Revive Rome: Wait! Why not make the empress fall in love with me first?-Chapter 529 - 39 Messiah
Rainy day.
Outside the window, the rain fell continuously and finely, tapping rhythmically as it splashed against the window sill, creating countless droplets.
A little girl was perched at the window, wiping the sill with a rag while absentmindedly watching the neon lights in the distance, where a shapely woman danced in the rain beside a billboard advertising a virility-enhancing drug.
Mia and Miel stood there gazing at her, dumbfounded.
Medea was gone, or rather, Rasul had never intended to brief her on the affairs of the Revolutionary Army. Only Mia and Miel had been teleported to this apartment room of about 30 square meters.
The air was thick with a damp, musty odor, and clothes belonging to both children and adults were hung to dry at the air conditioner vents, showing that the homeowner was not one to appear rich or affluent.
Especially when there were four children to take care of.
There were four kids in the room, two boys and two girls. One boy, tall with a prominent nose and deep-set eyes, looked like he could be from the bloodline of Ilania—Mia was sure he was the young Rasul; the other had dark skin, seemingly possessing the blood of the South Continent.
The boys were sitting on the couch, listlessly watching TV, while the girls were industriously doing chores.
The girl wiping the windowsill had fair skin, with two strands of hair on either cheek braided in entwined plaits, similar to Peggy’s hairstyle; thus, Miel guessed she might also be Armenian.
The other girl wore full-cover headphones, her hair was flaxen, but still, a few pink strands peeked through. Miel observed her carefully and confirmed that the little one’s flaxen hair was dyed.
Just like herself, she was a half-elf, using the headphones to conceal the shape of her ears.
Due to the different lineages of the four children, it was certain they were adopted by the homeowner. As for the homeowner who had yet to appear—she was likely to be a woman of stout build, which could be inferred from the size and style of the adult female clothes hanging on the clothesline.
Mia wanted to try talking to these children, but not only could her voice not carry over to them, she couldn’t even touch them. Her hand would pass right through their bodies.
About ten more minutes passed when the two little girls were starting to get restless, the room’s door opened.
A portly woman walked in. She donned a nun’s robe, seemingly a researcher from the Church Court. Her name tag was clipped to the left side of her chest, reading:
Natalie Hillman.
"Mother Natalie," the little girl wiping the windowsill ran up to her and asked obediently, "Why did you come back so early today?"
"The Magic Tide is approaching, and the Church Court has shut down completely," Natalie replied with a smile, "They’ve given us a month’s holiday."
She placed her belongings by the door and shut it. Suddenly, the television started to flicker with static.
Then, with a loud bang, the screen went black.
In Solomon City, all electrical appliances come with anti-combustion devices, and combustion is typically caused by the Magic Tide.
That is to say, the Magic Tide had already started to rise.
Natalie looked out the window; Solomon City was quiet in the rain, all the neon signs extinguished.
She drew the curtains, turned around, and looked at the four children in the room:
"Have the Magic Potions been metabolized?" she asked.
.........
"Magic Potions?!" Miel and Mia exclaimed in unison.
Hey, aren’t you a nun? Aren’t you part of the Church Court? How could you feed the children you’ve adopted Magic Potions?
However, the scene had already flown by again, this time in the basement of a bar, where Natalie led the four children, following the owner’s lead to push open the cellar door.
"There are no electronic or networked items in this cellar," the owner said, "Whatever you do here, no one outside can know. Of course, as an extra charge for information insulation..."
"I got it, I will pay a month’s rent in advance." Natalie smiled, "Thank you."
After the owner received the money and left, Natalie turned around and spoke to the four children:
"From today on, you will come here every afternoon to practice your Extraordinary Abilities."
"Natalie." The young Rasul suddenly spoke up, "Why do you want us to become Transcendents?"
The other children were taken aback by his words and, without agreement, turned towards Natalie.
"The Church Court... doesn’t it say that Transcendents are evil?" The young Rasul continued, his expression one of confusion and anxiety, "If the Church Court discovers we are Transcendents, won’t we be captured and executed?"
