novelraw Chapter 291: Ilos
Chapter 291: Ilos
"Eh? Mmh, I want to ask Mister Fisher. Could you help me?"
According to Emhart's definition, the Moon Rabbit-kin should be a relatively intelligent race among the six clans. Otherwise, the Moon Princess, the youngest daughter of the Phoenix King, wouldn't have liked them so much. But why did this Moon Rabbit-kin before his eyes look not very bright?
Fisher looked at the Ilos before him, who completely failed to catch the hidden meaning of his words. He truly couldn't figure out how this not-too-bright little rabbit had survived until now without being swindled away by someone else.
"Don't rush. Come over and eat some deer meat first. We will slowly discuss this matter."
"Oh, oh... I see. Thank you, Mister Fisher. Thank you for the Mother Goddess's gift."
She performed a Mother Goddess prayer ritual, then obediently sat down in front of the fire Fisher had built. Her eyes sparkled as she stared at the deer meat sizzling with grease over the fire before her. When Fisher placed one of the heavy skewers of meat into her hands, she could no longer endure it and began to eat heartily.
Watching the rabbit nun before him foolishly begin eating meat, although Fisher felt that getting straight to the point of wanting to research her wouldn't be a big deal, when his gaze fell upon that solitary church behind her, he still abandoned this idea. He turned instead to ask,
"You mentioned just now that you had a teacher?"
"So hot, so hot, so hot... Ah? That's right. My teacher is Sister Charut. She was the original master of this church and a nun with an immense understanding of ancient texts and doctrines. It was under her teaching that I became a nun... it's just a pity she was too old. She passed away during the winter three years ago."
"Dong! Dong! Dong!"The time-reporting bell at the back of the church chimed again. This sort of World Warning Bell, which chimed every hour, would continuously chime from seven in the morning until seven at night. In the Scripture of Creation, this was the time the Mother Goddess's children walked upon the earth; it possessed its religious significance.
There wasn't much sadness on the rabbit nun's face, but her action of chewing the deer meat temporarily halted. Fisher looked at her demure sitting posture, which was completely different from the people of Sardin Woman's Country, and suddenly asked,
"You are not from the Sardin Woman's Country."
"Hehe, you found out... But actually, I've been in the Woman's Country for a long time. I come from the Nebalen Kingdom north of the Sardin Woman's Country. It's a moderately sized coastal nation."
She tapped her chin. A visible expression of pondering flashed across the lovely face beneath the nun's headscarf. It seemed because it was a memory from very long ago, recalling it now wasn't easy.
"I remember... mhm, my family used to do business at sea. When I was young, I often followed my father on boat to set sail for the Woman's Country to do business. But one time we encountered pirates at sea. My family was killed. I barely managed to escape a disaster only because my father placed me on a small boat..."
Nebalen Kingdom. Fisher had heard of this name. It was a religious nation where the entire country worshipped the Frost Phoenix. Over there, they produced an extremely delicious sea fish that was a highly precious luxury item in the West Continent. Fisher had eaten it once at the Black Mamba Palace; the taste was indeed quite good.
As mentioned previously, nations worshipping the Frost Phoenix placed heavy emphasis on the equality and cooperation of all living beings. Therefore, in such nations, demi-human races could also work and live just like ordinary humans. Ilos's family should have previously been cooperating with humans to do business, yet unexpectedly encountered an attack at sea.
As a child, she rode a small boat drifting in the ocean, arriving at the coast Fisher had previously arrived at. She was adopted by a kind-hearted old nun on the shore named Charut. According to Ilos's memory, Sister Charut not only adopted her but also taught her many of the Mother Goddess Church's doctrines. Because of this, Ilos also wanted to inherit Charut's mantle and become a nun.
Upon learning this, Charut did not refuse her request, even if this was not permitted in the church's original rules. Since the children of the Mother Goddess in the Scripture of Creation were only humans anyway, who knew whether she would mind having one extra Moon Rabbit-kin daughter?
As Fisher listened to her speak, he took the Scripture of Creation she held in her hands. Reading it carefully, he finally realized that this Scripture of Creation was missing an extremely large number of chapters. Some pages had damages, but more of them had entire pages of content simply disappearing outright.
It seemed he could only rewrite a copy for her. But the problem was she completely couldn't understand the Naris language. As for the Northern Border language, Fisher could currently only engage in daily conversation; he didn't recognize the written characters yet and couldn't fully translate it.
