Chapter 47

Lumian had to investigate without provoking any anomalies that could lead to a premature restart of the cycle. He could only consider starting from the fringes of the problem and gradually delve deeper as the situation allowed.

His initial plan was to find the priest's mistresses that afternoon and use eavesdropping and other methods to see what they knew. If there was no progress or if the opportunity was not ripe, he would go to the church to see if he could meet the priest and chat with him about the village's daily life.

Lumian's first target was Sibyl Berry, who was both the mistress of the priest Guillaume Berry and the sister of the shepherd Pierre Berry, closely linked to the two major anomalies. She might know something.

— Lumian's friend, little Guillaume, was actually Guillaume Berry, who was a distant cousin of Pierre Berry. They had different hair colors and did not live together.

Sibyl Berry was twenty-four years old and already married. Her husband, Jean Mori, was a man in his late thirties.

He had been single for over thirty years and was able to marry Sibyl Berry because he had no particular demands for a dowry.

Sibyl Berry was willing to marry with very little property, and Lumian suspected it was because she had already become the priest's mistress and needed a husband to be the father of any potential illegitimate children. The priest had likely made some secret promises.

Although Intis had an open culture and illegitimate children were common, many husbands or wives, despite their anger, were willing to keep their spouse's illegitimate children at home, as it meant having an extra servant or maid for free, and they had no right to divide the property. However, clergy members of the "Eternal Sun" Church were not allowed to marry or have children, so they often found a cheap father for their illegitimate children.

Lumian arrived at Jean Mori's house, a low, grayish-white building on the outskirts of Cordu village.

It had only one floor, with the kitchen leading directly to the bedroom, and the other side connected to the basement, which served as both a storage area and a living room and dining room.

There was no bathroom, just a shed at the back of the house.

Lumian did not knock and enter but quietly went to the side of the house and squatted under the bedroom window.

At that moment, someone was sitting inside, and Lumian could hear their breathing, using it to judge their height.

Soon, light footsteps came from the kitchen to the bedroom.

Without needing to calculate, Lumian, as a "Hunter," naturally estimated the approximate weight of the person based on the footsteps.

It was likely a woman, probably Sibyl Berry.

In Lumian's memory, Sibyl Berry had smooth black hair that she did not like to tie up, leaving it down or in a ponytail, giving her a youthful, unmarried look.

Her features were not outstanding but were soft and rounded, with a sensual quality.

At this moment, Jean Mori, who had been sitting silently in the bedroom, spoke up, his voice as dull as his personality:

"Did the priest come this afternoon?"

His voice and demeanor were both dull—he was the type who would only respond after four or five sentences in a conversation at the village square, with unkempt black hair, lackluster brown eyes, and a poorly shaved beard, making him appear gloomy.

"He did." Sibyl's voice still had a touch of youthful clarity.

She was naturally like that.

Jean Mori fell silent again before asking:

"Did you do it?"

"We did." Sibyl answered candidly.

Jean Mori fell silent again and only spoke when Sibyl returned to the kitchen:

"I have nothing to say about the priest, but you should be wary of other men, especially Patro Celis."

Patro Celis was the husband of Madeleine Berry, who was also the priest's mistress.

Lumian, listening outside the window, was secretly amazed:

What a mess of relationships!

He had a higher opinion of the priest's desires, as he had visited Sibyl Berry in the afternoon and was planning to meet with Mrs. Poualys in the evening, making him a model of infidelity.

If he could allocate more of his energy to church affairs, combined with his cunning and tactics, he could have long been promoted to a higher rank and become an Extraordinary.

— The ranks of the "Eternal Sun" Church were: 1st rank, Doorkeeper; 2nd rank, Reader; 3rd rank, Chanter; 4th rank, Subdeacon; 5th rank, Deacon; 6th rank, Priest (also called Pastor or Clergyman); 7th rank, Bishop (also called Priest in some places); 8th rank, Archbishop; 9th rank, Cardinal; and the Pope was not included in the ranks.

Among these, from the 6th rank onwards, they were considered higher ranks, and according to Aurore, they were likely to have Extraordinary abilities. The lowest 3rd rank mainly handled church chores and ritual assistance, and in recent centuries, they had become largely obsolete and were not considered true clergy. The 4th rank Subdeacons were usually recent graduates from seminaries, and the 5th rank Deacons could represent true pastors and manage a church in a rural area.

In Cordu village, a 5th rank Deacon served as the priest, a 4th rank Subdeacon as the assistant priest, and a few servants.

