What Does That Evil Dragon Live For?

On the Thursday that L’Arch mentioned, Elaine got ready to go out in the morning and made a list of things to buy.

 

“One extra set of saint’s clothes, three pairs of stockings, three pairs of underwear, two bars of soap, one soap box, five notebooks, a dozen pencils, one pencil sharpener, one ink, a pen, and nib.…what else is there?”

 

[Is there a lot to prepare?] 

 

Rabes peeked his head over Elaine’s shoulder and looked at the list Elaine had written.

 

“Things like a set of saintly clothes and books are covered by the admission fee paid by the family when joining the temple, but all personal use has to be prepared with private funds.”

 

[They are taking a nobleman’s child hostage in a temple, but the family has to pay for it?] 

 

“I never thought that the saints were hostages.”

 

[If it’s not a hostage, what is it?] 

 

Starting from there, Rabes criticized every part of the temple that he didn’t like.

 

[It seems to me that humans become more hypocritical as their status increases, and the most hypocritical of them all are priests and priestesses. It was like that 500 hundred years ago, and it’s probably still like that now.] 

 

“Not all of them are like that. There are some people I really respect.”

 

[So, among them, was there even one person who opposed you being sacrificed to me?] 

 

“Hmm…It was a hasty decision at the time, and it was also the order of His Majesty the Emperor.…”

 

[No, no. If they were so faithful and loved the weak, they should have offered themselves to be sacrificed. But at that time, all the humans in the empire, including the priests, must have been relieved that they were not singled out as sacrifices.] 

 

Elaine just smiled bitterly at Rabes’ sarcastic comment.

 

‘At the time when I was dragged into the cave, the imperial family seemed to have no interest in who died, the nobles were busy calculating profits, the commoners were busy watching with low-level curiosity, and none of the priests at the Temple of Pavelo made eye contact with me.’

 

“But I believe in God. I believe there are good people. I also believe that there are priests worth respecting.”

 

[That’s probably why your life is messed up.] 

 

Rabes remained sulky to the end.

 

‘How should I resolve Rabes’s deep-rooted distrust of humans? At this rate, I don’t think he will give up his goal of destroying the empire.…’ 

 

As a result of doing her best to become close to Rabes and try to ease his feelings, Rabes was getting closer to Elaine, but his hostility toward other humans showed no signs of abating.

 

It seemed like it was because there were still people around Elaine who treated her poorly.

 

‘Even if I go to the temple, I will meet a lot of people like that.…I guess I need to find the item Rabes wants as quickly as possible and get out of the temple.’

 

Elaine nodded at the plan she had made by herself and inserted a pencil. 

 

‘I was told to come out in front of the door by 11 o’clock, so I had to go out now.’

 

“Rabes, would you like to go with me?”

 

[Of course. What do you think he’s going to do to you?]

 

After Elaine, who had been going to the temple, was locked in a morgue, Rabes strangely took care of Elaine more.

 

Elaine knew that the foundation of that consideration was regret.

 

Rabes had been very disturbed by the story that Elaine, who was locked in the coffin morgue, tried to use his power and failed.

 

“Thank you, Rabes.”

 

[You don’t need to thank me. I’m just taking this opportunity to see the human world.] 

 

It was Rabes who still grumbled in response to Elaine’s thanks.

 

She put Rabes on her shoulder and went down to the entrance. It was five minutes before 11 o’clock, and L’Arch had already come down.

 

He was dressed up neatly today and looked so cool that everyone would turn around.

 

Rabes, who was observing the scene with sharp eyes, suddenly asked.

 

[Is that guy good-looking even to other humans?] 

 

“I guess so? Because he was popular in social circles.”

 

[Even though I know the standards of humans, I still don’t know. They say that the rugged guy is handsome, the guy with the mustache is said to be handsome, and even the slim guy like him is said to be handsome.] 

 

“There are many tastes. Do all dragons have the same tastes?”

 

[Hmm…when I think about it that way, it kind of makes sense.]

 

Elaine wanted to ask more about Rabes’s tastes, but L’Arch was approaching at that moment, so she had no choice but to keep quiet.

 

“Did you make a list of things you need to buy?”

