Midway through his walk, he stopped in front of the fire god status and bowed his head slightly, showing his respect, and kept walking, taking a sit in front of the woman.
" Hello, Aunt Anithia; yes, I have already passed my test and now looking to buy a gem; that's why I instantly came here." Dean politely said, mimicking the original owner of the body's way of speech.
Anithia's smile deepened, and she nodded, taking out a few documents and placing them on the desk. After signing each one using her own signature, she pushed the documents to Dean.
" Here, sign all of these documents."
Dean didn't immediately sign and read through all of the writings, and thanks to the memory he obtained, he could understand the language like he was raised with it, having no trouble reading it whatsoever.
His face distorted seeing the sum of money he was required to pay and the time needed to transport the wind affinity gem from the wind church in the city north from here.
Anithia quickly said, seeing the change in his expression," Dean, don't forget that the fire church doesn't require any other affinity gems except fire ones, which is why it takes a month to deliver your wind gem, the closest wind church from this city is after all quite far away from here.
Dean nodded in understanding," What about the payment? I don't have that 1.000 gold on me right now; how can I possibly buy the wind gem."
Anithia was at first puzzled, but when she recalled that Dean was but a core member of the wind church and not even a priest yet, realization quickly dawned upon her.
" Your family can provide for that, no?"
Dean's heart tightened hearing her words, and if it were the real Dean hearing her words right now, he would have already dropped to the ground from the intensity of the pain.
Since the moment Anithia spoke about his family, Dean directly went to search for that in his memories but was only met with a void, unable to see any parents or relatives; it was like he was an orphan, yet slightly different, since he clearly recalled that he was born here and lived alone in his mansion since ten years old.
' Something is wrong; a good chunk of my memories is missing! Is it the side effects of my soul taking over this body? Or was it already the case before I took over? In any case, I'll make sure to ask the Book of Immortality later on.'
" I don't have a family, but I'll manage to gather the required gold in a month's time, so don't worry," Dean said in a solemn tone.
He feared that she might refuse his request since 1.000 gold in this world is s something only nobles and people with similar wealth could take out. And now a kid who didn't even acquire his class yet was telling her that he would gather that amount in a single month.
Not even a fool would believe his words; at the end of the day, even a priest would need six whole months' worth of salary if they wanted to gather this amount of gold. Including missions they will take daily from the church or any other organization, they were a part of. The time will only be halved.
Anithia thought about his words for a second and accepted her hesitation wasn't even apparent," Okay, you can pay when your wind gem arrives; just sign the documents so we can seal the deal. Also, don't forget the consequences if you don't pay the amount in one month; you will be banned from making deals with every fire church operating in the whole world without exception."
She paused momentarily and continued," But I know you will never place yourself in such a situation; what's a 1.000 gold for a young man with your talent? After all, gathering it is a walk in the park."
She warmly smiled as she simultaneously hid the documents Dean signed under the table, pleased with the deal she just finalized.
Dean then asked to get a room inside of the church till his wind gem arrived, acting like he didn't want them to worry about him not paying, always being under their surveillance.
He then walked on the smooth floor of the fire church and soon left it, heading to his house on 50b street to gather his belongings and move to the fire church for the following month.
At that moment, Anithia grabbed a crystal shining with a faint green light that appeared out of nowhere in front of her and spoke.
" He took the bait, Bishop Arnold; the documents were perfectly faked by Lady Ariya's illusion magic. The compensation was altered from only being banned by the fire church to having to pay 5 million gold or else he will be killed, and all of his properties inside of the city will belong to us."
A voice that belonged to middle-aged man soon responded to her words with a satisfied tone," Well done, I'm confident that his parents won't be able to stay hidden after seeing their son in grave danger and will surely make a move to save him. Keep an eye on him during this whole month, the illusion might be able to fool Dean cause of his mortal identity for now, but his parents surely know that something is fishy about the deal; they will surely make their appearance and give him the required gold."
Anithia hurriedly accepted her mission and ended the call.
' Sorry, Dean, I know it's not your fault, but just blame your luck for being born in that family that only knows how to kill people.'
She then stood up from her wooden chair and knelt on her knees in front of the fire god red status, tears flowing out of her ears as she prayed for forgiveness for the sins she is committing and a way to get stronger so she could control her fate and never harm innocent lives again.
Meanwhile, as Anithia was praying inside of the fire church, Dean had an ugly expression on his face as he walked towards 50 b street, all the way thinking about the conversation and the deal he just finalized.
' Again, something is wrong, another situation going out of the ordinary. Anithia easily accepting my request isn't something anyone would ever do unless they were sure I'm going to pay the money or wanted me banned from the fire church.'
Dean's mind was full of thoughts about his current situation, but he soon pushed all of them to the side and decided to think about all of this after he received his third card gift; thinking about it, a wide smile adorned his face as he fastened his footsteps.
This is also the main reason why he dared to sign the documents. Even though he doesn't care much about being banned from the fire church since he had the BOIM (Book of Immortality) with him, he is rather confident in gathering 1.000 gold in one month, giving the third gift the BOIM gave him.
Alas, Dean still forgot when the BOIM told him that his journey was never meant to be easy, still left in the dark about the storm brewing in the background, a storm that would soon devour the whole city.