[Reberu] ga Arunara Agerudesho? Mobukyara ni Tensei Shita Ore wa Gēmu Chishiki o Ikashi, Hitasura Reberu o Age Tsudzukeru - CH 122

[Spoilers are Strictly Prohibited]

Knock knock, the door is knocked and a voice echoes in. “Excuse me.”

Ethel and Iris stands up from the sofa, whereas I wrap the muffler I just knitted around my neck and put away the remaining yarn and knitting tools back into my breast pocket.

Thanks to that, a weirdo wearing a muffler inside a room on a hot day is born. Though, I’m sure the other party won’t find it weird as long as I act confident like there’s nothing wrong with it.

“It’s been a long time, Ethel.”

“……Long time to you, too.” (Ethel)

The person who entered the room ignores me and calls out to Ethel.

However, Ethel responds in a not so positive manner.

The other party is an elf woman with blond hair and blue eyes like Ethel.

Her long hair is tied up behind her head, and the white clothing she wears is very similar to ‘Áo dài’ in my previous life. [TL: Áo dàiis a Vietnamese national garment > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Áo_dài]

It sticks tightly to the woman’s slender body. Her outward appearance coupled with her bearings gives her the aura of majestic beauty about her.

On her chest is a necklace with a crest that indicates that she is a cathedral official and a saintess, and in her hands she’s holding a sky-blue cross adorned with a gold ornament that is as tall as her body.

‘Saintess’ Cordelia Tyner.

Ethel Tyner’s mother. She entered the room accompanied by an old elf as an escort.

“Has it been a year and a half since you left the cathedral?” (Cordelia)

“Yes. Now then, how about we immediately get into the main subject?” (Ethel)

“Ethel-sama, what is with that attitude towards your own mother! Regardless of the fact you went to the adventurer’s academy, as someone who has received education as a saintess candidate, you have to keep proper manner at every occasions!”

The old man next to Cordelia-san gets angry at Ethel’s attitude all of a sudden.

But Ethel ignores him with a nonchalant face and indicates that she isn’t going to reply to a small talk by keeping silent.

I agree with her. Although this matter is necessary for my leveling, I want to quickly finish this errand that doesn’t give experience points.

Besides, I already had a hunch when they specifically asked for Ethel, but now that the one who came to deal with us is her mother, the possibility that Ethel’s individual episode would be starting has shot through the roof.

Just in case, I’ve came up with some measures so that we can complete the episode as soon as possible and get back to our main objective in coming here. But if the episode is starting for real now, the ‘Former’ Saintess Cordelia will be asking Ethel Tyner to take on the position of saintess later.

Of course, such a development isn’t to my liking.

It’ll be better if they just honestly show us to the deepest part of the great library.

If the individual episode doesn’t start, the time that the talk would take will surely be shortened, and if the great library does have information that will lead to the solution to this problem, I’ll be able to return to leveling that much faster.

Therefore, I pray so that such a development doesn’t start.

Oh Gods, Buddhas, Experience Points, and +1 Experience Point… please give this devotee of experience a convenient future…!

And since I’m praying, please give me experience points for Faith skill too, I beg you…!

‘Ethel-san, Sakurai-san is starting to glare at the old man. I feel like he’s about to reach the limit of his patience.’ (Iris)

‘This guy, there should be a limit to be addicted to training! For now, I’ll try to end this talk as quickly as possible like we’ve planned before. Or rather, I’ve already told him the talk will probably going to take some time, but looks like he didn’t hear it at all… just how absorbed he was in knitting, sheesh.’

For some reason, the girls next to me are conversing secretly.

Don’t they know how much time will be loss because of their conversation?

I’m getting more and more irritated seeing acquired experience points not displayed in my field of vision, so I’d like to firmly protest against delays that keep the talk from going forward.

I look at the old man who’s probably the oldest one in the room. I keep staring at him to urge him to get the talk proceeding since he’s the oldest, but receiving my stare, the old man mumbles “M-mu” like he’s a little scared. And seeing it, Cordelia prompt us all to sit down.

He reacted slightly different from what I was expecting, but all’s good since the we’d be proceeding with the talk as a result. I’ll quietly sit and wait until the talk’s over.

After everyone sat down and introduced themselves, Cordelia Tyner’s escort starts the talk. By the way, the old elf’s name is ‘Terrence Kendall’.

“Ahem, now then. We’ve heard the story from the academy director. The academy dungeon has been blockaded all of a sudden, correct? To search a solution for that, you want to use the cathedral’s great library. And we’ve also heard that the royal family has given you permission to enter the deepest part of the great library as well. Naturally, we, too, have no objection to cooperating in regard to the abnormal situation faced by the academy.” (Terrence)

“Thank—” (Ethel)

“But unfortunately, there is one problem!” (Terrence)

Terrence says so before Ethel finished her reply.

