Chapter 860 860 - Have you considered her behaviour?
"Oh?" Erik muttered, cocking an eyebrow curiously. "Are you saying you've discovered a new detail about… whatever Anne became exactly? And this Meilin is missing that?"
Elora smirked and nodded. "I am…" she said, before turning to look at Anne. "And we should probably think of a name for Anne's condition. She may be your finger, but so is Nora, and they're not the same. 'Finger' is more of a rank than a definition of her nature."
She raised an eyebrow. "What do you think of Apostle, Anne?"
Erik looked at Elora with a hint of amusement. His beloved fairy truly only cared about a person's devotion towards either Erik or herself, whether that devotion was based on love or not.
If Anne was surprised by the consideration Elora gave her, she didn't show it. Rather, she immediately turned to playfully grin at Erik. "I know I wouldn't be worth the name I don't have yet if I don't let my master choose this for me."
Elora giggled approvingly and looked towards Erik. Erik rolled his eyes with a hint of exasperation, but still nodded at Anne. "Then from today on, you'll be Nora's apostle, and my finger."
He then turned back to Elora, frowning. "Now, can we—"
"Absolutely not!" Nora, surprisingly, interrupted steadfastly, frowning, hands planted on her wide hips. "I wouldn't dare put any claim on Anne, Master! As soon as she reached the status of 'apostle', I had nothing left to teach her. She's your apostle, and my equal in devotion to you!"
Erik blinked, feeling more than a little surprised that Nora actually interrupted him, considering who and what she was. "I—" he muttered, but fell silent as soon as he looked into Nora's eyes and saw her determination. It was obvious to him she felt strongly enough about this to defy him even if he rejected her statement now.
He felt even more surprised now, knowing there was something Nora would still defy him on… and frankly, he liked it—even though her defiance in this case was essentially just another expression of her devotion.
Regardless, he didn't have the patience to dwell on this any longer. His mind was occupied with far graver things. "Fine," he groaned, before looking at Anne again. "I suppose you'll be both my apostle and my finger… which I guess means all my fingers will also be my apostles, except for Nora."
Nora and Anne looked happy with this, while Erik was just a little ambivalent. Perhaps it really was more appropriate this way, but his mind was simply elsewhere right now.
Finally, he looked at Elora again, determined to continue the discussion where they left off. "Anyway… How is Anne different from Meilin?"
"Right," Elora nodded, getting back on topic. As she did so, the fairy's eyes started shining with some enthusiasm. "It's actually very interesting! Anne's voice actually vibrates in a very similar way to Nora's, but weaker. My research suggests all proselytisers have their own unique vibration frequency, and Anne's voice is now vibrating on the same one as Nora."
Erik, Nora, and Anne were all taken aback by her revelation. "Are you saying Anne is a proselytiser of her own, now?" Erik suggested sceptically.
"A weaker version of one that's probably inextricably linked to the ideal Nora worships, but yes," Elora acknowledged, grinning as she practically hopped from foot to foot. "You can see how that benefits us, right?! The more apostles we create, the easier it will be to spread the religion and increase our control!"
Erik's nose wrinkled, as Elora's suggestion triggered him a little—partially because of his current conundrum. "Calm down," he growled a little angrily. "Even if I decide to go with your second plan for Meilin, I refuse to make things like that commonplace! We're not going to pluck random people off the streets, just so they can become apostles!"
Elora pouted a little, her excitement tempered, but she still nodded obediently. She'd never really considered that, knowing Erik wouldn't be okay with it, but having the option harshly yanked away like that still saddened her.
"Oh, there's no need to, Master!" Nora interjected joyfully. "I've already got two people currently undergoing the test of becoming your finger! It might take a few more weeks before they succeed, assuming they do, bu—"
"What?!" Erik snarled, narrowing his eyes at her. "Since when?!"
Nora shrank back a little under his stern gaze. "U— Uhm… since a few weeks ago, Master…" she muttered, pouting a little and poking her fingers together. "Is that bad? You were still training, so… And I did everything you wanted! We made sure they knew exactly what it entailed, and they accepted willingly!"
Next to her, Anne quickly nodded reassuringly. "We did, Master! You can ask them yourself! They would never lie to you!"
Groaning a little, Erik forced himself to calm down and palm his forehead. "No, I'm sure they wouldn't…" he muttered, before scoffing a little. "Even if you forced them, they'd immediately rat you out, but then tell me how happy they are to have been forced."
His instinctual discomfort at Nora's abilities revealed themselves a little, but then sank back down again as he sighed. He'd already come to terms with the situation earlier.
"Fine, I'm not angry," he grumbled, much to Nora and Anne's relief. "But you still need to put a halt to it for now."
Nora's eyes widened, and she was about to ask why when Erik held up his hand and explained.
"Look, Naeku already has trouble with this whole thing, and I promised I'd show her your church and the entire operation as soon as she comes out of seclusion," he explained. "I'm not willing to turn two of her citizens into apostles before then. And an additional rule: from now on, I want to meet every potential apostle before you start… testing them."
He didn't think 'testing' truly described the process of strapping them to a wall with instruments of pleasure inserted inside them until they managed not to cum for long enough that Nora's teachings had fully turned them into apostles… but he didn't have a better word, either.
Pouting sadly, Nora nodded. "They'll be sad, Master, but I'll tell them." A harsh look then flashed through her eyes. "And if they dare utter a single word of complaint, I'll disqualify them."
Sighing, Erik nodded indifferently to Nora's statement. He then turned to Elora again. "Alright… so I guess Meilin doesn't have any vibration in her voice, meaning she's not an apostle, but simply a thoroughly influenced and/or brainwashed follower? Meaning the conversion is actually possible?"
Elora nodded, and Erik grew a little frustrated. "Alright… Look, this was all very important information, but not information that couldn't have waited a little. You said this might influence my choice, but so far it doesn't sound like anything substantial has changed, except that we have some more questions to ask if we choose option one."
Noticing his frustration, Elora quickly clarified. "That's because you haven't considered the underlying consequences of her situation yet, my love. Have you considered her behaviour, for example…?"