905
"New Year?"
Emlyn turned back and looked at his assistant with a slight frown. "I understand what you're thinking, but as you know, we Sanguine don't actually celebrate the New Year. I've never been to Feynapotter, either, so I don't know what you do for your New Year celebrations."
After a moment's thought, he added a warning:
"Celebrating in Feynapotter is harmless enough, but you're in Loen now, after all."
"Besides, our relations with the Church of the Storm are strained, and that Redar Valentin is watching us. Those fellows watch you as though you're merits they can earn for their Church... If you accidentally do something wrong and offend them, someone will definitely make an issue of it and immediately put up signs saying 'No Feynapotter people or animals allowed' outside the shops-I think they're perfectly capable of that."
Last time, that damned Redar already pressured me to agree to restrictions on when Feynapotter people could enter certain streets and districts. Fortunately, I managed to bluff my way through it after trying everything... Emlyn was still very displeased.
After finishing his rambling speech, Archbishop White saw the light fade from his assistant's eyes, and his voice gradually grew quieter.
...Do humans attach quite a lot of importance to the New Year? Uh, perhaps they really do need something happy to relieve their pent-up feelings. I can't afford to hire so many psychiatrists to treat them, and I can't guarantee those people would genuinely mean well...
After a few seconds, he pressed his lips together. Unable to quite bear it, he asked with feigned casualness, "Does the Holy Cathedral have any plans for New Year activities?"
"Not at the moment."
His assistant's eyes lit up again. Emlyn looked away, feeling that the newcomer in the confessional was eavesdropping, too.