saint ch32

Outing (3)

“You must return to this plaza by 5 p.m. There won’t be any public carriages after that!”

Listening to the coachman’s advice, I arrived in the city and looked around.

Actually experiencing a city in a real fantasy world made me want to spend the whole day sightseeing, but I had too many things to check.

First, the places I absolutely had to visit today were the church and the hospital.

Places where people come and go.

And places where orphans or the poor might gather.

The city was more well-maintained than I thought, so the last one was ambiguous.

It seemed that because many nobles flocked here, security was ensured accordingly.

This might disrupt my plans.

Wasn’t a fantasy world supposed to have thugs following you as soon as you stepped into a side alley from the main street, and the poor overflowing in the deeper parts?

In addition to that, if possible, I wanted to see how the trainee cadets, led by the princess, were exploring the city, and I wanted to check the people’s movements.

I wish I could learn something like clone magic.

Briefly thinking about how great it would be to have clone magic, I started asking people for directions to the church.

Fortunately, the church was not far from the central plaza, so I could easily find it.

“It’s bigger than I thought…”

The church I found was not as big as the one built in the academy, but it was much larger and more beautiful than I had imagined.

It had an appearance that seemed to have traded frugality for something else.

As I walked towards the entrance to enter the church, a guard standing there stopped me.

“What’s wrong?”

Instead of answering, the guard scanned me up and down.

“Are you an academy student?”

“Yes, I am.”

“For the time being, entry to the church is restricted to the general public.”

“Pardon?”

I raised my voice as if asking what that meant, but the guard simply waved his hand with an indifferent attitude, as if he had finished speaking.

Seriously, I’m getting cut off at the entrance before even going inside.

Is it because I’m wearing a robe?

But he didn’t even tell me to take it off…

I was dumbfounded, but because I was dressed so suspiciously, I was afraid that if I argued, he would tell me to take off the robe, so I couldn’t say anything back and retreated.

But what happened immediately after left me speechless.

Having been cut off at the entrance of the church, I couldn’t let go of my lingering feelings and was lingering near the entrance when a noble and his party got out of a carriage and naturally passed through the entrance.

I was so dumbfounded that I stared at the people who had just passed for a long time to see if they were members of the Order, but I couldn’t find such a title on anyone.

Are they being selective about who they let in?

“Believer.”

While I was standing there dumbfounded by the incomprehensible situation, someone called me from behind.

I turned my gaze to the source of the sound and saw a young-looking cleric dressed in holy garments looking at me.

“What is it?”

“Is this your first time visiting the church in this city?”

It’s my first time visiting a church itself, but it’s not wrong.

I nodded slightly.

“This church is mainly used by nobles or those who donate a lot of offerings and prove their faith.”

Are they really being selective about who they let in?

Based on status and money?

Why doesn’t the Order collapse?

“If you are an academy student, you would normally be allowed in, but because trainee cadets dispatched from the headquarters are visiting, and the young lady of the Torf duke’s family is also visiting, it is difficult to enter. It will likely continue for the time being.”

I didn’t have anything to say, so I just nodded.

“If your purpose is to pray, go to Delm Street beyond the market area. There is a church there as well. Most believers use that place.”

So there’s another church?

“Thank you.”

As I bowed my head to thank the cleric who had given me the information, the cleric also bowed deeply in return.

“I was just being nosy because I didn’t want you, a student, to lose faith because of this.”

This is a real cleric.

“It’s quite a distance, so it’s best to take a carriage.”

I repeatedly expressed my gratitude and left the place.

Delm Street, he said.

“Do you know the church on Delm Street?”

I caught a nearby carriage and asked, and the coachman replied with a hearty laugh.

“Haha, who doesn’t know that church? Shall I take you there?”

“Yes, please.”

“Are you an academy student?”

What kind of image do academy students have?

I look so suspicious, but everyone asks if I’m an academy student first.

“Yes.”

“Seeing that you’re going all the way to the church on Delm Street, you must have a remarkable faith.”

