The Reply of the Holy Church

After working on the fields, their remaining works are to prepare for dinner, and just like the other day, serve the bar and clean up.

These are the jobs entrusted to Chloe and Shin for a day. However, the sight of Chloe looking so tired and yet gratified, not even showing the slightest bit having any hardship, makes the prince resentful.

The other thing that irks the prince is her getting along with the man called Locke. At one time, when Shin came back from having descended the mountain alone, the projection showed them the two having such a merry conversation at the counter.

“I’m back. What do you think you’re doing, Chaco?”

“Oh, welcome back then. I’m asking Locke about the Palette Village.”

Although it was only Dai who straightforwardly immediately jeered her teasing gesture, all of them felt the same way. Momo herself had never said anything about her past before she arrived in the capital. The prince saw this opportunity to know more about her but after seeing Chloe’s cunning and teasing smile, he’d rather refrain from it. The same goes for her use of suggestive words in front of Locke.

“What now, is Chaco’s older brother also interested in Momo?”

“Please stop saying such unfounded things. I don’t remember allowing you to call me that way either.”

“Fufu, looks like he completely hates you know Locke.”

“Mila.. Chaco!”

Saying so, Shin smashes the letter he had brought with him in the counter.

The lodging cannot use messenger pigeons unless, in dire situations and for that, most of its correspondences are done at the town below. Locke offered to deliver the letters instead because he often climbs and descends the mountain, but because he might end discovering their identity due to the name Sereknight, they refused his offer.

“Are those letters from your family, Chaco?”

“No, they came from the holy church. I told you about the sacred stone used here being broken, right?? I was asking the holy church to replace it with a new one.”

Chloe told Locke while lowering her voice because she had not informed the mistress about it yet. Before the prince even noticed, her closeness with Locke is growing deeper. Considering her vehement refusal of any contact with any other men except the prince while she was his fiancée, the prince thought that she had gotten considerably frivolous.

As Chloe opened the enveloped and read the letter, her face turned sullen.

“Is something wrong?”

“Well.. it said here that the church, or rather Priest Grace himself, had been excommunicated by the holy church, and therefore the request for assistance cannot be granted.”

“Huh, is that true?”

Even the master of the lodging house himself has his issues. At any rate, because they cannot prevent the intrusion of monsters with this anymore, they had no other choice but to think of other ways to put up a barrier.

“Should we just ask for a mage to fix a barrier using a magic stone.”

“I haven’t seen one participating in the dungeon exploration lately, and even if I did, we will have to hire her. I heard the lodging is barely shouldering its operational expenses, and even if I offer to pay, the mistress will refuse.”

“.. Hey, this place has an advanced-level dungeon, right?“

Chloe’s muttering gathered the attention of both Shin and Locke.

“Locke, if you had been able to explore considerably deeper in the dungeon, could you take some magic crystals with you?”

“Wait, does that mean..”

“Yes, I’ll have make the sacred stone on my own.”