Chapter 23
Episode 23
Teary eyes that looked like they might burst with the slightest touch.
The child seemed to have waited all day for me to arrive.
Lately, it feels like things that make my conscience ache happen too often….
“Oh, right! We made a promise!”
I tried to smile brightly, but I couldn’t help the slight tremor in the corners of my eyes.
Still, if I can manage this much, it’s great progress for someone who couldn’t tell white lies.
Perhaps it’s because I’ve been around someone who so easily speaks words they don’t mean?
‘It’s not a lie. I mean it, Beth.’
“Ah, this is really bad.”
“Huh?”
The child looked at me with an innocent expression.
I’m sorry. But I did come to save you, so please forgive me.
As if happy to see me, the child grabbed my hand and shook it cheerfully up and down.
“You shouldn’t do that. Enoch.”
“Why?”
“It’s rude to touch someone without their permission.”
“I was just happy to see you….”
“Don’t make excuses.”
The child pouted and mumbled softly, as if feeling wronged by the priest’s words.
“……I’m sorry.”
What is this? They’re giving surprisingly normal education?
Did they perhaps have a rule that only polite people could be offered as sacrifices?
My confusion lasted only a moment.
The priest then casually lifted me with his two arms.
“Well, it’s getting late, so shall we head into the temple?”
I was taken aback by the priest’s perfectly innocent, beaming face.
Didn’t he just say you shouldn’t touch someone without permission?
\ \ \
“Master!”
“What.”
“Something terrible has happened!”
Mary burst in, throwing the door open with a commotion.
She was always calm unless the topic was about Bestia, but today…
Her uncharacteristic agitation felt strange.
“Please look at this note!”
A servant should at least knock.
But she didn’t seem to have the presence of mind for that.
Of course, my Master wouldn’t scold her for something like this.
Mary handed a small scrap of paper to Master.
On it was written crooked, illegible scribbles.
“What is this? Where did you find such trash?”
Master, annoyed at being interrupted during work, grumbled irritably.
“I think it’s a note Bestia left behind.”
“…How can even Beth’s handwriting be so cute and lovely? Did she draw this rabbit herself?”
If only Bestia could have seen the Master’s sudden change in attitude…
Where had the ‘trash’ comment gone?
The Master carefully tucked the scrap of paper Mary had given him into his inner pocket.
To think that he is my Master….
While the Master wore a pleased smile, Mary’s face grew redder and redder.
“Master, didn’t you see what was written?”
“No, I don’t know.”
Is my Master the problem, blindly calling it cute despite the terrible handwriting?
Or is it that Mary is amazing for being able to read handwriting that even my Master couldn’t decipher?
Judging by Mary’s expression, this situation couldn’t be laughed off.
“Bestia has left?!”
“Yes! Why?! Did the Master get too clingy and she got sick of it?”
In my utter shock, my true feelings spilled out.
I braced myself for a scolding and looked at Master, but his expression was unchanged.
I thought I knew what he was thinking, and that there would be no particular issue.
But he remained frozen like that for several minutes.
Mary, sensing she shouldn’t disturb him, watched Master’s reaction.
“…Did she say she was leaving because she dislikes me?”
His usually listless, hollow eyes looked even more desolate.
Though I felt a pang of pity for him, Mary looked at him with exasperation instead.
“No. It just says she went to see the town.”
“……I see.”
The Master slowly lifted his head, looking more lively than usual.
Mary, perhaps frustrated by this, stamped her foot and said to him.
“You said she left the note and disappeared!”
“……Ah.”
Master finally seemed to snap out of it, letting out a short exclamation.
In all my life, I had never seen him look so dumbfounded.
Of course, since Bestia arrived, I’d seen many things for the first time.
The Master quickly wiped the dumbfounded look from his face and asked Mary.
“When did you last see Bestia?”
“She was here before I went to the market. About an hour ago….”
“Before she left the note, did she say anything else?”
“No. She said absolutely nothing else.”
Master, who had been contemplating with his chin resting on his hand, gracefully stood up.
“First, you two search the town for Beth.”
“Then what about you, Master? Do you have any idea where she might have gone?”
“I’m going to the temple.”
