36: Setting off on a new journey—feels good, right?

That night.

Back at the Marquis’s estate, I talked it over with Kyle, and he agreed without hesitation about building the church and orphanage.

The Ruincent faith is the state religion of the Kingdom of Maugaria, and practically the only religion in this land.

Naturally, it has strong ties to the crown.

"Bringing the church here was absolutely necessary sooner or later. And if Craft’s acquaintance is sent as a priest, that’ll be a real help."

"Hey, write me a recommendation letter for Azur. He’s still just an apprentice, after all. He’s a beastman, but you won’t treat him unfairly, will you?"

"I lived away from Gandar for recovery. I don’t harbor any prejudice against non-humans."

"Good."

"Since we’re at it, let’s make both the church and the orphanage proper, big ones."

"Yeah, let’s do it."

"Ah, Craft-sama. Father asked what you’d like as a reward."

"A reward? You mean beat up Zaid or something?"

"Brother..."

"Joking. Yeah, I’d be grateful if I could get a little bit of dragon material."

"Understood. I’ll pass that along."

With that, we got the invitation and recommendation letter written up. The next morning, I returned to the orphanage with Persia.

"Wha—?! A recommendation letter and invitation from Kyle-sama!?"

First, we headed straight to the church that ran the orphanage, and were shown to the high-ranking cardinal-type official.

No surprise—this is the church of Lord Bairoroad’s Gandar territory. The building was huge and grand.

"Yes. A direct letter from Kyle-sama. I truly hope you’ll send Azur as a priest."

"Understood. I’ll start the arrangements immediately!"

"Thank you so much."

Damn, that went smoother than I expected. Figured there’d be some pushback.

“The church has always argued that elves are human just like anyone else. But prejudice against elves runs deep in human society… This matter here? It’s a perfect opportunity for us.”

“Ah, I see. So the Marquis is personally invested in this, huh?”

“Exactly!”

And just like that, Azur became the first elf to ever serve as a Rincent Church priest.

Straight away, he set off with the cardinal toward the orphanage.

“W-what?! Me? A priest?!”

“Yes. I’ve heard from the parish priest how hard you’ve worked.”

“T-thank you so much! I’ll dedicate myself completely to the church from now on!”

“Good. We’ll be counting on you.”

Once the ceremony finished, the four orphans rushed over, eyes sparkling.

“Whoa! Azu-sister’s awesome! So awesome!”

“Congrats, Azu-sister!”

“Thanks, everyone!”

Thanks, Craft brother!

"Brother's amazing, huh!"

The kids were scurrying around my feet and Azur’s, squealing and laughing.

Then I’ll come pick you up in a few days—get ready.

Yes!

See you later! Brother!

Hey, lend a hand to Azul.

That’s how I wrapped up the mission without a hitch.

◆

A few days passed.

A busy, but satisfying, few days—enjoying the town again, buying supplies, going on a fake date with Persia, helping Azur with packing.

Kyle seemed tied up with the paperwork for the new frontier village, only managing a brief chat at night, but he was clearly bustling with energy.

Ugh, sleepy.

You okay, Craft?

Ah, I just stayed up all night reading Professor Javir’s book. Took a quick nap, so a stamina potion’ll fix me right up.

Then it's fine, I guess.

Just one sip of the potion and my head clears right up. But even stamina potions have their limits—keep skipping sleep and they stop working. Gotta remember that.

The professor’s book was so good I couldn’t stop reading it over and over.

“Alright, time to say goodbye to Gandar, I suppose.”

“Yeah. Almost done. Just need Craft to pack up the gear.”

“Right. What about Azur and the others?”

“Already waiting out in the garden.”

“Got it.”

I’d asked to speak with Lord Bairoroad, but he was too busy. Even being one of the key players, getting an audience with him was an exception in itself.

Outside, luggage piled up in wooden crates.

The orphans and Azur stood close together, huddled.

“Hey, you made it.”

“Y-yes. But… are we really supposed to go in here?”

"Didn’t actually go inside the manor, did we? And the gate guard let us through, right?"

"Y-yeah, but… that’s because the Cardinal came with us."

"Ah, the big-shot monk showed up too, huh?"

"Craft, your tone…"

"Sorry, no real malice behind it."

Lived in an orphanage run by the church. Honestly, never understood the church’s inner workings. Just remember the face of the priest who raised me.

Same upbringing, yet Azur managed to become a priest.

"Whatever, the Marquis isn’t showing up, so let’s just go in relaxed."

"We can’t do that…"

"Bro… you’re awesome."

"Even you guys are nervous, huh?"

"Hey! Don’t underestimate us! I’m not gonna make Azu-sister look bad!"

"Ah, I see. Very impressive."

"Hmph. Of course I am!"

Yeah, they’re kids. That’s enough for them to be thoughtful like this.

I flicked the wooden crate into spatial storage, and the kids’ eyes lit up.

“Whoa!!! Seriously?! Hey, big bro! Teach me magic too!”

“Me too!”

“Me too!”

“Hmm… yeah. Once you can read, write, and do math properly, that’d be cool.”

I don’t know if they’ve got talent for magic, but if they start learning at this age, even without a mark carved into them, they might pick up basic spells.

