"He gave you a what!?" Ellie, who was beside her, yelled in disbelief. Which caused Nirra to jump slightly due to the surprise.
"A mithril ingot," Nirra repeated, still shocked at why the man would give her such a rare metal.
"Sis, this is crazy. For one, how did he get his hands on that, and for two, why did he give it to you!?" Ellie, who was still yelling, screamed beside her.
"Ellie, calm down. I'm right beside you." Nirra held her ears as her sister yelled at her.
"Oh, right… Sorry. Anyway, why would he give that to you?" Ellie calmed down and sat back on her seat.
"I don't know; he said something about believing that I will make something truly special with it." Nirra thought for a second before Ameria interrupted her.
"Such a rare metal would fetch a couple hundred gold coins... I always wondered why it's so expensive." Ameria then gazed at the bluish silvery ingot in Nirra's hands.
"It's because it's not only harder than steel; it's also a lot more efficient in conducting elemental mana." Nirra recalled from reading about metals in miniatures from the book her father gave her, Forgefire of Metals and Ingots.
"I see, so this metal can allow more elemental mana to flow through it without the metal melting or combusting?" Nirra nodded to her statement, confirming her theory.
"You are very lucky to have gotten this as a gift, Miss Agustine. The church only equips the armor forged from an alloy of this metal to high-ranking preists and priestesses." the old preist, who was listening to their conversation, said.
"Oh, pardon us, but we haven't really gotten your name back in Aeris," Ameria asked as they were reminded of the old priest's presence in the carriage.
"My apologies. I must have forgotten due to the rush of our departure." The preist said. "You can call me Preist Benedict. An Adept Preist from the church of the holy one." He put his hand above his chest before he slightly bowed.
"I always wondered what they teach inside that church." Ellie remarked, which made Ameria and Nirra stare at her blankly. "What? I was curious." Ellie then looked away from the duo with a pout.
"Ohohoho!" The old preist laughed. "Then I will answer what the entire purpose of the church is then. Will that satisfy your curiosity?" Preist Benedict said.
Nirra listened in, and this information may become beneficial in understanding the motifs and reasons as to why the church would help her rather than the logical answer being to kill her outright.
"Let me see where to begin. Oh yes, the church of the holy one was founded by one of the members of the hero's party. To be blunt, that said hero IS the holy one. Who ascended into godhood after he hand-conquered the demon lord and sealed him in the underworld along with his armies." The old man explained. "I'm already guessing that you know the story of how the demon lord's blood spilled on the ground due to their intensive battle, which lasted 5 days and 5 nights and gave rise to the monsters we see today due to the demonic corruption of elemental mana." All three of them nodded to his question.
"Well, the hero knew one day that the barrier would slowly degrade away, letting the demonic corruption seek into our world, forming patches of dense mana to lure in harmless monsters and turn them into killing machines. The guild raised the concern that this was becoming a problem, so before the hero ascended into godhood, he was informed of the problem. He then instructed his party member to establish an order to go hunt these things down and keep the peace that he had fought so hard for, and to relay his message of true justice to the wicked." He explained before taking a break.
"Said party member, Double S ranker, Averey, founded the church of the holy one to relay his message and protect the peace. Under her rule, the preists and priestesses were in charge of detecting the faint demonic signature of these beasts. While the paladins were made the main fighting force of the church and were separated into four houses to assist with leadership. These are the Archanis, Paladins specialized in spellcasting and healing. Hawthkins, the most numerous house of the four, they are the main force in church. They are in charge security and act as body guards to us preists and priestesses. If you see a paladin with a preist or preistess, then there's a high likelihood they are from this house. Gepard, they specialized in lightning quick attacks, they are deployed in situations where mobility is needed to defeat an opponent and finally Archange, paladins from this house specialized in crusades into wastelands to defeat a large amount of foes before they reach a village or town." He explained. Nirra and Ellie nodded their heads, not making contact with the church since they grew up in a small village. Ameria, though, looked like she had heard this a thousand times before, so she stared into the outdoors with a bored expression.
"Every 15 years, a new Grand Preist is found by slowly detecting the amount of light elemental mana in every preist or preistess. The highest amount of light mana and most loyal to the church are chosen as the Grand Priest." He explained, "Now does that satiate your curiosity or do you have anymore questions?" He then recoiled in his seat with a smile. He gives the impression that he has done this multiple times before, but he doesn't care.
"What were the Holy One's teachings before he ascended into godhood?" Nirra asked with intrigue.
"Ah, a very good question, Miss Agustine." he commented before patting his beard with his right hand. "Well, there are three things he said for us to uphold.
1. Justice will be your pillar. Everyone will be treated fairly through a trial, no matter how wicked the atrocities.
2. Maintain the peace I have given you all.
3. Protect the innocent from the dangers of corruption," Preist Benedict answered.
"I see." Nirra looked at her sister in case she had any questions of her own.
"Are they any more?" he asked while looking at the twins.
"I'm good," Ellie briefly said.
"Okay, then, if you do have any questions that concern the church that arise during our trip to Captial, please do not hesitate to ask me," he said with a soft smile.
"Thank you, Preist Benedict." Nirra thanked him as she patted the small sleeping fox, who had woken up from his slumber on top of her bag earlier but was now resting on her lap, still curled up into a fluffy bagel.