He has a nasty smile on his face seemingly to mock her, and on the receiving end, Ethel squints her eyes without trying to hide her discomfort.

“There is a barrier that prevent people from entering the deepest part of the great libary. It was made so that no one can ever enter without the approval of the saintess. The situation is, the barrier cannot be released at the moment.” (Terrence)

“Huh? If it’s a saintess you need, you have mom right here, don’t you?” (Ethel)

“While it is unfortunate, Cordelia is now just a ‘former’ saintess. She is merely filling the position until the next saintess takes over. She has no authority to allow someone to enter the barrier.” (Terrance)

“Former saintess!? What does that mean!” (Ethel)

Ethel stands up in surprise. It’s probably because she couldn’t believe that Cordelia has quitted being a saintess.

On the other hand, I put my hand on my forehead and look up at the ceiling, saying “As expected, the individual episode has begun…”, whereas Iris tilts her head, unable to comprehend the situation.

“Umm, Sakurai-san. What is a saintess?” (Iris)

“Hm? Ahh, I see, Iris never heard of it, huh.”

Iris brings her mouth close to my ear and asks in whisper.

Come to think of it, she’s a resident of the Netherworld. She’s ignorant of systems and positions in the real world.

It’s a pain to keep listening a talk that you can’t make a head or tail of, so I decide to teach her about the saintess while not disturbing the Ethel and co’s conversation, which is actually more close to an argument.

Now then, shall I begin with what a saintess is first?

A saintess is a ‘third party’ cathedral official who doesn’t belong to any denominations and is responsible for mediating and solving problems that arose between denominations, and thus considered to be the cathedral’s de facto leader.

In this cathedral where the statues of the gods worshipped by each denomination are gathered, the representatives of the denominations are working every day to finish up the work of their own denomination and to solve the troubles they received from outside.

Troubles with believers belonging to other denominations are some of the cases, and a few can even change the influence of the involved denominations significantly.

To put it simply, it is the issue of interests of the corrupt priests regarding which denomination earn more operating expenses of the organization.

A saintess is the person who stands and mediates between the denominations in such matters. Sometimes, she even takes the matter into her own hands and solves it herself.

Plus, she is the one who takes care of matters related to other organizations such as the adventurer academy, and she also has the authority to manage various facilities such as the great library. But becoming a saintess can be said the same as getting the short end of the stick.

After all, while the life of a saintess is covered by the financial resources of the cathedral until she passes away, she is restricted from possessing private property and given no salary with the excuse so that the saintess can keep dedicating herself to the organization with selfless devotion.

The fact that the reward is next to nothing compared to the importance of the works she does makes being a saintess the same as being a slave labor. That and the life of wearing old clothes that has changed hands for god knows how many times and continuing to eat only enough food to replenish her nutrition were what led to the formation of Ethel’s mammonist principle.

Ethel – the daughter of the former saintess, Cordeliar Tyner – had been educated in hope that she became a saintess but, having seen the reality of what being a saintess entailed up close, she ran away from the cathedral, thinking, “I don’t wanna work unpaid for those selfish people”.

To begin with, becoming a saintess is nothing but a pain for someone who doesn’t have the spirit of selfless devotion.

Ethel’s opposition can be said to be a matter of course, especially given her age.

Naturally, her surroundings don’t understand her escape drama, so many still think that Ethel should be brought back and installed as a saintess, bringing her lots of troubles, of which are the contents of her individual episode.

“Now, for the current situation. The two in front of us are intending to have Ethel become a saintess by intentionally letting go of the authority to allow people to use the great library, that is by having Cordelia-san stepping down from her position of saintess. They thought that by doing so, Ethel would have no choice but to take on the position of the saintess. That said, the one behind this isn’t Cordelia-san but the guys from ‘Traditionalist Faction’ who advocate that ‘the one who takes on the position of saintess should be someone who inherit the blood of the first saintess’. Those guys persuaded Cordelia-san by taking advantage of her wish for Ethel to quit being adventurer out of concern that it being a life-threatening profession. Then, once Ethel concedes and takes on the position of saintess, they plan to hedge her in with rules and whatnot. Seriously, what a conniving bunch.” (Sakurai)

“S-Sakurai-san?” (Iris)

“I knew this would happen when Ethel was asked to come, so I thought of selling her out, but Amanai asked me to look after her, so that is a no go. Which is why from now on, we’re going to accomplish the the goal of ‘perusing the books in the deepest part of the great library’ under the condition of ‘Ethel isn’t handed over to the cathedral’. Haah~ so troublesome~.” (Sakurai)

Having explained about position of the saintess and the current situation to Iris, I sigh and get up from the sofa.

