Jack Johnson was a measly Priest in the Holy Land. He was twenty-one years old and, hence, considered himself quite blessed as he knew he had plenty of time to grow and climb high on the ladder of ranks.
However, for now, what he needed was money. Although, as a Priest, he was supposed to cut off all his connections with his family, he still couldn't just watch his parents and siblings starve to death. So, he looked for a job and finally landed one.
He was now a well-respected cashier at the Bard's eatery inside the Holy Land. And the best thing was that he got to interact with high-ranking clergy members, allowing him opportunities to secure his future.
Ting! Ting!
'Ah, the sound of the bell. Another customer entering this fine establishment,' he thought while preparing the catalog on the counter and getting ready to take an order.
"What can I get for you today?"
"Father, I want spicy fried chicken and strawberry ice cream."
"Good choice, Ella. But I'll only drink some fruit juice. It's good for my bones."
"You're not old yet, Father."
"In my heart I am."
Jack felt amused since it was the Holy Land, and no Clergyman had children there. So, a child calling a man father was new. So, he wrote down the order and finally looked up at the customer.
"Anything els—P-P-P-P… Pho…"
"Pope Sylvester Maximilian, yes," Sylvester introduced himself to the flabbergasted Priest. "Pack a banana shake as well."
"U-u-understoo~"
Ella looked up at Sylvester. "Who's going to drink the banana shake? Is there someone secretly hiding in the house? I always feel like there's another person, but I couldn't see them."
'Keeping Chonky a secret from her is going to be impossible,' Sylvester realized it right then.
"This is for Zeke," Sylvester lied and led her to take a seat with the food. "Ah, about that, I suddenly remembered. How is Zeke doing with his relationship? He was interested in that school nurse of yours."
Ella dug into the food while talking back, openly showing her childish side to Sylvester. "Lady Iris got married a few days ago,"
"What?!" Sylvester almost jumped to his feet. "Not to Zeke, right?"
"Uncle Zeke was very sad," Ella replied. "He didn't go to work for three days."
'Heartbreak, it's hard to deal with. Especially the first time,' Sylvester felt bad for Zeke. 'I should have a talk with him later.'
He still couldn't help but feel somewhat unsure about the whole situation. After all, even if that nurse didn't love Zeke, any woman would jump at the opportunity of becoming the Pope's sister-in-law. How did the nurse find someone to marry so quickly? He wanted to know since he had read her detailed report from Saint Seer.
"Can I get one more strawberry milkshake?" Ella cutely asked, pulling Sylvester out of his thoughts.
"Sure," he looked at the attentive Priest standing at the cashier's counter. "Bring me a strawberry milkshake. Put the bill on my tab."
"Tab?" Jack confusedly looked down, and then it clicked. "Ah! I almost forgot you're the owner!"
Ella heard it and looked at Sylvester with interest. Her innocent blue eyes appeared amused and curious. "Father, how rich are you?"
Sylvester thought deeply about it, "Um… I'm the richest man in the world, Ella."
Ella's jaw fell. "Richer than Queen Isabella? King Kaecilius? Or… Or the elves and dragons?"
"I am," Sylvester replied nonchalantly. "Once you grow older, you'll realize how easy it is to earn money for people like us. But the true treasure is learning to control your greed. Because your real wealth is not in gold but in the people you surround yourself with. If I were to lose all my wealth today, I wouldn't mind, but if I were to lose you, Mum, or my friends, I would be heartbroken."
"Un-un," Ella nodded vigorously while eating. "Where do I go to study now?"
'That is what I am thinking about. It's too early for you to stay by my side and learn to scheme and rule,' Sylvester found himself in an utterly tough spot. 'Perhaps a project to work on?'
"How about working on a project? I want to find a way to use solarium with a tool. Perhaps an instrument that can use solarium and create fire, water, or air—without the use of crystals," Sylvester suggested, since doing such research would require her to study not only magic theory and runes, but also smithing.
