As Vaan made his way to the Great Hall, he thought a lot about his wood spirit, Emerald, who was the most pitiful among his contracted spirits.
Although he made a suitable living space for her in the Heaven-Swallowing Space, it wasn't the same as the earth and fire spirit spaces in which Topaz and Ruby resided. Without a wood spirit space for Emerald, she wouldn't be able to grow like Topaz and Ruby.
Furthermore, she would never be in peak shape.
As such, he added it to his list of priorities to achieve the Wood Spirit Body on his trip to the Great Ratholos Empire. It was said that all kinds of exotic and rare medicines could be found there. Perhaps he could find some magical plants and herbs with wood affinity-increasing properties.
Of course, another option was to dual-practice with Aeliana.
However, the benefits wouldn't be as great as the first-time experience. It would consume more time and effort the higher he raised his wood affinity through dual practice with her.
The ideal choice would be to take her along on his trip and dual practice together. Unfortunately, she had important work to carry out between the Black Rose Kingdom and the Holy Knight Empire.
That said, Vaan decided he would at least pay her a visit once before he left for the Great Ratholos Empire.
...
After Vaan arrived in the Great Hall, he immediately spotted a white-robed old man waiting with his back toward him. The three-sun mark on the old man's back signified the person was a High Priest of the Sun God Temple.
Without a doubt, it was the High Priest Setheiman who wanted to see him.
"You wanted to see me, High Priest Setheiman?" Vaan calmly asked, striding into the Great Hall with a majestic and imposing aura that was ruined by the two innocent spirits parked on his head and left shoulder.
In that instant, High Priest Setheiman turned around. He squinted his eyes, scrutinizing Vaan's appearance like a short-sighted person, and immediately revealed his surprise and puzzlement regarding the two spirits.
But after a moment of hesitation, he accepted their existence - or rather, he simply put them aside to carry out his task.
"I have seen the light, Your Divinity," High Priest Setheiman greeted Vaan subserviently, bowing his head with one hand over his chest.
"Oh? Would you like to see it again?" Vaan casually asked.
"P-Pardon...?" High Priest Setheiman stuttered, taken aback by the completely unexpected question, which also disrupted the speech he had prepared in his mind.
"Oh, don't worry about it, Vaan nonchalantly dropped the topic with a casual wave of his hand before asking, "So, what did you want to see me for?"
Although it seemed like Vaan was only making a light joke, he had disrupted High Priest Setheimans' rhythm and controlled the tempo of their conversation.
High Priest Setheiman also realized that and felt rising anger in his heart.
However, he suppressed his emotions to retain a humble and cordial attitude. He wanted to maintain a good impression in front of the self-proclaimed Sun God. It would make it easier to convince the person to visit the Sun God Temple.
"About that... I was wondering if Your Divinity ever considered visiting the main temple and gracing your humble followers with your divine presence?" High Priest Setheiman humbly mentioned before adding, "We have been eagerly waiting for your visit, but we aren't sure if you will ever come, Your Divinity."
High Priest Setheiman did well to hide his true emotions. But unfortunately, his heartbeat failed him.
Vaan had already noticed the change in High Priest Setheiman's heartbeat and understood where the person stood in regard to his status.
Everything became clear as day to him.
If High Priest Setheiman truly welcomed him as the Sun God, he would have laughed at his light joke even if he didn't find it funny.
On the other hand, if High Priest Setheiman held ill feelings regarding Vaan's self-proclaimed status, he would be triggered once Vaan mocked their religious ethics.
And as it turned out, High Priest Setheiman was angered enough that he couldn't even fake laughter.
"Is that right?" Vaan calmly smiled and said, "I apologize for making the main temple feel neglected. I have been too busy dealing with miscellaneous matters."
"However, I'm a bit free now. So if you want, I can visit the temple right now," Vaan stated straightforwardly.
"This..." High Priest Setheiman was stunned.
He had prepared multiple enticements to convince the false Sun God to visit the main temple. He didn't expect the person to agree so readily.
Did the person have zero guard toward the Sun God Temple?
Although High Priest Setheiman was happy to hear Vaan was so willing to visit the main temple, he couldn't help but feel something was wrong.
However, Vaan gave him no time to think.
"What's wrong? You don't want me to visit the temple anymore?" Vaan asked, urging High Priest Setheiman to answer.
"Well, that's not it, Your Divinity... I am happy you are finally willing to visit our temple and all... It's just that I thought-"
"What are we waiting for then? Let us head over now," Vaan urged, taking the lead to exit the Great Hall before glancing back. "What? Not going? Do you need me to hold your hand or something, High Priest Setheiman?"
Ahem!
High Priest Setheiman immediately coughed with embarrassment, not expecting such words to come out of Vaan's mouth.
Fortunately, they were in a private area and not out in public.
Otherwise, the false Sun God's shamelessness would have embarrassed him to death. After all, he was already so old.
How could he still be treated like a kid?
"I-I'm coming, Your Divinity," High Priest Setheiman coughed before glancing down at Vaan's outstretched hand with hesitation. "There's no need to hold hands..."
"Alright then," Vaan calmly retracted his hand and continued to leave the Great Hall as if nothing had happened.
As Vaan and High Priest Setheiman left the imperial palace and headed to the Sun God Temple, Topaz buried herself in Vaan's hair and spied on the old man with a pouty, wary look.
"Kyu, kyuu," Topaz warned Vaan, saying the old man was not a good person.
"I know," Vaan smiled.
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