People present in the room all turned their heads to the kowtowing priests, they too, like the person given the most respectful way of greeting, were surprised to the point of being frozen on their spot.
What had just happened? One moment, they were doing a mission, and as soon as they came back, after healing her friend, two priests were giving her respects.
On top of that, they are a lot older than her. As rude as it might be, but she thought they're about the same age as Master Chi. Shouldn't it be her who must give her respect?
"Uh–" Lithea doesn't know what to do and how to react. Is this normal?
Viv saw Lithea sweating and immediately jumped in front of her to shield her, growling. With Serene in bed and the information about Thenea being injured, he thought it was them who were the culprit and was bowing in front of Lithea to ask for dispensation.
"Viv, no," Lithea said softly, her hand on one of his shoulders.
"Please, raise your heads and stand up," Leon tried to keep his cool but the tone of his voice had visible irritation, "you're making the lady uncomfortable."
"Ah," the two priests blinked and looked at each other before standing up.
They bowed their heads, "my apologies, Priestess Lithea."
She had never been called as such, and it came out with so much respect. With how the others react to and treat people from the temple, especially in the lower sectors, it is rare to get respect. But she must speak.
"I believe I have no idea what it is you are trying to say."
It is true, being orphaned at a young age and who grew up within the temple walls, training all her life, she's ignorant with the outside world. Not just on how to interact but the stories as well.
She felt so out of place but she's trying hard, she's observing and taking notes in her head.
One of the priests gulped before taking a small step towards her, Viv once again took a protective stance, "you said your name is Sol."
"Yes?"
"May I ask what your mother's name is?"
Hugo stomped his foot, under the helmet is a dangerous gaze, "Hey! That one's personal, if you wish to learn about her, shouldn't it be done where no ears could hear all of you?
Priest or not, they're out of line.
"I shall prepare a room for the three of you," Leon walked out of the room and called for help to have the room at the corner of the manor be prepared.
"Are you alright, Lily?" Lance asked.
She nodded and glanced at Viv, he was still throwing daggers at the priests.
"But I don't think Viv is."
"Do you want to check on Thenea, Viv?"
With the mention of her name, he turned to Lance and nodded aggressively.
"Take me to her!"
They all were surprised, eyes bulging like it's going to pop out. Again, there were some instances where he would forget to keep a low profile and focus on burying his traumas, his words are clear.
And this time, he wasn't too absorbed in forgetting his traumas to live, it was overtaken with his love for Thenea.
"Now!"
Lance did not like how he was ordered around and wasn't given any respect by Viv but since he knew he was just worried, he had to let it slide.
"Come, I'll take you to her room."
With them leaving, instead of asking the butler Kai to fetch Lithea and the other priests, Leon made it his job to make sure they'll be comfortable as they chat.
"When you come back, I hope you'll give me some time. There's something I'd like to show you."
Lithea could only look at him when he closed the doors before him. Now, she's alone in the farthest room of the manor with the priests who called her their heir.
An heir to what? Was there something Master Chi forgot to tell them?
"Priestess Lithea, please have a seat," one of them pulled out a chair for her while the other poured her tea, "we have a lot to talk about. It is about our impudence a while ago, Priestess."
She nodded and took a seat, she played with her teacup before taking a sip.
"If I may, I would like to introduce ourselves," the one on the left said, his gestures are gentlemanly and careful, almost like he doesn't want to create yet another mistake and offend her.
Their actions confuses Lithea even more, they make it seem like she's something important they lost a long time ago.
"I am called Albert."
"And I am called Glynn, Priestess," the one on the right said.
Again, Lithea only nodded. She wasn't sure what to say anyway.
"I know we acted rather rash, we apologize," Glynn said before taking a sip of his tea, "but we were just thrilled to finally meet the heir we've been waiting for decades."
"Pardon me but," she contemplated, "there must be a mistake here. What does my being a Sol have to do with the Moonlight temple?"
"My word," Albert exclaimed, "didn't Master Chi tell you? You are a Sol of birth, it is your right to take over the Sol Temple after your uncle, Master Tohan."
"But I'm a girl, it is only right for Master Chi to oversee the temple."
"That was before, Priestess," Glynn sighed, "Master Tohan changed the condition before he died knowing Mayari only had a daughter."
"And if I don't want to?"
Both Albert and Glynn looked at each other, they had not considered it.
"I'm afraid there's not much of a choice, Priestess, it is your duty as a Sol child."