Guillaume Berry needed only one more promotion to become a true pastor.

"I know." Sibyl simply responded to her husband's warning.

Jean Mori changed the topic:

"Has your brother Pierre returned from the pasture?"

"Yes, he will help with an important ceremony later." Sibyl explained casually.

Ceremony? Lumian's eyes widened.

Jean Mori pressed on:

"Is it the Lenten celebration?"

"No, it's a ceremony for the god." Sibyl answered impatiently, "Don't ask too many questions, you'll know when the time comes."

Jean Mori responded with a "Hmm":

"Praise the Sun!"

Sibyl did not respond and left the bedroom, heading to the kitchen.

Lumian instantly made a judgment:

Sibyl had some knowledge of the priest's and her brother Pierre Berry's secret activities, but her husband Jean Mori was completely unaware!

The ceremony she mentioned was not the "sacrifice" during Lent but was likely related to the Twelfth Night!

With some progress, Lumian left the Mori house and headed to the two-story building where Patro Celis and Madeleine Berry lived.

Unlike Sibyl, Madeleine Berry had brought her own dowry when she married, and Patro Celis had also received his share from his family, allowing them to build a decent house and have over twenty sheep entrusted to the shepherds.

Lumian did not know when Madeleine became the priest's mistress, but he knew that in the past year, before hooking up with Mrs. Poualys, the priest often visited Madeleine, perhaps due to the forbidden nature of their relationship.

At that moment, Patro Celis, the administrative officer with a mustache, was pacing in the kitchen, asking Madeleine, who was directing the servant:

"When will you invite the priest to visit again?"

He looked eager, hoping to connect with the powerful figure in Cordu village.

Madeleine glanced at Patro's illegitimate daughter, who was cooking, and said with a subtle tone:

"I don't know, it depends on his mood."

And his physical condition, right? Lumian muttered silently from his hidden spot.

"You often go to the church to pray, don't you? You can ask him then." Patro Celis refused to give up.

Often go to the church? Lumian frowned.

Was the priest's group plotting their secret activities in the church?

That's not giving the "Eternal Sun" and Saint Sis any respect...

After listening for a while, he left the Celis house and headed to the church at the edge of the village square, hoping to have a face-to-face chat with the priest.

However, when he arrived, the priest Guillaume Berry was already gone, leaving only the assistant priest Michel Garigu standing at the altar.

He was an outsider from Dali, a graduate of the Bigorre Seminary, sent by the bishop to Cordu village last year to assist Guillaume Berry. He was often marginalized and only responsible for registering deaths, marriages, and births.

During the previous cycle, when Lumian went to the church, he met the priest leaving, and the priest told him to come back the next day, not giving Michel the chance to hear the prayers and confessions of the believers.

Michel was tall, not shorter than the previous Lumian (due to the "Hunter" potion, Lumian felt he had grown a couple of centimeters, almost reaching 1.8 meters), with brown curly hair and a slightly immature, handsome young man.

Looking at Michel Garigu in his white robe with gold trim, Lumian immediately spread his arms:

"Praise the Sun!"

After the greeting, he stared at Michel, wanting to see how the assistant priest would react to the "Eternal Sun" Church's ritual.

If there was any hesitation, Lumian could determine that he had been pulled into the priest's group.

Michel Garigu immediately responded with the same gesture:

"Praise the Sun!"

He showed no hesitation, his brown eyes full of joy and anticipation.

From Madeleine Berry's words, the priest's group often discussed matters here, and as the assistant priest, Michel should have some awareness, right? Lumian did not ask directly but looked around and said:

"Is the priest not here?"

"He left a while ago." Michel replied, "Three outsiders came looking for him a quarter of an hour ago but couldn't find him."

The assistant priest's eyes were enthusiastic, as if suggesting a confession.

Considering that the priest might have circled back to the church, waiting for Mrs. Poualys to bring dinner and listening to the conversation between Lumian and Michel, Lumian deliberately sighed:

"Then I'll come back tomorrow to pray."

Michel's eyes lost their shine.

Lumian turned and left the church, planning to wait until it was dark and then sneak to Michel's residence to see if he could get any useful information.

Seeing the sun about to set behind the mountains, he returned home and asked Aurore, who had set the table:

"Did you find anything?"

Aurore nodded lightly:

"Besides the anomalies you mentioned, I found that the assistant priest Michel Garigu seems to have some issues."

"Ah?" Lumian did not hide his surprise.