...
‘Where Dawn shines, faith will eventually burn!’
—《The Divine Words of Dawn》/On God and His Believers
...
Knock, knock, knock.
A few knocks sounded, followed by Aunt Mima's voice: “Lady Gelin, the water downstairs has finished heating. I found some clothes for you, though I'm not sure if they will fit.”
Ogre closed 《The Divine Words of Dawn》, stood up, and opened the door.
He had no idea where Aunt Mima had found these clothes, but when she held them up next to Ogre to compare, they actually seemed to fit quite well.
After checking the fit, Mima rolled the clothes up and took Ogre's hands in hers. “What beautiful hands. It's clear you've never had to do much hard labor. Come, my girl, let me take you to bathe, so you can forget all the unpleasantness of your journey.”
“I... I...”
This sudden enthusiasm made Ogre's eyes widen slightly. He hurriedly shook his head, then pointed to himself to indicate that he could handle it on his own.
Looking at the slightly panicked Ogre, a wave of pity rose in Mima's heart. She had only just learned about Gelin's “past” from Macar.
“Are you shy?” Mima asked tentatively.
Ogre shook his head, pointed at himself, and raised a single finger.
What a joke, how could he let someone help him bathe? Wouldn't all his efforts go to waste then?
“Alright, you strong girl.”
Mima glanced at Ogre's flat chest, then looked at “her” youthful face. In an instant, she conjured up a tragic backstory in her mind of a deceased relative, a collapsed source of support, and a girl forced to grow strong.
‘Poor child... She's not even as old as Maqi yet.’ After sighing emotionally in her heart, Mima took the initiative to grab Ogre's hand.
Then, she carefully guided him down the stairs.
“My girl, let me help you wash your hair.”
After setting the clothes aside, Mima offered her help. If she washed his hair first, it wouldn't be as much trouble for him to clean the rest of his body afterward.
However, to be able to wash the hair of a Sister of the Church of Dawn...
This was actually a kind of honor for a believer. In the church's doctrines, all missionary Sisters were considered daughters of God, holy beings. Only when they entered into marriage would this status be automatically dissolved. Because of this, the knights of the Church considered it an honor to marry a Sister.
“Ngh...”
Looking at the enthusiastic and eager Aunt Mima, Ogre thought it over and ultimately decided not to refuse. He felt that refusing her again would probably seem unreasonable.
But in that case...
It probably wouldn't be convenient for him to reapply his facial disguise.
‘Forget it... I didn't adjust my features too much this time anyway.’
Ogre was actually quite confident in his original appearance. Although he didn't particularly like his girlish face, there was nothing wrong with making a little use of it at times.
After weighing the pros and cons, Ogre decided to proactively remove the disguise. Otherwise, it would be troublesome if the hot water melted the “mask” he had spent so much effort preparing. It would be better to take it off early, which would also give him a plausible explanation.
“Sit down, child,” Mima said as she brought over a bucket of water and retrieved a wooden tub from a shelf.
Her voice was filled with the vigor and boldness unique to the people of the frontier.
“Ngh...” Ogre gestured to his face and waved his hand.
“What's wrong... Oh, heavens!”
As Ogre peeled off the disguise from his face, Mima finally understood why the “girl” before her had been wearing a fake mask. Even as a woman who already had children, she couldn't help but let out a gasp of surprise upon seeing this face.
For a moment, her limited vocabulary left her at a loss for words to describe this beauty. It was a face that could make even another woman's heart skip a beat.
‘No wonder... If those noble young masters saw this, they would surely go mad.’
Mima did not ask Ogre his reason for disguising himself, because the beauty itself already provided the answer.
“Ngh...”
Ogre let out a soft sound. Then, he obediently sat down on the stool, untied his hair ribbon, and lowered his head.
Ogre couldn't sense any threat from Mima, which was why he was so at ease letting her help him.
Speaking of which, Ogre had never had anyone wash his hair for him before. From childhood to adulthood, Ogre's hair had never been very long; whenever it grew out a bit, he would cut it off. It was only later, so as not to stand out upon entering human society, that he began to grow it out.
