Chapter 4. Escape and Service (6)

“Wait, but where did you get that cell phone? You didn’t have it when you came in.”

Given Ria’s personality, it wouldn’t be strange if she had hidden it, but I had already read the original novel, and there were many parts I remembered to some extent.

In the original work, Ria complained a lot that the convent didn’t even have cell phones. And the Saint is a technophobe. She had never properly held a smartphone since she was young.

Given the circumstances, Ria’s father must have sent her to the convent as punishment, so naturally, all her belongings like smartphones would have been confiscated.

Even then, it wouldn’t have been easy to obtain a smartphone inside.

But now, Ria was holding a smartphone in her hand. Although it was a bit old and not the latest model, fitting for the daughter of a Hero.

I hadn’t seen her using it separately until now?

“I borrowed it.”

“From whom?”

“From Lee Si-yoon.”

Hmph.

He would lend it to her if she asked… he would lend it to her. After all, that’s his personality. The kind of personality that would easily be called a pushover by readers.

The Saint also had a bit of a pushover tendency, but Lee Si-yoon was much worse. Well, perhaps it was because of that personality that the heroine’s salvation episode could happen.

“He readily lent it to me, saying he wanted to buy you chicken or something.”

“……When are you going to return it?”

“Ah, I’m supposed to come again tomorrow. There’s also that princess’s matter.”

“Ah…”

As if thinking I wouldn’t know how to use a smartphone, Ria fiddled with the smartphone and replied.

“Hmm?”

However, it’s a bit strange.

I had never seen any information in the original work stating that the elf heroine was a princess. She was mentioned as a noble several times, and it was emphasized as if intentionally.

……Well, it doesn’t seem important right now.

Thinking about it again, Lee Si-yoon was placed a little further away at that time. His rank was still low, and the reason he followed us in the first place was not so much for his skills but because he was the only acquaintance I had who could be assigned as a bodyguard.

It was probably for my psychological stability. Holy power and magic are generally greatly influenced by the caster’s mental state.

And the other party is a princess.

The hunters who were exchanging words near the gate were whispering to each other, and as soon as the word “princess” came up, the hunter next to the speaker poked him in the side. There’s a good chance Lee Si-yoon didn’t hear it.

Originally, she should have been treated and returned to her own world, but something happened beyond that, and the gate disappeared.

……Regardless of whether she can return to her original world or not, she probably thought it was best to hide her identity as much as possible while remaining in this world.

Okay, thinking about it this way, the situation fits a little better.

As I was nodding to myself-

“I ordered it.”

“Boneless fried?”

“One fried chicken, and just in case, one seasoned chicken. While we’re at it, cheese balls and french fries too… Hey, how do you know about boneless fried chicken and stuff?”

“……Did you think I couldn’t eat chicken just because I live here?”

The church operates on about 80% donations and 20% taxes from the government. As taxes are used, they cannot be completely free from the public’s gaze.

Occasionally, there are people who complain about nuns or monks ordering delivery food.

But even so, isn’t it pitiful to feed only church food to growing children? It’s common for priests or the Nun Superior to treat children to outside food like chicken or hamburgers with their own money.

Or, when they go for volunteer work, the adults from the volunteer organization they participated with buy it for them, or the adult nuns or monks who have activity funds also buy it.

As I proudly puffed out my chest and explained, Ria replied with a somewhat deflated expression, “Oh, really…”.

Why? Was she disappointed that she couldn’t say something like, “Ah, this is ‘chicken'”?

However, Ria’s subsequent gaze, which seemed to pity me, made me unable to grasp her emotions.

*

Chicken is originally a food with a strong smell.

Well, most delicious foods have a smell. That ‘smell’ also plays a very important part in the taste.

So, Ria and I chose to eat outside.

Ria said she would go to the backyard of the church, receive the chicken over the wall, and eat it- but I was a little surprised when Ria literally jumped over the wall and brought back the chicken set.

“Why? What did you think would happen?”

“I thought you’d support me from below or something.”

“If one of us supports the other, can we even reach the top with our height?”

Looking up together, we both shook our heads.

