Azshara. Elysian District, Astope Quarter. Room 145.
With a large bowl of strawberries on her lap and, in the middle of it, a smaller bowl of melted chocolate, Flora would be lying if she said that what she was seeing wasn't at least interesting.
She was wearing an elegant purple strapless dress with black details and a bandana. Practically ready to go out dancing at a high-class party.
The promised day had finally arrived. Today was Sunday, October 14, at 9 a.m. The Day of Wisdom was here. And in a little while, they would be on their way to church.
That was why the current situation was somewhat... Special.
Popping a chocolate-covered strawberry into her mouth, Jacob raised an eyebrow, "What are you even doing right now?"
"I'm thinking about how I want Ignir to act today," Adryan said casually from where he was.
The soldiers already had a certain amount of free will and could respond to stimuli accordingly, but if he wanted them to do so in a certain way, a script to follow was necessary—a 'profile' of sorts.
If 'A' happened, then they should use reaction 'B'. It was like a programmer, ensuring that NPC interaction with a player followed a set order.
Calmly biting into another strawberry, the white-haired girl looked her companion up and down, making sure to move her head with her eyes to emphasize her point.
"And hanging upside down like a bat helps with that?"
There was no better comparison; the redhead was now hanging from the ceiling by threads tied to his feet. Like a Bat!
"Hehe. It's funny that you say that." Adryan chuckled, his eyes shining like a child who had just received candy.
It was really ironic, considering that he was the polar opposite of how a certain bat-like man would be dressed in this position.
Elegant white robes cascaded down, blending in with his red hair.
Not wanting to leave his worm in doubt, Adryan smiled mischievously, "This makes a lot more sense than it seems~"
As soon as he said that, the threads holding him to the ceiling were cut. Spinning slowly backward in the air, he landed on his feet, no sound marking his fall.
"Remind me to tell you about the Dark Knight someday."
The Jacob rolled her eyes.
Walking over to the sofa where the Dream Stealer was sitting, he took a strawberry and ate it in one bite. Licking his lips, he winked at his worm, who looked at him unimpressed.
"If you're done, we have to leave."
"Of course." He nodded, his hair changing to a brown shade and shortening.
Sighing inwardly, Flora got up from the sofa. Extending her hand, the bowl of strawberries and chocolate disappeared, returning to its place in the kitchen. But her hand was not empty for long because with another twist of her wrist, a black coat on the rack in the distance appeared in her palm, which she quickly put on with the hood up, covering her face.
After that, she took a handkerchief from one of the hidden pockets of her purple dress and gracefully wiped her mouth.
The corners of Adryan's mouth trembled a little, not denying that he felt a little envious now.
His dear worm always used her powers to take what she wanted at the moment without lifting a finger. Whether it was food or a book, as long as it was in sight, it would be in her hands.
Part of him couldn't help but think that, in his world, that ability would have made him rot in his bed even worse than he already did.
Never having to get up to grab the TV remote or his water bottle again? A dream come true!
'Only Traveler's teleportation beats that on a day-to-day basis... The Marionettist is in third place; you still have to control the marionettes to make them do what you want. They're not automatic, which takes away points. My soldiers are better in that area, even if they don't have the same strength...
'Ignoring everything else, the Cowardly Trio is every lazy person's wet dream.'
It's as if it were created for that purpose.
Difficult to catch, and extremely lazy if given the chance...
Truly, the cats of all paths!
At that moment, Flora stopped and turned to look at him. Her gray eyes dripping with pure suspicion, her sixth sense was tingling a little.
"You're having strange thoughts again, Princess."
"Nothing very important." With a simple face and brown eyes, Adryan shrugged his shoulders without much importance.
"Mmm..." She looked at him for a few seconds before nodding. Not interested in inquiring further.
With nothing more to say, the Reaper took the children's storybook out of his shadows and opened it to a random page.
Bowing elegantly with the artifact on his back, Adryan smiled at the woman.
With an intoxicating sweetness and mischief worthy of the deadliest poison, he spoke: "Beautiful lady, would you like to come with me to annoy an archbishop?"
Flora's gloved hand paused just before taking his, her eyebrows rising before she could stop them.
At another time in her life, the mere idea of even crossing paths with one of the most important heads of any of the Orthodox Churches would have terrified her. She would have moved as far away as possible from the lunatic who even had such an idea. But, with the support of a special existence that was cooperating with the Church itself, Flora found the idea quite tempting.
The opportunity to annoy an archbishop without him being able to do anything about it was too much fun to pass up.
The Jacob snorted to herself, realizing what she had just thought.
'Tch, the princess gave me the crazy bug.'
After three seconds, the corners of her lips curved slightly.
Curtsying in her purple dress, Flora took the outstretched hand. Mischief sparkled in her gray eyes.
"Of course."
Adryan just smiled. The pages of the book behind him glowed for an instant. The next second, they both disappeared from the room.
Helikon District. A short time later.
The spiritual heart of all Azshara was celebrating. Unlike the rest of Azshara, Helikon was more specialized in studies and religion. Therefore, much of this district consisted of schools, academies, universities, libraries, and museums, as well as some parks and squares.