Originally, Ethel’s individual episode went like this: For the protagonist who got injured in the intensifying battle against the ‘Black Sword’, Ethel goes to the cathedral to borrow a certain equipment, but to take it out requires the permission of the saintess, and since Cordelia has resigned from the position, the guys of the Traditionalist Faction demand Ethel to become the saintess.

It is very different from the current situation, but it seems that since the conditions of ‘the required thing is in the cathedral’, ‘getting it requires the permission of a saintess’, and ‘Ethel goes to cathedral’ are all met, Ethel’s individual episode ends up getting started all the same.

I experienced the same thing in the Netherworld. Although I hate it, it’s not entirely unexpected.

That being said, while I’ve figured that I just have to suck it up and deal with it, I feel like my stress is about to reach the limit, so I move behind the sofa where Ethel and co sit and start practice-swinging to relieve my irritation.

“I mean, I understand that she doesn’t want her daughter to continue a profession that poses a risk of death as a mother, but choosing to hide that feeling and basically telling her to shut up and go back is obviously a bad idea. Oh, in fact, when Ethel ran away from the cathedral, she also indirectly weakened the security to make it easier for her to escape… being strangely clumsy toward one’s family sure is the typical weakness of a working adult. Even though she can just speak whatever she has in her mind if she can’t convey her feelings properly by words. And because of that she ended up participating in this nonsense. Someone really should teach her that she’d be hated if she keep at it.” (Sakurai)

“Sakurai-san. Sakurai-san! Wait!” (Iris)

“Also, those Traditionalists geezers; they sure have shallow thought for thinking that Ethel won’t decline. It is exactly because Ethel doesn’t want to keep wiping their butts every time they do such things that she refuses to be a saintess, and yet they keep at it as if she hasn’t disliked them enough. If they insist on wanting an elf who inherits the blood of the first saintess to take on the position of saintess, they shouldn’t have tried to make her take on the position but create an environment that will make her think that she’s glad to have become a saintess after the fact. Or rather, how could they think that the saintess not getting paid is only natural while believing that they themselves getting paid is well-deserved? Isn’t that plain absurd?” (Sakurai)

By the way, the reason why Ethel aimed to be an adventurer despite the high risk was because the possibility of getting lots of money.

She trying to get as much money as she could is the result of her secret wish of wanting her mother to live a wealthy life at least as much as she has dedicated herself to the cathedral after she retires from the position of saintess in the future.

The mother is thinking of her daughter’s well-being, and the daughter is also thinking of her mother’s well-being.

Yet, because they couldn’t be honest with each other and kept communicating clumsily, a rift appeared between them, and the old-fashioned people took advantage of that.

Finding a way to solve that was how you complete Ethel’s individual episode in the game.

“I’ve repeated it many times, but everything will be solved if they just speak their minds. There should be a limit for being dull, right? It’s my precious leveling time that they’re taking here. Haah, I wish the talk ends already. You think so too right, Iris?” (Sakurai)

After speaking about their respective situations and thoughts, I call out to Iris to get her agreement on my complaint, but when I turn my head, I see her holding her head.

Looking around wondering why she’s doing that, I spot a stunned Terrence, a completely rigid, poker-faced Cordelia, and Ethel who, unlike her mother, is completely red and glaring at me while slightly trembling.

“……Hm?” (Sakurai)

I frown and try to grasp the situation, and while continuing to practice-swing, I come to a conclusion after a little while of thinking.

“Ah, damn. Could it be, you guys heard what I just said?” (Sakurai)

“Tōru, y-you…! Cut your crap…!” (Ethel)

Looking at Ethel who screams seemingly lost for words, I get convinced that I have revealed the various behind-the-scenes circumstances in front of everyone.

The things I talked about was originally gradually disclosed throughout the individual episode, and wasn’t revealed on their first meeting like this.

(I’ve completely done it this time. This is a total failure— no, hold on a sec?”)

Seeing it from another perspective, it can be said that I have eliminated the need for information gathering and the work of talking with various people to change Cordelia’s mind that was originally done in the individual episode.

In that case, it can be said that by letting them to immediately understand each others’ circumstances, I’ve succeeded in shortening the time to solve the problem, right?

“That means now Ethel and Cordelia-san just have to speak their minds privately. Then we can take Cordelia-san’s resignation as something that never happened. Problem solved!” (Sakurai)

“Problem’s not solved! Not the slightest bit!” (Ethel)

“What nonsense are you spouting about! Cordelia-sama’s resignation as a saintess was a decision she made after a long consideration and suggestion from various people due to health problems that has been afflicting her in recent years! It is just so happen that she resigned the day you came here, we were never planning to—” (Terrence)

“It’s not retirement, but resignation, right? Then, you just have to reappoint her, no? It’s plain obvious that you guys are thinking of returning Cordelia-san to the position if, in the worst case, you fail to get Ethel to take on the position of saintess, anyway. Ethel’s firmly determined to reject it, so can’t you just get a move on to reappoint Cordelia-san and give us permission to use the great library already?” (Sakurai)

When I gave him the suggestion, Terrence’s breathing becomes ragged, his face reddens, and his eyes staring daggers at me like he’s losing his temper, for some reason.

