'Totally ... one thing after another. Was it too much to give away all the orcs?


　As I left the party for the reason of the privy, I raggedly scratched my head and growled.

　The defeat of the orcs itself was completed smoothly with the help of the wyvern and mind-armor, and we were able to take all the souls of the orc pack, including the higher-ranking species.

　Unfortunately, or perhaps I should say, my level didn't go up.

　The fact that I'd packed up the bounty and materials and handed them over to the village of Melte was supposed to be the final blow. I'm sure that if I do this, Melte's faith in me will be solidified.

　Since Ilaria had returned earlier than expected, I decided to treat her to a big treat.



　It's as much as I'm happy that they're happy to see me as I intended - but it's a bit troubling when they make such a big deal out of it.

　Or rather, isn't it awful that we haven't been able to eat a single skewer roast since the party started here, right? Please don't surround us with gold coin symbols in our eyes.

　Finally, I'm going to take back my previous statement, my friend.



　I can't bring myself to go back to that place even after I've done my business, so I head to the empty lot behind the village.

　I thought that I had to give something to the other person - and the other meritorious person, Klau Solas - to eat, but surprisingly, there was an earlier guest there.


''........Priest Sela?''


　And they're the little kids.

　When I said that, they booed me out of the room.


I'm not a little guy!　And I'm not even a kid!

It's not there!

I don't have one!

Haha, too bad. He's a little guy and a kid in my eyes, if you want to be disappointed, you can overtake me in height and age!

'd*mn it, you'll see!　I'm going to be bigger than you!　Also, I'll pass on your age!

You can't age (that), Ayn.

I can't do it!

What?


　You guys know how to make a comeback, don't you, little brat #2 and #3? The first one (Ein) is surprised.

　Instead of the three of them arguing each other, the priest Sailor spoke up.　


It's a good thing that we're not going to have to worry about this," she said, "because it's a feast for them. We have been preparing for them since before noon. When I came here, I was going to invite Sora-san to come too, but, well...

'Yeah, we were surrounded by gaps... and by the way, didn't Crow Solas do anything violent?


　I asked him with concern.

　Then the priest Sailor smiled and nodded with a placid smile.


'Yes, he was very quiet. 'Yes, he was very quiet, I think he was paying attention to the children.

That's good to hear.


　I said, and glanced over at Klau Solas.

　He hadn't even noticed me coming and was poking his head into the barrel, munching on its contents.

　Seeing the way his tail was thumping on the ground, he must have really liked it.

　

　From the faint, nasal scent wafting in the air, one might guess that the contents of the barrel were...


Vinegared?

'Yes. I've heard that you like sour food, so I tried to be creative, and I'm glad to hear you like it.


　Mr. Sailor is puffing out his chest with an air of contentment.

　She said she used the wild boar we had caught the other day (a small, bled-out boar), and she stripped it of its fur, gutted it, stuffed it with herbs and thrust a large iron skewer through it, then roasted it over the fire for three hours, turning it slowly.

　It is not a whole roasted pig, but a whole roasted wild boar.

　While grilling the meat, they also prepared the vinegar, and it looks like they took a lot of time and effort to make it here too. The vegetables from the village were boiled, grilled, fried, and processed in various ways before being added to the vinegar, and the acidity of the vinegar and the flavor of the vegetables were adjusted to blend together.

　Yes, I'm not sure what exactly he did, but I can tell that he put a lot of effort into it.

　So, once the meat was cooked, Krau Solas cut it into pieces and then threw it into a barrel filled with vinegar. Again, they marinated it slowly for about three hours, he said.

　........Isn't this more time consuming than the dish that was served at the banquet?


It's kind of a secret, sir, but...

Yes, sir.

It took more time than the chiefs' table.

I knew it.

"Don't tell anyone, okay?


　Priestess Sailor holding up a finger in front of her lips was very pretty.

　Is she really Ilaria's mother?

　.........well, thinking back, I remember seeing Ilaria's face like this a lot when we were at the same party. Although it was an expression directed not at me, but at Lars.

　Ever since I was banished from The Falcon's Sword, the expression that Ilaria would give me was a Buddha's face if not a scornful one, so I had completely forgotten about it.



　Aside from that, I was a little worried about Klau Solas' future after learning the taste of such a time-consuming dish.

　He wouldn't stop eating raw meat after learning the taste of the above.

　I'm sorry, but it's impossible to serve such a laborious dish as bait every time.



　Lunamaria is a good cook, but like an elf, she rejects meat dishes, and Seal, perhaps because of his large family, is a "good food = cheap and plentiful food" girl.

　As for the sparrow who lived alone in the forest, she only cooked in water or grilled on the fire.

　As for my skills, I've been seriously considering bringing in a go-to housekeeper.

　In such a situation, it's not a good idea to make Clau Solas' food as lavish as that of a Sailor priest.


　........No, wait. Is there a way to use this as an excuse to regularly commute to this village?

　The distance between Ishqa and the village of Melte is about seven days by carriage. It's not an easy distance to travel, but on a flying wyvern, it's less than half a day's ride each way.

　If you come to see the priest Sailor frequently for no apparent reason, you may be suspected, but if you have a reason to ask him to make you Crow Solus' favorite food, you can avoid such suspicions.



