novelraw Chapter 289: Moon Rabbit-kin
Chapter 289: Moon Rabbit-kin
"This is the McDowell fiefdom, right?"
Fisher slowly stood up from the ground next to the confessional. He had only just made the motion to stand up when he felt extreme pain in every part of his body. When moving, it felt as if an iron hammer was viciously smashing his muscles, causing him to draw a sharp breath.
After waiting a few seconds for Fisher to adjust his standing posture, he spoke like this to the nun beside him.
At this moment, Sister Ilos was blankly squatting on the ground. Still drinking soup in small sips, her train of thought was interrupted by the sudden question. She shifted her gaze slightly and said,
"Mhm... this is Hearthome Castle city by the seaside. Where did you originally want to go? The neighboring Hammond Fiefdom?"
"Arriving here is the same. I'm not too familiar with the situation in the Sardin Woman's Country."
Fisher walked over to his belongings. During the time he slowly squatted down, he watched helplessly as the outlines of two books slowly appeared inside the originally completely empty white shirt. Opening the pocket to take out those two books, they were exactly the Demi-Human and Soul Completion Handbooks.
He took out the Demi-Human Completion Handbook. From the title page, he took out the postcard Renee had given him. Upon seeing that a bunting covered entirely in purple feathers still hadn't appeared on the postcard, he inevitably revealed a hint of disappointment.
This was a little trick he had only recently started using: placing some extremely important items inside the Demi-Human Completion Handbook and sandwiching them between the pages. This way, even if temporarily lost, they would return to his side along with the Completion Handbook.
He reached out to grope the other Soul Completion Handbook. Inside was a smart-machine card given to him by the Lord Cardinal. Fisher touched the rather damp surface of the card, unsure if this thing could still be used after taking in water. After a simple press, a point of light resurfaced on it, pointing out the direction for him.He followed the direction of that light and looked back. The light was pointing exactly toward the main entrance of this Defiled Church. Walking outside for less than half an hour would allow him to reach Hearthome Castle city of the McDowell fiefdom. He could sense that this card was guiding him toward Hearthome Castle.
It seemed there was a David-1 Cardinal replica in Hearthome Castle. When the time came, he could go there to look for him.
But before that...
"Thank you, Mother Goddess, for bestowing such delicious food upon your pious child... Thanks again, Mother Goddess."
He turned his head and glanced at that rabbit nun who, after eating her fill, sat beside the hearth and began to pray silently. This was something the Mother Goddess Church liked to do. After eating a meal, especially one containing meat and oil, they had to express gratitude to the Mother Goddess. Because in the Scripture of Creation, the Mother Goddess, to punish her children, only allowed them to consume wild plants. Being able to consume additional food now required them to thank the Mother Goddess for her magnanimity.
Emhart flew onto Fisher's shoulder again. Quietly, he turned his head to glance at Fisher beside him, who was staring at the other party lost in thought. His eyes suddenly turned into dead fish eyes. He bumped his square body against Fisher's face once, simultaneously speaking up,
"I'm reminding you first: you've only just had relations with that captain from the Sardin Woman's Country. If you mess around again, you're truly going to die a miserable death under a woman's blade."
Fisher shot him a speechless glance. It was as if, in the other party's eyes, he was an insatiable beast who didn't know how to restrain himself. In reality, he had absolutely no thoughts towards her. He merely simply wanted to use the Demi-Human Completion Handbook to bind her and gather the sequence for the Snow Mountain Familiars.
Of course, if he could research this sort of demi-human race he had never even seen before, that would naturally be the best.
At this very moment, the rabbit young girl before his eyes was entirely covered by a very conservative and elegant black nun's habit. Apart from that pair of long rabbit ears, Fisher didn't see any other obvious features, making him quite curious.
Ilos quickly finished praying. This took longer than what the majority of Naris believers did nowadays. Only a proper church family like Milika's might strictly follow the church's ancient teachings.
Once the prayer was complete, she slowly exhaled a long breath, as if she had accomplished some incredible feat. Only then did she shyly pick up the pot and bowl in front of her and said to Fisher,
"Mister, please rest here for a bit now. I am going to wash my utensils and the clothes I wore earlier..."
"Fisher. My name is Fisher Benavides."
"Ah, okay, Mister Fisher..."
She stood up and blankly nodded her head in agreement. Then, under Fisher's gaze, the rabbit ears on her head swayed as she walked toward the outside of the church.
