Chapter 546 - 62. As expected
Chapter 546 of "Demi-human Girls Completion Manual" introduces new challenges: Interestingly, the emotions of this girl seemed single-threaded; her face first showed a relaxed expression,... Keep following!
Interestingly, the emotions of this girl seemed single-threaded; her face first showed a relaxed expression, then turned to surprise at the sight of the huge deer, followed by admiration for Fisherâs great strength, and finally a bit of hesitant silence without apparent reason.
"Mother Goddess bless...I thought you had fainted in the forest, you seemed to have been quite injured before. Wait, is this a deer? Did you...did you kill it?"
Fisher let out a hot breath, just about to enter the Church when he saw Ilois blocking his way with her arms outstretched. She shook her head repeatedly, refusing,
"Mr...Mr. Fisher, this is the Church. How could you kill a living creature and bring its corpse into the sight of the Mother Goddess? Thatâs totally unacceptable...and the deer is so cute, do you really want to eat it?"
I donât eat deer, so should I eat you instead?
Staring at the pitiable look on Iloisâs face, Fisher nearly blurted out these words.
But he didnât show any surprise, as he was fairly familiar with the Mother Goddess Church; ancient doctrines allowed the faithful to eat meat, but only from creatures that had died naturally, much like how she had been picking up dead shells by the seashore earlier.
The rules about killing animals for food were established by churches outside of Kado, mainly by Nali and Schwali, because after all, meat was just too delicious, and eating it was a necessity.
"If I donât eat something soon, Iâll die of starvation, and then the Mother Goddess will punish you for not allowing me to eat. Whatâs more, Iâll come looking for you as a hungry ghost tonight."
"No...donât come looking for me, donât come looking for me...then, you should eat quickly, eat it outside, but please donât die of hunger and come to haunt me at night, I already have trouble sleeping..."
Scared by Fisherâs joking words, Ilois hastened to cover her ears with her hands, seeming genuinely afraid that the starving Fisher would come seeking revenge at night, leaving Fisher with a helpless smile.
Wait, didnât Emhardt say the Moon Rabbit Species could see some hidden things under the moonlight? Could her current concern be related to that?
Having already cooled, Fisher tossed the deer onto the ground. It was when Ilois was covering her ears that he noticed what she was holding was actually a copy of the "Creation Scripture." It seemed she had just been studying the scripture.
Fisher remembered how, as a mischievous child in Church School, he was often punished to copy the Creation Scripture for his various errors. These included but were not limited to fighting, sneaking out to the streets with his innocent little face to trick Saint Naliâs elder sisters out of their spending money, and sneaking peeks at Father Terrenâs drawer full of erotic novels...
Anyway, to this day, Fisher still owed Sister Theresa fifteen copies of the Creation Scripture that he hadnât written.
Fisher quietly laughed, tossing those overly familiar memories aside from his mind, and bowed his head to begin processing the buckâs carcass with his Fluid Sword.
"Sizzle, sizzle~"
"Yes, yes, thatâs the right heat, sprinkle a bit of salt and spices and itâs ready to eat. What are you waiting for?! Clumsy!"
Fisher, sitting at the entrance of Healing Corruption Church, frowned as he eyed the greasy shimmering deer meat, unable to believe that cooking something delicious could be so simple...well, if he ignored that every word Emhardt had just uttered was beyond his expectations.
Turns out this fellow Emhardt had a stomach full of recipes from culinary masters, mastered the content, and could even teach Fisher, whose cooking was barely passable.
Roasted meat mixed with Northern Realm spices was quite delicious, and the aroma spread far in the chilly air of winter in Sardinia Female Country. He didnât know if people far away could smell it, but the Moon Rabbit Species girl reciting the Creation Scripture in front of the Church definitely could.
