The sermon was beautiful.
If one could ignore that I, as a dark creature, was burned by the words. But, hey, the choir was pretty talented!
As soon as the sermon was over, I rushed towards Father Patrick. The man talked with some people, including an elderly couple, for whom I had blessed the house with thyme just last week.
It was strange that people could use pagan cleansing one day and go to church on Sunday. But, hey, I couldn't complain. After all, that kept me fed.
"Millie," Father Patrick had tried to bring me into the fold more than once. That would have been as painful as pulling out one's spinal cord and beating them up with it, but I never told him that.
He was a kind man—a man whom I didn't want to disappoint… most days.
"Father Patrick! There is the ghost of a demonic bunny outside of the temple!"
The man nodded. His two pets, a cat and a dog, something not witnessed in nature, began to walk on each of his sides, the dog leaving the cat be, the cat purring.
I always thought that the man had something supernatural about him. Maybe it was the fact that he was always ready to help?
Or that fact that he, unlike most people, actually wanted to be good for everyone?
I walked behind the priest. As he opened the door, I saw the bunny once more. It was there, its red eyes blazing, and its golden teeth on display.
Dripping something green on the ground.
"Hello," the priest knelt before the bunny. Offering his hand for it to sniff. "Would you like a new home?"
I blinked. A home? The bunny was dead!
"Yes, a home." I didn't know if Father Patrick could read thoughts, but I did know that the bunny was considering it!
The bunny headbutted the priest. The man nodded, pulling out plyers.
The next thing I knew, the ghost of the bunny was shining, and the priest had two golden teeth in his hand.
"The church needs a couple of repairs," the old priest said. I nodded. Not willing to try my luck with the bunny spirit once more. "Millie, where did you find the ghost?"
Oh, that was going to be hard to tell. I didn't want to expose the fact that I had a pet cemetery under a compost pile at home.
But if I lied, there was no telling what I would dig out next. It was one thing to dig out a rabbit, another a bear.
"The new house I got," I didn't tell the priest that I got the house through a system screen. It was better that way.
"Hm, take me there," Father Patrick said, and we began to walk. The streets were still muddy, which was unfortunate because my shoes were white. Of course, I could wash them, but I had no soap.
The gold was in Father Patrick's pocket.
Then I got an idea! What if I fixed the church's roof with mana? Sure, it would be more complicated than with a nail and a hammer. And I had no idea if the church would collapse if I did so, but I needed these two bunny teeth! I needed them because I had no food.
Neither did the gnomes in the basement.
On the bright side, there was plenty of nettle in the garden…
The priest and I stopped before my front door.
"This way, Father," I began to walk towards the compost pile, sure that the father would be able to eliminate at least one problem in the house.
"Millie, how have you been doing?" Father Patrick asked, as we made a stop before the compost pile. His dog and cat sat down next to him, animals I never asked the name of. The dog's tail was wagging; the cat was purring its little heart out.
I narrowed my eyes.
Was this how the church did an exorcism?
"Oh, I have a roof over my head now," I told him, taking the shovel and preparing to dig.
"No, none of that," the priest said.
I nodded, even though my heart was heavy. I probably could have gotten a couple of golden teeth out of that compost pile…
But getting haunted, driven to insanity, and then eaten by a ghoul once you gave enough energy to the ghost was not fun. I had a cousin who ended up like that.
The worst part, she always told me, was the idiocy of the ghost.
Lack of sleep, not even once.
Father Patrick pressed his hand on top of the compost pile. I flinched as I saw how it slowly sank inside. Man, I would have never done such a thing.
"You know, there is a fairy settlement in need of new mana crystals. They can't give you much, but I heard their bread is the best in this region."
My stomach grumbled.
Now, trading mana crystals for bread was daylight robbery. I knew that. But those were fairies!
And fairies were notorious for their illegally smuggled goods!
I already imagined myself in a nice new silken robe, maybe with a new hat with a fire-resistance rune. Oh, and white gloves! One couldn't forget the white gloves!
"Millie, if you don't do good, you won't receive goodness in return."
Oh, I knew that already. I didn't need Father Patrick to tell me that. But still, hearing him say that made me think about what I wanted out of life.
"Father Patrick, are there any people in your community who would need someone to help them? Maybe in exchange for some goods?"
The priest looked at me, then at the sky.
"You are a witch, Millie," he told me, shaking his head.
I nodded.
Yes, I hadn't expected much. I had to admit that his coming to deal with the pet cemetery was enough.
Still, it hurt that just because I was born with this power, I had to be ignored by everyone.
To have people blame me for failed harvests. To have them come to me only for poisons.
Poisons… I had no idea how to make poisons. I never wanted to learn it.
I was a witch, yes, but I had never hurt anyone.
The world, and Father Patrick, didn't see it that way.
My quest continued.