Chapter 55: Persona

If Lu Mi hadn’t forgotten, today, March 30th, in the afternoon, Pierre Béry always went to pray at the church; in the second-to-last cycle, he and Raymond had encountered him there, and in the last cycle, he had met him at the village square around the same time.

But it’s already three or four in the afternoon!

“When did he go?” Lu Mi pressed.

Marti thought for a moment and said:

“An hour’s walk ago.”

In the countryside, except for a very few, almost no one owned a clock; time was described through specific events or landmarks—like grape-picking season, or the time it took to walk a mile, and so on.

Of course, if the duration was short enough for people to perceive clearly, terms like “a few minutes” or “a quarter-hour” did appear in speech.

An hour’s walk? That’s not long… Lu Mi had assumed Pierre Béry went to the church in the afternoon and hadn’t returned yet.

In Cordu village, one mile meant exactly one kilometer in the Intis metric system.

After bidding farewell to Pierre’s mother Marti, Lu Mi left the Béry household and headed toward the village square.

He didn’t know whether Pierre Béry had gone to the church in the afternoon and had now gone again, or whether he’d been unexpectedly delayed and hadn’t gone at all.

If it was the first possibility, Lu Mi could feel the surging undercurrents—Pierre Béry’s frequent visits to the parish priest were abnormal; something terrible must be brewing.

If it was the second possibility, the problem was grave!

Before Lu Mi, with his retained memories, and Aurora, who knew of the cycle, had made any attempt, “history” should not have changed!

If it had changed, it might mean the brothers hadn’t truly grasped the cycle’s pattern, or that someone else could retain memories too.

Thinking of this, Lu Mi sighed, then lightly slapped his own face.

He’d been so startled just now that he’d forgotten to ask whether Pierre had gone to the church in the afternoon.

That was important.

“Going back to ask now would raise suspicion—I’ll have to wait until I drink with Pierre and slip it in casually.” Lu Mi quickly suppressed his frustration and strode toward the square.

Inside the Church of the Eternal Sun, he saw Parish Priest Guillaume Béne standing before the altar, adorned with sunflowers, facing the few people seated in the first row, apparently speaking to them.

The moment Lu Mi passed through the gate, Guillaume Béne fell silent and turned toward him.

Conspiring? Lu Mi smiled, walking toward the altar while scanning the congregation.

He saw the shepherd Pierre Béry, the villain Pons Béne and his several henchmen, the priest’s mistress Ma Daina Béne and Sibyl Béry, and a man who surprised him yet seemed perfectly expected—Arnold André, the youngest son of Naroka, a farmer in his forties.

“Hey, Pierre…” Lu Mi greeted with a broad smile, then paused mid-sentence.

His follow-up had been meant to be, “Aren’t you supposed to treat me to a drink? Why are you here?”—but he suddenly realized this cycle hadn’t yet reached that arrangement.

That had only happened in the second-to-last and last cycles; in this cycle, Lu Mi was meeting the shepherd Pierre Béry for the first time.

As Cordu’s prank king, Lu Mi reacted instantly, shifting his posture, opening his arms toward the altar:

“Praise the Sun!”

Using this ritual gesture, his mind raced, quickly crafting a new line.

After praising the Sun and receiving the priest’s response, Lu Mi turned slightly toward Pierre Béry, seated at the edge of the first row, who stared at him in confusion:

“I heard you’d returned to the village, so I rushed to your house—but found you here at the church.”

He didn’t say who told him; after all, Pierre Béry would inevitably be seen walking from home to church.

If there were no witnesses, Lu Mi had a backup:

Ava’s father, the cobbler Guillaume Licié.

“What do you want?” Pierre Béry, dressed in a dark brown long coat, stood up, his blue eyes holding gentle amusement and confusion.

Lu Mi had his excuse ready and smiled:

“I wanted to hear about your journey—different countries, different villages, different places—must’ve been fascinating.”

He’d always enjoyed chatting with returning shepherds to enrich his store of knowledge.

Before Pierre Béry could reply, Lu Mi’s gaze dropped from his messy, greasy black hair down to his brand-new leather shoes:

“Made money?”

“This employer was generous—gave me quite a bit,” Pierre Béry smiled. “I’ll treat you to a drink later.”

“Perfect.” Lu Mi had been waiting for that.

He pressed further:

“When?”

Classic old tavern regular behavior—so desperate for a free drink he’d abandon all dignity.

Pierre Béry glanced at Parish Priest Guillaume Béne and received a subtle cue.

