Dealing with the revived Rowen Rose was easy. The revival chamber and the church's layout were similar to the ones back in Academy City and Bluerose Duchy, although smaller in size. Thanks to that, I could find it easily and even hid his body before the nun arrived to greet him.
After that, I went inside the church through the main entrance as if nothing had happened after taking off my [Shadow Cape].
The interior of the church wasn't as good as the bigger one; it was modest. Rows of benches were placed in the hall, facing the naked statue of Goddess Teri.
At the end of the hall, a gray-haired priest was kneeling while putting his hands together in front of the statue. When I walked closer, he suddenly spoke.
"How rare, a visitor in this backwater church when it's not the monthly morning prayer." His voice was calm and collected. He slowly stood up, turning around to see me.
When he fully turned, I could finally see his face filled with scars. Even his left eye was gone, with a vertical scar across it. And behind his collected smile, a fierce beast was hiding, ready to be unleashed.
Immediately, I raised my guard. Scars weren't something usual to be found in this world. People would fully recover when they were revived, thus healing the scars and all injuries, even the internal ones.
The missing arm would grow. The decapitated head would return to normal.
And the fact he had many scars on his face explained one thing. He had never been revived, even when he gained a scar. I didn't know whether it was from an accident or battle, but I would assume he gained those scars from battle as one of them was really big, searing across his face.
I also assumed so because of the veteran-like aura he had around him.
After being in the death game for 5 years, I naturally developed some kind of instinct to judge people's strength. This priest had that kind of strong feeling coming from him. He was not too strong like Alesia or the buffed Adam but was still a seasoned fighter.
Also…
'Somehow he feels familiar.'
Did he know what I did earlier? No, probably not. When I arrived, Baron Rose had just been revived whole and sitting on a stone slab of the revival chamber like a broken doll.
It happened in only 3 seconds, and I immediately returned to the stairs and went inside the church. Though even if he knew what I did, it didn't really matter. I was just a bit surprised by his appearance, that was all.
"A seasoned young one at that. Do you have any business in this church, young man?" He continued, standing tall at the end of the hall and looking at me with his right eye making a slit.
"I need a bit of your help, Father." I responded to the priest as I showed my Paladin Crest.
He looked at my crest and let out an amazed voice, but that was it. No special reaction like the people in the Duchy. Probably because he was in a backwater place like this, he wasn't really interested or care about my Paladin position.
"A Paladin, huh?" He mused. "What can this old priest do for you, Your Holiness?" Then he continued with a polite tone and bowed slightly, clutching the Rosario with the church symbol hanging on the necklace.
It was great that he recognized me and was willing to pay respect to me. The request would go smoothly then.
"It's about something a bit personal. Shall we talk about it inside?"
"Of course! This way, please."
The priest turned around and asked me to follow him inside. We entered an office and sat on the couches, and I began to tell him about my business of visiting the church.
We also met a nun on the way and asked her to prepare tea for us while we were talking.
Surprisingly, the veteran priest was cooperating and didn't ask any questions when I brought up Vivian's divorce. He even offered to help prepare the divorcing ritual and would do it himself.
When I asked about what needed to be prepared for the ritual, he said the church usually took 5 Gold for donation. But because I was the one who asked, there was no need to donate to the church.
However, I couldn't do so and decided to donate 500 Gold to the church. The priest was surprised, but he then smiled softly.
We finished talking shortly after and drank the tea prepared by the nun. While doing so, I had the chance to have a small talk and asked the priest to help me with a little project in the future.
"Thank you for your help, Father."
"No, Your Holiness. We are the ones who need to say thank you. Sister Lily will be happy to receive this donation because your donation will really help the orphanage we run." He said. "I will begin the preparation after this. Please visit again in the afternoon."
Orphanage. That word immediately made me stop going downstairs and look back at him. He only smiled softly at me while putting his hands behind his back.
'He recognized me.'
That was what I felt from his gaze. I didn't know who he was as I hadn't received Arthur's prior memories before the first day at school.
But looking back, it was natural that many people in the Barony recognized me, although I bet my aura and the air surrounding me had changed greatly.
Maybe it was because of that the priest acted casually around me, not truly minding my position as the Paladin. For him, I was just a boy who was in the orphanage a few years back.
I said that I had left the orphanage early to Rania, but it seemed like I had stayed there for quite a long time.
So I smiled back at him, dropping the Paladin act.
"I will visit again sometime when the situation has calmed down."
"We will be waiting." The priest nodded. "We won't be able to serve anything fancy to a Paladin such as yourself, but at least we have sister Lily's warm soup. It's quite delicious."
"Hahaha, I am looking forward to it." I laughed and then left while waving my hand to him. "Well then, see you again, Father."
"Yes, see you again."
Afterward, I returned to the mansion and hoped Vivian was ready. The divorce would be held this afternoon, and it only needed her presence alone. In other words, the divorce could happen with just one side's approval and didn't require the other party as long as the reason was clear.
Arriving at the mansion, I immediately sought Vivian, who was actually drinking tea in the backyard, and watched Eliza's training with a proud smile. A small table with various treats was in front of her with a big umbrella to shade her from the sun.
The perverted teacher and my childhood friend were a bit away from her, so they didn't notice me sneaking behind Vivian.
Vivian greeted me with a smile and welcomed me, inviting me to sit with her on the empty chair across from her.
I told her what I talked about with the priest, and she cried happily. Her breasts bounced when she suddenly leaped toward me to take my hand and buried it in her chest.
"Thank you… As I said before, Arthur. I will definitely repay this favor you did for me."
"You don't need to repeat it, Madam. I am happy to be of help."
The divorce would happen soon. And then, I would shelter her in my mansion and develop my relationship there. Or, hopefully, she will visit me tonight.
'As if that would happen, right?'
Comments