　It would be faster if I could recruit priest Sailor into my clan, but for a village as remote as Merte, a virtuous miracle-user is a person who could never be obtained even if he wanted to.

　If that wielder were to leave the village, it's obvious that there would be a great deal of turmoil. It won't be enough for me to be blamed.

　No, before that, I don't think that Priest Sailor, who is in charge of the church and the nurturer of the orphans, would agree to the solicitation. I'm sorry, but I'm going to let the idea die--.



　 Then we'll just have to find a replacement miracle user, won't we?

　Also, I can take in the three orphans, the three orphans, too. Fortunately, our current house is big enough for us to have an extra room, and we earn enough money to support three or four children.

　Ah, but I heard there's also your husband's grave in this village, I wonder if it's impossible after all... No, no, no, if we give up, that's where the game ends.

　In the first place, this time I came here to take advantage of the rift between Lars and Ilaria. It's not hard to say that I was able to ingratiate myself with the village of Melte, but I want more concrete results.

　I'm going to talk to the priest Sailor.


"Excuse me, but I need to ask you something.

Yes, what is it?

Does that mean it's going to last a long time for you to pickle it?

Yes, in its own way. But it's going to get hotter from now on, so it's best to eat quickly - although in this case it's an unnecessary worry.


　Priest Serra looks at Klau Solas and chuckles.

　Well, I'm sure we'll be able to finish the food we cooked this time. In fact, I just ate it.

　Phew, Crow Solas looks up from the barrel with a satisfied sigh, noticing me and rolling his eyes.

　He immediately turns his head to me with an apologetic look on his face - oh, you've got vinegar all over your face. It's no surprise that you ate with your face in a barrel, though.


'Was it that good?'

Pugli!　Pugi!


　I asked him while removing the dirt with a hand towel he took out of his pocket, and Klau Solas shouted enthusiastically while thumping his tail on the ground with a thump.

　I knew he liked it a lot.

　And it's not only the food that he likes, but also the priest Sailor himself.

　The reason is that Clau Solas doesn't mind the priest's hands wiping the vinegar off his face with me.

　Normally he doesn't like the touch of anyone's hands but mine, but he's grown quite fond of it. This is what it means to have your stomach in your hands, isn't it?

　I chuckled.


''One of these days, it looks like you'll be bringing your hunted prey to the priest instead of me, this guy.

I would be happy to cook for you if you ask me for help in saving your village.　As you can imagine, I'd have trouble with that every day...

'I'd appreciate that - um, can I ask you to be rather serious?　Of course, I'm not going to say every day, and I'll pay for it as I see fit.

'Yes, of course. I might add, if you could make a donation to the church instead of paying for it, that would be great.


　Priest Sela smiled at that.

　I looked away in a hurry.

　--No good. Now, quite naturally, I wanted to eat it.



　And anyway, get results!　Well done, Crow Solas. Now you don't have to think about why you're visiting next time.

　Now I can return to Ishqa without a care in the world!

　When I told him that, Priest Sela looked at me in surprise.



''........Are you leaving?''

'Yes. For some reason, I've already left Ishka empty for almost five days. I'm also concerned about the Clan and the rotten sea.


　The rotten sea should have been roughly burnt off, but there may be something else going on. When I left Ishka, Fyodor also told me that he wanted me to return as soon as possible.

　He is also concerned about the sparrows, the demon race. I don't think he's worried because he asked Lunamaria and Seal to keep an eye on him, but that Lunamaria and Seal are also problematic, to say the least.

　Elves (beautiful women) and beastmen (beautiful girls) with slave collars and so on stand out as much as sparrows in a way. There are probably some goofballs who get involved, and it's not like they aren't involved in some strange ruckus.


　In that sense, going to Merthe this time was quite an overwhelming result.

　It would have been patronizing to say that, so I explained it in as short a word as possible, but it seems that Priest Sailor Priest felt something.

　He bowed his head deeply and thanked me.


''Thank you so much. I thank you again.''

No, no, don't worry about it. The trouble is, it's mutual.


　At best, he makes a soft smile to look like a nice young man - does he look like a nice young man? I hope I don't look like a con man who cheats the widow and her children.

　Thinking about this, I suddenly realize that I'm not. Come to think of it, the kids have been pretty quiet since a while ago.

　When I looked at the three of them, they were rubbing their eyes sleepily. Normally, they would be asleep at this time, so it's not surprising.

　Ein, aka the little brat, is yawning loudly and the two younger ones are rowing a boat with a big smile on their faces.

　The priest Sailor called out to them.


'Ein. Please take Zwei and Dora to their rooms.

...whew...


　Ayn nods, rubbing his eyes. Zwei clasps Ein's right hand and Dora clasps Ein's left hand.

　I think as I watch the three of them back to the village.

　Yeah, Ein is a good big brother.

　There must have been a time when me and Laguna walked hand in hand like that, but my memory is already dim.

　When was that time? I'm sure my mother and Laguna's mother were there, too, so I'm sure it was before the age of seven.



　As I was lost in my untimely musings, I suddenly felt a glance from the side.

　When I turned around, I saw Priestess Sailor, who was supposed to be following the children, staring at me.

　A gentle look of compassion and concern for us. I wonder if he sensed the desolation that had just crossed my mind, even if he did not say so in words.

　I felt embarrassed by the gaze and turned my gaze in the direction of the day after tomorrow.