Chapter 28

If she’s going to make me do something like that, I’d like her to tell me what to do. The human world is complicated enough to follow only the vague words of the goddess. I poured out resentment against the goddess inside and scratched the bottom of the soup bowl with a spoon.

Anyway, I had to figure out what was going on now.

I was full after emptying two bowls of soup. I tapped my stomach and opened my mouth.

“Dale, now tell me more. What do you mean by the end of the world? What’s going on? What happened to Heath….?”

Bang!

At that time, the door of the restaurant opened with a loud noise. Several travelers flocked in and settled down and ordered food. The noisy movement naturally drew attention to them.

Soon the restaurant’s popular menu, chicken soup, was placed in front of them. One of them opened his mouth as he souped.

“It’s that dark dragon again. Where are you going because you’re afraid?”

Dark Dragon? Are they talking about Coco? Coco appeared around here? I held my breath and pricked up my ears.

“It flew over the city yesterday, too.”

“It’s already happened several times. The cycle is getting more frequent.”

“As if it’s looking for its prey……. Now I get goosebumps just by seeing the clouds in the sky.”

“Its leather is hard enough that even a knife won’t be able to pierce, it’s the size of a house, and it even emits fire……. If such a monster comes at us, a village like this will be destroyed soon.”

Coco isn’t that scary. Although I get motion sickness when I ride him. While I endured what I wanted to intervene and defended Coco only in my heart, the travelers continued the terrible story.

“In the end, I heard that the main faction won at the temple meeting last month. The threat of the Demon King’s army is getting worse day by day.”

“I don’t know if war will really break out at this rate. The temple called the paladins.”

“The amount of money paid to the temple will increase again. It hasn’t been long since it increased tenfold. I have to make money to pay for it.”

What? Ten times? I doubted my ears at the ridiculous number. For the operation of the temple, the main temple of the Holy Land collects the temple tax, but it was originally a small amount. But suddenly it’s ten times bigger?

“Soon, the paladins will pass through this village to prepare for the war against the Demon King. It will get worse.”

“We might get caught up in it, so eat quickly and let’s move.”

The travelers stopped talking and began to eat the soup. One of them murmured as if lamenting.

“It would have been nice if the saintess was here.”

That’s me. I pressed the hood down more so that my hair wouldn’t show. One of the travelers wheedled as if he was angry.

“Poor saintess. The evil demon king must have locked her up somewhere

“No, rather, the demons insist that Sir Leo, the commander of the Order of the Holy Knights, has harmed the saintess.”

“What nonsense! Why on earth would the head of the Order of the Holy Knights do such a thing to the saintess?

“I don’t know. But it’s strange that the saintess hasn’t been found yet.”

The argument grew more and more intense. At first, it was an ordinary exchange of opinions, but the travelers didn’t budge an inch and fought to see if he was right or not.

One criticized the Demon King’s army, and the other claimed the smell of conspiracy. If it gets a little worse, I think they’ll throw their soup bowls at each other’s faces.

I got some more information from the travelers’ conversation. I have been reported missing since I was poisoned at the lake a year ago and disappeared in light. The temple blamed the demons, and the demons blamed the temple.

From that day on, the confrontation between the temple and the demon king intensified. The Demon King, Heath, gathered his troops and began to prepare for the war. So far there has been only a slight disturbance, but it was only a matter of time before the war began. For example, Coco, the dark dragon raised by the devil, appeared in the sky more often.

Uwak!

After the argument intensified, one person eventually plunged the other into a soup bowl. The man who suddenly ate the soup on his face clenched his fist. The restaurant quickly became chaotic as people who were interested gathered.

Dale got up from the table in a blink of an eye. Jeremy and I also crept up. If we get caught up in a fight, we will have a headache.

The owner of the restaurant approached us to get the food. Come to think of it, I didn’t have any money. I was dragged out of the castle while sleeping and was asleep for a year.

The tears of the goddess melted away, and the bracelet I received from Heath disappeared. Jeremy said when I panicked because I didn’t even think about money.

“Don’t worry. I’ll pay for it.”

At that moment, Jeremy looked like a savior, so I almost shed tears of emotion.

The restaurant owner who checked the order said,

“A hundred and fifty gold.”

“What?”

That is a great price. I recalled what I had eaten. I added bread to two bowls of soup. I ordered a lot, but it was never 150 gold worth. It won’t be this expensive even if you eat full at a luxury restaurant. Although I’ve never been to a fancy restaurant.

The restaurant owner said with a tired look, as if he was used to this reaction.

“Prices have risen a lot to prepare for war with the Demon King. Even if I get it like this, there’s nothing left after I pay the fee to the temple. To be honest, I’m more afraid of the temple than the Demon King’s army.”

We paid and then left the restaurant. The cold wind touched my cheek. Travelers move busily, and merchants call enthusiastically. Perhaps because I knew that more had happened than I thought in a year, the scenery around me seemed unfamiliar.

“Lady Julia?”

Jeremy called me as I stood still.

“I need to go to the temple.”

* * *

I walked with my hood pressed. It was uncomfortable because I couldn’t see well, but I couldn’t help it to avoid being caught.

The temple where I used to live was far from here, but the branch was close. It was a day’s walk. I tried to borrow a horse and ride it, but it was difficult to get it because prices rose and supplies were precious. Eventually, we decided to move on foot. If we walk busily, we will arrive tomorrow morning.

“Can’t you just say you’re the saintess, and not walk like this? The temple might send a carriage from the temple.”

Dale, who was walking behind me, said so.

“Not yet.”

I shook my head, recalling the words of the travelers who were talking in the restaurant. If the main faction had really gained power at the meeting, I could be used as they pleased if I reveal my identity. We are a religion that follows the words of Goddess Gremia, but after all, a priest is just a human. The human world is complicated to follow only the vague words of the goddess. And there is a power struggle in a complicated world.

First of all, I was going to hide my identity and find out why tax has increased so much, and whether the preparations for the war with the Demon King are true. And I’ll have to meet Leo.

What happened to Leo?

The last time I saw Leo, he looked embarrassed and taken aback when I was suffering from poison.

♥♥♥

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