Chapter 374 374: Discovery!!

Leo finished the outing and introduced the children to his parents and then they came back home to stroll in the garden. Snow pushed Elena's stroller and Leo pushed Julian's. Lily had gone inside the house because she still had homework and as much as her parents loved and spoiled her, they didn't allow her to be wayward when it came to studies.Snow asked, "What do you think about the Inauguration ceremony?"

Leo shook his head and said, "Extend the invitation to the Sigil Council and the rest is up to you to decide. They all have their own business empires and thus are familiar with this business complex, and I have never intended to enter any field that conflicts with them so the rapport is clean as well."

Snow nodded and replied, "I will handle that. Also, are you sure that you want to take the kids to the shrine for the ceremony?"

Leo shrugged and replied, "I don't mind it, after all, this was something that you and Ma used to believe in, so it is fine. As long as you guys don't become blind followers, I will not intervene."

Snow shook her head and replied, "There are many blind followers but we are not like that and similarly the head priest is not like that as well. That's why we have never been troubled. Though, it's not like their aren't any troubles, but the Head Priest has clearly highlighted the acts of donation and the set up of the foundation as an extension of the Goddess's will. The people don't complain anymore."

Leo raised his brow and said, "We started the foundation to help people and not propagate the ideas of the shrine."

Snow smiled and replied, "It is not the propagation of the decree. Don't worry, the Shrine and we are not linked."

Leo nodded, he didn't know why but he didn't like being linked with the Shrine. This whole thing caused a lot of trouble for him, but he held back from taking any action. He has never been to a shrine and he thought it was not a good thing for him to act.

…

The days passed rather calmly, and then arrived the day of the Ceremony. Leo had worn a white shirt and beige trousers with a pair of loafers to match the semi formal vibe, and Snow had dressed in a beige dress with white floral embroidery on it. Lily dressed in a shirt and pant similar to her father but her shirt had the embroidery similar to her mother, and she wore white sneakers.

The family of three was well matched, the courtesy to Marian Grisha and her team. The two infants wore the similar colors but their clothes were rather plain as embroidered clothes could leave them with rashes.

The family boarded their car, and they headed to the north of the city where the Shrine was located. When they came to the foot of a mountain, Lily saw two young acolytes standing at the gates, Leo noticed that they wore a white habit with the insignia of a sun and folded hands on the left pectoral.

Snow took the lead and approached the people and told them the purpose of their visit and the guardians blessed them with a humble bow and said, "Patroness, you must climb the stairs to reach the altar, and that is the rule. You can take rest on the way if you feel tired but you must not seek help."

Snow nodded and thanked them before she came back to Leo and told him about the rules, and the young man shrugged as he took hold of the two babies, and said, "Lily, can you walk on your own?"

The Little Goblin nodded and said, "Don't worry Baba, Lily is strong, but if I feel tired I will tell you."

Leo smiled at her, and the family passed through the doors. The guards were not allowed upstairs with weapons. There was not way they would put down the weapons. Leo told them to stay down as he connected with them using the communication watch. If they encountered an emergency, they will storm upstairs and kill those who tried to stop them. It was that simple.

…

The family had to climb nearly thousand stairs, and Leo frowned as he heard this. He looked at Snow and asked, "Did you come back here and climbed the stairs when Lily was born?"

The lady nodded and asked, "Why do you ask?"

Leo almost felt his nose tingle, and he sighed when he heard this. He didn't expect that Snow would have climbed this long trail when Lily was born and she did it alone. He silently felt even more respectful towards the lady. He carried the two children and the family began the climb. They all had been boosted with the benefits of the system and were stronger than many.

They spotted many people climbing the stairs. After a few minutes, they spotted the people who were sitting on the side where the shrine board has erected stone benches. However, the Cardinal Family was not even warm from the climb. They kept on, the whole scene caused many people to pay attention to them.

Some people from Shrine were posted to guard and attend to the patrons who climbed the stairs, these monitors noticed the situation and were shocked, they have never seen anyone clime two hundred steps in a few minutes and without even pausing for a breath. On the contrary, Leo was even talking and coaxing his two children. Lily was giggling with Snow at his expressions.

…

After two hours, they climbed the nine hundred ninety steps, although they didn't sit down to catch a breath, they stopped multiple times to click pictures under the various trees and to admire the scenery of the city from the side of the mountain. The Monitors were so surprised that they reported the situation to the head priest who came to the entrance of the Shrine at the summit and greeted the people in person.

Leo saw an old man with a bald head wearing the white habit with a blue sash running across his left shoulder and waist. The insignia of the Shrine was carefully engraved on the sash. The old man was also observing Leo, but before that, he turned to look at Snow and said, "Miss Snow, it has been years since you visited the Shrine, I hope that all is well."

Snow smiled and bowed as she said, "Yes, Head Priest. Everything is fine. Today I have come seeking you to pray for my two children."

She then introduced Leo and the two chubby bundles of joy. Then she said, "Leo, this is Priest Hank, he was the one who performed the ceremony for Lily."

Leo nodded and bowed slightly as he said, "Thank you, Head Priest."

The old man waved his hand and said, "You are too formal and too polite with this old man, Mister Cardinal. Don't worry, this place is a sacred ground, we do what is needed for us. That is all."

Leo didn't know what the old man meant by these words and then his voice amplified. It surrounded the entire mountain and the old man said, "Please come in, the Pond is free now, we can use it for the ceremony."

They followed the old priest and Leo saw a stone door cut open inside the face of the mountain. He was fascinated as he crossed the threshold, but when he did, the system pinged and Leo froze, 'Ping: Traces of extra terrestrial life form detected, scanning…'

Leo was shocked, his body shivered, and he looked around to find the entire mountain top had been cleaned up and was reinforced by the structures like arches and pillars made from the mountain itself. The whole chamber was the work of art or rather a technological marvel. He was shocked, and he continued to observe, and the Old Priest asked him, "Mister Cardinal, is there something wrong?"

Leo shook his head as he woke up from the stupor and asked, "Priest Hank, may I ask you, how old is this place? There has been no mention that such a beautiful and artistic place exists in our country."

The Priest smiled and said, "This is just one of the scared halls of the Goddess, and they are ancient constructs more than a few hundred thousand years. Nobody knows the exact date, but since the Shrine Of Mercy is a humble organization we didn't wish for it to be spread around in fanfare, so there has been no mention to it."

Leo nodded, and his gaze fell on the statue of the goddess carved out from a huge section of mountain rock. Before the statue lay a small pond. There was a drop falling from the ceiling of the hall every now and then and Leo couldn't help but try to figure out the science behind this.

The system said, 'Ping: Discovered the remnant of the Natural Nectar. Host, try to secure much of this liquid for further testing. Reward: Details of the Civilization that left behind this whole area.'

Leo shivered and began to think about how to secure more of this liquid.