Chapter 5
“Thank you.”
I calmly bowed my head.
If I refused for no reason, saying I didn't need it, I might only give him an excuse to grow suspicious.
Since he wouldn't be able to find luggage that didn't exist anyway, it would be better to accept his goodwill naturally for now.
It seemed not to have been a bad decision, as the lord responded with evident satisfaction.
“Come to think of it, it's lunchtime. Have you eaten?”
It was an odd thing to say after coming to visit at lunchtime.
Naturally, I hadn't eaten yet, and he must have guessed as much.
There was only one thing to say here.
“It's lunchtime already. No wonder I was feeling peckish.”
“Perfect timing. Our mansion's chef should be preparing lunch around now, so why don't you come with me? It's only a short carriage ride.”
To be honest, that sounded burdensome.
Fortunately, Margaret intervened at just the right moment.
“Let's just go to a nearby restaurant. We don't know when a patient might arrive, so how long would it take to go all the way to the mansion and back?”
“It wouldn't take even forty minutes round trip..”
“By the time we eat, digest our food, and ride the carriage, it'll obviously take two hours! Just eat somewhere nearby!”
“Very well..”
The lord nodded with a sheepish expression.
He looked disappointed, but he already seemed well aware that he couldn't overcome Margaret's stubbornness.
Still, for the restaurant owner, suddenly having to receive the lord was as good as a bolt from the blue.
As expected.
The moment the lord stepped inside, the restaurant owner's face turned deathly pale.
Seeing that, Margaret shook their head and chided the lord, which was hardly surprising.
“You should at least wear a mask when you go out. Don't you see how scared everyone gets?”
“What on earth is wrong with my face? Isn't he just flustered because the lord came to visit?”
“Do you really think so? Why don't you tell him, Flawy?”
The arrow suddenly turned on me.
“That's a difficult question.”
“See?”
…”
I fumbled my answer, but anyone with even a little tact would have understood what I meant.
‘He does seem like a good lord.’
Unfortunately, his face was eating up all of his good points.
‘Well, everyone has at least one flaw.’
Meanwhile, Priest Margaret sat down and ordered as though familiar with the place.
“Innkeeper, bring us three servings of the usual.”
“P-Priest Margaret, you mean the same thing for all three of you?”
“What, is there anything else on the menu?”
“..I'll have it ready in a moment.”
The restaurant owner vanished into the kitchen as though fleeing.
Watching him, the lord asked in dismay,
“Don't tell me it's that dish again, Priest Margaret?”
As a noble, the lord seemed reluctant to eat the food of ordinary residents.
‘Still, he does look the part.’
But that assessment vanished the moment the food arrived.
If anything, I understood him completely.
‘No wonder the lord was horrified.’
The food looked remarkably like pig-slop porridge.
In reality, it wasn't all that different.
At least, that was what the people on the Gallery said.
제목 : What on earth is this food?
(Photo)
[Ugh, this is basically a shit pic]
[Eternal stew?]
[Bottomless porridge lol]
ㄴ[They literally keep adding water and ingredients whenever the pot gets low, so they call it eternal stew or bottomless porridge because the contents never decrease]
ㄴ[With that color, they probably kept it simmering for five years without even turning off the fire lol Enjoy your meal]
‘So it is technically edible.’
Though I didn't want to eat it.
As I uneasily inspected the bowl, I spotted a sizable chunk of meat in the stew and brightened.
It wasn't because I was happy to see the meat.
I was happy because I'd found an excuse.
“I'm sorry. I don't eat meat, so I don't think I can manage this stew.”
“Does the Church of Flowers have a doctrine forbidding meat?”
“I simply don't eat meat.”
“What a difficult way to live. No wonder you're so scrawny.”
Margaret clicked their tongue and ordered some fresh bread.
It had apparently been made quite some time ago, since it arrived hard and dry, but it was still better than eating a pot of gruel that had been boiled for years.
“Um, Priest Margaret.”
“What now.”
“Actually, I can't eat meat either..”
“Don't bullshit me.”
“Yes, sir.”
The lord glanced enviously at the bread I was eating before finally scooping up a mouthful of stew.
However, his expression soon relaxed.
Apparently, the taste itself wasn't as atrocious as he'd expected.
‘Well, if it was boiled for a long time, it might have excellent umami, even if the hygiene is questionable.’
Even so, I didn't want to put it to my lips.
“Oh, right, Priest Flawy.”
The lord, having eaten a few spoonfuls of stew, suddenly spoke.
“About building a church. Is there perhaps a plot of land you want?”
Come to think of it, he'd said he would build me a church when we first met.
I hadn't paid proper attention because I was lost in other thoughts, but it was an offer any ordinary priest would have welcomed with open arms.
However, it looked like the sort of gift that would give me a stomachache if I accepted it, so I shook my head and declined.
“A church won't be necessary. Instead, I think it would be enough if you erected even a small statue of the goddess in the city.”
This seemed like an appropriate answer for a priest.
But the lord looked far from satisfied.
