Could it be...?

He was being celebrated. He is being Father Cornello, of course. It seemed that everyone in this town absolutely loved the old guy. They were throwing flowers at him and cheering his name. That was when one of the townspeople, cheered "Use the power of Miracles!" and how could the old man deny such a cheer?

Everyone watched in awe as the man caught one of the smaller flowers being thrown at him, clasp it in between his hands, and in a flash of bright light, it suddenly turned into a sunflower head. As the people cheered for their religious leader, three figures stood at the back, observing in slight irritation.

"...What do you think?"

Ed looked at his sister, who had her arms crossed and was staring intently at the man on the raised platform. He couldn't tell what she was feeling, her expression was blank, and her tone emotionless, but he knew his sister. She wasn't happy. She wasn't impressed. Al looked down at his older brother, curious.

"That transformation reaction is normal alchemy, right?"

Ed looked back towards Father Cornello, scowling, deep in thought.

"Yep..."

Al just felt confused, and if you could see his face, you would be able to tell he was frowning in confusion.

"But the law..."

Unknown to the three, they were being approached by the girl from earlier that day, Rose. She was very surprised to see the three alchemists there at the event, but pleased none the less. They could finally see how amazing Father Cornello truly was! She smiled at them brightly as she stood next to them. She didn't notice Tori grimace art her chipper personality

"So you three came! How is it? No doubt about it. This is the power of miracles. After all, Father Cornello is the son of the Sun God."

Tori chuckled, shaking her head. Al just continued to look on, almost bored with the ceremony. Al, of course, was the one to make the comment which annoyed the young girl.

"Nope. Definitely alchemy. Cornello's a fake."

Tori felt her lip twitch upwards in a small smirk at her brother's antics. He knew exactly what he was doing. He was purposely ignoring the girl, even though what he was saying was in fact true. Al looked down at Ed.

"But that's against the law..."

"Hmm, that's true..."

Rose was utterly confused by now, rather than feeling annoyed like she had just two seconds earlier.

"Law?"

Al tried to explain the law of Alchemy to the religious girl, without making it too complicated.

"From an average person's viewpoint, alchemy is a very handy skill that can make anything, without any limit. But the truth is that there's a rule to this."

Rose looked even more confused even after the simple explanation from Al, so Ed had a go.

"Umm, okay... So, it's taking an object with one element and changing it into an object containing the same element. An object with the properties of water can only be transmutated into an object with watery attributes."

Tori soon got annoyed with the dumbstruck expression on Rose's face. She clicked her tongue, unimpressed, before explaining the process herself.

"To put it roughly, there's the law of the conservation of mass and the law of providence. Among us practitioners, there are people who use the four elements and three principles, but... In short, the basis of Alchemy is "the exact trade"! If you want to make something, you need something of the equivalent cost."

She looked away from Rose and focused on the old man. Her only eye was burning with a dark intrigue, and an irritation. Ed suspected she was irritated because she didn't know how he had transmutated without using the equivalent exchange.

"But he ignored that law and was able to transmute."

Ed felt smug at the fact that he was right and knew that that was the source of his sister's irritation. But now Rose was irritated, and it wasn't because of Father Cornello's mysterious way of transmutation.

"Make some sense! Do you three believe in the power of miracles or not?!"

The three siblings shared a look before deciding to ignore the girl. Tori's eye widened in shock as a shock and realization filled her expression. She glanced at Ed.

"Brother... Maybe it's...?"

Ed's gaze flickered to his sister before returning to Father Cornello. Or rather, the glowing red stone on the old man's gold ring.

"Yeah. Maybe it is."