Chapter 293: 68. The Orphan of the Moon Rabbit
Inside the Healing Rot Church, Ilos was boiling water outside her wooden house. The conditions inside the church were simple, and there weren’t many amenities to receive guests; however, today’s guest obviously didn’t mind.
In the prayer hall, the kind gaze of the Mother God statue became a dividing line, splitting the hall in two. On one side sat Fisher in a wooden chair, while on the other side were Valentina and her subordinates.
The scholar Balzak from Shivali glanced around the surroundings. As a historian specializing in the Northern Region, he was well aware of the origins of such Mother God churches in the North. The signs of age on the surrounding walls caught his attention, prompting him to subconsciously search for a connection between this church and the Moon Rabbit orphan they were looking for.
The Lion Race member Felis was also looking around, but once she didn’t find any shiny objects within the church, she withdrew her gaze in disappointment, leaning boredly against her chair, occasionally glancing at Fisher with distrust and vigilance in her eyes.
Among the four on the other side, only Valentina and her mechanical guardian Haldor were listening to Fisher’s explanation.
“The situation is roughly like this: I didn’t do anything to Ilos, the Moon Rabbit orphan you’re looking for.”
Fisher repeated how he had come ashore, arrived at this church, and how he caused Ilos’s belly to swell. Of course, he also wrapped his original purpose of coming ashore—the desire to gain the reward from the Supplement Handbook for Sub-Humans—into a research interest in the subhuman race.
Valentina didn’t respond immediately after hearing this. She gently rubbed the ring on her fingers, seemingly deep in thought. It was Haldor behind her who exhaled a puff of steam and turned to the Moon Rabbit Ilos, who carefully emerged from behind the Mother God statue with hot water, speaking in place of Valentina,
“Zzz. I’ve heard that female Moon Rabbits can experience pseudopregnancy. I worked near the Nebarun Kingdom before. Only those with physical illnesses or who are subjected to strong stimuli will undergo such a condition. It seems this Moon Rabbit orphan is not in good health.”
“Zzz. However, this isn’t too serious; she will gradually recover in one to two weeks without any aftereffects.”
It appeared that the reason for Ilos’s pseudopregnancy was roughly the same as Fisher’s earlier guess; he didn’t know much about her physical condition, but it must be attributed to her seeing Dalasgon behind her in the moonlight last night, which combined with continuous malnutrition had caused such an unusual change.
Fisher glanced at the nun Ilos, who cautiously came out carrying hot water. The Supplement Handbook for Sub-Humans within his chest felt increasingly hot, as if the progress in biological research had risen again.
“Um, why do you keep calling me the ‘Moon Rabbit orphan’? While I am of the Moon Rabbit race, neither of my parents were anything special, and they have been dead for a long time. I mean, you might be looking for the wrong person.”
After distributing the hot water, Ilos sat down not far beside Fisher, watching Valentina across from her with some vigilance and speaking up.
Valentina held the warm cup of water in both hands. Her originally snow-white skin flushed slightly as she felt the heat. She took a gentle sip from the cup, her gaze slightly raised,
“Perhaps you’re unaware, but after your departure, all the Moon Rabbits in the Nebarun Kingdom have vanished. Aside from some distant Moon Rabbits near the snow mountains, you are currently the last known direct descendant of the Moon Rabbit bloodline.”
Valentina’s words were plain, but Ilos’s expression stiffened at her words, seemingly hard to believe. She shook her head, murmuring,
“No, it’s impossible. I remember things from my childhood when there were many of my kin along the coast, and every festival, my father would take me to visit them. But even if my father and I had an accident due to a shipwreck, they should… be alive.”
Valentina shook her head, her expression somewhat regretful,
“Regrettably, this is the truth. Over the past decade, the number of Moon Rabbits in the Nebarun Kingdom has experienced a steep decline, and most of them have met untimely deaths at night. Even those who have left the Nebarun Kingdom couldn’t escape this fate. You must know the ancient myth of the Frost Phoenix in the Northern Region; the Moon Rabbits were once one of the six clans loyal to the Phoenix, known for their ability to see hidden things at night.”
“So I must suspect that the deceased Moon Rabbits saw something at night that led to their demise, and undoubtedly, what they saw was related to the legendary Frost Parasol Tree.”
