“Miss Gelin.”
As Macar’s knock sounded at the door, Ogre folded down the corner of a page to use as a bookmark, then closed the book.
“Mm...”
Giving a casual response, Ogre stood up.
Although meditating half the night wasn't as restorative as sleep, it had replenished his stamina well enough.
Fortunately, Ogre had a strong constitution, so even with a lack of rest, nothing seemed amiss on the surface.
“M-Miss Gelin, Aunt Mima has made breakfast.”
As the door opened, Macar, standing outside, immediately brightened into a smile.
“All right...” Ogre nodded in agreement and offered a smile in return.
If he hadn't smiled, it might have been fine, but that single smile nearly petrified Macar on the spot.
It wasn't until Ogre pulled the door shut and walked past him that Macar snapped back to reality.
Watching Ogre’s back as he headed downstairs, Macar scratched his head, realizing he had forgotten what he was going to say.
“Macar, oh Macar, you need to be tough and stay calm. You can do this...”
Macar psyched himself up.
If I can't even speak properly, how am I ever going to build a relationship with Miss Gelin...?
“Macar! What are you dawdling upstairs for?!” Mima’s loud voice echoed from below the attic, interrupting his pep talk.
“Coming, Aunt Mima!” Answering back, Macar finally snapped out of his self-encouraging state.
“After breakfast, once we buy the books, what excuse should I use to invite Miss Gelin out for a walk? Buying new dresses? But Miss Gelin doesn't seem to care much about that...”
Muttering to himself as he walked down the stairs, Macar suddenly halted halfway down.
He saw something on the steps that shouldn't have been there—a feather.
“A mana crow feather... How odd.” Macar looked up toward the skylight above the attic.
“Did it fly in from outside...? How unlucky.”
“Macar, hurry up!”
“Coming, Aunt Mima.” At Mima's urging, Macar didn't overthink it. He casually destroyed it with a flick of battle qi and brushed it off.
He simply assumed he had missed it when heading upstairs earlier because his head had been filled with thoughts of Miss Gelin.
...
'Strange, why is a dinner knife missing?'
Mima glanced at the group eating, then looked back at the cutlery box. She clearly remembered there being eighteen pure silver dinner knives.
How could one be missing?
Maqi picked up a slice of white bread, dipped it in jam, and looked up at Ogre. “Sister Gelin, is there anything you like? We can buy it together when we visit Lake Town.”
White bread was not uncommon in towns.
However, families in villages who could afford soft white bread for every meal were rare. It wasn't because white bread was extraordinarily precious, but rather a matter of cost-effectiveness—after all, black bread, which cost a tenth of the price, was just as filling.
Only a household like Mima's, which produced a Paladin like Macar, had the financial backing for such a luxury.
“No...”
Ogre shook his head. He didn't intend to stay here long, so why bother buying a bunch of useless odds and ends?
It wouldn't increase his strength anyway.
“Miss Gelin, let me.”
Just as Ogre reached out to grab a boiled bird egg to nourish himself, Macar beat him to it, picking up an egg from the plate.
Gentle battle qi wrapped around the hard-boiled egg. With a light tap, the pristine boiled egg white slipped cleanly from its shell.
'Uh...' Ogre stared at the shelled bird egg on the plate before him, momentarily at a loss for words.
This was the first time he had ever been treated like this.
“Thank you...” Ogre thanked him and popped the egg into his mouth without complaint.
'Can battle qi really be used like that...?'
Compared to Macar handing him an egg, Ogre was far more interested in the practical application of battle qi.
Using battle qi to crack only the shell was quite intriguing, even if it reeked of showing off.
'She ate my egg.'
Macar didn't think that far into it. He simply watched Ogre with pure joy, finding 'her' more endearing with every passing second.
'So elegant...' Maqi watched Ogre eating in small, refined bites and silently switched to smaller bites herself.
'With these two staring at me, I can't even enjoy eating properly...'
Although Ogre took small bites, he actually ate quite fast.
It was only due to the smaller mouth of his female disguise, combined with the intense stares from Maqi and Macar, that he appeared so slow and deliberate.
“Maqi, today's newspaper is here. Could you fetch it, please?” Mima brought over a pot of hot soup for everyone.
Bits of shredded meat, bones, and bamboo shoots floated in the broth—it clearly wasn't meant to be a main dish, but rather something to add flavor and warm the stomach.
“Sure, Mom.” Today, Maqi wasn't wearing her heroic knight attire, but rather a slightly high-waisted dress similar to Ogre's.
However, the style didn't quite suit her—it wasn't ugly, but that was about all that could be said for it.
“Friar Fula came looking for you earlier, Miss Gelin,” Mima said, getting down to business after ladling out the meat and bone soup for everyone.
“Hmm?” Ogre looked up, feigning innocence.
“It's nothing major, really. I told Friar Fula you were resting, so he asked me to pass along a message.” Mima placed the ladle back into the iron pot and looked at Ogre, relaying the message from the Dawn friar. “Friar Fula said they're quite busy with church matters lately... so you'll just have to wait a while.”
'So they really were drawn away by the deaths of those variants.' Ogre nodded, pretending to be disappointed. “Mmm...”
For so many unidentified variants to suddenly turn up dead was quite a slap in the face for the Church of Dawn.
Most importantly, those variants had been dispatched by Ogre within a few moves—this would likely cause the Church of Dawn to misjudge the power of the 'outsider'.
'Investigate all you want... By the time you figure it out, I'll already be gone.' Ogre picked up a piece of white bread and dipped it in jam.
“Don't worry... Miss Gelin, I'll help you!” Macar was secretly thrilled inside, as this meant Ogre could stay here a bit longer.
However, seeing Ogre's seemingly crestfallen expression,
he couldn't bring himself to show his joy, opting instead to softly and gently comfort the 'young lady'.
“Little Gelin, you're welcome to stay with us for as long as you like. It's just one extra dish for me to wash,” Mima chimed in with her own comforting words.
Who wouldn't want a lovely young girl living in their house?
'I hope that brat Cal seizes this opportunity,' Mima thought to herself.
“Thank you...”
Looking at the caring pair, Ogre felt a sudden spark of curiosity: 'I wonder if they'll end up holding a grudge against me later on...'
Ogre had originally intended to use his identity as a Sister to stay directly inside the Church of Dawn; he hadn't expected the local Dawn Cleric to clear out a spot specifically for him in a villager's home.
“Mom, here's the paper.”
Maqi's voice drifted over as she returned, bringing along today's issue of the Dandelion Daily.
Rate on N.U.
