☀️ Arselia and Akonia

31.10.2022
By the last day of October, construction of Carneol's new headquarters in the city's port district had been completed. It was immediately furnished to the max, so there was no need to purchase Sarian furniture.

- Home, sweet home! - Beata exhaled joyfully, hanging the flag of Margel, which had moved from their temporary dwelling, on the wall. - What a gorgeous place!
- Yes, - Giyyon smiled, unpacking his belongings, - an excellent headquarters. Large, spacious, with a view of the sea.
- No worse than the previous one!
- The previous one was good too. Very cozy. I'll miss it.
- It will always be right here, - Beata placed her hand on her chest, - together with Aiko. Sometimes it seems to me... It's a good thing she didn't live to see this. She wouldn't have endured this catastrophe.
- She was much stronger than she seemed. She would have managed.
- Perhaps. But you know... Erephir is also doing quite well. I've managed to get used to her; she's cool.
- Yeah. The complete opposite of Aiko and yet subtly similar. I'm happy she's with us.
- Me too. New boss, new home, new life, - Beata flung open the window, letting in the salty sea air.

Over time, much had changed; the organization lost three of its members. Continuing to master Ikigai on her own, Kalina lost , , , and , but received , , , and in return. During this time, she reconciled with her father — though he did not share his daughter's new beliefs, he was still glad that she had managed to find a purpose in life. With his help, she opened an ikigai Temple in the city's port district. Having found her calling, she naturally had no time left for Carneol

- Kalina, thank you for everything. I'm glad you've found peace in your soul. We will miss you very much, but this is your life and only you can decide what to do with it. We'll drop by, but we'll try not to too often so we don't annoy you 😅😅😅
- Yes... Thank you. Who else will grumble about my eating habits 😅
- Ahem-ahem.
- Who, other than Beata... But seriously, she told me how you saved them all there in Tais. For that, I will be grateful to you for the rest of my days.

Amamius also left, deciding that the pay did not match the risks and his labor. Using his existing connections, he opened a shop called "Amamius's Palace" on the site of the "Vulture," which had burned down in July.

- It's a pity you're leaving us. I felt we worked well together. You were a very valuable member of the team and helped us incredibly. And it was simply pleasant doing business with you.
- It's a shame we didn't get to know each other better because of my luck 😅 We'll drop by.

Penelope, however, left the organization immediately after the fire, preferring to focus on managing the recently acquired "Ideal".

- And Penny made it to success, great.
- Yeah. Well, I always thought she wasn't quite for us. She's a socialite, a businesswoman and all that. While we... well, we're a gang.
- Look at us. We have everyone. So she fit right in. But I think she's in her place now.

- Oh, a fresh newspaper! Let's see, what do the news say?

The head of the Church of Arselia, Illia Seiran, was killed by an unknown assassin. Numerous rectors of Arselian temples suffered the same fate. It all looked as if some assassin had gone from one sacred place to another, killing every influential figure of this religious organization within his reach.

- Creepy... A religious war is just what we were missing. Brr.
- Yeah, so we can have a royal flush of misfortunes.

Draco Mellis was appointed governor of Margel.

- F***, I'm starting to think about moving.
- Come on, don't touch him and he won't touch you. Just don't walk around the city in your underwear like Keliandra.
- What, did she actually decide to walk through the city in just her underwear?
- Yeah. Right down Emerald Avenue.
- How do you know?
- From there, - Giyyon nods toward the fourth wall.
- Seriously, I'm soon going to drag you to a psychiatrist by force...

Evgeny Kripov and Bronislava got married.

- We found her such a great gift!
- When you tried to play matchmaker, I thought you were joking...
- Giyosha, you don't joke about these things! I'm very happy for them! We'll have to congratulate them.

The heresiarch himself, amidst the intrigues that unfolded in the empire's government following the destruction of Tais, was appointed Patriarch of the Church of Anuzish. Taking advantage of the fact that the country's religious life had always been under the jurisdiction of the Church rather than the government, the emperor and his allies managed to bring this aspect under their control, bypassing political processes.

- Oho, now I know who will marry us!
- Sounds like a plan... But I hoped that religion would manage to stay away from politics.
- Alas, Giyosha, alas, gods propose but man disposes; politicians are like that, they use everything they can reach to make our lives better and more cheerful.

The Church of Arselia itself, in view of the numerous murders of its important religious and political figures, failed to offer proper resistance to this audacity. Not fully realizing the difference between "Anuzish" and "Arselia," most followers of this religion were confused and unaware of the coming changes.

- I'm confused too... I don't fully understand the difference.
- In short, Anuzish is cooler.
- That's clear, but still... I never delved into theology.
- Mother-Anuzish is our world. Everything around us, everything above and below us—it's not just a stone ball in a void, but a living being with its own will. This is all we know and see. And Arselia is, uh... one of her aspects, a personification? A warrior who stopped the invasion of the celestials.
- Daughter of Anuzish?
- Not exactly... The children of Anuzish are the elemental gods. And Arselia... that's different. I'm not entirely sure... Part of Anuzish? I don't know, I'm not a priest. But not a daughter, in short.
- I see... I didn't know you were into this.
- Zoritsa got me very interested in this topic back in the day. And admit it, in our work... Sometimes it seems to me that we wouldn't have managed without prayers.

The civil war in Zimivia continues.

- Nightmare. They could have decided already.
- War is terrible. The whole country must be ruined... Imagine how long it will take them to restore everything.
- You were a soldier, right? Before. Before... all this.
- I was. And that's why I know what I'm talking about. The longer this shit lasts, the worse it gets. More civilians suffer.
- Terrible... I hope they figure it out before it's too late.

Fazan Game, whose character had changed, raped Lavanda White, for which he is now serving his sentence in the dungeon.

- Nightmare. He seemed like such a calm and pleasant guy to me.
- Me too. I wonder what happened to him? People don't just break overnight.
- I also wonder how that poor woman is? White... Is she related to Nora?..
- Nora... Gods, don't remind me.
- Sorry.

Beata puts the newspaper aside.
- Well, shall we go down? Let's have a snack and start preparing for the wedding! Did you see what they made for us?
- Yes, I saw! Gorgeous things! But why is there a collar for the dress?
- Don't worry. I won't use it in public.
- ...I'm already scared.