Me, Gerd and Mike sat ourselves down at the fountain. Cold winds blew at us, but that's not important. What is important now is the words that are about to come out of my mouth.
"It was on mid summer I think. You see, I had always practised swordsmanship with my dad at the park. Every weekend, we go there to have our workout. It was our bonding time, as well as my training."
"One day, I had just finished with our practise and we started walking home. Before we even left the park, I looked back and saw a hooded figure holding a sword, about to swing at dad's neck. "
"I told him to duck his head and with his quick reflexes immediately dodged the slash. As he did all that, a hand from behind grabbed my mouth and my waist, and then pulled me onto a horse."
I looked at Gerdur a bit before laughing a little as I talked.
" This was the reason why I was so terrified during the Truce Festival when the maids pulled on my hand and my body, hahaha..."
"We didn't know that you had such a trauma, sorry..."
"It's fine, it's not that big of a deal. Anyway, they-"
I continued to talk about that incident. After what felt like forever I have finally finished talking.
"...We feel sorry for you. "
"It's alright, I kind of got over it. It happened when I was 3 or 4 I think. It's already been a few years so I'm fine. Talking with you three about it made me feel much better."
"Hmm..." Gerdur groaned as reply.
"Hearing your story really made me appreciate my peaceful life..." Mike said, with a hint of worry in his voice.
"Yea... Anyway, that was how I was almost kidnapped, and also the first time I have seen someone dying. Alright, it's time to go already huh?"
"Oh yea. The sun is starting to set, it's getting late."
"Ah well. Before I leave though, I don't want this year's gathering to end in a sulking way from my story. We should end it on a high note!"
"I agree!" "Absolutely!"
"Hmm?" I looked at what just dropped on my thigh. It's snow.
"It started snowing..."
We all watched the beautiful sky as a wave of snow slowly descended. It was a nice scene for a pair of sore eyes.
We looked at each other and smiled, knowing that our little wish was granted.
"Anyway, I'll head home. I'll see you guys next year!"
"Yea!" (2x)
"This is a real farewell now. Goodbye you two!"
"Goodbye!"
With a smile on my face, I turned my back towards home's direction and then started walking again. I had a huge urge to look back, but I know that if I look back and see the two of them walking away like that, I'll start crying for real. So I burried my urge and walked back home with the necklace and all plushie.
Upon reaching my home's front door... I remembered something.
"Ah! I had forgotten to go to the church again!"
(The next day...)
It was getting late yesterday so in the end I didn't go. Today is the weekend, so I could go there now instead.
After having breakfast, together with mom, dad and my sister, we walked to the church.
"I haven't prayed there for about a year now." Mom used to head out to the church a lot, since she's really religious. Nowadays she doesn't, I don't know why.
"Really? How come?"
"I couldn't find the time to, especially after Ghyse left. I'm sure that the father there will be annoyed."
"He'll be understanding I think. Besides, the pope was a nice guy too."
"Yea... I think he'll be really angry at us haha..." I chimed in with my anxiety at the right moment.
"It's fine, you were busy weren't you? Who could spare enough free time to decide when they want to go anyway?"
"Well, about that... Kyrie, how's the dragon inside of you?" Mom asked me concernedly.
"Hmm, no signs of it waking up at any moment. I don't feel weird things either."
"I see, that is a good sign then."
Before I sealed away the dragon's soul, I didn't feel any particular signs of discomfort or something like that. And naturally, after I sealed it away it's still just the same. No signs of it waking up anytime soon.
I know this sounds like a red flag but honestly I don't think I need to worry a lot about it for now.
We continued walking and reached the fountain in front of the church, where I parted with Mike and Gerd yesterday.
'DONG!'
The bell of the church rang and sent a ringing sound so loud that it shaked the ground. It's midnoon now. Echoes of the ring went through the entire city.
The bell actually ring twice a day, once during midnoon which is 12pm on Earth, and once at the beginning of evening, which is 6pm on Earth.
After ringing for about 5 more times it stopped. We stopped covering our ears and went inside.
Unlike that day I first went here, right now it's bustling with people. It's the weekend after all. Besides that, many have now come back from out in the fields near the city, and many of them are looking for healing, and for shelter, both of which is what refugees wants.
