Chapter 127

“What is the meaning of this?”

Joanna, dressed in plain clothes, glared at Oliver, who handed her a box of chocolates.

“Um… A present?”

Oliver spoke in an uncertain voice.

“…….”

“…….”

For a moment, there was an awkward silence, but soon, Joanna opened her mouth again.

“Are you kidding me?”

“Did I make a mistake?”

“What’s the purpose of giving chocolate out of the blue?”

“I was told women like chocolate.”

“… What?”

Joanna shouted in a low but determined voice.

“I’m not a woman– a Paladin. Did you call me here to make fun of me”

Joanna was genuinely displeased.

It seemed like Oliver had touched a sensitive part of her heart, so Oliver apologized politely.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Joanna. I did it because someone told me to do this?”

“Who is it?”

“Used bookstore Elder.”

“Bookstore… Is it an adult?”

“Yes, he’s an old man who runs a used bookstore, and he told me to take chocolate as a gift.”

“…Why did he say that?”

“I don’t know either. I was just answering the question… Anyway, I apologize if I offended you.”

Oliver said so and took back the box of chocolates.

Joanna stared at the chocolate without saying a word.

Oliver asked again.

“Um, would you like some chocolate?”

“…No, thank you.”

“I don’t eat chocolates. It cannot be returned. I hope you’ll accept what I bought.”

After a moment of contemplation, Joanna closed her eyes tightly and received the chocolate.

“Well, thank you anyway.”

“No, I’m grateful. Now that you’ve come to see me… Shall we go into the cathedral? Oh, but….”

Oliver looked at the cathedral and said awkwardly.

Now the cathedral was suddenly holding a service, and it seemed difficult to talk there.

“Um, Ms. Joanna. If you don’t mind, can we talk somewhere else? I don’t think it’s good to have a conversation at the cathedral right now.”

“I agree. .. Do you know a suitable place?”

Oliver took a note out of his pocket.

On the page he turned, it was written about a restaurant appropriate for going with a woman and a note about compliments to say every 15 minutes to a woman that the old man of the used bookstore had told him.

It was mostly compliments about how pretty she was, and Oliver still didn’t understand why he wrote it.

“Um, what do you think about a restaurant? There is a restaurant nearby that the Elder told me about.”

“Is it the old man from the bookstore, who asked you to give chocolate as a gift?”

“Yes.”

“Then I don’t want to go.”

Oliver nodded, somehow convinced.

“Then… How about the park?”

“… a park?”

“Yes, we have to go a little far, but there’s a place I’d like to go, what do you think? It’s a nice place.”

BRRRRR

Oliver, who got off the taxi, arrived at the park with Joanna.

It wasn’t just any park.

It was the first park he saw when he came to Land under Joseph’s order in the past, and there were countless people as there were when he first came.

Children ran around the fountain where the statue of a baby angel peed.

A nearby booth sold hot dogs and ice creams.

An old gentleman sat on the bench and read the newspaper, while a couple, who appeared to be married, holding their child’s hand went somewhere.

Everyone looked happy.

It was incomparable to the Districts W, T, and X, which were at the rear end of the alphabetical order.

“That’s unexpected.”

Joanna, who followed without saying anything, opened her mouth.

“What do you mean?”

“I didn’t know you’d like this kind of place.”

Joanna’s words were sincere, and Oliver wondered why she thought that way.

“I like places like this, too. Emotions are bright and the lights….. It’s pretty in its own way.”

“Lights?”

“Yes, emotions….. It’s pretty compared to District X and Wineham. Do you happen to know the reason, Ms. Joanna?”

“What?”

“Why is this place different from T, X, and Wineham? It’s bright here, but most of the emotions are dark there. I’ve been curious since a long time ago… Do you happen to know the reason?”

Joanna fell into thought for a moment.

“…I don’t know exactly. It’s not an easy question to answer. That’s why I always pray and worry.”

It wasn’t a very satisfactory answer, but Oliver didn’t argue.

Because Joanna said what she really thought, and he didn’t come to meet her to ask this in the first place.

