Chapter 14 – Templar Knight Order
Chapter 14 – Templar Knight Order
I spent the afternoon overseeing the reading and writing practice of Sati. We placed the chairs next to each other like usual and I’m reading her the fairy tales Angela lent us the other day. Elves, dragons, and orcs appear in them, but they greatly resemble the old j.a.panese tales, so they feel a bit nostalgic. I saw many stories like this in animes when I was little.
“From the forest…….an elf……has…..has?”
“Appeared, and asked for his ident.i.ty.”
“appeared ……. and asked for his ident.i.ty.”
Sati’s education is going well. She’s become able to cook easy meals and she can also read simple sentences. It must be a matter of determination after all. She is learning very quickly. If it continues like this, than it will only take a month for reading and writing to stop being a problem. Maybe I should try teaching her arithmetics soon?
As usual, Tilika-chan came over in the afternoon, then after that Angela also came by.
Angela is occasionally glancing my way while cooking, but as expected, she can’t really talk about likes and stuff while Sati and Tilika-chan are present. Neither can I. We have to have a talk by just the two of us somewhere. If we were at a school I would’ve called her out to behind the school building or the roof.
When I was aiming for the time when Sati and Tilika-chan was taking a bath, Angela also went in with them. I imagined them acting all kyaa kya ufufu, then I agonized over that.
After they got out of the bath she said she is going home for today. I see her out until the front door. Even Angela must’ve thought that it would be bad to just go home like this.
“Uhm, it’s about what happened this morning.”
“M-mn.”
“Well, I like you Masaru, but it came to me that I didn’t think about Masaru’s feelings……”
“Uhm, yeah. I also like Angela. It was just so sudden that I was startled, really.”
“Is-is that so? That’s true. It was sudden, right.”
“So I think it should be fine to take it more slowly.”
“Nn.”
“So I would be happy if you acted the same around me as before.”
“I understand. If Masaru wants that, then I will do that.”
After she said that she quickly went home.
Was this good enough just now? I properly told her that I like her too. Although at the end it felt like it become an atmosphere similar to ‘Let’s just be good friends from now on’.
By the way, Masaru was thinking that it wouldn’t be a good idea to let a freshly-out-of-bath girl go home alone, but Angela is proficient with not just magic, but she can also fight using a mace. She also carries a small mace with her that’s not too conspicuous.
“I carry a weapon for self-defense just in case, but I don’t think there would be anyone stupid enough to start a fight with a Priestess.”
According to what Angela told me, there exists an armed force, called the Templar Knight Order, that belongs to the Temple. They don’t belong to any one country, but the mighty Templar Knight Order boast of a fighting potential that is comparable to a nation’s. And since they are continuously fighting monsters day and night, protecting the people, they are well respected. Fools that pick a fight with the people of the Temple don’t live long.
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The next morning, as we were having breakfast, Angela came over.
“What happened? Ah, there is still soup and bread. Come eat with us before going back.”
“Thank you. So, the Temple Knight Order will come to stay with us today.”
“Hoh?”
“You know, they have the same mission as Erii.”
So that’s it. The making a pioneer village in the demon border thing.
“Masaru, yesterday you said you hunted a lot of wild rabbits, right. Can you share some of it?”
“If it’s about that, then I will give you all of what I currently have of it. No need for money.”
It’s only an amount that I can hunt in a day anyway, so I just need to go hunting again.
“Eh? Well I thought you would sell it cheaply, but I would feel bad taking all of it for free.”
Those that I sell at the Guild double in price at the town market. Since she was aware of that she thought of buying it directly from me. Even if I sell it at the wholesale price of the Guild, there is no loss for me in it.
“It’s a donation, a donation. Also, they are going to the same place as Elizabeth, right?”
“Yeah.”
“If you say that it was a donation from someone related to Dawn’s Battleaxe, then they may look after Elizabeth over there a bit more.”
Angela is also happy about it. It may also prove helpful to Elizabeth. Isn’t this two birds with one stone?
“That’s true. If it’s like that.”
After finishing the after meal clean up, before heading to the Guild, we went to the orphanage.
“Oh my, this is Sati-chan? Ain’t she a cute one. And she is Tilika-chan, right.”
Sister Matilda came out to greet us like that.
I leave Sati and Tilika-chan in the care of the Sister, then we head to the dining hall. I have them prepare a container, then I start piling up wild rabbit meat.