"He gave you a what!?" Ellie, who was beside her, yelled in disbelief. Which caused Nirra to jump slightly due to the surprise.
"A mithril ingot," Nirra repeated, still shocked at why the man would give her such a rare metal.
"Sis, this is crazy. For one, how did he get his hands on that, and for two, why did he give it to you!?" Ellie, who was still yelling, screamed beside her.
"Ellie, calm down. I'm right beside you." Nirra held her ears as her sister yelled at her.
"Oh, right… Sorry. Anyway, why would he give that to you?" Ellie calmed down and sat back on her seat.
"I don't know; he said something about believing that I will make something truly special with it." Nirra thought for a second before Ameria interrupted her.
"Such a rare metal would fetch a couple hundred gold coins... I always wondered why it's so expensive." Ameria then gazed at the bluish silvery ingot in Nirra's hands.
"It's because it's not only harder than steel; it's also a lot more efficient in conducting elemental mana." Nirra recalled from reading about metals in miniatures from the book her father gave her, Forgefire of Metals and Ingots.
"I see, so this metal can allow more elemental mana to flow through it without the metal melting or combusting?" Nirra nodded to her statement, confirming her theory.
"You are very lucky to have gotten this as a gift, Miss Agustine. The church only equips the armor forged from an alloy of this metal to high-ranking preists and priestesses." the old preist, who was listening to their conversation, said.
"Oh, pardon us, but we haven't really gotten your name back in Aeris," Ameria asked as they were reminded of the old priest's presence in the carriage.
"My apologies. I must have forgotten due to the rush of our departure." The preist said. "You can call me Preist Benedict. An Adept Preist from the church of the holy one." He put his hand above his chest before he slightly bowed.
"I always wondered what they teach inside that church." Ellie remarked, which made Ameria and Nirra stare at her blankly. "What? I was curious." Ellie then looked away from the duo with a pout.
"Ohohoho!" The old preist laughed. "Then I will answer what the entire purpose of the church is then. Will that satisfy your curiosity?" Preist Benedict said.
Nirra listened in, and this information may become beneficial in understanding the motifs and reasons as to why the church would help her rather than the logical answer being to kill her outright.
"Let me see where to begin. Oh yes, the church of the holy one was founded by one of the members of the hero's party. To be blunt, that said hero IS the holy one. Who ascended into godhood after he hand-conquered the demon lord and sealed him in the underworld along with his armies." The old man explained. "I'm already guessing that you know the story of how the demon lord's blood spilled on the ground due to their intensive battle, which lasted 5 days and 5 nights and gave rise to the monsters we see today due to the demonic corruption of elemental mana." All three of them nodded to his question.
"Well, the hero knew one day that the barrier would slowly degrade away, letting the demonic corruption seek into our world, forming patches of dense mana to lure in harmless monsters and turn them into killing machines. The guild raised the concern that this was becoming a problem, so before the hero ascended into godhood, he was informed of the problem. He then instructed his party member to establish an order to go hunt these things down and keep the peace that he had fought so hard for, and to relay his message of true justice to the wicked." He explained before taking a break.
"Said party member, Double S ranker, Averey, founded the church of the holy one to relay his message and protect the peace. Under her rule, the preists and priestesses were in charge of detecting the faint demonic signature of these beasts. While the paladins were made the main fighting force of the church and were separated into four houses to assist with leadership. These are the Archanis, Paladins specialized in spellcasting and healing. Hawthkins, the most numerous house of the four, they are the main force in church. They are in charge security and act as body guards to us preists and priestesses. If you see a paladin with a preist or preistess, then there's a high likelihood they are from this house. Gepard, they specialized in lightning quick attacks, they are deployed in situations where mobility is needed to defeat an opponent and finally Archange, paladins from this house specialized in crusades into wastelands to defeat a large amount of foes before they reach a village or town." He explained. Nirra and Ellie nodded their heads, not making contact with the church since they grew up in a small village. Ameria, though, looked like she had heard this a thousand times before, so she stared into the outdoors with a bored expression.
"Every 15 years, a new Grand Preist is found by slowly detecting the amount of light elemental mana in every preist or preistess. The highest amount of light mana and most loyal to the church are chosen as the Grand Priest." He explained, "Now does that satiate your curiosity or do you have anymore questions?" He then recoiled in his seat with a smile. He gives the impression that he has done this multiple times before, but he doesn't care.
"What were the Holy One's teachings before he ascended into godhood?" Nirra asked with intrigue.
"Ah, a very good question, Miss Agustine." he commented before patting his beard with his right hand. "Well, there are three things he said for us to uphold.
1. Justice will be your pillar. Everyone will be treated fairly through a trial, no matter how wicked the atrocities.
2. Maintain the peace I have given you all.
3. Protect the innocent from the dangers of corruption," Preist Benedict answered.
"I see." Nirra looked at her sister in case she had any questions of her own.
"Are they any more?" he asked while looking at the twins.
"I'm good," Ellie briefly said.
"Okay, then, if you do have any questions that concern the church that arise during our trip to Captial, please do not hesitate to ask me," he said with a soft smile.
"Thank you, Preist Benedict." Nirra thanked him as she patted the small sleeping fox, who had woken up from his slumber on top of her bag earlier but was now resting on her lap, still curled up into a fluffy bagel.
