novelraw Chapter 337: Devout Servant
Chapter 337: Devout Servant
"Dragon God Fafnir..."
"What Dragon God?"
Fisher, who had been deep in thought for a long time, suddenly opened his mouth, spitting out an obscure Dragon language word. The result was that immediately after he spoke, a square, sleepy-eyed book-shaped relic suddenly stood on his shoulder; who else could it be but Eimhart.
He was so sleepy he couldn't even open his eyes, but that book cover with only one eye and one mouth continuously moved closer towards the desk, as if having smelled some rare delicacy and feeling intolerably thirsty and hungry. The fragrance of knowledge instantly jolted his drowsiness awake. He impatiently jumped onto the desk, his eyes radiating with light as he looked at those ancient pages,
"Not bad, Fisher! Getting me such good stuff to celebrate right when I wake up. With these things, my internal injuries will probably completely heal. What the heck are these things, and where did you get them?"
Interrupted from his deep thoughts, Fisher cast a glance at the incomparably excited Eimhart. Freezing slightly, he smiled and said,
"They're prepared just for you. Please read them."
Eimhart opened his mouth, and a visibly moved expression emerged in that single eye. Unfortunately, he had no hands and couldn't wipe away tears, otherwise, he definitely would have done such an action at this moment. But even so, his characteristic drake voice couldn't help but tremble slightly. Turning his head to look at the pages, he spoke to Fisher,
"Although you're usually sharp-tongued, you're quite reliable at critical moments. Alright then, I won't say thanks for a great favor. Rest assured, I absolutely will not mention those past, messy affairs of yours to that Valentiina or whoever you call her."
"..."Fisher didn't reply to him with a dark face. He merely watched a layer after layer of golden light of reading rise from Eimhart's body, absorbing all the text on the ancient pages into his stomach. As he read, he also let out exclamations of amazement,
"My god! So this is how Witches originated? Wait, forming a contract with Chaos-kin... Just who exactly has such capability? Those guys are beings even Baimon wouldn't dare provoke..."
In Eimhart's mouth, Baimon was almost becoming a unit of measurement. Probably in his eyes, the starting phrase for extremely terrifying entities was 'even Baimon wouldn't dare...'
But the next second, Eimhart's excited expression froze slightly. He immediately jumped backwards two or three steps, turned his head to look at Fisher, gnashing his teeth, and said very quietly,
"Your mom, Fisher, I've noticed you frequently lose your mind day by day, haven't you? I seriously doubt you could truly live past three days without me by your side! Every day you're either seeking death or on the path to seeking death! Can't you consider the great Sir Book Artifact when you want to die? Do you want to drag me to die with you?!"
Propping up his cheek, Fisher raised his eyebrows. Looking at the blustering Eimhart before him, he actually wasn't angry. On the contrary, the first thing he thought of was that since this guy could screech so robustly, the damage the Soul Completion Handbook brought him had probably almost healed. Therefore, the expression on his face was quite casual as he simply asked,
"What's wrong?"
"What's wrong?! Are you crazy?! I know you're a Naris person and closely tied to the Mother God faith, but casually chanting 'Mother God protect me' is one thing. How could you actually get your hands on the Mother God's belongings? You... you... you have Lamashtia behind you... Argh, anyway, it's those great gods watching you! Don't you know the Mother God's relationship with Them is very poor? Deadly enemies, understand? Aren't you afraid of being struck by lightning on the spot holding this thing?"
Fisher narrowed his eyes. Actually, he knew in his heart. When he obtained this thing, he had considered this point. The Demi-Human Girl Completion Handbook referred to the Mother God as a 'false god rejected by the world'. This to a certain extent already proved the relationship among these deities in the past. But this could also lead to two more questions.
First, where exactly did this Mother God, rejected by the world, come from? Why was He rejected by the other gods? Was it purely because He directly participated in that epoch-making war? Second, why did the Mother God disappear without a trace after that war? Was it due to His own reasons, or did the other gods join forces to punish Him? Then, is He still alive now? If He is alive, where is He?
But regardless of the outcome, up until now, Fisher hadn't felt the slightest deep-seated hatred from the other gods toward the Mother God. Fisher was unclear as to why the gods had chosen him, but he was very certain it was intimately related to the Completion Handbooks in his embrace, especially that Demi-Human Girl Completion Handbook.
