If I had to say, it could be called a whim.
Yona herself could not understand why she was acting this way. Rather than understanding, the first thought that crossed her mind was that this should not be happening. Still, the warmth that touched her left hand, so small that it fit perfectly in Yona’s hand, seemed to cling tightly as if it didn’t want to let go.
“What’s up?”
Kaiyak’s voice greeted Yona first.
Next, Alex’s gaze turned to Yona.
“Isn’t that the kid from earlier?”
James seemed to recognize the child. After all, he’s a family man with a child of his own.
“…It’s just a whim.”
Yona did not elaborate further.
After all, it was an action she couldn’t even understand herself, so she couldn’t explain it in detail.
“I’m going to take a shower.”
“Alright.”
Alex seemed to have something to say but quickly bit his tongue.
Casting a brief glance at Alex, Yona held the child’s hand and headed toward the bathroom.
Then, she turned back to peek into the room.
“Alex, can you find some clothes that will fit this little one?”
“…At this hour?”
“Ask the chief. He should have something.”
“Uh, sure. I’ll do that.”
“Yona.”
As Alex nodded, Kaiyak’s voice called out to Yona.
Just as she was about to step back into the hallway, Yona turned to look at Kaiyak.
“…You know that kindness can eat away at your life, right?”
“I know. Very well.”
Yona nodded and turned away.
It wasn’t news to her. She knew all too well.
“Let’s go.”
Holding the child’s hand, Yona headed to the bathroom while the child looked back at her with anxious eyes from the hallway.
As for the bathroom, it was merely a large tub made from woven wooden planks and a single water receptacle connected to the well in the yard. Plus, a scrub made from the dried insides of a loofah fruit was all that was there.
“Just wait here for a bit.”
Yona stepped outside to fetch water from the well.
She tossed a rope-bound bucket into the well to fill it, then poured the water into the receptacle in the bathroom.
After repeating this a half-dozen times, Yona returned to find the child still standing patiently, waiting for her.
“What’s your name?”
The child rolled her dark eyes and looked up at Yona for a moment.
As the child stared at Yona, just before her patience was about to run out, she opened her mouth slightly.
“…I’m Rubina.”
‘Rubina…’
What a pretty name.
“Alright, Rubina. Let’s do the cheer.”
“Yay—”
As soon as the child lifted her arms in celebration, Yona stripped Rubina of her clothes.
As she removed the clothing, Rubina’s hair was so matted that it clumped together instead of falling freely.
After undressing Rubina, Yona removed her own clothes as well.
However, she left the Sacred Barrier around her right arm untouched.
It was a sight she wasn’t keen on showing off.
The moonlight shone through a window near the bathroom’s ceiling, lighting the space enough to keep it from being too dark.
It wasn’t that dark.
In a bathroom that wasn’t too wide or narrow, Yona started to wash Rubina using a scoop.
When she opened the wooden bucket in the corner, it was filled to the brim with brown chaff.
In this age, there was no such thing as shampoo, so they used this instead to wash their hair, which was the leftover chaff after harvesting grains.
You rub this with your hands and use it to scrub your wet hair clean.
Surprisingly, it did a decent job of getting rid of dirt and oil, so Yona had done this for herself too.
After being washed, Rubina now looked somewhat human.
With all the grime flowing off, Yona thought she had scooped enough water to wash herself too, but it turned out she barely had enough; by the time she finished washing Rubina, the water was all gone.
– Yona, I brought the clothes.
“Just put it in front, thanks.”
At Alex’s voice, Yona wrung out the fabric around Rubina’s head.
Once the water dripped off, all they could do was wait for it to dry naturally.
“Just wait a bit.”
Rubina, who had been silent all this time, nodded her head.
Yona gently opened the door, picked up the clothes that were laid out in front, and was relieved that they were at least more like proper clothes than before.
After washing the child, Yona just splashed her face with water.
She figured that would be enough, so she took the child back to the room.
Inside the room, the three of them were still gathered.
As soon as Yona entered, Alex, Kaiyak, and James all turned to look at her.
“What are you all staring at? Making me feel self-conscious.”
“Well, we’re looking because someone just walked in.”
Yona didn’t respond to Alex and pointed at her bed, directing Rubina.
“Sleep there. Got it?”
Rubina nodded silently.
Then, she carefully walked to the bed, lay down, pulled the blanket up to her neck, and soon drifted off to a steady breathing pattern.
“Alright, Yona. I think we need to talk.”
As if waiting for Rubina to fall asleep, Kaiyak got off the bed.
Yona glanced at the now sleeping Rubina, then nodded her head.
“Yeah.”
As they sat down at the table in the living room, Kaiyak wasted no time and opened his mouth.
“So, you’re not seriously thinking of taking her with you, right?”
“Nope.”
That was a straightforward answer.
It was true that on a whim, she had brought the girl in, washed her, and put her to bed, but that was purely a whim.
Taking the child along on this journey was a whole different matter.
“Pity can get adventurers killed, Yona. The kindness you can offer ends here. No more than this.”
Kaiyak firmly drew the line.
He understood that it was sad for the child. He understood that Yona had brought her in, washed her, and put her to bed. But thinking about taking her on this journey was another story entirely.
“No, I told you, that’s not it. It’s just a whim, a whim.”
