Chapter 1627: Fa(I)t(h)/[e]
...Before the story continues...
[Weird question, before you continue, did you ever find out why your family was separated? Like, did you ever use the church’s resources to resolve that mystery or not?]
"Partially. Investigators I had sent reported that my old village just had the bad luck of being in the battleground between two Aether Saints. That battle ended in a draw, by the way."
[Huh...that sucks.]
"Yes, yes, it did."
...Now back to the story...
The two sisters traveled for quite some time after being separated, flying over jungles, mountains, and rivers, until finally landing in the middle of a vast field.
The two of them cried for a time, whimpered for a spell, and sobbed for a moment. However, they eventually managed to put themselves back together again and determined to start moving.
Despite being separated from their parents, the two girls at least had each other and figured that as long as they were together, everything was going to be fine.
And as luck would have it, things actually did get better...sort of.
The two little girls had ended up in a city, a nation, that was filled with churches.
There were churches where everyone had to wear a funny hat every other day.
There were churches where the women wore men’s clothing, and the men wore nothing at all.
There was even a church where a cat was the priest.
Despite all of these practical differences, though, all of these churches actually had one thing in common: their object of worship was known as the [Sacred Flame].
...Minor aside...
[How the hell did I not notice the cat-worshipping sects?]
"They were in a different district. The one you were in had a dog as a priest."
[Wow...]
...Okay, now let’s finish this fairy tale of a flashback...
This little detail, however, didn’t matter to the girls, as they were originally planning to simply walk through the city to their next destination.
But alas, fate had other plans in mind.
Rather, the [Sacred Flame] had other plans in mind.
While the two sisters were spending the night in the city, planning to leave the next day, something terrible occurred.
The First Hearth Tender, the person who controlled the entire city and represented the will of the [Sacred Flame], suddenly died.
The priests said it was due to a loss of favor.
The doctors said it was due to old age.
But the servants whispered amongst themselves; the old fellow just choked on a grape.
The moment he died, the [Sacred Flame] sprang to life and began searching the city for a new successor.
The [Sacred Flame] always chose who would be in charge of it, but the criteria was never clear.
Sometimes it chose a pious priest who spent much of their life in the pursuit of spiritual perfection.
Other times it would choose a hedonistic wastrel, someone who dedicated their lives to physical pleasure over all else.
And once upon a time, it had even chosen the prince of another kingdom entirely
On this day, though, it had chosen a little orphan girl who was in the middle of tucking her baby sister into bed.
...Now we’re done...
"And I think you can figure out the rest." Serena finished her story with a sigh. "My elder sister and I were taken in by the church; she was groomed to be the First Hearth Tender while I...well, I was actually going to be removed to an orphanage out of my sister’s reach."
[Really?]
"Yes, but the moment my sister protested, the [Sacred Flame] suddenly flared up alongside her anger and caused the priests who were about to take me away to cower in fear," Serena said with a hint of nostalgia in her voice and a look of sadness directed towards the [Sacred Flame] bonfire before her. "Ever since that moment, I was made to be her personal attendant instead."
[And immediate successor?]
"Apparently," Serena sighed. "Still not sure why, though. My sister was the one who went all gung-ho with the religious fervor after we had been picked up. Would you believe I’m a skeptic?"
[Partially, yes.]
"But I loved my sister more than I doubt this religion, so here we are."
[Hmm.]
Zhen Liu had read that sentient aether treasures would sometimes develop preferences in the type of master they were willing to serve, but for one to go out of its way to keep a family unit together was... interesting.
Regardless, Serena didn’t forget why she had decided to share her story with Zhen Liu and she wanted to make sure that she didn’t just spill her guts for no reason.
"Well? What say you, Kaijin Lord? Is my story enough for you to be moved by your heart as opposed to your head?" Serena asked as she directed her gaze at the tiny copper protokaijin that she would normally feed snacks to.
[I see you remembered my quip,] Copper smiled in a way that would seem more natural on Zhen Liu than on himself. [Well, to put it bluntly and numerically...eight out of ten. I’m moved.]
"Well, I’m glad to hear you—wait, eight?! How was that an eight?"
[Well, to be fair, I gave you that score so you could be shaken out of the funk you buried yourself in,] Zhen Liu smirked with Copper’s features.
"You..."
[And second, it’s because you’re still hiding details from me.] Copper said in a more serious tone. [I know it’s probably because you don’t completely trust me, but I tend to help those who wouldn’t mind risking it all on a gamble. Get what I mean?]
Serena stifled her complaints once Zhen Liu had pointed out the hole in her story.
A part of her wanted to retort and refute Zhen Liu on his claim about her lying by omission. But she had the distinctive feeling that it would actually do more harm than good. As such, she simply opted to just go silent.
[Well, my curiosity has been more or less satisfied,] Copper said while stretching himself out, a wholly unnecessary action on his part. [Its time for me to get back to doing my own thing.]
"Just to double-check, you’re not going to randomly appear like this without warning again, right?"
[Probably not,] Zhen Liu answered. [But this moment has given me some ideas for other things...by the way, I do have one more question I need to ask.]
"More?"
[Just one,] Copper paused as Zhen Liu tried to figure out the best way to ask this question without exposing himself.
[That trio of treasures, the ones that could restore the Sacred Flame to full power; what would you do if you got your hands on them?]
"What?"
Once again, Serena found herself confused by Zhen Liu’s questions.
"Isn’t it obvious? I would fulfill my duty and restore the [Sacred Flame] and of course, bestow you with a portion of it as promised."
[Yes, but your story carried a bitterness towards the Sacred Flame for choosing your sister and then you to be it’s tender,] Zhen Liu pointed out. [Sounds to me you wouldn’t mind—]
"Ah, I see. So that’s your real question," Serena sighed. "Well...if you had asked me this question before my sister’s death, I would’ve actually probably done the unthinkable and handed them to those two power-hungry fucks. That is, if it meant my sister could be free from this burden."
[Oh?]
Serena redirected her gaze at the [Sacred Flame] burning quietly before elaborating further.
"But now she’s dead, and this flame is the only thing that carries her memory. I would be an idiot, a fool, and worst, if I didn’t do my damndest to keep the one thing connecting me to her alive."
[Ah...an expected answer, but still a good one.]
"What do you mean by...huh?"
Before Serena could ask her question, Zhen aloud disappeared from the mind of the protokaijin known as Copper, prompting the little metal guy to fall over with a confused look on their face.
[Whoa...I didn’t expect our liege’s presence to be that...big.] Copper complained. [That man felt paranoid about everything.]
[To be fair,] Silvie interjected, [we would probably also be paranoid in his situation.]
[Fair enough.]
...And the peanut gallery says...
<Damn...and here I thought religion was only for those who were unable to parse what they really wanted out of life and needed someone else to do the thinking for them. Never thought I’d see it flipped on its head. "Being faithful for the sake of another".>
=Personally, I find it illogical. There are always alternative solutions to complex problems. The only issue is having the insight and time to notice what they could be.=
<In fairness, how often have we ridden with Kaijin Lords who have done the same thing? Hell, have probably done worse?>
=Too many to count. =
<Side note, it appears our Lord is now riding the information high and is about to send out some...rather questionable orders.>
=Questionable how? =
<Painting a target on his taint. >
=...please tell me that’s an exaggeration.=
