episode_0046

I feel like my answer has helped to dispel my own prejudices, but it’s embarrassingly burdensome.

On top of that, my mood got even worse when the guy blushed in front of me and grabbed my hand.

But that doesn’t mean I can show off my dirty feelings.

I was so touched that I liked it so much, but I couldn’t just sprinkle salt on it.

“I’m glad you cleared up the misunderstanding. And I’m sure no one will do anything bad to me, so just worrying about me is enough.”

It is well known that these days, the corruption of priests is so serious that it is causing problems here and there.

No wonder there was a fuss about that once.

I heard that there are only a few corrupt priests who cause problems, and many who faithfully follow the word of God, but after ‘that incident’, all priests are being branded as the same.

‘The country was completely embarrassed because key personnel were involved in a major accident one after another.’

But I never thought that the incident would have such a big impact.

Even when the incident was a hot topic, there were still patients visiting the Shinto healing center.

In the end, I thought the incident was just someone else’s problem.

But I guess that was a naive thought.

‘How kind and faithful our young priests are.’

No wonder the person who initially started to nag at me was the one I talked to the most.

“Please take care of me in the future.”

Still, thanks to these people, I think my guard has been lowered quite a bit.

Thanks to the aggro they gave, several people have voluntarily come forward to speak out about illnesses they had been hiding.

“Priest, stop treating me and eat something. You are just working.”

“Ah! Is the food ready?”

“Everyone is eating, but the priest is not eating.”

Not only were there people being treated for battle wounds, but there were also quite a few people who had frostbite.

When I asked him why he didn’t show me this, he said he was afraid I would be bothered and planned to show it to me later when things got more serious.

It was unpleasant to see them blushing when they looked at me, but it meant that my conversations with them weren’t meaningless.

It was only after I finished my treatment that I was able to have a bite of rice.

As I sat on the rock, blankly filling my stomach, some people quietly sat down next to me.

“Is it okay to eat?”

“Yes, that’s fine. Have you all eaten?”

It wasn’t delicious, but it wasn’t so good that I couldn’t eat it.

“We ate it already.”

The people sitting next to me were Sam and Glen.

Those are the people who grabbed my hand and said they would take responsibility for anyone who touches me in the future.

“I don’t know if it’s okay because people are harassing the priest too much because of us.”

“No matter how much the priest said it was all okay, people don’t know the extent.”

“It’s really okay.”

“Our priest, you are too kind, so it might be a problem.”

“That’s why we have to protect it.”

I couldn’t understand what the hell he was trying to protect me from.

“Whew~ You guys, stop pestering the priest, okay? Do you think the priest is your friend because he accepts you?”

Then, a woman smoking a cigarette approached and spoke to Sam and Glen.

“Child, why are you like that? Shouldn’t we be friends with the priest?”

“Oh, no. So get out.”

What was surprising was that Sam and Glenn didn’t get angry at the woman’s words and just backed off.

“You fought because of me…?”

“You don’t have to worry about those annoying things. I’m warning you, don’t hang out with them for no reason. It’ll just be annoying.”

Even though his tone was sharp, I knew that he was saying it out of concern for me.

I appreciate it, but I’m worried that being too harsh on my coworkers might cause problems.

“I’m fine.”

“They’re the kind of guys who would befriend a priest and use him for a long time. They sneak a peek, and since the priest seems kind, they start sticking to him right away.”

“What’s so great about becoming friends with me?”

“You’re not saying this because you really don’t know, are you?”

The king of connections is undoubtedly the royal family.

And just below them were the priests, not the nobles.

Even in your 30s, you realize how important health is.

If you have a close relationship with a priest, wouldn’t you be safe from any illness?

It will be much easier to find a priest who can cure that disease.

“Haha, by the way, I saw you fight this time. You were amazing, weren’t you?”

“Ahem! Did you see it? Well, I did do a pretty good job this time.”

I didn’t know exactly what it meant to be a descendant of the fire spirit, but after seeing her fight, I could roughly understand it.

The sight of her fighting was like ‘fire’ itself.

“Anyway, I came here to tell you not to be too accepting of them. It’s obvious that they’re not the end, but the beginning.”

After giving me a rough warning, she put out her cigarette and tried to leave me.

“Where are you going?”

“… I’m going to leave now that I’m done talking.”

“Please sit next to me.”

“You want me to stay next to you while you eat?”

“Yes.”

“Why me?”

“Come on.”

I thought he might ignore what I said, but surprisingly, he obediently followed my words.

