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Olivine is going through his notebooks when he finds his copious notes from the time he took part in the Great Hunt. He pauses his sorting and takes the time to read over the pages. He smiles fondly at the memory of his time out in the forest; it had been thrilling running about trying to gather excess essence in the wild. He also misses getting to wear the traditional outfit for the Hunt too. And maybe seeing Quincy wearing traditional garb as well…. Pushing that thought out of his mind Olivine goes back to sorting out his notebooks but leaves the one from the Great Hunt aside. There are still a few things he wanted to follow up on in Aster’s library and, with essentially a free pass to leave his Temple duties to assist the Grand Sorcerer, he can go do that sooner rather than later.
He does still enjoy serving the people but now that he’s able to go and do other things from time to time he finds that he comes back to his regular duties with a renewed vigour. Having the choice to provide guidance to seekers has made all the difference. He’d grown to resent it so terribly when he’d felt trapped that he’d even gone and… he doesn’t like to think about it now, but a lot of people could have been very badly hurt because he’d interfered with the gemstone altar. And with monster attacks rising more people had come to the Holy Temple of Water, not less. He’d put everyone at risk and even though he’d tried to mitigate that by trying to persuade others to leave, even if all the civilians and clergy had, there were still the knights who would have bravely given their lives to protect the temple.
For a priest, especially one so loved by the populous, he has done some truly unforgivable things. Eiden could have told everyone the truth, Sir Edmond could have and had every reason to but neither of them had. Instead they’d asked for his help in regulating further altars which, at the time, he’d supposed would be his penance. But traveling with dear companions, having adventures in the Wood Territory, having access to an extensive library and enjoying the peace and quiet of a luxurious mansion is a far cry from any kind of atonement at all. He’d actually gone and confessed to the old Abbot who had pretty much retired to the Temple these days. He’d been expecting some kind of punishment but the old man had laughed, patted him on the shoulder and told him that he was already acting on his penance; that penance being that he was no doubt being tasked to go out into the world and take risks by the God of Klein, in order to change things for the better, for everyone. It’s why he’d had the courage to carry on with the Idol Fest despite his family’s disapproval. And that still hadn’t seemed like much of a punishment.
Lacking any other guidance Olivine had turned to his mainstay; research, and had found that historically a great many advancements and evolutions in how the church did things had been spearheaded by one crazy priest who took it upon him or herself to go and do something disruptive. The laws around keeping the canals of the Water Territory, established by secular courts, had been prompted by a priest who had espoused the virtue of frugality, and thus had taken to washing her habits in the canal waters instead of in the water provided to the temple. The decision to integrate male and female clergy, rather than give them separate titles and positions, was driven by a priest who moved into a monastery for female clergy and refused to leave. Another roaming priest had been responsible for the church teachings and faith being open to all, including youkai; he’d come back from his travels with a kappa that had lived out its life in the temple fountains dispensing sage wisdom. As a rule youkai had their own laws and customs but they were not excluded or banned from religious territories, or so Olivine had found in some very ancient sermons, referred to as demons that should be hunted down.
It still sometimes seemed like a tenuous link to him but he resolved to have faith in what the histories of the church and the old Abbot had taught him. In the meantime he has taken to making copious notes and documenting the things he discovers out in the world, so that one day, someone else might be able to come and find what they are looking for in his writing. Which brings him back to his incomplete notes on the Great Hunt and the traditions of the Wood Territory; he can’t write everything up and ask the church printers to bind them into a book if those notes aren’t complete. So, the only thing to do, will be to go to Aster’s mansion and finish his research.
Unfortunately, the mansion library does still leave him with unanswered questions, as he suspected it would. After all, there really is a limit to what can be learnt from books, which is why getting out into the world and experiencing things in person was an important part of the learning process. Olivine knows that he’d rather hoped that that would be the case. He wants an excuse to go back to the Wood Territory and see it in all its glory.