"âThe Mother Goddess and the stars around her gazed upon their child who fell to the Mortal World. On the first day, he crossed the mountains; on the second day, he crossed the rivers; on the third day, he entered the forest. He looked up at the sky day and night, trying to glimpse his beloved Mother from the boundless canopy of Sky...â"
Ilois recited the scripture, but the thick saliva in her mouth became increasingly pronounced as she read. What was funnier was that her eyes uncontrollably wandered towards the sizzling, oil-spouting roasted deer in the snow.
Deer are so cute, they must taste good too...
No, no, no, what am I thinking! That... thatâs taboo, and I would be punished by the Mother Goddess if I ate it!
After tasting a piece, Fisher found the flavor surprisingly good, a world apart from the meat he had roasted before.
"The taste is great..."
"Isnât it? With me, Emhardt around, youâll never go hungry, understand? Read more, and you can be outstanding like me."
Fisher ignored Emhardt, who was nearly exploding with pride, and handed a piece of the roasted deer to Ilois, who was seated far away at the entrance of the church, saying,
"Do you want some? You didnât get full from that little bit of shell meat earlier, did you?"
"Eh? I... me? No... Thank you for your kindness, Mr. Fisher, but I mustnât eat meat from killed animals, thatâs the Mother Goddessâs..."
"Hmm, but in fact, the current Churchâs discipline no longer includes this rule. Theyâve interpreted it using a passage from the Creation Scripture, âHis children walked for seven days and nights, His children also cried for seven days and nights. The Mother Goddess reached down and tore a piece of flesh from her arm and threw it to the Mortal World, where the falling flesh was scattered by the Stars, landing in lakes, seas, mountains, and rivers, turning into tangible animals.â"
Even after twenty years, Fisher remembered the contents of the Creation Scripture exactly. He spoke while eating the meat,
"âThe Stars asked: Why do you harm yourself like this? The Mother Goddess sighed: My children weep from hunger, and my heart also bleeds from their tears. If my blood can exchange for my childrenâs tears to stop, then whatâs wrong with that, as long as he sincerely reforms? Thus, the Mother Goddessâs children, following the Starsâ guidance, ate the animals formed from the Motherâs flesh and blood and lived.â"
Ilois gaped, feeling the passage was familiar, yet she suddenly couldnât recall which Chapter of the Creation Scripture it came from. Just as she was about to look down at the Creation Scripture, Fisher, with a blank expression, had already answered for her,
"Donât bother looking, itâs Section Fourteen of Chapter Two, the Ymir saga... And, wasnât the Creation Scripture you were reciting earlier missing some sections about the dialogue between the Stars and the Mother Goddess?"
"Eh? That... that..."
Ilois anxiously flipped through the ancient Creation Scripture book in her hands, which was almost falling apart, her rabbit ears twitching incessantly. She seemed a bit embarrassed and paused for a long time before continuing,
"Actually... my teacher, who is the true owner of this church, Sister Shalu, told me that the Creation Scripture of the Healing Corruption Church was damaged. Itâs said to be because a hundred years ago, McDowell Feudal State implemented religious control, which is why the Creation Scripture Iâve studied is missing many pages..."
"I see."
Fisher, disinterestedly munching on deer meat, seemed to Ilois like a man from the Western Continent, the true birthplace of the Mother Goddess Sect, who knew the Creation Scripture very well. If that was the case, could she ask him to help her restore the damaged Creation Scripture in her hands?
"Um, Mr. Fisher, you seem very familiar with the text of the Creation Scripture... could I ask you to help me find what content is missing from my Creation Scripture?"
Fisher paused mid-bite of roasted meat, and the expression on Emhardtâs shoulder instantly turned into a resigned "I knew it" dead fish-eye.
Setting down the roast meat gently, Fisher turned to look at Ilois, sitting at the church entrance wearing a classical nunâs robe. The flames from the roasted deer flickered the expression and gaze upon his face, making Ilois feel somewhat guilty and embarrassed.
After Fisher swallowed the deer meat he had been chewing, he calmly said,
"Of course, I can... but as youâve said, itâs a ârequest,â right?"