How to Handle Uninvited Guests
Why? Why is the door open?
No, why is she lying on my bed?
Aaaah, no, why is the door wide open! I definitely... Tina? Is it Tina's doing? Yes! It's Tina!
Tina is desperately holding back a mischievous smile. There are "treasures" scattered all over the room. Some of them are so embarrassing that I wouldn't want to show them to Tina, and I've asked her to knock a few times, but that girl wouldn't listen to such words.
Even though I had half given up on that, I never thought I'd face such a situation.
Beyond the door, Gray was staring at Elysia.
From where had he been watching?
When she jumped up shouting?
Or when she was flailing alone with her face buried in the pillow?
When she hugged the pillow and said "Poke! Poke!" or "Nibble nibble"?
Or from when she kicked the blanket energetically?
No, no, snap out of it, Elysia. That's a problem too, but there's another problem. First, I have to hide the treasures in the room!
If this gets discovered, she might think I'm the crazy woman who has been stalking her from afar for 10 years! But I don't have that image yet!
But unlike the alarm bells ringing in my head, Elysia couldn't move a single finger.
Shame, embarrassment, and humiliation...
As the embarrassing scenes from moments ago when she rolled around on the bed flashed before her eyes like a panorama, everything in front of her started spinning.
When she came to her senses, she had already pulled the blanket over her face and was running outside.
"...... Uh!"
"Elysia?"
Because of the blanket over her face, she bumped into the wall with a thud,
and staggering, bumped again with a thud!
"...... Hah... uah... au..."
While rubbing her forehead and flailing, she was still running.
Behind her, Gray's voice could be heard saying something, but it wouldn't be heard.
The place she arrived at was behind the courtyard garden. Since the sun wasn't shining, she squatted on the damp muddy floor covered with moss, pulling at her hair, and suddenly the blanket was forcibly lifted.
Fortunately, it was Tina.
Tina smiled bashfully as if apologizing and folded the blanket neatly.
"Sis sis. Your forehead is swollen."
"...... I know."
"Are you angry, sis?"
"No... I didn't get angry or anything."
It wasn't a lie.
It wasn't that she was angry, but the bigger problem was what to do about this.
"Sorry~ Before oppa goes, I had something to tell you, so I woke you up. But Tina told me to wait outside the room? I did well, right."
If that was the case, it would have been better if she had closed the door too...
"Eh? Wait a minute, Tina. What did you just say? 'Before going'...?"
"Eh? Yeah. I said I'd go today. Didn't you know?"
"Today?!"
Elysia became dizzy again and ran out. Even in her confusion, she had asked Tina to clean up the blanket.
When she quickly returned to the room, luckily the door was closed, and she could face Gray in the living room chair at the end of the corridor.
"Ah, Elysia. You're awake..."
"You're leaving?"
"............?"
"Th-that... you were going today?"
It was so sudden that she took a breath and asked again.
Gray blinked and tilted his head.
He immediately pointed out that her actions and complexion didn't look good, more than the answer.
"... Are you sick?"
"Eh? Ah... that's... I had a strange dream... sorry. Not just now... sorry. I must have been a little excited."
"Put some ice on your forehead. After waking up, you bumped into things all over..."
Gray handed her a towel wrapped in cold ice.
When was this prepared?
She should have said thanks, but in her head full of confusion, the few words she barely managed to squeeze out were a bit different from that.
"................ Gray."
"Eh?"
"Just now you said... .......................... H, maybe. Did you see?"
"What?"
"................................................................ various things."
"Well. I don't know what you're talking about."
He smiled lightly and avoided her gaze.
He probably thought she was embarrassed and would cover it up.
Being considerate made her want to hide in a mouse hole even more.
"I'm going to that house today. The cleaning I asked Neir-nim to do should be almost done. I look forward to how clean the cleaning done by the goddess herself will be."
"Really... uh. It's a pity to go now that I'm going."
"Pity? You said you'd come too?"
"Still, I won't be able to see you like this for a while."
It was a pure, innocent expression of her true feelings without thinking, but Gray smiled bitterly as if he was a little surprised.
