Debt of the heart (1)
clap.
There was the sound of the face covering lowering and engaging.
His body, which was a death knight, had disappeared. Like I said at the end, I didn’t know if I really went back to the goddess’ arms or if I went to pay for my sins.
He had been praying for a long time even after his opponent disappeared, and he got up again after hardening his helmet.
“What can I do now?”
“Oops, I should have run away.”
I tried to run away while I was distracted because my business here was over, but I was rather taken away by the strange atmosphere of the funeral, no, the memorial service.
As I was regretting it belatedly, he came over and talked to me with a clap.
“This is Astel.”
“Astel?”
“He gave me a name. I like this.”
“Yes, congratulations.”
It didn’t matter anyway.
Ah, come to think of it, even if you ran away, you had to come back.
The stakes were still in the process of purifying the sighing dead.
Even if I couldn’t do it, it would take half a day, so I had no choice but to wait patiently.
As I was thinking about that, I felt that Astel was still looking at me. No, he leaned more towards me.
“… … What?”
“This is Astel, benefactor.”
“Yes, Astel.”
He seems to like it when I call his name… … I don’t back down, I don’t even know what I want.
I stared at the face completely covered by the helmet for a while, and I thought of something, so I said it.
“Irvine.”
“Irvine. Irvine? Irvine!”
It was only then that Astell bit his upper body that was creeping up on him and said several times as if he was remembering my name.
It was a completely different look from when he spoke under an oracle, perhaps on purpose.
growl!
Oh, that was because I was hungry.
I had to eat, but I couldn’t eat anything in a place that was so gloomy everywhere. There was nothing to use for firewood, so we headed to the outskirts of the ruins together to find horses.
Even in the midst of this, when I handed the jerky to Astel, whose stomach was crying, I raised the face covering slightly and ate it well.
No, you pick it up and eat it.
In the end, it was only after feeding one more like that that Astel’s stomach finally calmed down.
I was worried about whether I would have to go around the outskirts to find the horse, but luckily the horse was waiting quietly near the place I let go.
Astell ran up to the horse as soon as he saw it and stroked his neck pretending to be friendly, while I gathered twigs nearby and lit a fire.
For some reason, I felt like I had poured all my strength into it, so I couldn’t make something grandiose, so I just put some in a pot and boiled it.
“Ig, Silver Layer, Mars!”
“Eat everything and tell me. Swallow everything in your mouth.”
“gulp. This is so delicious! And putting the ingredients in chunks into the soup! I never even thought about it! Besides, I’ve never seen the color of soup so dark! Is Irvin a cook?”
“… … Eat a lot.”
What kind of life did Astel really live?
It was to the point where I wondered if the fact that I had eaten at the church was a misunderstanding of the leftovers.
Astell stuffed the food I prepared into his mouth at random to the point where I was worried. I felt a desperate feeling, as if I had no chance to eat anymore if it wasn’t now.
Even so, I almost tripped and fell several times while eating with my back to me, as if I never wanted to see my face.
I was so nervous that I made a clumsy veil by attaching a handkerchief to my helmet.
“You call a person like Irvin an idiot, right? The villagers told me that that’s how they call people who do things that other people can’t do! Yes, I was the best idiot in town!”
I’m going crazy.
For some reason, he seemed to have considerable knowledge about religion, but he was hopeless about common sense.
I felt like I was raising another child just like Rise, so I pressed my temples that were starting to throb.
In the end, when he gave the correct explanation about the idiot, Astell kept his mouth shut and continued to move the spoon, perhaps because he was embarrassed.
After eating so frantically, I wanted to eat even the veil I made, so as soon as I finished eating, I vacated the seat to eat comfortably.
Looking at it from a distance from Astel, these words naturally flowed out.
“What do you mean when you see the real me?”
I knew very well why Dee Jenna wanted to leave that child with me.
It was a perfect award for a guest house if left alone.
The lack of common sense about what kind of treatment he had been receiving in the previous village was too lacking.
I knew the mixed tone and way of speaking was strange, but I thought it was because of the lack of this.
It was difficult to do either.
I was thinking about it, but when I approached Astell as if he had finished eating… … He poured water into a pot and used it as drinking water.
“Would you like some water?”
“… … It’s okay because you drank earlier.”
How can a person be so salty?
Feeling a little dizzy, Astell realized that the handkerchief he had put on his helmet as a veil was very dirty when he tried to return it.
“Uh, this, I’ll clean it for you. I am confident in that laundry.”
“Just take you. There won’t be a handkerchief anyway.”
“really? Wow, thank you! It’s such a soft fabric that I could use it as a quilt for the night!”
“… … .”
I held down the words that were about to spill out inside me and looked up at the empty space.
In the meantime, Astell folded the handkerchief and put it beside him, and soon got down on his knees reverently and took a posture of prayer.
“Djenna, thank you for giving me a rich meal, and thank you for giving me a good day today.”
I wonder if praying like that was Astel’s support?
I couldn’t help but feel that way.
Astell’s appearance in prayer was so serious that it was natural to connect like that when thinking about what everyday life would be like.
So don’t you think of secretly blessing me?
As the divine power slowly approaching centered on Astel was scattered with her feet, she went back to Astel with a clear expression of regret.
It might just mean thank you for taking care of Astel, but I hated it.
