...
"It's a sad sight.", I muttered as I looked at the church.
All the abandoned churches I've seen at least had their exterior somewhat maintained by the local residents. But this one, not so much.
Plants and moss grew out of the cracks on the walls, with most of its windows broken since God knows how long.
'Well...', I thought as my eyes drifted towards the cardboard boxes that loosely covered the broken windows. '...I guess there is some maintenance being given to the church.'
It was then that I heard Aryl's ridiculing words. "To think there is an abandoned church in this kind of place. And it's a Church of Light to boot! It's refreshing to see the lightbulb being disrespected like this!"
'Now that she mentions it...'
The church did indeed belong to the Church of Light, judging by the half-broken symbol of the golden sun on top of its entrance.
However, I couldn't help but to frown at her, mostly in confusion. "Is it okay for a Inquisitor like you to say something like that?"
"Ah,", Aryl scratched the back of her head before sighing. "I don't exactly have the best relationship with the Light Church, and I'm not part of them anyways, so it's fine."
"What Church are you affiliated with then, master Aryl?", Reiner interjected.
I was also curious as to what Church Aryl belonged to. After all, with almost all of the Churches having some sort of alliance or treaty with the Church of Light, not many Priests, let alone high-ranking Inquisitors like her would openly insult Goddess Lumaria like that.
Aryl deliberated over whether or not to tell us what she was thinking in her head. But eventually, she sighed as she decided to just tell us.
"I belong to the Church of Storms."
"Makes sense.", I nodded my head in understanding. With her conjuring and controlling that rainless Storm of hers the other day, I had expected her to be part of a Church related to Wind or Lightning.
However, my face then contorted into a frown as I tried to recall all the Churches I've ever seen or read in a book. "But is that even a Church? I've never heard of it before"
"Of course she haven't...", Aryl muttered under her breath. "...Even I didn't know of it before Lyra told me about it."
She then urged us into the church to shift the topic. "Anyways that isn't important. Let's just go in already."
…
Now standing in front of the church, I frowned as I noticed something strange.
'This feeling, isn't this...'
Seeming aware of what I was thinking, Aryl spoke in a low voice that only I could hear. "Yes, you probably sensed it right. Act normal. They don't know that we know."
At her words, I gulped a mouthful of saliva in nervousness and nodded.
Smiling, Aryl gestured for me to go in front of her and open the door.
Since I was untouchable, Aryl often used me to scout unknown places or to test for traps, which I didn't really mind.
Pausing my thoughts there, I slowly opened the door and peeked inside.
Creak~!
The door creaked open as I glanced around the insides of the Church.
It was dark, extremely dark. However, I could vaguely see the outline of the rows of long, wooden seats that were in terrible condition; Half rotted and broken. I then noticed the wooden pulpit at the front.
And after a few more seconds of scanning, I could exactly pinpoint what was wrong with this place. However, since Aryl ordered me to act normal, I had to pretend nothing was wrong. "Aryl, Reiner, it's safe."
The first to enter was Aryl. She shifted her molten-red eyes upwards the moment she walked in, but her gaze quickly turned straight forward like normal after a split second. She then walked a bit further in, right before the first row of chairs, before turning around and crossing her arms as she waited for Reiner.
Then, it was Reiner's turn. He slowly walked in through the doorway, but his eyes suddenly widened in surprise as he stared at the seat row right behind Aryl.
"A- A kid...?"
The vague figure of a child, who was clutching a dagger in its hands and watching us in anxiety from the start suddenly shook violently in fear. It then slowly made its way towards Aryl while aiming the dagger at her neck as if it thought that Aryl hadn't already noticed its presence.
Despite having a dagger slowly approaching her nape with the intent to take her life, Aryl still kept that relaxed attitude of hers and looked at Reiner in annoyance. "You just have to be uselessly perceptive huh, Reiner? All our plans are ruined now..."
Woooooosh—!
It was then that I heard a wooshing sound as another kid dropped from the ceiling beams with a dagger in his hand, trying to utilize gravity to embed it in my head.
CLUNK—!
Of course, it bounced off my barrier.
Sensing that he couldn't harm me, the kid then turned towards the second weakest-looking target - Aryl.
Woooosh—!
He lunged through the air, aiming the dagger at Aryl's heart.