Fisher beside Ilos appeared somewhat grave. He had never imagined that the only remaining direct Moon Rabbit descendant in the Northern Region was Ilos by his side, which also raised a doubt in his mind. Could it be that his luck was indeed so good that he was washed ashore to the outside of the Healing Rot Church, where Ilos found him during the storm?
His impression of how he escaped from the storm was quite vague. In a state of near-extreme death, he only remembered desperately swimming forward, but he didn’t know in which direction he was swimming.
Such coincidences made Fisher suspect that some presence was intervening in his process, such as Ramastia or Dalasgon.
The gods wanted him to help them accomplish something and were willing to provide him with certain hints and assistance. However, for some reason, this feeling of being pushed didn’t sit well with Fisher, especially since he remained completely unaware of their motives up to this point.
Was it related to the Creation Society? To the Supplement Handbook for Sub-Humans? To the Apocalypse Prophecy?
Fisher mused silently in his mind, catching a glimpse of Balzak across from him as he took out a folded sheet of paper from his heavy red robe. He unfolded the paper, and on the pale surface splattered with crimson blood, there appeared a line of Northern Region script, seemingly an address along with a very obvious word: “Mark.” He also spoke up to Ilos,
“Don’t dismiss it just yet; we have evidence here.”
“This is the document left by your last clan leader of the Moon Rabbit race shortly before his mysterious death. The address recorded on it points to an ancient Moon Rabbit altar outside the Nebarun Kingdom. Your clan leader left the location of the Moon Rabbit mark on this paper for future generations, and it’s clearly intended to be the key to opening the Frost Parasol Tree.”
“We’ve been there but found nothing. Your Moon Rabbits not only excel at finding hidden items, but you’re also good at hiding things. We previously asked the distant Moon Rabbits near the snow mountains for help, but what they saw was very vague; only true direct Moon Rabbits can see clearly and retrieve that mark. This is why we traveled all the way to the Kingdom of Sardinia to find you, hoping you could help us obtain the Moon Rabbit mark.”
Upon hearing this, Ilos grew a bit anxious; she had visited the altar within the Moon Rabbit clan in her childhood, and they went there every year to pay homage, singing under the moonlight to remember the glory of ancient times. Although modern Moon Rabbits had become creatures that lived during the day, every time they held a ceremony, the children like her were fast asleep, knowing little about what the adults did during the ceremonies.
But she vaguely remembered that the adults were singing, singing about the master they had once pledged loyalty to in ancient times; that master was proud, standing on the lofty Parasol Tree, possessing colossal wings more powerful than wind and snow, knowledgeable of the future and the past.
However, Ilos hesitated a bit, as she had been away from her hometown for far too long, especially after learning today that all her fellow Moon Rabbits back home had perished; she found it hard to accept.
“Why would my kin… What has the Mother God protected them from? Why do those related to the legendary Frost Parasol Tree have to die? I… I just can’t understand.”
Ilos, having left her hometown for a long time and completely unaware of past history, couldn’t accept this fact, much like hearing that a city was razed overnight. But Fisher largely knew what had happened.
The demise of the Phoenix Race was closely related to some kind of pollution from the Spirit Realm. It was hard to say whether the sensitive Moon Rabbits with insight into the Spirit Realm were also affected; however, what was difficult to explain was why the decline of the Moon Rabbit direct descendants was only gradually affected in the last decade?
After all, the extinction of the Phoenix Race had occurred thousands of years ago; could it be that this Spirit Realm influence has a delay?
Or was something special happening over these past few years?
Fisher suddenly thought of the gigantic throne he had seen in the dream provided by the Supplement Handbook for Sub-Humans and the whispers that seemed to have just awoken from that throne, seemingly related to “the last Phoenix.”
Valentina saw through Ilos’s hesitation. She turned to look at the Mother God’s statue, which once cast a loving gaze that was the last hope for countless patients afflicted with Dead Rot Disease.
Although such actions appear foolish in retrospect, swapping it out casually, viewing the illusory Frost Parasol Tree as hope was she not the same?
