episode_0026

“Father?”

The first person Irene thought of upon hearing her name being called was likely the prince who was highly likely to be in this village, but the person who actually addressed her was someone entirely unexpected.

“It’s by chance that we meet in a place like this.”

As always, the sight of the priest smiling quietly made the members of the warrior party breathe a sigh of relief collectively.

Although Irene still felt a bit awkward, she was much better off than facing the prince.

“Why have you come here? What about the church…?”

“Oh, I’ve left the church in the hands of someone trustworthy.”

“Is that so?”

It was surprising that the priest had left his church and come to this village, but Irene didn’t dwell on it deeply.

Everyone had their own reasons.

But Rebecca looked at the priest with a suspicious gaze.

“We’ve clearly been running non-stop… How is it possible for the priest to already be in this village?”

While there was no sense of malice from the priest, it seemed prudent to be cautious and skeptical for now.

Rebecca greeted the priest without revealing her doubts.

“I’m glad we happened to meet. If it’s not too much trouble, may I ask why you’re here?”

“Haha. It’s nothing special. Just came to volunteer.”

“Is that so.”

“Volunteer… from such a distance?”

Rebecca continued to feel suspicious, but Irene and Jenny conversed with the priest as if nothing was amiss.

“By the way, why have you come to this village, warrior?”

“I… came to find Allen… but it seems he has already left.”

“Oh. You missed him. Paths seem to have crossed.”

“What?”

At the priest’s meaningful words, Irene raised an eyebrow.

His attitude seemed as though he had seen Allen.

“Have you… seen Allen?”

“Yes. I happened to see him from afar on my way to this village.”

“Really?”

‘Strange.’

Irene and Jenny were simply amazed by the priest’s claim of witnessing Allen, but Rebecca’s suspicions grew deeper.

No matter how she thought about it, it seemed like too perfect of a coincidence.

“Though we didn’t exchange greetings… I know which direction he headed.”

“Could you… tell us that direction?”

Thump-thump-

Despite having her hopes crushed repeatedly, Irene’s heart fluttered with new hope.

If she could know the direction Allen headed, she could roughly deduce his next destination.

“Well… telling you shouldn’t be a problem.”

“… I have a bad feeling about this.”

As the priest’s words trailed off, Jenny recalled past memories and muttered.

“Since it’s turned out like this… how about volunteering together?”

“Volunteering… you say?”

In this urgent situation, Irene looked at the priest in disbelief as he casually suggested volunteering together.

“Yes, volunteering.”

However, the priest did not back down.

There was a firm determination that unless they volunteered together, he wouldn’t reveal the direction Allen had taken.

“… Alright.”

In the end, Irene yielded.

Though she desperately wanted to find out the direction Allen had taken right away, the priest held the cards.

Fortunately, he did not demand anything strange befitting his status as a priest.

“I… I feel a sense of foreboding.”

“… Jenny. For now, we have no choice but to follow along.”

“But… how much longer do they intend to drag this out…”

Rebecca, who was trying to calm down the grumbling Jenny, spoke directly to the priest.

“Since time is of the essence, could we start this ‘service’ promptly?”

“Haha. Your enthusiasm for charity work is truly admirable, indeed heroes.”

“… ”

How many layers of steel plates had that priest put on his face?

Rebecca couldn’t even begin to guess.

Disappointed that they would have to comply as it was their own doing, but since delays were counterproductive, Rebecca asked the priest again.

“If we are to serve… how many hours will it take?”

“How many hours?”

“… Days?”

“About 3 days should be sufficient.”

“… ”

“… ”

“… ”

Even though this hero party seemed a bit excessive, there was no other choice, so they reluctantly agreed to follow the priest’s words.

“Haha. Shall we go and volunteer then?”

“Are we going to the slums?”

“Of course.”

“… That’s somewhat comforting.”

At least the fact that the place was a slum seemed disconnected from the prince, which was a small comfort.

***

“These incompetent fools!”

Crash-

The prince, upon hearing the knights’ report, angrily threw the glass he was holding to the ground.

In a situation where the anger of the next generation’s emperor was evident, the knights remained silent, simply bowing their heads.

“Making us wait for days in this backwater town, and achieving nothing!”

“We apologize!”

“Get out of here!”

In response to the prince’s furious command, the knights hastily fled the scene as if running away.

They knew he was already looking for something else to throw.

“Darn it, did I join the royal knights for this?”

The dissatisfaction among the knights was growing.

“Hmm… Your Highness, please calm down for now.”

“Commander! Several days have been wasted!”

“Yes. However, it’s not like we achieved nothing at all.”

“Calling it an achievement just because we found out which direction they went?”

The prince said, genuinely bewildered.

‘To think such scum are considered knights.’

Of course, the commander was equally baffled.

While they couldn’t meet the prince’s expectations for a perfect outcome, at least determining the direction was a clear result.

Yet the prince, frustrated that such a thing was considered an accomplishment, was in a very frustrating situation.

“Sigh… It’s my fault for trusting these lowlifes.”

“… ”

The commander knew he shouldn’t entertain such thoughts, yet he fervently hoped that some divine punishment would befall the prince.

‘… I must continue to hide the truth about the heroes.’

In reality, except for the prince, the knights already knew about the hero party in this village, but the commander deliberately kept the subordinate knights silent.

If the prince had shown the proper attitude as the empire’s successor, there would have been no reason to keep it secret, but he never did.

Moreover, putting the hero and the prince together might lead to the hero killing the prince.

‘No, maybe that wouldn’t be a bad thing.’

“Sigh… To relieve this dog-like feeling, I need to drink even the cheap stuff. Bring me some alcohol!”

“… Understood.”

At the prince’s command to bring him the alcohol he once scorned, the commander sighed and went to fetch the drink.

***

“Thank you! Thank you!”

“I am merely following the will of the gods.”

“… ”

Forced into volunteer service by the priest, the hero party couldn’t bring themselves to resent him.

Although he was very resentful, as he watched the good deeds he performed, his hatred naturally melted away.

“Irene. They say the wall of that person’s house has collapsed. Will you go help?”

“Understood.”

Originally, he would have been called a hero, but since Irene did not want to reveal her identity, the priest did not use the title of hero.

Most of the volunteer work involved the priest’s healing, but sometimes when physical strength was needed, the priest would ask for help from Irene or Jenny.

“Jenny. They say the wall over there has collapsed. Will you go help?”

“… Okay.”

Jenny still didn’t like doing volunteer work, but she wasn’t so ruthless as to turn away from people in need, so she willingly went to fix the wall.

“Rebecca. It seems like a situation where magic is needed.”

“What kind of situation is it?”

“They say the garbage is overflowing in the dump and there is no one to deal with it. Will you go burn it?”

“… Yes.”

In the end, when Rebecca also left for volunteer work, only the priest remained alone.

…

Alone, the priest erased his usual smile and put on a stiff, expressionless face.

“… What a complicated fate.”

Muttering while looking towards Irene, the priest lightly raised his hand.

Thunk-

With a simple gesture, a chair made of earth rose up, and the priest sat down, letting out a deep sigh.

“I must somehow align fate correctly… The constraints are too complex.”

Mumbling incomprehensible words that no one would understand, the priest murmured alone.

His face still bore a stiff, expressionless look.