"I'm sure Master Chi will tell you this someday, we would like to apologize for startling you like this, child," Glynn pressed his knuckles together and bowed.
"My sister."
Glynn shot his head up.
"My sister, if not me, my younger sister can, right?"
The two priests aren't sure how to react to her revelation, they are still lower in power than Master Chi and the only mentors at the moonlight temple. Even though they are knowledgeable about the line of succession within the Sol temple, they're still ignorant with the depths of it.
What should they do? They shouldn't have dropped the bomb, now, they're the ones suffering. In front of the rightful heir, the two of them are dumbfounded.
How can they answer her if they aren't sure of what's going to happen if she were to anoint her sister as heir?
At the other part of the village, the Land of Scorpion's Council, Lady Edrei, and the Elemental Guardian in disguised as Pie, Pygmy were face to face inside the council's private parlour where she meets with distinguished guests to discuss urgent matters in need of immediate action.
Lady Edrei did not beat around the bush and immediately asked Pygmy as soon as the doors closed.
"Now, tell me, what do you know about the attack? And how sure are you that it is something unnatural?"
The corner of Pygmy's lips raised, and the council doesn't know the meaning behind it.
"Do you know how our world determines something as unnatural, Council Edrei?"
Edrei did not speak, instead, her brows knitted behind her mask.
"Pie presumes you don't," Edrei did not like her tone at all, "let Pie tell you, Council Edrei."
Pygmy walked around the room and had a look at the interior, it is indeed fascinating with different types of raw crystals growing on the wall.
"It is common knowledge to everyone that for a situation to be unnatural, it must not be something the people are capable of doing. For you guys, humans, something unnatural is man-made, while for us natural beings, it is something that crosses the border of the flow of life."
Edrei tilted her head, it is the first time she's heard of this.
"Flow of life?"
"You see, Pie and the others guard that flow and make sure it is not abnormal. The things people do are still considered natural for us. May it be science or war, it is natural as you were given the power of free will."
"Then what is it that is considered unnatural for–," Edrei paused and scanned Pygmy from head to foot, "–beings like you?"
"Going against the natural order has different levels of it, first, the lowest one, when people get overconfident and take natural resources for their own benefits."
"Witchcraft?"
"Exactly! There are ways of witchcraft we tolerate and pass as natural, but if it came from darkness and harms others, that's unnatural."
"And the next level?"
Edrei's eyes never left Pygmy's person.
Pygmy could only sigh before bringing the smile on her face to answer Lady Edrei's question, "it is when humans are becoming too obsessed and their greed overlaps what nature could accept and tries to seize more than what they can handle. In short, taking over something that's not theirs by killing innocent people."
"What about those innocent people getting killed by false accusations?"
"It can't be avoided, after all, determining what's fake and what's true is hard for humans."
Edrei's hands formed a first, 'this apprentice is getting on my nerves.'
Edrei closed her eyes and tried to relax, "so how many innocent people must be killed for your kind to intervene?"
Pygmy acted as if she's trying to recall their own law, "mmm, about tens of millions?"
"Does that mean your kind never helped people during war?"
Pygmy shook her head, "we can't."
Edrei held her forehead, "and you call yourselves righteous ones?"
As surprised as she is, Pygmy kind of expected for people to come up with fantasies about them, "Pie and the others never said we are, it's just that, your kind loves to make stories to satisfy their beliefs."
"You!!"
The veins on Edrei's temple popped, she can no longer tolerate being in the same room with someone so arrogant. And even though it is what she thinks, Pygmy was just telling the truth.
Pygmy is becoming impatient with Edrei's outburst, she's been feeling her disinterest for her the moment her eyes met hers.
"Is Council Edrei going to attack Pie and not wish to learn the highest level?"
'Right, I still need to know which unnatural event it is she's pertaining to. I must report it to the others and have an urgent meeting on how to repress this unpromising event.'
Lady Edrei sighed and found herself a seat to rest in, "go on."
She closed her eyes, massaging her temples.
Pygmy resumed her walk, "hmm, the final and the hardest of all to determine is when the other force makes a move."
"Other force?"
Pygmy pressed her lips together and walked to where Edrei was, leaned to her and whispered, "demons."
Lady Edrei's eyes shot open as she felt her hairs stand upon hearing it.
"W-what?" she stammered.
"The highest and most troublesome unnatural event is when the demons play around."
"And with the three levels you speak of, which one is it that's pestering our region?"
Pygmy sighed, "what do Council Edrei think?"
"The lowest one, witchcraft!"
"What kind of witchery would they be using?"