Ella thought about it for a while and agreed, "I've learned the magic theory of particles. Which felt similar to the particle theory you wrote, Father. Maybe a type of converter can be made, like the electric motor—Solarium is everywhere, if we can control it…"
'Such raw talent in deduction. I have to cherish her and guide her well.'
"Ella, do you understand how different you are?" He suddenly asked.
She nodded softly, looking down at the plate. A hint of the scent of sadness came from her. "I know."
Sylvester knew she was a lonely girl. Kids her age were too naive for her to feel comfortable around, while the adults only saw her as a child or felt disdain because she was already better than they were. It was a vicious cycle since she could only befriend other intellectual monsters like Emara and Rex.
"You're likely even smarter than me, dear. So, you must learn to understand that other people are simply not as quick-minded as you, and it may take them time to learn what you can in mere minutes. Try to be patient with people, and teach them if they're doing something wrong," he tried to give her some life advice. "Remember, you will always have me, Rex, and Emara to talk to. If you ever find yourself in any trouble, you can come to me right away."
"I'm fine, Father. I don't need other people to pity me," Ella said, trying to hide her true self with false words. She still had a lot to learn about Sylvester.
Tap!
Sylvester knocked on her head softly, "You may think that right now, but let me tell you. More than dying, more than any illness, the greatest torture a person can experience is complete loneliness. When you want to talk and have nobody to talk to, when you want to share your joys but have none to share with—it turns your heart and mind hollow."
"Is that why you keep Uncle Felix as your friend?"
"Haha, he might have a few screws loose in his head. But he's an honest, trustable man. I cherish my friendship with him, and so should you if you find a good friend. Ah, about Felix, I just remembered I needed to find him and ask how it went. But it's late in the evening now. He must be busy."
"Busy with what?"
"Fulfilling his dream," Sylvester didn't elaborate and picked up the packed cup of banana shake for Miraj. "Let's go home now. Mum should be waiting."
While she held onto his index finger, he took her on a breezy and scenic walk home. Using the Light Tiles, he took her straight towards the Bright Mothers' housing. Walking over the massive buildings and parks, she happily, but somewhat with a bit of fear, walked close to him.
"Nya, nya, nyaaaa, nyo nyaaa…"
"Cats!" Ella got excited once they arrived at the door of the fifth-floor housing unit. "Did Grandma bring the cats?"
'What is Chonky doing?' Sylvester carefully opened the door and glanced inside. 'Five cats? Ah, Chonky's training them since they can't see him.'
"I think the others sent their cats here." Sylvester let Ella in and play with the furballs.
In the meantime, he went to find Xavia in the kitchen. Zeke was also there, helping her silently. He likely hadn't shared his heartbreak with Xavia either, and simply from his sullen expressions, Sylvester could notice he was hurt.
"Mum, what's for dinner?"
"Roasted chicken, soup, rice, pudding, and honey-baked bread," Xavia chirped back, loving her life as Sylvester would usually return home for dinner. "Why don't you go and take a bath? It will still take an hour to be ready."
"Zeke, come with me. I need someone to scrub my back," He called the big man over, not even waiting for a reply.
The bathroom was huge enough, so he didn't mind. He threw his upper clothes off and sat down on a high stool to scrub himself before dipping in the large tub.
Zeke silently came in and used the scrubbing stone on Sylvester's back. He didn't say a single word the entire time, holding himself back.
Sylvester saw through it all and asked him directly, "I heard what happened. Did that nurse really get married? But, I thought she was single."
"Zeke thought that too. But Iris came with her husband."
"Did her husband say something?"
Zeke clenched harder onto the scrubbing stone, cracking it. "He said he'll tell everyone I'm bad if I don't stop talking with Iris."
'Ah, the classic tough guy act,' Sylvester instantly saw through it all. 'Does that man have a death wish? Zeke is a Golden Knight. This Iris woman, she probably asked the man to threaten Zeke to stay away.'
"Did you do something to Iris?"
"Zeke gave Iris flowers every day and asked Iris to marry Zeke," Zeke replied. "She even kissed Zeke's cheek before but stopped since then."