 

“This.”

 

Elaine showed L’Arch the list she had diligently written down since the morning.

 

L’Arch quickly glanced through the small list and sighed softly.

 

“Just thinking about it right now is more than this… It would have been better for me to take care of the list.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Nothing. Just get in the carriage.”

 

L’Arch held out his hand this time and escorted Elaine into the carriage.

 

Rabes probably didn’t like seeing that, so he turned to L’Arch and made a sound, ‘Kyaaak!’, but L’Arch couldn’t hear it. Only Elaine almost burst out laughing.

 

“The shopping district will be crowded by now due to preparations for the saints’ initiation ceremony. Be careful not to get lost while walking around.”

 

“I’m not a kid.”

 

“Yes, you are, but you’ve never been to the mall before, which is not unusual.”

 

Elaine kept her mouth shut, thinking that she would have to be more careful with her words once again.

 

Although she had visited the shopping district dozens of times in her past life, in this life Elaine had never been to the shopping district before.

 

‘If I had run out to the real shopping district on St. Nicholas Day, I would have been in big trouble.’ 

 

She was even grateful to Martin and his gang who gave her chocolate and candy before she ran out to the shopping district.

 

Count Newt, Martin and the others may not have thought anything of it, but L’Arch would definitely have questioned how she knew the way to get there.

 

While Elaine, who felt nervous after a long time, deliberately stared at the scenery outside the window, the carriage quickly reached the entrance of the busy shopping district.

 

And only when she reached the shopping district did she understand why L’Arch had warned her.

 

“There are so many people….”

 

“I told you. It’s going to be crowded.”

 

‘I had never been here during the saints’ initiation ceremony season, so I didn’t know, but the shopping district was more crowded than ever.’

 

It was crowded because not only boys and girls at the age of entering the temple but also guardians and servants carrying luggage were following.

 

“It would have been better to bring a servant.”

 

“What’s a servant when I can carry it….”

 

“Sounds silly.”

 

L’Arch just said something incomprehensible and led Elaine into the shopping district.

 

“First, we have to order the saint’s clothes. Even if you order today, It will take 2 weeks.”

 

“We can just buy ready-made clothes.….”

 

“Rumor has it that Newt’s family bought you ready-made clothes. Do you have any awareness that you are a saint from the Newt family?”

 

Elaine wanted to laugh a little. Because in her previous life, she entered the temple without even ready-made clothes.

 

“I’d appreciate it if you’d buy me something nice.”

 

“Follow me.”

 

L’Arch headed to the most famous saint’s clothing store in the shopping district. There was no room for prospective saints even if they arrived early in the morning, but when L’Arch said something to the clothing room staff, he and Elaine were taken straight to a private room.

 

‘Could it be that you made a reservation?’

 

L’Arch naturally sat down on a chair and ordered various things from the store staff, while Elaine took measurements of her entire body while saying “Uh-huh.”

 

“Next, the underwear store?”

 

“Oh, well, I’ll go there alone.”

 

“I don’t know what you are embarrassed about. Stop talking nonsense and follow me.”

 

L’Arch seemed to see Elaine as a child and took her into a women’s underwear store.

 

“Show me the set of underwear this child will wear. Silk stockings and winter wool stockings too.”

 

“In the case of underwear, there are ordinary cotton, domestic high-quality cotton, and high-quality Arabic cotton products. Which one should I show you?”

 

“Arabic cotton products.”

 

Elaine was surprised to hear that.

 

Even for domestic high-quality cotton products, the price difference from ordinary cotton products was significant, and Arabic cotton products, which were as soft as silk, were luxury product.

 

“I don’t need something that nice, L’Arch.”

 

“You don’t need it. But Count Newt’s family always buys Arabic.”

 

[This guy is showing off while breathing]

 

When Rabes, who was listening nearby, snorted, Elaine nodded without realizing it. 

 

Taking that as a sign that she understood, L’Arch smiled with satisfaction, looked at several types of underwear sets offered by the merchant, and chose one.

 

“Five sets of this. There should be five pairs of stockings for each season.”

 

Elaine’s face flushed with embarrassment at having to reveal her underwear to L’Arch.

 

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