“What is your name?”

It’s not that we didn’t give each other our names, but because there were so many people to remember, I couldn’t remember them properly.

“Nogi. I have a last name, but I can’t use it officially. Because I’m an illegitimate child of a noble family.”

Born out of wedlock to a noble family.

Among the nobles, illegitimate children are looked down upon as having a dirty origin, and among the commoners, they are envied, jealous, and envied for living comfortably because they are lucky.

That is, they are treated as foreigners on both sides.

That’s why few people wanted to reveal that they were illegitimate children.

However, Mr. Nogi surprised everyone by proudly revealing that he was an illegitimate child.

“Since it was something that was bound to become known as we spent time together anyway, I thought it would be better for me to say it myself rather than have it be known through someone else’s mouth.”

“Ah.”

If that’s the case, then I understand.

“Anyway, I apologize for being a bit harsh at first.”

Mr. Nogi extends his hand to me.

I held his hand with a bewildered expression.

“I never intended to be disliked by the priest in the first place. If you dislike the person who is treating you, wouldn’t it be the sick person who suffers?”

That’s right.

The one who suffers when the relationship goes wrong is the person receiving treatment.

A priest should be equal to all patients, but since it is a job done by people, it is impossible not to feel emotions.

“If those guys keep bothering you, tell me anytime. It’s the same if other guys bother you. Even if they’re illegitimate children, they’re aware of my feelings because of their origins.”

After eating my meal and chatting with Ms. Nogi, I grabbed her wrist.

“Ah!”

“Did you intentionally not treat this?”

“… A priest is a priest. How did you know? You didn’t show it.”

“Of course not. I’m not seeing a sick person for just a day or two. Can I treat you?”

“This kind of thing gets better after a day of sleep. That’s why I didn’t get treatment.”

“I hope the pain will decrease even by one day.”

Mr. Nogi thought for a moment and then nodded.

“Then, please do it.”

As soon as the long-awaited permission was given, he moved his divine power.

If you become close to each person like this, won’t there come a day when you become close to everyone in the group?

There were still some people who were wary and not coming near me, but I decided not to be impatient.

◎ ◎ ◎

Even though the snow had stopped, it was still cold enough inside the labyrinth to be concerned about frostbite.

After meeting and defeating the monster named ‘Snowman’ that I had encountered for the first time a few more times, I walked for a while and moved deeper into the labyrinth.

Since we were not sure about morning and night, we were guessing day and night through ‘time’ and set up camp in a suitable place.

To be honest, I was not used to camping so there were many inconveniences.

But if you want to explore the labyrinth from now on, camping is something you absolutely have to get used to.

“Priest, are you feeling uneasy?”

Moreover, I was in a position where people cared about me.

“It’s okay.”

“What’s the temperature?”

“It’s warm if you cover it like this.”

At least your mouth won’t turn.

If I complain about the inconvenience of receiving such meticulous care, what will the people who sleep in worse places than me think?

When you are being cared for, you should be humble and grateful.

“If there is anything uncomfortable, please tell me right away.”

“Yes, I will.”

After the person who checked my sleeping situation left, I was left alone in the tent.

‘Is this the first day of the labyrinth?’

I’m still dazed and it doesn’t feel real.

It was exciting to enter a labyrinth I had only heard about, but it was also exciting to see monsters being hunted up close.

‘If I close my eyes, I can fall asleep as if I were to faint.’

No matter how much I prepared, I was tired from walking for a long time and being nervous about the monsters appearing.

I thought that Princess Canabee suffered so much from insomnia, but after sweating it out in the labyrinth, she would probably be able to fall into a deep sleep.

And when I blinked once.

puck!

dump-!

My eyes flashed and my memory was cut off for a moment.

‘??’

When I came to, I was in a strange space, as if I was falling into a swamp.

‘what?’

Normally, I would feel a sense of crisis and be scared in this situation, but I didn’t feel particularly dangerous.

‘No, you’re putting me to sleep like this because I can’t sleep? Isn’t that too violent?’

I thought I could sleep just by closing my eyes, but I didn’t know that you would use violence to put me to sleep.

My doubts are fleeting.

My head started to hurt like it was going to explode.

I wasn’t flustered because this had happened before.

All kinds of knowledge were digging into my head, and there was no way to refuse.

In the first place, no one would want to reject this.

‘Still, it’s the second time so I’m feeling a bit more used to it… ugh!’

It’s not at all familiar.

My whole body was twisted in pain from the pouring knowledge.