Chapter 541: 59. Rabbit Nun
“Boom! Boom! Boom!”
The terrifying snowstorm that had swept the Northern Coast had just faded away, but the spectacle’s aftermath was still vividly visible within the boundaries of a Feudal Kingdom called McDowell in the coast of the Sardinia Female Country.
Previously, the grey-shrouded sky had been cleansed by the storm’s mighty force, revealing the sky-blue color of a painted canvas backdrop. The ocean surface was now littered with mariti debris of varying sizes, chunks of ice, and remnants of wood and soil blown from the shore, attesting to the terrifying destructive power of the recent storm.
McDowell Feudal State, a border province of Sardinia Female Country, was notorious for its frequent coastal storms. At the sa ti, this was an ancient port for trade with Schwali. However, in modern tis, the main ports for interaction between Schwali and Sardinia Female Country had been moved to the better-equipped Hammond Feudal Country.
Since then, the fringes of McDowell Feudal State no longer bustled with activity, leaving only the recurring disasters and a quiet existence year after year.
“Dong! Dong! Dong!”
The sounds of a bell echoed unceasingly outside Luxiang Castle, in the southernmost city of McDowell, near the coast, disrupting the hushed atmosphere like an alarm clock waking those deep in slumber at eight or nine in the morning.
Looking closer, the source of the bell ringing was a dilapidated church built of stone bricks covered in moss. The passage of ti had left distinct traces on the church, yet it had withstood the storms of the Northern Realm up to the present day.
Notably, the church was devoid of the feather emblems often worshipped at religious sites in the Northern Realm; instead, a crescent-shaped symbol adorned the church, indicating that the deity worshipped within was not the Frost Phoenix but the Mother Goddess of the Western Continent.
“Dong! Dong! Dong!”
As the bell tolled thrice more, the heavy stone gates of the church slowly opened, allowing the freshly cleared sunlight outside to stream in, illuminating the neatly arranged prayer hall and the statue of the Mother Goddess—and, before the stone gate, there also appeared a cute figure with long, fluttering rabbit ears…
“Hmm-Hmm-Hmm~”
This was a demi-human clad in a traditional black nun’s robe. The classic nun’s garb was form-fitting and elegant, embodying the abstinent and devout image of classical church personnel. However, due to historical changes, church personnel these days rarely wore such traditional attire, now preferring modernized versions that incorporated contemporary fashion elents.
But this demi-human with a pair of rabbit ears was still clad in the attire of ancient tis, exuding piety and grace, which, along with her adorable, pure face, made her a perfect fit for the role of a “nun”… if one could just ignore those rabbit ears on her head.
In any part of the world, it would be unheard of for a demi-human to serve as clergy for the Mother Goddess, yet, for so reason, a demi-human Nun had appeared here.
The naless Demi-human Nun’s pale golden hair was concealed under the black veil of the nun’s robe, except for where a pair of roughly cut holes allowed her rabbit ears to poke through. Unlike typical rabbit ears, hers each had a crescent moon-like notch at the tips as if the waning moons from the sky had temporarily settled there.
Carrying a small basket, she hopped towards the beach, tracing a muddy path outside the weathered church, the destruction wrought by the raging storm shockingly evident. She stopped at the edge of the forest, twisted by the wind, then looked down at the basket in her hands with a sowhat troubled expression.
“Ugh, such a big wind, all the wild vegetables have blown away… What should I eat today, Ilois? Ah, that’s right, I’ll go to the beach and pick up so shells for soup,” said the nun nad Ilois, looking at the forest, skewed and about to crumble, before turning to gaze at the gradually calming ocean, deciding to try her luck there for sothing to eat.
Her rabbit ears swayed as she bounced along with lively steps towards the beach, which she’d seen countless tis before.
The sand of the Northern Realm was quite white but also very hard—the cold had solidified the sea water soaked in the sand, turning it into one solid chunk of white, hard sea salt.
The normally smooth beach, marked by the wild winds, now also bore many splintered pieces of wood that had washed ashore, seemingly remnants of a ship that had fallen apart.
But Ilois did not care; too many things blew in from the sea. Just last month, a giant beached whale had arrived here, and if it hadn’t returned to the sea at high tide, Ilois wouldn’t have needed to co out and forage today… She had not yet tasted whale at.
