Cassian was surprised by her tone and replied, "That's why he's just a suspect—because we don't know him." He noticed her relax slightly, but the fact that she knew him and hadn't mentioned him at dinner bothered him. Not wanting to come across as interrogating her, but still eager to learn more about the pastor, he continued, "Asking him a few questions about the murdered family might clear him of suspicion, so we're just here to ask some things."
Russella nodded in understanding. Cassian then asked, "So, do you know anything about him that could help us confirm he's not a suspect?"
Russella hesitated for a moment, then spoke up. "Well, I met him at the church. He was healing the victims of the monster waves that kept coming one after another. He helped a lot at the time. He could even set a broken arm or reattach severed limbs, saving so many lives."
"He must be a powerful mage, then," Cassian said, thinking aloud, as no low-level mage could perform such feats.
"He was..." Russella said, her eyes filled with admiration as she continued to share what she knew about Pastor Abraham Cronus.
From what Cassian gathered from her explanation, it seemed that Pastor Abraham was essentially a missionary for Surock Village and the surrounding areas, helping everyone across the villages. But Cassian couldn't shake the feeling that something didn't add up. Why hadn't anyone in the city mentioned him? Why hadn't he come to the city? Or had he already been there? He didn't know. So, he kept listening as Russella continued.
"After the monster waves, he offered the Wan family some missionary work, to spread his kind of religion to the wider world, starting with the City of Knowledge, Magisteria," she said. Then, with a slight shift in her tone, she added, "But it seems like they weren't meant to do it."
She fell silent for a moment, and Cassian wasn't sure how to continue the conversation, his hands still gently massaging her breasts, keeping her nipples sensitized. After a minute of quiet, Russella spoke again.
"And as he was leaving our village to spread kindness to others, he sent one more family from a neighboring village to the city."
Cassian smiled at her words and asked, "Do you know the name of the any family member?"
Russella shook her head, making his smile falter for a moment. But then his expression brightened as she added, "I don't remember their names, but I do recall the village they came from. It was called Kikia Village. Daniel might know where it is."
Cassian nodded, making a mental note to tell Cassandra and Dallas in the morning. If this family was one of the murdered families, the pastor would become a much more credible suspect, or at the very least, a person of interest in the murders.
"That's all I know," Russella continued, resting her head on his shoulder. "But Sister Dasika might know more about him. He was close with her."
"Dasika, who?" Cassian asked, his brow furrowing in confusion.
"The Wan family member who takes care of the village church," Russella explained. "She was close with the pastor and even traveled with him to a few villages to learn from him. She came back as a healer mage, though not as powerful as he was." Now, Cassian was even more eager to question this family member.
As he processed the new information about a possible suspect, Cassian couldn't help but be curious about another matter. "Russella, when did these tremors start happening?" he asked.
"Why do you care?" she asked, not opening her eyes.
"So I can find a way to help you. If you tell me more about them, I might be able to," he explained, continuing to massage her soft, mochi-like breasts. He wanted to kiss them, but he refrained, noticing Russella seemed to be deep in thought.
With a sigh, she finally spoke again. "First, promise me you won't tell anyone else…"
"I promise I won't," Cassian said, his face serious.
"Well, the tremors are a sort of test from God. I believe how I overcome them each time allows His light to shine on our village, keeping the evil away," she said, surprising Cassian. He hadn't expected her to be as religious as the families he had encountered, and this led him to another consideration, one he didn't voice. She continued, "The test is painful, but it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make if it means the village stays peaceful."
"And what god is that?" Cassian asked, his curiosity piqued. The tremors were real, and he was certain they weren't caused by some illness. If they were, his massage wouldn't have helped alleviate them. Illnesses like that were usually linked to the mind, something like seizures, he thought.
Cassian was certain this wasn't a seizure, as she was clearly aware during the tremors and could speak through them. This must be the work of some god—or whatever she prayed to, and the person acting as a god. However, to his disappointment, she shook her head and said, "I can't tell you that…" She grabbed her necklace, which had slipped behind her back during the massage.
"Then can you tell me when you started praying to it?" Cassian asked, a bit frustrated.
"Around five years ago," she replied. Cassian's eyes lit up as he asked, "Don't tell me Pastor Abraham told you to do that?"
Russella looked troubled when he mentioned this, not shocked. With a hesitant tone, she squeezed the silver bone necklace in her hand and nodded. "He did... but I'm doing it of my own will, not because of him…"
Cassian looked frustrated as he listened to her. He was confused, unsure of what kind of evil this god was supposed to protect the village from, or if there even was any. He also wondered why a god would make its followers endure pain as part of the process—wasn't prayer enough? He couldn't understand why she believed in it in the first place.