Two years had passed. A cheerful spring air blew in through the window. Despite it being a lovely, refreshing spring day, for some reason, I was being made to listen to Father Folke’s idle chitchat.
“That’s why Phoenix is written differently compared to the other nanobots. It might just be that they referred to it as something different... Fenrir and Yggdrasil may have been companions, but they existed separately, whereas Phoenix was the only one that existed alongside humans and could talk to them.” Father Folke shrugged. “This is why deciphering it is so difficult. I wonder if there was something special about Phoenix? Maybe the current Temple forgot about Phoenix and worshiped the dragon god instead? What do you think about that?” the no-good priest asked me, his eyes filled with the curiosity of an eager student.
I decided to respond with as much sincerity as I could muster. “If that’s everything, then please go home. To put it lightly, this is more of a distraction than fixing misprinted documents.”
“I said why I was here before, didn’t I? Give me money.” You immediately launched into discussing the early civilization’s ancient texts without so much as stopping for breath.
“There’s no way someone will give you money just because you ask for it. Please state why you want it and how much.” This is my life’s work, it’s not just for fun. That was my opinion as an honest working person, however, the no-good priest had zero regard for morals or rules and just bluntly stated what he wanted.
“You can understand without me spouting all that useless, annoying stuff, right? I’ve already reported why I need it.”
“Yes, Lady Lucia gave the report, not you.” He had no right to be so arrogant, but that hardly did anything to weaken his resolve.
“It’s fine, isn’t it? She’s my assistant after all. Her feats are technically my feats.”
“While you do have a point, if she is doing your work too, then she technically does not need you.”
“Oh, is that so? Then I’ll put Lucia in charge of the orphanage, and I’ll have an easy retirement—”
“Ha ha ha, how many months until the funeral for the priest who died of loneliness?”
That stopped him short. “How many weeks, I wonder.” Father Folke responded.
If he’s that aware of it yet does nothing to fix it, I guess it’s okay to consider it an actual illness at this point. I did understand why Father Folke had come to ask me for money. It seemed the orphanage was struggling financially. Lady Lucia, who was working under Father Folke as part of the orphanage management team, had already dutifully reported it. That was why I was already somewhat prepared for this.
“Father Folke, here you go.”
“Oh.” Father Folke took the document I had handed to him, seemingly already understanding what it was. “Huh, a statement of delivery from Quid company.” The former zombie priest Father Folke laughed. “To think that a small trader from a small town nestled away in the corner of the remote regions is still doing business with the son of a farmer from that same village, but now working together with Count Sacula.”
“There are not many people left who still talk about those days.”
“If someone were to upset you or Quid now, even having ten heads wouldn’t be enough,” Father Folke said as he realized how far Quid and I had come in status.
“In that case, you must have at least one hundred heads, Father Folke.”
He patted his neck repeatedly. To this day, he still barged through my doors addressing me as, “Brat!”
“I’m a great priest protected by the three gods. Can’t you see I have more than one thousand heads?”
“I do not see them. I guess most of them were cut off as a result of you being rude...”
Father Folke was laughing smugly, however that was soon cut down by my next line.
“By my cute head-hunting princess.”
“Hey, cut that out. That’s not something you joke about.” Huh? What a weird response. Why can’t that be a joke? Father Folke and Maika are relatively close. “It’s not that something happened with Maika but...she knows how we are, and while she probably wouldn’t be mad if she had heard that...I’m mostly just hoping.” Father Folke shivered. “Well, I guess it’s all right. There are some mysteries in the world that we’re probably happier not pursuing.”
That has certain implications coming from you. Father Folke reached for the cup of tea on the table and drank it. The tea was made from premium tea leaves and had been a gift from Head Priest Birkan as thanks for my sending him a can (made with a very high-quality metal) of tomato soup. However, Father Folke had gulped it down without even enjoying the taste.
“That should be enough for clothes and beds, right?” I asked.
“Yup, that’ll be fine. Thanks,” replied Father Folke.
“You should be thanking Lady Lucia. Since her report was so well written, I was able to make preparations in advance.”
“Ah, I had—” There was a knock on my office’s door before he could finish his sentence.
“Helloooo! Big brother! It’s me, Lucia! I turned away for a moment, and my boss had disappeared so I thought maybe he’s with you, big brother!” She swung open the door. “And sure enough, here he is!” I didn’t even have the opportunity to welcome her in. A young woman in her late teens stood in the doorway, wearing a relieved expression, her hair stuck to her head with sweat. She was wearing the same priestly robes as Father Folke.
“Hey, Lucia. This isn’t the orphanage, ya know. You have to at least ask for permission before opening the door.”
I sat dumbfounded as I watched Father Folke scold someone for their manners.
“But boss! I worried you’d be put to death by big brother for being rude! I know more than anyone just how impolite you can be!” Lucia replied.
“You don’t have to worry about me. You’re the one being rude here.”
“You don’t have to worry about me! Most men laugh and let me off because I’m just so cute!”
“Neither of you is in the right here...” I whispered to myself, but neither of them heard me. These two people were respectively the chief and deputy chief of the second Fenix orphanage built by Father Folke.
I will repeat that. They were the chief. And deputy chief. Of an institution. With a lot of orphans.
If you look at it positively, I guess we can expect them to raise some very sturdy orphans, right? Lady Lucia is from the first generation at the Fenix orphanage in the royal capital. In other words, the very person who was arguing with Father Folke right now was one of the orphans who had brought Father Folke to his knees back then. When Father Folke was chased out of the capital, the management of the orphanage there was left to half of the remaining orphans, while the other half had come here to Sacula. As they told it, they would “go anywhere the boss goes.” They were like a gang of delinquents. You would never think this was the result of a religious person.