“Woo! Promise, right?!”

“Don’t forget your part, you.”

“Yeah!”

“Nice and quick with the reply, but Ed still can’t even do multiplication, right?”

“Ugh…”

Magic’s gonna need reading, writing, and math no matter what. The priest who raised me was a real hardass—he drilled it into me proper. Now I’m actually grateful for that.

“Hey hey! But your older brother took down that dragon, right!?!”

“Not alone. Took down the thing with a bunch of adventurers and Persia.”

The dragon’s head’s been on public display long enough. Now it’s moved to the far edge of the garden—yeah, I moved it myself. Far edge, sure, but the thing’s still massive. Just leaves a big open space between the main gate and the manor, but the pressure’s still heavy.

Looks like they started dismantling it last night. Dozens of craftsmen carefully peeling off the materials.

At first, they were gonna haul it straight to the capital, but no one could figure out how to move it. So they went with breaking it down.

“Damn! If I learn magic, could I take down a dragon too?”

Can't do it alone, but if you gather a bunch of allies, I reckon you could take it down.

Seriously? Sweet! I’m becoming an adventurer! Everyone else should too!

Ed, the de facto leader of the orphans, speaks passionately to the others. Incidentally, Kai is a wolf beastman. Still, he’s mostly human—only his fangs and ears betray his nature. This applies to all the orphans, including Azur.

I don’t wanna… fighting a dragon like that… uuu…

Kai’s such a coward!

Ed’s just reckless.

I could give it a try. Sounds fun.

Wamika…

That’s all that matters—seeing you smile like that.

All set. While we wait for Kyle, I’ll tell the kids Persia’s (……) heroic tales.

So, anyway, I chopped off the horn that was messing with the magic.

That’s awesome! Persia-senpai’s awesome!

"Uuu... I think I’ll try becoming an adventurer too..."

"Saika-chan, Persia’s a knight, you know."

"Oh, right..."

Well, she’s not in the same guild now. No need to crush her dreams.

Whatever happens, just let her grow up strong.

At the moment the kids were touring the dragon’s dismantled head, Jitarou quietly slipped over.

"Craft-san, who’s that super pretty priestess!?!"

"Huh? She’s Azur, a priest from the church we lured to the frontier settlement. She’s also the head of the orphanage we’re building there."

"So we’ll be living together from now on!?"

"Yeah, look after the kids with her."

"Of course! Leave it to me! Azur-sama! This Jitarou’ll guard you all the way to the village, no sweat!"

Zu-da-da-da—Jitarou dashed straight toward Azur.

Yeah, well... good luck with that.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Craft-sama."

"Uh."

(Everyone! Be sure not to disrespect Kyle-sama!)

"Ah!"

The kids suddenly switch to a look like they’ve borrowed a cat from somewhere.

"Then let’s go!"

"Uh!!"

Meeting up with the adventurers waiting outside, they pressed on toward the frontier settlement.

Of course.

Everyone had chugged stamina potions—no need to mention how exhausting the journey had been.

◆

About two weeks later.

"What the hell is this!?"

Zaid and his three hundred soldiers stood stunned upon arriving at the frontier village.

The village had grown to a scale that couldn’t have been built in such a short time—and yet, everyone was gone except for one person.

"We’ve been waiting for you, Zaid-sama."

"Who are you?"

"I’m the guildmaster of this village’s adventuring guild. Technically, the branch head, but—"

"Details don't matter! Why... why is there no one left in the village!?"

"Because everyone followed Kyle-sama."

"What? No way! You’re telling me Kyle didn’t even open the scroll I gave him!?"

"Could it be... that those who stayed behind were promised five gold coins every month for a year?"

"You know about that!?"

"Of course. Kyle-sama didn’t just say it—he posted notices all over the place."

"Five gold coins a month! That’s barely more than a poor man’s monthly wage! For a whole year!"

"Indeed."

The branch head of the adventuring guild, who’d willingly drawn the worst lottery, nodded in agreement.

But inside, he thought, *Of course they’re happy. In Kyle-sama’s village, people live better than their income would suggest.*

“Guh… nnngh! M-Meh, whatever! People’ll be recruited again just fine! So! The village’s supplies are properly stocked, right!?!”

“Yes. Under Kyle-sama’s orders, I’m in charge. This is the village’s warehouse.”

“…Hmph! This is mithril ore! Five barrels? That’s quite the haul!”

“This is stamina potion.”

“Ten barrels in barrels too. But bottling potions like this? Feels off.”

“They don’t degrade at all.”

“Huh. And one spoonful works? So this one’s a healing potion, one barrel? And this one’s cure potion? Also one barrel. Hmm. Good enough for soldiers for now.”

The guild branch chief smiled faintly beneath a deadpan face, thinking, *They’ll be stunned when they actually use these.*

"Keep one barrel of mithril and one of potions—sell the rest! Use the gold to gather settlers!"

"Hah!"

Zaid’s subordinate answered.

The guild chief let out a quiet sigh inside.

(He’s selling the stamina potions without using them… now I see the village’s future.)

A grizzled adventurer, the guild branch chief just shrugged, shaking his head.

Zaid "Gnunn…"