197-179 Orphanage (2)

Nao, how much did you donate last time?

Five gold pieces.

"I see, that's enough to cover the cost.

With the prices here, food that is not considered a luxury item is surprisingly cheap.

I'm sure you'll be glad to know that I'm not the only one who has a problem with this.

I'm not proud of it, but the most I've ever donated in Japan was 1,000 yen.

However, considering my current wallet situation, I feel like I could give a little more. ...... I don't know if I'll be able to make money in the future, so I'll just visit from time to time and give a little.

As we were talking about this, other children who were playing around noticed us and came running up to us.

"Who's that?

"Pretty!

"An adventurer!　He's cool!

Hey, tell us about your adventures!

We're going to a dungeon or something, aren't we?

We're not wearing any armor now, just our clothes.

We didn't look like adventurers when we first came here, but now we look like adventurers, or maybe it's simply because we have weapons.

--Well, it's the weapons, I guess.

Most people don't carry weapons.

It's too cumbersome to carry around a long weapon, so Toya uses her sword, and we use only a small sword.

Even so, we can kill an orc, and it won't be a problem in the city.

"Weapons!　Show us your weapons!

Me too, me too!

No, it's not safe.

You hold the hilt of your sword and keep it away from the outstretched hand.

As a man, I understand, but it's too dangerous to let him touch a sword that's so sharp.

Toya's sword is also somewhat sharp since he started using the attribute steel, and it would be dangerous for a child to hold it.

However, it would be a pity to leave him with nothing.

Just show it.

I pull out a small sword out of the reach of a small child and show him or her the blade.

"Wow, that's amazing!

"Cool!

It's shiny!

I want one!

I want it!" They look up at it enviously, but no child would reach for it easily.

Weapons are common in this world, so they understand the dangers to some extent.

In particular, the small sword that we are holding is slightly different from the swords that are commonly used, and it seems to be sharp, which may be unusual.

The glittering eyes and respectful glances from the children tickled me a little, but they were children. Not only that, there are also children who try to play pranks.

One such child walks up behind Natsuki with a smirk on his face.

By the way, Natsuki's casual clothes today are a skirt.

There aren't many options for a kid to play a prank on Natsuki.

--Should I warn her?　Should I be careful? I'm not sure.

While I was thinking about this, things were moving.

A boy runs into Natsuki's butt.

What?

I'm sure he can't see her, but if that's all he can do, he's no good as a vanguard.

And boys.

If you're going to take me by surprise, don't scream.

My perk is ...... gee gee gee.

The moment the boy's hand reaches for her skirt, Natsuki's body moves quickly.

I'm not sure what to say.　I'm not sure what to do.

I'm not sure if this is a good idea or not.

This is a great way to make sure that you don't get caught in the middle of the night.

He then grabbed the boy by the collar, spun him around, and dropped him on the ground with a thud.

"What?　What?

You can't do that.　You can't do that to a boy.

Natsuki pats the boy's head as he sits on the ground and smiles at him.

If it was just to stop him from falling, he could have just grabbed him by the collar, but Natsuki threw him lightly as a punishment.

The boy looked up at Natsuki and was stunned, not knowing what had happened, but as he understood the situation, a look of joy appeared on his face.

"Wow, that's amazing!　What the heck!　Do it again, do it again!

Do it again! Do it to me! Do it to me!

"What did you do?　Oh, my God!

It seemed to have the opposite effect on the curious child.

As the kids gathered around, Natsuki looked annoyed, but also a little happy.

I'm not sure what to do.

I'm not sure what to do, but I'm sure it's a good idea.

This is no good. I'm not sure what to do.　I'm not going anywhere today anyway.

I'm sure you're right.　I'm not sure what to do, but I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out.

Natsuki said, "Come here, please," and led the children to a grassy area some distance away.

Most of the children who followed her were boys, but there was also a lively-looking girl in the mix.

There is still no difference in body size between boys and girls - or rather, girls are still larger than boys, and the gender gap is not yet clear, so there is little discomfort, but it is unusual to see that other girls are not very interested.

After seeing the children off, Ishka bowed to us with a bit of apology.

I'm sorry, the children.

No, it's fine. No, it's fine. As I said, I don't have anything special to do today. She's quite fond of children.

My first impression of Natsuki was that she was crisp and a little hard to get to know, but in fact, she had taught small children at the dojo and was quite fond of children.

However, I've heard that she tends to be distant from kids she's never met before, but the kids here don't seem to care about that at all and gather around Natsuki, so I guess she's enjoying herself in her own way.

I'm sure you're right. I'm sure you'll be happy to hear that.

Yes. I am Haruka, the one who took the children over there is Natsuki, and...

I'm Yuki.

I'm Toya.

Hello. I'm Ishka, and I'm the head priest at the temple of Adversus in this town. And ......, you guys, come here!

I'm the head priest at the temple of Adversus in this town.

I'm a priest who works here. Introduce yourselves.

"I'm Kane, apprentice priest.

Sidney, my apprentice.

