Chapter 291 A Dispute In The Church

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"Uwah! I love your food, Blake, give me another sandwich!" Erika ordered, as she extended her open palm to me. She had wolfed down her own sandwich in less than five minutes.

"No, I didn't bought enough for seconds, it was just one for each person." I said to her while rejecting her order.

"Eh?! No way…" She cried.

I don't know why she's such a glutton if she doesn't even have a conventional stomach. Her "Stomach" is a special magical construct her father created inside her body, it takes any food she eats and converts it into pure mana that reaches her Spirit Orb. This process is slow though, and it is helped by special bacteria I detected inside her wooden body.

It is like a "magic stomach" in simple terms. Perhaps she's a glutton because her stomach is way bigger than normal people, so to fill it she wants even more food. Also she does seem to produce waste, as she had told me she goes to the bathroom to do both deeds.

It is an interesting and intriguing system that her father had created. It could be said that Erika is slowly becoming something closer to a living being made of wood than an actual undead-like doll with a soul inside. Perhaps her father's ability with his Spirit that allows him to create magical dolls is the key behind this.

If it wasn't because he's against teaching his doll making techniques to others, I would had already been below his tutelage. He seems to only want Erika to learn how to do it, probably so she can one day repair herself. Maybe he's preparing for the moment of his death.

Due to this, it has certainly made me overthink things about Erika. If she keeps developing, wouldn't her body become something similar to an Ent or a Dryad, perhaps? In such case, perhaps fusing her current body with the components of a homunculus would be better than making her a new fleshy body from scratch.

…But then again, those are only theories, even if I wanted to go that route, I lack materials and the sufficient power to do this. At the very least I'll need Level 5 Alchemy and probably over five thousand Mana.

I am still quite far from that point, but it might not be that far from the future, perhaps in a few more years, give or take.

"Erika you have to contain your hunger, you shouldn't eat too much or you'll get fatty." Said Elizabeth, reprimanding Erika.

The little future priestess has been opening to us more lately, so she speaks less timidly and with more confidence. Her adoptive father seems grateful that we became her friends, as he always thought she needed kids her age to interact with her. Well, it seems that he was right, that's just the thing she needed.

"F-Fatty?" Erika looked at her stomach, it was slightly soggy. Her father's craftmanship was rather good at emulating soft surfaces. This can only be made through advanced magic, he's an amazing magician and master of his spirit.

"Haha, don't worry, she won't get fat." Said Chris. "She's… built different."

"Yeah, don't worry about Erika." Eric said.

Elizabeth and Erdrich have yet to learn Erika's a doll. Mostly because I requested them to keep it a secret from them. Erika herself seemed to want to tell them, but it was too quickly to tell them if they had yet to become our friends for a year. This wasn't a secret you talk out loud. The rumors about her are just rumors after all, if the actual truth were to be learned by everyone, things would change and people around the village might discriminate her even more, or some would try to call her a monster. Or worse, adventurers might come to slay her.

If that were to happen, I would have to defend my friend and slay anybody that dared to attempt to kill her, but in this world I cannot be careless. Many are stronger than me, so at the end, we would end up running away to the wilderness, which would drastically change our life, not something I would wish to happen.

"Well, more importantly, Elizabeth, Erdrich, how have things been in the church?" I wondered.

"Oh? The church? All's fine!" Said Elizabeth.

"Recently there was a dispute between priests about me…" Sighed Erdrich.

"E-Erdrich! We said we wouldn't tell them!" Elizabeth suddenly tried to stop Erdrich.

"Dispute?" Asked Erika.

"It's because I am… well, a half-demon. Some priests led by someone that dislikes me began to argue with the Head Priest about me…" Sighed Erdrich.

"What?!" Asked Chris angrily. "Aren't they holy people? How can they be so heartless?"

"Erdrich is a good person, they're just wrong. Don't let that get inside of your head." Said Eric.

"T-Thanks for saying those things…" Erdrich seemed to smile a bit while scratching his head with embarrassment. "I guess you guys are… the first real friends I've ever had… I'm thankful."

"Well, it only has been a bit over a month since we all met…" I said.

"Yeah, but we immediately connected!" Said Chris. "You're a bro."

"Hm! That's right." Said Eric.

"Well, yeah, I consider you a friend by now, as I've known you from before. However, I am rather intrigued about what they said." I admitted.

"Blake! Don't ask about that… It's sensitive. Geez!" Elizabeth tried to reprimand me again but I ignored her. She began pouting but that only made her cuter, not really intimidating.

"But I am intrigued." I answered.

"It's fine, Elizabeth. You don't have to get angry on my behalf. And well, Blake, the man leading the group… he said something about me not belonging there. He wanted me out of there. I remember he even told one of the priests that he had contacts with someone that could easily get rid of me…" Sighed Erdrich.

"What? I guess not all priests are decent." I sighed.

"N-Naturally, Lord Ellergest easily turned them down and then he smacked the head of the priest that said that…"

"Hmm…"

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