Edrei wanted to answer but she couldn't.
"Council Edrei might have trouble looking for an answer since it is not witchery."
"You mean to say–"
"Yes, this is a demon playing. It might be taking out its anger on this kingdom by the looks of it."
Lady Edrei was angry, she wasn't angry with what she told. Instead, she's angry with how nonchalant the being is in front of her. But what she doesn't know, Pygmy's mind is already scanning the possibilities on why it is happening. But with thousands of years of memory to dig into, it would take time.
That night, Pygmy watched Leon when he planted the seed. And with her guidance, he successfully buried it on earth at exactly six in the evening.
Leon looked up, awaiting more instructions from her, but there was none.
"Is that it?"
"Yes, its done."
"It shouldn't be watered?"
"Let it be, it won't grow with water and sunlight, it grows by eating natural energy on the earth's surface."
Leon was confused by what followed anyway, he thought the ways of the other beings were weird. After all, humans are known to be very complex creatures.
He immediately went to Lithea's room and knocked on it, "Lithea, are you inside?"
There was no response.
"Sir Leon," a bright and cheerful tone called to him, it was Thenea. She's pushing a cart full of sweets, he might have an idea who's it for. "Lily isn't inside. I saw her going outside a moment ago."
"Is that so, thank you my lady."
Thenea hummed when he walked past her, 'how come he's polite to us but uses familiarity with Lily?'
She shrugged her own thoughts and entered Viv's room.
Leon went out to look for Lithea, he's been wanting some time alone with her to give the book he found. But with the complication of the situation since they all arrived, he barely had any time to rest. Thankfully, his final task for the day was to make sure the seed was planted.
"I wonder where she could be," he mumbled alone.
Then, all of a sudden, the night where they became acquaintances popped in his mind.
"If she's not there, I guess I have to give it to her tomorrow before they leave."
Leon pinched his nose, "but I have loads of work to do tomorrow as well."
He hurried to the training arena and lo and behold, Lithea was inside. But she wasn't doing some training, instead, she's staring at nowhere.
She's deep in her thoughts.
To avoid startling her, he knocked on the door but she still won't budge. He thought he must wait for her to come to her senses and announce his presence when she's done.
A few moments went by and she's still not moving. It got him worried.
Leon slowly walked towards her thinking she wouldn't notice him but she did, she immediately threw a punch at him but he blocked it using his arm.
"Woah~"
When Lithea saw who it was, she lowered her guard and blinked.
"Sorry, you were just so out of it I had to disturb you."
"Sorry," she apologised for hitting him but mainly for not noticing his arrival.
"I finally am free of duties for the day," he said, hoping she'd remember what he told her before meeting with the priests.
"You wanted to see me, right?"
Leon smiled, "it's about this."
He pulled out the book he's been keeping. It had a rigged leather cover, it is very eccentric, it is impossible for anyone to mistake it as not a century year old book.
Some of the golden detail of its calligraphy had faded out, but it is still readable.
Lithea gently touched the book and read the characters on the cover.
"Aelia Einar's Book of Stones?"
Leon blinked, she read it with such ease while he had to squint his eyes and dig the back of his brain to remember what he learned about the archaic language of the kingdom.
"You can read the Trouvian Archaic Language?"
Lithea hesitated but then nodded softly, she thought maybe it wasn't a good idea to read it. She remembers Master Chi saying some might find her knowledge intimidating and would accuse her as know-it-all.
She finally had a friend, would he be scared too with her knowledge? Should she just keep quiet and pretend she doesn't know anything?
"That's so cool!"
Lithea blinked and felt a thousand question marks dancing inside her head, "huh?"
"I haven't met someone who knows so much, I can barely make proper conversation with people within the Council's Hall. They find it hard to keep up with the things I talk about. I also haven't found someone who knows stuff I don't know, this is great!"
"I–"
Lithea kept blinking, did Leon just exclaim his happiness with just a simple archaic reading?
Leon caught himself when he saw Lithea's blank stare, he cleared his throat.
"Anyway, I wanted to give you this book. It's from the archives and I know it would help you."
"How?"
"Well, you have one of her stones in your forehead, and it might be of help if you guys happen to stumble upon another stone of Priestess Aelia."
Lithea nodded, "have you read this?"
Leon once again cleared his throat and looked at the side, it is embarrassing for him to admit how his archaic language isn't as good as hers. It can't even be compared with hers.
"My archaic language isn't great, I can only read a few, I'm still having a hard time."
"You can read more to practice and maintain your archaic knowledge," she bluntly suggested.
