Vol. 2 Chapter 1 – Part 2
A minute discussion with the person concerned was proposed by Thoria and Shin accepted, he would have to wait in the orphanage until the church closed. It was understandable because she couldn’t afford to neglect her work. Furthermore, he intended to keep the children company, too.
“Fox!?”
“It’s fox-san!”
“I want to hold it!”
“Me too!”
“Kuu~…”
The children of the orphanage were interested in Yuzuha.
Though it was bad for it to be made into a toy, he asked Yuzuha to put up with it this time. Shin intended to join in if he saw the opportunity.
In contrast to Yuzuha, the children didn’t approach Shin at all. Only Millie was near Shin.
“Although it is understandable, what is this feeling of defeat…”
“…Don’t give up?”
The consolation caused his eyes to sting.
“…Well, to be attached to a guy who suddenly came and had a conversation is unreasonable, huh?”
As for the children, their wariness was strong. They would not trust him, no matter how much he was introduced by Thoria. All the more to the orphans who had lost their parents or siblings.
“Millie doesn’t want to join in?”
“I lose.”
“Lose what?”
“Yeah…”
Though a somewhat unexpected answer came back, the point was that she was defeated by a stronger opponent.
Millie remained anxious on whether or not to jump into the group that surrounded Yuzuha.
When he thought about that, Yuzuha was not able to endure anymore. It slipped through between the children, rushed to Shin and climbed up to on top of his head. Its fur was somehow bristled up, as if it was being cautious.
“Yuu-chan, come.”
“…Kuu.”
When Millie called, after pausing a little while, Yuzuha barked and settled itself into Millie’s arms.
Yuzuha’s wariness seemed to have faded compared to when it met them the first time. And its nickname seemed to be Yuu-chan.
“With this, only I hold it.”
“What a schemer!?”
“Without effort, victory.”
“You are saying something like that!?”
She seemed to have foreseen that Yuzuha would not be able to endure it and would run away.
“Millie, you’re a frightening girl!!”
Shin retorted. In the middle of such an exchange, from a distance, the children started to look at Shin.
Now a relatively serious girl, who appeared to be the oldest, stood before Shin as he thought ‘What’s up with that?’ There seemed to be courage in this girl. She might be a child in an elder sister position because she said, “Hey boy!” And she was not one of the children who had gathered around Yuzuha.
The girl had evenly cut, grey hair that extended down to her shoulders. If the children who gathered around Yuzuha were around lower grade elementary school students, this girl looked like an upper grade junior high school student. Her green eyes were tense, with an -ask something- look.
“…Hello.”
“Hello. You might already have heard it from Thoria, but I am Shin. I am an adventurer. Nice to meet you.”
“Kua, it is. Nice to meet you, too.”
To make sure, he introduced himself again. Was it the result of her being fearless? She introduced herself without feeling pressured.
“By the way, this fox is Yuzuha. Please excuse my partner from too much whisker and tail pulling.”
“Are you the person who came to help us?”
“Hmm? What do you mean?”
Shin would understand if she said, “person who came to help the Sisters”, but what about the remark “us”?
“Because the Sister told us that the place here might be lost.”
“The church will be lost?”
“No, only the orphanage.”
“Only the orphanage?”
Shin, who thought the church and the orphanage were a set, was surprised at Kua’s words.
What will happen to all the children who live here if the orphanage is lost? From Kua’s perspective, it was not a nice premonition
“May I hear the story for the time being? I don’t really know the details.”
“…I understand.”
Was Shin’s determination transmitted? Kua began to speak calmly.
And, he understood several things from Kua’s story.
First, the management of this church was not entrusted to someone unless they were a priest with a certain extent of ability, and Thoria didn’t meet the qualifications. The priest, in this case, referred to a job. Father and sister were similar to the priest job, they just differed in name.
Second, when one couldn’t meet the qualification as it was, another priest would take over the management here. Apparently, the man who was the next candidate would demolish the orphanage. It was really doubtful whether the man was a real Priest or not.
Third, a relative of the former manager. In the case of identical qualification holders, the relative would be put in a higher priority for the succession order. And this was the reason Thoria pushed it to the other Sister, Rashia. If Rashia succeeded this church, the current problem would be solved.
