Sounds of birds chirping outside woke Alexia up. She founds herself lying on the creaking bed in the house, a familiar face sitting not to far from her. "Altaris!"
I glance at Alexia with a smile and gently pat Kela and put her on the floor. "Did you sleep well? Any bad dreams?"
Rather than answering my question, she jolted from the bed and started panicking. "T-The F-Father did something! It was the food! Y-Yes! The food was not… right." She grabbed my shoulders and urged me to follow her. "Come! We have to save everyone!"
I held her hands and began to chuckle. "Alexia. Calm down. Calm down. Take a seat." I force her to seat down on the bed. "The kids are fine. They are outside. Playing."
"B-But I remember. Father Patrick was piercing holes into everyone's hands." As Alexia is searching her memories, she grabs my hand and examines it thoroughly. 'Poor girl. She must not remember the atrocities that demonic priest committed last night… She only will remember the moments before the mind control spell to affect.'
After checking my hands, Alexia couldn't help but smile. "So, you were not offering blood. Thank the almighty emperor. But what about others? We have to stop Father Patrick! Should I write a letter to Melsier? But he might be busy… Ugh! What would big sister Helen do in this situation?"
I couldn't help but chuckle at Alexia's words. In my eyes, she will always be a small girl pretending to be a grownup. Alexia looks at me as I pat her head. "Don't worry, I took care of the priest."
"Really? What did you do?"
"Well… let's just say that Father Patrick won't be seen in the village for a long while."
"Why? Did he get sick?" Alexia and I turn our heads to the main door and see a boy named Fran peeking inside.
I quickly let go of Alexia and walked up to Fran. "Hey buddy. You are Fran, right?" The shirtless boy nods with a cute squeak. "Good. It's good to be curious. Now go and call everyone back into the house. If anyone opposes, use my name."
Fran runs off to complete the given task.
Behind me, Alexia is giggling softly. She sarcastically imitates my voice. "If anyone opposes, use my name. Hahaha! What are you? Some kind of corrupt governor?"
'I was. Long ago.' I observe Alexia's behaviour and decide to bury yesterday's bridal sacrifice incident deep in my heart. 'It is good for you.'
"Hey, Altaris."
I snap out of my thoughts and answer to her. "Yes?"
"I was not wearing this dress yesterday! What happen- Wait, did you change my clothes?" Like fiery cat, Alexia latches onto me and starts to scratching with her nails. "Tell me! Now! How did this happen?"
I cover my face and lie down on the ground. "Ow! Ow! I didn't. Ow! It was aunt Meloni! Ow!" I hold her hands to keep her at bay. "She came early in the morning with Kela. I requested her to change your clothes. It wasn't me!"
Flustered, Alexia stops and leans closer to me. "Oh? Then where were you?"
Caught off guard by her question, I couldn't answer fast enough.
"Answer me!"
"Outside! I was outside!"
Unconvinced, Alexia tried to overpower me. "What took you so long to answer?"
Suddenly we both froze as we heard the sound of whimpering. At first, we both turned our heads to Kela but she was not the culprit. We turned our heads to the door and found the kids standing just standing there.
Alexia quickly gets off me and walks up to Fran. "Hey, don't cry. What's wrong?"
Meanwhile, I spotted Rushian giggling among the others. I raise my eyebrow at him, but he just turned his head.
"Ru-Rushian told me that you and Atlaris are fighting because of me… Please don't fight." Alexia hugs Fran while eyeing at me, I get up and clear my throat. "Ahem! Fran. Me… and Alexia were just playing."
The cute boy pops his head asks. "Really?"
"Yes! And you have done a wonderful job by gathering everyone." After listening my praise, Fran finally stops whimpering. "Now, boys do not cry. You are boy, right?"
"Yes."
"Then don't cry when faced with problems, instead try to become strong enough that the problem itself becomes irrelevant."
"Yes!"
"Greart. Now everyone, I have something to tell you."
Everyone suddenly became so serious. "Uh… So, anyone remember anything about last night?"
"Nooo!" The kids answer together.
"Okay then I am going to telling you what happened yesterday. The food had some… problems. Which… made you all sick. Yes. When I arrived at the church, I found you all unconscious at the table and brought you back home."
"Oh! Then what happened to Father Patrick?" Rushian asked the question.
I smiled at him. "Rushian. When someone's is telling you do not cut them off. Do you understand?" I used a passive aggressive tone which worked perfectly.
"I-I am sorry."
"As long as you understood your mistake… Where is Dora?"
As if clueless about my question, Rushian answer with a I don't know gesture.
"Rushian. The mouse. Where is it?"
"Aha! The mice, I threw it in the well."
"You did what?" I spread my mana field and locate Dora inside the well. 'She feels alive, I get to her later. But first-'
"Rushian! Do you have even a slightest idea what you did?" I purposely yell at him.
"W-What?"
"Dora was my familiar. A beast, I caught in dungeon. How could you throw her in the well?"
Scared by my tone, Rushian starts to fumble his words. "I-I didn't know-"
"Silence! Go and stand in the corner!"
Poor boy looks at Alexia for help but she has even more angry face than me. With tears forming in his eyes, Rushian stands in the corner, facing the wall.
'Heh, sorry kid. But discipline is much needed. Throwing Dora is fine but bullying others is where I draw my line.'
I clap my hands to gather everyone's attention. "Where was I? Yes, I brought you all home. But sadly, an earthquake shook the entire village and the land ate church whole." The children quickly started panicking. "What? An earthquake?" "I am scared!" "What happened to Father Patrick? Who will feed us sweets now?"
I raise my hands along with my voice. "Alright, calm down! Father Patrick is currently missing. As for our dinner and sweets." I shake the pouch which contained the job reward of 40 bronze coins. "We will be eating from the village Tavern."
After hearing the word Tavern, everyone began celebrating. "Tavern? Which means meat?" "I want sweet potato!" "I want one too!"
Every child seemed to believe my story, everyone except the oldest one. I made a swift eye contact with Alexia and noticed her sceptical gaze. 'Oh no. I don't want her questioning others about last night.'
"Then, tidy the house up while me and Alexia go and bring lunch for today!"
"Yes!" They all cheered once more.