Although this handbook was very indecent from its contents to its rewards, its wondrousness could not be denied. Since this was the case, the rewards given to him by the Demi-Human Girl Completion Handbook must also be within the tacit approval of those deities. Furthermore, it was highly likely They were eager for him to know as much as possible, grow as fast as possible, so that he could help Them resolve unknown problems sooner...
"Aren't I still perfectly fine? You're being so easily startled. Every time you see Dagon..."
"What do you mean 'seeing Dagon'?! You kid are truly brave! Oh, I finally know now why you this guy always hook up with those ladies one after another! So it's driven by bravery! It's because bravery is the manifestation of the active exploration spirit of a stinky scholar like you, right?"
Fisher scratched his ear. His brain automatically filtered out Eimhart's remaining emotional speech. Although this Fragment Two didn't record the magic of any ancient deity, he had deduced a method to contact the Chaos-kin in the Spirit World from Star Magic. After all, in a certain sense, the essence of this Star Magic was merely calling the Chaos-kin over to see if this female suited their tastes.
Coupled with the ritual method for Baimon he had obtained on the Flying Fish previously, he already possessed two methods capable of stably contacting Mythical Species.
"The summoning method for the Chaos-kin looks very complicated, and it can only be performed at night. But previously, when we walked in the Crevice between the Spirit World and Reality, we could still see them blinking at us. Is this magic really necessary to use?"
Upon hearing Fisher's question, the fragrant words from Eimhart's mouth finally paused temporarily. The pages within his stomach turned constantly, and amidst the emerging golden light, he seemed to have obtained the answer to the question. Thus, he responded to Fisher,
"Heh, that's because those Chaos-kin you saw were actually extremely far away from you. What you saw were generally past projections... Oh, except for that time in the Moon Rabbit-kin ancestral shrine, those stars you saw were true Chaos-kin traveling ten thousand miles to watch a show, for whatever reason..."
"There are no constraints of Reality's rules in the Spirit World. They can be captured by you at places vastly distant from you in both location and time. You saw them every time; did you think there were many Chaos-kin? In actuality, that huge cluster of eyes you saw is highly likely just the projection of a single Chaos-kin at different times. Their true numbers are pitifully small. After all, the Spirit World is fundamentally a very dangerous place. Existences capable of gathering into clear consciousness there are all monsters."
The content Eimhart was reciting should be the knowledge obtained from the Demon God Baimon's treasury in the Abyss. There were many difficult problems in this world urgently awaiting resolution. This made Fisher, who was pondering bitterly, instantly empathize with humans from ten thousand years ago who struck deals with demons yearning for power and knowledge. It was just a pity that in the Church's scriptures, the outcomes of these people were generally not very good.
There were two methods to summon the Demon God Baimon in exchange for knowledge. The first was to offer the thing you deemed most precious; she would then bestow upon you what you desired in exchange. The other method seemed to be offering your own death—releasing blood from your arm, then lying down in the center of a magic circle inscribed with Baimon's sigil. In your dying moments, when you were about to die due to excessive blood loss, she would appear and grant you the answer to the question you were most puzzled by...
In any case, no matter where you looked at it from, Baimon seemed to be a highly knowledgeable, cunning, and powerfully playful Demon God.
"Knock knock!"
"Who is it?"
Just as Fisher was pondering these matters, a knock suddenly came on the door of his room. He asked, and the next second, Heidelin's voice came from outside the door,
"It's me, Mr. Fisher. Eldest Miss told me to bring the magic materials sent from the family to you, saying they would be of use."
Hearing this, Fisher hid those ancient pages on the desk under his blanket, then placed Eimhart on his shoulder and opened the room door, revealing Heidelin standing between two huge sacks of magic materials at the doorway. These two sacks of materials were probably almost as heavy as Heidelin herself! To think she could actually carry them up... Was she Popeye the Sailor?
Heidelin crossed her arms. Feeling Fisher's evaluative gaze, she rolled her eyes at him and said somewhat speechlessly,
"Of course these were carried up by the maids working together. Did you think I was as strong as you, Mr. Fisher? Take inventory and see if there's anything else you need. While the people from the family are still here, I have to hurry up and give them the list..."
"Nothing seems to be missing. Some are also generic materials that can be substituted. If we're not inscribing some... Hmm?"
