Chapter 359

358: Revival and Reunion #9

“Hey, I heard everything, Samaritan. So, you’re actually the son of a famous god? What’s with hiding an identity like that? I nearly made a huge mistake there.”

This place is East Gate Street, where Juno’s Shrine is located, amidst expensive land.

Elpride and I came here because someone who could help me, who suddenly needed priest connections, was supposed to be here.

When I wondered who it was that we’ve come to see, I spotted women who looked quite familiar.

“Ah, it’s Delphina.”

“Samaritan, if you send me to hell, I’ll never forgive you.”

Delphina is the team leader of Elpride’s former party, the Silver Rose. An ambitious Silver Tier adventurer with a bright and friendly personality, anyone becomes friends with her quickly. She’s a blonde girl with short hair who looks like she’d get along well with guys, make jokes, cause misunderstandings, and often receive confessions in college.

“Elpride, is this Delphina the person you mentioned?”

“No.”

Elpride only shook her head at my question.

“It’s Edwin.”

Who is Edwin? Instantly, a name that was familiar yet strange made it feel like an electric current went through my head.

Soon, I recalled that among Elpride’s party members was a beautiful female mage who walked around holding a long staff, wearing a lazy smile.

“Edwin is a priest of Mercury, so he has wide connections. Mercury is the god of connections, after all. He must definitely have connections at the Theological University too.”

“True.”

“So, Delphina, is Edwin here too?”

At Elpride’s inquiry, Delphina slightly frowned.

“What, you didn’t come to see me? I’m a bit hurt.”

Of course, it didn’t seem like she was actually upset but rather playfully teased us with her expression.

“Yeah, he’s here. After all, Edwin is the reason kids play here every Saturday. If you go that way, you’ll probably find him playing with the children.”

Delphina pointed toward a park with the noisy voices of children chatting and laughing.

“I can’t play with them any longer; they don’t get tired. Anyway, don’t say I’m here. I’m skipping this time.”

The arboretum of Juno, filled with flowers and trees.

As we moved in that direction, we saw a big woman playing and running around with much smaller children.

“That’s enough, g-give it a rest…”

“Wow! I’ve defeated the evil witch!”

“Ugh…”

A green-robed priestess under a horde of children, screaming. That must be Edwin, the person Elpride was looking for.

Elpride approaches Edwin and speaks.

“Edwin, I came because I have something to say.”

“Ah, Elpride? You’ve come at a good time. Please help me play with the children.”

Edwin struggled while being crushed under the kids, looking around. With more than thirty orphans, there were only Edwin and the fighter Liri to take care of them all.

“Surrender now!”

“Hyiiiik!”

Watching Liri choking a child with a hold behind his back, it was unclear whether she was truly playing or not.

Is this acceptable? Does this need to be stopped? Elpride, who enjoys sadistic acts, still felt it might be a bit too much and asked with a single sentence.

“Is this okay? Don’t you need to intervene?”

But seeing the boy happily buried in the large bosom of the fighter made it seem like there was little to worry about. He was enjoying both pain and pleasure in the arms of a sister.

“Surrender!”

“No, no-. Huh, hhe…!”

While it’s a bit frightening to think about what kind of boy this kid might grow up to be after having such an experience from a young age, we don’t have the right to stop it.

“Let them enjoy.”

“What are you talking about? Anyway, Edwin, I have something to tell you. It’s quite important.”

“Ah, after I’m done playing with the children, we can talk-.”

*

“It’s a dragon! A wicked dragon has appeared!”

The children shout loudly. Their fingers and round eyes, filled with curiosity and fear, are directed toward Elpride, who is stumbling around with a blindfold on.

“…Kyaauuu…”

Elpride awkwardly opened her mouth, making some strange sound resembling a roar.

Seeing her flushed face, it seemed she was quite embarrassed to pretend to be a dragon for the children.

Then, Elpride slightly opened her mouth.

Whoosh-.

Small flames rose from her mouth toward the sky. It was probably magic. Someone at Elpride’s level could likely easily spit out a little flame without incantations.

And such magic or trick-like illusions were enough to drive the kids crazy.

