70 – What the Devout Wants(2)
“Pay attention!”
A booming voice echoed through the plaza.
The nun appeared in the center of the village, smiling with her lively smile.
There was a small cross in her hand.
She held the holy relics of God in her heart along with devout prayers.
It may not be a monastery, but the appearance of a nun praying in the middle of the square was unusual.
Her raucous distance died down for a moment, then her eyes focused on her.
But the nun held her head high, not paying attention to the glances around her.
“Today, I’m here to explain the Gospels. I would appreciate it if you would listen to me even if you are busy!”
After that, Celica continued with a reverent voice.
Whoever heard it started reciting boring stories.
No one actually listened to her.
Her people passed by, pretending not to see her.
The merchants keeping their seats frowned.
There were also people who were annoyed by picking her ears.
There were also passers-by who cursed at her on the street where she couldn’t hear.
Even so, Celica wasn’t discouraged at all.
“Through this story, we can see that the Goddess is always watching over us.”
She went on with her words without any superfluity.
He did not waver at all despite the ignorance and gossip around him.
Looking at it, it wasn’t like I’ve done it once or twice.
There were whispers nearby.
Her people looked at her with her tired eyes and pointed at her.
Looking at the reactions around me, I could tell that this happened often.
“That’s why we must always live with a heart of gratitude to the Goddess. As beings who receive the blessings of the Goddess…”
Her speech lasted for twenty minutes.
When she raised her voice, no one listened.
On the contrary, criticism and accusations only piled up.
Twenty minutes passed and the nun stopped talking.
To finish her off, she raised the crucifix in her hand.
“Finally, let me offer her prayers to the Goddess. Even those of you who don’t mind, put your hands together with me…?!”
Her apology flew at her suddenly.
The apple flew at a high speed and landed on her head.
The nun’s body, which had not budged until now, staggered for the first time.
It was a malicious prank by a passing child.
But no one was surprised or scolded her child.
On the contrary, there were only people who burst into laughter at the ridiculous appearance.
But she was smiling unwaveringly even in that situation.
“I’m sorry. Then I’ll go ahead with the prayer.”
Like that, Celica finished her last prayer and even greeted her before turning her steps back from the plaza.
When she disappeared, the square turned into an uproar.
Her venom towards her was mostly.
Sighs and annoyed voices continued for a while.
And the same goes for Erina next to me.
“He has no shame. He’s better off begging.”
“Don’t say that.”
Lightly clutching her head to the beat Erina covered her head with her shriek.
There must have been no pain, but she was welling up with tears.
I laughed out loud at the increasing amount of tears every day.
Kyla, on the other hand, didn’t seem particularly interested.
Just being wary of the surroundings, he pressed down his robe deeply.
“Kayla. Did you see it earlier?”
“A little while ago, the nun kept watching.”
Unlike Erina, Kayla listened to Celica until the end.
“Yes. What do you think of such a person?”
At my question, Kayla tilted her head.
It seems that you did not understand the intent of the question.
After thinking about it for a while, she opened her mouth.
“He seems a bit strange. I don’t know why he is preaching when no one is listening.”
As expected, Kayla didn’t seem to sympathize with the nun’s actions.
Actually, it would be strange if I sympathized.
“Let’s go somewhere else anyway. It’s too noisy here.”
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Erina led me to the weapon shop while holding her hand.
It was clearly in the opposite direction to the monastery.
Originally, I was going to visit the monastery to confirm Celica’s existence.
But since Celica appeared on her own, she had no reason to go all the way to the monastery.
“Yes. Okay, so let’s go and look around quickly.”
“…Yes, I understand.”
When Erina was about to enter the store as she wished, she put on a subtle expression.
When she saw it, she was convinced in her heart.
After all, the weapon shop was just an excuse.
Originally, it seems that he was trying to prevent me from meeting Celica.
But when she met her by chance, her goal was lost.