Natalie fell silent for a moment, laid her hand on Rasul’s head, and gently stroked his curly hair.
"Child," she said with a touch of sorrow, "this is the arrangement of Fate."
Onlooking Miel: ???
Where had she heard that before?
"I won’t tell you now, but when you truly accept Fate, you will understand."
"But Natalie," the young Rasul displayed a clearly skeptical look, "aren’t you just an ordinary person?"
"Seeing that you don’t possess any Extraordinary Abilities, how then do you know about the ’arrangement of Fate’?" he argued emphatically, "And how can you determine that I will become the next..."
"...Messiah?"
"Miel," Mia whispered into her ear, "I’ve noticed something."
"What’s that?" Miel asked.
"Master was just like you when she was small," Mia said curiously, "suspicious, wary, and especially fond of contradicting others."
Miel’s eyelids twitched. Why couldn’t she just say I’m smart and cautious? Did she have to use those unpleasant words?
But she also knew her best friend was still young and immature, so she ignored her words and only listened as Rasul continued:
"To be honest, Natalie. I’m grateful for your care, but forget being a Messiah, even the matter of becoming a Transcendent, you should at least consider our opinions, right? Not every kid wants to be a superhero."
"So, Rasul," Natalie asked with a smile, "what is your dream then?"
"To loaf around and eat," Rasul said.
"What?" Natalie’s smile became somewhat stiff.
"My dream is to marry seven or eight young and pretty wives," Rasul stated seriously, "then have them work to provide for me, pampering me in comfort, allowing me to live a decadent and idle life."
"Ahahaha!" The surrounding boys and girls burst into laughter, especially a dark-skinned boy from the South Continent, who laughed until he was nearly in tears.
"What are you laughing at!" Rasul glared back at his companions, "Do any of you look as handsome and charming as I do? Jealous! You’re just jealous!"
"Rasul..." Natalie also clearly didn’t know what expression to use when faced with this curly-haired child with absurd aspirations. She pondered seriously for a while, then said:
"That’s all the more reason you should be the Messiah."
"Why?" Rasul asked.
"Because the Messiah is the savior of this world," Natalie struggled to articulate, "He is destined to save many people who are suffering..."
"And among these people, there will definitely be young, pretty girls. By saving them as the Messiah, they will naturally fall madly in love with you, even provide for you, so you can live the idle life you wish for, right?"
Rasul: ..........
"I have to admit, there’s a little bit of sense in what you say." He stroked his chin, clearly swayed.
"Natalie, Mom," another girl ran over, took hold of Natalie’s hand, "Never mind Rasul, let’s start our lesson quickly."
"Alright." Natalie smiled gently and then began to discuss Extraordinary Abilities with the children.
Miel and Mia listened from the side and discovered that Natalie had a very unique teaching style.
If Aske was of the practical type, then Natalie was an out-and-out academic.
Although she was an ordinary person, she had a deep knowledge of various Extraordinary Sequences and Abilities and could explain in depth with an abundance of data and examples, so the children could understand the characteristics of each Sequence and each Ability.
"...In short, Rasul, your Luck Sequence, fundamentally, is the ability to guide the world line to collapse in a specific direction," Natalie explained.
"That sounds ridiculous," Rasul said scornfully, "Why is the cost of activating my Luck Ability diluted with misfortune? Why don’t their Extraordinary Abilities have this side effect?"
"Because Luck, as a Low-Rank Sequence involving operations that affect changes in world lines, which are high-level operations, must pay an additional price," Natalie said with a smile, "In fact, those who closely interact with Fate are not of the Luck Sequence." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎
"Rather, it’s the Fate Law that is condensed above the Luck Sequence."
"And among the Transcendents who have condensed the Fate Law, there will inevitably be one chosen by Fate to stand out, responsible for guiding the current world line toward a future more favorable for the survival of humanity."
"This person, we refer to as the ’Messiah’."
