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Chapter 87
An Important Detour
“Well then. Now, sit at the appropriate places. Reina, bring us some suitable drinks!”
“Yes.”
Another amorous woman—though not as sexy as Louise-san—appeared from the kitchen.
Reina-san seemed to be surprised upon seeing Noir’s figure, but she quickly nodded and returned to the kitchen.
“I’m going to ask just in case before we talk, but won’t this one go violent suddenly?”
Louise-san pointed at Noir’s long claws that were painted in red. Frank-san sat right in front of her and folded his arms.
“As long as this little girl doesn’t encounter any danger, it will remain docile.”
“Hee. Although it’s such a ferocious monster, it can become that docile, huh? It’s been tamed quite well. …So, is that the same with the one on top of your head?”
“…Well, yeah.”
In response to Frank-san’s sour expression, Louise-san let out a small laugh, “Pfft”.
“I would have never thought that Frank would tame a mutated Horned Rabbit. That Dark Panther, too, it has blue eyes. It’s a mutant too, right?”
“…Let’s just leave it at that. Now hurry and give me some information.”
“How detestable. I hate impatient men. Hey, don’t you think so, too, little girl?”
I was suddenly brought into the conversation, so I reflexively looked at Ar-niisama.
Ar-niisama nodded once and covered me with his back.
“I want to get through with our business first.”
“To think that the vice deputy of Izel fort is here, too. Things have become interesting, huh?”
“How do you know when we have never met before?”
“I could tell simply by looking at the aqua-colored armour and by your appearance. You’re undoubtedly a lady-killer, although not as great as the hero. …Shall we end the small talk with this? Now then. It’s becoming a hot topic that there are children that went missing in this town… There are four children that have gone missing in total. The butcher’s son, and three children from the church.”
Louise-san counted the number of the missing children with her fingers.
In the meantime, Reina-san brought us some drinks, and after receiving it and saying thanks, I sat down.
The boy and me sat on the most corner seats.
Reina-san who returned to the kitchen then collected the short sword that Louise-san had thrown to the wall, as if nothing had happened.
I wonder if it’s just me that thought that she was quite used to it for some reason?
“The children from the church have gone missing too, huh?”
Frank-san asked with a low voice.
As expected, since he was a priest, hearing the children that had been living in the church were involved in a case would surely be very concerning, right?
In this Ares kingdom, the orphans were being taken care of by the churches until they turn ten. As such, every child from the church is an orphan.
“It’s always the more vulnerable children that got involved in cases. The boy over there had been desperately looking for them, but he wasn’t able to grasp any clue at all.”
“Oi, boy. Are you a child from the church?”
As Frank-san asked, the boy lifted up his orange eyes and answered.
“What if it’s true?”
“No… You didn’t become thin and you’re wearing such clean clothes. That made me think that the priest in this town is a very sensible person. I wonder what’s their name?”
“It’s Priest Rou.”
“That gramps, huh?! I see. Then, you must be my junior brother!”
“Eh?”
Frank-san sat from his seat and tapped on the boy’s back. The boy’s body pitched forward due to Frank-san’s excessive strength.
“Wait, Frank, please be more delicate with your strength.”
Amanda-san rebuked, and Frank-san answered, “No, it’s my bad, boy, sorry,” as he tapped on the boy’s back once more.
This time, it seemed that Frank-san didn’t put too much of strength.
“To think that I’d be meeting my junior brother in this place. Then, it means that, huh? The missing children would also be my junior brothers, then? It seemed that the thread spun by God’s hands came around in the end.”
Uhmm, what does that mean?
Frank-san sometimes said things that were priest-like indeed, huh?
Judging by the nuance of his words, I guess it meant something like a meeting that was guided by the thread of fates.
Both of Frank-san’s parents were adventurers, but they had passed away in a battle against the monsters when Frank-san was just a child.
The young Frank-san was being taken into the church’s care, and it seemed that the one taking care of him was Priest Rou.
A lot of children that possessed a talent in healing magic would become a priest immediately just like that, but Frank-san chose the path of becoming an adventurer, just like his parents, and not becoming a priest right away.
The church’s higher-ups had opposed Frank-san’s decision of becoming an adventurer since he possessed a talent in healing magic, but Priest Rou had said that it’d be better for him to choose an occupation that he himself wanted to do, so it seemed that he had become Frank-san’s support during that time.
“If it’s true, then you must be Elysia’s number one mischievous child that Priest Rou had always mentioned, aren’t you, Uncle?”
“What the heck is that?”
Hearing Frank-san’s question, the boy’s orange eyes sparkled.
“When we turn ten, we’d have to pick an occupation we want to become. Priest Rou has always told me this. The occupation that you want to be and the occupation that’s suitable for you are two different things. Obviously, it’s better to pick an occupation that fits you, but you’re still young, so you can have many adventures, and so, just pick the occupation that you like. If that doesn’t work out, then you can still start over.”
Ooh. As expected of Frank-san’s master. That was a very good advice.
I see. Just as I thought so, the boy continued his words.
“Besides, if it’s a calling that’s been decided by the gods, then we’d eventually take up on that occupation in the end, so there’s no need to be worried over it. Even the most mischievous child in Elysia had become an adventurer in the beginning, but in the end, he chose the path of a priest. So Priest Rou said. That is an important detour that he had taken, that has led him into the path of becoming an amazing priest. Uncle, you’re the priest that he’s mentioned before, and your name is Frank, right?”
An important detour in order to become a great priest, huh?
Ah, Frank-san’s face turned red.
Could he be embarrassed?!