“The dragon is breathing fire! Everyone run!”

As the apparent group leader shouted, the kids immediately cried out with ‘Waaah!’ and began running all over.

At the same time, they started clapping one by one. The blindfolded Elpride seemed to be playing a game of tag, trying to catch the children by reaching out with her hands.

Who would have thought the Master of Whipping, Elpride, could play with children?

It’s quite unexpected, but it’s not unusual for Elpride to occasionally sponsor or volunteer at orphanages and infirmaries.

She has always been kind and gentle to other people.

“Wow, run!”

“…Gyaaooh!”

The children really do follow Elpride well. It makes sense that a beautiful woman would be a preferred caregiver.

I sat on a bench watching Elpride play with the children for a while. I cannot interact with them because they’d get scared and tremble if they saw my face.

Just as beautiful women are preferred by children, large and imposing men are naturally avoided by them.

Of course, there were always some kids who showed interest in me.

“It’s Samaritan…”

“He looks just like Kiril. He’s so scary…!”

They say ‘ignorance is bliss’—this must be what they mean.

As the children were showing interest in approaching me quietly, I hesitated for a moment about what to do but ended up making a frightening face.

“Get lost.”

“Hiiiik!”

The kids scattered every which way.

It might seem like an act for someone with personality issues, but I had a good reason for doing this. You could even call it an action for the children’s benefit.

These kids are orphans, in other words, they have no one to rely on.

Now, they live happily enough in the shrine with the care of the priests and volunteers, but when they reach adolescence and can take care of themselves, they will have to leave.

In this world, filled with fraudsters and cultists trying to take advantage of orphaned children, showing them that Samaritan is someone to be feared is actually helpful for their survival.

Samaritan is a terrifying person—a lesson that will aid these children in their survival.

Just then, a snorting sound came from beside me.

“Pluto is supposed to hate kids, looks like that’s true.”

It was fighter Liri. I haven’t spoken to this person before and didn’t feel the need, but now this person clicked their tongue as if disapproving of me.

It seemed like she didn’t like me.

No matter the reason, I’m accustomed to receiving such hostile attention, so I just ignored it.

But why did Pluto hate kids? I had a question about that.

“Does Pluto dislike children?”

“Kids are beings far removed from d*ath.”

“Ah, that makes sense.”

“But you know, some kids are naturally drawn to eerie scary things?”

Upon hearing the fighter’s question, I slowly turned my head. There, behind the shrine’s column, I saw a pair of dark eyes peering at me.

Which kid was that?

It was a Samaritan child who came from the orphanage. I remembered the story of someone who wanted to use me to gain fame among their parents by defeating me.

That kid didn’t do anything I asked, and instead tried to make my task more complicated. Her name was Kiril, daughter of Rak, if I remember correctly.

Thinking about it made me suddenly angry.

How dare this kid take my coin for the job and not fulfill the task?

“Hey, kid, come here.”

I called out to Kiril who was hiding behind the column and peeking at me. She clearly hadn’t expected her name to be called and flinched.

“It’d be better for you to come quickly.”

As I growled, reluctantly, the kid slowly approached me, showing clear unwillingness through her sluggish steps.

Still, the disparity in our situation was mountainous.

I am a Silver Tier adventurer and the master of the shrine.

This child is an orphan, a Samaritan kid.

“Is there something you want from me?”

“…”

The child was very restless. It seemed more like humiliation and anger than just fear.

“Looks like you two have a past.”

Replied casually to Liri’s question.

“This kid took my money and ran. I asked for help with some errands, but instead, she ate the money and abandoned the work.”

“That’s quite a big sin. If she were an adult, she wouldn’t be able to complain even if her hand was cut off.”

Even Liri, who didn’t favor me initially, seemed to agree now. The child learning bad things early was disheartening.

“Say sorry. Then I’ll forgive you.”

“…”

Of course, Samaritan child Kiril kept her mouth tightly closed and glared at me.

The Samaritans are known for their high self-esteem, and especially the strong pride of women is said to reach the sky.

That’s why there are male Samaritan slaves but never female ones. Samaritan women cannot be tamed. One could understand that by looking at Gloria.

