At that moment of Iris's questionable gaze, Murai was also looking at other priests, focusing his Soul Read around him. He felt no present divinity in this place, unlike that cave in the Somalis Dungeon that made it quite strange. At least for now, he saw nothing wrong. A lot of priests had quite some feel to them and were bright, calm, and well-behaved.

As one would expect, he through.

Well, I am already here, so why does she even ask for my consent? Murai thought, glancing around and seeing the interiors of this cathedral.

Her master is of level 74? There goes my life if it's too bad of a decision.

He confirmed her question with a simple nod, so Iris continue forward. She walked towards the open space of this cathedral, reaching a section that went to the side building. Iris didn't see her teacher anywhere in this place, and she was hard to miss. She must be in her office that wasn't in this cathedral.

Vermillion Cathedral had another build-in section beside the humongous open preaching space. That was the side building meant for offices and other things. Though, unlike this open space, the doors, and stairs to the interiors were private and not as open. No common person from the Cinnar was allowed here unless they had a need for that, or a formal invitation or access.

It was a place of focus and business, making each room special in its own purpose. In a sense, it was the main living space of the priests, mages, and everyone that worked for the Vermillion Church. With a lower ceiling and special places of interest, it was unlike the massive cathedral. There was even a large hospital on the lowest floor, making it readily available for the needs of the public if it would be needed.

Other than that, there were also some military barracks, weaponry, a smithy, and all kinds of workshops. After all, the priests were all mages with their own need for knowledge, safety, and privacy. Such spaces were important for every religious church of every god.

No matter if the god in question was fierce, or good in nature, a need for rules, and a system were always needed.

Walking beside the wall with many doors, Iris reached the stair, walking up to the upper floor of this side building. There were more doors, indicating more interior spaces, such as offices for high-rank mages, and priests, or experimental or alchemical rooms.

The one with deep bronze oak wood indicated a standing of a person behind the door. One of the 5 Grand Priests of the Vermillion Church. Ceila of the 2nd Sun.

Knocking seven times, Iris waited for a response that never came. After a while the door opened by itself, revealing no one behind. Iris knew it was nothing strange, so she stepped forward and closed the door.

The room was somewhat humble and minimalistic. It wasn't small, but the ceiling was bigger than normal. It was at least thrice the size of her room, but the special person who was behind the worktable was no beginner priest. No. It was one of the stronger ones in her Class.

“Good morning to you, Iris.” A pleasant-sounding voice said. It carried goodwill, honesty, and calming nature. “What makes you find me so early in the day?” Ceila asked, sounding quite young for her age. Her soothing, and gentle voice resonated within the room, and even Murai was momentarily lost in thoughts.

Ceila remained with her back facing Iris, but after she asked her question, she turned around.

She was a beauty to behold in every standard of that word. With a high, yet thin nose, tall legs, a tight waist, and somewhat of a worthy chest, she appeared as beautiful. She was wearing a smaller-sized robe than she should have, which wasn't tight so she couldn't breathe. It was revealing nothing of her body apart from her palms, head, and a bit of her neck. Her hair was of golden color, traveling behind her ears, toward her collarbones, and behind her back.

“T-that... is complicated. This.” Iris hesitated but decided to not speak of much nonsense before her. So, she put forth the bucket with Murai—who was glancing around with his head—forward.

“A duck?” Ceila asked, questionably raising her right eyebrow.

“A duck,” Iris replied, still holding the bucket quite some distance away from her.

“What do you... mean? Oh? A duck? I see. I see. Interesting. It's... strange duck. What makes you come here, Iris, or this duck before me is the one to seek me out?” Ceila asked with a glistening smile after pondering over her thoughts. A quick rundown of what this duck was, allowed her to discern some possibilities, but why come with answers when answers were before her?

Iris surely knew what should be said.

Murai clutched his beak, poking it out of the bucket for him to see the priest. Looking at the woman on the other side of the room, he turned out to be quite fascinated. It wasn't a bad thing? She was a beauty, but what use did it have for the current him?

Murai scowled inside, yet did nothing more than silently observe, hoping that Iris would explain the situation, rather than him.

“Master. I was the one to come here with him. Not him with me.” Iris explained herself.

“Him? Does this "him" has a name?” Ceila asked, walking towards Iris, and soon enough, she was towering over her by more than a meter in height.

It wasn't that Iris was small, but Ceila was too tall. She was at least 3 meters tall, which was the reasonable answer for the high ceiling, and taller utensils in this room. The table was higher than usual, and the chairs were as well. They were for her, so it made sense.

“I... I will explain this a bit better, but it will take some time...” Iris hesitated, placing the bucket on the table.

“Go on. I am all ears for meeting an Anatidae species in this sort of circumstance, this place, and age.”