Even if you receive Dee Gena’s blessing, you won’t feel it as a debt in your heart, but if that happens, no matter what you do in the future, you will keep thinking of Dee Gena.
My path had to be my own. That’s why I’ve never received anything like God’s blessing from before until now.
Afterwards, Astel stood up after praying and bowed down toward me.
“It was the most delicious meal of my life! thank you!”
“Yeah, I’m glad you ate well.”
“I’ll do the dishes! I was in charge of the village too! Uh, but where is the stream here… … .”
“It’s okay, so leave it alone first.”
It took a while to get to the clean water from here, so when I roughly put the bowls into the bag, Astell gave me a curious look.
When I was in charge of organizing, Astell naturally tried to help, but he was anxious and told me to just stay put.
It was admirable to see him fidgeting and trying to do something, but right now it helped me to stay still and not try to do anything.
When I finished tidying up and turned around, Astell hurriedly got up and stared at me.
It seemed as if he was waiting for praise, so he suddenly remembered the dog he had raised in the past.
In my dreary life, I almost gave my heart to you… … It turned out that it was a monster disguised as a dog, and bit his neck while he was careless.
Of course, I never had a pet after that.
“Irvin, what can I do now?”
When I didn’t say anything, Astel said that and showed her enthusiasm.
Even though it had only been a day since we met, Astell seemed to already clearly recognize me as someone I could trust.
Speaking of Astel… … You could say he was just a big kid.
If left alone like this, gloomy futures of being deceived by people and being rejected for acting out of common sense would naturally come to mind.
I thought of Rize for nothing, and I couldn’t just leave it alone.
However, I didn’t like it because it was going as De Gena intended for me to take care of it.
After thinking for a while, I came to a rough conclusion and talked to Astell.
“Are you going to do whatever I tell you?”
“Sure! Irvin is the benefactor who introduced me to Dee Gena, saved a senior who was in darkness, defeated even death at once, and gave me a lot of delicious meals. In addition, Dijenna also told me to follow it, so Irvin’s words are like an oracle to me.”
It’s rather embarrassing to say that.
Through such strong trust, he opened his mouth soon after facing eyes sparkling enough to be seen through the helmet.
“good. come with me.”
“Yes, Irvine!”
Seeing Astell respond vigorously, I erased the option to take care of myself.
It’s best to entrust this child to someone you can trust.
* * *
Back to Findel.
When he reported to the mercenary guild that he had destroyed the source of the undead, there was an uproar.
Of course, after running away, asking to take care of it, I immediately went to see Rize.
It was a long schedule that took several days, so after replenishing the Rize ingredients, I felt the accumulated fatigue alleviate.
Still, I had something to do, so I left the house again without saying goodbye for a long time.
The last place I stopped by was Hazel’s house.
“mister!”
“hello!”
“Mister, I made a new technique!”
He soothed the children who were afraid to jump in one by one and took out a stake containing the power of Dee Gena along with gifts of food.
“That’s right, what a bloody gift.”
Hazel, who was watching from behind, said that, and the children couldn’t hide their disappointing expression, but their attitude changed after my words.
“Even if you look at it like this, it is a holy relic.”
“If it’s a sacred object, does it contain divine power?”
“Wow, this one can pierce the Dark Knight’s armor, right?”
“If I plant it in the ground, will I be able to spread the divine power?”
He nodded his head with a hearty smile as he immediately saw them talking about the strategy using the holy relic.
I thought that if I told you a little more, you would be able to put it to good use.
That’s how we had dinner together with Hazel and the five children. I had told Rize in advance, but instead, I planned to spend the whole day tomorrow for Rize.
Needless to say, cooking was my job.
It’s good to eat well, but trying to make 7 servings was hard labor as expected. It was fortunate that Rowen helped prepare the bottom ingredients.
I was about to leave, admiring the children’s eating habits, even the snacks I bought as snacks, but Hazel suddenly called me and stopped me.
“Irvin, would you like to go out for a drink together?”
“… … .”
Why are you like this all of a sudden?
Watching Hazel do something she doesn’t normally do, and preparing for an unexpected situation, Hazel narrowed her eyes and added.
“I’m not trying to harm you or anything like that, I’m really asking you to have a drink, so don’t be so vigilant.”
“Ah, yes, it is.”
Then, holding a bottle in his right hand, he walked briskly, waved to the children who were staring closely at the slightly open door, and followed Hazel after waving.
Passing through the rice field with a familiar step, Hazel stopped at a place with a long chair that looked as if she had made it herself.
Hazel sat there without a word, and I sat next to her without saying a word.
They had an atmosphere where they wouldn’t say anything unless alcohol was involved, so they took out glasses from their bags and filled each other.
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There were no snacks and no conversation, but after drinking several glasses in succession, Hazel fiddled with the glass that was no longer filled.
Normally, I would have scolded him for not being in a hurry and telling me to speak quickly, but I felt that this was not the case, so I looked around for no reason.
It’s been a while since then… … Hazel’s mouth finally opened.
“Thank you so much for getting the ring back.”
“… … !”
I was frightened by those words and hurriedly got up from my seat and took a few steps back, and Hazel looked at me and put on an absurd expression.
“What are you doing?”
“No, no, you’re not the kind of person to say that, are you?”
“… … sit down.”
“Did you owe anything? Can you lend me some money? Or have I done something wrong?”
“Sit down.”