Chapter 36，Part2

“It’s a big place I’d say so myself, what do you think, Young Lady?”

“…”

The church was dedicated to the Goddess of Mercy, also found in the VRMMO, a minor goddess on the other continent, but a major goddess on this continent.

Gods were not so necessary in the VRMMO. It was just a place to receive quests to obtain special recovery magic.

But this goddess was the goddess of the human race, wasn’t she? When I entered with Maia, the maid, they did not reject me, but they looked at me as if to say, “What are you subhumans doing here?”.

“Oh, what are you doing here?”

“Nn?”

Suddenly, a voice called out to me, and I turned to see a young boy, not as young as me, but younger looking, staring at me.

“Young Lady Carol, do you know him?”

“No, I don’t. …who?”

“You were so rude to Alice at the entrance ceremony, weren’t you!”

“…Oh.”

I somehow remembered. It was the boy who offered a handkerchief to Alice when she fell down.

But still…

“Are you really 10 years old?”

“I don’t want to be told that by you!”

Hmm. That’s a reasonable argument.

But this boy looked familiar… no, this look and this way of talking… somewhere…

“Luka, what are you making a fuss about?”

“Grandfather!”

I heard a voice I had heard somewhere before, and I turned my head again to see the old man.

“Oh, Young Lady, you have come.”

“….Nn.”

“I didn’t think you and Luka were friends. Luka, I’m still busy. Can you take this Young Lady to the library?”

“Eh, but…”

.

“You understand?”

“…hai.”

“Well, take your time. And show around that lovely Young Lady over there.”

“Ye, yes.”

The grandfather smiled at Maia, the maid, and left the place.

He wasn’t intimidating until the last moment, when he faced Luka. He was not a simple old man, after all.

But still, this was a small world, I didn’t expect the grandfather and the boy to be blood relatives. …Luka?

“You are a guest of my grandfather…. It can’t be helped. I’ll show you around, but please don’t do anything strange.”

“…Nn.”

Luka as in…Luka, the grandson of the Archbishop and Capture Target, the shota type?

I was caught off guard, wasn’t I? I only caught him once, so I couldn’t recall much about him, but based on his youthful appearance, I had assumed that he was a junior.

Luka was in a bad mood, but he was unable to disobey his grandfather, so he guided me obediently.

By the way, was he already captured by the heroine on the first day? No, should I praise Alice, who was able to capture him on the first day?

“Your grandfather, the archbishop…?”

“Yes, he is a very great man whom I respect very much. He has built an orphanage in this church to help unfortunate children.”

“Really?”

I knew I shouldn’t look at him with prejudice, even though he was a great figure in the Royal Capital.

“Look, you see that building over there?”

“….Nn.”

There was a neat little building in the corner of the church’s yard where the public was not allowed to enter, and all kinds of girls were in similar short, thin dresses between the ages of 5 and 15 years old, washing and cleaning outside.

…Nn~~? They all look so cute. I mean, I wouldn’t mind seeing a little girl, but wouldn’t it be bad for a teenage girl to be showing her legs in a church?

“…Why are there only girls?”

“My grandfather said it was God’s will. Grandfather is a kind man, and if a girl is lonely, he invites her to his bedroom every night to sleep with him.”

…Nn? n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Look, you should see it too. I heard that after eating delicious food, her skin and hair became shinier. My grandfather, who is very nice to them, says that even the older kids bathe and wash with him.”

Nn~~~…?

“There are not only humans, but also subhuman children like you. That dog-eared girl is already 13, but she is a lonely girl who visits Grandfather’s room.”

“…Ah, I see.”

I feel like I witnessed something behind the scenes that I shouldn’t have seen.

No, maybe, the Grandpa was simply very fond of children. He really likes kids, right? Hmmm…

“…Let’s leave”

“Are you sure you don’t want to go? Not many places are filled with God’s love like this.”

“…your grandfather sure loves children.”

“Yes, my grandfather really loves little girls.”

“…”

“Look at those little girls.”

Luka spoke proudly of his grandfather’s greatness, pointing to the small children praying in the garden corner and looking at them with compassionate eyes.

“Little children are good. …They don’t disobey.”

Nn~~~…?