Chapter 163 - 68. Goodbye Crab Lady

Chapter 163: 68. Goodbye Crab LadyFisher’s nose filled with the familiar scent of incense often used by the Church as he walked into the classroom, but this time, in addition to the incense, he also smelled a faint hint of floral fragrance. He looked up and saw the enchanting Lady Anna sitting quietly in the back row of the classroom.

Perhaps because she was so exceedingly beautiful, the gentlemen beside her inevitably blushed, stealing glances in her direction, forgetting even the wives and children beside them, which provoked a sharp pain from a pinch at the waist the next moment.

Turning his head, he caught his wife’s cold gaze; she looked at him, pointedly indicated his body, and then distanced herself unpleasantly with the child in her arms. This left the man awkwardly touching his head, yet he couldn’t help but want to look back at the lady despite the discomfort.

She was truly stunning, like a poppy flower that intoxicated those who gazed upon her.

Fisher quietly observed Anna, but found her intently focused on the blackboard. She blinked at Fisher’s gaze and then awkwardly shifted her eyes away.

"Good evening, I’m Fisher Benavides, the volunteer teacher for this session at the Full Moon Church. May the Mother Goddess protect every child who yearns for the Truth."

Following tradition, he made the prayer gesture of the Mother Goddess’ blessing, and everyone below followed suit, pressing their hands together in praise of the great Mother Goddess.

"This class is about ethics, a branch of philosophy that represents humanity’s contemplation and reflection on morality. Of course, this class will not involve sharp and intricate debates; rather, it should be treated as an equal exchange."

"Today, I’ll introduce one of the many branches of ethical theory, which is the social contract theory first proposed by Mr. Claude Baggins..."

The content of this course was different from when Fisher usually taught; it did not have many strict requirements or a meticulous classroom order. He used vivid examples to explain to those below the origin and essence of the theory, then presented the stance and weaknesses of those theorists from his personal viewpoint.

This was not his teaching style; it was the style of Amiser, the ethics professor at the Royal College, the style Fisher remembered when he first encountered knowledge how he was drawn to it and eventually embarked on the path of learning.

The classroom atmosphere was relaxed; over the course of an hour, the students below smiled occasionally and shifted their thoughts with Fisher’s words. When Fisher was almost finished, he realized that twenty minutes had passed since the scheduled end of the class.

He turned his head to the outside where the bishop of the Full Moon Church was smiling at the door, resembling a Saint Nali University gatekeeper. Fisher suspected her first words upon entering would be, "We are closing and need to lock the doors."

"Well, that’s all for today’s class. May the Mother Goddess bless you all."

"May the Mother Goddess bless you."

The students below also made the prayer gesture with a smile, and the bishop entered with a donation box, placing it in front of the podium.

This was not about actually collecting money, but a tradition from the Nali Church. The first Archbishop, in his pursuit of the original Creation Scriptures, had spent his entire fortune and walked from Nali to Kado, bringing back the very first engraved copy of the Creation Scripture.

Since then, it had become a custom in Nali’s Church to drop money into the donation box after praying, symbolizing the passionate pursuit of truth and faith, the disposal of worldly possessions to show devotion.

Although life without money was impossible, even the poorest workers would place a Narliou in the box after praying, as part of the ritual.

The listeners lined up one by one to drop in Narliou, mostly one or two euros each, then made prayer gestures towards the bishop.

Fisher waited on the side until the last person, the Lady Anna with her light scent of flowers, approached the donation box. Gently, she pulled out a stash of Narliou from her bosom, roughly a thousand euros, and placed it softly in the box in front of Fisher.

She made a gesture to both the bishop and Fisher, whispering,

"May the Mother Goddess protect us."

"May the Mother Goddess protect us."

After the bishop and Fisher returned the gesture, she left with a light smile.

Fisher’s gaze followed the exquisite lady’s figure as she left, and the bishop beside him, noticing Fisher’s gaze, said,

"Ah, that lady often comes to our Full Moon Church to pray..."

"Often?"

"About two or three times a week, she always donates so much money after praying. I wonder from which wealthy family she could be, but with her beauty, I can’t imagine whom she would choose as a gentleman companion."

No, she was not the lady from some wealthy household; she was the madam from the largest brothel on Nate Weng Street right behind your church.

But it seemed that Anna truly just came for the church activities; she hadn’t realized that she was the disguised Schwali man who had visited the Pink Hall.

After learning about Anna and the news about the Pink Hall, he bade farewell to the bishop of the Full Moon Church, had dinner with his cane and hat, then strolled along the Coco River walkway as if on an evening walk.

The Coco River was the largest of Nali’s rivers, with a distance of about one hundred meters separating the banks. Fences and streetlights were set up along the shore, where many youngsters drank and reveled.

Parker Park was situated at the end of the Coco River. Fisher had sent a message to Carlo, agreeing to meet there that night, and then he proceeded alone to Parker Park.

