The first few days after getting back from the Divine Spring were impossibly busy; I had to deal with the tons of paperwork that had built up in my absence, plus Aigis was sulking because we couldn’t hang out the whole time I was dealing with the Astesia problem. Things had calmed down now, so I was putting together the official paperwork for Angela regarding her new position as manager of the Divine Spring.
“Okay, as per the details of this paperwork, you are now officially the manager of the Divine Spring, Angela,” I announced. “That sound good?”
“Yes, of course,” she replied. “I owe you a lot, after all. Really, thanks for everything. I’d heard all sorts of nasty rumors about you, so when Rosalia introduced you to me, I was pretty worried. I’m glad I confided in you.”
“Ha ha, well, I was doing the best I could before. Try not to be too hard on me.”
“Yeah, I get it. Sorry, sorry. I should know better than anyone not to take rumors at face value.”
She lowered her head apologetically.
With her in charge of the spring, the church wouldn’t be able to slide in and take it from us, and we could improve our financial affairs by charging for use of the water. I’d be able to make the cure for the approaching pandemic, as well as deluxe potions like the ones in the game.
“Thanks to you, I got to see Astesia’s smile again. I’m so glad,” Angela said with tears in her eyes.
Angela had gone out of her way to become an adventurer in order to save Astesia, so I could only imagine how happy she really was. Angela wasn’t the only one feeling good, though! I was also pleased as punch that my favorite girl could find true happiness now.
At present, Astesia was staying with Angela in her church. I had actually sent Rosalia to quietly check on them, and she reported that Astesia was having fun with the children there.
“It’s great that Astesia is enjoying her time living at your church,” I said.
“Well, she was,” Angela said. “She actually said she’d found something else she wanted to do and left this morning.”
“Wait, for real? She didn’t say a thing to me.” I was so surprised that I must have sounded like an idiot. I mean, I told her to find her own path, but couldn’t she at least have said goodbye? Man, and I thought we were friends… Did she hate me or something? Maybe she’d noticed that I’d considered peeking at her at the spring, even if it was only for an instant.
“Well, you know how she is,” Angela said calmly. “Astesia can be pretty shy at times. More importantly, I want to see your training grounds, since I’m already here. If there’s anyone who’s hurt, I can heal them for you.”
“R-right…”
I was having trouble shaking off the shock from Astesia just up and leaving, but I led Angela over to the training grounds regardless. It was true that there weren’t many priests in my territory who could use healing magic, so having her here was definitely helpful. But there was still so much I wanted to talk to Astesia about. I couldn’t help feeling disappointed.
At the training grounds, a single spear user was engaged in combat with a number of tough men wielding swords. Despite being outnumbered, the spear user used her skill and magic to completely overwhelm them.
“Her spear work is as incredible as ever,” Angela said. “Talk about reassuring, right?”
“Yeah. She’s the maid of maids, after all. She’s always saving my butt,” I replied while nodding proudly.
Who else would it be but Rosalia? Recently, she’d been training on the side when she wasn’t attending to her work as a maid. I imagine she might be feeling self-conscious of the fact that she couldn’t match Darkness or Emilelio in the recent battles.
She’d told me, “We won’t be able to spend as much time together as before, but I would like time to train.” The memory was still fresh in my mind.
I wanted to tell her that she was being too hard on herself. That we had battled against one of the Twelve Apostles, one of the strongest boss characters in the entire game. Then again, I also needed to get stronger so I wouldn’t constantly worry her either.
“Hey, do you have any personal priests or priestesses?” Angela asked. “Since you’re a lord, it’d make sense to have at least one.”
“Um, I mean, I have some priests among the troops. That’s it,” I replied with a puzzled look on my face.
“I’m talking about one exclusive to you.” She sighed, exasperated. Apparently having a private priest was just common sense. “They don’t just heal your wounds, they also keep track of your health. We priests can heal wounds with healing magic, but we can’t cure illnesses. So, a personal priest basically follows you around twenty-four seven in order to keep tabs on your health and make medicine when you’re sick. Really important folks have a whole bunch of specialists taking care of them.”