Seira, assistant priestess.

I'm Angier, full priest.

It's nice to meet you.

The four of us bowed together, and we introduced ourselves again.

Two of the apprentice priests are younger than us, about middle school age.

The assistant priest and the one who called herself a full priest were girls.

No, Angel-san is not a girl, but a woman.

I'd say she's a few years older than us.

Ishka is probably no older than 30.

All in all, the personnel of this temple seems to be quite young, is that so?

I had an image of the chief priest and the others being old.

These four are usually in charge of the orphanage, but occasionally they are assigned to work in the temple, so you may have a chance to see them there.

I wonder if it is really occasional, though.

I've been to the temple quite a few times, but I've only met Ishka. I've never met any of the other four.

"Haruka~. So you're going to stay here with the kids today, right?

Yes. You can leave if you don't want to.

Hmm, maybe once in a while.　I don't think I could keep up my strength every day.

I'm not sure I'd be able to keep up my strength if I had to do it every day." Yuki said with a laugh, and Haruka and the other four priests laughed.

They must be having a hard time with the powerful children.

The last time I was here, the kids were fighting.

"Well then, if you want to hear about our adventures, gather around here~

"Yes!

Yuki took a few kids who answered and headed for the shade.

Then, I'll just play with them.

He says this, but in fact, he's working with the kids while he's talking.

He may be an easily recognizable warrior, but he is also a rare beastman.

He struggles to touch her tail, but the child is no match for Toya's body language, and even when surrounded by several people, he laughs and dodges, or lightly strokes her with his tail.

Even though he has had a tail for less than a year, he is quite dexterous.

And the most popular ones are me and Haruka.

The kids who were less interested in adventure stories and exercise - mostly girls - stayed behind and gathered around us.

It is easy to forget that I am now a rare and beautiful elf.

I don't get many chances to show my elven side, but I'm good looking.

I don't have any girls coming up to me, though!

--Oh, no, they're coming now, but they're too young.

You can marry her if you want. I'm in trouble.

You're skipping too many steps.

This is probably the second time we've met, right?　I don't remember.

By the way, Remy is still with me, probably because Ishka is nearby, and unlike the other members, she has met and talked with me before.

I was expecting the boys to come closer to Haruka, but they seemed to be interested but shy, and only glanced at her from a distance.

The girls, on the other hand, were not shy and said, "Pretty! or "Wow! The girls, on the other hand, are unrestrained, clinging to Haruka, saying things like, "Pretty!

How can you be so beautiful? I think it's hard to ask that question because it's a tribal thing, you know?

I'm not sure what to make of it.

I'm not sure what to say.

In the event that you're not sure what you're looking for, you'll be able to find out more about it in the following article.

Then, all I had to do was listen.

It's useless to expect me to be a good talker.

I feel that Haruka's gaze on me is slightly cold, but it's no problem.

If I leave it to Haruka, who has solid management skills, she will be able to organize the kids in a good way.

After playing together until the evening, we each gave Ishka a donation of three gold coins on our way home, and left the temple.

I was completely taken in by her intentions, but the children were cute, and if I thought I had gained some virtue, I wouldn't have minded a small donation.

In this world, God is real.

It is possible to get some worldly benefits if you are virtuous.

I'll be back.

The next day, I spent a few days dismantling all the demons that had accumulated in my magic bag.

There were too many demons that had not been dismantled, and the fertilizer vending machine was empty, so we dismantled them all at once.

Because of the quantity, everyone's [Dismantling] skill has been upgraded, but I don't think there's much point in upgrading it now.

We're already feeling the increase in processing speed, which is great if you're working while adventuring, but in our case, we can work at our leisure in a safe place.

We sold all the items we got from the dismantling to the adventurer's guild.

We kept for ourselves some marbled and lean meat from Pickau, a small amount of magic stones for alchemy, and a few giant bats that were unexpectedly delicious.

The amount of money we spent on the meat was quite reasonable, but considering the time it took, I'd say it was worth it.

Still, the marbled meat I got made me feel a little better.

The amount of meat we got from Tyrant Pickau was quite large, so we will be able to eat A5-ranked marbled meat (judged by Natsuki) whenever we want for a while.

After the dismantling was finished, we replenished the vending machine with fertilizer.

There were many parts of this demon that could not be used as material, and the fertilizer that was produced was also in large quantities, so it looks like we won't have to worry about running out for the time being.

It seems that the fertilizer sales system set up by the deputies here will continue even after the war in Kergu is over, and there is no need for us to supply it, but the original purpose was to dispose of the waste.

The price we have set is a little lower than the price the deputy is selling it for, so it will continue to sell in moderation.

The next day, after all the miscellaneous work was done, we went to Kerg to carry out our request.

At that time, Diora gave us an important information, "There is a report that there is a missing person case in Pining, so please be careful. ...... Why would she put such information in this scene?

It's called a flag, isn't it?

But I can't cancel it now.

We left the town of Laffan feeling slightly uneasy about the future.