“You could say that.”

While we were chatting about trivial things, the carriage traveled a considerable distance.

And when I felt that the surrounding buildings had changed from magnificent and grand buildings to ordinary ones.

“We’ve arrived.”

The carriage finally arrived at its destination.

“Is this the church?”

“Yes, it is.”

As if to match the atmosphere, the church was small.

“Small” was my way of being polite.

Compared to the church from earlier, it was embarrassing to call it a church.

The scale was much smaller, and although it was well-maintained, there was no dust, but traces of time could be felt everywhere on the building, and animal sounds could be heard from behind the church building.

Is there also a barn?

It must smell bad.

Now that I realized it, the whole street seemed to have a slightly musty smell, unlike before.

Still, I thought it wasn’t unbearable, and as I was about to approach the church.

“Okay, that’ll be 3 silver.”

I heard the coachman say that.

“3 silver.”

I repeated the words absentmindedly, but my brain couldn’t keep up for a moment.

3 silver… what is that?

The brain that had stopped for a moment started working again, so I could easily guess.

Of course, it must be the currency unit of this world.

Ah, the carriage fare is 3 silver!

…I’m doomed?

I felt cold sweat running down my back.

The few months I had spent in this world flashed through my mind like a panorama.

Only then did I realize that I had never used money once since I had crossed over to this world.

Possessing the body of a penniless orphan trainee, I had never used money once until I got here.

Naturally, I don’t have a single penny on me right now!

“3…silver.”

I repeated the words meaninglessly and turned my gaze to the coachman.

“Sir?”

The coachman seemed to have noticed something strange and was looking at me.

“I… I left my wallet at the academy…”

I stopped talking.

This wasn’t a good option either.

I can’t go to the academy right now even if he tells me to go.

Is my infiltration going to end so futilely like this?

Because I couldn’t pay the carriage fare?

The worst part was that it was entirely my fault, so I couldn’t blame anyone.

The coachman’s expression had already turned sour.

“Don’t tell me you don’t have any money…? Are you really an academy student?”

I am, but… haha.

I have nothing to say.

Well, I came here like a thief, what’s one more time?

“What’s going on?”

Just as I was about to use holy magic to conceal my appearance, a cleric appeared from the church.

“Oh, Priest Rhys. It’s nothing. This person used the carriage without any money…”

The man tried to put on a friendly smile as the cleric approached.

Perhaps he was well-known, the coachman treated the priest politely and with respect.

“A carriage without money?”

“Yes. He asked me to take him to this church, and then suddenly he said he didn’t have any money! I didn’t suspect that he was an academy student because he was a kid in the central plaza, but now I don’t think he is!”

The coachman clung to the cleric and began to complain as if asking him to take his side.

The cleric paused for a moment, deep in thought, and then asked the coachman.

“How much is the fare?”

The coachman was startled and waved his hands.

“There’s no need for Priest Rhys to worry about it. It’s just a stray orphan…”

“He came to the church, how can I ignore him? If you’re not going to let him go willingly, take the money from me.”

What is this?

Is this real?

“That… well… it’s 2 silver.”

The coachman hesitated and quoted a lower price than he had told me, and the cleric paid the coachman that amount.

“You got lucky, kid. If you do this kind of thing again, I’ll break your legs.”

After saying that, the coachman politely greeted the cleric again and began to drive away.

“Will you come in?”

What is this?

Seriously, what is this?

Can such a person really exist in reality?

I watched the cleric who said that to me for a long time after seeing the coachman off.

The cleric had no bad intentions or thoughts whatsoever.

This cleric wasn’t even showing me this kindness because he thought I was a Saint.

The first unconditional kindness I had ever received since being reincarnated in this land.

I nodded my head without realizing it.

Then the cleric gave me a kind smile and led me inside the church.

As seen from the outside, the church had a lot of time.

In particular, the interior of the church was only furnished with a simple platform, a few chairs, and a statue of Orion, which was built to look decent as if it was the last bit of pride.

