The "maiden" whom Samuel believed to be a princess was also looking at Samuel. His eyes glimred faintly, quite beautiful; it was unclear whether they were reflecting the candlelight or glowing on their own. A smile graced his face as he gave Samuel a friendly nod.
Samuel also smiled and nodded in return, then turned his head forward again, his footsteps never pausing as he continued walking toward Priest Ethen.
The gaze from behind him quickly swept over Samuel, passing over his clean but not luxurious clothes and the book "The Lunatic's World Travel Guide" he held in his hand, finally settling once more on Samuel's profile.
The "maiden" watched Samuel from behind, following his progress forward with his eyes until he saw him reach the priest's side, only then withdrawing his gaze to lower his head again and look at the sketchpad in his hands.
Just monts before, even while looking at Samuel, the movents of his hands had not stopped. The charcoal-graphite pencil held in his right hand swiftly laid down neat, unhurried lines on the sketchpad in his left.
In those brief few seconds, by the ti the "maiden" lowered his head again, a rough human figure had already taken shape on his sketchpad.
The figure was outlined with simple, rough lines carrying a hint of fuzziness—a frontal portrait of the upper body, devoid of action or facial features.
Though this drawing lacked action and a face, the physique and clothing clearly identified it as Samuel, who had just walked past him.
The tip of the "maiden's" pencil paused briefly over the face area of the figure, quickly sketching out a rough approximation of facial features.
It wasn't drawn with great detail, but it was expressive enough; looking at this drawing, one could unmistakably tell it was Samuel.
However, the "maiden" didn't seem satisfied with this.
His hand hovered in mid-air, paused for two seconds, then, with a slight frown, he used the eraser held in his palm to swiftly erase it.
He remained silent, lost in thought, lightly tapping the drawing paper with the end of the pencil.
Several tis, he seed about to make a stroke, but stopped imdiately.
A few seconds later, he suddenly lowered the pencil and drew behind the Samuel in the sketch an even simpler, rougher outline that could barely be recognized as a human form.
This outline revealed nothing—neither physique nor facial features—it was exceedingly crude.
Yet the "maiden" seed sowhat more satisfied with this part of the sketch. He relaxed, placed the sketchpad on his lap, raised his left hand, and gently tucked a few strands of golden hair that had fallen before his eyes behind his ear.
Samuel walked through rows of neatly arranged seats, arriving at a position in the first row of prayer seats near a pillar. He sat down beside Ethen, who was at the very edge of the first row, with only one seat between them.
The church's windows were made of colored, opaque glass. Although they let in so light, the translucency wasn't great. The entire church interior was illuminated by candles on candelabras, making it rather dim and sowhat gloomy. So ivy even grew on the glass, casting the overall space into deeper shadow.
Ethen still wore that white clerical robe and the crown woven from flowers and vines.
He sat on a wooden-backed chair, a book spread open on his lap, his slender fingers holding a page he had just turned.
This was likely the sacred text of this church.
"Good morning, sir," he said, looking at Samuel, his tone gentle.
His voice was still indistinguishable as male or female, but unlike over an hour ago, it no longer carried that overlapping, multi-voiced chorus; it was simply a neutral tone.
"I didn't expect you to co so soon. I thought I would have to wait a while longer."
He released his fingers from the page, letting the scripture lie open on his lap.
"You really didn't expect it?" Samuel's face still wore a smile. "I thought you might have abilities like divination or prophecy, sothing that could directly calculate my coming here."
Ethen shook his head gently. "Your strength is too great. I cannot prophesy you."
He only said "cannot prophesy," but did not deny Samuel's speculation about him possessing divination-like abilities.
Samuel, of course, knew Ethen couldn't prophesy him, because his skill panel explicitly listed anti-divination and anti-prophecy abilities. Even if this priest were truly stronger than him, attempting to divine his fate would require considerable effort.
"You actually think I'm strong?" Samuel leaned back relaxed in the chair, his posture casual as he asked. "Not long ago, I was instantly defeated by you once."
But Ethen only smiled, offering no direct answer.
"Never mind, let's not talk about that." Samuel leaned forward, moving a bit closer to the priest. "Speaking of which, how did you manage it back then?"
"I rely imitated your appearance, and before I could even do anything, I suffered backlash."
The priest looked at Samuel's deliberately crafted black eyes with vertical pupils, thought for a mont, and asked, "You are likely... a naturally grown Law Seeker, without undergoing systematic learning, correct?"
"Yes, yes," Samuel nodded without the slightest hint of embarrassnt. "I am completely illiterate in that regard."
He glanced up at the church's holy emblem hanging on a nearby wall—a simple line drawing of a flower encircled by vines, with a similarly simple drawing of a rice ear on each side.
Quickly flipping through the common knowledge in his mind for this church's doctrine, Samuel clasped his hands together before his chest, adopting a pose of devout prayer.
"The great God of Bountiful Harvest preaches selfless joy. I believe you certainly wouldn't mind selflessly bestowing your knowledge upon a lost lamb."
"Of course," the priest's expression remained unchanged, calm and gentle. "As long as you are willing to learn, I am willing to teach."
"Are there really people unwilling to learn extraordinary knowledge?" Samuel was quite surprised.
"Hmm..." Priest Ethen fell sowhat silent. "The [Absurdity] Law Seekers I have t usually, no, mostly, are not very patient listeners of theoretical knowledge. While they do show considerable patience for things that interest them, studying... they probably wouldn't like it."
"However, it might also be because I haven't encountered an [Absurdity] Law Seeker still in the knowledge-seeking stage." He didn't state it too absolutely.
"I see." Samuel nodded in understanding. "That makes sense. Such things are indeed more fulfilling when researched on one's own."
"But I'm quite lazy, so is it okay if I just copy the answer?"
"Of course it is." Priest Ethen nodded once more. "This is actually a rather simple principle. Once you understand it, you should be able to do it too."
He posed a question as if guiding a believer: "What do you think is the way to preserve 'information' for the longest ti, most clearly?"
"Hmm... carve words into stone?" Samuel tilted his head.
Ethen chuckled lightly. "You could understand it that way."
He said, "To expand upon that, the answer is: carve your own information onto the 'stone' that is the 'world.'"
"Seeking the Law, inscribing it. That is the path of the Law Seeker."
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