135 – Where the Priest Goes
A drizzling rain began to fall from the darkening sky.
The man who warned him that the future would be tough pulled his straw hat down.
“See you later.”
With only those words left, Sten and his party disappeared to find a new inn.
After a while, it rained heavily, so while sheltering from the rain on the eaves of the bar, I thought about why Priest Rien wanted to go to such a place.
Unless she was a saint, it was because she couldn’t think of any reason to leave the peaceful village.
Even more so if a gold-class adventurer even threw a repellent upon hearing that he was going that way.
‘Even though she is a nomadic person, she is a person who can leave at any time, but that is not a reason for her to go to a terrible place to live.’
Priest Rien may have his own reasons, but if it becomes a problem for my survival, I need to know.
I glanced inadvertently, and the dark night was slashed.
To the extent that you can’t see anything.
But she knew where to go, so she just moved her feet.
In front of the inn I arrived after driving through the rain, I found two strange figures.
They looked at the inside of the inn and the guest room, but when they met my eyes, they moved to another place.
‘What are you bastards doing?’
I was about to ask about it, but it was raining hard.
Because they quickly disappeared into the darkness, they didn’t even know who they were, so they moved on to the inn.
Kikkik.
From noble mtl dot com
The room I entered for the first time today was filled with diluted moonlight coming in from outside the window.
After changing clothes while looking at the lake, I was about to lie down on the bed.
I heard someone knocking.
“Mercenary? Are you in the room?”
“Priest, wait a minute. Please wait a moment.”
Quickly kick the wet clothes into the corner and say it’s okay to come in now.
Only then did Priest Rien enter.
She was smiling, holding a plate of omelets in her hand.
“Tada!”
“What kind of omelet is this?”
“I wasn’t there when I was having dinner earlier, so I brought it because I thought I skipped it!”
After thanking the priest, she raised the tableware.
The steamy omelet was cut in half and opened on both sides, and the white cheese inside dripped onto the plate.
I looked at Priest Rien before slicing the omelet with a knife and putting it in my mouth.
My eyes met and she said with a bright smile.
“I don’t know if you’ll fit in her mouth!”
“I am just grateful that you brought it to me. Priest.”
“hehehe.”
Even after finishing the meal, Priest Rien did not leave.
Unsurprisingly, the gaze at my arm contained the power to remind me of the promise I made during the day.
“Me, Priest Rien?”
“Yes! G-house mercenary?”
“Did you come to see where you were injured during the previous fight?”
Then her blonde hair swayed back and forth. And she swayed from side to side.
“Don’t get me wrong! Just in case, I stopped by the room after unpacking earlier, but he wasn’t there at the time, so he’s here now!”
“There was no misunderstanding. Rather, thank you, priest. I hope it will be like this in the future.”
After I said that, I rolled up my arms and held them out.
But instead of looking at my arm, Priest Rien just stared blankly at me.
“Priest? Is there anything on my face?”
“No!”
The priest smiled and then stretched out his hand and examined his arms.
I felt a tickle from pressing his arm with a slightly rough but warm hand, but I endured it thinking it was an act of medical treatment.
Priest Rien, who checked his arms rather quickly, gave me good news.
“Thank God! I don’t think there are any major injuries!”
“It’s okay to fight, right?”
The priest nodded and added a word.
“However, the use of Morning Star is prohibited!”
“What do you mean?”
“Mercenary-sama won’t take good care of himself, so I think someone will have to stop him!”
“Then I guess I’ll have to cover it with a cloth to keep it from rusting for a while. By the way, the priest and I had something to talk about just the two of us, and it went well.”
Then the priest tilted his head.
“You want to talk to me? What is it for?”
“This is a story about a commission. Priest Rien.”
After answering that, I put the omelet plate aside and asked straight forward.
“Can you tell me why you are going to the Parqui region?”
“As I said before, I have work to do there!”
There was still a smile on her face, half lit by the dimly lit candle.
“Can you be a little more specific?”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t want G-house mercenary to get caught up in my affairs!”
“Anyway, from the moment I accepted the request, I was caught up in it. It means that we have an obligation to protect you according to the contract, priest.”
