage?” I asked.
It seems that the priests are allowed to adopt any children they deem worthy of being a priest, and they can raise them into becoming one easily as well… How long has Ellergest been raising this strange girl? I couldn’t really feel anything ominous from her, but her eyes which were as bright as those angels I once met made me feel uneasy…
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