Lead Singer

Sabrina was one of the three lead singers in the temple choir.

Although the choir was nominally made up of the Goddess's followers, all three lead singers were elves with some musical training.

Sabrina was the most popular of the three. Her voice possessed a uniquely ethereal quality, allowing her to sing the Hymn of Praise with heavenly beauty.

Sabrina was not a follower of the Goddess of Freedom. Every Wednesday, she came to the temple to sing and received two hundred Kole as payment.

Of course, aside from Sabrina herself, only the temple's three Priests knew about this...

"Sabrina, hurry up! It's about to start!"

Sabrina had just entered the temple courtyard and glanced at the statue of the Goddess of Freedom when she heard a call from one of her choir companions.

"Coming!"

Sabrina hurriedly answered.

She did not look at Roy by the temple entrance again.

An elven woman on the steps of the temple's main hall waved to Sabrina. Leaning close, she whispered, "Did you hear? The temple's Holy Grail was stolen. Who knows which bastard did it..."

Ms. Amanda looked rather indignant. She was also a Half-Elf with Wood Elf blood, with delicate features and distinctive green eyes. Her only flaw was her somewhat flat nose bridge.

She ran a flower shop on Brown Street. Besides selling bouquets of fresh flowers, she also sold potted plants. Of course, if anyone needed a hedge or a fruit tree for their yard, they could also visit Ms. Amanda's flower shop.

She was a devout follower of the Goddess of Freedom. Her greatest wish in life was to save enough money to sail across the sea and see the Grimm Empire described by High Priest Reed. She had heard that the Goddess of Freedom Temple there was far larger than the Moon God Temple in central Castleton.

Sabrina nodded and replied softly, "I heard."

She felt that discussing the matter inside the temple was somewhat disrespectful, so she cautiously glanced to either side.

In truth, she knew there were only five Priests in this temple. They were always extremely busy during gatherings and naturally had no time to come listen to the two of them chat.

"They say it was made of gold and could be sold for quite a sum." Ms. Amanda pursed her lips and spoke regretfully.

"Without the Holy Grail, Priest Theodore chose a Silver Basin to hold the holy water. The holy water in that basin doesn't even feel as sacred as before."

Even as they stepped into the temple's main hall, Ms. Amanda continued chattering away.

"That thief is truly shameless."

"The Goddess will punish him."

The choir members were already waiting by the platform on the right side of the main hall. Everyone wore white silk robes and held a copy of the Hymns.

Sabrina stepped up first and greeted the other two lead singers. After deciding the order of the lead vocals, the three began directing everyone to take their assigned positions.

The main hall was already packed with followers of the Goddess, and even the temple's second floor was filled with worshippers standing shoulder to shoulder.

This time, High Priest Reed was leading the followers in prayer to the Goddess.

Priest Anderson and Novice Priest Abbott stood on either side.

There was almost no color in Priest Anderson's face. His eye sockets were deeply sunken, making him look like a vampire count from some haunted manor. It was obvious he was in terrible condition.

As the singing began, all the worshippers rose to their feet.

The song echoed through the hall.

High Priest Reed began reciting the prayer.

At the end of each section of the prayer, a beam of holy light shone down from the temple dome. By the time twelve beams had descended, the temple hall was brightly illuminated.

However, the beams only lasted a short while before fading away.

Amid songs praising the Goddess, everyone completed the prayer ritual.

Only the singing still echoed through the temple's main hall.

The hall was utterly silent, and the worshippers clasped their hands before their chests.

The choir members began filing out in a line.

Sabrina came every week to serve as one of the choir's lead singers.

Once the prayer ritual ended, she would also receive a portion of holy water with everyone else.

At first, she had not believed a cup of holy water could be of any use. But since everyone else took some, refusing hers alone would have made her seem strange, so she always brought her share home.

Once, Sabrina left the holy water she had brought back on the dining table. By chance, Moira, who had a stomachache, drank it, and her symptoms soon eased.

Only then did Sabrina learn that holy water actually had a slight healing effect.

From then on, Sabrina collected a cup of holy water to take home after every gathering.

To her, this cup of holy water was like the Tree of Life Sap the Moon God Temple distributed to the Silver Moon Elves.

Only, things were a little different this time.

When she and her companions arrived before the Holy Water Pool in the Side Hall, besides Priest Theodore, who was cleansing the worshippers' souls, Sabrina saw Roy dressed in a Novice Priest's robe. He was using a silver ladle to scoop holy water from the pool and distribute it to the worshippers waiting in line.

When he saw Sabrina staring at him, he even gave her an awkward smile.

Roy raised the silver ladle in his hand, but his movements did not pause as he continued handing out holy water.

