Extra: The Church in Our Village (2)
And so, with the prayer’s effect on us, we hunted an iron golem in safety.
As a result of exchanging it to the guild and splitting it three ways, my wallet got pretty fat.
“It’s seriously better when we pray!”
“I can play around for a while now~”
“Still gotta work the fields though.”
For me, field work is my life’s work. If I had to choose between that and being an adventurer, I’d choose the field. I’m super fortunate that I can have both at once—now I just wish I could have a bride.
“So, wanna go pray at the church?”
“Yeahhh, us getting that iron golem was thanks to Beddhism’s help after all.”
“Zun, you’re just saying that because you wanna see Suira-san, aren’t ya?”
“What’re you on about, Doko! I just wanna pat Michiru-chan’s head!”
“You lolicon.”
Like that, we headed to the church.
As for the time, it was in the evening. It closes early since we all sleep at night, but it should still be open now.
“Ah, welcome~?”
The small sister, Michiru-chan greeted us.
Come to think of it, her child sister outfit has a slit in the skirt too… and I heard that the Beddhism sister outfits were all prepared by the village chief… yep. Well, yeah. Guess that’s that, then.
Going that far, honestly, I think there’s some respect to be had.
Zun patted Michiru-chan’s head as he said he would and handed her an eggplant he was holding on to. Zun, just when did you pick that up…?
“Yaaay~, eggplant~!”
Michiru-chan rubbed her cheek all over the eggplant—what’s this feeling? It feels like I’m witnessing something wrong.
Pa.s.sing our offerings to Michiru-chan, we did the informal prayer.
… It feels like giving pocket money to a niece. Calming.
“Well now we’re gonna head off to the bar for a drink, you comin’ too Robou?”
“Nah, I’m gonna pray a bit more. I want to read a book.”
“Sure, suit yourself. We’re off then.”
Saying that, I broke off from Zun and Doko. They’re a great pair I can talk to easily.
I borrowed a book related to agriculture from the bookshelf and sat back into a chair. I can’t read much since reading’s so difficult, but as an adventurer, I can manage enough to figure out what’s on a commission slip.
Moreover, this [Translated Edition: Ichika] book has lots of memos written by an adventurer, so it’s easy to ready.
… What’s this? Fertilizer, flour made from grinding sh.e.l.ls, into the field… heeh, sh.e.l.l powder can be used as a fertilizer? So it’s not just goblins? Maybe I’ll try it out with the next merchant heading to Pavuera?
I continued reading the book. It was very good… but I guess the day’s fatigue was building up, since I started dozing and—
—ah! I wound up falling asleep.
I hurriedly used [Cleanup] on the book and desk I drooled a bit on to. I don’t know if it was made of anything special, but the book cleaned up very nicely… that was dangerous, there’s no way I could pay to replace the book.
With that, a cloth fell down. It looks like one got put on me.
“You were praying zealously, Robou-san.”
Suira-san stood next to me with a gentle smile.
“… Umm, Suira-san, this cloth, did you…?”
“Yes, I put it on you so that you wouldn’t catch a cold… You have an adorable sleeping face.”
She saw my sleeping face?
I didn’t think much of my party members seeing my sleeping face, but just thinking about Suira-san seeing it is a bit embarra.s.sing.
The sun had already set, it was night out. It was a time that the church should have already closed.
“Sorry for causing you trouble this late.”
“No, nothing of the sort! If you’d like, you could continue sleeping a little longer?”
… Suira-san smiled, looking almost… disappointed?
Suddenly, I was reminded of a child caught red handed eating a treat—no, what am I thinking? It’s gotta be my imagination. But there’s no way Suira-san would do something like that, right?
“—Come to think of it, did you know that this church has a private room?”
“A private… room?”
When I asked back, Suira-san smiled gently.
“Yes, a place for Beddhists to calm down and pray one by one—ah, of course since it’s Beddhism praying, that means to have a nice long rest, but—it’s a room like an inn room. There’s even a key to lock it from the inside, of course.”
Suira-san smiled.
Then, she put her face close to my ear as though to whisper. My ear suddenly felt ticklish and my mind quickly grew comforted and tired. I wonder if this is that ear-happiness thing?1
“If—if you provide two silver coins as an offering, you could even do a special prayer in the private room that uses two people…?”
“Wha—… t-two silver coins, s-special!? With two people!?”
“Fufufu, what will you do? You’ve been praying so… pa.s.sionately, yes?”
The moment she said pa.s.sionately—I gulped back my saliva.
Suira-san smiled coquettishly. Corrupted—with a feeling entirely unbecoming of her sister outfit.
And inside my wallet… it’s there! I nodded right away.
“This way, then…”
Handed her the silver coins, I was led over to the private room with her soft hand pulling me.
Once there, I saw a small bed laid out. It was a room meant entirely to sleep in.
There, I—
—slept on Suira-san’s lap.
Hmm? Wait, what? I mean, it’s definitely different from what I’d expected, but this is good. Rather, it’s great. Man, it’d actually be a bit ridiculous if I’d be able to do what I wanted to do with Suira-san for just two silver, hahaha. Hah…
“You can fall asleep whenever you wish. I will leave the room midway, but I will take care to not disturb your prayer.”
“O-Okay.”
She stroked my hair gently. Aah, this feels so good… wait, she smells so good, c.r.a.p. Suira-san really smells super good—is there an incense specifically meant for Beddhism or something?
“Close your eyes, relax your body… that’s a good boy. Now, slowly, breathe deeply—I’m here, don’t worry…”
“—…”
Listening to Suira-san talk, I grew ever more tired.
I slept soundly until morning.
As expected, Suira-san wasn’t there when I woke in the morning, but—
—It might’ve been because I rested on her lap, but what I dreamed about doing with Suira-san is a secret.
… It’s also a secret that I used [Cleanup] on myself when I woke up… Might’ve been the first time I wet the bed since I was a child.
At any rate, I, having slept all night, came across Suira cleaning when I walked out of the room.
“Oh, Robou-san. Thanks for the treat last night—-I mean, you prayed zealously last night. How do you feel? Well?”
“Yeah, I feel great, thanks. Nahaha.”
“That’s all that matters.”
Suira-san smiled.
“Should I keep last night a secret?”
“Well, no, but it would be best to keep to only telling those you can trust. However, there is a limitation on the number of private rooms we have, so we may not have one open, and sisters hold the power of refusing anyone they deem unreasonable.”
“I see…”
“… By the way, if you want to pray another night, next time will be a three silver coin co-sleeping course—”
“I’ll come again!”
I grabbed Suira-san by the hand and almost yelled it.
Suira looked at my face, her eyes looking bashful as they gazed into mine.
She then grasped my hands back and opened her mouth.
“… It’s a promise, right? You’ll definitely be here again…?”
SO CUTE, I’m falling in love.
Guess I’ll tell Zun and Doko about it for now. They’re probably dead drunk in the bar around now.
“Gotta go check on my field first though!”
With that, I headed to my field.