CHAPTER 24 - NO MORE STUPID DONKEY, YOUR MAJESTY!

I don’t really think we needed an ambulance for the priest. Aside from being an S+++ Rank Fighter, I think he’s not that old to be killed by Lizzy’s attack.

Currently, we are resting on the east side of the church. We had the priest sit down on the pew while Yufa uses her flaming hands to massage Father Corsola’s back.

“So you can do that with your flames too, huh?” I asked Yufa.

“Y-Yeah. But it’s not that simple. I’m using my psychic energy to fix the internal bleeding and seal it with my flames. So far, I have located three broken ribs and some ruptures on some of his internals.”

“That bad!?” I opened my eyes in shock. 

I was immediately attacked by my conscience that I had made a sudden realization of what I should do. I activated my Archonlight System and pointed my glowing arm to the injured priest.

“Command Code: Full Heal.”

The priest bathed in green glitters. Since the injuries are internal, I have no way if my healing powers worked. It was only confirmed by Yufa’s psychic diagnosis.

“His internal bleeding disappeared, and his fractures are no more!” Yufa said.

“Oh, I feel safer now.” Father Corsola said as he finally stood up. “Thank you, Mister…”

“John Casterdyne.” I bowed.

“Mister John Casterdyne. Yufa is right about your kind heart. You will certainly be of great help in the Cathedral.”

The priest turned his gaze towards the savage princess who has her arms crossed and her back leaning on the wall like some cool I-don’t-care shady character from those animes. I know that deep inside, Lizzy is feeling guilty for what he did to the priest. She does not want to admit it, however, because of her pride.

Father Corsola smiled at the princess as if his life was not put to danger a while ago. He shortly bowed, giving all honors to the princess.

“Your majesty, you have indubitably beaten me in a fight. You are now free to use the Time-Space Warping Device as you wanted. But don’t forget your end of the deal.”

“Yes, Father. We will join the Cathedral Exa.”

The priest bowed and then started to walk towards the altar with his hand on his back. “The Warping Device is located at the back of the altar. Follow me.”

Lizzy, Yufa, and I trailed the priest’s footsteps. I had a great look at the giant crucifix at the altar that is coated with pure gold. The red carpet of the church had this Y-shape that leads the two pathways to the back of the altar.

At the backside of the church is an enclosed wide hall that does not look like it’s a place for religious worship. It looks like some sci-fi alien technology where there are giant metallic rings forming a big sphere. At the center of the rings is a human-sized ice crystal that looks dark as the night sky.

“Oh, before I forgot.” The priest pinched his chin. “The Warping Device has not been used for a while, and it’s old. I heard from Dr. Cheng that it has a few screws loose on the topside, and it needs some magical energy to its reactors to jump start. I can call the maintenance personnel but they can fix it on Monday at most.”

“We don’t have time to waste,” Lizzy said. “Maybe we can fix it ourselves.”

“Okay. You can use the toolbox and the ladder there.” The priest said as he pointed at the stockpile of rubbles at the side of the hall.

“I’ll help too!” Yufa excitedly pumped her fists.

<>

Fixing alien-technology equipment is not about learning rocket science, at least for my part. All I needed to do here is to fix the loose screws on the ceiling that holds the metal rings and the black diamond since it’s the only thing that can be done by a normal human. Yufa and Lizzy are giving me instructions for most of the part, so I don't have to use my brain so much.

The tools I used are pretty much the same thing humans use in their daily lives. I used a wrench to tighten the bolts and screws, I added grease, and some anti-rust spray as if I’m a car mechanic.

On the other hand, Lizzy and Yufa are busy reading the blueprint below. They also used some consoles in the hall that opened compartments that contained the magical reactors.

“I’ll get the spare fuses from the office!” Yufa said as she left the hall, leaving me and the princess alone in this place.

It is now awkwardly silent.

I’m on my job of tightening the last two screws when Lizzy from below started to become dramatically cheesy as if she’s out of character. She even called me by my first name. 

“Hey, John.”

“Hmm?”

“Thank you for helping me a lot. You’re always cleaning the mess I get in, and you even let me live with you even if I’m a fugitive. I don’t think I can survive this far without you. Yufa and that priest is right. You have a kind heart. I know this since we first met.”

“Uh, thank you,” I said as I blushed. The princess’s words are so out of this world that she struck my heart.

“I know we had a bad start when we first met, but you proved to me that you are worthy of my trust and Archonlight System by doing good things even to our enemies. Now I really feel bad about treating you like a turd, and I'm sorry about that. So from now on, I will no longer call you stupid donkey.”

It was a rare sight. Lizzy is smiling with an adorable blushing face. I can’t help but blush too.

Thanks to her cheesy words, I got out of focus. While tightening a screw, I mistakenly got my finger pinned. The result is a painful disaster for me.

“Ouch!” Because of the pain, I dropped the heavy wrench from my hand.

“Eh?” Lizzy gasped.

“Watch out!”

It was too late to warn her. The wrench has crashed to her forehead like a meteorite, making her bleed like a sprinkling fountain.

“Gahck!”

“I’m sorry! It was an accident!”

I turned and leaned down to have a better view of her, but I accidentally pushed the toolbox and the can of grease beside me. It fell down straight to the princess, making her head smashed by the tools! The grease also splashed to her face and clothes!

“Uwah!”

“I-It was really an accident! I’m sorry, your majesty!” I cried.

Like a zombie, the princess slowly stood up while holding her bleeding forehead. Her golden eyes shot at my soul that gave an intense fear to my instincts. She stressed her lungs to inhale a lot of air, and then...

“YOU STUPID DONKEY!”