novelraw Chapter 292: Moonlight
Chapter 292: Moonlight
"What kind of impact will the emerging bills passed by the Parliament actually have on Naris... or let's put it another way: what kind of impact will it have on the future landscape of the West Continent, and even humanity?"
Inside the Healing Rot Church at dusk, faint candlelight illuminated a little of the Mother Goddess's loving and gentle gaze. Her eyes continuously watched the Naris man sitting beneath her seat, who held a pen and was constantly writing something.
The setting sun had already slanted westward, forming an expanse of sparkling, shimmering radiance over the gradually calming sea surface following the wind sweeping away the clouds. It was as if that astonishingly powerful natural disaster was merely a fleeting illusion. But perhaps it was also because this coast had experienced such natural disasters far too many times in the past and future; everything today was nothing more than an ordinary occurrence to it.
Fisher and Emhart were copying the Scripture of Creation for Sister Ilos. Electric lights were not installed in the impoverished Healing Rot Church; the only thing that could be used for illumination were the candles Ilos bought from the Hearthome Castle urban area. According to what Emhart said, Hearthome Castle was a very peaceful small town that worshipped the Frost Phoenix, which was why Ilos dared to move about within the urban area.
At this very moment, an old magic radio was also placed on the desktop. It was this little gadget that emitted the sound just now. It was donated to Sister Charut by a West Continent guest who came here to pray back when she was still around.
Ordinarily, Ilos would use this item to listen to the magic hotline of the Sardin Woman's Country, and occasionally listen to foreign ones as well, except she completely couldn't understand any other languages.
The conversation of the hosts within the newspaper office continued to transmit from the radio, occasionally mixed with some indistinct sizzling noises,
"Sizzle... The Parliament only just passed tax reforms last month, and this month a joint venture between the Naris Pioneer Company and the royal family's special supply was newly established. The Pioneer Party's recent movements are very ambiguous... sizzle... they are all expressed toward Her Majesty Elizabeth. It is hard to say why the party leader would have such an attitude change recently."
"The Gryphon Party has also been extremely active recently. The establishment of new guilds and the reform of the peerage system targeting old nobles truly suits my appetite perfectly... sizzle... It is time to let those fat pigs—who loaf around at home waiting to die, surviving until today relying on their ancestors' honors—see what the current societal wind direction is."
"Next month, Her Majesty Elizabeth will attend the major enterprise exhibition in Saint-Nazareth. I heard this conference hosted by the Godlin royal family aims to promote small enterprises and workshops outside of Saint-Nazareth. That is simply a paradise for all sorts of steam engines and magicians.""Indeed. As the primary reporting media for this event, the Petrus Publishing House will follow up on the event's progress in real-time and report it in the newspaper published tomorrow. Citizens interested in participating, please see... sizzle sizzle sizzle."
The sound from the radio beside him suddenly cut off, yet Fisher's action of copying the Scripture of Creation didn't pause in the slightest. After all, ever since earlier, this broken radio had continuously been experiencing audio turbulence. Whenever the stream suddenly cut off, it wouldn't be surprising at all. It should be because the magic crest inside was about to vanish that caused such a problem to appear.
Thinking about it, it was reasonable. At least over ten years had passed from when Sister Charut received this radio until now. For this radio to be usable until today could be considered a miracle. He could help Ilos fix it for a bit; it's just a pity that all the magic materials he bought had sunk into the sea. Only the engraved magic ring remained worn on his hand.
"Mhm, it sounds like after you left, the political parties of your Naris have become kinder. Hearing them pass this kind of bill is a rare occurrence. Previously, when I was staying in your Royal Library, I often heard a prince named 'Dexter' secretly complaining about the shitty affairs of the Pioneer Party and the Gryphon Party. They were so noisy I couldn't even sleep..."
The Book Viscount Emhart, sitting on Fisher's shoulder, seemed to have thought of some past events and spoke like this.
Fisher inspected the contents he had previously copied and rapidly memorized the specific meanings of the Northern Border characters he wrote. Only then did he put down the paper in his hands and said,
"That is because someone is secretly maintaining the Parliament's current balance. Elizabeth did not completely fulfill her promises to the Gryphon Party—at least not privately... Her train of thought is very clear. Moreover, her means strike with varying degrees of force and are not rash. She also knows exactly what the present Naris needs to do."
"Heh, you're still making critical remarks here. I think you should instead think about how to escape from the hands of that Empress. In case you get caught by her, you're not going to have a good time."
Fisher expressionlessly shot Emhart on his shoulder a glance and asked,
"Which Empress are you talking about?"
Emhart opened his mouth. Remaining silent for an entire second, only then did he realize something. Looking at him in utter disbelief, he cried out,
"Hah?! What do you mean 'which one'... Wait, you mean there's more than one? What did you do again before we met?!"
Fisher smiled unpredictably but didn't respond, pouring a basin of cold water on Emhart, whose desire of curiosity had just been ignited. It infuriated him so much he almost exploded again.