This kid is small, but her stubbornness rivals that of most female warriors.

But am I not the great and mighty Hassan, god of divine wrath? I can’t let a mere child prevent me from accepting her apology and moving forward.

“If you don’t apologize, I will spank you. My spankings are terribly painful, and don’t expect leniency because you’re a girl.”

“Grgr…Mi…”

“Mi?”

“Mi…Sorry. Here, your money…”

She handed me two coins.

Two shiny silver coins.

They must be the errand money I gave her.

I was taken aback, not expecting to get them back.

“Were you watching me to return this?”

“…Forget it, idiot!”

The kid threw the two coins into my hand and quickly darted off.

Simultaneously, Juno’s attendant priestesses, dressed in red dresses, clapped their hands and began gathering the children.

“Alright, it’s nap time now. Everyone, come inside.”

Only then did the children’s loud voices slowly decrease in the garden.

Elpride, who had just barely escaped pretending to be a dragon, wiped off the sweat from her forehead after taking off the blindfold around her face.

“Whew, kids don’t get tired, so it’s hard.”

“Despite that, you seemed to enjoy pretending to be a dragon quite a bit didn’t you?”

“There was no such thing! Anyway, now that playing with the kids is over, Edwin, do you have some time to talk?”

“What do you want to say?”

We briefly explained our reason for coming here to Mercury priest, Edwin.

There was a new construction of a shrine, but the number of priests and managers couldn’t keep up with the increasing number of visitors, so we wondered if he could recommend some priests from Theological University.

“That? It’s quite simple-. Let me write a letter to Akuiqinas University-. It’s a hot topic these days, so the students of theology might be interested too-.”

“A hot topic?”

Elpride laughed as if she had heard an interesting story, prompting Edwin to narrow her almost closed eyes seriously.

“It seems they can bestow a mighty favor-. Therefore, it’s natural that people and rumors will gather, increasing the church’s strength-. In that regard, I could even help personally-.”

Sliding-.

Edwin’s thin arm wrapped around my waist like a snake. As a result, her chest under the long ceremonial robe was pressed tightly against me.

“Well, how does that sound? Perhaps we could form a small connection of fate-. It would be good if you could grant me a small favor too-.”

Maybe because she had just been playing with children and was sweating slightly, I was somewhat dizzy from the faint scent of sweat.

Edwin personally helping would be a very happy thing for me.

She seemed to be a very skilled priest, so for someone like me, who cherished each workforce, it was truly advantageous without any reason to decline.

But Elpride grabbed my hand.

“No, that’s alright. We can handle this.”

And with that, Elpride stormed out of Juno’s shrine like she was extremely upset.

Once we were on the quiet alley after leaving the extensive shrine grounds, she finally let go of my hand she had been gripping so tightly.

“Hey, what’s going on? You said we can handle it…! Didn’t she offer help?”

“You, how do you not realize another woman is playing around with you? You look like you’re loving it! She’s trying to use you!”

“What? What are you talking about?”

Caught off guard by the unexpected question, I felt dizzy.

“Idiot, moron…! Selfish brat…! Fool…!”

Elpride continuously hurled insults at me. I understood she was angry but wondered why she was so furious. Only one plausible explanation came to mind.

“Are you, Elpride, jealous?”

“Huh? Why would I do that? I don’t even know what that is?”

Elpride clicked her tongue with an air of disdain.

“And why would I be jealous of you? Just because I had no choice and had to share a body with you for a day due to mana issues, does that mean you think I have feelings for you?”

But her long ears betrayed her emotions, twitching from up to down as if trying to hide her anger. Her face had turned red long ago, starting from her ears.

I thought Elpride looked quite cute.

How often would I have an opportunity to psychologically outmaneuver her? Thus, I decided to joke around and casually said,

“Then, Elpride, if Edwin doesn’t get to hold my hand, will you let me touch your chest?”

“Are you really crazy? Why would we suddenly talk about this here? And why would you ever touch my chest?”

“I like you, Elpride. Even if you gather all the Silver Rose members, you’re the prettiest to me.”

“What, what!??”

Elpride screamed in genuine shock.

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