Chapter 64 | I, the Ogre

Ogre wasn't entirely clear on what the others were thinking.

He simply sat back leisurely on his stool, beginning to map out his next move.

‘Looking at this Paladin's current state... it shouldn't be too hard to get him to help. I'll just need to find an excuse for him to look into information about Yade and the clock tower. In that case... I'll need a reason to go into the city.’

Ogre went over the details of what he needed to do in his head.

He estimated his identity wouldn't run into any issues within a week—in fact, there might not be any issues at all.

Still... even if nothing went wrong.

He would definitely have to leave eventually. Ogre had zero interest in playing house forever.

‘The only real trouble is that my real face was exposed.’

Ogre couldn't be certain whether Macar would cover for him and keep it from the Church.

However, he had already prepared for the worst-case scenario.

‘Then I'll need to prepare my disguise tools in advance...’

Ogre was currently contemplating whether he should stage an escape sequence; he was honestly starting to feel a little overwhelmed by the family's warmth.

‘Forget it. The more complex the plan, the easier it is for things to go wrong. It might make it harder to leave...’

After thinking it over, Ogre decided to leave behind some wolf fur or something similar when he departed, in order to divert Macar's attention.

“Gelin, um... this is the graphite pen I bought for you. Give it a try.” Macar had already taken off his armor and changed into a tight-fitting outfit.

The straightforward approach made the corners of Ogre's mouth twitch under his mask...

‘Fine, looks like I overcomplicated things.’

“Mm...” Ogre nodded and took the paper and pen.

Feigning a brief moment of thought, Ogre wrote down his request on the notepad—‘I want to go see the city, to see the different world Uncle spoke of... Thank you.’

Macar took the paper Ogre handed him.

Upon reading Gelin's written request, Macar fell silent.

The city... was not a great place to be right now.

The conflicts and disputes between several noble houses, as well as the plans of the newly appointed city lord...

These were all highly unpredictable factors.

The Church of Dawn's roots in the city weren't deep; villages and towns were the foundation of their survival.

If Yade hadn't volunteered to go to the frontier city several years ago, the Church of Dawn in that place would likely still be completely deserted.

Yet even with a Grand Knight stationed there, Macar hadn't seen the church in the city improve all that much...

Spreading their teachings in noble territories was simply too difficult.

Moreover, the place was close to the slums... and filled with a mix of all kinds of people.

But all of that was secondary. The main issue was a major incident that had occurred recently—some damn bastard, of Apprentice rank no less, had actually assassinated the direct heir of a noble viscount right in the city and successfully escaped.

This had directly caused security and inspections inside and outside the city to tighten significantly...

To make matters worse, that fellow was supposedly a believer of the Church of Dawn.

This had led to people like him being targeted, both intentionally and unintentionally...

‘I can't let those people see Lady Gelin's face... especially that bunch of nobles. But then there are the checkpoints. Ugh, what a headache. It's all that cursed Apprentice's fault...’

Macar sighed inwardly. This would have normally been a trivial matter.

But with all these issues compounding, a small matter had blown up into a major problem.

“Gelin...”

Macar didn't want to deny the young girl before him, but out of concern for her safety, he could only prepare to refuse—after all, the Cleric's orders took priority.

Anything concerning a Discipline Grand Knight was not something he could afford to mess up.

Ogre guessed Macar's thoughts, took the notepad back, and quickly wrote on it—‘It's okay, Gelin can go another time... Thank you all.’

“Lady Gelin, I...”

Looking at the notepad Ogre held up, Macar found himself completely unable to turn her down directly.

“I'll figure something out for you, Gelin,” Macar sighed.

He simply couldn't refuse the request of such an innocent young girl.

But then, he looked at Ogre with absolute seriousness and added, “But... but you must stay close to me when the time comes, Lady Gelin. I'll take you there in the next day or two.”

The city was a wretched place...

Wearing a mask would definitely raise suspicions, but showing her face would absolutely cause a scene and draw the interest of those nobles... That would be an even bigger problem.

‘Make a human-skin mask? Or put some makeup on Lady Gelin? Though it has its risks, it's not impossible...’

Macar wasn't too worried about actually getting into the city; his main concern was the unexpected complications afterward.

In truth, the increased search measures in the city weren't entirely the fault of the Apprentice who killed the noble heir. With the winter beast tide drawing near, the influx of people migrating into the city had increased...

Naturally, restrictions had tightened accordingly.

“Th... thanks,” Ogre stammered out with difficulty.

Pretending to be semi-mute was slightly easier than being completely mute, as it offered a bit more flexibility.

“No need to thank me, it's my duty.” Macar rubbed the back of his head with a silly smile.

“Is there anything else you'd like? Beautiful dresses... jewelry, maybe?”

This question made Ogre go completely silent.

Though he had never courted a human female, he felt there was definitely something wrong with this approach. Who would ask something like that?

After a brief silence, Ogre shook his head.

“No...”

What use was jewelry? Did it increase the loot dropped upon death?

Ogre then wrote a reply on the notepad—‘A Sister's habit is already perfectly fine. I have always worn this.’

This reply immediately struck a chord of pity in Macar's heart.

He hadn't expected there to still be such an innocent and resilient girl in this day and age.

Perhaps this was the result of romance lowering his intelligence.

Macar hadn't even considered the alternative.

How could a relative of a Discipline Grand Knight live such a simple, modest life?

In reality, what Ogre meant was that he had been undergoing ascetic training since childhood and didn't care for material pursuits.

He never expected someone to interpret it as a tragic upbringing.

“Does Lady Gelin need anything else, then?” Macar inquired once more.

Ogre thought for a moment before uttering a single word, “Books...”

He figured the knowledge this Paladin could acquire would surely be more useful than what he could scrounge up on his own.

Besides, since he had free time, he might as well read more.

“No problem! What kind of books would you like, Lady Gelin?”

By now, Ogre had built up a flawless image in Macar's mind—intellectual, resilient, beautiful... and gentle.

Perhaps because she was too perfect, God had seen fit to strip away her voice...

Hmm... her development in certain areas did seem a little lacking.

But there was still room for growth, wasn't there?

As his thoughts drifted, Macar realized he still didn't know Gelin's age.

Meanwhile, Ogre had already written his request on the notepad—‘I want to read some books from the Church of Truth. I really like interesting knowledge.’