'She panicked and did something foolish to push Zeke away instead of directly confronting him and rejecting the proposal? I can understand her fears.' Sylvester deduced. It wasn't that hard after having lived for so long.
"Don't worry, Zeke. There are millions of women out there in the world who are kinder and prettier than Iris. I'm sure you'll find one very soon," he cheered him up and finally stood up. "Now, how about we have a bout like old times?"
"Bout?"
Bam!
He pushed Zeke into the large bathtub. "Wrestling, my brother. It's time I test how strong you've gotten."
"Zeke is not weak anymore, brother," Zeke stood up again and took a fighting stance. "Zeke can hold you now."
Bam!
Sylvester vanished from the sight and sent a flying knuckle to Zeke's head. "Oh really? Then what's this? You can't even react. Have you been slacking? Did you stop training?"
"Zeke didn't!" Zeke tried to tackle Sylvester.
Sylvester didn't go too rough on him, either. He allowed the simple-minded brother of his land a few harmless punches. However, they did end up making a mess of the entire bathroom, with water splattered everywhere—even the ceiling.
Afterward, the two came out refreshed and ate dinner with the family. There being two overly strong men in the house, the quantity of food on the table was always high. And seeing the two men eat so much, even Ella started eating more and becoming healthier. However, there was also a furball under the table who chomped on some food.
Later, they sat together in the living room and talked about a few things. Not always related to work, but more related to gossip, events around the world, or workplace incidents. Once their eyes started getting heavy, they all headed to their bedrooms one by one.
But not Sylvester, since he did not need to sleep. He just waited until everyone was snoring to enter the kitchen and start doing a few experiments of his own.
"Ugh… It still smells nasty," he groaned at the sight of Nehilius' meat, dark in texture with purple blood. But it gave off an energy that eclipsed any elixir or treasure Sylvester had ever seen.
"Maxy, whatcha doing?" Miraj smelled the scent and came running, jumping onto Sylvester's shoulder and slumping down lazily, looking down at his hands. "Oh, it's the shitty-patty."
Indeed, that was the name Miraj had given to Nehilius' meat.
"I'm marinating it in various ways to find a way to make it palatable. If I'm to eat that massive being, I can't be vomiting with every bite," Sylvester explained.
He quickly ignited three stoves with fire crystals and started cooking.
He used various techniques and ingredients. From different spices to cheese, from honey to even medicinal herbs. He smoked it, grilled it, and fried it KFC style. He tried everything and prepared a few plates for himself.
"I still feel like vomiting, Maxy."
"Chonky, if you don't quiet up, I'll force-feed it to you," Sylvester grumpily warned him and took a bite from the first plate.
"Uwaaaa!"
He vomited. But then he continued and ate from another plate, only to throw up again. Slowly, he reached the final plate, the one he had the most expectations from.
Crunch!
He took a bite and chewed it with his eyes closed. His nostrils flared up, and his breath hastened. But he kept chewing and eventually gulped it down. This was it—the recipe that would work.
"Deep fried with batter to crisp, then tossed with honey, sesame seeds, chili, and a few sauces," he muttered, remembering the dish. "But… There isn't enough honey or other ingredients in the world to cook Nehilius entirely."
"Is it tasty?" Miraj jumped down from his shoulder and looked at the plate with a drooling mouth.
Right then, Sylvester felt an epiphany. "Chonky, can you teach me your ability to devour? If it's related to space magic, I can find a way to directly insert the meat into my stomach."
"My ability?" Miraj curiously thought about it and showed it to Sylvester. He opened his jaw wide and activated the black hole-like suction, and the few plates instantly vanished into his belly.
"Yes, how do you do it? Explain it to me."
Miraj once again fell into deep contemplation, "Ummmm… I don't know. It's very easy, Maxy. You just open your mouth and do sucky sucky."
"..."
"Forget it. I shouldn't have asked," Sylvester sighed, caressing the furball. "And never use those words like that again."
"What? I did an oopsie again?"
"You did. Go to sleep now."
See Ella here.
Thank you for reading. Gifts and GT votes are highly appreciated.