“How about after dinner?” he suggested.

“Fine,” Lu Mi agreed readily.

Then, under the watchful eyes of the shepherd, the priest, Pons Béne, and others, he sat on the second-row chair closest to him.

“...” Pierre Béry blinked, stunned for a second. “Aren’t you going home?”

Lu Mi smiled:

“I haven’t prayed in ages—this is a good chance to do so, lest the gods think I’m not devout.”

“Carry on, carry on—don’t mind me.”

Saying this, he closed his eyes, lowered his head slightly, and crossed his arms over his chest.

Pierre Béry, Guillaume Béne, Pons Béne, and the others exchanged glances—they couldn’t proceed.

After waiting patiently for a long while and seeing Lu Mi still not finish, the parish priest glanced at Pierre Béry and signaled him to ask.

Pierre Béry walked over to Lu Mi and tapped his shoulder:

“How long are you going to pray?”

Lu Mi opened his eyes, solemnly replying:

“I plan to pray until dinner. I’ve got nothing else to do, and afterward I can even make a confession.”

Parish Priest Guillaume Béne’s temple twitched.

He glanced at Ma Daina, Sibyl, Pons, Arnold, and others waiting for him, exhaled slowly, gave Pierre Béry a look, and nodded toward the door.

Pierre Béry understood the priest’s unspoken message and quickly said to Lu Mi:

“I’m done praying—shall we head to the old tavern now?”

“Perfect!” Lu Mi sprang up instantly, grinning, no trace of solemnity or piety left.

He’d already realized his arrival had disrupted the priest’s conspiracy, so he’d deliberately prolonged his prayer out of mischief, forcing Pierre Béry to leave early.

He believed the priest saw through his act—but if you didn’t take a petty revenge when something like this happened, were you even the prank king of Cordu?

You had to maintain your persona—otherwise you’d be suspected!

Lu Mi regretted that his sister had probably already gone to the Béry house to speak with the three sheep; otherwise, sending the “Blank Paper” to eavesdrop on the priest’s conspiracy now would’ve yielded plenty of useful intelligence.

Maybe next cycle… but would Pierre Béry notice being monitored? He wasn’t simple—at least now, he was far stronger than the ordinary parish priest… As Lu Mi’s thoughts churned, he followed the shepherd Pierre out of the church toward the old tavern.

…………

Behind the Béry household, in the sheep pen.

Aurora, dressed in a white belted long dress, circled around from the small grove and climbed over the wooden fence.

As a rare woman who ventured out and was strikingly beautiful, she could only take this hidden path—otherwise she’d be stopped for chatter, or even suspected.

“I wonder when I’ll learn stealth or shadow-walking spells…” Aurora sighed silently, walking toward the three sheep huddled beside the hay pile.

As she walked, she spoke in Highland tongue:

“Don’t be afraid—I’m Pierre Béry’s enemy.”

The three sheep, their wool darkened by dirt, instantly showed a dramatic shift in expression—first wary, then anxious, then filled with hope and confusion.

They didn’t retreat further, letting Aurora approach.

Aurora added:

“I’ve discovered your uniqueness through some method—you were human once, weren’t you?”

Their eyes instantly filled with shock, elation, longing, and doubt; they instinctively bleated.

Aurora glanced at them:

“You can’t speak—but you can write, can’t you?”

One sheep froze for a second, then quickly scratched in the dirt.

It wrote a simple Highland word:

“Yes.”

It meant they had once been human.

“What happened? Why did you become sheep?” Aurora thought quickly and added rapidly, “Each of you write one part: beginning, middle, end—to save time.”

The three sheep divided the task and wrote different segments on the soil with their hooves.

Soon, each completed one sentence:

“We were captured.”

“A ritual was performed.”

“We were wrapped in sheepskin and turned into sheep.”

A ritual magic using sheepskin to transform humans into sheep? Huh—that was clearly far easier than direct transformation… The only question: which entity had the ritual invoked? As Aurora’s thoughts swirled, she asked:

“Was it Pierre Béry who captured you? Alone?”

She wanted to confirm Pierre Béry’s current strength.

“Yes,” one sheep wrote.

Another wrote more:

“He has a partner. Both are very strong.”

Before returning to the village, Pierre Berry already had strong strength? Aurora suddenly noticed something odd:

Why, if Pierre Berry was this powerful, did he defer to Father Guillaume Béné as the leader?

Guillaume Béné should still be nothing but an ordinary man right now!

(End of Chapter)