She hesitated for a moment after hearing my answer, then asked me with a slightly hardened smile on her lips.
“G-House mercenary, did you have any other questions!”
The corners of her mouth hardened.
That meaningful laugh, as if telling me not to try to know more, was no longer an obstacle.
Her me too said with a smile following her.
“Right now, I have nothing else to ask. I’ll see you tomorrow, and I’ll see you the day after that. Do I really have to ask all the questions now?”
“……”
“But if I want to see you tomorrow and see you the next day, you have to have some idea of the danger I face.”
I usually don’t ask questions like this. Curiosity is the way to kill a cat.
But if a cat doesn’t want to rummage, there are times when it needs to satisfy its curiosity.
“So today I have only one question. The reason why the priest went to that dangerous place. That’s all.”
Priest Rien exhaled evenly for a moment.
Only her silence flowed, and she slowly opened her mouth.
“…I received a request. It was something that even the mercenary knew about.”
Priest Rien and I have only one thing in common.
The Battle of Yeongji in the central region.
“Is this story related to the Warlock?”
“Not sure. Because of that experience, I was also asked to investigate the Parqui region.”
“Do you know who you got it from?”
Priest Rien just smiled, but she didn’t answer.
‘It must be a high-ranking member of the church.’
After roughly guessing her identity, she nodded.
“Thank you for your words, priest. We can prepare a little more.”
Priest Rien slowly rose from his seat and warned me.
“Be careful, G-house mercenary. Parquis is a pretty rough place. As you know well, mercenary.”
I didn’t know.
“I will refer to it.”
After Priest Rien left the room with a smile, I quietly went back to bed and went to sleep.
With the thought of warning Prianian as well.
***
A few days later.
After parting with Sten, we continued eastward.
Since the eastern part is also inhabited, it was not teeming with monsters like adventurers brag about.
But it was true that they appeared a little more often than in other places, so today, as always, there was a bit of tension in the wagon.
“Whoa, whoa.”
The carriage stopped at the entrance of a huge gorge.
“Why but?”
The young lady asked in the car behind her at the sound of the carriage stopping, which had been running well.
I said pointing forward with my finger.
“The wooden fence has been erected, young lady. And there are signs with numbers on them.”
Even if that’s the case with the huge wooden fence blocking the gorge like a dam,
The shabby signboard slanted in front of it was something I had never seen before in the eastern part of the country.
“It’s a number. Is there a seal next to it?”
“Yes.”
“Mmm.”
The young lady, who seemed to be thinking about something, sighed for a while and opened her mouth.
“What is the number by any chance?”
“It says 10. Is that the meaning I am thinking of right now?”
Hearing that, the young lady nodded.
“Perhaps what you think is right.”
“Then it will be reduced to 9, 8, 7, 6… Now. And the door opens wide.”
Even if the door opens, you won’t come in.
Prianian, who heard me, asked from behind.
“What is G-House thinking?”
“Of course it’s a countdown, isn’t it?”
Isn’t jumping and counting down the norm before entering a place like that?
Young lady explained the meaning of the sign.
“That’s the recommended number of people. In the east, there are many cases where signs like this are written on specific roads or sections.”
“Did you indicate that at least 10 people must gather over this canyon to pass easily?”
At Prianian’s question, the young lady nodded.
Ten people.
‘It’s not about going in, it’s about filling up your party.’
But the existence of such a sign means that there are a lot of people who have seen blood there.
Nothing good was done by ignoring the bloody warning.
I looked around to fill the crowd, but
In front of the canyon in the late afternoon, there were only rocks, trees, and cages.
“I don’t doubt your skills, but I would recommend filling up the number of people before entering.”
The Young lady continued by adding the TMI that she usually goes back to another road instead of passing through this place.
“However, this is the fastest way for us to go, so there is no particular difference. Even if the upper ranks are waiting here to cross the gorge-“
“No top.”
“No top.”
Me and Prianian opened their mouths at the same time.
Because I didn’t want to at least escort the corps.
“…Then I guess I’ll have to count the people passing by. Wait for the others to come first instead of the upper ranks.”
After the young lady finished talking, she sat down on the wooden box again, and we decided to stop the carriage and wait.