Smiling in amusement, Aryl simply grabbed the kid who was 'very sneakily' approaching her by the neck.
"Wh- What!?", a shocked voice could be heard from the kid Aryl grabbed.
Judging by the pitch of her voice, I could tell that she was a girl.
Not caring about such trivial things, Aryl turned towards the boy and used the girl as a meat shield.
The boy widened his eyes in shock before immediately redirecting his dagger to his left. He then regained his balance and tried to strike Aryl again, but she merely placed the girl between her and the boy, again, and again every time he tried to attack her from a different angle.
Getting frustrated, the boy shouted. "DAMMIT! RELEASE MARIA, COWARD!"
"So her name's Maria, huh?", Aryl muttered, breaking line of sight with the boy for a split second.
Seeing the chance, the boy's eyes lit up as he once again tried to stab Aryl with his dagger.
In response though, Aryl merely snapped her fingers and spoke in an disinterested tone. "Ah, this is boring. What did I even expect from a bunch of kids?"
<[Electrical dispersion]>
Vacuums formed on the boy's body, and before long, waves of Red electricity crawled their way onto his body.
Bzzzzzt—!
"Arghhhh!", the boy groaned in pain before falling down to the dusty floor of the church with his muscles convulsing violently.
Seeing this, Maria screamed in horror. "KEVIN!"
She then hit Aryl's arms in an attempt to escape her grasp. "Let me go!"
Aryl merely smirked at Maria's pathetic attempt and bent down to also grab Kevin by the neck. She then forcibly put them down on a wooden seat.
As Aryl's hand left her neck, Maria gasped for air for a couple of seconds. She then immediately moved towards the still spasming Kevin to check on his well-being instead of escaping by heself.
"K- Kevin, you're going to be fine!"
Crossing her arms while looking at Maria's teary face with a grin, Aryl then briefly glanced towards the wooden pulpit. "Ah, I almost forgot about that brat there"
<[B - Ash veil]>
Instantly, a Wyvern made of Ash manifested and broke the pulpit into pieces
"AHHHHHH!"
A scream of fright could be heard coming from the broken pulpit. Before long, the scream subsided as the Wyvern swallowed the kid who was making the noises.
It then slowly moved towards the row of seat near Aryl and dispersed into thin air, dropping the kid right beside Kevin and Maria.
With the 3 children now gathered in one spot, Aryl ordered me. "Celi, make some light."
I complied.
<[Flame]>
Under the orange light of the flame atop the tip of my finger, we could now finally see the appearance of the kids.
Kevin was a human with brown hair and eyes, Maria was a beastkin with dog ears, dog tail, blonde hair and light-green eyes. The remaining kid had purple hair and blue eyes, and he was also a human.
Studying their appearance for a few seconds, Aryl suddenly stepped forward and slapped Kevin on his cheeks.
SLAP—!
"Wake up."
SLAP—!
"I know you're not unconscious. Oh, and give up the idea of catching me by surprise. I know you're clutching a dagger behind your back."
SLAP—!
"If you want me to do this until you lose some teeth then so be it."
"I'M UP! I'M UP!", Kevin suddenly shot his eyes open and screamed in defeat.
Smirking, Aryl stepped back and crossed her arms. "Talk only when I allow you to, lest you want to suffer a fate worse than death."
I frowned at Aryl's words. "You shouldn't scare them like that!"
"Who says I'm merely scaring them?", Aryl gave me a creepy smile.
Seeing this, I gulped and took a step back from her.
'I hope those kids are smart enough to listen to her...'
Aryl then turned back towards the kids and asked in an interrogative tone. "How did you know we were coming here?"
"Jacob alerted us as soon as you walked into the alleyway.", Kevin answered while he was getting hugged tight by Maria, whose face was pale and body was trembling due to her earlier encounter with Aryl.
"Who's Jacob?", Aryl continued.
"The guy sitting right beside us."
Aryl briefly glanced at Jacob, who was similarly hugging Kevin to ease his fears, before asking yet another question.
"All of you don't even look like you're 13. How the hell are you all at
Kevin's face stiffened for a moment before he slowly opened his mouth. "Y- You don't know...? So... you're not one of them?"
"Human...", Aryl leaned forward and gave him a scary smile. "...Answer my question. I'll overlook your blemish this time."