Only then could Elysia regain the realistic sense that what she said just now wasn't something to say between a man and a woman who weren't close.
She self-destructed again.
"No... it's just that... I must not have woken up from sleep yet..."
"You fainted suddenly yesterday too, and if your condition is bad, why don't you postpone the move and tell Priestess Lucia to stay here a bit longer?"
"It's not that I'm sick. I'm fine."
More than fainting? Elysia noticed the unease belatedly.
Thinking about it, she had no memory of lying on the bed.
Everything was unfamiliar and embarrassing, like the film cutting off the day after a loud noise.
Yesterday, she definitely followed Gray's back and went out, met a timid priestess named Chipi from Ragnea Temple there, and after parting with them, on the way...
Yes, on the way...
... Boom!
"Gray... did you come in yesterday...?"
"Eh? ... Ah. That. I brought you as is."
It seemed like he said it concisely, but the meaning was clear.
If she imagined it, her expression control couldn't hold.
"Ah... ah... yes..."
Whoosh...
"... T-today, I have to go to the temple first, so I'll go first."
Elysia desperately suppressed the corners of her mouth and took a step back.
But after a few steps, she stopped abruptly and turned back.
"Again..."
Peeking.
"You can see it again?"
Even while saying it herself, she wondered what kind of words this was.
Gray doesn't leave the city.
She knew that well because he had said it many times.
But the anxiety rooted deep in her heart didn't disappear easily.
Not knowing if he didn't know her feelings, he said leisurely.
"Anytime."
"...... Really?"
"It takes about 15 minutes to walk. I don't know how many days it will take until Bishop Boris returns, so come visit when you're bored. If there are any things to move first, you can move them anytime."
That day, nothing went well at all.
Anyway, Elysia's mind was empty.
"................"
"Ria priestess...."
"................"
"Um... R-Ria priestess...?"
Moo.
First, she changed into priestess clothes and went to work, but the words didn't come to mind easily.
If Theo priestess hadn't called from the side, she might have just sat there miserably.
"Ye... what is it?"
Unlike what she thought, a strong accent came out.
The northern accent is known to be harsh and cold.
On top of that, she couldn't even smile properly at others from outside, and she couldn't fix the accent either, so it was inevitable that Theo would shrink back in shock.
"Th-that... people from Ragnea Temple came..."
"Ah, sorry. The joint ceremony was today, right. I'll go out myself."
Today is the day when the Astasia Church, which serves the Goddess of Wisdom and the Goddess of the Night Sky, opens the temple until late, informs the laypeople and ordinary citizens of the research achievements, and explores the stars together.
Usually, before sunset, you offer a sacrifice to the goddess and share a simple snack and a drink with the followers, but this time, the sacrifice was to be held together with the Ragnea Church.
The tools needed for the ritual were brought in advance when visiting the other church last time.
Then, it meant that Baren, Cherny, and Neir had arrived.
Because the whole day was blown away, her sense of time became vague. Elysia clicked her tongue inwardly at her own carelessness and stood up, pulling her chair.
But there were people who stopped her.
"Huh! Wait a minute! Ria priestess shouldn't go herself!"
"Theo is right, Ria priestess. It might be dangerous to go yourself."
Not only Theo, but even Rosa, who is precocious, stopped Elysia.
Theo is always anxious and fidgety, which is normal, but the problem was that even Rosa, who is known for her precociousness, had a strange expression.
"... What happened?"
Elysia asked with blinking eyes.
Theo, who was frightened by the expressionless face, spoke with difficulty. Only after Rosa next to him held his hand did he gain courage and speak.
"Th-that... Baron Zeke..."
"Baron Zeke came again, huh. It's okay. I'll send him away myself."
"It's not just that."
Theo took a breath and continued.
"The head of the Ragnea Church, and... we don't know well, but a famous noble of the empire came with them. This time, they brought even the nobles! Those guys definitely came with big intentions this time! Last time, you had to call that person who used magic! Was it Gray...? You have to call him quickly!"