Ceila's words surprised Iris a little, but then she knew who exactly was before her. Ceila was someone vast like the sky itself. A priestess that went through many holy wars under the name of greater power and the good of her Lady.

“It...” Iris hesitated, wincing around in nervousness. Ceila's unwavering gaze made her a bit nervous, but she had to explain the situation. Otherwise, her whole journey would become useless. “It is like this...”

Iris went for a long stretch of clumsy explanation that almost took 10 whole minutes. Throughout this time, Ceila didn't ask anything but observed Iris, and Murai at the table.

***

“... And that is the reason I am thinking of helping him. Is it wrong? Am I doing one enormous mistake with this... situation?” Iris asked at the end of her wordy exposition.

Ceila frowned, letting out a mischievous smile at the end. “No. It's your own decision and your own fateful encounter. It is disregarding anything that that kingdom has, but it acts outside of the Will of our Lady. I agree with you, Iris.” she patted her head, feeling her hair, and giving her a praiseworthy smile.

Iris clutched her hands and lowered her head to not see such a beautiful picture of her brightness. Her cheeks reddened upon this sight every damned time.

“T- thank you...” she mumbled, hesitant to say it out loud.

“That is only right thing to do, considering the matters of the Centralis Kingdom that this region is under...” Ceila said, remembering some unpleasant memories when she mentioned the Centralis Kingdom. “As for this little beast in this bucket, Falconers went against it even though he is a Blessed? How come? If the one behind it was a captain, it was also a Blessed man, but for it to occur against this weak beginner? Suspicious. Didn't Battleworld make something for you, or was it a punishment act? I wonder which was it...” She turned her attention to Murai by grabbing him directly to her huge palm.

Like a small doggo, Ceila placed Murai carefully on top of her palm, so he wouldn't be in any pain. It was so gentle, Murai thought silk strands of bliss wrapped around his body instead. He couldn't defend against this. No. Perhaps he was even looking forward to this.

“M-master... sir Murai can't voice anything, because he is a duck, so I used that instead.” Iris pointed to the table, where was the rest of the things she took from the bucket.

“A book? Quil? Do you know how to write?” Ceila asked Murai, who gave her a simple nod.

“Who are you? A child? A Blessed is more than this, but I guess you didn't want to hurt Iris, which makes me glad... Good. Good duck.” Ceila said, patting Murai on the head and scratching his chin, creating shivers down his spine, and his tail started wiggling involuntarily.

“Alright, I will help you because I can and wish to seek Blessed in many circumstances. This one isn't that bad. Consider it a courtesy against the Centralis Kingdom and my Lady.” she said, continuing to pat Murai without retracing her hand.

After a couple of moments, she stopped and pointed with her point finger toward Murai's small forehead. A beam of intent suddenly seeped out of her finger, traveling right into Murai's mind.

In a blink, Ceila forced herself her own Will towards Murai's in a similar, yet different way as Rain did.

“Alright. Does it work?” Ceila's voice echoed in Murai's Soul Space. “This is called an Inner Voice. I am speaking to you through the Will alone, which may be something strange to you, but it is something this world possesses. But... I fear you do have some... powers yourself, considering your soul is very powerful. Maybe even bigger, and stronger them mine, which makes me question you a bit more. Who are you, and why are you in such a predicament to seek this church out?” she talked straight to Murai's soul, but not outside. It was as if she talked right before him, but she remained her pinky lips shut.

Iris behind her heard nothing, but she noticed that Ceila was doing something to him so she waited for them to finish.

“Oh, so an Inner Voice? You are quite a lofty one, aren't you?” Murai voiced these words in a similar matter to her, putting forth his Will into his Soul Space, which was where Inner Voice spoke to.

It was almost the same way he talked to Rain, but at that time, it was a bit forceful, as if both of them tried to force each Will down, thus reaching some understanding without pushing one's Wil around like a toy. This time, it was much more steady with a smaller disparity between the two speakers. Murai can tell that Ceila was countless times stronger than Rain. Her Will and soul were incredible but in no way stronger than his own.

Back then against Rain, Murai was indeed powerful in terms of his soul, but he lacked many abilities and attributes. Since the fight against him, Murai became stronger, while his own powers evolved to another level.

“You may say so,” Ceila replied, her voice echoing around.

“To answer your question, everything that Iris said was true, but she left a couple of things behind the scenes since she doesn't know everything. I am a simple Old Soul, or so I heard that word a lot.” Murai explained. “Some folks are calling me like that, so I don't question it all that much. There is also this Blessed thing, which is a bit annoying... It goes over my head so think of it as you wish, slave of a god.” Murai stated, calling Ceila one thing that she didn't like.

