Iris looked at her uncle Lazar, ushering a forceful smile in his direction that she tried to make as natural as possible. It was a bit strange, considering she didn't smile often, if at all. “I have plenty of things to do as a priestess of Vermillion Church, and you have no issue with that, I think?”
She didn't have a particularly good relationship with her uncle, but with how everything went on, she had to rely on him for the sake of her brother, and partially for her sister Eliza. Iris couldn't see her anywhere in the kitchen, deducing she was still sleeping or doing her own things behind Lazar's back.
It was the usual stuff, so she didn't even consider her yesterday or in recent days, nor did she think much of her to ask her for help. It wasn't worth the effort.
Instead of worries, Iris thought of getting a meal for herself, but with Murai still in the bucket, she was skeptical. Lazar didn't seem to be in a good mood either, as he eyed her in his frowning and morning mood. Iris could tell he was hiding some worry or frustration in his voice because of yesterday, and his face was the same.
It was a good idea to get out of the house as soon as possible. In this way, only Timmy will be the sole undertaker of Lazar's mood. Not her. Stepping towards the exit, Lazar finally noticed her suspicious behavior and a tinge of something else. Perhaps it was her smile that made him change.
“Why won't you take a seat and have breakfast like usual? I doubt the church would force their priests to starve when working,” he said, pointing to the empty chair in front of him.
“I am not hungry,” Iris replied with her back facing sitting Lazar.
“Then why am I sensing something strange from your bucket? You don't usually take it to the church. Shopping, sue. Especially this early in the day, it is strange. It also seems heavy how you hold it.” Lazar said, squinting his eyes to appear focused on something that shouldn't be his worry. Once again, he was sticking his hands where they didn't belong.
Hearing his well-perceived worry, Iris clutched the bucket with her fingers, nervous. She had no choice but to turn around and figure something out.
Walking to the table, she put the book, quill, and ink before Lazar and shoved her arm deep into the bucket. Lazar was watching Iris with some doubt, but he didn't check the bucket himself. He trusted her, while he didn't think of the possibility of her, having a demonic beast in her possession. That wasn't something possible, and considered for a priestess, but who knew, it was precisely the case of a demonic beast in the bucket.
Call it a joke of a world, but Iris didn't place Murai wide open on the table. In fact, she pulled 2 Healing Potions from her last night's endeavor.
“You probably sense this, Uncle.” Iris showed him the Healing Potions that glistered in mana particles. “I bet you are nervous and too sensitive after what happened yesterday. I hope everything is fine with you so you don't have to worry about me. I have a job to do, so I am going out early.” she readily said, finding the right excuses along the way.
Without waiting for a reply, she stored everything back in the bucket without further ado and suspicions.
“You know about yesterday?” Lazar asked, raising his brows in further question. “I thought you were away from the village,”
“I told her what happened back then. It was interesting and I saw it all, so I told her, Uncle,” Timmy replied since it was also a part of his problem. Timmy wasn't stupid and noticed some tingling strangeness in the air around the way Iris acted. He couldn't sense the strangeness of the mana, but he noticed that Iris was a bit nervous.
Though, she was hiding it very well so he figured she was hiding something in that bucket. Maybe a demonic duck, or so he thought.
“I see...” Lazar sighed and massaged his temple with his thumb “I didn't think of that in this way. Anyway, take a meal at least... The church doesn't provide you with much, but hopefully, your work will be generously rewarded with your efforts in alchemy.” Lazar dismissed his strange attitude, so he ignored his unnecessary suspicion. Timmy and Iris gave him good enough excuses.
He knew what to expect from himself after what happened yesterday. In fact, he didn't sleep that well at all, nor did he notice the acts of mana in Iris's room. Alchemy was unfathomable, as far as he could tell.
Through his insistence, Iris put some bread and ham in the bucket, telling a simple excuse that the market was better visited early, rather than later. So, Iris did what she could, leaving the room right from the main entrance which was barely a few meters away.
Clutching the door's handle outside, she looked at suns in the sky that warmed her face. They weren't the brightest, nor were they strangers. 3 suns were visible in the sky, while 2 more will come beyond the horizon at a later day, indicating the start of the afternoon.
Placing one hand down the bucket and the other clutching the handle, she walked the path that was leading outside of the village.
The road towards the nearest city Cinnar won't take that long.
With firm steps and not many people around, Iris managed to go past a few villagers who remained living as if nothing happened. Some were still repairing the damages caused by Falconers, while the majority went with their day. Farming, trading, and so on went along their mundane lives.
While some tried to greet her and asked her for some favors, Iris couldn't help them. As a beginner priestess, she wasn't the kind to accept everything, so after finding some excuses, she left the village.
After a couple of minutes of hurried jogging, she stopped beside the forest path, littered with bushes and trees on each side. Before her was a well-kept road and not the kind of road one would expect from a small village.
Putting her hands into the bucket she put to the ground, Iris revealed Murai's head, so he would breathe better.
“S-sorry for this... I didn't mean to take that long.” Iris said nervously, while Murai couldn't help but hear all the things around her. He heard her nervousness through his Soul Read, and the exchange between Lazar and the villagers made him recognize how living went in this village. “Don't use mana for the time being... I am still suspicious of the people of the Centralis Kingdom. Since my former nation lost, the people began to change. Not for the better by the way!” She said the last word in agitation, hoping that no one will cross her paths.
Murai knew the case of war could change anyone, and Centralis Kingdom seemed to be quite ridiculous at what they desired.
So a bunch of powerful lunatics, who have Blessed statuses think of themselves as superior? It seems some assholes are trying to use these paws to clench some grudges, hoping to reach some sort of understanding by spending the lives of mortals and beasts alike. What a fucking joke. Murai sneered inside, but he still remained his mana in check. It wasn't perfect but passable to let the mana forcefully remain in his core. It was like not breathing but with Beast Core instead.
