Chapter 1607: Holy Woman and the Demonic Weirdo

*Bing-Bong!*

...

|What?|

.....

|What?!|

Are you...are you even sure we can name the Chapter that title? Like...at all? We had to censor multiple other Chapters and details because of controversy over the themes, so how the fuck are you getting away with a title like that?

|Honestly...I’m not sure. I think it’s the same kind of logic how violence can be shown in film and video games without causing problems but heaven forbid there’s nudity or sex involved. Hell, that’s why I could get away with the Marquis death scene and not write the inevitable *CENSORED* SCENE.|

Ah.

|You all know that’s the only way a harem series should address that particular question! You know it, I know it, the reader staring at the character profiles and realizing damn she thicc knows it too!|

Damn...sorry I asked.

|LET ME WRITE THE OR—|

*Bing-Bong!*

________________________________________

=Matters of courtship and the heart aside, perhaps we should focus on collecting the data before us?= Logos asked her counterpart. =It appears that this First Hearth Tender is unconsciously or subtly using [Chaos] to enhance her sermon.=

<Oh?>

=And she appears to be using it to establish a blessing...huh. I’m reminded of the Devout Heretic again.=

<Same...>

...Now back to Zhen Liu and friends...

^...and let the embers of the Sacred Flame cleanse us of our sins and bring us closer to the origin of all. Amen.^

^AMEN!^

’This feels...very familiar.’

After the opening blessing had ended, the rest of the service went about as Zhen Liu had anticipated.

There was a prayer, a song break, and a couple moments where the First Hearth Tender, which Zhen Liu understood to roughly translate as being the fucking leader of the whole fucking Church of the Sacred Flame, swapped places with an assisting priest so that they could deliver some sermon or lesson to the listening crowd of people.

Zhen Liu had honestly expected most of the crowd to mentally check out once the First Hearth Tender had stopped speaking, but they were surprisingly enraptured by the service. Then again, that might’ve been due to the incense floating in the air that was being burned by what he could sense to be a type of [Chaos], probably something that was derived from the [Sacred Flame].

’I suppose faith is a type of desire, so it kind of makes sense for it to affect people in such a way,’ Zhen Liu noted. ’Too bad it doesn’t work on us.’

Since Zhen Liu and his friend were familiar with [Chaos], they could immediately sense the changes in the air that had made the congregation act in such a devout manner. The more war-blooded amongst them and wanted to act upon this information, but stopped themselves when they noticed that Zhen Liu, the guy who had a tendency to throw himself into danger first and had a literal army of monsters ready to attack at the first sign of danger, wasn’t doing anything about the incense.

Therefore, they figured whatever was going on probably wasn’t an issue...for now.

"Hey, I know this is probably inappropriate to say, but that First Hearth Tender girl is really hot," Zhen Tai whispered to his cousin.

"That’s what you’re focusing on?" Zhen Xing asked incredulously. "Not the fact that she weirdly resembles Rianna?"

"Huh? Oh...huh. I didn’t notice that until you mentioned it. Odd."

The entire religious service lasted for about an hour and ended it without an incident.

The final ceremony for the entire service simply consisted of the First Hearth Tender exiting the building first so that she may greet and bless the other parishioners as they left after her.

Well, most of the parishioners.

"Well, looks like the service is over," Jinju Ren said with a yawn as she stretched after getting out of her seat. "And this just confirms that organized religion isn’t my thing. Do you guys want to see if we can exit our the back or away from the crowd?"

"Yes."

"Xiao Liu, I’m not sure why you wanted to—Xiao Liu? Where are you going?"

It was in this particular moment that Zhen Liu had decided to make his move.

"Don’t worry," he assured his allies. "Just... answering a letter."

...Note that the following is spoken entirely in Scorch Talk, so only quotation marks will be used...

Zhen Liu had hung around the entrance of the central cathedral for a solid twenty minutes as person after person left and exchanged small talk with the First Hearth Tender.

