Work Prophet
Chapter 126 - 42: Stop it, Little Hamster

Chapter 126: Chapter 42: Stop it, Little Hamster

"What else could you be here for?" Ireya pouted, turned over, and said, "It’s just for the Weiting family, urging them to abandon their faith in Sea God Claudius and convert to Pisya. It’s hardly a secret."

"The Church does want to absorb the Weiting Family, but besides this well-known task, I am actually carrying a much more secretive mission."

"What mission?" Miss Rabbit perked up her ears, ready to relish any piece of gossip.

"Try to gather information related to a prophet named Merlin, and find out why the lizard people have converted to Saturday," Adelle said solemnly.

Then she looked toward Ireya again.

"I heard that Merlin had once served as your advisor, and his first appearance was at the Marquis Mansion during the election of the Arias family. Ireya, you must know him quite well, right?"

Miss Rabbit looked slightly uncomfortable, mumbled unclearly, "That guy is always so secretive, I actually don’t know much about him."

"Is that so," the Female Priest showed a thoughtful expression before apparently making up her mind, "It seems I must head to the territory of the Double Rest Sect to see for myself."

Ireya was shocked, "Are you crazy?! That place is full of lizard people, those bandits kill without batting an eye. And didn’t the Silver Moon Church try to make contact with those lizard people before? Have you forgotten what happened to them?"

Adelle blinked, puzzled, "But haven’t they come out of the marshes and stopped being bandits? Besides, you told me this afternoon that, moved by your reproach, they suddenly realized their mistakes and felt ashamed of their past misdeeds.

"And they swore loyalty to you, willing to lay down their swords and settle down to farm. Seeing their pitiful state, having no home, you even allocated a piece of land to Merlin to settle those lizard people."

This time it was Miss Rabbit who was dumbfounded.

She was just casually bragging in front of a friend to craft a clever image of herself; how could this silly hamster take it seriously?

If she really could control those lizard people, why would she have dumped them all in the far west of her territory, out of sight, out of mind?

Ireya, conflicted, thought for a moment but then decided to be frank with the Female Priest. She couldn’t just watch her good friend jump into a situation akin to throwing meat into a dog fight, never to return.

Miss Rabbit was about to speak, but then noticed Adelle’s secretly curling lips under the moonlight.

She immediately realized she had been tricked. It seemed the Female Priest knew more about the situation than she let on, which meant that the silly hamster knew all along she had been boasting but hadn’t called her out.

Realizing this, Ireya snorted disdainfully and turned away, "I kindly advise you not to go courting death. But since you don’t want to listen, suit yourself."

Adelle, having heard this, also sat at the bed’s edge and playfully scratched Miss Rabbit’s ears. The latter had been sulking, but now tickled, she burst into laughter again.

The young Female Priest assured her, "Alright, alright, I won’t tease you anymore. The Church has been keeping an eye on Merlin and his Double Rest Sect, especially since he acquired the sect’s territory. Although the place is mostly populated with lizard people, it doesn’t prohibit outsiders from entering, so we’re still getting some information.

"So far, no major incidents have occurred there. In fact, there have hardly been any brawls, and they’ve been quite polite to outsiders. It seems that Prophet Merlin indeed has a way with these lizard people, and that’s why I’m curious to find out what kind of person he really is."

"Do you think I meant dying at the hands of those lizard people?" Ireya laughed for a while, then suddenly sighed.

"Little hamster, seriously, don’t go, you’re no match for him."

"Remember what our teacher used to say at the Temple? True strength isn’t about physical or intellectual superiority, but here," Adelle also dropped her playful demeanor, pointed to her chest, and solemnly said, "It’s the strength within."

"Then I suggest you handle him through force, because that’s the only way you might outdo Merlin," Miss Rabbit turned back around, looking at her friend earnestly, "Back off while you still can. Hmm, just tell the Church you’re too young, inexperienced, and unsure how to start, asking them to send someone else."

"Who do you think in the Church could handle Merlin?"

"Deal with crap, my meaning is to have the Church send someone else to die." Ireya said, "Adelle, no matter how many rumors you have heard before, no matter how outrageous those rumors were, I can assure you, the truth is even more bizarre than the rumors."

However, after Ireya had finished, she found the Female Priest just staring blankly at her, "So is that... true?"

"True, of course it’s true, Merlin, uh, I still don’t know what his real name actually is, that guy really is from another Divine Country!"

"No, I was talking about that Universal Language teacher named Anton, who once wrote to the Church saying your faith in the goddess might have been shaken, is that true?" the Female Priest said in a low tone.

"What time is it, why are we back on my faith in the goddess?!" Ireya was nearly driven mad by this stupid hamster.

This silly woman’s focus is really weird.

"I’m begging you, go back to the Church, you really shouldn’t get involved in this," Miss Rabbit was almost pleading now.

However, Adelle’s attitude was incredibly firm, "No, I won’t leave." While talking, she also grabbed her close friend’s hand, "We are best friends, I won’t abandon you, no matter how difficult, I’ll save your soul and bring it back to the goddess’s radiance."

Upon hearing this, Ireya finally cried, not touched, but driven to tears by stupidity.

"Wahhh, some people used to call me foolish, but that’s because they haven’t met you."

"It’s okay," the Female Priest said gently, "Teacher once said, sometimes the world needs some fools, and I’m willing to be that fool."

"Teacher is a fool too."

"You shouldn’t disrespect Teacher, you know."

"Forget it, do as you wish, I can’t manage you anymore."

Good arguments are hard to make to a stubborn ghost. The new Family Head of the Arias family was tired now too, wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, and just lay on the bed.

Adelle hesitated, then lay down beside Ireya.

Neither of them spoke again, just held hands, looking up at the ceiling together.

After a long silence, the Female Priest spoke again, "Is being a Lord... interesting?"

"It is interesting because you get to see all kinds of fools."

"You’re still mad about what happened earlier, huh?" Adelle asked softly.

Miss Rabbit couldn’t stand hearing this, her heart softened, and most of her anger disappeared, she asked, "Not anymore, how about you... is being a Priest interesting?"

"Mm. Because I can help others."

"Is that so, as long as you’re happy."

"We initially promised to become priests together, but now you have become a Lord and can’t be a Priest, but no worries, I will do your share for you."

"Fool."

Adelle didn’t respond this time, because the brown-haired girl had already fallen asleep beside Ireya.