Murai forcefully kept his mana undulation as little as possible, clutching the Beast's core like a bag of gold coins. Like that, he hoped none of these "strange" feelings Lisa and Iris talked about won't appear too obvious.
As he remained in this thing called training, Iris returned to her walk toward Cinnar.
On her way to the city, she stopped behind some hunting spots, where were open trading shops beside the road. People traded coins or made barter with the hunters. In this manner, she purchased some food for Murai with some coins.
“Sorry if it's not up to your standards” she whispered to the bucket and stored the meal deeper inside. Fortunately, there weren't any mages or someone who would notice this demonic duck. “You mentioned some bones, so I made a special request for a butcher to smash Red Board's rib roast apart, bones included. I hope you will like it.”
Murai didn't think much of a reply. He rather clutched the paper bag with his beak, finding some meal for himself inside. It was passable, at worst. It wasn't cooked, much to his dismay, yet he still forced his beak to rip it apart to eat.
With that said Iris grabbed the bucket and continued her journey.
Cinnar wasn't the biggest city in this part of the Somalis continent, nor it was the kind to be called a village. Surrounding the city were tough stone walls of at least 10 meters in height. That was kind of tall, for not being a fortress city, nor a place for nobility.
Cinnar had a few tens of thousands of permanent citizens, making it a big city in this region, but not the largest. In this place, a Vermillion Church had its main headquarters for some reason that Iris didn't know. It was a bit remote city for a church of that size and might.
For the lack of care for Murai's worry, Iris once again put a cloth around the bucket, shoving him close. It wouldn't be that long to reach the church anyway, so she did what she could, hoping the last hurdle of going inside wouldn't become her last.
That was, to walk past the entrance gates to Cinnar. Even though she bore priestess attire, she was still stopped by Centralis knights. They inquired her about something, pointed to the bucket, and questioned her. They had some familiarity with mana, so Iris did the same as she did with Lazar and showed them the potions. That shut them up since the priests of any church had much higher potions than them.
She was glad nothing happened, so getting to the city was, thus, a bit stressful, but successful.
The following journey was without hurdles, since there were so many people on the streets, no one would care for any random mana undulations. Most people cared for their own problems and businesses so they walked without any worries toward their goals.
Iris was the same and soon enough, she reached the Vermillion Church.
It was a big plot of land with a structure of just a couple, yet significant buildings. Tall, wide, and with quite nice architecture, they were the biggest in Cinnar. There were tall walls around the perimeter of this land, distinguishing it as a holy place. Still, one could see the majesty of the buildings with wide windows and a few towers up to 40 meters in height.
Poking his head beyond the cloth, Murai couldn't help but look at the building with various thoughts. This sort of place was a vessel for a god's reputation. A place where they paid a fair amount of attention because they had to.
It was fair he held some apprehension towards coming to this place. But he also trusted Iris and his own judgment that he needed some help.
Am I stupid, or too naive? Disagreeing and remaining in that village was a possible way to... Nah. It was a possibility, but this is a gamble. I will take my chances with the church. Murai thought, hiding in the bucket.
Iris voiced the matters in her own style, while I could live through this regardless of my choice. Gods are gods, while I am myself. Whatever the church has to offer, I may take my leave in some way... or die miserably. Sounds good to me, but since Vermillion seems neutral to straight-up righteous god, then it is fine. At least it is not some Chaos God. Those are some nasty fellows.
Murai thought helplessly about his fate, hoping he got it straight with himself, even though it sounded a bit strange.
Walking forward, Iris reached the main gates where the pair of old pries, wearing long robes in red color and white accents, stood.
“Good day to you, Mister Pitts, Mister Kurz.” She greeted the two with a small bow, while they nodded and let her in without a word.
They weren't the guardians of this place. They were a simple medium for people in need. Anyone who would come to the church would be able to get help because of these two old priests.
With the last thing done, Iris noticed a poking beak out of the bucket.
“Where do you think are you poking your beak to, sir Murai?” She asked him, whispering and turning the bucket closer to her face.
Murai looked away, faking his obviousness that he didn't do anything wrong.
“Fine. We are here anyway, so it's time to solve this trouble of yours. I wonder if it's gonna work though.” Iris said and openly carried a duck in the bucket right toward the biggest building.
It was a huge cathedral of dozens of meters in all sizes. It was a wide building made of glistering and smooth bricks with a couple of towers that stretched to the sky. It was longer than tall, with the ability to seat thousands of people for religious purposes in the main or secondary halls.
Reaching the main open gate, Iris walked inside. It was rather early in the morning, so there weren't many people, but all of the priests and personnel of the church were present.
Though she was also included as a priest, her own standing wasn't as official as most of the villagers, or her family knew.
She was still a beginner, with not enough accomplishments down to her name. She was both young and inexperienced, yet hopeful to become a proper priest for her sake and her family's. That was one of the reasons she became a student of one of the head priestesses of Vermillion Church. She was the one Iris wanted Murai to meet, and she was someone that can help him.
“I have no time to have any discussion with you, sir Murai, so bear with me talking alone. I am about to introduce you to my teacher and master. A level 74 priestess that is with the Vermillion Church for almost 2 centuries. Do you have a problem with me, taking your problems to her? I know her for years, so I believe she will help you in the same manner as she helped me. There are no ulterior motives, I swear on her goodwill. Though your circumstances are vastly different than mine, so if you don't want to, I won't take you to her. What is it then? Nod if you agree.” Iris said, glancing at the bucket and saw Murai's nodding confirmation.