Shin, who didn’t think that the child was well-informed about the circumstances, was a little surprised while he heard the story.
“Even so, why is that Priest not going to keep the orphanage, even though it’s the same church?”
Judging from the actions of Thoria and Rashia, the church was an independent organization that helped other people.
However, the next candidate Priest’s actions were strange in this situation.
“We hate that person.”
“What kind of person is he?”
The children behind her were nodding at Kua’s words.
He asked what kind of person he was, yet Shin was somehow able to predict Kua’s answer.
“That pig is blinded by money.”
“…Ah, yes. Just that alone is enough.”
When a child said an abusive remark, one could imagine what kind of person that man was.
Though he understood that it was rash to judge only from one viewpoint, it was unreasonable in this state of affair.
By all means, there were always corrupt members somewhere in an organization. Shin had a distant look.
“In other words, the acquisition of 【Purification】 is required so that Rashia can take over the church?”
As Els from the guild said, 【Purification】 was a skill, a very special one for a priest.
“Because Shin-nii will help, it will be all right.”
“It can’t be asserted with only this.”
He warned Millie who was full of confidence in herself.
This time he intended to teach by the original method without using the secret book. In this case, if the person in question didn’t make any effort, it would not have much effect, even with Shin’s help.
He didn’t want to use 【Secret Books Creation】, because he didn’t know what kind of significance 【Secret Books Creation】 had in this world. Besides, he wanted Rashia to get used to fighting scenes.
From Kua’s story, he didn’t think that the problem of the church would be solved just by acquiring the 【Purification】skill. In 9 out of 10 cases, the predicament was that it would become a fighting scene. Although it was likely to end when Wilhelm started to rampage.
“But, if Millie-chan said so, I wonder if it’s really all right?”
Kua muttered and Shin asked about it.
“Is what Millie says always right on the money?”
“Yes, although she seldom tells me something about when the shop is cheap or where the sweets are put away.”
“No, wait, that is something different.”
Shin worried about Millie for being seen as weird because of her good intuition, but the unexpected reply about food came back.
“Weird?”
Millie looked up at Shin.
“No, it is not weird. But it’s rather a good thing…?”
Because he thought he should cover the one he should conceal, he questioned if it might be good.
He felt that she had a grown-up mentality, which Shin thought might be caused by 『Hoshiyomi』, as she had seen various things with that power.
“Well, it’s good if you don’t overdo it.”
He said while patting Millie’s head.
Initially Millie showed a face of wondering, but she looked comfortable after being patted.
“Being patted, love it.”
Afterwards, there were children of the beast race that looked enviously at Millie, who seemed very comfortable. (TL note: the part you read until here is translated from the LN, since it was missing from the WN)
◆◆◆◆
They played together for several hours while Millie broke the ice with the other children. By the time Thoria returned to the orphanage, all of the younger children and some of the older ones were inside their dreams, leaving the other children behind.
“When I see the children sleeping…”
The words she was about to say stopped. It seemed that Thoria’s strength came from seeing the children who slept peacefully. As one might expect, she would hesitate to have Shin, whom she just met today, take care of the children.
“…these children seem to be completely off guard, too.”
“That’s right, and it’s nice to see.”
There was the figure of the girl called Rashia in the church behind Thoria. She had gray hair and the same chignon as Thoria. From her brown eyes, Shin could perceive the same tension as Kua had not long ago.
“Is that Rashia-san?”
“Ye-yes! This time I hope to get along with zu…iyai”
It appeared that she bit her tongue.
“Uhm, are you alright?”
“Though she has a little careless side to her, I can assure you she will do her best.”
This was followed by Thoria who showed a little bitter smile.
“Uu, I’m sorry. It was an unsightly scene.”
“Well, let’s be at ease. I’m Shin. An Adventurer. I will instruct you in how to learn the skill 【Purification】. However, whether it can be mastered is up to Rashia-san. Don’t forget that.”
“Yes!!”
She returned an answer clearly this time. Those eyes showed earnestness itself.
“Then, let’s move on to the finer details. First of all, I want to ask you two; Do you know of a place where undead monsters with high levels appear in large quantities? If not, I will check with the guild.”
There were essential conditions for the acquisition of 【Purification】. Generally, how long it took for acquiring it would depend on the place.
“