After she walked out, Fisher prepared to lower his head and open the Demi-Human Completion Handbook to determine what exactly this young girl's demi-human race was. But unexpectedly, that nun hurriedly ran back holding the utensils, causing Fisher's action of opening the book to pause. He turned his head to look in the direction of the church doorway,
"Um, shouldn't I also say my name... I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I, um, my name is Ilos. I'm a novice nun of this Defiled Church."
"...I understand."
Only after waiting for Fisher to realize after the fact and nod in response, a faint smile formed at the corners of the mouth of the nun named "Ilos." Following that, she hugged her utensils and left the church for the second time, leaving only Fisher and Emhart inside the church to exchange a glance.
"A novice nun. Truly rare... this is the first time I've known that your churches worshipping the Mother Goddess would allow a Moon Rabbit-kin demi-human to serve as a nun."
Yet a hint of a peculiar color flickered in Fisher's eyes. Facing Emhart's complaints, he merely shook his head faintly and said,
"This isn't the West Continent, but the Northern Border. Furthermore, the church has no such term as a 'novice nun.' Of course, it's also impossible to allow a demi-human to serve as a nun... Since she says she is one, there must be a reason for it."
As Fisher spoke, he flipped open the Demi-Human Completion Handbook in his hands again. Just as he made the motion to flip the book open, the Demi-Human Completion Handbook seemed to have already detected his thoughts. Without any wind, the pages within automatically turned to the back of the previous entry recording the Cloud Cat-kin the next second.
As streaks of golden light slowly writhed within the book, at the top of a new blank page, a brand new column converged:
【Moon Rabbit-kin】
【Please select research subject. Available research subject slots: 0/1】
【Ilos, adult female Moon Rabbit-kin】
Just as expected, this demi-human nun who appeared was actually truly the Snow Mountain Familiar he was looking for. But this made him somewhat puzzled. He wasn't too familiar with the distribution of demi-human races in the Northern Border previously, and didn't know what the current distribution of Moon Rabbit-kin was like in the Northern Border.
Was the population of Moon Rabbit-kin sufficiently large enough for him to encounter one, or was it purely his good luck?
Fisher asked Emhart about the distribution of the Moon Rabbit-kin while simultaneously selecting "Bind" on the illusory text before his eyes. Feeling the familiar intense pain madly surge over, Fisher gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and leaned against the outside of the confessional.
Emhart thought Fisher was injured because of the storm earlier, so he didn't mind it much. He merely began to explain to Fisher the general distribution of the six clans nowadays.
"Logically speaking, the Moon Rabbit-kin shouldn't be appearing in the Sardin Woman's Country. Didn't I mention this before? The three Children of the Phoenix divided three territories from the southern end to the snowy mountains. The southernmost part was given to the eldest son with the most explosive temper, the 'Ice Prince.' The middle region was given to the second son who disliked managing affairs, the 'Frost Prince.' And the northern end of the Northern Border closest to the snowy mountains was given to the youngest, with the gentlest personality, the 'Moon Princess.'"
"The familiars the Ice Prince took away were the Cangniao-kin and Giant Troll-kin, who were the most brave and skilled in battle. The Frost Prince took away the Slime-kin and Moon Rabbit-kin, who were the most adept at manufacturing and trading. And the Moon Princess picked the remaining Snow Fox-kin and Cloud Cat-kin to take back to the snowy mountains."
"Now that so long has passed, the Cangniao-kin are distributed in both the Sardin Woman's Country and the northern snowy mountains. The Giant Troll-kin are nowhere to be found; they presumably returned to the snowy mountains as well. The Moon Rabbit-kin and Slime-kin should still be residing in the central region of the Northern Border. I don't know why a Moon Rabbit would appear within the borders of the Sardin Woman's Country..."
Fisher heavily panted for several breaths before easing off from the agony of the binding process. He narrowed his eyes, taking Emhart's information into his mind.
"Is that so..."
He lowered his head and spread open the Demi-Human Completion Handbook in his hands. Beside the title [Moon Rabbit-kin], quite a few brand new tags had now appeared, similar to what appeared when binding other races previously. They were in order:
【Northern Border Species】, 【Beast Species】, 【Cotton Candy】, 【Snow Mountain Familiar】
These tags were almost exactly identical to the Cloud Cat-kin's. However, if the Moon Rabbit-kin possessed the 【Cotton Candy】 tag just like the Cloud Cat-kin, didn't this signify that this nun should also have corresponding soft white fur on her body? Otherwise, the Demi-Human Completion Handbook would absolutely not provide such a tag.
