Chapter 34

Read​ ​o​n K​at​Readi​ng​Ca​fe

[Second Letter to the Holy See]

I am Oswin, the bishop of Diaz Cathedral.

While carrying out my sacred duties, I discovered a grave error and am writing this letter to inform you.

This concerns the matter of Ellie, the youngest daughter of Lord Leyton, whom I mentioned in my previous letter.

After further investigation, I report that no signs of heresy were found in her.

All the circumstances I had found suspicious turned out to be mere misunderstandings.

I deeply regret my hasty judgment, which caused distress to innocent individuals, and I bitterly reflect on the disgrace I have brought upon the Holy See and the name of God.

For reference, Lord Leyton cooperated with me fully.

He entrusted his daughter to me without hesitation, allowing me to realize the error of my judgment.

My claim that Lord Leyton had committed blasphemy was also a complete misunderstanding.

He is a man of deep faith.

He regularly visits the cathedral to pray, shows mercy to the poor, and devotes himself to the peace of his territory.

I have returned Ellie to the Leyton family.

I can confidently say that she is absolutely not a witch, but rather a girl with a pure soul.

The previous letter was solely the result of my mistaken judgment, and I earnestly request that it be expunged from the records.

I look forward to the Holy See’s wise judgment.

Sincerely,
Oswin, Bishop of Diaz Cathedral.

Black smoke began to rise from the city.

Soon, red flames shot up into the sky with ferocious intensity.

“Look over there!”

People in the streets stopped and stared.

“Fire! There’s a fire!”

“That’s near the bishop’s mansion!”

“Let’s go!”

The crowd rushed toward the scene.

“Gasp!”

It was indeed Bishop Oswin’s mansion, engulfed in flames.

The building was completely consumed by the fire, and even the walls were catching fire.

Clergy from the cathedral rushed out in shock, and soldiers responsible for the city’s security hurried to the scene.

“P-put out the fire!”

“Bring water, now!”

“Don’t let the flames reach the cathedral!”

“Where is the bishop?!”

Chaos ensued.

Meanwhile, at the cathedral’s letter reception desk—

“What a mess… the bishop’s mansion is on fire…”

Henry, the letter handler, muttered as he rested his chin on his hand.

While others seemed quite serious, Henry remained calm.

Whether it was a fire or a flood, his job was simply to guard this post.

“Yawn~”

Henry scratched his head as he yawned.

“Did the kids play with fire or something?”

He was referring to the children living in Oswin’s mansion.

The girls Oswin had adopted.

“Well, it’ll probably be resolved soon.”

Henry grew drowsier and eventually slumped completely over the reception desk.

His job was to manage the letters coming and going from the cathedral.

It wasn’t particularly busy work.

So, he always maintained this lazy state.

If Bishop Oswin saw him, he’d surely scold him, but it didn’t matter now.

The bishop was probably too busy dealing with the fire.

Henry closed his eyes, reassured.

‘I wish there was a fire every day.’

Just then.

Knock knock-

A tapping sound on the reception window.

“Huh…?”

Henry raised his head and saw something pale.

What’s this?

A head?

Henry slowly sat up and finally noticed someone standing in front of the reception desk.

A girl with white hair.

She was very pretty, but from Henry’s perspective, only her face was barely visible due to her short stature.

This often happened with children.

“What’s the matter, kid?”

When Henry asked, the girl silently pushed something into the reception desk.

It was a letter.

“You’re here on an errand, huh.”

Henry said as he looked at the letter.

“Huh?”

The letter was addressed to the Holy See from Oswin.

Judging by the handwriting and seal on the envelope, it was definitely written by Oswin.

But…

“He’s sending a letter while his house is on fire?”

Henry tilted his head in confusion.

Then, the girl who had just handed over the letter spoke.

“It was sent before the fire started.”

“Ahh…”

Henry nodded as if he understood.

It seemed this girl was one of the children Oswin had adopted.

Oswin often sent children on errands to deliver letters to the Holy See.

“You were out playing, huh?”

Henry chuckled.

The girl probably hadn’t come straight to the cathedral after receiving the letter from Oswin.

She must have gone off to play somewhere else.

Meanwhile, the mansion caught fire, and she hurried to complete her errand.

“I’ll keep it a secret. Be more careful next time.”

“Thank you.”

The girl turned and quickly walked away.

“…Cute.”