Well, Ria is a Hero candidate. In the original work, she jumped around well. In a fantasy world, you need that level of physical ability to fight against fantasy.

Holding the chicken, we went to a more secluded spot. We both know the nooks and crannies of the church building well, where the windows are hard to see. After all, we’ve been all over the church cleaning.

Click.

I turned on the small flashlight I brought, and Ria turned on her phone’s LED.

We placed the two devices appropriately to illuminate the chicken, and opened the box.

“……Ah.”

The smell was so stimulating. In a good way. Although the healthy food from the church also had meat and fried items, there was no food with such violent calories.

As for health, the food provided by the church was nutritionally balanced-

“Wait.”

Suddenly, Ria covered the box. And she quickly bent down and hid the light from her smartphone and flashlight.

I wasn’t so foolish as to need to ask “Why?” out loud.

“…….”

Thump, thump.

I heard footsteps.

It was the sound of someone approaching us.

Could it be the Nun Superior? Or the guard on duty at night? Whichever it is, if we were caught, we’d have to hear unpleasant things.

I didn’t want to deal with that at this late hour-

Thud.

But the footsteps didn’t continue and were interrupted midway.

“……Ugh.”

And then I heard a groan of pain.

“Ugh, I followed the delicious smell and fell… What will Father say if he sees this…”

It was a voice I had never heard before.

Ria and I blinked.

More peculiar than the voice was the way she addressed her father.

Father?

In the darkness, Ria and I looked at each other.

And then we slowly got up from our seats, each holding our flashlight and smartphone.

When we went towards the sound-

“……Ah.”

There stood an elf.

Messy hair, as if she had just woken up. Golden hair, either naturally curly or tangled waves. And-

Heterochromatic eyes, looking up at us.

“…….”

Ria and I looked at each other with bewildered expressions.

And then we looked down at the elf again without a word.

*

In this world, elves are almost all vegan.

Ah, of course, not for ideological reasons. Elves in this world simply dislike meat.

In the novel, it was said to be because of the smell.

Just as some people can’t eat meat that has a strong pig or cow smell, elves have sensitive olfactory senses and don’t eat such meat- or so it was said. But then, is the smell of plants okay?

The elf, who had been recovering in a deep sleep like me, woke up midway and wandered around the building to assess the situation. It seems she was drawn here by the smell that wafted in through the open window for ventilation.

……And of course, the smell the elf followed was not the smell of fried chicken.

“It’s delicious…”

Crying tears, she was shoving french fries into her mouth, having starved for so long.

……Aren’t chicken chips and french fries fried together with chicken? Is that okay?

Or perhaps, she was so hungry that she didn’t even care about that smell. I have a friend who doesn’t eat kimchi, but he ate it while he was in the military.

Seeing her eat so eagerly, we simply passed the entire bag of french fries to the elf. After all, we had cheese balls, and enough chicken for each of us to eat one.

Munch munch.

……Hmm.

Did I eat ramen like that too?

For some reason, I was a little concerned, so I ate the chicken little by little, without opening my mouth too wide. It was delicious. Normally, I might have shed a tear or two.

However, the elf next to me was too distracting.

Ria felt the same way, so she couldn’t even think of teasing me as usual and was looking at the elf.

After she had eaten almost all of the rather large portion of french fries, the elf, sensing our gaze, was startled and looked up.

“…….”

Silence.

A silence far heavier than the one that had hovered between Ria and me earlier settled between us.

The elf slowly lowered her hand, then held her head high.

And placing one hand on her chest, she said,

“…I am Gloria, of the noble bloodline of the kingdom, the legitimate heir of the Charlet Royal Family. I am honored as a guest to share such precious food.”

Ah, right. That was indeed the name.

……So, does that mean she is a princess?

“……Um.”

Ria said, looking at Gloria.

“Your fingers are greasy.”

“Huk!”

At Ria’s words, Gloria was startled and quickly pulled her hand away.

But the grease that had stained her shiny fingers had already smeared all over her clothes.

“…….”

An awkward silence descended again.

What are we going to do about this atmosphere, Gloria?