episode_0162

Life in the slums was quite manageable. That doesn’t mean it’s really comfortable, just at the level of ‘it’s not a bad idea to try this experience.’ In the first place, living in a slum is only about living in a slum, but you always keep your clothes clean and always go out to buy food, so it cannot be called a proper slum life.

“Hmm… It’s almost time for the bite to come.”

“…You talk like you have some great plan or trap, but the only thing we’ve done since we came here was sex?”

I lightly ignored Wayne’s comments and looked at the entire alley of the slum as the sun was setting. You can see people here and there, but they are literally just there. They were treating each other as complete objects that did not form a society or have relationships with each other.

They don’t get jealous when they see someone doing well, and they don’t help someone when they’re in trouble. This is all because it is urgent to protect each other’s path. In order to be able to be rude to others, you must first not worry about yourself.

In that respect, it could be said that it was truly an incredible move for the Demon Sword gang to seize this place as a hunting ground. In a place like this, even if someone is sneakily kidnapped like a dried persimmon, there won’t be much of a fuss as long as the kidnapper keeps his mouth shut. On the other hand, it was bittersweet that even a city as prosperous as Potera had such a shady place.

“I thought that if you make a lot of noise with your teachings every day, they will come to you out of curiosity.”

It’s not that I have a tendency to show off, and even though I know that my voice leaks out every night, how could it be okay for me to have fun with Wayne in a place like this? Even though I’ve been here for over a week, I haven’t gotten any results, so Wise Man’s Time has come in a different direction.

“Instead of that, why don’t you just go out and sell yourself?”

This was proper advice, not nonsense, so I couldn’t ignore it and could only nod. If the method is wrong, it is best to change something. With that in mind, as I was walking around the slums at sunset with Wayne, for some reason, as Wayne said, I was able to pick up on a very small clue.

“……Give me a penny.”

“Hmm?”

The child, wearing tattered clothes on a worn-out mat, literally looked like a beggar. In this dark and shady alley, it was my first time seeing someone ask for help, so naturally my eyes went to the boy.

“What’s going on?”

“I haven’t eaten anything for two days. Please help me.”

The child’s voice did not contain any strength, but he was clearly expressing his request for help. As I was looking around at the child, who felt something strange, I noticed a stab wound that should not have happened to a child, no matter how slum it is.

Of course, Wayne and I took care of that child right away. As soon as we urgently gave the child water, brought him to a house in a slum, and bought him porridge, his face came back to life.

“…Thank you.”

“Okay. What is your name?”

“Ian.”

“Okay, Ian. If you don’t mind, may I ask you a few questions? It’s not a very difficult question, so don’t be scared.”

Ian opened his bright eyes and nodded. I wanted to ask about the wound right away, but I thought it wouldn’t be a good idea to dig deeper from the beginning, so I asked other questions first.

“First of all, may I ask why you asked us for help? It’s a bit weird for me to say this, but… the people who live here are completely uninterested in other people.”

It doesn’t harm others, but it doesn’t help either. Treated like someone who doesn’t exist at all. In fact, although there were many people sitting on the streets, there was not a single person offering alms in that condition. It’s as if they know they can’t get help anyway, and they have no intention of helping anyway.

“…It was different.”

“What do you mean by behavior?”

He was dressed too neatly for someone from the slums, but that wasn’t the only reason. Even if they say they live a prosperous life, unlike those who live here, it is highly unlikely that they would have stepped into the slums with the right thoughts.

In fact, I am lucky if I don’t get harmed, and the people here seem to know that, no matter how flashy I look on the outside, no one asks for help. Except for this child in front of me.

“No. I felt something warm. From that sister.”

Ian said and pointed at Wayne. Wayne, who was cleaning up the dishes, suddenly opened his eyes when someone mentioned him.

“Ah…ha, that’s… amazing.”

When it comes to the warm energy I feel from Wayne, there is only one thing. At this young age, Ian had never received a proper blessing, eaten communion, or said a prayer, but he felt Stella’s divine power.