Fisher gathered the dozen or so drafted papers he had copied in his hands together. The efficiency of copying with Northern Border text wasn't high; he had copied for several hours yet hadn't even finished a third. Fortunately, the original length of the Scripture of Creation wasn't long. It should be completable within tomorrow. Opportunely, he could also take advantage of this time to research some of this Moon Rabbit-kin Miss Nun to obtain rewards.
"Dong! Dong! Dong!"
The church's bell tolled again. This was already the final time-reporting bell sound of the day, also meaning the time had now reached exactly seven o'clock.
By the way, hadn't that rabbit nun been staying up there for several hours?
When returning to the church in the afternoon, Fisher had originally wanted to go check the situation up in the bell tower. Ultimately, the place was horrifyingly messy, completely diverging from the situation she claimed of constantly sweeping. Embarrassed, she took the initiative to propose sweeping for Fisher, yet hadn't come down even until now.
"Sister Ilos?"
Fisher called out to her from downstairs but received no response. Thus, he had no choice but to bring Emhart up to take a look.
Going upwards ascending the spiral staircase next to the confessional, the structure of bell towers was generally hollowed out. Although the giant bell's bottom was exceptionally spacious, it would presumably be quite cold at night; it could only barely serve as a place for Fisher to rest his feet tonight.
When Fisher came up, the second floor had already been swept cleanly. A wooden bucket filled with water was also placed against the wall. It seemed Ilos had actually finished sweeping long ago, but he didn't know why she continuously hadn't come down.
His gaze looked towards the front. With the aid of the very last sliver of the setting sun's afterglow, he finally saw Sister Ilos sitting demurely on the ground before the neatly tidied sundries.
At this very moment, she was lowering her head, seemingly inspecting a certain item in her hands. She was so engrossed and absorbed that she didn't even notice Fisher coming up.
"Sister Ilos?"
"Ah, Mister Fisher. Apologies, were you calling me just now?"
"Uh-huh. What are you doing?"
At an unknown time, she had already taken off the nun's headscarf atop her head, causing that head of slightly curly long blonde hair to spill down until it fell to the position of her waist. She smiled, raised a handwritten notebook held in her hands, and turned back to say to Fisher,
"There aren't many places inside the church to put things. After Sister Charut passed away, I placed many of her belongings here. It's just that today, when coming up to tidy the room for Mister Fisher, I noticed that it turned out there were still so many things here..."
So it was seeing an object and missing the person. Sometimes, when you suddenly turn back to tidy things you haven't touched for a long time, you will have this kind of feeling. When those things, both familiar and unfamiliar, crash into your line of sight, they simultaneously awaken memories of experiences passed. If those memories are related to a certain important person, that sort of feeling will be even more profound.
The sky above the Northern Border had already turned completely gloomy and dark, just like it's original warmth was abruptly plundered, bringing the quiet Sardin Woman's Country into another world.
The night wind rose again. Wisps of bright moonlight transmitted along the invisible wind, slowly entering Fisher's line of sight. This was his first night in the Northern Border. He suddenly felt that the Northern Border's nights added a few hints of differences compared to the West Continent's nights...
Fisher raised his head to look at the sky. There were no cloud layers in the sky above; thus, that incredibly bright and icy waning moon revealed itself.
"Alright, Mister Fisher, I have finished tidying this place. Hehe, I wasn't lying to you before; I frequently swept here previously. It's just that the weather has been too cold recently so I came less... Ah, right, I still have to bring some warmth-maintaining objects over for you. I have a fluffy sleeping bag over there; this way, even here you can rest."
Ilos put down the item in her hands, turned her head around, and stood up to prepare to head downstairs. It was precisely beneath that dense moonlight that Fisher suddenly discovered her pair of eyes had turned into a bright pink color, just as enticing as glowing pink jewels in water. Obviously, they were black all morning.
Ilos smiled at Fisher. But the next second, that expression looking at Fisher abruptly stiffened. She seemingly saw a certain extremely terrifying thing on Fisher's body, frightening her into hurriedly taking a step back. Correspondingly, she extended a finger trembling as it pointed at Fisher,
"Mis-mis-Mister Fisher... There's... there's something behind you?"
"Behind me?"
Fisher pointed a finger at himself. He and Emhart simultaneously turned their heads looking backward, yet saw nothing at all. As he dubiously turned his head back to look at Ilos, Ilos's small face grew increasingly pale.
"It's... it's a super, super big eye! It's been staring at you all along... Waaa! It's looking over here! I didn't see you, I didn't see you! I'm sorry, waaa!"
Ilos looked at the nothingness behind Fisher. It was unknown exactly what she saw within her line of sight, but evidently, the thing she saw brought her an intense shock, causing her to constantly retreat backwards. However, she ignored the fact that the bell tower's structure was completely hollowed out, and generally wasn't installed with railings.
The next second, amidst her panic-stricken retreating, one foot stepped on air, crossing over the edge of the bell tower. Her entire person directly planted downwards towards downstairs out of control.