The church fell silent for a moment, and Valentina turned back, glancing at the pondering Fisher before finally focusing on Sister Ilos, saying,
“Sister Ilos, the extinction of the Moon Rabbits has become a foregone conclusion. The Turan Family expresses their deep regrets regarding this, as they were once our kindest friends and partners, and it’s necessary to commemorate them. However, the current issue is that the cause of their deaths still remains unfound. We need the Moon Rabbit mark to search for the Frost Parasol Tree to get answers.”
“And, you haven’t returned to your hometown in the Nebarun Kingdom for quite some time, have you? As now the most loyal servant of the Mother God, surely your family would wish to see you one last time under the wings of the Frost Phoenix?”
Fisher cast a glance at Valentina, who sat in the wheelchair. Her talent for rhetoric might even rival his own. After this statement, Fisher could roughly guess that Ilos would definitely be swayed by her, as her words were unassailable, perfectly striking at Ilos’s vulnerable spots.
Sure enough, the next moment, a look of eagerness flashed across Ilos’s face. She tightly clenched her black nun robe before suddenly loosening it, trembling slightly as she made a pious gesture of prayer in front of her. The loving gaze of the Mother God gave her the courage to temporarily decide to leave the church,
“Sister Shalu, I’m sorry, but I’m going to leave here for a while. I will definitely return; this is my promise, Miss Valentina. I am willing to help you and return to the Nebarun Kingdom to retrieve the mark.”
Valentina nodded calmly, and a slight curve appeared at the corner of her mouth.
“In that case, we will leave here tonight. If you have anything to take with you, now is the time to pack it.”
“Eh? Tonight? But… but if the church isn’t cleaned and organized, it will be a problem when we come back.”
Valentina rubbed her forehead and reassured Ilos before speaking,
“By the way, before arriving, I investigated the situation here. The previous nun had a land dispute with the City of Luhongbao, which means that Luhongbao has no plans to develop this place for now. Otherwise, you would have been thrown out of the church by the police of the Kingdom of Women in a few years.”
“But you don’t need to worry now; I have already purchased this land from the Luhongbao City government. After the matter ends, I will hire someone to renovate the church; it has become too dilapidated.”
Hearing Valentina’s words, Ilos opened her mouth in surprise. Having never thought about how much it would cost to thoroughly renovate the church, she suddenly recalled this and couldn’t come up with a specific figure after thinking for a long time.
It should cost a lot, right?
She nodded blankly and replied,
“Okay, I’ll go pack. By the way, I still want to say a few words to Mr. Fisher.”
“No, you go and pack first. I also have a few words I want to say to Mr. Fisher.”
Valentina touched the ring on her finger, bringing her gaze back to the Nali man in front of her.
Ilos stood there hesitantly, unsure whether to leave or stay. She had no choice but to cover her small belly and look back at Fisher. After receiving his nod of approval, she cautiously returned to the small wooden house behind the Mother God statue to gather her belongings.
Watching Ilos leave, Valentina pushed the lever on her wheelchair and crossed the boundary formed by the loving gaze of the Mother God, moving a bit closer to Fisher.
Her words were straightforward, and the light silver of her eyes reflected Fisher’s handsome face, but evidently, her gaze was filled with distrust towards him,
“Mr. Fisher, while I would personally very much like to believe your words, you have already taken action ahead of us twice, which far exceeds the realm of coincidence. This operation is significant and cannot afford any mistakes for the Turan Family.
Thus, I can only apologize to Mr. Fisher and retract my previous invitation to cooperate. Until you honestly disclose exactly who you work for, we should temporarily suspend discussions of cooperation.”
Who do you work for? For the gods?
It’s hard to explain whether these two instances of acting before Valentina’s arrival were coincidental or a joke from the gods. Still, it was clear that the other side would not believe his words. Frankly, even Fisher himself didn’t quite believe it.
But he felt no regret, as he still held a card in hand that might compel Valentina to agree to cooperate with him.
“It seems the Turan Family is determined to obtain the Frost Parasol Tree this time. Since cooperation cannot continue, how about we make a trade instead?”
“A trade?”
Facing Valentina’s light silver eyes, Fisher casually glanced at Haldor standing behind her and nodded,
“Right, a trade. I wonder if Miss Valentina is interested in a Cangniao Tribe mark that can open the Parasol Tree?”