"This Scripture of Creation has many damages. Mending it is very difficult; I can only recopy a new one for you..."
"Eh, eh? But... recopying the entire thing... would be very troublesome to Mister Fisher."
The rabbit ears acting as Ilos's top drooped a little. Because she had to speak, she had no way to eat the deer meat. Thus, she maintained the action of her mouth biting the meat and spoke to Fisher like this.
"Uh-huh, it is rather troublesome. But it's fine. It just so happens I can practice how to write Northern Border characters. Furthermore, I previously owed a nun quite a few copies of the Scripture of Creation that I haven't done yet... However, after I finish copying the Scripture of Creation for you, I also have a little favor that needs your help..."
"Eh... a little favor? Is it very troublesome? I... there are many things I don't know how to do; I might not be able to help Mister Fisher with anything."
Fisher cradled his chin. His gaze fell upon the pair of soft white rabbit ears continuously swaying atop her head. He suddenly discovered that this pair of ears would become especially cute when listening to sounds.
If humans needed to concentrate their attention to listen to a certain sound, they would turn their heads toward the direction of the sound. But the Moon Rabbit-kin didn't need to do this. They didn't have to move their heads; their ears would automatically sway within a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree radius of the direction they were facing. This caused the ears of the Miss Nun before his eyes to appear quite lively.
"It won't be very troublesome, nor does it require you to do anything extra. It's like this: actually, my primary occupation in the West Continent is researching demi-human races."
Every time Fisher spoke of this matter, the female demi-human meant to be researched would always sense something amiss and become vigilant. Even if they were dull-witted, they would still perceive a hint of suspicion, wouldn't they? But the nun before him seemed as if she hadn't understood anything, merely nodding her head to indicate she heard him.
Emhart on his shoulder sighed. He truly couldn't watch this anymore, and began to make faces again, madly hinting at the Ilos before him.
Upon seeing this, Ilos thought he was feeling unwell physically. Thus, she extended a finger pointing at Emhart and said to Fisher,
"Um... Mister Fisher, the book on your shoulder seems to be feeling unwell physically. His expression looks very pained..."
"You feel unwell?"
Fisher expressionlessly turned his head to look at the Emhart beside him, scaring him so much he hurriedly shifted his gaze away and began whistling,
"What's unwell? Nothing at all. Who's unwell? Are you?"
"..."
You stupid idiot! When the time comes you discover Fisher's sinister nature, don't blame the great Book Viscount for not saving you! I've truly never seen anyone so foolishly rushing to offer themselves directly into the jaws of this beast Fisher. You're still the first! Just wait for death!
Emhart viciously glared at Ilos. His expression of being disappointed that someone hasn't met expectations was practically seeping out of his book cover for others to see.
Fisher naturally knew exactly what Emhart was thinking about. But actually, he truly didn't harbor any bad thoughts towards Ilos. He merely wanted to obtain the biological research rewards for the first stage of the Moon Rabbit-kin as fast as possible. Then, he would leave here and find all the six clan sigils before Erwind did.
"Sister Ilos, I am extremely curious regarding matters of your race, the Moon Rabbit-kin. I can help you restore the Scripture of Creation in your hands. But after that, I need your cooperation to perform a tiny bit of research on you. Is that alright?"
"Sure... Eh? Wait... what is the research for?"
Ilos smiled and nodded. After waiting a second or two, her smile only then became stiff as she snapped back to her senses. It seemed her brain, after tasting the deliciousness of the deer meat, finally had the leisure to consider what exactly the "research" Fisher spoke of was.
It sounded like a very serious vocabulary word, especially when paired with Fisher's extremely rigorous expression. But when applied to herself, why did it still feel very weird?
"I need to obtain data from your body, and perform tests and recordings of the unique biological properties of your Moon Rabbit-kin. It's roughly just these."
"Bo-bo-bo-bo... body data?!"
Fisher's words scared Ilos into discarding the finished wooden skewer in her hands. She hastily stretched out two hands to cover the two large ears on her head. Her face flushed slightly red. She retreated a little, rather resistant, as she looked at Fisher before her and repeatedly stated,
"In-insolent scoundrel! I am a servant of the Mother Goddess. How... how could you do such a thing!"
Fisher smiled helplessly. After his finger tapped his cheek, he shook his head and said,
"What are you thinking about? I won't do anything strange to you, nor will I even touch you once. It's merely measuring and recording data. Can you understand?"