Mom knew exactly where we needed to go, it's to the pope's room. It seems that mom is familiar around here since she even knew the interior of the church that we never went into before.
In front of the pope's office are chairs laid close to the wall of the hallway so that we can sit without getting in the way. There's a few person here sitting, and we took our seats as well.
After a short wait, we could see the pope opening the door and receiving the next person. Soon, it was our turn when the door is opened again by the pope. Inside we could hear the pope talking.
"-no is no! Again like I said, increasing the food price is outrageous, it's like stealing money from the people seeking shelter. This conversation is over, you will not cause further problems because of your greed, we all know you have enough food to feed everyone for 4 months at least, way longer than the winter itself!"
"This isn't fair! Merchants are increasing the prices so that when our food runs out, they can sell theirs at an inflated price! How come I don't see you fair and righteous people do something about that?"
"Merchants are allowed to give prices depending on themselves because they are private businesses, unlike you who has the church and the government's fundings. Besides that, even for all the merchants combined they only feed at best about 10% of the people, unlike you farmers who feed at least 70%, you have a responsibility to keep the price low. No is no, I have made my point!"
"Damn it, there's no use talking to you!"
A middle aged fat guy stormed out of the room.
"That guy, isn't he the one responsible for managing most of the farming done out of the city?" Dad asked mom.
"Yeah, he's the land lord that owns most of the farmland to the south. Rumours says that he only cares about money."
As they are talking, the pope peeked out from the door. Judging from his reaction it seems that he recognized me and dad.
"Next... Oh it's you two. Come on in."
We all went inside the office. And just like any other office there are chairs and a large desk for the pope to use.
"So. You lot have quite the audacity to show up here again after missing our promise for nearly 3 months."
"....we are terribly sorry about that!" Mom apologized immediately, even though dad and I didn't say anything.
"Hahaha! I was just joking with you. I understand that we are all busy so we can't do eveything exactly on time. But!... "
His red eye shined brightly as he looked at me. However, the uncomfortable feeling of being analyzed didn't strike me this time.
"You... You resisted even my all seeing eyes? "
Everyone looked at me, even my sister.
"Wha-what? I didn't do anything."
"The way you move your mana around says otherwise, little girl."
"Oh this?"
After the incident with the Magic God Lynn, my mana control got better. Way more better. I can basically control my mana as good as my limbs now.
As for how I resisted his gaze? I did that by twirling my mana clock wise inside my body, like a blood circulation, rather than just letting them sit there dormant. After months of practising, it has become second nature for me to always twirl my mana around my body like a blood stream.
I did this because I was curious about how the Magic God had resisted me trying to sense her mana. I figured out that by twirling your mana around your body like a tornado, you can achieve the effect of hiding your mana. However, the best I could do now was just resisting small scale magic that acts on me, it still isn't strong enough to actually resist other people's mana aura and hide my own.
"Sorry about that haha..."
I stopped the circulation. As soon as I did that I could feel the anxiety attack of having 'Appraisal' used on you.
"Right... It seems that the dragon is still slumbering. The barrier has no signs of breaking down so we don't even need to cast 'Binding Vow' again."
"Phew..." I breathed a sigh of relief.
"How did you improve your magic so much within a year anyway?"
"Well, I went to Zoward's Magic Academy and attended one of Magic God Lynn's lecture. This is the result of that haha. "
"I see. You really are talented huh, little miss. I figured that nothing weird has happened since you didn't show up at all and I was right."
He looked slightly relieved after that.
"So, how have you been, Katherine?"
"I'm fine, thank you. So you remembered me after all. "
"Of course, I remember all of our members of the church. You did a lot of community service before you got busier, so we are grateful for that."
"What was with that farming land lord just now anyway?"
"Nothing particular, really. People like him always request for permission to raise the price of food for their own gain. Don't worry, the church will try our best to maintain the market price so that the people won't have to run out of money when buying food."
After he finished talking, he looked at Marie. Marie looked back at him with a face of curiosity, it was cute.
"Hmm... Can I use 'Appraisal' on her?"
"It should be fine, go right ahead."
"Okay. Little miss, you are gonna feel uncomfortable but rest ssured that you will be safe alright?"
"Mmn."
"Good."