Frowning a little at the reality, which made her face strange and unnatural, Ceila changed back in a moment. “I see... You are that kind of Blessed? Understandable, yet being a slave is nothing but an excuse in the eyes of chaos. You think everyone deserves freedom or wants one?” she asked with her Will, sending more powerful currents of power than before.

Though, they did nothing but made Murai's body shiver a little while doing absolutely nothing against his Will.

“I can feel your soul being squished by the divinity. So-called a nasty gift, I presume.” Murai guessed, feeling the pressure rising as he pushed his Will against hers. It made certain things unable to become hidden, while Celia herself was turning serious, irritated by Murai's remarks but unquestionably shocked by his Will and Soul Space.

“Think of it as you wish, duck.” She said, giving up on her pressure. “I am not here to let me question myself. I, for one, have no need to change the course of my fate. Your soul, on the other hand, is something else, so what do you want? Is Iris your future plaything?”

“No.”

“Then are you someone of those... who goes against what makes the gods rightful beings in the universe?”

“Rigthful? Universe? That is funny in so many forms that I can't even fathom it. You seem to know a lot, for a god's tool and slave,” Murai uttered, not one bit weaker than Ceila's rising voice. She may have lessened her pressure, but her Will was pushing at him stronger than ever. She was unable to move Murai one bit, which she tried in a heated argument, so she retracted her turning anger back.

She didn't want to do anything wrong in front of her student, after all.

Grunting all of a sudden, Ceila still held Murai in her single palm, but she felt like squishing him like a toy.

It was...

Something was calling for her.

It was a call. A divine one. Her Lady was also angry inside of her, as her partial divinity within herself made it more than apparent. Any wrongdoings against her were infuriating her also.

Ceila became impatient and irritated once more. She didn't want to hear Murai's words. His words of arrogance made her recall many things. “You... State yourself... I don't like running around a bush. Not now, against an Anatidae.” Ceila asked with obvious annoyance in her voice.

She could more or less tell, that Murai was playing with her emotions the moment he forced his Will against hers. Or, maybe it was because he felt confident since he was stronger? She only guessed it was the case.

Maybe he was harsher because of her words, which made this whole exchange a simple revelation of her true colors. That, or it was the Divinity that was something he was curious about? In this sense, Murai wasn't sure what to think, since his Soul Read couldn't perceive anything out of Ceila's at all.

No emotions, nor a bit of something went out of her, into his Soul Read.

After all, this was his first time meeting someone very powerful in this life. Murai could guess that Rain was strong only because of their level differences. In actual fact, he was still level 54, which wasn't a lot, but a lot against a level 0 seedling of any kind.

On the other hand, Ceila was strong in all regards.

There were no hideous secrets, unlike what Murai expected. He could perceive that Ceila was very righteous from her words, and not someone nasty. For a slave, that was.

So, with questionable feelings running rampant in his heart, Murai came to a simple solution. He will stop playing with her and turn himself into a good duck.

“I am running around like a madman since I was born, to be fair. Hell, I wish I could continue running, but you see it yourself. My state of the body is poor since I pissed off some unpleasant fellas already. It's funny, isn't it? You may make fun of me too if you feel like it. I don't mind.”

“Unlike yourself, I have no such intentions, Old Fart.” Ceila barked at him, unafraid to sound angry.

“Huh? That's a new one.” Murai mumbled.

“What?”

“Nothing. Simply put, I am "standing" before you because this charming girl named Iris wanted to help me because she felt like it. I agreed, in the goodwill of this Vermillion god she likes. I have no ulterior motives against your lady, so calm down with your hideous personality. I wanted to see your colors and that is all to my forceful words. I am sorry if it makes you a bit calmer or bitter.” Murai excused himself, sounding more humble, yet powerful at the same time.

“Your excuses make me less happy, but I can see some truth in you. Regardless of your less than pleasant motives behind your words and soul, I accept this as a Gifted.”

“Then I am glad and hopeful for this small opportunity and goodwill of your Lady.”

“Not so fast... I am still curious about something.” Ceila stated firmly. “Who were you before coming here? Into this Battleworld... Your soul... It is a strange one. Calling it Old is an understatement.”

“You can tell?”

“I can, but you won't... reveal it. I can tell that because you want something in return, don't you?”

“Heh!” Murai sneered, almost laughing at her successful guess or powerful perception. “Fine. Help me get to my health, and provide me with certain information depending on my question. That is my price, and I will let you look at my soul. Uninterrupted by myself, of course.” Murai offered a big pile of cake, which she couldn't refuse at all.

He couldn't tell the reason for her curiosity, but it appeared that Ceila was fairly interested in the mysteries of the souls, or was it something about him in specific?

As a mage, she should have some curiosity over many things, wanting to research any mysteries of this world and universe. That was an undeniable intent, and will of many mages, and Murai was one of them himself, so he can recognize one if he met one.