Gulping a mouthful of saliva, Kevin tried to answer her question. "The resea—"
However, Aryl quickly glanced at Reiner and I before hurriedly placing her hand on his mouth to shut him up. "You know what, nevermind. I can guess the reason already."
She then gave him a threatening glare. "Don't you dare tell this to any of my servan— I mean companions."
'She was going to call us her servants, didn't she?', I frowned at Aryl, who was looking at the nodding Kevin with satisfaction.
"Alright, now for the last question", Aryl removed her hand from his mouth. "Why did you attack us?"
"We thought you were the resear—". Kevin briefly glanced at Reiner and I before quickly fixing his question. "—I mean we thought you were the Priests coming to kick us out! Even though they have abandoned this church, they still wouldn't allow us orphans to stay!"
"I see...", Aryl nodded her head in satisfaction. "...Say, are you forgetting to say something?"
Kevin stayed silent for a while as he fell in thoughts. Eventually, he figured out what Aryl wanted him to say.
"S- Sorry for... trying to kill you..."
"That's more like it.", Aryl smiled as she ruffled Kevin's hair; Though it just made him look at her in absolute confusion. It also made Maria shake even more in fear due to Aryl's close proximity to her.
Sensing something strange about Aryl's behavior, I slowly approached her. "Aryl..."
"...?"
"Aren't you going to, you know, extort money out of them like always?"
As soon as those words left my mouth, the three kids hugged each other even tighter as they stared at Aryl with startled gazes.
Sighing, Aryl removed her hand from Kevin's head. "They're orphans, and they live in an abandoned church at that. Do you think they have any money?"
"Y- You're right!", Jacob suddenly spoke up. "W- We don't have any money! Please don't rob us!"
"I won't. We just need a place to stay for a few days."
<[Alternate storage]>
Aryl then took out the red-bladed sword from before and placed it on the ground. She then handed it to me. "Celi, say the activation words when I signal you to."
<[Silence]>
With a soundproof barrier now covering her, Aryl gave me a thumbs up.
"[I love Theodris Grey].", I muttered as soon as I saw her gesture.
With the sword now lit aflame and placed on the floor, Aryl cancelled her spell and pulled out an unidentified meat from thin air.
"Reiner, do your job."
"Yes, master Aryl..."
As Reiner approached the sword with the meat though, he suddenly halted his steps and scanned around the room as if looking for something.
"What are you looking for, Reiner?", I asked.
"I'm finding some skewers... or at least some sturdy sticks."
Nodding in understanding, I helped Reiner go look for a stick. However, even after a few minutes of us looking around the whole church, we couldn't find anything.
Running out of patience, Aryl marched towards us and reached into thin air again.
<[Alternate storage]>
She took out a blue spear, one that looked as powerful as the sword. She then yanked the meat out of Reiner's hand and impaled it with the spear.
"There!", Aryl said as she handed the spear to Reiner. "Your skewer."
Staring at the spear in his hands, Reiner slowly walked towards the burning sword and carefully hung the blade of the spear right above the flames. He then took out some salt and sprinkled them on the meat.
After a few minutes, the delicious aroma of cooked meat emanate throughout the abandoned church.
Aryl briefly glanced at the children, who were staring at the meat with drools in their mouth, and spoke to me in a hushed whisper. "Amazing, isn't it? They must have been starving for days now, so food is the best way to gain their trust."
"I don't think it works with everyone though.", I whispered back.
"Why?"
In response, I pointed toward Kevin, who was shouting at Reiner and teaching him how to actually cook a meal.
As Aryl was about to sit back and enjoy the scene of a 25-year-old man getting scolded by a 13-year-old child though, Jacob suddenly approached her cautiously.
"What do you want?", Aryl spoke.
Gathering his courage, Jacob slowly spoke. "H- How did you detect us...? I- I saw that you briefly glanced at Kevin as soon as you walked in."
Unexpectedly, Aryl didn't lash out at him. Instead, she answered with an amused face. "Ah, that? Your way of killing your presence is flimsy. Even Celi could detect you! ..."
'Guess I'm alone now...', I thought as I saw that Aryl was busy talking with a very intrigued and surprised Jacob.
Sighing, I decided to take out the limited edition book and read it to pass the time. As soon as I did, however, I suddenly noticed Maria approaching me.
"Th- Thank you.", she stuttered as soon as she reached me.