As Erina suddenly looked sullen, Kayla looked sideways as if it were strange.
“Welcome!”
As we entered the building, we could see numerous weapons on display.
From swords to axes, bows and staffs.
Among them were weapons that looked quite expensive.
The clerk greeted us with a welcoming expression.
Looking at us, it seemed that they noticed that we were adventurers.
They rubbed their palms together with a wry smile.
“Looking for a new weapon?”
“No. Just…”
“There’s a lot of stuff, so take your time and look around. Don’t worry about the quality!”
Erina nodded her head with a subtle expression.
Looking around the store, there was no weapon she liked.
Maybe it was obvious. The equipment Erina had was a rare item that could not be obtained anywhere.
There was no way an item that was only available on the market would catch her eye.
Suddenly, the sense of mischief kicked in, so I approached Erina and asked.
“Don’t have a favorite weapon?”
“I don’t want to buy, I just watch…”
“You don’t like the equipment you have and you want to change it?”
“Oh no! I don’t mean you want to change weapons!”
In the first place, Erina’s armor and sword were all weapons I had chosen.
It must have been a valuable item from her point of view.
“If you don’t like it, you can change it. I have money.”
“No. The weapons I have now are enough…”
“Really? I thought I didn’t like it because I didn’t take care of it and just carried it around.”
At my words, Erina’s pupils shook greatly.
Of course it was meant to be teasing, but it seems that he sincerely believed it.
Immediately, her expression hardened.
Her pale face was stained with embarrassment.
Would it have been such a shock to hear that weapons were neglected?
I roughly expected it, but the response was beyond my imagination.
“I-I…”
A dilemma. It was Erina who asked me to come to the weapon shop in the first place.
Since she had brought it on herself, she couldn’t be angry or feel bad about it.
Seeing her fidgeting, she suppressed a laugh.
It’s not uncommon to see her stuttering her words while she’s unusually withdrawn.
Kayla, who had been watching her quietly, shook her head as if she couldn’t understand her.
She didn’t understand the situation because she didn’t know what was going on.
And the clerk doesn’t understand the situation and she just smiles.
“Now, don’t be like that. Take a look around. You seem to be dealing with a long sword, but there’s a good one just in case.”
She came out of the counter and even picked out her own weapon.
The long sword the owner brought was even decorated with luxurious embroidery.
However, there was no way that she would like Erina.
I quickly waved my hand, and the clerk immediately picked out another item.
“Then, do you have any other weapons you want? It’s okay if you tell me in detail.”
“Oh, no. I’ll just look at it with my own eyes.”
After saying that, Erina ran out of her weapon shop as if running away.
Unfortunately, from the clerk’s point of view, she didn’t seem to want to buy anything.
I left the store with an appropriate greeting.
Seeing Erina run away for the first time, she couldn’t help laughing.
On the other hand, she glared at the clerk with a worldly serious expression.
She hurriedly blocked her way in case there was a fight.
As it were, I pushed my back and went out into the street.
“You don’t seem very interested. Would you like to see more?”
“No! I just want to go home…”
Her shoulders drooped as if she was exhausted just by talking to the clerk for a moment.
He hurriedly grabbed my arm and led me in the direction of the dorm.
I wanted to tease her a little more, but I decided to hold back.
Above all, there was still work to be done.
“Let’s go to the requesting office. The request must be accepted.”
At my words, Erina hesitated and then let go of my hand.
“Yes. All right… “
Erina didn’t say a word while wandering around looking for her request.
Kayla, who was watching her, cautiously approached her and whispered in her ear.
“Master, Erina-sama is strange. She looks uncharacteristically flustered.”
I simply went to the weapon shop.
But suddenly Erina became depressed and she became mute.
Knowing what was going on, I was just laughing, but Kayla didn’t understand and was making a serious face.
“Well, I don’t know.”
I decided to answer appropriately and move on.
To understand the current situation, it would not be enough to explain it all day.