Persona

If Lumian remembered correctly, Pierre Berri would be going to Church to pray this afternoon, March 30. In the previous Loop, he and Raymond had run into him because of this, and in the last Loop, he had also met him at the Village Square at roughly the same time.

But it's already three or four in the afternoon!

"When did he go?" Lumian pressed.

Marti thought for a moment and said, "It's been about a mile."

In rural areas, with very few exceptions, almost no one owns a clock. Time is usually described through specific events and markers, such as the grape-picking season, the time it takes to walk a mile, and so on, as well as books.

Of course, if the time is short enough that people can clearly perceive it, then "a few minutes" or "a quarter of an hour" will also appear in spoken expressions.

A mile? That's not long... Lumian thought Pierre Berri went to Church in the afternoon and hadn't returned yet.

A Cordou Village league is one kilometer in the Intis metric system.

After saying goodbye to Pierre's mother, Marti, Lumian left the Berri Family and headed towards the Village Square.

He didn't know whether Pierre Berri had gone to the Church in the afternoon and was going again, or whether he had been unexpectedly delayed in the afternoon and was unable to go.

If the first possibility is true, Lumian could sense the undercurrents— Pierre Berri's frequent visits to the Church to see the Parish Priest were definitely not normal; something terrible must be brewing.

If it's the second possibility, then there's a big problem!

Before Lumian, who retains his memories, and Aurora, who knows the Loop, make their attempts, "history" should not diverge!

If there are differences, it might mean that the siblings haven't truly grasped the Loop pattern, or that someone else might have retained the memory.

Thinking of this, Lumian sighed and lightly slapped his own face.

He was so shocked that he forgot to ask Pierre if he had been to Church that afternoon.

This is important.

"Going back to ask now would be too suspicious. I'll have to subtly probe for information when I'm drinking with Pierre later." Lumian quickly suppressed his frustration and strode towards the Square.

Upon entering the "Eternal Blazing Sun" Church, he saw the Parish Priest Guillaume, Guillaume Béné, standing in front of the Altar adorned with various Sunflower, facing a few people seated in the first row of chairs, seemingly discussing something.

As soon as Lumian passed through the gate, Guillaume Béné shut his mouth and looked in their direction.

"Conspiracy?" Lumian smiled, glancing at the people listening to the Parish Priest's "Sermon" as he walked towards the Altar.

He saw the Shepherd Pierre Berri, the Villain Pons Béné and his henchmen, Madena Béné and Sybil Berri, the Parish Priest's Thug, and a man who both surprised and seemed to belong there—Arno André, Naroka's youngest son, a farmer in his forties.

"Hi, Pierre..." Lumian greeted with a smile, but paused midway.

His second half of the sentence was supposed to be, "Weren't you going to treat me to drinks? Why are you here?" But then he suddenly realized that the promise hadn't come true in this Loop.

That happened only in the previous two Loop and the last Loop. In this Loop, Lumian is meeting the Shepherd Pierre - Berri for the first time.

As the master of mischief in Cordu, Lumian reacted quickly, immediately adjusting his posture and opening his arms towards the Altar:

Praise the Sun!

Using this ritual as a springboard, he quickly came up with a new explanation.

After praising the Sun and receiving a response from the Parish Priest, Lumian turned to Pierre Berri, who was sitting at the edge of the first row and looking at him with a puzzled expression, and said, "I heard you had gone back to the village, so I rushed to your house to look for you, only to find you at the Church."

He didn't say who told him, but Pierre Berri was bound to be seen on his way from home to the Church.

If there are no witnesses, Lumian has backup options:

Ava's father, Guillaume Lizier, a shoemaker.

"What do you want with me?" Pierre Berri, dressed in Deep Brown long coat, stood up, his blue Eyes filled with a gentle smile and a sense of bewilderment.

Lumian, having already prepared an excuse, said with a smile, "I'd love to hear about what you encountered during your migrations—different countries, different villages, different places—it must have been incredibly interesting."

He used to enjoy chatting with Shepherd who returned from their migrations to broaden his knowledge and experience.

Before Pierre Berri could respond, his gaze moved from the man's messy, greasy black hair down to his brand-new leather shoes:

"You've struck it rich?"

"This employer was quite generous; they gave me a lot of things," Pierre Berri replied with a smile. "I'll treat you to a drink later."

"Okay." That was exactly what Lumian had been waiting for.

He even pressed further, asking, "When are you going?"

This perfectly captures the style of a regular at the Old Tavern; they'd go to any lengths to get a free drink.

Pierre Berri glanced at the Parish Priest Guillaume Béné and received the corresponding hint.

"How about we have dinner?" he suggested.

"Okay," Lumian agreed readily.

