Afternoon in the Convent

Astra looks like she probably won't wake up until tomorrow morning. Bored out of my mind, I decided to take a walk outside and maybe check up on what Faye and Lohikaarmi are up to.

I tiptoe into the hallway and quietly creak the door close as to not wake Astra up. I don't know what has suddenly gotten over me to care so much about that little girl, but I just can't find the heart to disturb her peaceful slumber.

The hallway is empty. It's mid-afternoon, and all the other guests went out to do something, including Owen.

I walk down the stairs into the lobby. There is no one here, either. I wonder where the girls went.

I hear a door open beside me, and a voice calls out my name. It's Bishop Cecilia.

"Oh, hey, Your Excellency," I turn around and greet her as she is coming out of her office.

"What are you doing in the convent?" She asks. "It's a free day. You can go wherever you want."

"We just came back from the Shrine of Crusaders, and we are a little tired," I say.

"The shrine? Owen brought you there, didn't he?"

"Yeah. Is there something wrong with it?" I ask.

The bishop sighs.

"You might not understand the lower-class very well, Kris, in fact, neither do I, but you have to know that the shrine is just a trap for the poor," she says.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, there are two ways you can succeed in the shrine. One, you have money and can buy Holy weapons. Two, you have a high divinity level or some sort of blessing. Either way is impossible for people in the fifth and sixth ring. They will be forever stuck at the bottom of the barrel while the people above them get richer and richer."

Sounds eerily familiar.

"What if a person is well trained and can fight without the aid of weapons or miracles?" I ask.

"That's the thing. Hand-to-hand combat can only get you so far. I don't know much about the shrine, but I am pretty sure most missions higher than rank C+ require you to fight ogres. We humans are hopeless when it comes to brawling with those monsters," she says.

"I see."

That's right. I forgot that the people here are generally weaker because of the lower gravity, but even if they weren't, the ogres are not going to be easy to defeat by hand. There is no way a normal human can hurt that monstrosity Lohikaarmi killed when we were on the road.

"If you want to know more, you can ask Sister Abigail. I think her brother works at the shrine," Cecilia says.

"Ah, maybe not. She asks for too much in return."

Cecilia chuckles. "I see you have already gotten to know her."

A bit more than I wished, if I can be so honest.

"Yeah…. Anyways, have you seen Faye around?" I ask.

"The elf? No. I thought she's with you."

Well, I sure hope she didn't get herself into any trouble. It's not really her that I am worried about, it's more the threat of the building the two are in burning down that concerns me.

"Are you looking for Faye?" Sister Lydia's elderly voice comes from the other side of the lobby.

"Yes," I turn around and say.

"I saw her in the backyard," Lydia says.

"Backyard? Alright, thanks."

As I am leaving for the hallway behind the staircase, I hear Lydia say to Cecilia, "The kids nowadays are so hasty."

Cecilia laughs. "Sister Lydia, did you forget what you were like in your youth?"

"Oh, I dare not. How does Your Excellency still remember? You were a small child."

"Somethings are not easy to forget."

There is a pause.

"Indeed," Sister Lydia says.

Cheerful screams and laughter seep from the other side of the back door as I approach it.

What are they doing? I wonder as I twist the handle and push the door open.

In the yard walled off by shrubs, I see Mia, Melanie, and Melody running around in circles shrieking and dodging flying streams of water Faye seems to be pulling out from the well using miracles. Lohikaarmi and Sister Abigail are watching from the sidelines, the latter of whom has an amused smile on her face.

The three nuns are completely soaked, and Faye is showing them no mercy as she continues blasting them with water while laughing.

"What is going on…" I mutter out loud.

"Oh, Kris." Faye notices me and turns toward me.

The stream of water in the air suddenly makes a tight change of directions and heads straight for me. It catches me off guard and splashes into my face.

"Whoa!" I exclaim as I am drenched in its coldness.

"Ah! Sorry!" Faye yelps.

I hear the nuns burst into laughter.

That volume was no joke. It's not like Faye shot a water gun at me. A couple more of that amount could probably be used to extinguish house fires. Has Faye always been able to do this?

After I wipe my face, I see Melody skipping toward me. Her robe is wet all the way through, allowing me to see things I definitely shouldn't under the bright afternoon sun.

"Big Bro Kris! Faye is amazing!" She calls out as she jumps to a stop in front of me. Water drips down from her brown, slickened hair.

"Cool."

"Bro, why are you trying to look away?" Melody leaps into my view as I dodge with my eyes.

"Um…"

"Sister Melody! Cover yourself!" Mia yells and runs over. She is not much better 'covered' herself.

"Cover myself? But I am wearing a robe."

Mia grabs Melody's arms and drags her away.

I ignore whatever that was and walk up to the elf girl with guilt written all over her face.

"I-I am so sorry, Kris," Faye says while covering her mouth.

"Don't worry about it. It actually felt pretty nice." I shake the water off my hands.

"Did you know about Faye's affinities?" Sister Abigail asks as she and Lohikaarmi walk toward us.

"No. This morning was also the first time I heard about it," I say.

Abigail chuckles.

"That's incredible. Your servant is more qualified to be a bishop than some of our bishops, and neither of you even knew about it," she says.

"I-It's nothing special," Faye says.

"Oh, sweet Faye, how do you not understand? If you were a human, you could walk into the Grand Cathedral right now and they will immediately take you in as a priestess."

"But I am not a human."

"Well, that doesn't make you any less precious. You have no idea how much people will pay for elves with your abilities. I have no idea either, because I never heard of such an elf before. Your Master doesn't know how lucky he is to have you," Abigail says and glances over to me with a grin.

"He-he…" Faye starts twisting her hair.

Faye is special and all, but compared to my other two followers, she can't be plainer. Her skills aren't the reasons why I have her with me. To be completely honest, I don't actually know why I have her with me. Her dreams, perhaps, but why do I care?

I just know something about her makes the thought of leaving her alone unbearable.

"I am very lucky to have you," I say.

Faye's eyes widen as a layer of rose rushes over her cheeks.

"T-T-Thank you, Kris. I am very lucky, too…"

"Aw, she is getting shy," Abigail says.

I laugh and say, "Alright, Faye. Show me what you can do."