## Chapter 574 – Nice to Meet You, Friend

After forming an escort led by the paladin Do-dalkan, they loaded the patients and supplies onto wagons, tied the villagers together with ropes, and began the return to Isbanter.

Since there was a map anyway, moving wouldn’t be a problem.

Of course, it would be very difficult for ordinary villagers to walk through the snow for days, but that wasn’t a consideration.

The paladins and priests were used to it.

You could say this was a kind of punishment.

If they returned to Isbanter, the villagers would receive a fair trial and be punished, and the detained people would be compensated with the wealth stolen from the village and released.

But what could those who were missing a foot and starving in the middle of winter do?

Of course, there was no need to think that far. We rescued them. That was the end of the story.

The sin of joining a heresy was great.

Since the Idol War, all religious people and the ruling class had come to hate illegal and evil faiths. The world had already been turned upside down because of it, so they were more wary of such things than anything else.

Thus, they were targets for extermination.

Even if the villagers had avoided summary execution, if the prisons were full, they were likely to become fodder for the arena.

“Then take a rest for now. There’s nothing else to do. Just take turns on guard duty and watch for heretics.”

All that remained in the village, which had been swept away by the stern hammer of God, were a few intact buildings and a total of nine people, including me, Claudi, Winia, and Elise.

Now we just had to stay here for a few days and wait for the heretics.

There wasn’t much to do.

The village was empty, and their granary was ours. The facilities were well-equipped, so eating, sleeping, and washing weren’t a problem.

We just had to stand guard as Chief Barkerel ordered. If the heretical trafficking group appeared while on duty, we had to subdue them, interrogate them, and raid their base.

The mission would be extended, but it would be worth it.

If not, then it was over.

I didn’t care either way, but I wanted to return quickly.

I missed Karin and Risha so much.

Liztina must be waiting for me too. I had to go back quickly.

“Hey, Darkie, so how much is our share?”
“About 30 silver.”
“Hmm… stingy.”

Our share was 30 silver.

Most of the money went to relief efforts for the victims, so it couldn’t be helped. It wasn’t a very profitable job.

But Saint Kadia would appreciate this work.

“Actually, Saint Kadia’s favor is more important than money.”

That was the greatest value.

It couldn’t even be compared to money. The protection of the saint was something you couldn’t buy with money.

“That’s true, but Darkie, aren’t you thinking too much about that these days?”

Winia, who was lying next to me, snuggled into my chest and said. Thinking about it, Winia was right, I had been thinking too much about that lately.

“Uh… I guess so.”

Certainly, my attention had been almost entirely focused on that.

“I understand how you feel, Darkie. You’re going to keep working under the saint when we go to the capital, so you have to make a good impression in advance. I’ll praise you for that.”

Winia reached out and touched my head.

No, why was she being so kind all of a sudden?

“I know you’re all working hard to do well.”
“Heh, hehehe… Thank you. Thank you for saying that.”

I thought it was time to run towards the future rather than take it easy. It was a timing that could be called the second turning point in my other world life.

Things tend to go well when you do well at the beginning.

So I kept doing things to earn points with Saint Kadia. The same was true now. Helping Elise was one of my goals, but this was also an affair of the Bronze Celestial Angel Society.

The work of building a foundation should never be done carelessly.

I was planning to do it this winter.

“But I’d rather Darkie just live comfortably than overdo it. It’s important to succeed and live well without being ashamed of others, of course. But if you get obsessed with that, won’t it be harder later?”
“…Winia?”

Winia, who grabbed my face, stared into my eyes with a soft gaze.

“I just thought you were working too hard these days. I want to cool your head, but Darkie’s dick just won’t calm down… uh, eugh. W-wait, Darkie. My breasts are sensitive right now…!”

For a moment, I couldn’t resist the urge to grab Winia’s breasts. I moved my hands and massaged her soft, large breasts, fiddling with her nipples.

“Winia… thanks for worrying about me. I know what you’re saying. You’re worried because I’m trying to work too hard to look good to Saint Kadia, right?”
“Yeah… the heretics aren’t easy either… of course I’m worried… aren’t you overdoing it?”

It seemed that Winia thought I was having a hard time right now.

I wasn’t having a hard time at all.

If we’re talking about having a hard time, the three years from when I came to this other world until I first met Claudi were the hardest. Of course, I was covered in blood more now, but compared to then, when I was just suffering without strength or a foundation, it was nothing.

I grew up killing a lot of things.

I got mana, and the body that had become stronger as a result also became completely mine. My skills increased and my wives increased.

It was hard, but it was even enjoyable.

“I don’t really like it when Darkie is having a hard time. The sisters think it’s admirable that Darkie is suffering… of course it’s admirable. But it hurts my heart when you’re having a hard time.”

Winia said she didn’t like me suffering.

“I just want Darkie to live comfortably while touching my breasts, but you can’t do that because of Sister, right?”
“Claudi…”
“Sister is the one who wants Darkie to be the strongest in the world. Honestly, it’s not impossible, but it’s going to be hard for Darkie to get there.”

In fact, I was a man who had dedicated everything to Claudi. When you think about it, I had lived almost entirely according to her words since I met Claudi.

Suffering on purpose, throwing myself into these and those extreme things and pushing myself into pain to hone myself was also because I wanted to see Claudi happy when she saw it.

Therefore, that became my way of life. Of course, that wasn’t wrong. Wasn’t that how I became so strong?