Then, under the watchful eyes of the Shepherd, the Parish Priest, Pons Béné, and others, he sat down in the second-to-last chair closest to him.

"..." Pierre Berri paused for a second, "You're not going back?"

Lumian smiled:

"It's been too long since I prayed, so I'll take this opportunity to pray so that the Deity won't think I'm not Devout enough."

"You guys continue, you guys continue, don't worry about me."

After saying that, he closed his eyes, lowered his head slightly, and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

Pierre Berri, Guillaume Béné, Pons Béné, and the others looked at each other, unable to continue.

After waiting patiently for a long time, seeing that Lumian still did not finish praying, the Parish Priest looked at Pierre Berri and gestured for him to ask him.

Pierre Berri came up to Lumian and patted him on the shoulder:

"How long are you going to keep praying?"

Lumian opened his eyes and said seriously, "I plan to pray until dinner time. I have nothing else to do anyway, and I can also make Confession later."

The Parish Priest Guillaume, Guillaume Béné, felt a twitch on his forehead.

He glanced at Madena, Sybil, Pons, Arnaud, and the others who were waiting for him, slowly exhaled, winked at the Shepherd Pierre Berri, and gestured towards the door with his chin.

Pierre Berri, having grasped the Parish Priest's meaning, quickly said to Lumian, "I've finished praying, shall we go to the Old Tavern now?"

"Okay!" Lumian stood up abruptly, his face beaming, all traces of seriousness and Devout gone.

He had already realized that his arrival would disrupt the Parish Priest and others' Conspiracy, so with a mischievous mindset, he deliberately stayed a little longer until Pierre Berri was forced to leave early.

He believed the Parish Priest could tell he was acting, but if he didn't take advantage of similar situations to cause trouble, would he still be the prankster king of Cordou Village?

You need to maintain your Persona so that no one suspects you!

Lumian regrets that her Older Sister should have already gone to the Berri Family to talk to the three sheep. Otherwise, sending "White Paper" to the Church to eavesdrop on the Parish Priest's Conspiracy would surely have yielded a lot of useful information.

Perhaps this could be done next Loop... But what if Pierre Berri notices he's being monitored? He's no ordinary man; he's far more capable than the Parish Priest who's still just Ordinary Person... Lost in Lumian followed the Shepherd Pierre out of the Church and headed towards the Old Tavern.

Inside the Sheep Pen behind the Berri Family.

Wearing a white, fitted Long Dress, Aurora circled around from the Small Woods and crossed the wooden fence.

As a beautiful Lady who rarely goes out and attracts attention, she had no choice but to take this rather secluded route; otherwise, she could easily be stopped for a chat or even arouse suspicion.

"I wonder when I'll be able to learn the secret arts of Invisibility and Shadow Hiding..." Aurora sighed silently and walked towards the three sheep that had huddled next to the haystack.

As she walked, she said in the Highland Language, "Don't be afraid, I am the enemy of the Shepherd Pierre Berri."

The eyes of the three Sheep, their fur stained brown from dirt, underwent a dramatic Change: first wariness and worry, then hope, and finally a sense of bewilderment.

They did not retreat further, allowing Aurora to walk in front of them.

Aurora continued, "I discovered your special nature through some method. You were originally supposed to be human, weren't you?"

The three sheep's Eyes were instantly filled with shock, ecstasy, hope, and doubt, and they instinctively bleated.

Aurora glanced at them:

"You can't speak, but you can write, can't you?"

One of the sheep paused for a second, then quickly started drawing on the mud.

It wrote a very simple Highland Language Vocabulary:

"Yes."

It's saying that they were originally human.

"What exactly happened? Why did you turn into sheep?" Aurora thought for a moment, then added very quickly, "Write down the beginning, middle, and end of the story separately to save time."

The three sheep divided the work slightly, using their hooves to write different things on the surface of the mud.

Before long, they each completed a sentence:

"We've been captured."

A Ritual was held.

"Wrapped in Sheepskin, it became a sheep."

Ritual Magic can turn a person into a sheep using Sheepskin? Hmm, that's clearly much easier than turning a person into a sheep directly... The only question is, to which being does that Ritual pray? Aurora asked, her thoughts racing.

"It was Pierre Berri who arrested you, and he did it all by himself?"

She wanted to confirm the current strength of the Shepherd Pierre Berri.

"Yes," one of the sheep wrote.

The other sheep is described in more detail:

He also has a companion, both of whom are very powerful.

Pierre Berri already possessed considerable strength before returning to the village? Aurora suddenly sensed something amiss:

Why would Pierre Berri act as if he were led by the Parish Priest Guillaume Béné?

Guillaume Béné is probably just an Ordinary Person right now!