The loud and charismatic, yet young voice of the preacher, fell to the ears of the gathering crowd of the Golden Mile, drawing an ever increasing interest upon his words. It was almost terrifying, yet so awe-inspiring.

To be an effective preacher was to have the strengths of attracting the masses, and the capability to convince them of your ideals or make yourself heard. Whether it be in a confrontational or a sympathetic way, a good communicator would often be the key to such a goal of conversion.

And this man, despite his rather young voice, his diminutive and almost malnourished stature, the way he presented himself had managed to tug at the minds of the people around him.

Physically he was not much older than Marilyn, in fact they're pretty much near-peers. But his confidence, way of speech, and his sheer presence in a figurative and literal sense made it so that he did not even need mind control to attract these people.

From such a strong conviction and almost tangible faith, he had casted a spell onto the masses around him, reaching hundreds in number.

“How can we perhaps even repay her, other than to return the favour and share the word of salvation! For those who sin we shall save, for those who starve we shall feed, and for those who suffer we shall console and heal!”

He yelled out once more. The same song and dance of salvation and deliverance, the two primary domains of the goddess Seraphina, one of the deities and Onlookers from the heavens above, a part of the Western Pantheon of gods ever since thousands of years ago.

As it was said by no one here but a peculiar White Rabbit within her own thoughts; Onlookers are almost always an impartial bunch. They were beings influenced by how mortals perceive them, yet their power far exceeded nearly anything that was within the realm of creation. This was a near hundred percent true.

To be more clear, the nuance of their impartialness stemmed from how mortals perceive them. For example, due to the belief of mortals that Seraphina held these two major domains, she held a ‘personality’, or a tendency, to help and save those in need.

This was why Onlookers could be considered as gods of no desire. It was because they desired nothing, not even worship, yet they acted according to what their believers have faith in.

The actions of Onlookers were almost always subtle and discreet, to the point that the ones that were not aware would just attribute it to luck or chance. But those who had the capacity to believe would see these signs and appoint them to their gods, hence their actions could be further reinforced and became something more tangible.

That was how preachers and clerics such as he were born. People of great faith, the originators of Divine Magic, a field of magic that had its basis found in Essence Magic, being a path of that system, yet purely exercised through faith and belief and not reasoning nor anything else. A quite esoteric field of magic that had the infamy of being difficult to study, influenced purely through the power of belief, further assisted in subtle ways by the gods these figures worship.

At least, that was how Marilyn had viewed it, having studied the subject in the Royal Academy's Grand Library.

“Man…is this guy just yappin’ about for no reason?”

The voice of a familiar man, to which Marilyn had ever so occasionally heard ever since a year ago, broke the trance her mind had been brought into.

Notice: Social influencing resistance increased.

Her eyes glowed a stellar azure for a few seconds after she had heard that notification in her mind, and quickly she darted her vision towards the source of that masculine voice.

It was from a recognisable outfit, a cowboy, with blonde hair. He was not far from where she's at, in fact—

“Vincent?”

He was in reach of her hushed voice. And in turn, he switched his attention to her, rather annoyed by all of this commotion.

“Haah?? The he-” His breath stiffened, “Oh, it's you. Whaddya want?”

Their conversation was essentially ignored by all the people around them, as they were too busy with listening to the preacher's voice. But still, the claustrophobic atmosphere made it hard for Marilyn to articulate her words.

“W-what are you doing here?” She questioned, a bit bewildered.

“Y’know I live near the city’s outskirts, right?” He said, “Hence why I’m here, dumbass.”

Marilyn froze for a bit, and she furrowed her eyebrows slightly, as if to intimidate him. He shrugged it off, of course, but he suddenly froze afterwards. It confused the girl, and it caused her to turn around.

It was—

“You, what did you just say to her?” Helena spoke up, threatening him with a cold and direct tone, her eyes glaring at him. She even had her hands held upon the hilt of her sword.

It seems she had also broken from the trance, presumably from Vincent's apparent comment on the preaching dwarf. But nonetheless…

“Fine, that was an unwarranted phrase. Whaddya want?” He said, clicking his tongue, slightly upset.

Marilyn turned her head towards Helena, who only smiled in response. That was entirely unnecessary, that insulting term was too mild to even offend her. But if it suited her need of protecting her little sister here, she couldn't help it. She turned her attention back to Vincent afterwards to answer.

“N-nothing. I’m just confused. How long have you been here?” She asked him.

“Hehh? A few, longer than you at least. That guy's an utter looney I tell you, nothing but the same old preachy words these kinds of peeps bring.”

Marilyn was a bit surprised by this. From what she could deduce of the details here, he seemed to actually be entirely unaffected. Perhaps it was because…

“Are you an atheist?”

“Huh? Hell no! I just focus on things immediate to me, not whatever that guy is doing.” He answered, “You know him though?”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“Uhmmm…”

Marilyn would try and get a good look at the preacher in front of her again. She would've tried to get a scan in using her Eyes of Heaven, however—

“I think I know him.” She didn't need to, this person was recognisable enough to her.

He was a dwarven student of the Royal Academy. She did not share many classes with him, but he was there. It turned out that teenaged dwarves do exist, as she had known for quite some time now, but they didn’t exactly have the exact appearance Marilyn thought of them as.

They were virtually indistinguishable from the Halflings, the only difference being the subtle quality of their longer lifespans and much tougher bodies. At least one passing thought of hers was somewhat right, for dwarves were a race that have a denser mineral-based structure to their forms than most, almost identical to rocks while still being as malleable as flesh.