The temple? Come to think of it, I remembered the child Bestia mentioned earlier.
And that strange things might be happening at the temple.
I wished we had more time to investigate, but…
He must have been worried about the child he met by the lake.
And it might be awkward for him to stay at the Duke’s Mansion right now.
Though, it seems I’m not the only one who feels awkward.
The Master, who was usually unfazed by any gossip, became flustered whenever Bestia was mentioned.
Didn’t he just wonder if Bestia left him because of a casual remark?
“Master, I will go with you!”
I said it with some bravado, but the Master had already vanished without listening.
\ \ \
“Um, excuse me?”
“Yes? Is something bothering you?”
Yes. Very much so. Everything from one to ten is bothering me?
I was dangling from the arm of a priest I’d met for the first time today, heading into the temple.
To be honest, I wanted to shout, ‘Is this comfortable?!’
But if I said that, he might get offended and not let me in.
“No! It’s comfortable! Haha. Really comfortable!”
“I should have been looking after children! Isn’t the ride different?”
Lies.
I give that ‘different’ ride 0.5 stars.
The Young Duke, who looked like he’d never held a child before, held them just fine…
‘Bestia, I’m confident I can even handle childcare.’
“Ah, where is that nonsense coming from!”
“What?”
“No, I thought I heard voices somewhere!”
I replied to the priest with the most harmless smile in the world.
“You have very sharp hearing.”
Whatever it is, I seem to have stumbled upon it by luck?
“Today is a day of sacrifice, so the believers are gathered in one place.”
“Oh, really?”
Is this luck or bad luck? I’ve walked right into the source of the crime!
I looked at him with a curious expression, as if I’d heard a mystical tale.
“What kind of sacrifice is it? Betty is curious!”
At my words, the priest offered a bright smile.
“Your name is Betty?”
“Uh… Yes! That’s right!”
It’s a pseudonym anyway, so it doesn’t matter, right? I said it casually.
But he had to specifically ask my name?
For a normal person, this would be natural… but…
He’s a kidnapper.
Or is he conducting a background check for post-abduction measures?
“Betty, why do you want to work at the temple?”
“Um… I wish no one in this world would be sick!”
Of course, that’s a lie. While I do wish for people not to be sick,
What’s more important to me is ending the poverty and misfortune that has continued from my past life.
But the priest seemed deeply impressed by this statement.
“My goodness, you’re an angel with such a kind heart.”
The priest gently stroked my hair.
“Haha, it’s nothing.”
I awkwardly scratched the back of my head.
I was taken aback not only by being praised as an ‘angel’ by a kidnapper,
But also by the guilt I felt due to my increasingly transparent conscience.
The priest, mistaking my shyness, added more awkward words.
“I am moved by your noble spirit of sacrificing yourself for others.”
That line just now…
If anyone else said it, it might be fine, but coming from someone who was just talking about sacrifices, it’s incredibly creepy!
“Haha, I’m not that devoted of a person.”
“No. My eyes are certain.”
I’m not! I’m just an ordinary human here to spy on you!
“Aren’t you worried about Enoch?”
“What?”
“You were supposed to meet this morning but didn’t see him, so you came all this way, didn’t you?”
Surprisingly, I only just learned the child’s name…
I couldn’t bring myself to say ‘That’s right.’
But I couldn’t deny it either, so I just smiled brightly.
“By the way, the sacrifice you mentioned earlier… what is it for?”
I tried to think of other questions to avoid suspicion, but couldn’t find a suitable alternative.
Perhaps asking directly would be better.
“Ah, the sacrifice?”
“Yes! I’m curious!”
“Hmm, it might be difficult for Betty to understand if I explain it in words.”
The priest suddenly stopped walking.
Before us, stone statues exuding a bizarre aura were lined up at the entrance.
“Wow, I’ve never seen statues like these before!”
I had seen statues before, but never ones made so lifelike.
They looked so real that I felt they might move if I looked away.
“Indeed, Betty, you are different from children your age.”
The priest continued speaking with a smile.
“Well, it will be easier to understand if you see it for yourself rather than just hearing about it.”
To be continued in the next episode ▶
