* * *
“What do you think you’re doing?!”
Priests rushed over.
Of course they did.
The loud cracking sound of the handle being torn off must have drawn attention.
No one would just stand by and let someone break their door down.
Wouldn’t it have been easier to just knock?
The priests gawked at the destroyed handle, shouting about how disrespectful and blasphemous his actions were.
But Zerbin wasn’t fazed in the slightest.
Without answering, he simply reached into his pocket and tossed a few gold coins at them.
One of the priests fumbled to catch the coins in shock.
“Is that enough?”
“……”
Wow. That temper.
Honestly, I always knew Zerbin was a good person, but he definitely didn’t have a nice personality.
This was proof that being inherently good didn’t necessarily mean being kind to others.
The priest’s eyes wavered violently as he stared at the sudden pile of gold coins in his hands.
And for good reason—this was more than enough to replace all the stained-glass windows of the temple, repair the wooden doors, and still have money left over.
It was an absurdly large sum for simply tearing off a doorknob.
Was this man a benefactor or just an insolent brute?
“T-That may be so… but this is a sacred place dedicated to the gods. How could you resort to such violence…?”
The priest forced out the words, his voice strained.
More than the money, his eyes clearly pleaded for at least an apology.
“Are you saying you want more?”
Aagh!
Zerbin!
Where did your piety go?!
Startled, I instinctively shoved Zerbin aside and stepped forward.
Surprisingly, he allowed himself to be pushed back without resistance.
Was he leaving this to me?
He made a mess, and now I had to clean it up?
‘…’
Fine, whatever!
Talking things out was always my job anyway.
Honestly, this wasn’t even my first time dealing with something like this.
If there was one thing I learned from traveling with a hero’s party, it was that strong people seemed to sacrifice their social skills in favor of honing their power.
None of them knew how to resolve things with words.
“Haha, I apologize. He must have let his guard down after returning to the place where he spent his childhood. He’s incredibly strong, you see.”
“His childhood…?”
Hm?
The priest, who was old enough to be my father, gripped the gold coins tightly and looked up at Zerbin, clearly trying to recognize him.
The shock of having someone suddenly barge in and break down the door must have been too overwhelming for him to process things immediately.
‘He doesn’t recognize Zerbin?’
Even if this priest was newly assigned here, he hadn’t come alone.
A small crowd of temple members had gathered, all staring at us.
And yet, not a single one of them greeted him.
Why?
Zerbin’s face was far too striking to forget.
More than just his handsome features, if my guess was right, he should have been visiting the temple regularly since he grew up here.
If that were the case, there was no way they wouldn’t recognize him.
I had to confirm something.
“Hey, when’s the last time you came back here?”
“Are you my nanny?”
Ugh, still mad.
“Please, just tell me! Just this once!”
When I begged desperately, he raised a dark eyebrow.
He still looked annoyed, but at least he answered.
“Not once since I left.”
The moment I heard that flat response, I was floored.
“You mean… this is your first time back?!”
How many years had it been?
“Ten years.”
Ten years?!
“B-But you said you were planning to visit soon! I thought you came regularly!”
At that rate, even the temple’s errand boys would’ve changed hands multiple times.
There was no guarantee that any of the priests from back then were still here.
They could have retired… or died.
Even if some of them had remained, recognizing someone they hadn’t seen in a decade wasn’t exactly easy.
Zerbin looked at me with irritated eyes.
“Why do you think I came?”
“M-Me…?”
Help.
I think I’m going to die.
This time, I might actually be crushed under the weight of my guilt.
Why couldn’t he just say something?
Zerbin always spoke bluntly, always got straight to the point.
But now, he deliberately phrased it vaguely, as if he didn’t want to say it outright.
He came back—to a place he despised so much that he hadn’t set foot in it for ten years—because of me.
And all I did was make him angry.
Yeah, I wouldn’t want to say anything in this situation either.
Not that I had any clue about any of this beforehand!
If I had known, I wouldn’t have asked him to come.
‘He came… because of me?’
Because I wanted to see the place where he grew up?
A place that held nothing but bad memories, a place he avoided for ten whole years?
My head spun.
I wanted to say something, anything, but my throat closed up.
‘For me?’
Zerbin wasn’t the kind of person who would entertain someone’s interest in a place he hated.
At best, I would’ve expected a gruff “Mind your own business.”
Even if we’d grown closer, the most he would’ve said was “Drop it.”
But now…?
My vision went dark. I had just barely managed to steady my emotions, and now this?
This was adding way too much weight to things.
No—surely it wasn’t what I thought…
I just couldn’t…
A loud thump, thump, thump broke my train of thought.
The noise grew rapidly, until the source came barreling into view—a child, racing down the hall.
Right behind them, two more kids burst into the room, tumbling over each other.
“Priest! Priest! Laf stole my snack!”
“You broke my toy first, you jerk!”
“I didn’t break it! It was already falling apart!”
“Waaah! Priest! Remo broke my toy and lied about it!”
…Chaos.
It was so overwhelming that my mind went blank.
“I’m sorry! I tried to stop them, but they wouldn’t listen—”
Another priest rushed in, looking flustered.
And as if that wasn’t enough, from somewhere deeper inside the temple, another child’s wails rang out, echoing loudly through the halls.
Was this a temple for worshipping gods or for raising children?
“If you ate my snack, then your snack is mine!”
“No way! Then give me your toy!”
“No way!”
The noise was deafening.
The priest who had received the gold let out a heavy sigh and stuffed the coins into his robe’s pocket.
Truthfully, rejecting such a large sum would’ve been difficult, considering the kids’ tattered clothing.
They weren’t just poorly dressed—they were skinny, likely from not eating enough.
No wonder they were fighting so fiercely over a snack.
“…I’ll consider this a donation and accept it with gratitude. However, from now on—”
“Priest! There’s a problem with the temple’s renovation budget!”
Before the priest could even finish his sentence, another temple member hurried over and dragged him away.
Well, considering the state of the building, renovation was clearly necessary, but they didn’t even have time for a proper conversation here?
With the priest gone, the children immediately escalated their fight.
They yanked at each other’s hair, refusing to let go.
“Let go!”
“You let go first!”
A younger priest, who had been trying to separate them, struggled against their surprising strength.
But the moment someone called for a blessing from a priest, he abandoned his efforts and ran off.
Could you really just sum this up as a lack of manpower?
Watching all this left me dazed, but Zerbin remained completely unfazed.
“…Shouldn’t we help?”
“Why would I?”
I mean, sure, it’s temple business, and we are just visitors, but… wasn’t this basically his childhood home?
The temple was incredibly chaotic.
Before the children could even finish their fight, more problems erupted left and right.
The priests had to guide worshippers, perform blessings, and manage temple affairs, leaving no time to look after the children.
So the kids, left to their own devices, grew up like wild animals—only indoors.
One child, quietly reading a book in the corner, stood out like a miracle. But those were the ones who received the least attention from the perpetually busy priests.
Watching them, I couldn’t help but think of Zerbin.
* * *
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