As Fisher bent down to inspect the magic materials in the sacks, he suddenly noticed a small bag of items tied behind the sack. Opening it, he saw it actually contained a small bag of cold-water candy and an expensive northern red wine. He had just looked up when he suddenly saw Heidelin extending a finger to tap his chest. The force was strong enough to push him backwards a bit. Fisher didn't resist; instead, he stood up and looked at the woman standing before him,
"Miss Heidelin?"
Only after they both stepped into Fisher's room did Heidelin raise her gaze a bit. The lips coated in lipstick parted, making her appear quite charming in coordination with the emerald hair accessory on her head,
"You guy are really... I've thought about what you said earlier. Although I was doing it for Eldest Miss's own good, it indeed lacked consideration. I only focused on taking care of her daily life but forgot she also has legitimate needs like other children, and also has thoughts of not wanting to be seen as a disabled person... Let me ask you a question. How old are you today?"
"My birthday just passed. Around twenty-nine years old."
"Around?"
Meeting Heidelin's raised eyebrows displaying suspicion and an unfriendly expression—one look and you could tell she thought Fisher was joking—he had no choice but to explain,
"I am an orphan; how would I know the specific time of my birthday? My birthday followed the nun who adopted me, so naturally, my age is only an approximate range."
"...So that's how it is. Then you are a few years younger than me."
Heidelin froze slightly, then sighed, her tone also softening. Only then did she continue,
"I can tell you understand many things. You have delicate thoughts and are relatively reliable, making people feel comfortable interacting with you. Eldest Miss has been much happier these past few days staying with you. I don't want to stop you from communicating with her, but I must remind you, she just came of age! She is a full ten years younger than you!"
Eimhart on Fisher's shoulder disdainfully shot Heidelin a glare. In his heart, he thought, 'What's "just came of age" or "ten years younger" mean? This guy likes demi-humans, humans, and Sardin Woman's Country people where women reign supreme. His preferences for ladies are so broad; would he care about a bit of an age gap? Even Eliog is tens of thousands of years older than him...!'
"She has shallow experience in the world, and you are a playboy who likes toying with others. How could she possibly outplay you... Don't you say you don't have the slightest interest in her. If you truly maintained your integrity like that, you wouldn't be chased to the Northlands by the Emperor of Naris. A bit of cold-water candy, a bit of red wine, plus a bit of flirting... Are you planning to do something else to a disabled person like her?"
Fisher was somewhat speechless, a feeling of being wronged quickly rising in his heart. Even if one insisted he was interested in Valentiina, that was interest in the Phoenix-kin bloodline in her body, not romantic interest in her. Fine, actually, his boss's youthful stubbornness and adorable blustering was quite cute sometimes. But that was merely interest that stopped after a brief attempt; it couldn't be considered an action worthy of criticism, right?
"I don't want to ruin Eldest Miss's mood to experience life. After all, as you should know, the people in their family usually have short lives. I don't want her to experience nothing and just mechanically complete some foolish mission of continuously searching for the Sycamore Tree. She should savor the taste of cold-water candy and red wine, see the scenery outside the snow castle and interesting people outside the family, which of course includes a sweet romance."
"But even if the partner she wants to experience romance with might be you, I also hope Mr. Fisher will show her the sweetest side of romance, and not mix in other filthy things to profane and humiliate her disabled body..."
Heidelin fully stepped into Fisher's room. She turned her head to look at his bed. Above those colored red lips, a gleam of incomprehensible emotion flashed in her eyes,
"If you generated lust because of this, you can vent it on me... You don't need to worry. Since childhood, I was raised in the Turan family's training, with serving my designated master as the meaning of life. Eldest Miss Valentiina is the master the family designated for me. As her most devout servant, I've already made up my mind to accompany her through this journey regardless of everything... Before this, I had no experience interacting with men, so you can fully rest assured..."
"So, this might also be one of the reasons I can understand Eldest Miss Valentiina wanting to experience those unreachable things in her limited life, right? Because occasionally I also feel lonely, and want to try what it feels like to interact with a man... How about it? Can you agree to my request, Mr. Fisher?"
She moved her distant gaze from Fisher's bed, then gave a slight smile looking at the Naris gentleman in front of her. That soft lip gloss was like an illusory flame, about to abruptly ignite the air surrounding Fisher. Meeting that scorching atmosphere, Heidelin spoke her piece.