Despite sensing that the First Hearth Tender was a cultivator of noticeable rank, even he could see that the constant streamer of admirers, well-wishers, and general worshippers was eating away at her nerves.

’On the one hand I feel like I should be leaving her alone so that she could recover,’ Zhen Liu thought to himself as the young woman kept shaking hands. ’Then again, that message on her hand and the fact that she instantly clocked me gives me the impression that whatever she wants to share is time-sensitive...’

On a side note, it was during this waiting period that Zhen Liu learned more and more details about the First Hearth Tender...as well as inconsistencies in his knowledge.

First, he learned that the First Hearth Tender’s name was actually Serena Alfaraz.

Second, he had learned that as a massive technicality that she was technically a figurehead more so than an actual power player in the Theocracy. The ones who actually held the power were the Council of Holy Embers, which partially explained the mishmash of sects in the city. Apparently, each council member was the head of their own religious sect, and that council membership was determined by whether or not someone had a large enough congregation.

And lastly, he learned that the First Hearth Tender was a position that was chosen by the [Sacred Flame] itself and that it would bestow a powerful aether formula that would guarantee the chosen to become at least an Aether Saint within their lifetime...and that the the title, "Sacred Spark Speaker" hadn’t been used for centuries.

However, not every chosen Hearth Tender would live long enough for reach that point.

Eventually, the crowd began to dwindle to the point that he could now position himself to be the last person to exchange words with the First Hearth Tender, with Serena.

"Hello! I hope that you had a wonderful time at the night service," Serena said with all the warmth a young woman could muster while reaching out to shake Zhen Liu’s hand.

"Thank you, this was actually my first time."

"Well, I hope it was memorable then."

Zhen Liu took the hand and shook it firmly, but the moment he did, he could feel the tingle of [Chaos] coming through his palms. Along it, he could sense that a message had been transmitted directly to his mind.

[Wait in the alleyway for about an additional ten minutes. The alleyway is by the bakery.]

...Kaijin comments and time skips...

[So...the maestro is about to have a clandestine meeting with the figurehead of a massive religious organization...and they just so happened to be a pretty girl about the same age as him?] Hurricroak asked in a matter-of-fact manner. [Okay, even I know that seems too obvious of a hook.]

[So you’re betting against them flirting and our Lord somehow charming her?] Nepherage asked.

[No, I’m just pointing out that obvious bait is obvious.]

[Fair enough.]

[I think it’s actually more likely for him to play matchmaker this time,] Razorstella pointed out. [I saw that girl staring in our direction, but she wasn’t staring at the director.]

[Really? Who was she staring at?]

[Well...]

...Okay, enough of that. What happens when Zhen Liu meets Serena?...

"Is this the part where you reveal that you’re not as prim and proper as you present yourself to your congregation?" Zhen Liu asked almost immediately after Serena had arrived at their meeting spot. "Or the part where you take offense to my casual tone?"

"Shut up," Serena immediately stated. "I know that you’re the current owner of the [Demon’s Archive] and that you have an entire squad of Kaijin on your person in the form of those flashy accessories. Are you trying to scare people away like a venomous reptile or attract attention like a jungle bird in heat? I had read that the previous Kaijin Lords were rather flashy with their appearances, but I can see those records were downplaying it."

"Huh."

Evidently, it was a case of the former, and it had stunned Zhen Liu into silence for a hot second.

"Straight to business, I see. I was expecting some form of coy foreplay at least," Zhen Liu retorted with a smile of faked confidence. He understood that Serena was speaking informally to catch him off guard, but he needed to know why. "But I get the feeling that you’re not calling me out like this for the fun of it. Why?"

Surprisingly, this question was enough to get Serena to go silent as well, as she must’ve been somewhat used to people listening to what she said.

Well...most people.

"You’re here for the [Sacred Flame], right? Well, I need your help in taking it back from the people who took it in the first place."

’Oh...I can see where this is going...’