Henry chuckled once more and promptly sent Oswin’s letter to the Holy See, not wanting the girl to get into trouble.

After delivering Oswin’s letter to the cathedral, Lucy left the city with Ellie.

There were checkpoints on the way out of the city, but with the bishop’s mansion on fire, the inspections were lax.

Everyone was in chaos.

Amid the confusion, Lucy easily bypassed the checkpoints.

Once outside the city, Lucy summoned a Death Mount and rode with Ellie toward Layton territory.

Whoosh!

“Wow, wow, this skeleton horse is amazing! It’s so fast!”

Ellie bounced excitedly on the Death Mount.

Lucy held onto Ellie’s waist tightly to make sure she didn’t fall.

It was exhausting. Her arms were trembling.

‘Please stay still.’

She wanted to say it, but Ellie seemed so happy that she decided to endure it.

“Lucy! It feels like we’re flying!”

Ellie turned to Lucy with a bright smile.

Her face was filled with joy.

Her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes sparkled with innocence.

Seeing Ellie like that, Lucy smiled faintly.

“Should we go even faster?”

“Yes!”

Lucy instructed the Death Mount to run even faster.

At that, the Death Mount emitted a blue glow and began to gallop even more fiercely.

Whoosh!

The speed was so fast that the surrounding scenery became a blur.

From Lucy’s perspective, it was fast enough to make her feel a little dizzy.

Yet, Ellie just laughed and cheered, “Kyaa!”

Lucy wasn’t sure if Ellie was fearless because she was young, or if she herself was particularly timid.

She decided to go with the former.

In any case, thanks to the Death Mount’s incredible speed, they soon arrived at Leyton Castle.

Lucy stopped in a forest a short distance from the castle and dismissed the Death Mount.

“Ellie, can you go the rest of the way alone?”

When Lucy asked, Ellie tilted her head.

“…Aren’t you coming with me, Lucy?”

“I need to go home. My grandfather will be worried.”

“But I have to feed you…”

“Ah…”

Lucy’s eyes dimmed slightly.

Ellie stepped closer to Lucy.

“Then, Lucy, can you come play at the castle tomorrow?”

“…”

It was hard to refuse when Ellie asked so directly.

Lucy took a small step back and nodded.

“Alright. I’ll come play tomorrow.”

“Hehe, yay! Then tomorrow, let’s sleep together! I’ll lend you my pajamas!”

“…Okay.”

“Kyaa, I’m sleeping with Lucy!”

Ellie bounced around excitedly.

Lucy held Ellie’s hand to calm her down.

“More importantly, Ellie, do you know what to say when you get back to the castle?”

“I know. I’ll say that after investigating, it turned out I wasn’t a witch, so I was released.”

“And how did you get here?”

“A knight brought me back safely. A knight in white armor.”

“Good job.”

Lucy patted Ellie’s head, and Ellie giggled and hugged Lucy.

A short while later, Ellie returned to the castle.

Lucy watched until Ellie reached the castle gates.

From a distance, she saw Ellie say something at the gates, and soon the gates opened as Lord Leyton rushed out.

Lord Leyton immediately hugged Ellie tightly.

Ed and Ron also ran out and embraced her.

It was a touching reunion.

Only then did Lucy smile faintly and turn away.

Lord Leyton would surely believe that Ellie had been cleared of suspicion and safely released.

And the Holy See, having received Oswin’s letter, would no longer suspect Ellie.

There shouldn’t be any problems.

Probably.

Creak—

“I’m back.”

Lucy returned home after safely rescuing Ellie.

“…”

The house was quiet.

Neither her grandfather nor Kairos was in sight.

Had they gone out somewhere?

As Lucy was about to head to her room, she noticed something on the dining table.

It was a cake piled high with cream.

Lucy approached the table.

The cake looked delicious.

She had been hungry, so this was perfect.

Lucy immediately grabbed a fork and started eating the cake.

The cream melted smoothly in her mouth.

And then…

“Ptooey!”

It tasted like mushrooms.

Creak—

Just then, her grandfather and Kairos entered the house.

“Oh, Lucy, you’re back! You were eating that cake, huh? That’s the mushroom cake Kairos made! It’s really delicious!”

“It’s an excellent dish.”

“…”

Lucy looked at her grandfather and Kairos and seriously considered something.

‘…Should I really run away from home?’

Translator Note

T/N (Translator’s note):
Mushrooms everywhere!!! Eek!!