"Wow!"
As soon as he entered the church, Kyle's eyes sparked in awe as he squealed in delight. Although the church was small, it was well maintained.
The walls were shiny white, made from marble. They instantly gave off a calming aura to everyone the moment they stepped into the church.
Ten wooden pews were lined up in a perfect sync, five on each side. Distance between them was neither too wide nor too narrow.
Jinn's eyes trailed over from one portrait to the other. None of the images belonged to the gods, as it was considered blasphemy for someone to look at the faces of the gods.
Even the sculpture at the end of the hallway, beyond the boundary, was an effigy of the Mark of the Order of the seven.
Surrounding it was a mesh wall of marble that allowed the sunlight from another gap behind the wall to fall on the sigil.
'The seven stars that guide humanity and protect them from any danger.' Jinn narrowed his eyes at the Glyph before calmly taking a seat on one of the middle pews placed on the left side.
But unlike him, Sally was not calm at all. Her face was filled with doubt and fear as she watched Kyle running around the church.
"Kyle Stop! You cannot run in the church; look at the mess you are making. Sit down and pray."
Hearing her sharp tone, the little boy froze and looked back at the trail of muddy shoe prints he left in his tracks along with the drops of water still dripping from his wet body and clothes.
With an obedient nod, he sat in the front with his eyes closed and hands clasped.
"You have gone mad, Jinn." Sally sighed in relief briefly before stomping her way towards Jinn. She looked down at him while standing over him, drops of water dripping from her hair. "Not only did you drag us through the rain, but if someone finds out that we came here without the supervision of an adult, we could even get punished."
"Correction, you will be punished." Jinn looked over his shoulder and grinned. Crossing one leg over the other, he said, "while you are still staying here, I will be gone in a few days."
"You!"
Enraged, the girl humped away while muttering, "...idiot Jinn."
Just as she started walking towards Kyle, Jinn spoke again. "Besides, no one will know as long as you don't tell them, and I do not feel gossipy."
Although her steps did not falter, her lips curled up in a smile.
Jinn had just leaned back in the pew when he remembered something and looked back, and there he was, sitting in the last chair in the opposite row to him.
Geralt was staring straight at him unblinkingly; there was a weird smile on his face that made Jinn's skin crawl. Despite how uncomfortable he was feeling, he smiled and even waved at him.
'I knew he was a scheming bastard, but I never knew he was also a creep.'
For some time, Jinn stayed in his seat, swaying from time to time.
Then after some time, he got up from the pew, alerting Geralt. Jinn walked towards the walls and stared at the portraits of the reputed members of the church with keen interest.
Some of them were Popes, Bishops and even saints who emerged throughout the last epoch and led their respective powers to greatness.
As he moved from one portrait to another, Jinn peeked at Geralt, who was carefully checking out the last one he did.
Seeing his futile efforts, Jinn did not gloat but calmly moved on, walking all around the church.
While walking, he stumbled upon a narrow gap between the wall of the church and the boundary wall around the sigil.
Even if for the slightest moment, Jinn's gaze drifted towards the gap between two walls that was wide enough to let an adult human pass through, but after a quick glance, he looked away.
Yet, his subtle glance did not go unnoticed by Geralt. He kept staring at Jinn until he noticed him doing something.
While walking, a strand of silver energy slipped from Jinn's hands and drifted into the gap.
Seeing this trace of energy, Geralt's eyes shot wide in gleam like he had found some treasure. 'Got you!'
Ignoring Jinn, he rushed into the gap with a grin plastered on his face. "Hahaha! I win!"
"What happened to him?" Sally was startled by his sudden outburst and hugged Kyle in panic. The little guy was shaken by the incident and tightly clutched back on her.
"Who knows?" Jinn looked back with a shrug and suggested, "Want to leave this place while he is busy?"
Sally did not need to be told twice. She pulled the kid in her arms and rushed towards the exit. Jinn chuckled and leisurely strolled behind her.
"We are going back now! No more roaming around!" After leaving the church, Sally hissed at Jinn, pointing her finger into his chest.
Usually Jinn would mock her before ignoring her completely if she tried to force him to do something he did not want to, but surprisingly today Jinn shrugged and agreed.
"Sure, that was enough walking for today."
Just as Jinn walked past the two of them, the rain was still falling, but it had slowed down a lot.
"We have to run back?" Sally groaned at the amount of water pooled in front of the church.
Just as Jinn was about to say something, they heard a loud creaking of the metal gate in the distance. Since the church was closer to the main gate of the orphanage, the three of them heard it loud and clear.
"Well, it looks like we have no choice now." Jinn was already running towards the back of the closest building. The sound of his feet stomping in the rainwater snapped Sally out of her daze.
"Wait for me!" She dragged Kyle and ran after him while hissing like a startled cat.
The three of them had barely rushed behind the building when the person who had entered the orphanage stepped into the area.
He was none other than Officer Chen. His breath was heavy from the running while keeping his Dragon Energy active all the time.
He did not have time to stop running and continued toward the main building like this.
Standing under the shade of the building's edge, Sally leaned against the wall and breathed a sigh of relief.
"We are never doing something like this ever again!" Sally growled in anger. Kyle was still giggling from the run.
Jinn did not seem to be in the mood for having a talk. "Shhh! Don't talk here! Do you know where we are—"
As he spoke, Sally's eyes widened in realization, but it was too late. The nearest window to the trio snapped open, and a figure peeked from it and stared directly at them.
"Jinn? Sally? Kyle? What are you three doing here? No, why are you out again, Jinn?" Sister Agnes's stern voice startled the group. They turned mechanically to look at her surprised and enraged face.