The Pure Priestess's Innocent Courage_4
Gray knew it in his head.
He had never denied it for even a single moment.
The treasures in Elysia's room, I had seen with my own eyes on the first day.
Above all, her unadorned emotions and demeanor were the greatest evidence.
The fact that someone had thought deeply about me was purely heartwarming. Waiting for ten long years was something to be grateful for.
But the more so,
But precisely because of that,
I thought that simply letting the ten-year gap flow by was something that could not be overlooked.
“…… Elysia.”
There were few opportunities. These words had to be said in advance. If not now, it seemed like my mouth wouldn't open.
“Wait a moment. Gray.”
But Elysia, taking the lead, hurriedly covered my mouth.
Her soft fingers touched my lips. A faint grape scent brushed past. It was off by a beat. She startled, bit her palm a little, then lowered her arms unsteadily, covered her mouth with a dazed expression at her own impulsive action for a short moment, and then bowed her head deeply.
“…… S… Cancel.”
“Huh?”
“… Cancel. It's a cancel.”
“……?”
“You can think it over again. Cancel. I don't want to. Don't answer. Cancel. Absolutely. No. I don't want to.”
“No, I wasn't going to say that……”
“Don’t speak! Cancel! Cancel! Uuu! Shh! Quiet! Anyway, it's a cancel!”
It seemed she was scared that if I said something else, I'd blurt it out. As I tried to open my mouth again, she pushed my chest like a child throwing a tantrum.
“Hah! Sorry! I didn't mean to push! Are you hurt? What should I do….”
“I'm fine, Elysia. More importantly, I……”
“Kyaa! Don't say anything!”
Elysia hurriedly covered my ear, then realized she needed to cover her mouth and did so.
… I hadn't seen it with a third person's eyes, but I could tell the distance had narrowed considerably.
Creak.
“Hi~ I'm back. Wow. It ended faster than I thought…….”
“Excuse me again………”
Neir and Chipi entered, but instead of continuing, he turned 180 degrees on his heels.
“Shouldn't we lock the door?”
“…… That's not it.”
I lightly dropped the dazed Elysia and continued.
“What did you do to come so quickly?”
“Because I'm capable, of course.”
“If you managed to convince the Ragnea Temple Head and Cherny Priestess in such a short time, that's quite the ability.”
“Huh? Convince? What are you talking about? I just secretly stole the stamp and stamped it.”
“Is that allowed?”
“Well. Chipi said as long as I had the stamp.”
It wasn't meant in that sense.
But looking at Chipi's expression, it was more awkward than I could say.
“If you went out to help so confidently, you should have at least left Baren Priestess's leg alone.”
“Too much. I did help quite earnestly.”
Clearly, I had no intention of helping from the start.
Or perhaps just enjoying watching Chipi make a sad face and look troubled.
I asked Chipi.
“Do you even need help? Priestess Chipi, if you can receive the oracle from the Goddess Ragnea, wouldn't your position be quite high? You wouldn't have to yield to Baren Priestess, right? Demand it boldly.”
Chipi looked very flustered.
“Um... Well... I do receive oracles, but my influence isn't that great, so I'm definitely not at the level of the Astasia Saintess..."
“Even if the Ragnea Church is small, is that possible? What kind of oracle do you usually give?”
“Th... The Goddess Ragnea... Usually tells me how to fix my mistakes when I make them...”
I didn't understand what she was saying for a moment.
Fixing mistakes...? What nonsense is that. Not even joking.
Elysia, unable to believe it, stared at Neir.
But he continued to idly rock in his chair.
“See? Priestess Chipi. That's proof that the goddess is interested in you.”
“M-Me? No... There's no way. The Goddess Ragnea probably just got frustrated seeing me and gently scolded me...”
“Can you really say that?”
“………… But... I'm not the type to suit the Struggle Church... I'm a crybaby... I can't do anything properly... I'm not the type the Goddess Ragnea likes..."
“Yet you became a priestess by receiving the lettering from the goddess?”
“………… That is.”
“You think it was just coincidence that you became a priestess without being liked by the goddess?”
“………….”
“Being liked by the goddess…………… Haha. What exactly is the standard?”
Neir lazily chewed and sank onto the sofa.