“Masaru-dono, thank you for your donation. With this much it may be enough.”
Said the Priest-sama.
May be enough? This wild rabbit meat, it’s quite an amount.
“How many people will come?”
“I heard it will be about a hundred people.”
A hundred!? That sounds tough. No wonder Angela came to buy up meat.
They say that for the current pioneer village the Temple is also cooperating in earnest. They will create one base first, then using that as a foothold, they will finally establish 5 pioneer villages. Then they will make a safe zone between the five villages and the Gorbas Fortress. The project itself is very grand.
“Around when will the Knight Order people arrive?”
“I heard that around noon.”
Lunch and dinner for a hundred people, huh. I guess this won’t be enough then. Let’s hunt some more.
“I understand. I will go and hunt some more now. I think I will be able to get about the same amount.”
“Thank you for going out of your way, Masaru-dono.”
“No no, I’m alway thankful for the Temple’s help.”
Although, it’s mainly from Angela.
After escorting Tilika-chan to the Guild and leaving Sati at the training field, I explore the gra.s.slands. It’s for a hundred people. Let’s try doing it a bit seriously.
I race all over the gra.s.slands for three hours, hunting wild rabbits. Raising Sense Presence to 3 really bore fruit. If I continue on like this, then I might break my top record. Partway I even brought down a stray orc near the forest. However, I can’t really spend too much time with this, this should be more than enough.
When I got back to the temple the Knight Order already arrived.
Knights wearing matching armors are gathering in the courtyard and the hall of the temple. There are tables and chairs they got from somewhere lined up in the courtyard and there are a few people busy preparing lunch in the kitchen. Angela was also working mixed in there.
As I went to the dining hall while erasing my presence, the Priest-sama and a member of the Knight Order were talking.
“Ooh, Masaru-dono. You were quite fast. This person is the captain of the Adamant.i.te Squad of the Templar Knight Order, Tetian-dono.”
We were introduced to each other and shook hands. Tetian-san is a knight with a short beard and looks to be someone in the prime of his life who served a long military service.
“I was just listening to Priest-sama talk about you, Masaru-dono. He said that you donated a lot of wild rabbit meat. Sorry about that, our guys are all big eaters. We shouldn’t cause too much trouble to the people here either, so it really helps us out.”
“No problem, I’m just happy to be of help to the Knight Order gentlemen that are going to the demon border.”
“Very admirable. We’ll be grateful to Masaru-dono’s good will and G.o.d. I heard that Masaru-dono’s friend is also partic.i.p.ating in this operation?”
“Yes, she is the mage of the party named Dawn’s Battleaxe and her name is Elizabeth. She is my magic teacher.”
“Teacher-dono, is she? I will make sure to remember.”
I don’t it will make too much of a difference even if he remembers, but if I earn their grat.i.tude even a little bit, they might be able to help her in some way. If these strong looking people become Elizabeth’s shield even a little, I might gain some peace of mind.
“Thank you very much. Then I will take out what I hunted just now.”
The tables in the dining hall are already being prepared for the meal, so we move to the food ingredients storage. There is also a refrigerator placed in the ingredient storage, but the room itself is just cooled by ice.
I bring out more than thirty wild rabbits one after the other to the floor of the ingredients storage room.
I of course didn’t go as far as dismantling them with my Item Box. It would be highly suspicious if I didn’t just hunt a great number of them, but even dismantled then.
Also, there is an upside to not doing the dismantling too. If I do the dismantling then only the fur and the meat remains, but the intestines and the brain, if they are used while fresh, are proper food ingredients too.
“This many since only this morning? I heard you were called Wild Rabbit Hunter, but this many…..”
“I’m sorry, but I will ask you to do the dismantling on your side.”
“Of course. Let’s make our squad members do it. Haah, fresh wild rabbit, huh. I look forward to it.”
Saying that the captain held up a wild rabbit and took a long hard look at it.
“One strike with a knife to its vital spot. You have good skills despite being so young. Also, this many in a short time. In addition to that, I heard that Masaru-dono can use Recovery Magic and Offensive Magic too?”
“Well, yeah.”
“How about it, do you want to try and join the Templar Knight Order? I don’t mind even if it’s just to try it out.”
Our salaries are not too high, but it’s a splendid job where we serve G.o.d by fighting. Working for the Templar Knight Order also brings prestige with it. If you retire because of injury or old age you will still be taken care of, and so on and so forth.
