Yeah. Well, maybe next time when I'm free, I'll ask you to teach me how to make it easier.

I'd love to.
'Oh, but it's easy, isn't it?　I've never prayed or anything like that before.

For those people, rest assured that I have a very simple, short prayer for beginners that I've developed for them.

　Timothy, who made a proud face and said ahem.
　He's cute.

　Like Uzuki, he's a serious and hard-working type, but when it comes to his confidence, Timothy's characteristic is that he's assertive.
　That's what makes him so cute.

'I mean, there's development in prayer...'

'There is. When it's developed, it goes through a review process at church headquarters and is registered as an official prayer ceremony.
Heh.

The Timothy formula for beginners is very popular, especially with families with young children.
'Timothy likes kids, doesn't he? He's always happy to talk about kids.

'Yes, there's no doubt that I like it, but the rest is probably more about giving back.
Repayment?　Why that word all of a sudden...?

　I didn't really think about it, I just listened to my reflection.

'Actually, I was picked up as an orphan right after I was born. I've been raised in the church ever since.
Well, uh, I mean...

　I had a hard time reacting to the sudden and very heavy personal story I was told.

　...I've had this situation before.
　I don't know what it was.

　At any rate, if I don't get out of the habit of listening without thinking, I'm afraid I'll step on a major land mine one day.

"Oh, it's not that serious.
'Is there a story that doesn't weigh heavily on the stage of being an orphan right after birth...'

'Really, it's not that serious. I was picked up by the senior sisters there at the Church of Mary-Celesia, where I was picked up, and they were very good to me. So I want to give that great favor back to the next generation, to my children.

Well that's why you're so keen on educating your kids.
　I was convinced.

'By the way, my last name, 'New River,' is because it was dumped on the side of a newly developed river for flood control measures.

Oh, I see...

　This story is heavy.

　That's because he grew up to be such a straight-laced kid.
　I'm sure they gave me a lot of help, though.

　But still, this story is too heavy for modern Japanese who have lost their sense of peace in the world's third largest economy.

　A little awkwardly, I averted my gaze, and out of the corner of my eye--.
Hmm. Is that a book?

　-- there was an old picture book on top of the futon.

　He must have read it over and over again.
　The cover had become so thin that it was worn out, and the corners were rounded.

　It was such a picture book, however, that I could tell at a glance that it had been used with care, that it had been loved and aged.

The cover of the book is quite thin, but it's probably the same book as the children's book in the church, right?　Timothy reads picture books too--oh, no!　I don't mean to make fun of it, but it's more of a gap moe, if you will.

　My words, unintentionally, came off as rude and I was in a hurry to say something that could be taken as rude.

''Kusu, you don't need to be in such a hurry to give a supplementary explanation, I know exactly what I'm talking about. At least I know that Manashiro-san isn't the kind of person who makes fun of others.

　Timothy smiles gently and flushes it away.

'That's nice of you to say so,'
　Ugh, Timothy really is a good boy........