Ilos shook her head without even thinking. As a result, because of this head-shaking action, she licked the taste of the roasted deer meat sauce at the edge of her lips. After pausing for quite a few seconds, she only then stealthily reached out her hand to lick the sauce near her lips. This sneaky, cute action made Fisher chuckle.
This Moon Rabbit-kin was indeed not too bright. If he said some other things, might she be easily swindled into his hands? After all, she still needed to beg for his help right now...
"It's fine if you don't want to. I will still transcribe the Scripture of Creation for you..."
"Reawwy?"
Ilos's eyes lit up. Letting down the hands covering the ears on her head, she looked at the Fisher before her in disbelief. That expression of minor joy instantly covered up the vigilant expression she had a moment ago.
Fisher nodded. He raised the Scripture of Creation in his hands and opened his mouth to read monotonously with an expressionless face,
"Yes. However, it's the Naris text version. After all, I don't know the Northern Border language. I wonder if you will be able to read it or not?"
Ilos's expression of minor joy instantly turned into grievance on account of the "terrible" aura Fisher exuded. Her small mouth pouted as she mumbled,
"What if I agree with you?"
"Then I will just transcribe the Northern Border text version of the Scripture of Creation."
"You-you-you! Weren't you unable to do Northern Border text?!"
Fisher shot a glance at the Emhart on his shoulder and said,
"But my friend knows how to. If you're willing to help, he might very happily translate for me."
Emhart looked in disbelief at the shameless Fisher beside him. Those eyes seemed to be spewing fire; the meaning of the flames being, "God damn you, since when would I happily help you..."
Mhm, it's roughly this meaning. As Fisher guessed.
Ilos pursed her lips. An exceptionally fair pair of fingers extending from the nun's habit also gently pinched the hem of her skirt. Pouting, she looked pathetically at the Fisher before her. Viewing through the firelight, it was exactly the identical appearance to the little brats he provoked to tears back in the church school.
And every time others were provoked to cry and shout by him in a few words, that beautiful nun with sensitive ears would always be the first one to rush over here to settle scores with Fisher.
"Fisher! You bullied someone again, didn't you?"
"Yes, yes, yes, Ms. Teresa Benavides... Making me copy the Scripture of Creation as punishment again? Which chapter? How many times to copy?"
"It's the entirety! Copy it three times for me! Furthermore, call me Sister Teresa, Fisher Benavides!"
The expression of Fisher cradling his chin slightly froze. Only until the firelight before his eyes crushed his memories did he recover his senses. Shaking his head, he exhaled a sigh and said to Ilos,
"Alright, I won't bully you anymore. You are a nun; if you are unwilling, then forget it. I will recopy a Northern Border text version of the Scripture of Creation for you, treated as repayment for you saving me ashore. After that, I will depart from here, alright?"
Ilos's drooping rabbit ears flew up a bit. Her pouting mouth also became curved, turning into a bright and beautiful smile,
"Reawwy?"
"Uh-huh..."
Fisher stretched his back. After forcefully enduring the stiffness and pain of his muscles to complete a relaxing action, he tossed the wooden skewer in his hand back into the fire.
"Alright, it's too cold outside. I'll go back to rest for a bit, and opportunely go check the situation in the bell tower. Hopefully you've swept over there, leaving a place to shelter an adult Naris gentleman and a book for the night."
"Of course! I'm very diligent! I sweep it every day! It's not just the bell tower; I frequently sweep the prayer hall and confessional, too!"
Fisher didn't pay attention to her. He packed up the remaining deer meat to bring back; it could still be eaten for many meals thereafter.
Just as he prepared to shift his steps toward the interior of the church, Ilos behind him suddenly opened her mouth softly,
"Um... Mister Fisher. If you want to research me... you can too. But... but, but, under absolutely any circumstances, you cannot touch my ears..."
Somewhat surprised, Fisher turned his head backwards to look at the Ilos behind him. Notice Fisher suddenly turn back to look at her as she spoke, she was frightened into extending both hands to cover the ears atop her head again.
That's right. Only now did Fisher suddenly discover that whenever Ilos encountered any matter, she would subconsciously cover her ears. He had previously assumed it was her habitual action; looking at it now, it seemed this wasn't the case...
"Will something happen if your ears are touched?"
"Eh, eh? Uh... If that happens, there might be a baby."
"A lie."
"It's true; my papa told me this!"
"..."