Chapter 15
“I’m Kim Malja, a tiny leaf serving Iris, the Goddess of Flowers.”
For a moment, I was taken aback.
There was another reason, but above all, it was because the girl’s name was a hometown name completely out of place here.
And a rather old-fashioned one at that.
“That’s an unusual name.”
For a moment, I even wondered if she might be from the same hometown as me.
But her features were far from Korean.
Besides, even her naming style seemed closer to the old days than to the present.
“My grandmother, who used to be a priest, gave me this name!”
“I see. I thought it was a good name.”
I didn’t press further.
Pressing her for answers would only make me look suspicious.
“By the way, have you unpacked your belongings?”
“Um, no?”
Priest Malja shook her head from side to side.
It was as if she were insisting she wasn’t that shameless.
Though, despite saying that, she had come to the unfinished church and even cleaned it.
“Then let’s unpack first. It seems they’re still working on the chapel, but the living quarters seem to have been mostly finished, so it should be fine.”
The living quarters I entered with Priest Malja consisted of two floors.
I didn’t know why the church lodgings prepared for just me were so spacious, but I had no complaints.
If anything, it worked out well for now.
“I’m getting on in years, and my joints are weak, so I’ll use the first floor. Priest Malja, you should use the second floor.”
I was only in my thirties, hardly old enough to worry about my knees, but I gave up the second floor out of consideration for young Priest Malja.
“I’ll go unpack my things as well, so take your time getting settled.”
“Yes!”
But after entering my room, the first thing I did wasn’t unpacking.
I opened the Gallery to satisfy the curiosity I’d been unable to show while managing my expression earlier.
Title : I have something I’m curious about. How long have victims summoned to this place been here?
Author : ㅇㅇ(123.123)
[Dunno?]
[At least a few hundred years]
[Not sure, but a really long time]
[People get summoned pretty often, too. About two or three people join the Gallery every year]
ㄴ[The problem is that just as many disappear again]
‘It’s been around longer than I thought? That doesn’t make sense.’
Then something felt off.
I quickly figured out what was bothering me.
‘Can the people here really not know about a phenomenon that’s been going on for so long and happens so often?’
My question was quickly answered.
The very next comment addressed what I had been wondering, as though it had read my thoughts.
ㄴ[For reference, people here do know to some extent that people get summoned from another world. It’s not common knowledge, but it feels like all the upper classes know?]
ㄴ[Yeah, they know we’re not demons, so they leave us alone]
ㄴ[And some probably leave us alone because the knowledge and technology we bring over, knowingly or otherwise, are useful]
ㄴ[Most citizens just think of us as immigrants, though]
“Huh..”
‘I had wondered why there were so many people in the Gallery.’
I even clicked my tongue at the unexpected fact.
As someone who regularly read the Information tab, this was news to me.
[But why am I only finding this out now?]
ㄴ[(Read the room.. emote)]
ㄴ[If you’re the head mod, please stop living in the real world and spend some time on the Gallery!]
ㄴ[Because it’s something people talk about several times a day..]
“Ah.”
Only then could I roughly grasp what was going on.
People don’t go out of their way to tell you as a tip that seawater is salty.
It’s something you naturally learn after spending a little time around it.
Apparently, this was the same kind of fact.
[Didn’t you think it was strange that the Gallery had so many people in it in the first place?]
I had only used the Gallery as a place to learn, so naturally I hadn’t known.
Still, it wasn’t as though I felt entirely blameless.
If they’d written even a single line about it in the Newbie Must-Read section of the Notices tab, I wouldn’t have made this mistake.
[Well, one reason they don’t bother putting it in the Notices tab is the newbies]
ㄴ[Why is that?]
ㄴ[If they find out right away through the notices, most newbies quickly figure out the reality and despair over the situation they’re in]
ㄴ[Especially as isekai stories began using more familiar modern settings, that tendency became more pronounced]
ㄴ[Yeah, you need to remain ignorant of reality to have hope]
ㄴ[Maybe that’s why, if you browse the Gallery, there are quite a few newbies who think they’re some chosen hero lol]
It was a mindset I found difficult to understand.
ㄴ[But that misconception helps them forget reality and gives them hope. It also lets some of them adapt quickly]
ㄴ[Besides, even without putting it in the notices, it’s something you can figure out quickly if you keep browsing the Gallery]
ㄴ[Of course, even after learning the truth, quite a few people still think they’re different because they don’t know their place. Honestly, I was like that too lol]
I could almost understand what they meant, but not quite.
[But if it really bothers you, you’re the head mod, so you can add it to the notices]
ㄴ[But you know all rules are written in blood, right?]
…
I turned off the Gallery and lay down on the bed.
The bed was still empty, not even filled with straw, so it was as hard as lying on the floor, but it was bearable enough to lie down on.
‘There’s nothing I can change now, and even if I’d learned this earlier, I doubt I would have made a different choice.’
I had no other particular thoughts.
What really bothered me was something else.
‘Of all things..’
I thought of the name of the young priestess I had taken in as a new member of my household.
‘Kim Malja.’
I couldn’t help being utterly aghast.