Eiden of course is immediately willing to go with him and lovely, fluffy, Morvay too. So it’s decided and they make their way to the great forest without incident. Though Olivine suspects that Sir Edmond’s had a hand in that because patrols of knights keep conveniently appearing when they might need some assistance in entering towns or crossing borders. For the great many things that Sir Edmond facilitates for them, Olivine is sure he should do something in particular to express his gratitude; he might not be nearly as fine a cook as Yakumo but he knows that Sir Edmond likes sweets so perhaps there might be some kind of fruit in the great wood that would make a nice filling in a pastry or something along those lines.
At the edge of the forest before the trees close in they’re brought to a halt by some knights, Sir Edmond among them. He whisks Eiden away to the capital because Lord Dante of Solaria has arrived, the King would like to host a dinner and Sir Edmond is not letting Eiden get away with neglecting his diplomatic responsibilities this time. Olivine waves as they depart and scratches Morvey under the chin as the little flying incubus hovers close.
The forest is truly alive with the sounds of animals all around and yet at the same time Olivine finds it wonderfully peaceful. He takes his time examining plants and foliage, adding to his notes, and just enjoying the environment. And when he takes a break to sit down to eat some of his provisions Morvay actually accepts some of the not too sweet preserved cherries Olivine has brought along.
There are enough supplies to enable camping out in the forest and Olivine is quite content to do that so for the next two nights in fact he sleeps out of doors, with suitable blankets and dry bedding, and a fluffy incubus in his arms.
They’re coming to the end of the third day out in the forest when there’s a commotion nearby. Olivine peers into a clearing to find Topper squeaking loudly and, seemingly, facing off against a purple fox, with what looks like a beauty spot under one of its eyes.
“Stoat!”
Barks the fox as if that is an insult and Topper let’s out a loud squeak. But instead of attacking the fox opposite him he makes a dash for Olivine, climbs his robes and proceeds to sit triumphantly on Olivine’s shoulder. The fox, seeing this new development, gives them all a dismissive look and slinks off back into the forest.
“Was that… Kuya?”
The loud bark from the forest confirms that. Olivine scratches Topper behind the ears and almost gets the shock of his life as Morvay tries to imitate a fox bark in his ear.
It’s getting much later than Olivine had wanted to be setting up camp but Topper is clearly guiding them somewhere, and thankfully, they end up in another clearing, this time featuring a rustic hut and Quincy, grilling something over an open flame.
“I told you not to antagonise him. He’s already threatened to turn you into ermine.”
Topper lets out a squeak that strikes Olivine as akin to a shrug as he heads over to settle in Quincy’s lap.
“Quincy? I hope you don’t mind-“
“It’s not troublesome.”
Quincy waves Olivine and Morvay over to sit by the fire. There are already cushions to sit on as if he was expecting guests.
That night they eat grilled meat alongside the bread, cheese and dried fruit that Olivine has brought along. Morvay commandeers the entire little pot of cherries.
It’s dark when they finish eating and Olivine starts to root through his pack for bedding. A large hand with a gemstone stops him.
“No need to sleep outside. Unless you want to.”
Quincy inclines his head in the direction of his hut.
“I want a soft bed.”
Quite suddenly Morvay is in his true form and rubbing himself up against Quincy’s side. Quincy simply slides an arm around him as if this is entirely expected behaviour.
“It wouldn’t be troublesome.”
Olivine looks at the hand held out to him and sees Quincy’s knowing smile.
“I suppose it would be rude to refuse hospitality in the forest.”
He takes Quincy’s hand and lets himself be pulled to his feet.
“There are many customs in the forest.”
“Then you’ll have to instruct us both on them.”
Olivine doesn’t resist as he’s pulled against Quincy’s other side. Behind him he hears Topper’s low squeak and Olivine thinks that in the distance he hears the bark of a fox that sounds distinctly like a laugh.
Several days of ‘research’ later Olivine wakes one morning to see two figures outlined by the light of the open hut doorway. He squints and recognises Eiden, at which point a fluffy white length leaps off Eiden’s head to get into the room; it’s caught before it can make any headway with a deft catch by a long-nailed hand.
“Later, old fox.”
Quincy mumbles, and Olivine catches sight of Eiden being pulled back from the door just before it closes and the hut becomes dim again.
“Troublesome.”
Morvay mutters as Olivine lies back down again.