Volume 1 - CH 10

Lou let Falk clean up the messy office desk and decided to take a snack break.

He smiled surreptitiously at Falk, who has somehow gone from being a his former patient to something like a grandson to him.

Lou had sent him out to town several times before, but this was the first time Falk had said to him, “Today there’s a place I want to stop by.”

Falk seemed to be in a good mood when he came into the room a few minutes ago, so he may have had something good happen to him while he was away.

(I’d like to ask him about it, but I’ll wait, If it’s a good thing, he’ll start talking about it on his own.)

As he laughed while picking at a pastry, Falk looked at him suspiciously.

“What are you laughing at…? Are the sweets I bought, while sweating out in the heat, so delicious?”

“That’s right. Next time, let’s send you on an errand to a shop in a place with a higher degree of difficulty.”

“Please give me a break, the hopelessness of wandering endlessly under the hot sun, Master Lou wouldn’t understand…”

Falk made a bitter face. Despite saying that, he is an obedient man who will go out running errands when asked.

Thinking back, Falk’s father was also a man of honest character. He was the kind of man who would choose the life of his child over the pride of an aristocratic family.

As a result, the family fell on hard times, and the combination of subsequent misfortunes made it a terrible thing. Falk was very young at the time, but Lou is amazed that he grew up to this point without getting rough around the edges.

Together with the purchase of sweets, he decided to reward him with a smile.

“Woah woah woah, Falk, you’re doing a great job. Keep up the good work.”

When he said that, Falk glared at him with an annoyed look. The women and girls of Luorio would have fallen over if they saw him like this, but unfortunately, to the old man who was acting as a grandparent, looked at the face of a sulking child. Lou, not caring in the slightest, reached for the second pastry.

Falk’s transfer to this city was actually triggered by a recommendation from Lou. At a meeting of the high priests of the Temple of Luorio, he was asked if he could find an experienced retinue priest who could train the next generation of priests.

Basically, the role of a military priest is not a fixed one, but one that rotates among young, healthy male priests. Since this is a job that no one likes to do, there is no other choice but to pass it around as fairly as possible in this way.

Sweeping battles are simply exhausting to move around, and the battlefield can be life-threatening. Depending on the war situation, you may have to use healing magic continuously without sleeping, and you may often collapse from overuse of magic power.

There are not many priests who like to serve in the military. It is a bad way of putting it, but the current situation is that the priests in the army are reluctant to take turns in the role. Because they take turns in a short period of time, they are all evenly inexperienced.

However, in a town in the far north of the country, Falk raised his hand to serve as a fixed position as a military priest. His experience of losing his father to a demon probably pushed him to do so. He had attended military academy and had one foot in the military.

Falk had worked hard as a military priest for several years and was now a veteran. He says that having a veteran in the office makes it easier for other priests to work in the battlefield because they can ask for advice.

When it becomes easier to work, people tend to stick around, and there are now a number of fixed military priests in the northernmost town in addition to Falk. Some of the apprentices are now aiming to serve in the military.

–The temples of other cities have also taken notice of the situation and have begun to discuss the possibility of establishing a system of fixed military priests.

The sub-city of Luorio has a large military and is frequently involved in battles, so they wanted to secure a fixed retinue of priests as soon as possible, so they quickly called in the veteran Shirotaka.

It is a secret that Falk’s transfer was decided by Lou’s light-hearted words, “Well, if I call him, he will come.”

He had lamented that he had not expected such a hot place…on his first day in town.

He called out to Falk, who was steadily tidying up his desk, still with a miffed look on his face, which was cluttered with books and papers.

“Well, don’t get bent out of shape. Getting familiar with this city is your task from now on.”

“… getting familiar with the city, huh?”

“Yes, that’s right. Falk, you need a perch. Get familiar with the city, find your favorite places, find your favorite people. That will be your perch. It’s time you learn to rest your wings soon.”

“Huh…”

When he said that, Falk made a puzzled, thoughtful face. This is a face that doesn’t quite get it. He is supposed to be smart, but he can’t understand these things well, which is troubling.

Falk is a military priest, and when he is not on an expedition, he is a high-ranking priest in charge of the medical treatment of nobles. Recently, when his work is done, he joins the lower-ranking priests in treating the common people.

Clearly, he works too much. When they asked him about it, he said he didn’t know how to spend his spare time, so they forced him into the city by using him as an errand boy.

Lou didn’t know if Falk understood his intention when telling him to go play in the city…

Incidentally, when they lived in the far north, Falk used to shovel snow whenever he had time to spare. There is no snow in this city, so he couldn’t do anything about the spare time on his hands.

Falk suddenly raised a cheerful voice as he put the books that had been piled up carelessly on his desk back on the shelf.

“I’ve found one of my favorite places in the city, I had to run some errands, so I came by earlier and found an ice cream shop at the end of an alley.”

“Ice cream?”

Apparently, the reason Falk was in a good mood when he entered the room was because he had stopped by his favorite shop. When Lou asked him curiously, Falk began to talk happily.

“I got something called milk ice cream, which is made by freezing milk. I heard that the owner of the store is planning to open it by herself. She’s younger than me, but she’s amazing. Oh, and I borrowed that scarf from the owner the other day.”

“Oh, that gentleman’s light blue scarf?”

“Yes. That shopkeeper was a very kind girl and… I kept my identity secret, but she gave warm support to Shirotaka. She said she would wave to me from the roadside next time.”

“I’m glad to hear that. –So, did you manage to make a move on her?”

When Lou lightly joked with him, a loud thud was heard instead of a reply. It was as if he had dropped the book he was holding in his arms.

“Oh, no! It’s not like that! I’m not that kind of a person! but since she’s taken such good care of me, I do intend to visit her store again when it opens with a congratulatory gift.”

“Ho-ho. Then how about I tell you about a store that carries popular gifts for women?”

“Tell me about… I don’t mean anything like that at all.”

After saying quickly in a low voice, Falk picked up the book he had dropped and put it back on the shelf.

“On the battlefield, you’re like a guardian deity for soldiers, and you have a majestic appearance. When you’re not, you’re like this. You can’t take a bit of teasing.”

“… I’m just not used to teasing. Please stop.”

“Well, but I hope the white falcon has found a good perch.”

Lou smiled at him. Then, after a moment of thought, Falk suddenly turned to him with serious eyes.

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

“Um, Master Lou,…what kind of Shirotaka do you think people expect?”

Lou was puzzled by the sudden question. He wondered if Falk wants to know the image of the white falcon around the world.

“Yes, well…noble, solitary, mysterious, prince of the temple –I’ve heard those words before.”

“Prince…Will the world be disappointed if Shirotaka’s image crumbles?”

Enthusiastic fans are likely to praise him for his new side! Lou thought, but what if the new side is such a fluffy little chick and not a majestic white falcon?

A man who gets so upset that he drops a book just by the mere mention of a joke. A man with a whiny, honest personality. He is a man who can’t wrap his head around strange things and does stupid things at times. He complains about the heat every day, and recently seems to have fallen in love with an ice cream shop.

– -That’s the original Falkert Raltoze.

“It may be quite different from the public impression.”

Looking at the silent Falk, his face looked puzzled as he thought deeply. After a while he mumbled to himself.

“Is that so… I don’t want to ruin my image…best not reveal my identity…”

Lou didn’t know what he missed, but Falk seemed so serious that he didn’t feel comfortable asking him about it.