The Gunshot Was Mine
As I strolled leisurely through the empty streets and arrived in front of Verdia’s temple, Vivian came into view atop the stairs, whipping her head left and right like a meerkat I’d once seen in a documentary.
“Oppa!”
Apparently spotting me, she covered her mouth the moment the word left it, then frantically waved for me to hurry up.
“Hurry and get up here!!”
She clearly wanted to shout but couldn’t, so the way she whispered in a desperately lowered voice was rather amusing.
“Hurry, hurry!”
When I climbed the steps she grabbed my hand, pulled me inside, and shut the temple doors behind us.
“Are you okay? You’re not hurt anywhere?”
“As you can see.”
I lightly raised both hands to show there was nothing wrong with me.
“Thank goodness….”
Letting out a sigh of relief, Vivian took my hand again and led me down a corridor I vaguely remembered walking before, straight into her room.
“Haa, I’m drained.”
The moment we entered she plopped onto the bed and flopped over. But only for a moment.
“Just what on earth happened?”
She suddenly sat bolt upright, staring at me with eyes full of curiosity.
“You heard it too, right, Oppa?”
“I did.”
“Wow, that was the most vivid gunshot I’ve ever heard in my life!”
“Must’ve been a shock.”
“You’re telling me? At first I thought I’d misheard, but the second one made my heart drop for real! Ugh….”
She must have been truly startled, because even with me right in front of her she clutched her moderately ripe left breast to reenact just how shocked she’d been.
“I was waiting for you to show up when people suddenly started screaming and scattering everywhere. You have no idea how scared I was.”
I nodded appropriately and pulled a chair back to sit.
“Wow, but thinking about it, that guy’s a real lunatic.”
Once I sat down, Vivian got up from the bed, pulled out the chair opposite, and planted herself there.
“How could anyone even think of firing a gun in the temple district?”
“Maybe the situation called for it.”
“Come on~ Even so, you don’t shoot in the temple district. You’d have to be completely insane.”
At Vivian’s playful expression that said not to spout such nonsense, I nodded once, drew the handgun from my coat, and set it on the desk.
“Huh? What…… eh?”
At first she’d been following my hand with expectant eyes, but when the handgun fully revealed itself from under my palm she flinched and completely short-circuited.
“I was going to tell you from the start, but your reaction was too funny.”
I picked the handgun back up. Of course the magazine had been removed, so there was no chance of a lead bullet flying off somewhere by accident.
“That madman you were talking about. That’s me.”
“Uh…….”
Still frozen, Vivian looked back and forth between the gun in my hand and me.
“W-well!! Y-you can shoot! Yeah! That’s right!”
She hastily changed her attitude so fast it was embarrassing for anyone watching.
“Aha, ahaha….”
But soon realizing this wasn’t quite right either, she wiped away the forced smile and scratched her cheek with an awkward expression.
“…Why did you shoot?”
“Curious?”
“Of course.”
I watched her face for a moment as she leaned her whole upper body this way, concentrating, then leaned forward myself and whispered softly.
“For free?”
“What?”
Vivian straightened up and blinked her wide eyes.
“You should at least offer a cup of tea.”
“Ah!”
Finally realizing I was teasing, Vivian pouted her lips and stood up from the chair.
“Oppa, you really ought to thank the parents who gave birth to you.”
Leaving those words, she briefly left the room. Not long after she returned carrying a tray with two steaming white mugs and a plate piled high with cookies studded with chocolate chips.
“This is super! Precious! Black tea. It was offered to Lady Verdia, and She gave it to me.”
The aroma alone was truly excellent. Not the kind of good that simply made you want to drink it, but the sort of fragrance that, when inhaled, made your entire mind and body settle into calm.
“Try it. You’ll be surprised.”
At her urging I took a sip of the clear tea in the mug.
“How is it?”
Not quite enough to be surprising, but it was certainly a decent tea.
“So-so.”
“So-so? If you knew how much one teaspoon of this costs, you wouldn’t say that.”
“Vivian.”
I gently set the mug down and spoke to her, who was still pouting.
“Just because something’s expensive doesn’t mean it’s delicious. And taste is different for everyone. That’s why we call food a matter of preference.”
“But there’s still an absolute standard, right?”
“That’s true.”
Even objectively speaking, though, the green tea I’d drunk in the slums had a far deeper flavor and better aroma than this black tea Vivian had brought.
“Tch, fine. More importantly, why did you shoot the gun?”
“Because he was being a nuisance.”
“Who in the world shoots someone just for being a nuisance?”