He shrugged and started.
“Chipi. Shall I tell you one interesting story? Let me see... I know one human who is loved by the gods.”
“… Me? Loved by the gods...? Not just one, but multiple gods...?”
“That human is quite unique in many ways. He really interacted with many gods. If he sincerely wanted, he could receive scattered gold, infinite power set by the heavens, or even take beautiful men and women created by gods as lovers as his harem.”
“Waa... It's like a fairy tale. If such a person existed, they must have been born with tremendous blessings... I'm really envious. You must be an amazing person, unlike someone like me.”
“Well. Blessings... It might differ by perspective, but for that friend, the cases were a bit different. The reason the gods were in a frenzy was because they owed him in many ways.”
“Owe the gods...?”
“It's an owe. A huge owe. The gods owe that human. Isn't there something gods can't do? Do you have an idea what it is?”
Neir said that and secretly watched me. I turned my gaze away from his eyes.
“The twelve covenants I made with the gods. Among them were tasks the gods couldn't handle themselves.”
“Covenants...?”
“It's not like gods have no restrictions. If you think of it as a covenant to act as a proxy for protection, it might make sense. Or am I just being too roundabout?”
“I-I don't understand... Priestess Neir seems well-versed in theology.”
“You're praising me? That's kind of you. I'm outstanding in many ways.”
“… But sorry. My head is bad, so I didn't understand what lesson the fairy tale gave earlier……”
“Don’t think too hard. It's an achievement that even the gods couldn't handle directly and had to owe. Of course, it's impossible to achieve with ordinary human effort.”
“Did it have a price?”
“Yes. That friend ended up missing the most important things to humans.”
“What is it…?”
“Well. There are several, but the one that might directly resonate with you is time. For mortals, time is as precious as life. If someone suddenly stole your ten years one day, how would you feel?”
“………… If it's such a long time, it's pitiful.”
“Pitiful... Earlier you said they were born with blessings?”
“…… Uu. Th-that is.”
“Yes. Correct. Even someone with deep ties to the gods, thinking they were born blessed, had to handle things ordinary people shouldn't have to handle because of dealing with the gods' aftereffects of the covenants. Maybe this is closer to the price of a transaction than the gods' love.”
“………….”
“Now, let's think about you? The Goddess Ragnea didn't make special demands while giving routine oracles. If it's just that she enjoys watching your life and giving guidance, it might be a bit bothersome and burdensome, but wouldn't that be closer to love and interest?”
“………….”
Chipi kept her mouth shut.
She opened it again after a long time.
“Perhaps... What happened to her after that?”
“Well, she can't live forever without it. Maybe she's still wandering around looking for it alone. Or maybe she's settled somewhere looking for it.”
Neir said that in a shameless tone.
At that moment, Chipi stood up with a thud.
“I’ll go again! Neir Priestess helped just now, but I'll go back and properly receive the stamp fairly!”
“Oh, really? You got courage?”
“…… No... Not really...”
She hesitated as if she had lost her will.
“But... Even I... If the goddess is really interested in me... Since I'm a priestess of Ragnea... I think I have to overcome this much struggle. Thank you all. I'll go now!”
It was quite plausible.
But whether calling receiving the stamp for work 'struggle' is acceptable... that's for outsiders to judge...?
“By the way, Cherny will be grumbling for a while.”
After the crybaby priestess of the Ragnea Church left triumphantly, Neir's first words.
I retorted.
“You’re paying a lot of attention to an ordinary human.”
“Ordinary human... Even if the kid seems a bit naive, at least he's a human who accepts my oracle.”
“Oracle. It just seems like you're grabbing some random person and saying what you want to say.”
Instead of answering, he stretched his frail body and stood up.
His weak body looked so sickly that one touch would break it. It was a pitiful sight for a god of struggle.
“The Struggle Church. Struggle is vague and abstract, isn't it? The people of the Ragnea Church have always been just boring humans.”
“So you deliberately pointed at the unusual person.”
“Yes. I left the lettering on Chipi because she looked interesting.”
“… Well, it's up to you, but I don't know if all Ragnea Church people are boring.”
“Oh, sharp. Baren and Cherny are quite interesting too. That's why you have to pick them apart one by one.”