Several banners hung over the quiet streets, all bronze in color and bearing the symbol of the Church. Even some carriages carried banners with the symbol in celebration.
The sky was on their side, though there were several gray clouds in the sky; the already strange blue could be seen, with the sun peeking out from time to time.
It would rain again, but it didn't appear to be anytime soon.
The Day of Wisdom, by far the most important annual celebration in all of Lenburg, is second only to New Year's and Independence Day. This was the day believed to be the birth of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom, and it was celebrated as such.
The various parks and squares were filled with people, most of whom were divided into large groups discussing various topics. Whether it was recent events, books they were reading, or past experiences, it didn't matter.
What this day was all about, above all else, was the spreading of knowledge. Imitating the first chapters of the Bible, how the God of Knowledge and Wisdom saved humanity after the cataclysm and taught them how to survive the disaster.
In one of these, a topic of conversation arose for the fifth time in an hour among the younger group. Just as heated as the first time.
"Don't be silly! Donald is the best!"
"You only say that because you love ducks. Doofy is the best!"
"You fools, Troubadour is the best! He has spoken directly to 'us'! When have you ever seen a character break the barrier between character and reader?"
"Shut up, Charlie!"
Watching the little ones argue, one of the parents could only sigh and look to his side.
"Tell me, what's your secret? How do you get little Will to be so calm?"
"He's always been like that. I don't know what to tell you. Apart from his love of ice cream, he's very calm."
The man, with ash-blond hair, looked at his son, who was sitting next to him, slowly eating an ice cream cone.
Sometimes he wondered what he had done to have such a calm son.
Little Will greeted him energetically, with a white mustache on his mouth.
"Really?! You haven't seen it yet?!"
"Do you think I haven't tried? All the tickets are sold out!"
"Tch, tough luck for you then."
In the most important of these parks, another celebration was taking place.
The Holy Temple of Knowledge seemed to shine on this day. The white of its pillars was pristine, vibrant, and young. Even after centuries, it was as if it had just been erected in the middle of the forest clearing.
The large entrance to the temple was crowded with people entering, waiting to hear the sermon on such an important day.
At each edge of it, several pastors in white-gray robes and bronze bracelets stood. At their sides were several small tables with a large box on top, which were used to collect donations for the church. Everyone could leave something, regardless of age.
One of these pastors smiled and greeted the people as they entered, giving a slightly brighter smile to those who left a donation in the box next to him.
He watched as an elegant man with a good physique and pronounced cheekbones approached the entrance. He was followed by a dignified woman with white hair and stormy blue eyes.
From their clothes and some accessories, he could see that they had money. It was a bit extravagant, but it was still at a tolerable level for entering the temple, so the pastor did not stop them.
When they passed by him, he followed protocol and smiled, extending his hands holding an invisible book.
"May knowledge be with you."
The man smiled at him, respectfully repeating the prayer position.
"May knowledge be with you, too, Father."
Then, before he could say anything, he saw that man reach into his robes, searching for something. After a few seconds, he pulled out a thick wad of yellow bills.
At that, the pastor's lips tightened slightly.
Not only was it the heaviest bill in Lenburg, but it was also the highest denomination. At a glance, there were easily more than 1,000 sassem in that wad!
That same wad was placed inside the box, without any concern or importance.
Thud
A heavy thud echoed from the bottom of the box.
With a bright smile, the pastor repeated the prayer posture with much more emotion.
"May knowledge bless you, sir!"
The man smiled and nodded, then entered the temple, followed by the white-haired woman.
With the kind man disappearing into the depths of the temple, the pastor sighed and turned his attention back to the front.
Another couple approached him; the woman was covered in a thick, black tunic, and the young, brown-haired man was dressed in white tunics similar to his own, but with a slight variation.
"Good morning, Father." The man smiled amiably.
The pastor was about to return the greeting, but stopped. His eyes were drawn to the man's chest, where a medallion rested.
A bronze plaque of a book with a small owl engraved on it. Its wings covered its beak but left its eyes free. The symbol of the Church was behind it.
The pastor's smile remained, but it took on a slightly more professional tone.
"Good morning, sir and ma'am."
Looking up, he casually waved one of his hands to the other pastors, and one quickly came to replace him.
With his post taken care of, he turned his attention back to them and nodded.
"Please follow me."
'Ah. Being part of the group has its advantages. You get VIP passes~' Laughing internally, Adryan quickly followed the man.
While they could easily slip away using Shadow Leap, Adryan preferred to avoid playing with his life too much.
He still had to show a certain level of respect to his 'guards' after all.
It didn't take them long to leave the hustle and bustle of the entrance for a more private part of the temple, where there was no one but the three of them. The pastor, approaching a random wall, took out a similar bronze medallion from his robe and brought it close to the left corner.
Click!
Following that sound, the white marble seemed to vibrate slightly as if it were alive, but it only lasted a moment before stopping. Following that, the wall twisted like a rag, revealing a hidden door.
Turning back to look at them, the pastor opened an invisible book in his hands.