I took another sip of the black tea and lightly shrugged my shoulders.
“You just shot into the air, right?”
“Half and half.”
“…Half and half?”
Reaching for a cookie on the plate, I continued.
“The priest managing Bishua’s temple here in Oracle was being a nuisance, so I put a hole in his thigh.”
“Wh-whwh-wh-wh-wh-what?!”
Crunch.
The cookie tasted far better than the black tea. Crispy on the outside, moist inside, and the chocolate embedded within wasn’t too sweet, with a slightly bitter finish that made it endlessly addictive no matter how much you ate.
“Waitwaitwait!”
Since leaving the slums, the only people I’d met and talked to were three. Excluding the coachman, two of them were priests, and both had been far too noisy.
“S-so……. Right now, you’re saying you put a hole in Gerdic’s thigh?”
“I think I did hear a name like that when I first got here.”
“You idiot! This is no time to be casually eating cookies!”
I couldn’t understand at all why she was getting so worked up over something that wasn’t even her business.
“Why would you do that?! Even if you’re both priests, you just became one—a complete newbie—and that guy’s a veteran who’s served Lord Bishua for years!”
“Vivian.”
“I’m going crazy for real! When the person you brought shows up, go straight to Lady Verdia and beg Her to mediate! No, I’ll beg with you. Got it? You absolutely have to beg!”
Since talking to her now didn’t seem like she’d properly listen, I took the time to savor the black tea and cookies until Vivian calmed down on her own.
“What were you even thinking, doing that?”
The mug was empty, and no cookies remained on the plate.
“Haa, I should’ve just gone with you.”
But Vivian’s excitement still hadn’t settled. It was surprising in many ways.
If it weren’t for that face, I’d probably get away with smacking her once.
Just as her voice was starting to grate and I was debating whether to smack the back of her head—
Knock. Knock. Knock.
A knock sounded, then the closed door opened a crack and Vita poked her head through.
“E-excuse me…?”
“Come in.”
Vita’s timely entrance was so welcome.
“Hah.”
Of course, unlike me, Vivian looked thoroughly displeased that Vita had opened the door without her permission.
“Priest. Lady Verdia is looking for you.”
“Let’s go now.”
I stood up and lightly flicked the bridge of Vivian’s nose as she glared daggers.
“Eek! Wh-what?”
“Thanks for the tea. And get along.”
For the record, this was advice for Vivian’s sake.
“…Hurry up and go. And don’t forget. You have to beg for mediation.”
Without answering, I left her room.
“As expected.”
“Ahem….”
Standing outside the door, Vita scratched her cheek awkwardly and averted her gaze when I came out. I straightened the collar of her robe and smiled.
“It suits you well.”
“…Thank you.”
“There’s a lot to talk about, but later.”
“Ah, yes.”
Yes. This feeling. Just answering concisely with only what’s necessary—how pleasant it is to listen to.
“…Is something the matter?”
“No.”
I shook my head at her tilted head and left the spot as is.
It was when the departing Baek Jinhyuk had completely vanished from sight.
“Hey.”
At the sharp woman’s voice from inside the door, Vita briefly made an annoyed face before composing her expression and entering the room.
“Well, fine. For now, welcome to becoming family. But before that.”
Vivian glanced briefly at Vita’s chest, then crossed her arms under her own breasts.
“Knocking was fine. But opening the door and barging in without the owner’s permission is extremely rude.”
“I know.”
“You know? You know──”
“Haa.”
Vita closed the slightly open door, let out a deep sigh, and threw off the mask she’d been wearing.
“That sigh──”
“Oi.”
“O-oi?”
Vita lightly brushed up her bangs and spoke to Vivian, who was glaring at her.
“You shouldn’t be bitching at me right now. You should be bowing your head in thanks, and even that wouldn’t be enough.”
“What?”
“Ha, seriously. I was going to just wait it out if possible, but does this crazy bitch have a motor in her mouth? She just keeps yapping and yapping nonstop.”
“B-bitch? You!!”
Just as Vivian was about to explode at Vita’s high-pitched curses that had crossed the line—
Crack!
The backrest of the chair Baek Jinhyuk had been sitting in until moments ago shattered with a single gesture from Vita.
“Hic….”
As Vita brushed off the shattered chair debris, Vivian hiccuped and plopped down on the bed.
“As a special welcome for becoming family, I’ll give you one piece of advice, so listen carefully.”
Vita deliberately sat next to the collapsed Vivian, put an arm around her completely frozen shoulders, and whispered softly.
“Don’t spout half-assed advice at the Priest. Or you’ll get your head cracked open.”