I thought my favorability rating rose significantly after the last letter, and this time too, my favorability rose significantly. Did the incredible story I told give him strength? His once confused expression had calmed down a bit.
“Thank you for telling me this story. You trusted me and told me. It must have been a difficult story to tell somewhere else.”
“Yeah… Yes. Actually, this is my first time saying this.”
“Thanks to you, I also calmed down a lot. Thank you.”
“…If that’s the case, I’m glad.”
“I will help as much as I can. Now, it’s my turn to hear what you wanted to tell me and what I can do to help.”
‘You’re quick to notice.’
He seemed to quickly realize that the reason I had predicted that he would become a high priest and the reason I had told him about my current situation was all to ask for his help.
“The last victim… So, during the Caterine Hunt’s event, I wasn’t able to prevent the incident just by warning of danger. Who would believe me if someone like me suddenly warned you that you were in danger?”
“I’m ready to believe anything Arbice says.”
“…yes?”
I waved my hand to signal Alay, who was endlessly lost in another story, to come to his senses.
“So, if I send someone who will be my next victim, you can pretend to have received a prophecy from God and warn them. all right?”
Alay nodded his head. And he looked at me with a much more calm look in his eyes than when he entered the salon. He hesitated, then finally picked up the cookie in front of me and took a quick bite of the end.
“Now… I think I understand a little bit.”
“What?”
“It’s what I have to do. I was at a loss because I thought it was a mission suddenly given to me, but now that I think of it as a responsibility, it’s better.”
From his faint smile, I felt from the beginning that he was a solid person. It’s not that I made him strong, but that he was originally a tree-like person who would grow strong even without me. Alay took a belated sip of his tea, which was already cold, and looked out his window. As I unconsciously followed him and turned my head, I saw a crowd of people filling the bridge leading to the temple through the huge window that filled one wall.
He nodded his head with a much calmer expression.
“It’s time for me to go now.”
“Oh my, has it already happened like that?”
“Yes, I came out without personal prayer time…”
Alay said shyly and stood up. Considering that he was still so restricted in his work and time, it seemed that he had not yet accepted the offer for the position of high priest. Even though he looked like he had to go at any moment, he held out his hand to me. I reached out to his hand and squeezed his hand. Contrary to appearance, the hands were quite large, but compared to the Lakers, they were very soft to the touch and gave off a youthful look.
“I hope we can talk often in the future.”
“Oh, of course.”
‘There is a lot of work to be done in the future.’
Even after hearing the obvious answer, Alai let go of my hand and turned around with a shy smile, wondering what was so good about it. After looking back a couple more times to see if he had any regrets, he completely left the salon. I stretched and sat down. I get really nervous when I talk to Luke, so compared to that, I felt comfortable talking to anyone… Still, my hands got a little sweaty because I suddenly had to reveal where I was from without any preparation. He was one of the strongest cards I could have. He seems very nervous about what he should do if he cannot convince Aly.
‘I’m glad it seems to have been sorted out so well.’
As I was refilling the cooled tea, Officer Amanta, who had been watching me from afar, came closer to me.
“There was no sign of a suspicious person approaching.”
“Ah… That’s a good thing. It would have been okay if we had been together the whole time… My legs hurt. Don’t just stand there, come and sit down.”
“Me?”
“Yes.”
“I’m on a mission…”
She acted as if I had made a very generous offer, and then she slowly sat down. I turned an empty teacup upside down and placed it in front of Amanta and poured her some tea, and she carefully held the teacup with an excited expression on her face.
“…There is no need for you to be this kind. Everyone lives according to their status…”
I quickly waved my hand. In the first place, Arbice, the daughter of a baron, and I are different people.
“A person was born and a nobleman was born, but a nobleman was born and a person was not born. There’s no need to think like that over a cup of tea. Drink comfortably.”
“…Arbice really is a person who becomes more interesting the more you meet him. There is a reason why our inspector speaks so sparingly about how she matches well with Luke…”
I quickly grabbed the cookie and put it in her mouth. As Amanta ate her cookies and drank her tea, she continued to admire me, and then she suddenly looked at me with a curious look on her face.
“But, I don’t know if I can ask this question.”
“Yes? What is it?”
Amanta hesitated for a while, wondering what on earth she was going to ask, then covered her mouth with one hand and asked in a very low whisper.