But Winia seemed to be worried about this. Well, it was natural to hate throwing yourself into dangerous things. Claudi was the one who was unusual.

“Winia.”
“Yeah?”
“It’s okay. I’m not having a hard time. If we’re talking about having a hard time, the old days were harder. If I was doing something I couldn’t do, I would have given up a long time ago. It’s okay, so don’t worry too much.”
“Still…”

I slowly massaged Winia’s breasts, then moved my hand over her head.

“And even if it’s hard, if you talk to me so gently, it all gets better anyway.”
“Darkie…”

As I was stroking Winia’s head, she looked into my eyes and said.

“…Should I do it with my breasts?”
“Yes!!!!!”

Winia, who lifted the blanket, wriggled and headed towards my lower body. Her large breasts always made my heart burn.

Soon, Winia, who gathered her breasts as if she was holding them in her arms, put my thing between them. It was unbelievably soft and warm. The hydraulic pressure that wrapped around my thing from all sides felt better than anything else.

“Oh my, have you been doing that since a while ago?”
“…Sister? Is your guard duty already over?”
“Oh, Claudi’s here?”
“Yeah.”

We were taking turns guarding the village like this, one person at a time.

Elise was next after Claudi, so I was next after that.

“Heeheehee, Katt. It’s too cold. I want to come in too.”
“Come here!”

Claudi, who said that, took off her fur coat and jumped next to me in an instant in her underwear. For a moment, I felt her body temperature, which had dropped in the cold.

It’s so cold!

“Ah! Sister’s body is so cold! Go to the side for now!”

     *    *    *

It was when we had been standing guard in the village for three days.

“Saint. There were no special events. All I saw were wild monsters. They didn’t seem very interested in the village.”
“Is that so?”

I came out to relieve Elise from guard duty.

I was next after Elise.

The paladin party was five, and we were four. A total of nine people were entering the village watchtower for one hour each to see if any heretics were coming.

“It’s already been three days, but I don’t see any heretics. Maybe they won’t come.”

Elise, who said that, had a worried look on her face.

Elise wanted to punish the heretics as much as Barkerel did.

The flail must be crying.

“It’s a shame, but if they don’t come, there’s nothing we can do. Ah, but if I return now, will I be promoted to intermediate nun?”
“Probably. Saint. Thank you so much. Although I haven’t been able to root out the traffickers yet, I’m really happy and happy that you’re helping me in every way like this.”

Elise, who had erased her worried look, smiled.

“Heeheehee, it’s nothing. Actually, Saint Kadia likes it when I do this. So it’s a win for me too. In other words, it’s a win-win.”
“Hehe, is that so.”

I stood in front of the watchtower and talked to Elise for a while. If possible, I wanted to smash the heretics and go back. There had to be that much performance to have an impact.

But there was nothing we could do if they didn’t come.

“And… this coat was really warm. It was so warm that I didn’t even feel the cold.”

Elise took off her fur coat and handed it to me.

I lent it to Elise, who was going on duty, because I wasn’t going to keep wearing it anyway. I could get it back when we switched shifts. It was a bit cold now, so I had to stay warm, even if it was just a little.

I immediately put on the fur coat I received.

“Oh, Elise.”

It was quite warm, perhaps because it had been warmed by Elise’s body temperature. Warmth immediately began to permeate my body and I started to get hot.

“It’s super warm, isn’t it? You warmed it up well!”
“Yes…? Ah.”

At this rate, an hour would pass in no time.

“The coat was warmed by my body temperature…”

For some reason, Elise said that while avoiding my gaze. Judging by her blushing face… was she a little embarrassed now?

“Hmm? Why? Ah, don’t tell me you’re embarrassed?”
“Y-yes? Ah, no! That’s not it!”
“Hehe, it’s the age to care about that. It’s okay.”
“I’ll go in now!”

Elise, who said that, ran away.

It seemed she was embarrassed because I said the coat she was wearing was warm. It was the age to care about that.

I immediately went up to the top of the watchtower.

It was a watchtower with just a roof and no windows or anything, and all sides were open. The cold wind was blowing in, so my face was cold.

In that state, I watched the outside of the village.

“…Shit.”

Being like this reminded me of when I was in the military. The armory, shit. If you stood guard in the winter, your feet would be numb in 20 minutes without lying, but it seemed a little better here.

My next guard was a paladin named Kaliodin.

The place where the paladins stayed was a large house right next to the watchtower. Since all the village buildings were empty, it was okay to use a private room, but the paladins were staying together in the building next to the watchtower.

The reason was that they would deal with anything that happened immediately.

Well, we were using separate accommodations. It didn’t matter which of the empty houses we chose. I was sleeping with Claudi and Winia in a big house, and Elise was living in the house next door.

ㅡTap tap.

I tapped my heels together and endlessly observed the outside. The outside scenery was as white as A4 paper.

It was repeating snowing and stopping, so it seemed that spring was still a long way off.

I immediately took out Chief Barkerel’s pocket watch from my coat pocket to check the time, and only 13 minutes had passed. Since there was only one watch, we were passing it on to the next guard like this.

“Damn it.”

Was it really only 13 minutes?

It was the same in the military and in this other world.

While I was chewing on that frustration and looking at the outside, I started to see something strange, like a black dot.

“…?”

It had snowed, but the fog was still thick. Of course, the fact that something was starting to be seen meant that the object was getting closer.

A carriage was approaching.