"Thank you for your continued service."
"It's our pleasure." Smiling and repeating the prayer posture again, Adryan stepped past the man, not before giving him a few pats on the back.
Flora followed closely behind, shaking her head under her hood. As soon as the two passed, the hidden door closed and the wall returned to normal.
"..."
The pastor looked at the wall, one eyebrow raised. Silently, he looked at his shoulder, which had been touched, and patted it a few times, cleaning it.
That had been new.
On the other side of the wall, in a hallway with white floors and walls lit by lamps hanging from the ceiling, Adryan looked around, curious.
'Seems like it's an unspoken code among Orthodox churches to have hidden hallways, huh? Well, it goes with the theme of the latter, doesn't it?' A part of his conspiratorial mind quickly drew a comparison that stopped him in his tracks.
'It's a bit like Harry Potter with platform 9 ¾... Ah!' Enlightened, the redhead made a silent 'oh' as the 'information connection' clicked into place.
He was an owl! And the god of the Church could be considered a Dumbledore!
"Pft—" Barely managing to cover his mouth, Adryan shuddered at the laughter that wanted to escape.
Knowing that the princess was in one of her delirious episodes, Flora rolled her eyes a little and moved forward, leading the way this time.
"Let's go. We still have business to attend to. You can talk to the voices in your head later." Without stopping, she glanced over her shoulder with the corners of her mouth curving imperceptibly, "But keep those comments to yourself. Lest your weirdness be contagious."
"Light the way, Your Highness." Laughing a little, Adryan accompanied his companion down the white corridors.
Adryan's Reaper senses were on high alert. He could hear the bustle of people through the walls as well as the vibration of their footsteps, but everything he could hear came from outside, not inside.
"They're not used very often, although it's very clean. They must be more like shortcuts." Noting this information for later, they continued on without much incident.
Soon, Adryan felt a vibration in his chest and looked down. The Wise Owls' medallion was vibrating slightly, detecting something.
A few meters ahead, one of the white walls vanished like a mirage, revealing a hidden door.
'Quite a few security measures. It seems that if someone enters here without a medallion, they will be trapped here. Heh, it's a rat cage, you could say.' Amused, he reached the newly discovered door and turned the handle.
The medallion on his chest vibrated again, and a click was heard, followed by the door opening. Another hallway greeted them, only this one had huge windows overlooking the beautiful exterior of the temple. Judging by the height, they were still on the ground floor.
Crossing it, Adryan didn't even have to turn around to know that the exit had disappeared.
"The stairs are further ahead," Flora commented without turning around, moving to the right.
Reaching the familiar spiral staircase, the ascent began.
Internally, the architect inside him wrinkled its nose.
Spiral staircases clashed with the Greek/Roman aesthetic of the whole place, leaving him with a bad taste in his mouth.
Reaching the floor where his target was located, and after greeting the other members of the Church who crossed their path, Adryan and Flora soon arrived in front of a familiar door with silver details.
"Come in."
"Of course." Having already expected this, the Reaper shook his head.
Grabbing the handle, he turned it.
An office that seemed larger on the inside than on the outside. With large bookshelves that reached the ceiling and huge windows.
In front of one of these windows, sitting in a simple chair and reading an ancient book, the archbishop looked not unlike a retired grandfather.
With a shiny head and the same robes as the first time, Thaddeus von Hohenberg was resting.
The smell of an old library was still present, but accompanied by the faint aroma of freshly brewed coffee.
Adryan couldn't help but smile, "It seems you've taken my advice."
Archbishop Thaddeus took a quiet sip from his cup with his eyes closed, "No matter the age, one is never too old to receive new counsel."
Setting the steaming cup down next to a plate of cookies, Thaddeus opened his eyes and turned to look at him.
"Even if the advisor is a little curious."
"Simple things never have any flavor, don't you think?" Winking complacently, he walked casually over and took a seat across from the older man.
Flora copied his movement, though much more calmly. Once seated, she finally lowered her hood, letting her white hair fall free.
Thaddeus observed serenely, his gaze never revealing what was going through his mind. After a moment, he nodded and calmly said. "So, a Jacob. I never thought I'd meet one."
"Pleased to meet you." Flora gave a simple nod, barely tilting her head— few words and to the point.
The demigod in front of her had already shown that he had thoroughly analyzed the Spectator Pathway, so she had to be careful with her thoughts.
Not everyone was blessed with having them private after all.
"I know it's obvious, but I still have to ask." Getting the archbishop's attention, Adryan rested his cheek on his knuckles and said.
"Was it the medallion that told you we were here? Or was it because you saw us coming in some other way?"
"The medallion we gave you is somewhat different. Whenever you enter the Temple, we will know it is you." Thaddeus turned a page of his book before returning his gaze to the redhead.
"And as for the second question, I have eyes all over this place, Mr. Kenway."
"I expected as much." Shrugging his shoulders indifferently, Adryan smiled sweetly.
"I have information to report."
The Archbishop looked at him silently for two seconds before nodding, slowly lowering his book. "What is it this time?"
The redhead didn't mince his words.
"Terrorism."