“I see. Would you like to continue talking while walking…? Or would you like to sit on the bench for a while?”

Joanna looked around.

She appreciated the surroundings, and suddenly, her eyes stopped on the child that was walking with her father and mother.

“Let’s sit down. I’m tired.”

“Okay, then, shall we sit over there?”

Oliver pointed to the corner of the empty bench.

“Yes, fine with me.”

“Um, please wait a moment.”

Oliver said that to Joanna and left for a while.

After a while, Oliver brought two ice creams, chocolate ice creams similar to the one that the child who was walking with her parents was holding.

“Is this…?”

“Ice cream, please. Do you hate it?”

Joanna hesitated for a moment but received it in the end.

“Thank you…”

“It’s okay.”

After replying, Oliver took a bite of the ice cream.

It was cold and sweet. 

That was it.

“…Do you like ice cream?”

“Um, this is my first time eating one. . . .. It’s cold and sweet.”

Oliver ate the ice cream again.

Joanna also had a small bite of the ice cream. She looked happy and bitter.

“…Is it not good?”

“No, it’s delicious….. So, what do you want to ask?”

“Were you aware?”

“Yes… There must have been a lot of parts in the scripture that you didn’t understand, right?”

“Yes.”

Oliver did not deny it. 

No, rather actively agreed.

He read the scripture several times, but the result remained the same, he couldn’t understand it.

There were many reasons, but the biggest problem was the interpretation of the stories.

“The scriptures are hard to understand for anyone. But if you constantly read and think about it, you’ll get enlightenment someday.”

“Um, I’m glad for the advice, but I still don’t understand.”

“I understand, but Oliver is doing well. You continued to come to the cathedral regularly.”

“Um, that’s to meet the Paladin. I wanted to meet you, and there was no other way.”

Joanna’s expression slightly hardened as if he had said something strange again.

She was bewildered but did not seem to hate it.

She thought for a moment and asked.

“…is there anyone else besides me?”

“What?”

“You wish to meet? Or is there anyone who makes you happy when you see them? For example, what about the old man from the bookstore? Is he a friend?”

Friend…

“Um, we’ve talked, but I don’t know if we’re friends.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know who can be called a friend.”

Oliver recalled the meaning from the dictionary and wondered if he had any friends.

He tried to substitute the word with the people he knew, but it only got tangled and confused as if an error had occurred in his head.

Seeing such Oliver, Joanna said.

“It’s not that complicated.”

“Really?”

“Yes, if we can talk and laugh with someone, that’s a friend, and even someone who helped you can be called a friend.”

Oliver did not understand the part about laughing with someone, but he thought of the people who helped him.

“There are a few people who helped me….. There’s more than I thought.”

“Really? That’s a relief. . .. Then, is there anyone you helped?”

Anyone he helped… Oliver pondered. 

For a moment, Kent came to mind, but he soon shook his head.

It was Kent who helped him first, and then it was for personal curiosity he knocked down Freckle and Glyph.

Of course, Kent himself attributed it to Oliver that he was able to establish PoorBrothers, but he did it only because he wanted to see what Kent would do with the money.

It was far from helping.

Oliver thought about it a little more. 

Murphy came to mind, but it was also for a job he was paid for, and in the case of Jane, he only returned the favor he received first.

While thinking about it like that, he finally remembered one.

“…Rosbane.”

“Rosbane. . . ? Who is that?”

“He is a boy who worked at the inn where I once stayed.”

“What did you help him with?”

“I taught him letters and numbers.”

“Letters and numbers?”

“Yes, I taught him because he said he wanted to learn.”

“That’s great. It really is. . .. May I ask why you helped him?”

“Because he’s amazing.”

“Amazing?”

“Yes, he was scared, but he took the courage to ask me to teach him. That was amazing.”

“Well, that’s true. Courage is a great and important virtue.”

“Yes, and Ms. Joanna is amazing, too.”

“Me?”

“Yes, do you remember the first time we met?”

Joanna flinched at the sudden question.

She seemed to remember, and that was the same with Oliver.

