Ambre Arest was a charitable man, but in the end, he was a Noble, not a member of the Church. He was not the type to help people only out of the goodness of his heart, especially not freeloaders and leeches.
Realizing he had wasted enough time on this, the purple-haired man decisively averted his gaze. His eyes wandered upward, where his instincts, sharpened by the years, told him that he was being watched.
There, two small heads were peeking out of a window. They were pressed close against each other, silver and purple hair intertwining together. It did not take a genius to recognize them, as one was his daughter, and the other his colleague, as well as being his long-time friend's adopted child.
He had already made the two girls wait long enough; any longer, and he would become a laughingstock for both his own children and other nobles.
So with that, Ambre quickly made his way inside the church, climbing the stairs towards Seraphina's room.
...
Before the High Priestess' room, the Lord of Alequessa opened the door without knocking on it since there was really no need to. The people inside had already seen him coming; it was not like he was going to intrude on private matters anyway.
Though...the scene inside indeed shocked him a great deal.
Water pooled everywhere across the floor, with every step sending ripples throughout the room. Seraphina and Claire were seen busily cleaning up everything, with the Water mage directing the aftermath of her magic into a bucket, and the Light user slowly evaporating its content.
"[Sunspark]! [Sunspark]! [Sunspark]! [Sunspark]..."
The silver-haired girl's childish voice could be heard repeating the same words over and over again.
*Cough*
Ambre coughed, looking at his daughter for explanations.
Hearing the sharp sound echoing from behind her, Claire looked back with a foreboding sense of unease curling in her chest.
"Hehe...about that..." she said, rubbing the back of her head with a sheepish smile.
How was she going to explain that they had a fight when they were supposed to discuss something important?
"Sigh... no need to say anything, I already got the gist of it," he said, placing a hand over his forehead like a disappointed parent.
The purple-haired man had raised the girl by himself. He knew Claire's behavior and habits better than anyone alive. Moreover, this situation had already happened on numerous occasions, so it was not difficult to guess what had happened.
"Ignis, thou who consumeth all, dry the world and return Aqua to Ventus."
The Nobleman said, calmly chanting the incantation for his spell.
"[Dry Flare]."
Immediately after, a small white flame gathered over his palm; it flickered inside like feeble embers, as if it could be extinguished at any moment now.
But obviously, it was not so simple.
Being sent out towards the wet floor, the [Dry Flare] slowly traveled through the air with snail-like momentum before it finally made contact.
*PSSHHHHH!*
Entering the puddle, the entire room instantly lit up in a burst of suffocating white mist, this white mist being none other than water vapor.
Then, Ambre took a seat on the purple sofa opposite the white one, waiting for the steam to dissipate and the girls to take their place.
...
"Huff..." Seraphina and Claire both drew a sharp breath after the mist finally cleared. They could not inhale it, so they had held their breath throughout.
Turning to look at the man who had provided his help, the little golden-eyed girl put a hand to her chest before politely saying:
"Greetings, Mister Arest..."
"...And thank you for your assistance," she concluded, her tone carrying sincere gratitude.
He waved his hand dismissively.
"It was my daughter's fault anyway."
"Wha—
"True." Seraphina nodded, interrupting the purple-haired girl.
She dropped down on the white sofa facing Claire's father and took out the letter addressed to her name. It had mentioned some issues that he would rather discuss in person, so Seraphina thought it appropriate to present it to him.
"Wait, are you not gonna say anything in my defense?"
The young noble lady complained to her with puffed cheeks and a pouty face. They had clearly been two to cause damage, so why was she the only one getting blamed for it!?
Seraphina ignored the whining girl and started pouring tea for her guest. While she was doing so, Claire decided to sit next to her instead of her father and picked up her cup, asking for a refill.
When the High Priestess was done serving tea, she sneakily moved to the far end of her sofa, as far as possible from the purple-haired girl. For some strange reason, Seraphina did not feel very safe around her anymore...after all, the girl was a scarily evil sadist.
"What is the matter that requires you to come in person, Mister?" she asked, pushing the letter towards him.
Directly bringing up the main issue was a bit unusual, but Ambre had already made small talk in his letter, so skipping this part should be fine.
The man picked up the letter and gave it a quick read before turning it to ashes with the help of his magic. Then, he said:
"The harvests were not good this season. But if it were only that, I would not have come."
He paused, taking a sip of tea to add weight to his words before adding:
"The Empire is at war, and I, as well as other nobles, am required to either aid in the war effort or provide monetary support to the Emperor."
"Now, how does this concern you. You obviously know that this war will cost me a substantial sum, and with the harvest being as they are, I cannot possibly tax the people more than right now," the man stated, looking at her very seriously.
Seraphina and Claire listened carefully to everything he was saying. This was news to them, and he had not even told his own daughter about it!
"The donations I make to the church represent a large margin of the taxes. In other words," He continued, his tone as heavy as a mountain. "The amount of gold I give will have to be reduced for the duration of the war."