Why Did You Summon Me？

After chatting for a bit and listening to stories for a while, Laeticia was dragged away by Mia and the rest. Although she looked like she would rather talk to Baiyi a little while longer, she could not bear to reject the girls' hospitable invitation. The three girls eventually decided to spend the day on the streets and left the house enthusiastically. Knowing full well that the city was still recovering from the attack, the girls must have also known that there was nothing much to indulge in on the streets, so those two kids were only trying to escape their afternoon lessons, perhaps?

Baiyi had nothing much to say about it. "Remember to come home for dinner," he urged from afar. Lowering his gaze, he saw Attie, who had obediently stayed behind, sending the girls off with a longing gaze. He could not help but give her a pat on the head. "Ah… you're still the most docile when it comes to this…" he mused.

Attie smiled sweetly in response to his praise.

Baiyi returned to his laboratory alone. He resumed his examination of the three angel feathers while contemplating the fate of Laeticia with the rest of the Voidwalkers.

"How am I supposed to tell her the truth? This is a very troublesome matter indeed. Her belief would get corrupted, which will result in an emotional pressure so intense, no normal person could withstand it…" the Cleric stated, in a rarely seen serious manner. "She's a good kid who has worshipped me a lot—to the point where she wishes to embark on a journey similar to mine…"

"For the time being, I'll try my best to advise her. Regarding the revelation… maybe we should start by introducing her to the concept of atheism?" Baiyi was quick to reply.

"The Earth without a god… then how would you explain how we get to live in this world?" the Cleric retorted. "Mind you, Gods really do exist in this world."

"I'm not talking about the ones on Earth. I'm talking about the sorcerer types," Baiyi clarified.

There were many believers—and an equally large amount of non-believers, especially in the community of sorcerers. They did not deny the existence of God, but they did not worship gods either; they also do not spiritually depend on gods. Instead, they chose to observe certain rules in an unbiased manner, taking it with a pinch of salt, and discover the meaning of their existence in life independently. In a way, this point of view seemed healthier.

The Rohserlian sorcerers, especially, had a passion for disputing the concept of gods. Their ludicrous antics were many, including making up gods, assuming the role of a god, and even attempting to imitate godly powers and miracles. In the end, they did not deliver realistic outcomes, infuriating their believers in the the process. The Church had very little influence in the past, so they could not deal with the Rohserli sorcerers who were stronger back then. Back then, the first Voidwalker, the head of the Rohserlian sorcerers, would wield his godly weapon to occasionally torment the Church. Not only did he want the pope to bend the knee, even the reimbursements to be claimed had to have his approval before proceeding.

Such were the woes that came with being powerless back then. The Church had tolerated their antics long enough to see the self-destruction of the Rohserlian empire. The people seized the opportunity to absorb their forces, developing and strengthening the Church's influence into a formidable power that lasts till this day.

Right till the end, the Church's attitude towards the world and the sorcerers leaned more towards leniency. On paper, they had declared that they would not get involved in worldly politics, but their shadows could still be seen, lurking around whenever a power struggle between the forces ensued…

Evidently, the Church would never want to return to those days of being dominated—the days when the sorcerers were still in power.

As for Baiyi and the Church… although he considered himself to be on the same page as them, both parties had already agreed on the most viable direction. Hence, after getting this fresh batch of beautiful maidens on board, the next step was to train them properly.

Laeticia would be even harder to deal with than Attie, and he still had to ensure that she does not break down the process! This was going to be a long journey, and Baiyi still had not managed to gather any clues, yet.

"Ah, talking about this second elect of yours… what's the relationship between you and her? Why can she drastically increase the maximum capacity of your power?" Thane asked a relatively impersonal question.

"For now, there has been no acceptable conclusion," the Scholar, who started this discussion, replied. "This unique phenomenon cannot be explained through our objective deductions. We can only classify her as a loophole. For example, if we took every being out there in the physical world as a single piece of paper, she'd be the little hole on its surface; thus, we're hoping that Your Highness would find a new channel for power through this little hole… I know, I know. My reasoning seems to be a little far off, but it's still better—"

"Still better than my deductions, right?" the Sorcerer replied, expressionlessly. "What I thought about her was less complicated than that. Whatever hole you're talking about… she's a little girl, for heaven's sake—very inappropriate of you to emphasize on a 'hole'. But, from how I see it, the relationship between her and my student can be described with a concept derived from various movies found on Earth—entanglement."

"The concept of entanglement, according to ancient works, is an extremely unique relationship that usually ends up inducing extraordinary results in the process, like resurrection, increased strength, defense strengthening, memory relapse, IQ-downgrade, increased banter… you get the idea. Obviously, I know this is just a fictional concept, and it's not possible in reality, but this increased power from the entanglement of two individuals can be easily traced."