Sotis, ssage bottles floated ashore, with incomprehensible writing on the papers inside—perhaps guidance bestowed by the Mother Goddess. She took those bottles back to the church. If Sister Shalu were still there, she might have asked her about them…
Overall, Ilois paid no extra attention to these washed-up pieces of wood; they were inedible, and she had already chopped enough firewood for the winter. She didn’t need more wood… Wait, what’s this?
Crouched on the beach inspecting the shells she held for any at inside, Ilois’ peripheral vision caught the outline of a book lying among several wooden fragnts.
“Puff-puff-puff!”
Along with the ebb and flow of the waves, the sound of water spouting, much like a fountain, echoed from the area.
Ilois’s rabbit ears gently twitched, and then she carefully walked toward the direction of the book with the wooden basket in her hands. She hadn’t expected much, but the sight she beheld startled her.
She saw that the book’s cover bizarrely sprouted an eye and a mouth, and at that mont, the eye was slightly closed while murky seawater continuously poured from the mouth. Moreover, there seed to be glints of gold in the seawater, and upon closer examination, there were characters sparkling with golden light floating within.
“What an ugly book…”
“…”
She murmured softly, hesitating for several seconds before slowly picking up the sand-covered book from the ground. She didn’t know what this item was and seed to have no concept of relics, only sensing that this thing was far from ordinary.
Ilois treasured the book in her hands as if it were a treasure and tossed it into the wooden basket already filled with shells. She then lowered her gaze back to the sandy beach around her, preparing to see if there were other interesting things like this book to take back to the Church.
Life in the Church was too boring; even if she studied the Creation Scripture over and over again during her solitary tis, it did nothing to alleviate her loneliness.
Ilois began searching for treasures on the beach, even forgetting about her original task of digging up shellfish. She found a strangely styled wooden Handcane, which she had never seen anyone else use, and it didn’t seem quite right for hanging clothes either.
Never mind, she might as well collect it…
Next, Ilois found a black hat and a white garnt, which seed much too large for a girl of her size. Following that, she found a person…
Hm?
A person?
The rabbit ears atop Ilois’s head shook as she stared blankly down at the man who was quietly lying amidst a pile of wooden debris.
He was shirtless, his well-built body covered with sand, seemingly washed ashore for so reason… and inexplicably without clothes.
Ilois raised her right hand, clutching a white shirt, and pondered for a second or two before blushing, realizing sothing after the fact, and appearing sowhat embarrassed.
Could it be that the items she had just picked up all belonged to the man lying before her?
She crouched beside the man sprawled on the sand, sowhat reluctantly looking over the collected items,
“Mother Goddess bless, greed is a sin, and now I must return everything to this man…”
She prayed with her head bowed while struggling to place the shirt on the man but paused for a second, then suddenly had a thought,
“Right, the Mother Goddess said ‘people co clean, and go clean.’ Is he still alive? If he has already died… No, I an ascended to Heaven, I don’t need to return these to him!”
A clever gleam passed through Ilois’s eyes. After clapping her hands, she hurriedly snatched the white shirt off the man’s body and turned the man lying on the beach over to reveal his true face.
It turned out he was a very handso Human man. Even his serene slumber and the sand on his face couldn’t obscure his outstanding features. His black hair stuck to the corners of his mouth, making one unable to resist the urge to touch and separate those strands from his lips.
Ilois’s long ears fluttered, and her gaze hesitantly swept rapidly over the man’s strong body and handso features before she quickly shook her head and prayed,
“Mother Goddess, witness my will as pure and flawless… Apologies, sir, but I must be impolite!”
She pursed her lips, gently reaching out her hand toward the man’s nose, her head moving in the opposite direction as if to keep a safe distance. Only after feeling a bit of warm breath did she sigh with relief and quickly withdrew her hand.
It seems he’s still alive…
Ilois sat on the beach, anxiously looking at the unconscious man lying on the ground.
The wind from the Northern Realm suddenly picked up, blowing from the direction of the Snow Mountain, causing her nun’s robe to flutter wildly. The Church’s bell tolled again, breaking the area’s tranquility, as if the ancient Church, long deprived of fresh air, had once again co to life.
“Dong! Dong! Dong!”
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