“Then why did you bring her along?”
At Alex’s question, Yona gave a sly smile.
At least Alex was asking a somewhat sensible question.
“…I just said it was a whim. She was a little girl living with her sister, but today she said her sister was killed by a troll. So I just brought her in, gave her a wash, and put her to bed.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
Seriously, that’s all there is to it.
There’s no other reason.
From the start, it wasn’t like Yona was thoughtless enough to just take in a kid she met for the first time today.
“But do you really need to be that adamant about it?”
James, who had been quiet until now, unexpectedly spoke up.
As the other three turned their attention to James, he shyly rubbed his teeth with his fingernail and gave a half-hearted smile.
“After all, in a village like this, most of the orphans left alone end up facing a bad fate. Plus, that kid’s a girl. Thinking about what could happen to a kid like that, well, I can’t imagine it ending well… Maybe it’s because I’m a dad.”
“James.”
“Ah, I know what you’re trying to say. Kaiyak, I’m just stating my opinion.”
Since James was the only one in the party with family, he seemed genuinely worried about the orphaned girl.
“Well, that’s true. It’s not just sympathy, and since we’re on our way to the Duchy of Kapatia, it wouldn’t be hard to take her to a cathedral orphanage or something there.”
“A cathedral orphanage, huh…”
Hearing that, Yona fell into a brief moment of thought.
The cathedral orphanage was where she had stayed for a short time after arriving in this world.
Thanks to realizing her divine power there, she moved up to the cathedral faculty and stayed in the dormitory, but the orphanage had really great facilities. The meals were good, and they provided systematic education. If she were to awaken her divine power while staying there, she would certainly live a much better life than in a village like this.
-If she was recognized as a priest, even more so.
“…Let me think it over.”
“I’m against it. That’s just sympathy. Everyone think about it.”
Kaiyak still opposed the idea.
It was definitely strange for trolls to raid civilian homes. Moreover, they had encountered monsters strangely often on their way here. While he couldn’t explain it in detail, it was certain that something bizarre was happening continuously.
“Besides, the journey will get messed up again. We may pass through the Duchy of Kapatia, but that’s only going to be a quick stop for us. Our goal is to pass through the Duchy of Kapatia and go across the Medial Plain. If we go to the orphanage, it’ll delay us even more.”
“That’s definitely true. Well, Yona’s schedule is the most important, so I was just making a suggestion.”
“…You’re not trying to provoke the priest Yona, are you? You bastard Orc.”
“Haha, does this lizard want to taste arrows again after a long time?”
“It’d be quicker to get an axe stuck in that thick head of yours.”
As Kaiyak and James seemed ready to clash at any moment, Alex stepped in to mediate while Yona quietly fell deeper into her thoughts.
The next morning was quite noisy.
Those coming out of the Cathedral to move the troll’s blood and corpses were chatting loudly while haggling with the village chief. Since the chief couldn’t possibly understand the value of such troll remains, Kaiyak was sticking around, joining in on the conversation.
Meanwhile, Yona was sitting next to a child in the open area, watching the scene unfold.
“How fascinating.”
Yona muttered to herself.
There were many dressed in pure white robes of the Church of the Celestial God. The people working at the Cathedral were all in their ceremonial outfits, which included sharp-eared beastfolk, orcs, and even dwarves with oddly braided beards, all mixed together.
“What a sight to behold for the first time.”
Even if she hadn’t been out of the Cathedral for roughly three years, it was hard to believe things had changed so much in that time.
Only humans were allowed to convert to the Church of the Celestial God.
As a religion devoted to the Celestial God, it had initially been exclusive to humans, not accepting other races. So during the time Yona spent in the Cathedral, there were only humans.
Yet here they were, dressed in robes: beastfolk, orcs, and dwarves.
It was her first time witnessing such an odd spectacle.
In the end, unable to contain her curiosity, Yona jumped to her feet.
She patted the child’s head, telling them to wait, and then approached one of the beastfolk busy preparing to move the troll’s body and blood.
“Hello.”
“…Hello.”
The beastfolk, dressed in a nun’s outfit, glanced at Yona and returned the greeting.
“Wow, you must have your hands full.”
“Oh, not at all. We heard there were rare troll remains, so we’ve been bustling about since last night.”
Yona felt relieved that the beastfolk seemed more easygoing than expected.
“Right? No one would have thought a troll would show up in a place like this. But it’s impressive to see how quickly you all responded.”
“Of course! I’m still learning the teachings, though.”
From the beastfolk’s words, Yona figured they hadn’t fully converted to the Church yet.
If they were still learning, they were probably just trainees.
“I see. But it’s really impressive that you, being a beastfolk, became a member of the Church of the Celestial God.”
“Oh, you didn’t know?”
“No, the truth is, I go around the area distributing the Celestial God’s grace. I tend to be a bit slow on the updates.”
Well, she couldn’t argue with that since she did heal them with divine power.
“About half a year ago, the policy changed to allow the Katus Empire and the Kafitura Alliance, as well as the Eight Brothers Union, to promote the teachings of the Church.”
“…Promote the teachings? So those orcs and dwarves over there are…?”
“They’re priest trainees. They’re undergoing training right now. Once they finish, they’ll head back to their homelands to promote the teachings.”
Ah.
So that was what was happening.
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