Heat Season? Luna's Place
Exactly Luna's house. Or rather, the place where she was staying. It was a church about thirty minutes' walk from the street stalls toward the outer edge of the Shelter.
I'd barely gotten that info after listening to the stall auntie's chatter for nearly half an hour.
"Phew... I almost got stuck there forever."
As I walked about thirty minutes toward the outskirts, the scenery of the Shelter gradually changed. Unlike the central area that had some semblance of life, the farther out you went, the more the energy seemed to drain away. Or something like that?
"Probably just my imagination."
It was only about two kilometers on foot, give or take. I didn't know the full size of the Shelter, but this was still technically part of the central zone.
"This must be it."
I arrived in front of a building that stood out starkly from the surrounding architecture and structures.
A so-called church—a building in a religious style.
The standout feature was how vast the church grounds were. Like a campus, with various facilities scattered around, and people who looked like devotees moving between them.
The main building was enormous in scale. You could see it from far away.
"Hmm... Well, yeah, in a world where holy magic actually exists unlike modern times, their following must be pretty huge..."
Inside the building, there were quite a few people. Devotees praying here and there, along with nuns and priests scattered about.
I asked one of the nearby nuns about Luna.
"Excuse me, could I ask you something?"
She was an older nun.
"What is it?"
"I'm looking for a friend who I heard is staying here. Her name's Luna."
"Luna? That child... Understood. I'll guide you. Please follow me."
I followed the nun's lead to the back of the grounds.
We walked quite a ways until the regular churchgoers thinned out, and people started appearing who were wrapped in bandages or seemed to have trouble moving.
"This place..."
"It's per the Saintess's instructions. These patients here can't be healed by our prayers. They're the ones suffering pains that holy power can't touch."
The nun looked at the patients around us with a bitter gaze.
"But the Saintess said, 'Just because God's light doesn't reach a place doesn't mean God's love is absent.' Following her will, we're caring for these people in their final moments not with the power of prayer, but with human hands. Easing their bodily pain and bringing peace to their souls. That's our new mission now."
There was a hint of self-mockery in the nun's words as she said that.
...These people have already given up too. But it couldn't be helped. Holy magic didn't work, and medicine supplies weren't exactly flowing freely. Prayer was literally all they had left.
And yet...
"That's impressive... In a world where it's hard enough just looking out for yourself."
"...What makes us impressive? It's all thanks to the Saintess. Our Shelter has especially many victims of flame monsters, so she's been providing ongoing support. If not for that..."
Before I knew it, we'd arrived at what looked like a dormitory building.
"Go up to the second floor, and the room'll be right there. It's good that child has a friend."
"Thank you for guiding me."
Knock knock—
When I knocked on Luna's door, it creaked open cautiously.
"Who is it...?"
Peeking out was a beastkin girl with ashen hair and amber eyes.
"Hey, Luna."
Slam—
"Wh-what do I do!?"
Luna panicked at the completely unexpected situation.
She'd never dreamed Soo-chan oppa would come looking for her.
"H-how did you find this place?"
Luna had spent sleepless nights after hearing Soo-chan wouldn't be coming to the shop anymore, ruining her condition, so she hadn't opened her stall yesterday.
In fact, Soo-chan hadn't shown his face for three days straight, and she'd been feeling seriously down, thinking he might never come back.
Was that why? She'd planned to rest just one day, but the nun she was close with saw her gloomy face and insisted she take one more day off, so she ended up resting today too.
—Knock knock
—Luna... if it's inconvenient, should I come back another time?
"Ugh... he saw my bare face..."
She'd shown her face—the one with the burns she hated most—to the one person she didn't want to see it.
In a panic, she threw on a veil haphazardly and opened the door.
"O-oppa, but how did you find this place?"
She'd never told Soo-chan oppa where she lived.
"I asked the auntie selling stuff next to your stall. She said you hadn't shown up for two days, so I got worried something happened!"
Ah, so Auntie Rana told him.
But...
To come all this way just for me...
"I-is that so... But oppa, did you... worry about me a lot?"
Her face was hidden by the veil, but Luna's lips were curved up in a huge smile.
If she asked whether I'd worried a lot? Of course I had.
I hadn't planned to come all the way to her house, but thinking about that drunkard uncle made me worry something might've happened, so here I was. Plus, I had something to discuss.
"Yeah, I was pretty worried. Thought I might never see you again."