Sabrina's eyes widened. Her mind had gone blank, and she could not understand how Roy could be wearing a Novice Priest's robe and handing out holy water so convincingly.

When it was Sabrina's turn to receive holy water, she finally asked Roy in a low voice, "Why are you here?"

Roy tugged at the Novice Priest robe over his chest and replied with a grin, "I'm a Priest here!"

Sabrina did not quite believe him and pressed, "Then why have I never seen you before?"

Roy shrugged helplessly. "I only officially became a Novice Priest here last Saturday."

There were people waiting in line behind her, so Sabrina could not talk much more. She took her holy water and left the Side Hall.

Ms. Amanda, who was behind her, had heard their conversation. Only after leaving the temple did she say to Sabrina:

"I saw him helping out at the temple the day before yesterday."

Sabrina lowered her head without responding to Ms. Amanda, then hurried out through the temple's front courtyard.

Thinking of what she had said at the temple entrance at noon, her fair cheeks flushed slightly red...

By the time everything at the temple was finished, it was already quite late, and Roy had not found any time to study.

While wiping chairs with Abbott, he asked Abbott about how to draw the divine runes for Minor Healing.

The divine arts Abbott and Jasper studied leaned toward priestly spells. Neither of them had learned Strength Blessing yet, but they were highly proficient in Minor Healing.

Abbott secretly told Roy that he and Jasper occasionally used Minor Healing to earn extra money by privately treating sick elves in the Lower District.

Abbott suggested that if Roy could, he should practice that divine art first. It was much more useful than Strength Blessing...

Jasper, on the other hand, suggested that Roy learn Purification. Whenever the Great Sea Ships at Castleton Harbour docked, their captains would invite Priests to perform Purification on the vessels.

"Why would they ask someone to Purify a ship?" Roy asked curiously.

"Because there are unclean ghosts aboard, of course." Abbott cut in.

Jasper explained, "Some sailors die aboard ship. Although their bodies are thrown into the sea, their souls still linger on the vessel. Ships like that can easily become ghost ships."

Then he added, "But you need to be careful with that sort of work. Once, I went to Purify a Five-Masted Sailing Ship, and there were siren whispers aboard. I was so frightened that the moment I climbed onto the deck, I slid straight back down the ladder. That was a sea ship cursed by sirens. Later, I heard from people at the docks that the Water Dungeon in the ship's lower hold contained many Naga slaves. That ship was a slave ship from the Etia Alliance Kingdom."

Abbott added, "I heard quite a few Slave Ships from the Grimm Empire also come here to dock."

Usually, no one told Roy such things.

"Don't the Elf Rangers at the docks do anything about this?"

"They'll deal with what they can see. What can they do about what they can't..."

Both Novice Priests wore deeply disdainful expressions when it came to the Elf Rangers. Clearly, they had some doubts about their capabilities.

After returning home, Roy went straight to the terrace to collect the clothes hanging on the line.

Ms. Belinda was surprisingly home for once. She was working on an art piece in her second-floor studio, a room piled with all kinds of stone and unfinished statues.

Roy greeted her and prepared to head downstairs from the terrace.

Sabrina appeared on the neighboring terrace carrying a basin of laundry to hang out.

She wore a cool spaghetti-strap dress, her fair skin smooth as ivory in the dusk. Roy's gaze could not help but fall upon her two full, straight legs.

He knew it would anger Sabrina, but his disobedient eyes simply refused to move away...

When he saw Sabrina turn to look in his direction, Roy quickly pretended he was about to go downstairs.

"I'm sorry. I misunderstood you during the day!"

To his surprise, that was what came from across the way.

"I didn't even catch what you said. How about... you say it again so I can remember?"

Roy had not expected Sabrina to apologize. He was so flustered that he did not know what to say.

"Boring..."

Sabrina turned and left, leaving him with nothing but her broad back.

Moira, meanwhile, leaned her elbows against the terrace railing. Her voice, crisp as a lark's, carried over. "Roy, did you go to the Guard Squad?"

"I delivered it this morning."

Roy moved closer to the terrace edge and replied.

The two often chatted across the gap like this, and Roy had even set out a chair for it.

"Roy..."

"Hmm?"

Moira pressed on, "Did that Mermaid Princess really turn into a pile of bubbles and disappear?"

"Probably. I only heard it from someone else, anyway."

Roy helplessly pressed a hand to his forehead, thinking that he could hardly tell her it was only a fairy tale...

Moira spoke with eager anticipation, "I heard Sabrina say that when the Gana Sea Clan leaves the sea for a short time, they can slither forward like snakes. Only royalty can transform legs. It's such a good story. I want to hear more."

"..."

It had to be said that on a breezy night by the sea, with the sound of waves drifting in from afar, telling fairy tales to an elven girl full of dreams—

was also one of Roy's few pleasures.