House of Worship

The sight of the building before them delayed their approach as the four of them took in the view. By the time they were starting to approach the marble stairs that led to the entrance, Yvara burst out of the temple in a flustered state.

"Lord John, I was not sure when to expect your return! Please forgive me for not being present to greet you."

"It's fine, you were keeping yourself quite busy while I was away, “John noted, letting his eyes pass over the temple behind her. "This is quite the project. Where did you get all the materials for this? I don't remember having enough spare materials for all this."

"W-well, most of the materials from the chest were used inside for the furnishings. The marble was a lucky find - there is a massive deposit in these mountains, not far from here.”

“And you must have quite the magical talent to have extracted it and carted it all here in such a short time. Not to mention the immaculate construction work,” John noted, glancing over the building again. Even if she were simply strong enough to mine, transport, and sculpt the marble, crafting a structure of this size with no visible seams or divisions between pieces would’ve been nothing short of a divine miracle.

Yvara blushed, a deep crimson coming to her cheeks as she gently rubbed one scaled arm and turned her head away slightly, though her eyes remained locked on John’s face. “I… do not wish to sound arrogant, but among the Priestesses, I was one of the most talented builders. I have spent decades honing my craft, that I might raise the stone to craft the Lord’s Temples from the earth and shape them into forms most pleasing to the eyes. Learning the unusual architecture of your world was not easy, but I have done my best to replicate what I was told was one of your favorite historical styles. Is it… is what I’ve finished so far to your liking, Lord? You don’t find it appalling, do you?”

John let his eyes pass over the building, taking in the familiarity of it all, the striking resemblance to the ancient Greek temples. It was certainly a nostalgic feeling, like looking upon a great and ancient piece of history. John didn’t know that he had a particular favorite style of architecture, simply due to it not being something he considered very often, but he couldn’t say that the glistening white of the temple before him displeased him in some way.

“Not in the least. It’s quite beautiful, actually. May we see the inside?” John asked, eyes glancing toward the Temple’s entrance.

“Of course, Lord! It is your Temple, after all. Though I must admit, the interior remains largely unfinished… it may not be up to your standards,” Yvara said shyly.

“I’m sure it will be impressive even as it is now,” John said. “Please, give us the tour.”

Yvara offered a quick curtsy and then turned to stride proudly into the building. John and the others followed quickly behind, and the moment they entered the temple, their heads went on a swivel. The marble architecture was similar inside, though now the occasional curtain or other cloth decoration hung from a ceiling, held seemingly by magic rather than any physical fixture.

“This doesn’t look like most churches I’ve seen before,” John noted, glancing around the surprisingly segmented building. Rather than a large open room filled with pews as he’d expected, there was only one section of the room that had any at all – and that was in a fairly distant corner of the building, what might well have been a theater or a small speaking stage rather than a grandiose place for a sermon. The rest of the central area was a long walkway that branched off into several smaller rooms that were, at least for now, largely empty save for the occasional wooden fixture.

“Oh my goodness, no! The Lord’s Temples aren’t just a place for worship – though that is certainly a part of their purpose. No, the primary purpose for these temples and the High Priestesses who maintain them is to provide a place of sanctuary, education, and betterment for all. No society is without some flaws – whether it be corruption, greed, pride, ignorance… Temples seek to right as many of those as they can, while providing a sanctuary for those affected most by such sin.

“We have a sick ward, a place for healers to tend the wounded or the ill.” Yvara made a sweeping gesture toward the room closest to the temple’s entrance, then continued gesturing down each side of the hallway, stopping momentarily at each of the rooms. “There is a library, a meal hall, a training room – though the full sparring area is kept outside for the sake of noise – a workshop, a-”

Yvara paused and blushed furiously, as if only just realizing something. She pulled her gesturing arms back and nervously scratched at the scales on one of her palms with a finger from the other. “W-well, we will have all those things! Once I finish construction, and… and find people who can run all of them. I’m afraid I’m not much for combat, or healing… and I can’t give particularly good speeches, I get nervous and start to get all quiet... But the other sisters did call my cooking- well, they said it was edible. We’ll have a functional kitchen for the Temple’s visitors!”

“I’m not sure if we have much of a… congregation for you just yet,” John mused, glancing around. “But I won’t stop you if this is what you want to do.”

“I think it’s a wonderful idea. You deserve proper praise, Master,” Shishun said, nodding furiously. “I will gladly attend your temple, when it is finished, though I’m not sure if I am worthy enough to assist with the running of it.”

“Oh! I will endeavor to finish its construction quickly, I hope you find it satisfactory as well,” Yvara said, beaming at the shared enthusiasm.

“What exactly are those?” Vallya asked, pointing to a small row of platforms near the back of the room. They were still made of solid stone, but a darker gray than the marble surrounding it, clearly an intentional choice to offset them.

“Ah, those are statues dedicated to the most important figures of the church. There will be four statues eventually, one of the Temple’s High Priestess, one of the High Guardian, one for the High Scholar, and of course a statue of the Lord Himself. I would have finished at least yours already, but I couldn’t find any paints or dyes among your chest to use to properly color the statues. It would not do for a statue of the Lord to be white as fresh-fallen snow; the detail and texture of His handsome-” Yvara stumbled a bit as she realized who she was talking to, blushing furiously. She continued on, though the last words came out as little more than a whisper. “...His handsome face must come through perfectly. It will take time and effort to gather the materials.”

“Sounds like the perfect thing to look for gathering,” John said with a smile. “We can help you finish the rest of the Temple, Yvara. When it’s your day to pick what we hunt in dungeon runs, I’m sure we can find all the materials you need, and probably enough to furnish the rest of this temple too.”

John wasn’t actually entirely sure what kind of enemies would drop painting materials or dyes, but he was sure that he could find some with a little bit of effort. Yvara threw herself practically to the floor at his casual offer, kneeling before him.

“Oh, thank you, Lord! Thank you! Your graciousness knows no bounds, I will do my utmost to make this a Temple worthy of You!”

John didn’t have to glance behind him to hear Orria and Vallya both snickering, and was sure they were doing just as poor a job of hiding it from Yvara. Thankfully the dragoness made no sign that she noticed or cared about their laughter.

“Er… really, it’s no big deal,” John said, offering the slightest of shrugs.

“No, no… I must make myself useful to You, please, Lord! This Temple was merely a surprise to praise You for bringing me into your world. I want to return this favor and gifts that You now seek to bestow upon me.”

“Well, there is one thing,” John said. “Could you stop calling me ‘Lord’ all the time?”

“You have another title you would prefer, L-” Yvara went to correct herself, then finding no other word to replace it with, simply fell silent.

“Well, I mean… could you just call me John?”

The dragoness sputtered something out, then her jaw fell open without a sound. Just when John was about to ask if she was okay, Yvara swayed, swooned, and then fell toward the floor. The Gamer managed to slide his way under her just before impact; her claws and horns made a light smacking sound as they impacted on his forearms.

“W- was it that shocking a request?!” John exclaimed, eyes widening as he looked at Yvara. Her eyelids fluttered lightly, not quite conscious.

“N-no… could never… disrespect such a… magnificent being…”

Then with a last gasp her muscles went mostly limp and she collapsed fully into John’s arms. John gave it a few moments, sighing and sitting in contemplation as Vallya and Orria both broke into full-on giggles; only Shishun seemed equally shocked, though a blush colored her face that almost made John think she too believed his request to be quite scandalous.

“Come on, then,” John muttered, lifting the scaled craftswoman in his arms and standing once more.