Individual Recognised: Eldryn Valor

Her eyes glowed stellar azure once more, and it was enough to—

“Aha! And here I shall provide an example of one that is blessed!”

“Wha-?”

Marilyn now stood out from the crowd, who had dispersed to give space to her presence. It shocked Helena and even Vincent. The girl was utterly confused, and looked around to see the people moving away from her bit by bit.

“Come forth, dear friend! For you have been chosen as an example!” Eldryn said those words as his hand called for her, his tone of voice loud and clear.

“Uhh….”

Still, Marilyn refused to budge. This was a completely foreign experience to her. Not even her past self have experienced this. She turned around to look at Helena again, to somehow gain her affirmation.

“Sis…?”

Helena was also slightly perplexed, but would answer, “Marilyn, I think you should try this out, maybe? It could be good?”

“Honestly, do whatever ya want, ain't hurtin’ nobody it seems like.” And Vincent interjected further, as he was cleaning his teeth with his pinky finger.

Two opinions, that should be enough for her to move forward with this. It could perhaps be like those moments in magic shows, where the audience were requested to participate in one of the magician's acts on stage.

Therefore, with nothing left to do, she took a deep breath and stepped forward. It brought a couple of applause from the people in the crowd, but the anxiety was about to overwhelm her here. She was not sure what would happen.

“Your fears shall subside the moment you will hear my voice, would it not?”

“Uhmm…”

Her heart told her not to lie. So she shall answer with such, as she went to his side. He was in fact a head shorter than Marilyn, truly a dwarf.

“No…? It's not.” She said, a bit uncertain still about all of this.

“Hmmmm…” His blindfolded gaze was clearly penetrating deep into her.

Intrusion detected.

“I see, I see it now! You are truly blessed!” He responded, backing away from her to get a clearer picture. “Your soul has quite the unique quality! Your being! You were meant to have it!”

“H-have what…exactly?”

“Your eyes! No, no, your comprehension in general!”

Marilyn’s pupils dilated, “What!?”

To the crowd in question, his ramblings would seem a bit odd, complimenting someone's ability to understand and see things as a blessing. While it may be such for people who were blind, it was a redundant statement.

But to her…

“How did he know…?”

The words ‘Eyes’ and ‘Comprehension’ were the main signifiers of one of her main advantages; The Eyes of Heaven. An ability she had the privilege to use fully for around two years now. And for him to recognise such a gift that was given to her…

“How did you…”

“Well well, all eyes are special, correct? Hence why mine has a blindfold covering it!” Eldryn said, pointing towards the fabric upon his face. “Such gifts of perspective and sight, it shouldn't be underestimated. But yours…yours are truly worthy of being called blessed!”

“Is this man just trying to flirt with her by calling her eyes beautiful?” Vincent, the cowboy, interjected suddenly with his comment. “It ain't even that special…”

“If I would target her as a main love interest, perhaps! But I am not doing that, Vincent Morales of Arcadia!”

“Tch, alri- wait a fuckin' minute, how did you know my name!?”

Eldryn did not answer, for he decided to turn around to Marilyn again. This time, he spoke quietly, as he then held her two hands.

“Your gift…it’s something that I can consider as a miracle in the works.” He stated, “Do you know its origins, Marilyn?”

“Uhh…”

That was a tough question, which had given her a pause for her to think it through. She didn't exactly know what it even was. A blessing it was called, but from who exactly she did not know. It was quite the mystery, as was her immortality.

“...no. I don't.” She replied in a soft tone.

“Hmm…understandable. Perhaps that shall be what you must find out yourself, oh Chosen Person?”

Her breath stiffened, she suddenly froze. The air around her changed. The world seemed to have frozen around her, yet the crowd that surrounded her…

“To understand what it meant for you to be here. The start of your quest in uncovering the underlying truth. That I shall guide you in answering.”

The crowd spoke in unison, saying those words, as if they had been influenced. She backed away, her hands departed from the dwarven preacher. ‘Eldryn’ rested them to idle afterwards.

“You're…back?”

“Hmm, I would say so. It was as promised. I am here to act as what I have placed myself as for you, Marilyn Althorn.” ‘Eldryn’ said to her.

Marilyn sighed, “Quite sudden…I see.”

‘Eldryn’ smiled, “You’ve adjusted quite well to my antics. So perhaps it's getting old now for you. I will think of another to play the next time it happens.”

Marilyn forced a chuckle. Her antics are not funny at all. It was utterly terrifying. “Yeah…I’ll probably be on-guard by then.”

“Still, follow the White Rabbit, and you will find your answers. That shall be my sign from now on. You will know.”

Reality shifted once again, and the air turned to normal. Marilyn’s position returned to a prior stance, of her hands being held onto by the preacher in front of her, Eldryn Valor.

“So, do you know its origins, Marilyn?”

Marilyn stood silently for a bit, but she opted to shake her head, “No. But I will find my answers eventually, Eldryn. Thanks for having me here.” She said, with a small smile.

Her gaze met a peculiar White Rabbit, wearing a monocle, standing upon its hind legs by an alleyway. And sure enough, Marilyn departed from the preacher, from the crowd, from even the other two people she knew of here.

It caused a bit of surprise, everyone was confused by her sudden action. They did not notice the critter’s presence, even if they were to see where it stood, nor did they know why she was doing it.

But the man of great faith that was the epicentre of this crowd had thought of something else about this.

He simply smiled, “That I shall wish you luck upon, Marilyn of Kharnam.”