“There’s not much to see, is there?”

Instead of answering, I shifted my gaze to the statue of Orion located on one side of the church.

The surroundings of the statue were filled with nameless wildflowers that could be seen in the mountains.

“Priest Rhys! Look at this!”

Just as I was wondering who had brought those wildflowers, someone came into the church with a lively voice.

A child who didn’t seem to be even 10 years old was covered in dirt and proudly held up a flower crown in each hand above her head.

“Anna. You’re covered in dirt again.”

“It’s okay because it’s for the flowers to offer to Orion!”

The little girl, who was approaching this way with a bright face, hid behind the cleric when she saw me.

“Who is it?”

“Just one of the believers.”

“Why are they wearing so many clothes when it’s hot?”

“Maybe they get cold easily.”

“Wow. It must be really hard in the winter.”

The two of them were talking intimately like a father and daughter as they approached the statue.

“Now, shall we offer the flowers to Orion together?”

“Yes!”

The little girl was so excited that she hummed and moved almost as if she was dancing.

Moving too much like that…

Crash!

…she fell.

The cleric, who was walking right next to her, was flustered and quickly helped the fallen little girl up.

“Are you okay, Anna? Are you hurt?”

The little girl blinked her eyes as if she hadn’t grasped the situation for a moment, wiped the blood flowing from her nose, and then smiled with tears in her eyes.

“Hehe. It doesn’t hurt at all!”

The little girl, who was saying that firmly, then turned her gaze to the flowers she was holding.

“Uh…”

Then the little girl, who had been trying to smile until just now, instantly became tearful.

The flower crown had been crushed and lost its shape when the little girl fell.

“Sniff… sob…”

She was swallowing her tears, but she looked like she was about to burst into tears at any moment.

“Anna. It’s okay. I told you, what’s important is sincerity. Appearance isn’t important.”

“But… but…”

I hesitated, looking at the little boy who looked like he was about to burst into tears.

One of the things I wanted to do in the city was to secretly help people with holy magic and create rumors.

The easiest thing to think of was, of course, medical volunteer work.

I was planning to find out how churches and hospitals approached patients, and reach out to the vulnerable who fell outside that scope.

It would be even better if those rumors spread as far as possible, especially among people who frequently traveled between this city and other places.

If rumors spread like that, I would eventually get caught.

Since the rumors started spreading after the priests from the academy arrived, it would be easier to narrow down the suspects.

But I didn’t care.

From the beginning, getting caught was part of the plan.

By the time the rumors that started from the lower class spread through the city and I got caught, the rumors would have grown too big to ignore.

If my identity was revealed in that state, the reputation I had built up through the rumors would be entirely my own.

That was my goal: to build a reputation.

I looked at the priest again.

Therefore, the church needing my holy magic was not part of the plan.

Even if it was a small church like this.

Even if I didn’t reveal my identity, wouldn’t people think of the priest from the academy the moment I used holy magic, assuming I was a member of the Order?

There was no guarantee that they wouldn’t report it to the higher-ups.

Besides, I didn’t know how many medically vulnerable people would visit the church.

Even if there were, if this priest could treat them all, I would be redundant.

There were too many uncertain factors here in many ways.

The possibility of rumors going up was high, but it was uncertain whether I could secure enough people to build a support base below.

Logically, it would be right to look for another place or find out more about this church.

“Sigh…”

I thought I was a rational and level-headed person, but I guess not.

Well, none of the choices I made today were rational anyway.

I approached the little boy, who was starting to shed a tear or two, reached for the flower crown, and channeled Divine Power.

“What are you doing…”

The priest, who was trying to stop me, and the little boy, who was about to cry, both stared at the flower crown with wide eyes.

“Wow…”

I could sell this for money.

It looks great, even to me.

The crushed flower crown was now taking the form of a plausible crown, with sturdy stems weaving together, and above it, petals with much brighter colors shone beautifully.