"For example, individuals who are close with each other could generate some sort of tacit understanding between them, and this bond could bring them huge power; sometimes, unexplainable feats can be accomplished by a pairing of individuals who are related by blood, or couples. These things might not be justified by objective reasoning alone, but it is a fact that cannot be denied. The situation concerning my student and Laeticia is similar; I think this kind of entanglement was generated as a result of her affinity with the Void. This would explain why when she was more acquainted with Hope, Hope's powers were increased," The Sorcerer proclaimed, pleased. Although most of it was nonsense, there was still some viable reasoning behind it.

Baiyi was still inclined towards his own master's reasoning, eventually. It was obvious that he would not believe in the comic-fantasy-world-like concept of entanglement. He only noticed that an unexplainable bond between himself and Laeticia had begun to develop. Maybe, this had something to do with the Law of the Realm, or maybe it was Fate—an idea heavily emphasized by the Prophet.

The Voidwalkers might not necessarily meddle with the Law or Fate, but they were not completely ignorant about it either. Of course, this was not a significant issue because the only concern right now was to have Baiyi foster a good relationship with Laeticia and gain the advantages necessary out of it.

'Well then, besides her own beliefs, what else does this girl find interesting?'

"Ha! This is so cute!"A high-pitched shriek rang out from the girls' room. It was already night time, and the three girls had already returned from wherever they went earlier. After a much-anticipated shower, the four girls gathered in Mia's room. The hammerhead shark on the bed was the first thing Laeticia noticed.

"Hmm… seems like she likes plush toys, too." Baiyi took a mental note as he eavesdropped from below.

"It's really boring at my place. Everyday, we either recite prayers or receive all kinds of training; sometimes, we fight out there alongside proper knights…" Laeticia's voice trailed from above.

"If that's the way, the Academy seems much more interesting now… but… Tisdale, have you ever been in love? Eh? No? But you're so pretty! Are you not pursued by any boy?"

"Eh? Me? If you're talking about me… I can't. Trainee saintesses are not allowed to be in a relationship. We're not allowed to mingle with boys until we come of age."

"Yes… we'll be too old by then, and it'll be very hard to get married… thank heavens we met someone like Sir Hope! If it wasn't for him, I don't know how long we would have to endure."

"Eh? Mia… y-you like boys like Sir Hope? Mm… me too, I also like his type…"

'What in the world are these little girls talking about? Have they even noticed how old they are? Why would they talk about these things? Weren't they talking about school and other stuff just earlier? What's with the sudden switch of topic to this… nonsensical topic of love?!'

Baiyi tried his best to sharpen his hearing in hopes to eavesdrop further, but it was as if because the girls were discussing this particular topic, their voices were lowered to mere hushes. Nothing could be heard anymore from the room except a few occasional strains of laughter.

Feeling Helpless, Baiyi went back to his laboratory, contemplating if he should give the two little rascals more homework for tomorrow.

The next day, however, Laeticia made her move first by dragging along the three other girls before him. She said to him, extra seriously, "Sir Hope, let's go out and play for a bit, shall we?"

Baiyi was prepared to reject her proposition, but it was as if Laeticia could read his mind. Before he could object, she added, "This town is still plagued with sadness and tears. Everyone is afraid… everyone is living on the edge. We should leave the house and only return after a while. Hopefully, by then, the town would have returned to how it once was."

Baiyi was stunned for a moment. He understood Laeticia was trying to say. Although their household did not suffer too much damage in the last attack, living life happily as they normal did… there were many out there who were not as lucky as they were.

To remain in a place filled with so much negativity was not a good idea. Furthermore, the Church had been executing a purge recently… After a moment's contemplation, Baiyi relented. "It'll be healthy to go out for a bit, I suppose. Just cooping you girls up at home for lessons is not a very effective way of teaching. Run along now, use today to prep up for tomorrow's excursion."

The girls instantly cheered. Mia was the first one to reach him. She stood on her tiptoe, bringing her face level with his faceplate, and gave him a peck. "You're the best, Sir Hope!"

'Mmm, totally worth it.'

The next day, with Baiyi taking the lead, the four girls, clad in outdoor gear, walked into the mage tower of the sorcerers association.

"Eh? Are we not taking the carriage?" Mia asked, confused.

"Are we going by teleportation? Where are we going exactly?" Tisdale was one step ahead; she had realized his intention the moment they arrived at the Mage Tower.

"We're going somewhere faraway. It makes no difference if we keep going to areas nearby, right? This time, we'll go to somewhere further, somewhere higher… hmm, somewhere that you'll be able to touch the clouds if you reach out your arms," Baiyi said mysteriously.

"Eh? Isn't that heaven you're talking about?" Tisdale asked, naively.

Baiyi didn't bother giving her a response. He walked to the reception counter of the transmission formation to settle the administration fees.

Hence, when they walked out of the Mage Tower, and after a few rounds of teleportation, the girls realized that the had really arrived at a location above the clouds…