Hurry, Master!
"Hurry, Master!"
Della grabbed my arm and yanked me along. I let her drag me out of the room and down to the first floor. The staff were already gathered in the hall, huddled around the bar. Marim was groping along the bar and the wall behind it, while Francois, with her tall frame, peered up at the oak barrels stacked double beside it. Pelle wandered around with a bored expression, and Idwild just stood there doing nothing.
What the hell are they doing?
"Master, look! Your sword is gone!"
Della pointed at the empty wall behind the bar. There were just the two nail heads I'd hammered in to hang the Holy Sword, but the blade itself was nowhere to be seen.
"Yeah. It's gone."
"Maaaster!"
Della stomped her foot in frustration at my nonchalant response. To her, it must've been baffling that I wasn't reacting to a missing decoration. But there was one thing Della and the others didn't know. The Holy Sword could only be wielded by me in this world. That's why Idwild was standing there like she was watching a fire across the river.
"That's weird... If it was stolen, there should be traces. How'd they pull it off so cleanly?"
Marim scratched her head furiously as she stood up from behind the bar, having found no signs of theft.
"Nothing here either. There's no space big enough for that long sword anyway."
Francois gave up her search and turned away. Pelle immediately dropped her half-hearted prowling too.
"I'll report it to the guard right away, Master. That sword means a lot to you, right?"
I shrugged at Della's words.
"Eh. But don't bother reporting it."
"Why? Did you put it somewhere else?"
"No. Just... no need. It'll just waste the guards' time. They won't find it anyway."
My vague answers had Della hopping mad. She ranted about catching the thief, how pretty the sword was, how it brightened up the hall, and so on.
As Della kept going on about the thief, Marim flashed an awkward smile and slipped away. Idwild sidled up to the worked-up Della.
"Della... Bertrand's got his reasons... So let's just get ready for business..."
"Aigoo... This is so upsetting..."
Della seemed genuinely heartbroken over the missing Holy Sword. Well... it had hung there since she first joined as our inaugural waitress. If it hadn't warned us when that flying monster, the Ner gamma, burst in, Della would've been skewered by its tentacles.
"Isn't that the sword you had when we first met? It really seems stolen. What do we do?"
Francois asked worriedly. I just shook my head with a grin.
"It's fine. Don't worry about it. Anyway, we decided to start using menus today, right?"
"Yeah. I'm really looking forward to the customers' reactions."
After days of discussion with Pelle and Francois, we'd boldly overhauled our cafeteria-style setup. Customers could now pick from main dishes and desserts. We'd also made a separate bar menu for after-dinner snacks. With fixed items, Pelle would bulk-buy ingredients and adjust based on popularity. This was only possible because Francois had come on as head chef. If I'd still been stuck in the kitchen, I never would've dreamed of trying it.
"Bertrand..."
Idwild approached after soothing Della and sending her off. She glanced at where the Holy Sword had been and whispered low.
"The Holy Sword... where'd it go? Only you can wield it..."
"No idea."
"Really...? That's weird... Did it just vanish on its own...?"
"Who knows..."
I trailed off, staring at the empty wall behind the bar alongside Idwild. Just like she said, it really seemed the Holy Sword had up and left on its own. The Goddess had revoked her blessing. But why now, after staying quiet all this time? No way... Did she overhear me wishing last night for her to take back the blessing and get offended?
The Goddess would totally do that. For a deity, she was awfully moody and capricious.
Sigh... In the end, she just whisked away the Holy Sword without a word.
I'd worried she might force it back into my hands and demand I hero it up again, so this was a relief. Still... now that it was gone, I felt a bit empty. I'd carried it for a decade, and it'd saved my life countless times. Of course I'd grown attached.
Now I was truly Innkeeper Bertrand, not Hero Bertrand anymore.
Wait... but without the Holy Sword, what about Idwild? She needed a holy water bath once a week, or her black magic would leak and corrupt the inn...
I hadn't thought of that...
With the sword gone, who could I ask? Saintess Celereja sprang to mind. I paced the hall, waiting for her to wake up.