“Um, are you dating Luke and also meeting a priest? Of course, it is Arbice’s freedom, but… Normally, I think it would be nice just to meet Luke… I think you’re too bold.”
Her eyes naturally widened at her unexpected words, which cut her off both front and back.
‘But what if I saw you shaking hands with Alay when you broke up? Or have you been told to meet again?’
“It was just a courtesy greeting.”
“Yes? Hey, no. No matter how much I don’t know about the two of you, the priest who was there earlier was full of affection.”
“…Affection? But he is a priest, what are you talking about?”
“Yes?”
“…yes?”
I realized that Officer Amanta and I were not communicating at all and managed to find the discrepancies in this story.
“…If you’re a priest, isn’t that something you can’t do in love or marriage?”
“Yes? Why should I do that?”
Why do you have to do that? Because… According to my common sense, that’s natural, and even though I built up an affinity with Alay Kus, there’s never been an event window that says I’m going on a date, right?
At most, there were events such as receiving blessings from him or drinking holy water. Officer Amanta looked at my expression and said as if he was happy.
“That priest was also very unfortunate. Wouldn’t he have guessed that Arbice doesn’t know this much about love?”
“…It’s not like that.”
“It’s not like it’s not, right? I’m one hundred percent sure. Even if you were interested in the opposite sex.”
That rabbit-like Alay, to me? When I think of Alay Kus, the image that comes to mind is so sacred that I didn’t even think about putting it next to the light word love. I burst out laughing. It’s almost rude to him to argue about such a ridiculous topic.
“Let’s stop talking like this and go eat something delicious for lunch.”
“No, this story is important…”
Officer Amanta too. I guess it’s because I have a habit of digging into something when I’m obsessed with it, right?’
She kept repeating what she said, like she was a priest, and her eyes. As I was soothing her and getting up from her seat, I heard her three sets of steps hurriedly approaching me. When I looked back, it was the three women I had talked to earlier and parted ways.
“Are you still here?”
Milorad stepped forward and nodded his head.
“I told you that I would formally invite you next time, but it seemed like your appointment was over… If it’s okay, I’m going to ask if it’s okay if I invite you now.”
Latte quickly agreed.
“I heard that if we go now, we can see something interesting at the Magic Tower. Now, all the high-ranking people of the Magic Tower are at the Metropolitan Police Department…”
‘Autopsy event? It’s an autopsy event, right?’
I was excited and tried to answer quickly, but when Lemuët heard that, he glanced at Amanta and stabbed Latte in the side. As if she missed her latte, she clung to Lemuët and hid behind her, caressing her purple hair for no reason. Milorad clicked his tongue slightly and then she spoke again.
“Anyway, they’re friends who can’t be bothered as long as they have something fun. You may not be interested in things like Magic Tower, but I’m sorry for suddenly bringing this up. I own a good restaurant, so we can have a meal together…”
It was fun to see the atmosphere as if they were appealing to each other about their interests. This time, I answered quickly without missing the timing.
“No. I’m interested. I’m really interested.”
Latte stuck her head out from behind Lemuet.
“Really?”
“Sure. Have you always wanted to see it someday? It’s an honor to be invited like this.”
Latte was so excited that she quickly came in front of me and squeezed my hand.
“Arbice, you have really good taste. Unlike anyone else anywhere.”
[Latte Locker’s favorability has increased.
Lv.2(1/198)
Favorability event open in casual language]
‘Did the favorability rating of the person who suggested go up depending on where you chose to go?’
But even if I was given the choice again, I would have made the same choice. I might be able to find out the autopsy results. As I shook my head to myself, Latte pulled my hand toward the entrance and said,
“Now that I think about it, I wanted to tell you from last time, we are the same age. Lemuet and Milorad too. Shall we let go? Huh?”
“Ah… is it so? No, yes.”
“Good.”
We left the salon having a pointless discussion about which of the magic towers, the upper guild, and the surgical ward was the most exciting place. It was the moment I left the salon and boarded the carriage. I had a strange feeling that someone was staring at me from the salon.
—————————————————————
Translator Note:
Next week I won’t release any chapter but I’m not dropping this story, just taking a little rest. See you in 2024.
Merry Cristmas and Happy New Year.
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
If you like my work please support me with Ko-fi or Patreon. Next post will be released on January, 2.
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