She didn't know her technique might not work with other people. Since she's always self-studied as she grew up, and since Leon had been tutored during his stay as Lady Edrei's adopted son, their ways of studies are very different.
"I'll try," Leon chuckled awkwardly, "I'll try to level my archaic knowledge with yours."
"Thank you for this Leon," Lithea raised the book, "I thought you might see me as a know-it-all."
As someone who was seen as know-it-all, he can't help it but find it amusing.
"We two might be know-it-all to others."
The next morning, the leaves have been harvested and are currently being extracted by people who were carefully chosen by both Lady Edrei and Leon. Most of them were seamstresses, tailors, and there were also artists. But of course, the medical people are not to be forgotten.
Only those with light and precise hands are able to extract the juices from the leaves and after half a day, the juices were ready.
One leaf worth of juice is enough for one person. And since the leaves that were harvested is more than enough, Pygmy took the others with her. It's not right for human beings to hoard such a dangerous leaf.
And as soon as the juices were drunk by the sick children, their colours gradually returned.
Everyone present at the curing were both overjoyed and relieved. Others even fainted as they have been working without rest since the moment the children arrived.
Lady Edrei let out a slow shaky breath before she cleared her throat, "transfer them to better rooms, it's needed to fasten their recovery."
"At once, Mayor."
"Don't forget to inform their families about the news."
"On it, Mayor."
Inside Serene's room, the group had gathered and were patiently waiting for her to open her eyes. All of them had just finished their lunch and they never thought of returning to their own rooms to rest, to them, they can't rest until they see Serene waking up.
It's not that they doubt Lithea's skills, the person just escaped death.
It is natural for them to be this worried.
Viv got an idea and pushed his cart of sweets beside Serene's bed.
Did he think the smell of food would wake her up? The team snicker at the innocent idea. But if it were Viv in Serene's place, even without Lithea's help, he would wake up at the smell of his favourite cookie.
Viv placed different sorts of sweets around Serene's body one after another. His peaceful face, gently putting food around their team member is a sight to behold, it was so adorable they did not bother stopping him. After all, they needed something that could keep them sane.
"Mm," Serene's brows knitted as she moaned.
Viv stopped on his tracks and peeked at Serene's face with wide eyes. He then looked at Lance to see if he noticed it and if not, he'd inform him. But he, too, noticed it. Not just him, all of them did.
He returned his attention to Serene and stared at her, waiting for her eyes to open. And when she did, Viv dropped all of the sweets he got on his hands and screamed.
"SESEE!!"
Serene was still adjusting to the light within the room when she heard Viv's scream, she immediately covered her ears and closed her eyes tightly. She felt her body ache, she must have been laying down for it to become so stiff.
"Viv, Viv," Thenea tried to cover his mouth but he's moving so much. In the end, Hugo's big and strong hand was able to shut up the smaller guy.
Thenea slumped and sighed, "he's too happy to see Serene wake up, I'm so sorry."
As horrifying as it might be for Serene, it is such an entertainment to the others.
Lithea went out of the room to inform a maid and have her bring some food and refreshment for Serene.
The maid, Ali, was surprised to have Lithea speak and order her. She's the quietest person out of all and it is rare to see her engage in conversation with the others. She's either with books, or training, or just simply staying silent around them.
So when Lithea came to her, she was both happy and afraid of making a mistake.
Ali ran downstairs and screamed at those who were at the servant's lounge, "Miss Serene has woken up and Miss Lithea asked for food and refreshment for her!"
Everyone jolted up and ran about, quickly whipping something a sick person could eat but still tasty.
"Make haste, but make sure to do it well," Kai the butler clapped his hands, watching closely at everyone working in the kitchen. He can't have an injured person eat something unsuitable.
And not moments later--
BURP!
Serene leaned on her headrest, "that hits the spot. Please thank those who prepared these for me."
Viv who sat before Serene, watching her eat closely, did not blink. Her loud burp made him unable to react.
The maid took the empty cart and bowed, "will do, Miss Serene."
Lance stretched his arms when the maid left the room and spoke, "now that Serene's woken up, we'll have to leave the region and return to the capital tomorrow morning."
"What about the children?" Serene asked.
"It's all taken care of, Pygmy already took care of it."
The mention of Pygmy's name made Viv return to his senses and stood next to Thenea.
"So all that's left of us to do is to report to the guild."
All of them had been taking a liking to the manor, but their job must come first. And so, as soon as the morning arrived, the team left for the capital.