Mrs. Mina's Fortune Teller Shop

This afternoon's class was one of the few specialized courses that first-year students in the seminary can take.

Therefore, Iver and Lily did not wear their usual blue and white school uniforms, but instead changed into the seminary's special uniforms. That is, the white robes that are exactly the same in appearance and function as Clerical Robe, except that they do not indicate the priesthood.

—Because this course is called "The Prayer Studies".

Its main teachings are the rituals and procedures for making different prayers to the Nine Pillar Gods based on different purposes and needs, in different occasions, and using different materials.

Canons, prayers, offerings, rituals, taboos...

This course is not difficult at all; the only challenge is the large amount of memorization. Because of the sheer volume of material to memorize, the course will take from the first semester of freshman year to the third semester of sophomore year to be completed.

Bishop Mathers did not teach Iver the Sacred Art of "prayer" because it was simply impossible to teach. The main purpose of the seminary was to dedicate two years to teaching these prospective priests how to pray to the Nine Pillar Gods —besides restoring magical powers, some ritualistic spells could only be used through prayer.

Although priests are primarily subordinate to candle keeper, they are, after all, priests who also serve the Nine Pillar Gods. This means that the beliefs, traditions, and rituals of the other eight Pillar God also need to be understood and managed. On the holidays associated with the other Pillar God, priests will also don their robes and hold corresponding ceremonies.

For this reason, pastors are among the first professions in the Nine Great Paths to delve into the knowledge of other paths.

The lecturer for this course, "Ms. Maya," looks quite young.

She had long, dark brown curly hair tied in a ponytail, draped over one shoulder. She wore the same red bishop's robe as Bishop Mathers, and her eyes were a gentle, light blue.

Although she asked the students to call her "Madam," she looked like she was only in her twenties. Her lively and cheerful personality not only made the students like her, but also made her look much younger.

Even compared to Lily, who has a calm demeanor and always smiles gently like an older sister, Ms. Maya appears to be younger.

The students also really liked this young lecturer who was nominally a lecturer, but felt more like a senior student.

But only Iver knew... if nothing unexpected happened, this was probably due to the rejuvenation brought about by the "Sacrificial Fire Method".

She should truly be a "woman," married and even with children. It's just that the sacrificial fire allowed her body to return to its ideal state, healing the pain and aging she had endured. It brought her back to the youthful body of her teenage years... and after her body recovered, her mental state and personality also returned.

"... Huh?"

When Ms. Maya first saw Lily pushing Iver into the classroom, she stared at him for a moment in surprise.

Seeing this, the blue-haired girl passing by Iver smiled and explained, "This is Iver, Ms. Maya. Did you see the Glass Staircase Newspaper the other day? He's the great detective from that day~ 'Teacher Iver's legs aren't very good, so he has to use a wheelchair. Perhaps... you could give him a check-up?"

"Then we probably won't need to, Angela..."

Ms. Maya shook her head. "Please sit down in your seat first."

"Why would he need my diagnosis? If he could really cure it, wouldn't he be able to do it himself with the sacrificial fire?" Meiya glanced at Iver again with a strange expression, and then gave him a strange, polite bow: Meiya stretched out her hand and made a dotted gesture on her head and shoulders, drawing a triangle.

Iver simply smiled gently, clasped his hands together, crossed his thumbs, bowed his head, and closed his eyes in prayer.

Seeing this, Meiya's attitude towards Iver improved noticeably.

—This is a ritual that Bishop Mathers taught him after discovering that Iver had quickly learned Sacrificial Fire Method and come into contact with the Dedication Path.

When extraordinary individuals on the same path are close enough, the superior can sense the path aura and approximate strength of the inferior. In other words, all the extraordinary individuals on the Dedication Path in the school could perceive that Iver had stepped into the extraordinary realm and completed an advancement ritual to reach the Second Level.

This is basically the graduation standard.

The hand gestures that Mathers taught Iver were the secret codes used by the clergy of the Nine Pillars God Church to confirm each other's identities. This was to ensure that Iver wouldn't be treated differently when he returned to school.

Ms. Maya's gesture signifies that she serves the church and holds a bishop's crown.

This is her asking Iver, "Who guided you on your Dedication Path?" After all, not all pastors come from seminaries.

How many people graduate from a seminary in a year...? Many rural churches still use a master-apprentice system. They teach from a very young age, and once they learn, they automatically join the church. Anyone who is a "bishop" has the right to preach and teach the Sacred Art to those who are qualified to Dedication Path.

Another possibility is that he received no instruction whatsoever. He may have been self-taught, relying solely on esoteric texts to master the mystical arts of Dedication Path before embarking on this path. In that case, his profession might not even be "priest." And Ms. Maya towards Iver might not have been so friendly.

This is because it means obtaining the extraordinary power of the corresponding path and enjoying the social status of the corresponding path, but without fulfilling obligations or following the rules.

—It's like someone obtaining the mystical techniques of the Path of Authority through its Grimoire or other occult scriptures. A high-ranking overseer might then mistake this person for one of their own, sensing the aura of the Path of Authority Path of Authority from them. This could lead to situations involving "fake overseers" or "fake priests."

And there's an even more serious problem: one can only embark on the same path once. Once one obtains Extraordinary Profession from a certain path, one can only "advance" and cannot turn back—if Iver obtains another profession on the Dedication Path, he will absolutely be unable to become a priest. According to church rules, the "Sacred Art" carefully selected by the church cannot be easily revealed.

If Iver had someone to guide him in, he would surely be able to decipher Ms. Maya's coded messages.

Iver's response gesture meant that he was now just a "Prayerer"—he had not received a papacy, held no teaching position, and was not currently working for the church; he had simply been taught by someone.