Ogre's hair grew very quickly. He had been busy lately, and in just half a month without trimming, it had grown by about ten centimeters. Now, with the hair ribbon removed, the longest strands fell all the way to his chest.
“Don't worry, I won't tell anyone.”
Gently feeling Ogre's hair, Mima scooped up some water and began washing it for him.
‘It would be wonderful if a girl like her could stay here... It's just a shame she's semi-mute.’
Ogre's long hair was very fine and soft, feeling incredibly pleasant to the touch. This made Mima inwardly marvel at the difference between commoners and delicately nurtured flowers.
“If only I had a daughter like you,” Mima said with an emotional smile.
Ogre blinked. He simply felt that Mima talked a little too much... But he didn't dislike it.
After losing his father, he had rarely experienced this kind of casual, familial chattering. Though Yade was a good teacher in Ogre's mind, his excessive strictness meant he could never give Ogre a sense of belonging.
‘Unfortunately, there are no ifs...’
Ogre would not stop moving forward. At least, not before he achieved his goal.
“All done,” Mima said, lightly patting his shoulder after drying his hair.
“Tha...”
Ogre adjusted his voice to express his gratitude.
“Go ahead and bathe, my girl. If the water gets cold, it'll be bad for your body.” Mima tested the water temperature with her hand, then added some more hot water to it.
Ogre put on a shy display, quietly waiting until Mima left before finally letting out a sigh of relief.
After confirming that the door was locked securely, Ogre finally felt at ease taking off his clothes—even though the garments retrieved from the goblin nest had been washed, he always felt they were somewhat unclean...
After soaking his body in the wooden tub, Ogre began to ponder his next plan.
Calculating the agreed-upon time, he had about seventeen days left before he could go to the clock tower to look for that mysterious Cleric teacher... Should he actually go when the time came?
Ogre wasn't entirely sure. Originally, he felt that Yade definitely wouldn't harm him—after all, if Yade wanted to do so, he could have done it a long time ago. Why would he bother spending so much effort to guide him? Not to mention, he was no match for Yade anyway.
But... Serandic's words caused Ogre to hesitate a little.
‘Vampire... variant.’
As Ogre was thinking, he suddenly recalled the witch who had been burned to death not long ago, as well as her crimes.
‘Though I only saw it by chance... does this mean there is an organization of variants in this place?’
The term "harboring" wasn't something that could be thrown around lightly. It would require involvement with at least two or more variants to be mentioned in the crimes. In other words, the number of variants killed in this place was more than just two.
‘Perhaps I can start looking into things from the perspective of the variants.’
Ogre decided he would go investigate tonight. He felt that this village wasn't simple either—for a Cleric of that caliber to personally come and oversee trials here, there had to be something going on.
Ogre actually hadn't expected to be brought to a small village. He had originally thought that after presenting the badge, he would at least be arranged to stay in a town-level area, or perhaps even be placed directly in a city.
‘It wouldn't hurt to make contact with a Warlock ahead of time,’ Ogre thought to himself.
It didn't take long for Ogre to quickly wash and scrub his body with practiced ease.
Ogre was usually quite mindful of hygiene. Compared to those nobles who were only clean on the surface, his frequency of washing was much higher. This was a habit he had formed from childhood. Bathing was one of the best ways to eliminate odor and conceal one's tracks. Whenever they prepared to relocate their hiding spot, Ogre's father would take him to quickly wash up beforehand, prioritizing speed and efficiency.
There were several hot springs inside the mountain caverns. That was also where Ogre had spent much of his childhood. It was extremely safe, but obtaining food was far too troublesome... Unless he went directly to steal the eggs of a Devil-Claw Eagle, a lot of time would be wasted traveling up and down the mountain.
Back then, to protect the young Ogre, his father had placed him inside those high mountain caverns. It was only after growing up that Ogre truly understood why their “home” was located high up in the mountains.
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