Again, his red eye glowed up as he analyzed Marielle. Then he took out a piece of paper and started writing on it with an ink pen. Seeing him using the magic eye, I got rather curious about it too.
Truth to be told, I have been wondering about that magic for a long while now. Normally in stories back on earth, 'Appraisal' is only present in fantasy worlds with a system. There isn't a system in this world, so how does it work?
"Hmm. Nothing out of the ordinary for her. Among your family, only Kyrielle is an abnormality. Your mana is so high for your age it's insane, and your magic power is also out of the norms. "
"...What is Magic Power?"
"Magic Power dictates how powerful your magic will be. Basically, you can have all the mana in the world but if you don't have high Magic Power, even the strongest spell will only be as weak as a slap to the face. "
"Is that so? Anyway, can I ask another question?"
"Go right ahead."
"What is the history of your Appraisal magic?"
"It's a Magic Eye, and calling it a magic or a spell is a bit too much since it's neither, it's something else on it's own entirely, this is true for most Magic Eyes. It is said that long ago, only the demon race can have Magic Eyes, but upon the Twelve Great God's second descent, individuals with Magic Eyes started appearing. This meant that this ability was granted towards us humans, and also to the beastmen, elves and dwarves."
"How does it work? How does it tell you the information about the creature you are using it on?"
"That is difficult to explain. When you use it on someone, you can 'see' things with words that come up in your vision, which will tell you the details of the person. You can also see the amount of their Mana, their Magic Power as in how strong are the spells they cast, how physically strong they are, how tough their life is, and more."
"I see. That is rather weird... "
"I agree, it's not something that normal people can understand just from words."
"Come to think of it, how come the church's family have so many people with the magic eye? Isn't it random and rare?"
"Magic eyes can't be inherited by childbirth. Either a child is born with it through sheer luck, or they are granted one by the gods, mine is the latter case. A ritual is performed on each kid in the family upon reaching adulthood, and only those who are chosen by the gods can be granted the eye."
"I see... I don't have any chance of obtaining it huh?"
"Not a chance. If you get one, that'd be a big news. "
"I see... That is all of my questions then."
"Well then, if you all have no business here now then it's time for you to leave. I have other people waiting to come and meet me after all. "
"Alright then, we will be taking our leave." Mom picked up Marie as she said that and stood up from her seat.
"Thank you for everything pope, even though I didn't get to talk to you at all. " Dad talked after mom finishes.
"There's always another time when we can share a drink as we talk, Mr Buffet. "
"Thank you for everything!" I offered my thanks as well and turned around to walk out following the rest of my family.
"Before you go, you need to know something. "
"What is it?"
Silently, he handed me a piece of paper
"Take the paper, and read it back at home. Don't let your parents find out. "
"...Right. "
In a loud voice he reminded me of our promise.
"Don't forget to come back half a year later, or else I'll actually get angry!"
"Got it!"
"Farewell then. "
I exited the office.
"What was that?" Dad asked me for what he told me.
"Nothing, he just told me that if I ever felt the seal coming loose I must come here again ASAP."
"I see... Let's go then. "
We all headed back home after that. I wondered what he wrote in the paper...
As soon as we reached home, I removed my winter coat and picked my little sister along and then went to my room.
I looked the door and sat my sister down right next to me on the bed.
"Don't tell mom or dad about this alright Marie? "
"Okay!"
I took out the paper and then opened it and read it.
"Your sister's name is xxxxxx. "
Eh? What was wrote there didn't made any sense because it is a word that I have never seen before.... Wait a minute... it wasn't a word, but just characters paired together to spell out a certain sound like romaji in japanese.... and I know exactly what the pope is trying to say!
"What's wrong nee-chan? You look shocked.... "
I took a closer look at Marielle.
"What's going on, you are scaring me... "
"Ehhhhh??!!"
Should I tell her that I'm from earth as well? What if she thinks I'm disgusting because of pretending to be a girl and acting like her big sister?... Will she stop treating me like family upon learning about my true identity? Should I only tell her I'm from Japan and don't tell her my name?
...no. It's not good to hide things that I shouldn't hide, it'll only make me feel guilty. I should just tell her who I am and tell her that I'm not an enemy.
(Chapter 24 end)