It was getting late, and even the God of War Temple had closing hours, so Sandora and I prepared to leave the temple—or church, if you preferred—under Old Man Lei's guidance. Before leaving, we said goodbye to Eva. She would not be leaving; she lived in the church. It was not because a War God's maid had to strictly observe some absurd rule about never leaving the temple due to her sacred status. It was simply because rent in the capital was too expensive, and Eva had grown up in the Temple District since childhood, so she simply lived in the church...
As for Old Man Lei, the High Priest of War second only to the Pope, he lived in the dormitories. The grandfather and granddaughter were both from out of town.
Those were the reasons why two of Azure Star's most distinguished spiritual leaders chose to live in the church district year-round.
I freaking felt that none of this should have appeared in such a sacred passage, much less in anything related to words like "gods," "saintess," "priest," or "church." Why did a background that should have been so solemn sound to me like something happening in the dormitory building of some small garment factory thirty miles outside the suburbs?
I was also rather curious why religious leaders like Lei and Eva, who could practically be called second only to one person and above ten thousand, had chosen to squeeze into dormitories in the church district for such a ridiculous reason as "the capital's rent is too expensive." After leaving the church, I could not resist asking. To my surprise, Old Man Lei merely said matter-of-factly, "Because we have no money."
Seeing the surprised expressions on both Sandora's and my faces, the somewhat stern old man repeated himself seriously.