And for good reason: the name Kim Malja was my mother’s name.
That was the main reason I’d been so flustered when I heard her name earlier.
‘Am I really going to make my mother’s namesake work for me?’
Good grief.
I felt like an unfilial son.
…
Knock, knock-
‘Even the sound of knocking is starting to feel familiar now.’
When I slowly opened the door, I found Priest Malja standing there.
I considered banning her from coming to the first-floor quarters unless it was urgent, but soon decided against it.
‘There are only two of us, anyway. It won’t matter as long as I don’t go upstairs.’
If our household grew, I’d have to establish a strict division, but surely no more church members would join us here, right?
“What is it?”
“Hehe, it was lunchtime, so I came to see whether you’d eaten yet.”
Had it already gotten that late?
“Then let’s go downstairs and get something to eat..”
I stopped mid-sentence and shut my mouth.
I realized I was no longer staying at the inn.
So there was no way I could get food even if I went downstairs.
‘..I’ll have to go shopping for groceries.’
The problem was that I had very little money left.
Four and a half copper coins.
If one copper coin was roughly ten thousand won, then my entire fortune amounted to less than fifty thousand won.
‘First, I’ll use this to buy some simple groceries, then ask Priest Margaret to advance me my pay.’
But at Priest Malja’s next words, I left my few remaining coins safely untouched.
“You haven’t eaten yet, have you? I thought so, so I prepared some food for you too, Priest.”
I looked at her with a strange expression.
‘My mother’s namesake is even making me a meal? This is disorienting.’
But that disorientation didn’t last long.
The moment I saw the prepared table, I was faced with even greater dismay.
On the table sat a pot brimming with stew.
‘The never-ending slop..’
I couldn’t suppress a groan at the unmistakable slop-like appearance of the stew.
Wondering if there might at least be some meat hiding beneath the stew, I stirred it once with a ladle, but sadly, there wasn’t even any meat I could use as an excuse.
‘The day has finally come when I have to stuff this into my mouth.’
At least I could take comfort in the fact that it wasn’t porridge that had been boiled and reboiled for years.
“..From next time on, I’ll do the cooking.”
“No! You took me in as a member of the household, so I should handle chores like this!”
“No, it’s fine. Cooking happens to be a hobby of mine.”
Naturally, cooking was not actually one of my wholesome domestic hobbies.
It was merely an excuse I’d blurted out because I didn’t want to eat the slop again.
Fortunately, Priest Malja seemed to accept that and nodded lightly in agreement.
But the problem I’d solved was one that would arise in the future, not the one confronting me right now.
“Then this stew might be both the first and last dish I ever serve you! Please enjoy it!”
I discreetly checked the pot.
‘Judging by how much she made, it looks like I’ll be eating this until tomorrow morning.’
Afraid my disgust might show on my face, I forced my expression to settle before scooping some up with the ladle.
‘Turnip, sweet potato, beans.. Is that even a piece of apple?’
The more I rummaged through it, the more new ingredients appeared.
The ingredient that topped it all was a sticky lump.
‘..Sujebi?’
No wonder the stew had seemed oddly sticky despite the amount of sweet potato; there were flour sujebi dumplings in it.
Not only the notoriously tasteless turnips, but flour dumplings dumped in without even any stock.
It had already looked unappetizing, but once I knew what was inside, what little appetite I had left plummeted straight through the floor.
But perhaps it would taste different once it was in my mouth. I cautiously took a bite.
The slippery sujebi was soft and squishy as I chewed it.
‘Was her grandmother perhaps British?’
I couldn’t help thinking so.
‘And I have to eat this until tomorrow morning.’
That was when a wicked thought, one no genuine priest could ever entertain, crossed my mind.
Of course, it was a diabolical scheme possible only because I was a priest impostor.
“Come to think of it, the workers were having a hard time working on the chapel earlier.”
“Yes?”
“They must be hungry too. What do you think about sharing some food with them?”
‘I can’t be the only one who eats this.’
I swallowed my true thoughts and made the suggestion gently.
Priest Malja seemed to think it was a good idea and immediately nodded.
“That’s a wonderful idea! I’ll go share it with them right now!”
There was no need for her to leave in the middle of the meal, but I didn’t stop her.
In fact, the moment Priest Malja took the pot and left, I hurriedly slipped away as well.
‘I should run away while I have the chance—no, at least go grocery shopping.’
No one was chasing me, but for some reason my steps quickened.
‘Would this be my second time shopping at the market?’
Strictly speaking, it was questionable whether my first trip could be called shopping.
All I had bought then was a piece of oak and a carving knife to carve the symbol.
However, not long after I arrived at the market, an unexpected incident occurred, leaving me flustered.
“Goodness, Priest! I’m telling you, I’m only charging the listed price for all of it!”
“No.. This is troublesome.”
The merchants were trying to rip me off.
More precisely—
“Oh, come on, it really is the listed price. Were you born yesterday?”
They were using a gourd scoop to ladle out the ingredients.
I looked down at the ingredients piled high in both hands.
‘How was this even possible with fifty thousand won?’