"R-really? For real? Hehe... even for someone like me..."
...Luna seemed off from her usual self.
She's definitely not feeling well.
"Actually, I had something to consult you about... but if you're not feeling good, should I come back later?"
"Consult? Oh, come in first. It's humble, but..."
Luna's room had only the bare minimum furniture: a desk, chair, and bed. A small space.
She sat me on the bed and took the desk chair herself.
Hmm... this feels kinda awkward.
I'd thought about grabbing cookies or dessert on the way if there was a shop, but luxuries like that didn't exist in the Shelter, unfortunately.
Well, duh... sugar and flour are hard to come by.
"Um, oppa... what did you want to consult about...?"
"About our future and our relationship going forward."
If Luna accepted my recruitment offer, I'd go from being her customer to her employer.
"O-our relationship going forward!?"
Luna shot up and plopped down next to me on the bed.
—Flop
...Why'd she sit next to me?
"...I, with my body like this... I never thought a day like this would come."
...Yeah, the burn scars covering Luna's body weren't just scars—they were a stigma people in the Shelter shunned.
A fatal minus for running a restaurant. No way some crazy guy would hire her anyway.
But...
"I don't really care."
I'm not opening a shop for profit in the first place. I just want to hand it off to someone I can trust.
I've never run a restaurant before...
Luna's perfect for handling all the nitty-gritty operations. She's got experience running her stall for ages—basically a pro.
From what I've seen, she's diligent too... A stall's different from a restaurant, but Luna'd do great.
And... honestly, even if the shop flops, it's fine. I just need it as a public income source. Coins are overflowing anyway, so paying her salary's no issue.
"But... there must be better people out there? Teaming up with someone like me would draw weird looks... If it's you, Soo-chan oppa, you could definitely find someone bett—"
"Stop."
I cut off Luna's self-deprecating ramble.
Luna-lip... putting yourself down like that isn't good.
I channeled my inner gigachad.
Grabbing both her shoulders as she sat beside me, I stared intensely through the veil.
"Other people's stares don't matter. I never even considered anyone but you. It's gotta be Luna! Other better people? Maybe. But no matter how many times I think it over or choose again, it'd always be you!!"
If I'm giving a good job anyway, better to a friend than a stranger. I want to help Luna, who's always working so hard, even if just a little! Plus, scouting, interviewing, vetting new people sounds like a pain...!!!
"A-ah... R-really? Is it... really okay?? Sorry for asking over and over, but..."
Luna's trembling hands removed the veil. Her revealed face was flushed bright red, like it was burning.
"O-oppa hasn't even seen my face properly... You'll definitely regret it later—"
"You're super pretty, though?"
It was a bit of lip service to boost Luna-lip's confidence, but not entirely insincere. I'd only glimpsed it at the door earlier, but looking now, it was clear.
Like the stall auntie said, without the scars, she'd be a total beauty.
I got why Luna lacked confidence because of the scars, but setting that aside, her looks were pretty great even accounting for them.
So, time to praise her and build some self-esteem.
"The scars might bother you, but... Luna's got a great figure, cute voice, fluffy tail, and those eyes are insanely pretty— Gah!"
Suddenly, Luna shoved me down.
"Haa... haa..."
"Luna?"
Something was seriously wrong with Luna.
"Th-this is all... all oppa's fault...? I-I was really trying to hold back...!!"
Straddling me, her vertically slit pupils gleamed with a predator's intensity.
"Wh-what strength..."
Squeeze— My arms, gripped by her, wouldn't budge an inch.
What the hell... I just came to make a job offer!
Luna, perched on my waist, drooled as she looked down at me. Her breathing was ragged, her expression utterly slack.
Luna's not in her right mind right now...!
In that instant, seeing her, the puzzle pieces clicked in my head. The sudden stall closure, her flushed red face, the heavy breathing, her beastkin race with animal traits.
No way... did I show up during Luna's heat?
If so... I'd made a colossal blunder. Luna had probably locked herself in her room during her heat period.
But sweet Luna couldn't bring herself to turn away someone who'd walked all this way, so she'd pushed herself.
For her to say something like that to an outsider guy... she must've been struggling hard.
If this kept going, something irreversible could happen, and it'd wreck my recruitment pitch—not to mention our entire relationship.
Luna reached out, starting to pull off my shirt.
"N-no... stop!! Luna, stoppppp!!!!!"