Aleister walked to the Venerable Ward and found himself at the steps of the oldest temple within the Lillium Empire. He took in a deep breath and was able to smell its age. Although not as grandiose as most of the newer temples built, this one gave off a unique, archaic and ancient aura.
At the top of the stairs, he laid eyes upon the white and gold marbled statue of Lillith. A small stream of water trickled down from her cupped hands and flowed into a hole in the ground. He looked into the eyes of the statue and felt a cold chill run down his spine. It almost seemed as if the statue saw right through him.
“Quite the impressive statue, isn’t it?” asked a priestess, who appeared behind him. She appeared to be human, but he couldn’t quite tell due to the shawl and cassock that covered most of her body, with long black hair being quite the common trait.
“Impressive is quite the understatement,” Aleister said.
“It truly is,” she said. “I don’t believe I’ve seen you here before.”
“You would be correct.”
“Then let it be my pleasure to introduce you to our temple,” she said with a deep bow. “Would you like a tour of the place?”
“As much as I appreciate your offer, I’m sure you have more important tasks at hand,” Aleister said while waving his hand.
“Calling any tasks I have, important, would be a stretch,” she said, raising her hand to her forehead as her eyes shifted to the side and noticed another priestess walking towards her.
Aleister noticed her too and asked, “Then, I guess you could show me where I’m able to make a donation.”
“Perfect!” she said in a loud voice. “Just follow me and I will show you around.”
“Kyoko, wait!” the priestess to her side said, speeding up her walking speed.
With the exaggerated turn of her head, she turned as said, “Oh, Nana. I didn’t see you there.”
“I have an urgent matter that you need to intend to!” she said in a panted breath.
“I already promised to give our most esteemed guest here a tour of our temple so he can make a generous donation,” she said. Aleister let out a nervous chuckle.
“Oh,” she tilted her head forward. “Then can you help me when you finish?”
“If I can help you later, then it isn’t urgent, is it?”
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“It’s urgent for me!”
“Then do you think I would say no to you?”
Nana beamed and jumped onto Kyoko, embracing her in a hug. “Thanks, big sis, you’re the best!”
“I know,” she said.
She looked at Aleister and before taking off, said, “I hope you like the place. We take very good care of it."
“Well, Kyoko, just because I said I was going to make a donation doesn’t make it a generous one,” he corrected.
She shrugged. “Donations are anonymous and if you’re going to use my name, you should at the very least tell me yours.”
“Apologies. You can call you Aleister.”
“Call you? Are you saying that Aleister isn’t your real name?”
“Aleister is my real name,” he said. “You just read too much into my words.”
“Sorry if it came off as abrasive or inquisitory, reading into things is just part of my job.”
“No worries,” he said, following Kyoko closely behind.
She gave him the tour of the entire temple, showing him everything except for the locked rooms that weren’t accessible to the public. It ended once they returned to the statue of Lillith.
“And that’s it. Most of the locked spaces are just storage, housing, or other such places. Since you wanted to donate,” she pointed at the statue’s cupped hands, “you can toss your coins in there.”
“Thanks,” Aleister said. “You didn’t need to give me the entire tour in the first place, but I appreciate it.”
“I managed to waste at least an hour of my time, so it benefitted me as well, and I don’t know if you noticed, but there aren’t many people here.”
“I did, kind of surprised about it though.”
“The temple is empty most of the time, but—” a look of dread and horror filled her face as she shook her head, “whenever there is a big holiday where the masses have days off and can visit the temple to worship and celebrate, it turns into a...disaster area.”
“I can only imagine,” Aleister said, rubbing the back of his head.
“May Lillith guide your way,” she said in a deep bow with closed hands.
Aleister took the last gold coin in his pouch and flipped it into the small pool of water before walking away.
“Not going to say your prayers?” Syn asked with an amused smile.
“If pray right after I donate money, it no longer becomes a prayer,” Aleister said. “It becomes an offering.”
She grew an odd smile and said nothing as she floated along.
Aleister stopped at the top of the stairs. “What’s with that look on your face?”
“Hm?” Syn looked confused at his question. “I don’t think I know what you’re talking about.”
He clicked his tongue and said, “Forget about it,” before heading back to the manor.
----------------------------------------
“I do believe that this belongs to you,” Aleister said as he put down a jar on Master’s desk.
She glanced at the jar. “Thank you for the favour.”
“Uh, yeah,” Aleister shuffled in place, still not used to her being nice, “No problem. You didn’t need anything else, right?”
“No tasks that you could accomplish right now,” she said. But before he left, she added, “I will give you five gold every time I need you to collect more Anima Caligo for me, which averages around five gold a week.”
“Don’t worry about it, it isn’t necessary,” Aleister said. “You wouldn’t happen to have an old or unused alchemical kit on hand though, would you?”
“Are you sure?” Master asked. “Five gold a week will add up quick.”
“Sure, five gold may add up fast, but the possible returns of alchemy are worth much more to me,” Aleister said.
Master walked to a door on the other side of her room and disappeared inside of it. She came out a few moments later holding a wooden box covered in dust with both hands. “I won this at an auction,” she paused for a couple of seconds as she closed one eye and stared up, “sometime ago and I never used it, so it's yours now.”