Sewerage, darkness, blocked roads, crisis, Joseph Pilgaret….. Joseph’s memories and emotions that flowed in as soon as he smoked his first Pilgaret.

“Yes, I remember.”

“At that time, Ms. Joanna was very brave. It was beautiful.”

“Do you mean the beautiful light? The light that shines brightly before a person dies?”

“Yes, Ms. Joanna shone, and was brighter than anyone else….. If you don’t mind, could you answer what you were thinking at that time? I asked you once before, but you didn’t get an answer.”

As if looking for pennies he’d put long ago in his coat pocket but had forgotten, Oliver asked.

Fortunately, he was able to get an answer this time.

“…I thought of God.”

“Was that all?”

“…and I thought of my brothers and sisters, too,”

“Do you have brothers and sisters?”

“Yes, not my real brothers and sisters.”

“…??”

“I’m from an orphanage.”

“…!!”

Oliver was surprised.

He never thought Joanna would be an orphan like him.

There was no basis or reason, but Oliver never thought of that.

“Is it weird?”

“No, it’s not strange. But it’s surprising.”

“What’s surprising?”

“What should I say… You don’t look like an orphan. It’s very different from the orphans I know.”

Joanna smiled softly.

“I don’t know how it’s different, but that’s the truth. People are not inherently different. They are all lovely children of God.”

“Is that so? Coal mine supervisors say that orphans are cursed beings who are abandoned even by God… Because of that, he said we would go to hell even if we died.”

“They’re wrong. The Holy Father is someone who loves all his children.”

Joanna said firmly, with conviction.

“May I ask why you think so?”

“…The moment I thought everything was over, God gave me the talent to protect everyone, and furthermore, he allowed me to have this conversation with you. You can meet and talk to so many people, isn’t that proof that God loves us?”

It didn’t make any logical sense, but Oliver did not bother to argue.

Choosing where to begin was kind of difficult.

Just as Oliver was about to ask another question, Joanna opened her mouth first.

“Well… Oliver.”

“Yes?”

“It’s almost dinner time, so I think I have to go back now.”

Oliver looked at his watch. It was definitely almost dinner time.

“Um… It’s a shame, it can’t be helped… When can I meet Ms. Joanna again?”

“Well? Please come to the church in District P as usual, and I’ll visit you.”

“If you don’t mind, is there any way I can contact you? I just want to contact you when I’m really curious or when I’ve to tell you something important. Just once is fine.”

Joanna pondered for a moment at the words, but after thinking for a while, said as if she had made a big decision.

“…if it’s really urgent, tell the priest in the Cathedral in District P. Then I’ll come– just once. Unless there’s something you can’t avoid.”

“Yes, that’s enough. Thank you very much.”

Soon after Oliver broke up with Joanna, the sun sank over the horizon and the sky turned orange.

It was evening.

It was time to wrap up the day.

Oliver was also going to wrap up the day.

Originally, he was planning on going home and resting, but instead, he suddenly changed his destination to an inn.

The reason was none other than to meet Rosbane.

He completely forgot about him for a while, but he remembered him during the conversation with Joanna, and he also remembered that he had promised to come to see him sometime.

Of course, he never visited after that.

He was a little sorry. 

It felt like he had broken his promise.

So, he decided to visit the inn to keep his promise, even belatedly.

As usual, the inn breathed yellow light, and the smell of cooking spread gently on the first floor.

“Who are you… Oh, you’re here?”

The hostess looked at Oliver and said as if she didn’t expect he would come.

“Um… How are you? How have you been?”

“Yeah… I’m good, of course. What about you? You said you would come again, and since you didn’t come, I thought you were dead.”

“I was busy with something……”

Oliver looked at the inn, blurring the end of his words.

Usually, Rosbane would be moving potato bags around this time, but for some reason, he didn’t show up.

“Um… where’s Rosbane?”

“Rosbane? He’s gone.”

“Did he leave?”

“Yes, someone from the Magic Tower said they would sponsor him as a student. I heard it was some kind of lab… Hmm… What was it..? Ah, yes, Mattel Lab.”