"What for?", I was confused. After all, I didn't even try to stop Aryl when she 'fought' the kids.
'Was it because of what I said when Aryl threatened them...?'
As if confirming my thoughts, Maria spoke. "F- For trying to protect us from that..."
She then briefly glanced at Aryl before speaking in a low voice. "...monster. I- It must be scary travelling with someone like th- that, isn't it?"
Before I could fix the misunderstanding though, Maria spoke up again while having her eyes glued to my book. "Is that a book?"
"It is.", I said as I flipped through the pages. "You can read?"
"I can. Although I might not look like one, I was once a noble!"
"Is that so?"
"Mhm!", Maria was getting comfortable around me. "But... our house fell a few years ago, and my sister got sold as a slave..."
Hearing her words and seeing her ears droop down in sadness, I just wanted to comfort her by hugging her. But atlas, the damn barrier didn't allow me to do so.
As such, all I could do was to give her consoling words. "Don't be sad. I'm sure you'll find her again someday..."
"Thank you!", Maria then gave me a smile. "But everything's not all that bad, you know? Kevin and his brother took me in when I was on the streets, and I've been fed at least once a day since then."
"Brother?", I glanced around the church confusedly. "Where is he now?"
"He... left to become an Adventurer a week ago."
"Why did he leave so suddenly?"
"Well... he told us that his childhood friend became a member of the Hero of Light - Arthur Kilvillain's party, so he wanted to become an Adventurer, one that's more famous than the Hero to invite her into his party."
Although abandoning your little brother and another kid who were likely entirely dependent on you to chase after a girl was definitely a stupid thing to do, I didn't have time to think about it, as I noticed Aryl marching towards us with an unusually serious expression on her face.
"What did you say?", she stared in Maria's eyes as soon as she reached us.
Maria shook in fear, still afraid of Aryl.
Seeing this, Aryl back away a little bit and repeated her question. "Let me repeat the question. What did you say?"
"K- Kevin's brother became an Adventure—"
"Not that", Aryl interrupted her. "Repeat what you just said to Celi before I got here."
"Kevin's brother w- wanted to become more famous than the Hero of Light, Arthur Kilvillain...?"
Aryl's face turned even more serious at her words. She then stared at Maria with cold eyes. "You... how did you know the Hero's identity?"
"How could I not know?", Maria stared at Aryl in shock. She was so baffled that her earlier fear was nowhere to be seen now. "E- Even the beggars in Kerudark knows who he is! How out of touch with society were you!?"
She then rummaged through the pockets of her shirt and gave Aryl a crumpled newspaper that dated a week ago.
Getting curious, I peeked over Aryl's shoulder to read the content of the paper.
=====
BREAKING NEWS
The Church of Light has confirmed the Hero's identity to be Arthur Kilvillain - a 1st year student of Avaron! Currently, his party consists of lady Marie Evien, lady Lucy Fertilus, Saintess of Life Amelia Helot, lady Krista Nightshade, Evelyn, Raun Serus, and the Imperial princess - Eleanor Salvant! This is the first time in thousands of year that a Hero of Light has appeared again! Will the Hero lead us to salvation? Or will he—
=====
Bzzzzzzzzt—!
Before I could even finish reading, Aryl suddenly tightened her grip on the paper and tore it to shreds as Lightning crackled around her eyes.
"Wh- What...?", she clutched her head in disbelief. "HE'S NOT SUPPOSED TO BE REVEALED THIS EARLY!"
After a while, Aryl finally calmed down and muttered under her breath. "Haaah... I shouldn't worry too much. Eleanor will solve all the political bullshit for him anyways..."
...
A few days had passed since then.
During which time, Aryl constantly went in and out of the Church to do 'important business that concerns the future of the Empire', or so she told us.
All of us, except for Aryl, had gotten closer to the kids. We often spent the day going around the streets and buying the kids things.
And, on the 6th day of us being in Kerudark, Aryl suddenly approached me one afternoon.
"Celi, get prepared. We're going outside the city for a few days."
"Why though?", I asked her in confusion.
In response, Aryl merely sighed as she flipped through the brown-covered book on her hips.
"If I had a Bronze every time I have to pose as a bandit, I'd have 2 Bronzes a few days from now, which isn't a lot. But it's weird that it will happen twice."