Rita felt like puking as soon as she stepped inside the praying hall. The smell that had been faint until now was all over the place.
It was a sweet but overpowering smell that made Rita feel dizzy. But her will to keep herself awake was stronger than the smell’s desire to put her to sleep.
The people in the hall were sleeping quietly as the priest kept on speaking in hushed words. Rita could hear them but they did not register in her head. All she was feeling was dizziness.
“Hey miss, let me help you out. I am sure you will feel better as soon as you sit down-“
Rita pushed her hand out of the priest’s arms, his face flushed at the notion of being touched.
‘Danger. Danger. Danger. Danger. Danger.’
The words repeated inside Rita’s head as she took a step back. The feeling of having her energy sucked out was so strong in the room that Rita wanted to get away.
Whatever was going on in here was not normal.
“Is something wrong up there?”
Rita’s hurried refusal caused the priests down to turn toward her as well. Rita felt like a small animal pinned under someone’s heavy gaze which burned into her soul.
‘Darn! If only I could use my magic.’
Rita allowed the first priest to help her up. The contact burned away at what little energy reserved Rita had and her arms lost their strength.
“Don’t worry. Someone just woke up in the middle but I will take care of it soon enough. Should I alter her memory as well?”
The priest who was holding Rita up asked. He didn’t sound excessively worried to see Rita awake so it must not mean that much to him.
“Ah, no need to. They don’t remember what happened even if they wake up in the middle. We can send them back as soon as the Head Priest arrives in the hall.”
Rita had initially wanted to leave the praying hall but she stopped herself after hearing those words.
The Head Priest was the real reason they were here. As such, it would be better to stop around this place and wait for him to arrive.
It would make it easier to recognize him later.
“Fine. Luckily, today’s harvest is over already. I am sure Lord Shaun will be happy with the procession. He was worried about the quality of magic we were collecting lately.” The first priest replied as he put Rita down on her seat.
“There is nothing we can do about it. The Haikyruu festival is almost here and people are busy. Even if this is the temple for the dragon lord, people won’t just burst in here whenever we want them to.”
Despite what the man complained about, the hall was almost full of people sleeping in various poses. Rita could barely keep herself awake to know what was happening around her.
“Ah, there he is. The Head Priest is finally here so we are free. Time to wake these people up.”
Rita held her head down until a few people had woken up before her. She needed to keep her action neutral but she had a pretty good idea of what was going on here.
She had recorded all the words that were spoken in the room and the system had delivered them to Aurora.
The hall began to get empty and Rita was among the last persons to leave the hall before the shaking began. Something heavy knocked itself to the floor and familiar reptilian eyes met Rita’s.
‘Fuck, shit, damn. What kind of trouble did Ur decide to get in this time? How did his body grow up to be that big in the first place?’
Rita had a lot of questions and she even tried to get around the shocked priest to head toward Ur. But she didn’t make it far before the priest made a barrier appear around the inner rooms and where Ur’s unconscious body was lying.
Something small grasped Rita’s hand and she jerked her hand out of instinct before she heard a familiar voice.
“Calm down Rita. Everything is under Astoria’s control for now. She asked us to meet Aurora and then regroup. She will arrange a meeting with the Head Priest. A lot happened that you should know about before you decide to change in.”
‘Yes, I can see that a lot happened in an hour. Let’s hope that this is the end of it all.’
As much as Rita hated it, she turned around and marched out of the hall with everyone else. Mary was a soothing presence at her side that kept her sane in these trying times.
===========================
“I will cook Ur alive once I find him. How dare he make me waste so much time like this.”
Mary took a step away from Lady Astoria and her rageful mood. The female was in a volatile mood as soon as she realized what Ur had done.
But that only lasted for the duration of her complaining before she went quiet and calm again.
“Ur should be nearby in that building in front of us. I think he entered one of the rooms since I cannot see him in the corridors”
Ur was the size of a large dog so he couldn’t hide easily. The only reason Astoria could think of not being able to see him was as if he was in one of the rooms.
“Should we check out these rooms one by one?”
Mary was brave to suggest that. Despite her words, she was shaking in her place and it made Astoria feel bad for doing this to her. This was not what she intended at all.
But sending Mary away might be a bad choice right now. There were too many people around her for Mary to make it to the hall safely.
No matter how safely Mary tried to travel, a magic-less child could not overpower a trained soldier or someone with magic.
Aurora opened the only door that made sense when she considered Ur’s location and it opened up into a staircase that went downwards.
There was a weird feeling of magic coming from down the basement and it worried Astoria. It felt addicting to her and it made her want to consume that magic.
But she was an adult who had lived centuries so she was able to control her body. Ur likely won’t be able to control his urges and give in to the temptation.
And if it was anything like the magic Aurora had hinted at before then things would not end well for people. This magic would cause Ur’s body to forcefully grow up to contain this new power.
“I think you should go and find Rita. Tell her that everything is under control and I will take care of the Head Priest. I will also find a way to arrange a meeting with him soon. Now go.”
Mary looked hesitant to leave Astoria but it was good that she realized that Astoria was doing this for her safety.
Whatever was down in the basement had caused Astoria to go white in the face. So it likely could not be something beneficial to them.
“I understand. I will be the best messenger you ever had so wait for me.”
Mary promised with the same enthusiasm a kid did when asked to do a task. This betrayed her true age and also caused Astoria to let out a tired laugh.
“Yeah, sure kid. But you don’t have to come back. Stay with Rita and Aurora for the time being.”
Astoria send the kid back before she walked down the stairs. As she had expected to see, Ur was going on a rampage.
His body and magic were at odds and he was hitting his head against the ceiling to try and calm down.
His massive body managed to shatter the floor and that was when Astoria struck him with a sleeping spell.
It took everything she had and then some to calmly put Ur to sleep. Her half-brother was too strong to contain properly.
And it was also then she saw the wide eyes of the Head Priest and the narrow eyes of the man standing beside him.
“H-Holy, it’s a dragon.”
The Head Priest exclaimed, his voice going high and loud. But the man at his side seemed sullen to see Ur.
“Yes, it’s a dragon but it’s not ”The’ dragon we need. And it also laid out preparations to waste.”
The unknown person looked pissed off and his magic rose to strike Ur.
Astoria instantly positioned herself in front of Ur’s unconscious body to protect it and the man paused at seeing her.
No, he did not pause seeing Astoria.
But rather, the person who had just walked into the hallway after Astoria.
“I’m sorry if I am interrupting something here but I felt the need to come here. I hope I am not being a bother to the overlooker present before me.”
Aurora had walked into the half-empty hall and her entrance caused the unknown man to laugh out loud.
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