Work Prophet
Chapter 114 - 30 What is Devotion

Chapter 114: Chapter 30 What is Devotion

After Li Yu left, Ireya read the collection of Holy Poems for a while before she went to bed.

She didn’t know how long she had slept when she heard someone screaming amid sobbing in a daze.

Miss Rabbit thought she was having a nightmare, but the screaming didn’t stop after she opened her eyes.

The young lady instantly woke up, threw on a piece of clothing, climbed out of bed, and upon opening the window, saw a figure being held by a guard and brought to the open space in front of the stone castle.

Utilizing the moonlight, Ireya vaguely recognized that the figure was Fitzwilliam, the man who claimed to be a shipwright that morning.

So, she had a general idea of what had happened and, instantly wide awake, hastened downstairs to the room where Jane was placed.

Just then, she bumped into a maid coming out from inside with an empty bowl in her hands, some medicine residue still clinging to it.

Miss Rabbit asked, "How is she?"

Walking with her head down, the maid was startled by the sudden appearance of someone outside the room, nearly dropping the wooden bowl, and when she recognized who it was, she got frightened a second time.

"Mi... Miss Ireya," the maid stuttered, "I followed your instructions and took good care of the child, but she... her illness is just too severe.

"She just started having abdominal pain again, and blotches appeared on her skin. Her brother then began insisting we call for the herbalist again."

"Did you go find the herbalist?" Ireya asked.

"I did. You said to fulfill whatever requests they had, so I woke up Vic the Herb Doctor from his bed, but even he doesn’t have a solution. He could only reboil the same medicine he prescribed earlier, but after drinking it, Jane started vomiting and almost threw it all up."

"Then did you pray for her as I told you to?" Ireya asked earnestly. "Only the Pisya Goddess can save that child now."

"I did so, but... the child and her brother, they are followers of the Sea God Claudius, they only wish to pray to Claudius," the maid hesitated but finally said.

Miss Rabbit massaged her temples, exasperated, "Why are there suddenly more heathens to deal with? Sea God Claudius, huh... Didn’t you tell them this is the West, far from the ocean? Claudius has no sway here."

"I’ll go tell them that right away."

"Forget it, you better continue to take care of the child. I’ll talk to her brother," Ireya said, and without waiting for the maid to reply, she walked toward the outside of the stone castle.

The shouting of Fitzwilliam had diminished by now because the guards had tied him up outside the stables, stuffing a rag in his mouth, muffling his voice to just heavy nasal sounds.

Miss Rabbit walked up to him and said, "Speak calmly, there’s no need for fuss and noise. You were a noble before, after all; you understand that much, don’t you?"

Fitzwilliam stared at Ireya, his mouth emitting a muffled moan.

Miss Rabbit continued, "If you promise to stop shouting, I will have the guard remove the rag from your mouth so you can speak. Then you can tell me anything you want. If you agree, blink your eyes."

The shipwright blinked upon hearing this.

Accordingly, the young lady allowed Fitzwilliam to regain his ability to speak, and the first thing he said was still, "Please, save my sister!"

"You saw everything I did for you two today. I have tried my utmost to treat your sister. I even went to Black Stone City to invite a priest from the Silver Moon Church; no other lord would do this much for the commoners on his lands.

Ireya took a deep breath and continued, "I won’t lie to you; recently, many people, including my own relatives and guards, have died on my lands, and they did not receive the level of medical care your sister did..."

"I don’t expect you to be very grateful to me, but at least stop adding to the chaos," Jude said. "I told you to pray to the Silver Moon Goddess, but why won’t you listen? Why do you still hold on to that Sea God Claudius your family worships? If he could truly protect you, how could you possibly have ended up in my territory?"

Fitzwilliam’s eyes were bloodshot as he spoke breathlessly, "Miss Irelia, I am very grateful for everything you’ve done for my sister, and we are not obstinate people. It’s true that our family has worshipped the Sea God Claudius for hundreds of years, but ever since that incident, we have already lost the devotion we used to have."

The girl frowned, "Then why do you..."

"But the Silver Moon Goddess can’t save my sister, can she?" The shipwright stared at Irelia’s eyes intently, as if trying to see right through her.

"That old priest from the Silver Moon Church, she asked to speak with me alone without you knowing, didn’t she? Does she think my sister is beyond salvation?"

Irelia was taken aback by his words. Although she didn’t answer, her silence spoke volumes.

Fitzwilliam’s face twisted into a smile uglier than crying, "You see, it’s not that I want to cling to our God, but besides him, I can’t think of anyone else who could save my sister.

"I would not hesitate to believe in them, even pagans or evil gods, as long as they could keep my sister alive, I would even offer my life for them," he said.

The shipwright’s words also moved the young girl, and she became somewhat perplexed.

Shouldn’t the devotion of believers to their gods be unconditional?

In any faith, devotion is always an important virtue.

But the girl had to ask herself, if she were in Fitzwilliam’s shoes, her choice would likely be no different.

In fact, when the lizard people were about to surround Teacup Castle, Miss Rabbit herself had secretly prayed to Saturday, though she later scratched out the pattern on the tree.

Compared to that, Jude was more decisive. This descendant of the Enríquez family outright called all the gods on the Bratis Continent swindlers and jesters, except for one God he dreaded and revered.

Because he had witnessed that God’s miraculous power with his own eyes.

Irelia was no stranger to those powers and miracles; in fact, she’d become so accustomed to them that she started to take them for granted.

Suddenly, Irelia understood why she had been feeling so restless and anxious.

It wasn’t for a lack of devotion to the Goddess, quite the opposite. She was anxious because of her connection with Pisya, always subconsciously wanting to ignore the presence of another power around her, that real and mighty force.

She feared this force would continue to make her waver and lead to unwise political decisions.

But she shouldn’t make choices for others based on her own fear, especially when it comes to life-and-death decisions.

After another period of silence, the girl spoke again, "Perhaps, there is still hope for your sister."

However, Fitzwilliam seemed to deflate at her words, his already pale complexion losing all color, "You don’t have to lie to me. I know the Silver Moon Goddess is the strongest deity in the West. If even she can do nothing, then my sister... "

"No. Pisya is not the strongest deity in the West," Irelia interrupted the shipwright.

His expression turned to one of shock; in his life, he had never seen a believer admit that the god they worshipped was not the most powerful.

But the girl didn’t give him the chance to continue questioning. Continuing from what she said before, "You’re in luck. The representative of that god in the mortal world is currently in Green Field. I will send someone to summon him now. You should hurry back and take care of your sister. Make sure she holds on until that person returns."