Chapter 287: 63. Ilos
“Hey? Um, I would like to ask Mr. Fisher for some help, is that okay?”
According to Emhart’s definition, the Moon Rabbit Tribe should be one of the smarter races among the six tribes, otherwise the King’s daughter, the Moon Princess, wouldn’t like them so much. But why does this Moon Rabbit in front of me seem rather dim-witted?
Fisher looked at Ilos, who completely misunderstood his words, and really couldn’t figure out how this not-so-smart little rabbit managed to survive this long without being deceived by others.
“Don’t worry, come over here and have some deer meat, and we’ll talk about this matter slowly.”
“Oh, I see. Thank you, Mr. Fisher, for the Mother’s gift.”
She made a prayer gesture to the Mother and then obediently sat in front of the fire that Fisher had started, her eyes glowing as she watched the deer meat sizzling on the fire. When Fisher placed a heavy skewer of meat in her hands, she could no longer contain herself and began to devour it.
Watching the rabbit nun eating meat cluelessly, Fisher thought that diving straight into wanting to study her wouldn’t be a problem. But when his gaze fell upon the lonely church behind her, he abandoned that thought and asked instead,
“You just said you have a teacher?”
“It’s so hot, so hot. Huh? Yes, my teacher is Sister Shalu, the original owner of this church. She is a nun who understands scriptures and doctrines very well. I became a nun under her guidance, but unfortunately, she was too old and passed away in the winter of the year before last.”
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
The clock in the back of the church chimed again. This warning bell strikes every hour from seven in the morning to seven in the evening. In the Genesis, this is the time that the Mother’s children walk on earth, holding religious significance.
There wasn’t much sadness on the rabbit nun’s face, but the action of chewing the deer meat stopped for a moment. Fisher noticed her polite sitting posture, which was entirely different from that of the Sardinia people, and suddenly asked,
“You are not from the Sardinia Kingdom.”
“Hehe, you noticed. But actually, I’ve been in the Kingdom for a long time. I come from Nebarun Kingdom, which is a medium-sized coastal country to the north of Sardinia.”
She pointed at her chin, and a visible look of contemplation appeared on her cute face beneath her nun’s headscarf, as if it was a very distant memory that was not easy to recall now.
“I remember, um, my family used to be merchants who traveled by sea. When I was young, I often sailed with my father to the Kingdom for business. But one time, we encountered pirates at sea; my family was killed, and I barely escaped on a small boat my father put me on.”
Nebarun Kingdom, Fisher recalled, was a religious nation that worshiped the Frost Phoenix. They produced a type of very delicious fish that was a rare delicacy on the Western Continent. Fisher had once tried it at the Black Mamba Palace, and it indeed tasted quite good.
As mentioned before, countries that worshiped the Frost Phoenix placed great importance on equality and cooperation, so within such nations, Subhuman Races could work and live just like ordinary humans. Ilos’s family must have engaged in business with humans, but unexpectedly, they encountered an attack at sea.
In her childhood, she drifted on a small boat across the sea, arriving at the coast where Fisher had previously landed. She was taken in by a kind old nun named Shalu. According to Ilos’s memories, Sister Shalu not only took her in but also taught her many doctrines of the Mother’s church, which made Ilos want to inherit Sister Shalu’s legacy and become a nun.
After Sister Shalu learned of this, she did not refuse her request, even though this was not allowed by the original church’s rules. After all, in the Genesis, the Mother’s children are only humans; who knows if she would mind having an additional Moon Rabbit daughter?
As Fisher listened to her speak, he took the Genesis from her hands and carefully read through it, only to discover that many chapters were missing. Some pages were damaged, while entire sections were simply gone.
It seems I can only rewrite a new one for her. But the problem is she can’t read Nali, and with the Northern Region Language, Fisher could only handle daily conversations and didn’t recognize the characters, making it impossible to provide a complete translation.
“This Genesis has many missing sections; it will be quite difficult to repair, so I can only rewrite it for you.”
“Eh? But if you rewrite the entire thing, it will be very troublesome for you, Mr. Fisher.”
Ilos’s rabbit ears drooped slightly as she spoke, and since she had to talk, she couldn’t eat the deer meat. She maintained the action of biting into meat while addressing Fisher.
“Well, it is indeed a bit troublesome, but no worries. It’s just right for me to practice how to write in the Northern Region script, and besides, I owe a nun a lot of Genesis rewritings. However, after I help you rewrite the Genesis, I will need a little help from you.”
“Ehh, a little help? Is it very troublesome? I-I can’t do many things and might not be able to help you, Mr. Fisher.”
Fisher supported his chin, his gaze falling on the pair of soft white rabbit ears that were constantly swaying atop her head. He suddenly noticed how adorable they became when they listened for sounds.
If humans need to listen attentively to a certain sound, they would turn their heads toward the direction of the sound. But Moon Rabbits don’t need to do that; their ears will sway within a 180-degree arc in the direction they face, which made the ears of the nun in front of him appear quite lively.
“It won’t be very troublesome, and you don’t need to do anything extra. You see, actually, my main work on the Western Continent is to study Subhuman Races.”
Every time Fisher mentioned this, the Subhuman woman being studied would feel something was off and become alert. Even the dullest of individuals would notice a bit of suspicion. But the nun in front of him seemed to understand nothing at all and simply nodded to indicate she heard him.