“I appreciate the offer, but the adventurer occupation suits me, you see. Also, I plan on making this town my center of operations…..while I’m happy about the invitation, I’m sorry.”
“Is that so. If I see a promising youngling then I can’t help but try and scout him, you see. Well if you have anything that you have trouble with, then you can visit me any time. I will help you out with it if I’m able.”
Then if I end up relying on him then I will be put in with the Templar Knights, right. Scary, scary.
“What should we do with the pelts after dismantling?”
“Nnn. Do you need them at the orphanage?”
I brought down an orc too today, so financially I don’t really need to bring them back with me.
“Let’s see. As preparation for the winter, it would be welcome if we had pelts.”
“Then do it that way please.”
“Thank you very much, Masaru-dono.”
As I left the dining hall my eyes met with Angela’s, so I lightly waved my hand and went out to the courtyard. As expected, Angela probably won’t be coming to our place today.
When I tried saying goodbye to the captain and Priest-sama, I was held back by the captain.
“Please wait a moment. Masaru-dono. Hey guys, line up and listen well!”
The people of the Order all stood up and looked our way at once.
What the h.e.l.l is about to happen!?
“The adventurer Masaru-dono donated a lot of wild rabbit meat. Now, words of grat.i.tude.”
“””Thank you very much, Masaru-dono!”””
They said it suddenly and in a uniform voice, even the timings of the words of thanks were in sync. It’s that isn’t it, this is the origin of what the kids were doing.
It was embarra.s.sing, so I hurriedly left the temple behind while saying ‘no problem, no problem’.
After I dropped by to the Guild to receive the reward for the orc, I went to the training field to pick up Sati, but she was surrounded by three instructors.
“Uhm, was there something with Sati……?”
I tried calling out to Samson-san.
“Ooh, Masaru. This kid is a prodigy! To think that she would improve by this much in such a short amount of time. She will become a fine swordswoman.”
“No no, Sati-chan is better suited for becoming an archer. She can become a top cla.s.s archer.”
“We need to raise her with a good balance in mind here.”
“Nah, it would be better if she specialized……”
They started arguing like that. Sati is having a troubled expression.
This is the result just by raising them to Level 2. When I was practicing here with Level 4, nothing like this happened. What’s with this difference in treatment. Well, it’s true that she is cute.
But, what should I do? I intended to raise them to Level 3 sometimes, but maybe it’s too dangerous? Or should I push it through and cover it with her being a prodigy?
“Uhhm, I was thinking of letting Sati learn both the sword and the bow.”
“Right, right? The balanced type is the best.”
Said one of the instructors.
“Well, if her master says that, then let’s try training her in both.”
Said another instructor.
“Good, then Masaru. Make sure to bring her over properly every day?”
Said Samson-san.
“Mnn. Well there is work too, so I will as much as possible. Then Sati, let’s go home.”
I say as I use Purification and Heal on Sati.
“Thank you very much, Masaru-sama. Then Samson instructor-dono, Max instructor-dono, Nikolai instructor-dono, I’ll be going now.”
“Come back soon, Sati-chan.”
As the instructors waved to her we left the training field.
Instructors, is that really okay that you focus only on Sati like that? The other adventurers are being troubled……
We leave the Guild after saying hi to Tilika-chan. Tilika-chan apparently frequently comes to watch her at the training field and they talk during rest time. They are close as always.
“I think we should eat there today too.”
I used my stamina for hunting wild rabbits today, so I want to take it easy.
Let’s go to the Dragon’s Breath restaurant.
“Yes, Masaru-sama. Also, well, Angela-sama can’t come today, right.”
“Nn, she said it in the morning too. I went to see just now too and many members of the Knight Order have come. She seemed really busy.”
“And so Tilika-chan also said she can’t come today……”
Hnn. Nn? Nnn? Whaccha say? Does that mean that it’s just the two of us tonight?
“Uhm, what did Tilika-chan say?”
“That it’s my chance…..”
That was it after aaaaaaaaaaaaalll.
“Uhm, Masaru-sama, you promised me in the bath before, right? But there was no opportunity lately, so……”
“Ah, nn. It’s okay.”
I should resolve myself already. I’ve been reaching my limit in many ways too. I replied while grasping Sati’s hand firmly.
“Nn. Since it was a promise. A promise.”
“Y-yes.”
That day I ordered the same daily special for lunch, but I didn’t really perceive its taste.