“Ah, I get you.” In my old world, we’d call that a family doctor. In the game, whenever the main character got sick, the saint would mix medicine for him, and sometimes she even monitored his eating habits. That was how she’d been voted “Number One Heroine Who Acts Like a Girlfriend” in one of the surveys.
“Unfortunately, I don’t have the financial means to hire someone like that,” I told her. “I barely have many priests as it is, so there’s no way I could hire one just for me. As far as food goes, Rosalia handles the cooking. Or are you volunteering? I can’t pay you much.”
“Sorry, but the kids at the church come first. But, hey, if it ever comes to a fight, I can definitely lend you my help. That said—” Angela cut herself short for some reason before she smiled teasingly and continued. “You’re the lord of this territory. It’d be bad if something happened to you, right? I just happen to know the perfect person for the job. I think she’d be so happy to work for you that the money wouldn’t be too much of an issue. She’s head over heels for you, actually.”
I let out a sigh. “The person you’re describing doesn’t exist.”
“When exactly did I say I was head over heels for him?” A hooded girl cut into our conversation with panic in her voice. “Can you please not put words in my mouth?”
She had silver hair under her hood and had come from the corner of the training grounds, so had she been hiding there this whole time?
“What are you doing here, Astesia?” I asked. “Angela told me you found what you want to do, right? I was pretty sad when I heard you up and left without so much as a goodbye.”
“You were sad I left, were you?” For some reason, she repeated what I’d said back to me and turned red, even though her face remained blank. “Well, um, Angela told me I should surprise you, s-so…” As if desperate for help, she turned to Angela.
And Angela rescued her with an explanation. “Astesia here wants to be your personal priest. You’ll need to pay her, but she went to a proper school and all, so she’s got bountiful medicinal knowledge. She was once a candidate for sainthood. I can vouch for her healing magic skills.”
“Whoa, for real?” I said in disbelief. “Look, you don’t have to do this just because I saved you. The moment Angela became the manager of the Divine Spring, that debt was paid in full. You can live however you want to live now.”
This only prompted Astesia to look at me with a serious expression. For a few seconds, she struggled with how to respond, until she found her words and opened her mouth. “You’re the one who told me to find what I want to do and not just blindly follow God. Well, I thought it over. There’s many things I want to do, like saving others who are suffering like I did, or even seeking revenge on the Hades Church. But when I sat alone, not knowing where to turn, your face was the first thing that came to mind. I know you’ll go on to save other people, and you’ll never take the side of the heretics.”
“I mean, yeah, that’s all true, but…that doesn’t mean you have to be my own personal priest. There are a bunch of more powerful noblemen and women who’d kill to have your talents available to them. Hell, I could write you an introduction letter for Lord Reinhard.”
If she worked for me, she’d only be able to operate within the narrow confines of my territory, and I didn’t have much authority to speak of. It would be better for her in the long run to work for Reinhard.
I couldn’t understand why Astesia looked so conflicted or why Angela was holding her own head in an exasperated fashion.
“Astesia,” said Angela, “you need to tell this man how you feel, or it won’t get through to him. You’re already awkward enough as it is. Just be straight with him.”
“Urgh, fine.” Astesia hesitated, swallowed, and continued, “I want to repay you for what you’ve done for me. No, more than that. I want to be by your side and see what kind of nation you build. This isn’t about repaying you. This is what I want to do right now!” Astesia lowered her head, her cheeks bright red. “Please hire me as your personal priest. I beg of you.”
I wasn’t sure what to do. Quite frankly, I would gladly welcome her as one of my allies; she was a late-game boss character with incredible power! At the same time, I wasn’t sure my heart could take working directly with one of my faves now that I literally inhabited the body of another one of my faves.
However, Astesia’s passionate gaze pierced my indecision, and I relented. This poor girl went through so much rejection but still managed to work up the courage to tell me that she wanted to stay with me. I was here to make my faves happy. If I didn’t think I deserved to be with her, then that just meant I needed to better myself. Weiss and I would be able to do it.
“Of course I’ll hire you,” I finally replied. “I’ll be counting on you, Astesia.”
“Thank you,” she murmured. “I knew you would keep your promise.”
“Promise?”
“Remember? You said you would take responsibility for turning me from the path of God,” she said.
The smile she gave me then was beautiful, even though it was a little awkward.