Emhart on Fisher’s shoulder sighed, unable to watch any longer. He began to make exaggerated facial expressions of distress toward Ilos.
Seeing this, Ilos thought he was unwell, so she pointed a finger at Emhart and said to Fisher,
“Um, Mr. Fisher, it seems your book on your shoulder is not feeling well. His expression looks quite pained.”
“Are you unwell?”
Fisher turned to Emhart with an expressionless face, which made him hurriedly look away and whistle.
“What do you mean unwell? Not at all! Who is unwell? You?”
“…..”
You idiot, when you realize Fisher’s true nature later, don’t blame the great Sir Book for not saving you! I’ve really never seen anyone so oblivious, rushing to offer themselves to Fisher like this; you’re the first. Just wait for your demise!
Emhart shot Ilos an exasperated glance, the frustration practically seeping from the book cover for all to see.
Fisher certainly knew what Emhart was thinking, but he genuinely had no ill intentions toward Ilos. He just wanted to quickly obtain the primary phase research reward on the Moon Rabbit Race and then leave to find all six sets of seals before arriving in Erwind.
“Nun Ilos, I am very curious about your race, the Moon Rabbit Tribe. I can help you restore the Genesis in your hands, but afterward, I need you to cooperate with me on a bit of research. Is that okay?”
“Sure. Eh? Wait, what kind of research are we talking about?”
Ilos smiled and nodded, and after a second or two, her smile stiffened as she came back to her senses. It seemed her brain had finally found the leisure to consider what Fisher meant by “research” after relishing the delicious deer meat.
It sounded like a very formal term, especially combined with Fisher’s serious expression, making it even more so. But when it was applied to herself, why did it feel so strange?
“I need to obtain data from your body and test and record the unique biological characteristics of your Moon Rabbit Tribe. That’s about it.”
“B-b-b-body data?!”
Fisher’s words frightened Ilos so much that she dropped the wooden skewer of finished meat and quickly covered her large ears with both hands. Her face flushed slightly as she hesitated to step back a bit and repeatedly said,
“Rude! I am a servant of the Mother; how can I do such things!”
Fisher chuckled helplessly, tapping his cheek with his finger before shaking his head.
“What are you thinking? I won’t do anything strange to you or touch you at all. It’s just measurement and recording data, understand?”
Ilos shook her head without thinking, and as a result of that action, she licked the flavor of the roasted deer meat sauce at the corner of her lips. After pausing for several seconds, she secretly reached out to lick the sauce at the corner of her mouth, the adorable motion making Fisher chuckle.
This Moon Rabbit Tribe truly isn’t very clever; if I said something else, perhaps I could easily trick her into agreeing. After all, she still needed something from me.
“If you don’t want to do it, that’s fine. I will write the Genesis for you regardless.”
“Really?”
Ilos’s eyes brightened, and she dropped her hands from her ears, staring at Fisher in disbelief. That little expression of delight instantly covered up the wariness she had just shown.
Fisher nodded, raising the Genesis in his hand and reading it expressionlessly.
“Well, it’s just the Nali language version. After all, I don’t know the Northern Region script. I don’t know if you can understand it?”
Ilos’s joyful expression quickly turned to a pout as she looked at him pitifully through the firelight, reminiscent of a small child who used to cry at the church school because of him.
And every time someone was brought to tears by her words, that sensitive-eared beautiful nun would always be the first to come over to settle accounts with Fisher.
“Fisher! Are you bullying someone again?”
“Yes, yes, yes, Ms. Teresa Benavides. Are you going to make me rewrite the Genesis again? Which chapter? How many times?”
“All of it! Rewrite it three times for me! And call me Sister Teresa, Fisher Benavides!”
Fisher, resting his chin on his hand, felt his expression stiffen a little. It wasn’t until the firelight in front of him broke his memories apart that he regained his senses. He shook his head and sighed as he said to Ilos,
“Alright, I won’t bully you anymore. You are a nun, so if you don’t want to, that’s fine. I will write you the Northern Region version of Genesis as a repayment for saving me ashore, and then I will leave here, okay?”
Ilos’s drooping rabbit ears perked up a little once more, and her pouting lips curved into a bright smile.
“Really?”
“Mm-hmm.”
Fisher stretched, forcing his stiff and sore muscles to finish the relaxing movement before tossing the remaining deer meat back into the fire.
“Alright, it’s too cold outside. I’m going back to rest and also to check on the clock tower. I hope you have cleaned it up so that a grown-up Nali gentleman and a book have a place to rest tonight.”
“Of course! I am very diligent and clean every day! Not just the clock tower, I also regularly clean the prayer place and the confessional!”
Fisher ignored her, packed the remaining deer meat to take back, knowing he could enjoy many more meals from it.
Just as he was about to step into the church, Ilos suddenly spoke softly from behind.
“Um, Mr. Fisher, if you want to study me… that’s okay. But, but, but, you must not touch my ears!”
Fisher turned his head in surprise to look at Ilos, and as she noticed he turned around, she became frightened and quickly covered her ears again.
Now, Fisher suddenly realized that every time something happened, she instinctively covered her ears. He had previously thought it was just her habit, but it seemed not so.
“What will happen if I touch your ears?”
“Eh? Um, if that happens, we might have little babies.”
“That’s a lie.”
“It’s true! My father told me!”
“…..”
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(End of this chapter)