“Just a statue? Don't you also need somewhere to stay, Priest?”
The lord wasn't the only one to object.
Margaret also set down their spoon, looking dumbfounded.
“They say they'll build you a church for free. You ought to accept it. Why the hell are you refusing again?”
Honestly, Margaret's comment was completely unexpected.
For one thing, this city was unquestionably the stronghold of the Church of Earth.
“Wouldn't it inconvenience the people of the Church of Earth if another faith established a presence in the city?”
“Don't worry about it.”
Margaret scooped up another spoonful of stew as though it were no big deal.
“After we cover the church's operating expenses and the priests' salaries, all the donations we receive go to the central office anyway. Even if the donations decrease, the central office will send enough to make up the shortfall, so we have nothing to lose.”
“Is that so?”
This was practically a cathedral, not a church.
The lord brightened at Margaret's unexpected support.
“Exactly. And Priest! Aren't the Goddess of Earth and the Goddess of Flowers mother and daughter deities? The people of the Church of Earth will be happy to see a Church of Flowers.”
‘He's surprisingly well-versed in theology for someone who looks like that.’
In the end, I had no choice but to raise the white flag.
Refusing to the very end would have been stranger in this situation.
Besides, if there would be no friction with the Church of Earth, which had been my biggest concern, I had no reason to keep being stubborn.
“In that case, I will gratefully accept.”
“You really have made the right decision!”
A smile blossomed across the lord's face.
Perhaps the stew he'd reluctantly spooned down moments ago had begun to taste like ambrosia, because he even lifted the bowl and gulped it down.
‘Speaking of which, a church.’
I'd planned to quietly seek shelter with the Church of Earth once I'd finished studying theology, but things were taking a peculiar turn.
‘It shouldn't be difficult. The citizens won't abandon the familiar Church of Earth to come over here, after all.’
But I didn't know it yet.
Just how naïve that thought was.
…
The lord said he had a great deal of backlogged work and left immediately after the meal.
After seeing the lord off and returning to the clinic, Margaret waved me away as well.
“Then you should go in too.”
“Is that really all right?”
“The rumor that the lord came has already spread, so no patients are likely to come today. And even if an urgent patient does arrive, I'll be here.”
Margaret thought for a moment before adding,
“Still, tell me where your inn is before you go. Just in case.”
“All right.”
I pretended to look disappointed, but inwardly I was glad.
There were still many doctrines and scriptures I hadn't memorized.
Besides, I still had to learn the writing here, so I welcomed this unexpected free time.
That was when I returned to my inn room, opened the Gallery, and began studying.
Knock, knock.
Judging by the knocking coming from low on the door, it seemed to be the innkeeper's daughter.
My guess was right.
When I opened the door, I saw the girl standing there.
But her expression was unexpected.
Her face was crumpled as though she might burst into tears at any moment.
“What is it?”
Quite flustered, I asked what was wrong, and the girl finally burst into tears and explained.
“My big brother got hurt. Sniff..”
‘Hmm.’
It was a rather familiar situation.
Back in my original world, once the neighbors learned I was a healer, they would often come at all hours asking me to look at their injuries.
It wasn't a fond memory.
“Is he badly hurt?”
Brushing aside my distracting thoughts, I asked how badly he was injured.
“Yes.. There's so, so much blood.”
Apparently, this wasn't the time to waste.
With the girl leading the way, I hurried to the room where Sean was.
But after seeing Sean's actual condition, I could only sigh in exasperation.
‘So the “a lot of blood” was a nosebleed from both nostrils.’
…
“Go wait outside for a moment. I'll make sure to treat your brother.”
“Okaaay.”
After sending the girl away, I approached Sean.
“Looks like you got into a fight.”
…
There was no response.
He kept his head lowered, staring only at the floor.
“Wouldn't your mother be worried if she saw you like this?”
Only then did Sean reluctantly raise his head.
His face was a sight.
Blood streamed from both nostrils, and one eyelid was swollen with a deep blue bruise.
It was more accurate to say he'd been beaten up than that he'd fought.
“How did you end up fighting?”
I assumed he'd thrown punches over some trivial reason.
But Sean's answer was unexpected.
“That bastard called me a bastard who'd be an orphan soon.”
“Hmm.”
“He said my dad's a mercenary, and that he'd be barbecued by an orc before long..”
‘He deserved a fight.’
Even Priest Margaret might have thrown a punch after hearing words like that.
At a loss for words, I reached a hand toward Sean's face.
Radiant light spread out, stopping the nosebleed and rapidly reducing the swelling around his eye.
“You fought well. Even if you lost.”
“..It's because he's a year older than me. If we were the same age, I'd have won.”
Well, at that age, one year was probably a significant difference.
If anything, Sean was rather admirable for taking on someone a whole year older.
Maybe that's why.
I said something uncharacteristic of me.
“Shall I teach you how to fight?”
Sean thought for a moment before asking in return,
“But Priest, do you know how to fight?”
..That hit a rather sore spot.