“It’s quite a talent.”

Wayne also seemed to be interested, so he stopped trying to leave everything to me and sat next to me and participated in the conversation.

“If you see or feel something, say it without hesitation.”

Wayne began to use his divine power. On the outside, it didn’t seem like anything had changed since he wasn’t emitting power like he did during battle, but Ian read the flow of power induced by Wayne like a ghost.

“Hmm… This child could grow up to become a great paladin. I can’t believe such a talented person was hiding in the slums.”

“A paladin?”

“Okay. You will become a knight belonging to the Stella Order. Don’t you want to become a knight?”

“I want to become a knight…”

Kids of that age envy knights. Even when I was young, I used to envy cartoon movie characters. Moreover, this world is full of stories about knights who are truly like cartoon characters, so it goes without saying.

“But how dare I become a knight? The knights are all strong, just, and cool.”

Ian sighs as if none of the three apply to him. I held out a small carrot to encourage him.

“Then let’s do it like this. If you can answer the following questions well, I will speak to the Cardinal of the Order so that Ian can receive the necessary teachings to become a Holy Knight.”

“Well, is that really true?”

As a child who used to live in the slums, I thought he seemed quite dignified, but seeing him like this shows that he is a child like no other. Normally, when I hear something like this, I would be skeptical, but my eyes immediately brighten up like that.

“Okay then. Even if we look like this, we must be in a pretty high… position in the church, right?”

A warrior and a saint. Although he is not officially included in the position of priest, he is in a position of equal respect with the Pope, so objectively speaking, it is not a low position. Perhaps this level of favor can be made without difficulty.

‘don’t worry. If he has that level of divinity, he should be taken in the first place.’

Wayne assured me in a whisper. There is nothing to hold back now. I decided to ask Ian a serious question.

“Well, ask anything.”

“Good. Then, can you tell me about the wound on your forearm and how it came about?”

I thought I spoke as softly as possible, but Ian’s face turned pale, as if he was quite mentally shocked just thinking about the past day.

“It’s okay. calm down. Take a slow, deep breath… If you find it difficult to answer, you don’t have to.”

“No… I will definitely become a brave knight…! Umm, 5 seconds… No, just 10 seconds…”

Ian said that and regained his composure in about 30 seconds.

“Actually, I wasn’t so helpless that I had to live by begging from others… I usually make a living by helping out on the farm and receiving wages. But… about four days ago, I was suddenly kidnapped while I was sleeping at home.”

Kidnapped with stab wounds. The two keywords we were looking for overlapped. This greatly increases the probability of getting close to the goal.

“All those masked people were carrying swords… It was a sword with an ominous energy that was very unpleasant and made me feel sick just looking at it.”

At this point, it became clear that this was the demon sword commotion we were looking for. I listened more closely to Ian.

“The blindfold covering my eyes was slightly loosened, so it wasn’t accurate, but… Strangely enough, those people had kidnapped a lot of other people, and suddenly my arm started to get hot and it was really painful. I found out later that it had been stabbed with a knife.”

Not only did I cut my hand while cooking, but I also had the experience of being stabbed with a proper sword, which was quite scary at a young age. It was amazing that he was able to speak like this now.

“I was screaming in so much pain, and other people were screaming just like me. Wasn’t he stabbed like me? Anyway, in the midst of all the chaos around me, I suddenly felt extremely sleepy… When I opened my eyes again, I was lying down in an alley. If it weren’t for the scars and pain, I would have thought it was just a dream.”

“Was there anything else unusual besides that?”

“Hmm… something unusual… Ah! People who were captured.”

“Why were the people arrested?”

“Everyone felt a warm energy like that sister. If I were to compare the degree, it was very minimal.”

They select and kidnap only those with weak divine power. It was new information. At the same time, it was very useful information… So I’ve been doing nothing but nonsense all week. No, I had a lot of sex, so it wasn’t just a waste of time.

Wayne seemed to have read my thoughts by looking at my expression and lightly fed me some honey chestnuts.