Celereja crossed her arms with a grave look after hearing my story. She didn't know the Holy Sword's true nature, but she knew it was a blade packed with extreme holy power—and that the water it'd steeped in suppressed black magic.
"But who told you to do it that way, Bertrand?"
"Eh... I just figured it'd work like that and tried it. No one told me."
"I see... Anyway, the issue now is suppressing Idwild's black magic without the sword..."
Celereja suggested a few options. The most promising was her infusing holy power directly into water to mimic holy water.
"Sounds good. Let's try it now."
We headed to an empty third-floor room used as staff bathroom. Celereja manifested holy power in her hands and plunged them into the tub. The water shimmered gold—looking even more like holy water than the sword's brew.
"It's ready. Give it a try, Idwild."
Idwild, who'd backed away and plastered herself to the wall to avoid the holy power, hesitated toward the tub. The water looked normal now, but she was still terrified to dip a finger in.
"If my black magic leaks... I can't stay at the inn... right?"
"Yeah, probably. So hurry up and test it. If it doesn't work, we'll find another way."
Idwild took a deep breath and gingerly touched a fingertip to the water. She yanked it back with a yelp.
"Eek! It's hot!!"
"You okay?"
I quickly dried her hand with the towel I'd brought. Her finger was fine—no burns.
"Ugh... It burned so bad... Just like touching the Holy Sword..."
"Too much holy power, maybe..."
Celereja dipped her own hand in, puzzled, then suggested another go with less power.
"This time, just a quick dip. It'll be diluted enough, right?"
"Mm... Idwild, can you try once more?"
She nodded slowly.
"I have to... or I can't stay at the inn..."
But the second try failed too. Even Celereja's quick dip caused Idwild pain. I called it off.
"This won't work. We'll need another way."
"Weird... How's she so sensitive? What the hell did that sword do?"
Watching Idwild rub her stinging finger and hunch her shoulders gave me a headache. I couldn't kick her out now. It wasn't just short-staffing; she couldn't live like a person anywhere else. I had to keep her here, no matter what.
But how...?
Then I remembered another method the Goddess had once mentioned for suppressing Idwild's black magic. It was insanely expensive, so I hadn't tried it back then: getting a blessing from the Grand Temple's Chief Saintess.
"Saintess. How do I get a holy blessing from the Grand Temple?"
Celereja's eyes widened in shock.
"You... you're taking Idwild to the Chief Saintess?!"
"Wouldn't that work?"
"It would. If you sold everything you own, took out loans, and maxed out every shady moneylender."
"That... expensive...?"
She nodded firmly instead of answering.
Crazy church bastards... Raking in cash with holy power...
Idwild, blaming herself, fidgeted with her fingers and mumbled.
"Bertrand... it's okay... don't push it... I can... live in a shack by the carriage yard..."
"Don't talk nonsense, Idwild. You think I'd let you live like that?"
No choice now. I'd confront that cardinal and negotiate. After all I'd done for the church, they'd damn well do this much.
Realizing I was serious, Celereja shook her head.
"But we can't go right now anyway."
"Why not?"
"It's the Grand Temple's seclusion period this week. Doors reopen in three days."
Seclusion was a quarterly self-reflection ritual where the Grand Temple barred outsiders and entered silent meditation. Of all weeks... Still, there'd be a few days between the end of seclusion and Idwild's next bath, so I could settle it then.
"Idwild. I'll handle it, so don't worry."
"Mm... okay..."
Celereja promised to research at the temple and reassure her.
It was the morning seclusion ended. Tomorrow, I'd head to the cardinal to demand a blessing for Idwild—threats if needed. But first, breakfast for walk-ins and lodgers.
Francois's menu was a hit. Customers loved choosing to their taste, and sales jumped with priced items over the old flat rate. The inn finally felt like a proper one.
After lunch rush, Francois tidied the kitchen while staff cleaned the hall and vacated rooms. I was wiping tables when a woman pushed open the door.
She had skin whiter than snow, long platinum blonde hair cascading down—a stunning beauty.
"Welcome."
Ignoring my greeting, she stood on the threshold, gazing around the hall in wonder.
"Here for a meal? Or a room?"
She finally turned to me and spoke.
"Can I work here?"