He looks like he may die in a fit of anger if he doesn’t calm down anytime soon, so I start wondering if I should physically calm him down. But then, Iris suddenly jumps out of the sofa, grabs the back of my head with one hand, and slams my head on top of the backrest of the sofa.

“We deeply apologize!” (Iris)

“Gobe!?” (Sakurai)

A muffled crushing sound echoes from the backrest when my head struck it.

It doesn’t hurt that much, but my head is pinned down with a considerable amount of force, and when I try to resist, the force gets stronger, so I can’t escape.

“We deeply, deeply apologize! Sorry for making such an extremely rude remark and greatly hurt your feelings!” (Iris)

“Zu, thap, (stop)! Aiz (Iris), zuthap (stop)!” (Sakurai)

“Please apologize too, Sakurai-san!” (Iris)

“Ai… Aim zowwy.” (Sakurai)

As Iris bows her head again and again, she also brings my head up and slam it back down as she does so, so I can’t speak a word.

Realizing that it’s a waste to resist, I helplessly apologizes to have Iris stops.

After that, Terrence complains continuously for about 5 minutes.

Then, the poker-faced Cordelia who’s been completely rigid, opens her mouth and says “Enough, give it a rest”, stopping the old elf’s anger.

“It seems that our intentions have been seen through by him. In that case, playing with words will only be a waste of time. Besides, his honest words allowed me to realize the shallowness of my thought. When I heard that Ethel would be accompanied by the disciple of the Sword Saint, I thought it was only in the position of an escort, but it seems that he’s more than meets the eye.” (Cordelia)

“Cordelia-sama, but!” (Terrance)

“We’ll be expecting the formal apology separately afterwards. Terrence, that’s fine with you, no?” (Cordelia)

“…Hmm, very well.” (Terrence)

“You have my gratitude. Well then, Ethel. Let me ask you straightforwardly. Would you please return to the cathedral and become the next saintess as my successor?” (Cordelia)

“I refuse, mom. No matter how many times you ask, I’ll never become a saintess.” (Ethel)

Ethel gives a clear refusal to Cordelia’s question.

Hearing it, Cordelia makes a sad expression for a brief moment, then immediately hide it and mutters, “I see, what a pity.”

Like that, the first discussion ends with them having been able to properly confirm each other’s thoughts.

Later on, Iris and I apologize to Terrence-san for my rudeness, and although he then lets out all the complains he couldn’t say earlier in the room, he accepts the apology.

Well, afterwards, Ethel’s mother invites us to dinner, but Iris politely declines out of worry of what I may do.

As a result, Ethel will finally get to eat together alone with her mother for the first time in a year and a half since she left the cathedral.

Which is why I give her a thumbs up and yell to lift the nervous Ethel’s spirit, “The table’s already set, so go and pour out your heart!”, but she then looks at me with a very cold eyes and hits me on the shoulder, for some reason.

“What’s with that attitude to the benefactor who have given her the chance to reconcile with her mother, what do you make of it, Iris?”

“I think that Sakurai-san was guilty.” (Iris)

As we’re seeing off Ethel heading to the cathedral at near dusk, I ask for Iris’s opinion, but it looks like Iris can’t make sense of my good deed, and she tells me, “Please look back on your actions today and reflect on them!”

So, I leave the inn and escape. Then, in search of a place where no one can disturb me, I go to the stable where my beloved horse Freon is staying and lay down next to him.

“Hihiiin.”

“Your head is still fine, but stop trying to put your body on top of me; it’s heavy. You’re going to crush me.” (Sakurai)

Putting my back on the hay and putting Freon’s head on my belly, I look back on my actions on the day and reflect on them despite feeling a little sleepy.

The first thing that comes to my mind is that I started practice-swinging during the discussion.

While thinking that it was too rude of me and reflecting on it, I think about the second point to reflect.

However, as I’m thinking about it, I begin to feel more and more sleepy, and I realize that my thoughts have begun to turn sluggish.

There’s a saying that goes “it’s hard to tell a poor’s thinker from a sleeping one”, but putting it another way, doesn’t that mean that taking a rest the same as thinking?

Having thought so, I give up on recalling my actions and decide to leave my body to the drawing in drowsiness. And thus, my first day in the Elf Territory is over.