That doesn't matter. Meiya doesn't care whether she works for the church or not, as long as it's not another profession on the same path.

Meiya felt ashamed of her subconscious suspicion, so she said caringly, "Please sit next to me, Mr. Iver. It's not easy for a wheelchair to go up the stairs, is it?"

"That's troublesome."

"Ms. Maya," Iver said softly.

While waiting for the other students, Meiya sat in her chair, chatting quietly with Iver: "I heard about the case you solved. I thought you had already embarked on the Path of Wisdom... I never imagined you were actually a priest. And at such a young age, you've already reached the Second Level..."

"I wonder which bishop guided you?"

"It is Bishop Mathers," Iver replied.

Upon hearing this, Meiya's eyes widened in disbelief. "Eh? Mathers?"

"What's wrong?"

Iver noticed something unusual in her emotions.

"Samuel Mathers?" she countered.

"Yes."

Iver realized that Bishop Maya might know Mathers, so he asked, "Do you know him?"

Meiya hissed, her expression becoming somewhat subtle.

She glanced furtively at the students and noticed that they were all quietly looking over, closely watching what was happening on the podium—they seemed to have gotten used to the fact that following Iver was a way to get some gossip.

So Meiya lowered her voice and covered her mouth with her hand.

"My name is Maya Mathers. He is my brother."

That's not a good idea.

Iver's expression also became somewhat strange.

Although Meiya was unaware, Iver knew perfectly well— Mathers had taught him Sacred Art only last Friday. The day after that was the 15th, meaning Iver advanced immediately after his initial advancement.

This is simply too shocking!

It won't cause any major problems, it's just that it's too high-profile.

Although not many people might believe this... Iver still prefers to keep a low profile.

Fortunately, Meiya gave a relief to Iver: "—However, we broke up a long time ago because of his relationship problems. I haven't spoken to him in ten years."

Although she said they had fallen out, she was clearly closer to him because Iver was Samuel's apprentice.

This isn't a complete falling out; it's more like they're just sulking...

"... So, why?" Iver, somewhat curious.

A slight gossip urge stirred within him, "What kind of relationship problems is the bishop having?"

"That day, Samuel brought home a girl who was eleven years younger than him and said that she was his wife and that they were married."

Meiya frowned. "Samuel was 29 years old then, and the girl was only 18."

"I remember Bishop Samuel was from Avalon, wasn't he?"

Iver countered, "Shouldn't a girl be able to get married at 18?"

"Yes, men and women can get married at eighteen. The problem is... if people are going to get married, they must have been dating for many years, right? That girl was only eighteen when she got married, so when exactly did Samuel meet her?"

At this point, Meiya gritted her teeth and slammed her hand on the table in anger. "He even said that he had only known her for a short time and that it was love at first sight! Do you think I would believe that? Should my parents believe that?"

"... It's not entirely impossible, is it?"

Iver's expression was somewhat subtle. It seemed that the concept of "flash marriage" didn't exist in this era.

But then again, Samuel does seem somewhat suspicious...

But soon, Meiya's words made Iver become somewhat serious. "Of course, there's a possibility of love at first sight. But the problem is, we later had a detective investigate—she's not from Avalon."

"She was Iris People, and in the end, she followed the Path of Beauty. At that time, the Sixth Faculty of the Royal Law University had not yet opened. An Iris People did not study at the Cite University in her own country, but traveled thousands of miles to Avalon to study theology, and then followed the Path of Beauty. And when she was just a first-year student, she married her tutor."

"—Do you think this makes sense? You don't even need to think about it carefully; it looks weird from every angle!"

"... That's really not very reasonable."

Iver frowned, realizing something was amiss. "But Bishop Samuel doesn't seem like the type to act impulsively..."

"That's exactly what we're saying! That's what we've all been saying too."

Meiya whispered, "So we kept telling Samuel to calm down and separate from that girl for a while! But he wouldn't listen at all, and eventually he moved out of the house and rented a place on his own. But I heard the other day that he was elected as Spiritual Councilor, so at least we don't have to worry about his livelihood anymore..."

"What's his wife's name?" Iver asked.

"Mina. I forgot her last name, she should be called Mina Mathers now... If I look closely, she should be thirty-five years old this year."

"She runs a fortune-telling shop, selling fortune-telling tools and also telling fortunes for others. But she's not a prophet who Path of Adaptation, so what fortune-telling ability could she possibly have? She's just a fraud... I really don't know why Samuel likes her so much."

"Whenever you have some free time, why don't you go visit him at his house? After all, you two have a mentor-apprentice relationship, so visiting your mentor is perfectly normal. Now that you've brought it up, I'm also curious about how that woman is doing..."

Meiya clasped her hands together and whispered to Iver, "Mr. Iver, please help me! I have a favorite Grimoire on the Dedication Path in my collection, which I can give you later... Of course, if there's really no opportunity, that's fine too. Just try asking my brother, and I'll give you the book—"

As Meiya said this, Iver's pupils suddenly trembled.

It's not for the reward.

Rather, it was because hearing the name suddenly reminded him of something.

—The in-game shop is called "Mrs. Mina's Fortune Teller Shop".

Iver would never forget that name. He believed that no player would forget it.

... To be honest, I would like to take a look if I have the chance.

This month, I updated a whopping 220,000 words!! And I didn't take a single day off. I'm amazing!!

Then, let me report on the results: the number of reads is about to exceed 10,000, and the average subscription is currently 12,000. Thank you all for your support!

It's almost the end of the month and I'm asking for votes! If you don't vote now, the deadline will pass!