Fisher unconsciously thought of the shape of that small clump of a rabbit tail he saw on the other party's nun's habit just now. Then, he slowly sat up. His body was aching intensely right now; evidently, he had been injured quite heavily by the storm.
After all, that was a natural disaster containing the mighty power of nature. Let alone an eighth-tier Life rank, even if he went up several more tiers, he would still be done for. If it weren't for Fisher's ability to breathe underwater, he would likely have truly been buried in the sea.
Therefore, his current plan was roughly to temporarily recuperate here for a period of time, but not too long. Because Erwind was also simultaneously searching for clues to the Frostwood Sycamore Tree. It was uncertain if he already knew about the six clan sigils by now. He had to quickly go find the Lord Cardinal and Valentiina, securing the six clan sigils one step ahead of Erwind. Otherwise, letting him obtain any single one would impose a shackle.
However, if he could additionally research this Moon Rabbit-kin—a demi-human race he had never seen before—during this resting period, it would be even better. He could opportunely obtain additional rank enhancements and other rewards along the way.
Fisher made some simple plans in his mind. Not long after, the church's main doors opened once more. Ilos, holding the clean utensils, walked back in. But compared to when she left, her hands held some more wild vegetables that were frozen out of shape.
"Um... Mister Fisher, I just remembered that you won't be able to eat anything until I buy the utensils back tomorrow. That's truly far too pitiful; even the Mother Goddess would feel sympathy. So I picked some wild vegetables for you to eat; this way you won't starve to death today..."
She placed the washed utensils back into the small room opposite the confessional where clergy members rested. Only now, as she opened the door to the small room in front of her for the first time, did Fisher discover that the tiny room contained quite a few items full of the aura of daily life, instead of them being placed outside.
It seemed this girl was truly a nun and not an imposter. Fisher could tell this from this tiny detail.
For nuns living inside a church, none of their daily necessity items could be placed randomly to defile the church outside. Therefore, usually after using any item, they had to be neatly placed back into their narrow living quarters to prove their respect for the Mother Goddess.
However, though that was said, when watching Ilos place those soft, rotted frozen vegetables in front of him with a face full of enthusiasm, he still felt an impulse that the other party was feeding livestock.
Emhart on Fisher's shoulder couldn't even bear to watch anymore. He hurriedly said to Ilos,
"I truly suspect this guy is going to die at your hands even if he didn't die in the storm. Humans can't eat this thing."
"But I just ate it earlier. The taste is passable; it shouldn't kill anyone."
Ilos looked distressedly at the wild vegetables in her hands. Then, she opened her mouth and took a bite herself first. Although the wild vegetables were quite cold, making her stick out her tongue repeatedly, she still quickly swallowed them. Looking at Fisher, she said,
"Are you really not going to taste it? It's edible."
Fisher distressedly shook his head. Then he stood up, threw on his already half-dry white shirt, and said to the Ilos before him,
"It's fine. I can go outside and find something to eat myself. You don't need to worry about me... By the way, I am somewhat severely injured right now and might stay here for a few days, is that alright?"
Ilos grasped the wild vegetables in her hands. Blankly, she nodded and was about to subconsciously agree. But she suddenly thought of something again; the interior of the church was a sacred place where people couldn't reside casually. If he wanted to stay, he could only live in the bell tower on the second floor.
"Of course, no problem. It's just..."
Just as she opened her mouth to remind Fisher of this matter, Fisher had already pre-emptively explained one more sentence to Ilos,
"Don't worry, I will live up within the bell tower. I won't live inside the church."
"Eh? Then... then there's no problem."
Ilos shot the Fisher before her a rather surprised glance, not knowing why he would know the words she wanted to say. She strenuously used her brain to think for a second or two before arriving at the corresponding conclusion. She asked Fisher,
"Wait, does Mister Fisher also believe in the Mother Goddess? Why... are you so familiar with matters inside a church?"
Fisher walked to the doorway with his shirt draped over him. Hearing these words, he shook his head and smiled, saying,
"I don't believe in the Mother Goddess religion. I only lived very close to a church for a long time when I was young... Over there, just like here, a very kind nun once lived. I was well-acquainted with her."