To prove what Meg had said about "exchanging little elf," he brought along the Earth Marrow he had purchased the day before, hoping to attract the unsuspecting elf with the colorfully glittering stone that he surmised the elf might consider a treasure.

Of course, an exchange was out of the question. The moment that little elf thought to take the Earth Marrow, Fisher would use the Spinner to reel it back in. After all, that thing was worth 1350 euros; he wouldn’t part with so much money unless it allowed him to thoroughly research it.

Parker Park was still very quiet at night, situated especially close to the ocean. Walking a distance behind the Mother Goddess Statue at the center of the park, one would reach the vast Southern Ocean. Fisher stood by the seashore, gazing into the distance, where the ocean under the night sky resembled a gaping maw, as if it was about to swallow the entire world.

The ocean was so mysterious that even the currently thriving humans couldn’t fathom the magical things it might contain.

Fisher silently walked back to the front of the Mother Goddess Statue in the center of the park. Besides the stone-sculpted statue, the pond beneath it seemed bottomless, connecting to Saint Nali’s water supply pipelines.

He placed the shimmering Earth Marrow at the edge of the pond, but he didn’t recite any spell for offering treasures. Then, he quietly sat beside the bushes next to the pool.

Before long, Carlo arrived. When Fisher looked over, Carlo had changed into a pretty dress, as if she wanted to wear it enough times before she couldn’t dress like this anymore to enter Saint Nali University the next day.

The two glanced at each other among the bushes, and Carlo, realizing what Fisher was thinking, blushed and exclaimed,

"What are you looking at? It’s the last day; can’t I wear it one more day?"

"I didn’t say anything. Wear it if you want."

Carlo sat down beside Fisher, annoyed, and set her gaze on the Earth Marrow by the pool. Pouting, she said,

"So, what is this for?"

"Fishing for the little elf."

"Fishing with Earth Marrow? And where would a little elf come from? Even if a little elf could be lured by this kind of thing, it must be pretty dumb!"

Fisher ignored her and just told her to rest for a while. They hid behind the bushes; the summer bugs were numerous, but luckily Fisher’s hand cane was imbued with Insect Repelling Magic, preventing them from being bitten into a mess by mosquitoes.

They sat like this for several hours. Carlo grumbled at first, but after seeing Fisher’s expressionless face, she quieted down, just silently cursing him in her heart.

Then, not much later, she stealthily ran under the street lamp with a small makeup mirror in her embrace, facing her reflection and striking several poses, acting vaingloriously.

And later, she fell asleep right next to Fisher, subconsciously leaning toward him as if wanting to lean on his shoulder. However, Fisher, feeling disgusted, pushed her away with a slap, causing her to topple directly onto the grass next to them.

"Hey! You! What time is it now, and why are you making me waste my time here! I’m sleepy!"

"Lie on the ground and sleep."

Fisher couldn’t be bothered to deal with her and simply closed his eyes to rest, waiting for the little elf to bite.

Seeing that Fisher ignored her, Carlo silently raised her level of dislike for him to the max and couldn’t hold out any longer, lying on the lawn to rest.

Time slowly passed until the Moon Night climbed slowly to its zenith and the peak of summer became quiet. Then, a strand of nearly invisible thread on Fisher’s hand cane trembled slightly, and at the same time, Fisher, who was resting with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them.

Out of nowhere, a small head appeared at the edge of the water pool. The figure was hidden completely in the pool, poking at the glowing Earth Marrow, eyes shimmering, seemingly enticed by the greed for Fisher’s Earth Marrow.

Fisher frowned and scrutinized the figure for a moment, catching sight of the curious and smiling face of a little girl. The more he looked at it, the more familiar it became, until after a second, he recognized that the person hiding in the pool was Lingna!

But compared to before, she seemed to have undergone some changes?

He remembered, several months ago, when he had just returned from the South Continent by boat, he had encountered Lingna, a crab lady demi-human from the ocean. And now, the person in the pool with fair skin and a hint of cute baby fat—if not her, who else could it be?

How did she end up in Saint Nali?

While Fisher’s thoughts surged, his actions were not slow.

He gripped his hand cane gently and with a slight hook, the spinner-made invisible thread pulled up the Earth Marrow. At the same time, Lingna, startled, tried to dive back into the pool. Fisher did not give her the chance, hooking her small body with the Spinner, and pulled her out of the water.

"Whoa, let go of me, let go!"

"Shh, take a look at who I am?"

That familiar, strange language entered his ears again. Fisher held the girl’s small body with a smile, then gently patted her face. She turned to Fisher while chattering and bubble-blowing, but when Fisher spoke, her face changed slightly, and she turned to look at Fisher with her finger to her mouth, signaling her to be quiet.

It was the human she had encountered before!

Her eyes lit up, and the wariness and panic on her face faded a little.

Following Fisher’s gaze, Lingna looked behind Fisher and saw Carlo lying on the ground.

"Come down first; let’s go somewhere over there where there are no people."

Fisher put Lingna down, pointing in the direction of the seaside near Parker Park, and said so.