“………….”
“Speaking of which, Elysia has been quiet since earlier?”
At Neir's words, I belatedly checked Elysia.
Since Neir and Chipi entered, she had been sitting upright, recovering her spirit, but now she was staring blankly into space with somewhat dazed eyes.
Perhaps lost in her own thoughts. I lightly tapped her shoulder.
“Elysia.”
“………….”
“Elysia! Let's go.”
“Huh? Huh? N-now? Going back? Cleaning?”
“Cleaning?”
Upon thinking, the house cleaning hadn't progressed at all.
I concluded it was all Neir's fault and turned my gaze to Neir, bowing politely.
“Goddess Ragnea.”
“Huh? What's the matter?”
“A pitiful human loved by the gods, declining gold, treasures, endless honor, and beautiful lovers, dares to request...”
“Suddenly?”
“If the goddess of struggle personally cleans the house, it would be grateful.”
Neir's expression, which had been leisurely, crumpled nicely.
***
The walk back to the temple was very leisurely.
The path to the temple along the riverbank was still unfamiliar. The paved white stones were the common white stones found nearby. Picking up a small pebble, we arrived at the shopping district.
Crossing the city and climbing the stairs to the hill, one side had a wide open field, and the other a vineyard. Beyond the vineyard, it's said grapes are grown. Wine is famous too, or something.
“Gray, hungry? Or thirsty? I brought water, want a sip?”
Elysia talks a lot when she's with me. It's nice that she's talking more, but most of the time, her fidgeting unease didn't sit well with me.
“Tired? Ah, when cleaning earlier, did you get hurt anywhere? If you did, just say. Just in case, I brought bandages, disinfectant, antidote, and even surgical tools and bone saws for worst-case scenarios.”
It wasn't a joke; a rusty nail glinted in her luggage.
Worst-case scenario...
Was she thinking that even stepping on a rolling rusty nail would blow off my ankle?
“Elysia. Is there anything you want to say?”
Elysia's expression hardened instantly.
“Perhaps... am I still weird now?”
Elysia was trembling at the corners of her mouth.
“…… Gray.”
“Hm?”
“What Neir said earlier... perhaps... you...”
I knew a difficult answer would come from her mouth.
This was all because Neir had spoken carelessly.
If it was intentional to stir up trouble by blabbing about others, what a despicable goddess.
I skillfully changed the subject.
“Ah, the beautiful wife I mentioned?”
“No, not that, I... ……………………… Uh? Wait! That wasn't just something you said, it was real, right?!”
As expected, Elysia bit the bait nicely.
“Strange. There is no way. No. I haven't heard that you've been married for ten years... No.”
“Why are you so surprised?”
“Why surprised! Th... That's...! I don't know what happened for ten years...! It's all stories I don't know even if I hear them! And... I don't want you to become unfamiliar.”
“True, when I saw you again, your appearance had changed a lot, so I was surprised. If you were still the same as ten years ago, I wouldn't have cared and would have ticked you off all day.”
“……… Uu.... Again, changing the topic to the old story…”
Elysia bit her lip and hesitated.
Then, as if deciding something, she sharpened her gaze and flicked her gorgeous silver hair gracefully.
“Hmph... While abandoning a beauty like me for ten years of wandering, daring to look for a beautiful wife? With the cheek of a bodyguard knight. Arrogant!”
Then, as if suddenly losing confidence, she squatted down.
“…… Sorry. But you keep talking about ten years ago…….”
“Even so, seeing your old appearance after a long time is fine. Well. It's not bragging, is it? You're a beauty, after all.”
It was a word spoken lightly, as if playfully countering.
It wasn't particularly meant with any intention.
“…………….”
“…………….”
“…………….”
“Hm?”
“Huh.”
“…………… Uh?”
“…………….”
“…………… Uu. Ah. Uh?”
It was like a doll twitching. My head jerked, taking a step back, almost falling on my butt, which I barely caught.
It seemed that was the opposite effect.
A hiccup.
And her white face suddenly flushed like boiling.
My gaze swirled.
Her lips parted slowly, and then,
“Don’t speak to other women in such a rude way!”
That was the last line.
………… Elysia was sitting squatting and fainted.