* * *
“The strongest human on this continent? The adventurer so skilled that even royal knights acknowledge him…!”
Zerbin clamped his hand over the priest’s mouth.
“Mmmpf!”
The blue-haired priest was caught off guard, but instead of panicking, his eyes sparkled with excitement.
That sight left me with a complicated feeling.
I mean… isn’t Zerbin being too nice to him?
Think about it.
He clearly doesn’t want his identity exposed in the temple, yet he didn’t snap at the priest with a sharp ‘Shut up’ or ‘Get lost.’
Normally, he’d just knock someone out and be done with it.
But here, all he did was cover the guy’s mouth.
‘With his own hand!’
The same Zerbin who hates physical contact actually chose to touch him to keep him quiet.
Well, it wasn’t skin-on-skin since he was wearing leather gloves, but still.
“…They must’ve been really close.”
Though, this priest…
He’s so not it.
As a romantic partner?
Absolutely not.
A priest, of all people?
A temple priest is basically married to the gods.
That means no romance, no marriage—he’s the worst possible love interest for someone like Zerbin.
And let’s not forget—Zerbin is really sensitive.
If I think back to how he clung to me until dawn… yeah, despite his disciplined, ascetic appearance, he definitely has a strong sex drive.
A priest could never satisfy him.
Instant disqualification.
Know your place, holy man.
…Wait.
Why am I even thinking about this?
‘I’ve been thinking too negatively about this.’
Even priests weren’t bound by an unbreakable vow.
It wasn’t unheard of for clergymen to fall in love with ordinary people and leave their position, even if it was considered disgraceful.
If anything, wouldn’t it be a testament to true love if he chose Zerbin despite the stigma of being labeled as someone who abandoned his god?
He was a bit young, but he had a decent face.
‘…But Zerbin likes people who are good in bed, doesn’t he?’
Even when he was completely disappointed in me, he still invited me to bed after hearing I was good at it.
A priest wouldn’t have any experience, so wouldn’t he be lacking when it comes to satisfying Zerbin? He probably would, right?
‘No, no.’
I should be more open-minded.
This was strange.
I wasn’t sure why I was judging this young priest so harshly.
“No.”
Zerbin removed the hand covering his mouth and shoved the priest away.
“Huh?”
“We’re not close.”
He rubbed the leathered palm of his glove vigorously against the relatively clean white temple wall.
It wasn’t even bare skin, yet he was scrubbing so aggressively.
If it were me, I might’ve felt a little hurt.
The priest, who had been gagged so roughly, coughed violently, his eyes watering slightly from the struggle.
If he found even that level of physical contact overwhelming, he really wasn’t a match for Zerbin.
“Ugh, ack, ugh… That was too much.”
What a complete kid.
A kid!
Well, I could at least indulge him a little since he was kind of cute.
“Are you okay? Zerbin’s strong, so that must’ve hurt. You held up pretty well, though.”
“Gasp, are you an angel?”
He was so much like a child that I burst out laughing.
If he was younger than Zerbin, he might still be in his early twenties.
Practically a baby.
“Anyway, Zerbin doesn’t seem to want his identity revealed, so try to be careful. If people find out, it’ll be a huge hassle.”
“That’s… true. I understand.”
The priest obediently nodded.
Since he answered so sweetly, I patted his head, and he stayed still.
He was a really good kid.
My impression of him improved a little.
He might not be a suitable romantic partner for Zerbin, but as a friend?
That could work.
He seemed kind enough to endure Zerbin’s temper.
At the very least, I had a positive impression of him.
“But has the temple gone through a lot of staff changes in the past ten years? I grew up here, but no one recognizes me except for you.”
“Well, it has been ten years. A lot of people from back then have retired. The work here is exhausting, so as they get older, they find it hard to continue.”
That made sense.
This place looked like a madhouse.
“Those who had connections in other regions transferred to different temples.”
“And after seeing all that, you still chose to become a priest?”
“Well, thanks to all their hard work, I was able to grow up safely. Someone has to do this job!”
The young priest beamed. Whatever else he was, he was certainly kind-hearted.
“But I was surprised. I thought BBati Hyung would become a knight.”
The kid kept talking, probably excited to see Zerbin after so long.
It worked out for me—I was getting information without even asking.
Wait, a knight?
An orphaned commoner?
That wasn’t an easy combination.
No matter how strong someone was, the barrier of status wasn’t easily overcome.
Ah, well, Zerbin was an exception.
Someone with his level of strength would’ve been scouted by a lord to become a vassal knight.
I had even received similar offers before—Zerbin must’ve had countless more.
But this young priest probably didn’t know that ‘BBati Hyung’ was actually ‘Zerbin Batista.’
So why did he assume he’d be a knight?
Was he just naïve and ignorant about the ways of the world?
Well, Zerbin did have a noble and devout air about him.
He would certainly look good in the armor of the Holy Knights…
“Shut up.”
Zerbin’s voice was sharp.
His aura wavered slightly, and the priest shrank back. I also hesitated.
If the priest kept talking, Zerbin was definitely going to get angry.
Should I intervene?
But the conversation was too valuable to cut short.
This was obviously tied to the person Zerbin never wanted to talk about.
The priest, now pale, lowered his voice.
“D-Did something happen with the wandering knight you left with?”
A wandering knight?
“Shut. Up.”
Zerbin’s voice was like a blade slicing through ice.
His presence was already becoming overwhelming, but now it carried a suffocating weight.
The young priest turned completely pale and instinctively backed away.
When his back hit the wall, even the slightest touch startled him, making him jump.
“I-I-I’m so sorry!”
Was that how I looked when I got nervous around Zerbin?
Maybe because he was so young, he just looked pitiful.
Maybe I should have stopped him earlier.
I had known Zerbin would get mad, but my own curiosity had let this kid get scared out of his wits.
I felt a bit guilty.
He was cute in his innocence, but he had zero tact.
It seemed like he didn’t really know Zerbin at all, probably because they hadn’t seen each other in ten years.
Could he even be friends with Zerbin with such a soft heart?
Well, I couldn’t just let the kid cry.
I stepped forward and gently patted his back.
“It’s okay, it’s okay. You know Zerbin is just bad at expressing himself, right? He was just caught off guard.”
“Y-Yes…”
Oh boy, he really was about to cry. I just pulled him into a hug.
The small, soft priest flinched at first but quickly leaned into me.
I wasn’t usually the type to offer comfort so easily, but since I had gained some useful intel, I considered it a fair trade.
Zerbin’s glare burned into my back.
I was keeping quiet like he wanted, so why was he still looking at me like that? Was he really that mad?
What was this kid’s name again?
Right… Fer?
Zerbin’s reaction made it clear that what Fer said was very significant to him.
Talking about someone a lot could mean you liked them, but refusing to talk about someone at all also meant strong emotions were involved.
If it was someone you had no feelings for, you wouldn’t care whether they were mentioned or not.
‘Judging by this reaction, the person who recognized Zerbin’s talent and the wandering knight must be the same person.’
Just what the hell happened for him to react so violently?
If I got closer to Fer, could I get more information?
Bracing myself against Zerbin’s piercing gaze, I held Fer until he stopped trembling.
“Th-Thank you…”
Well, he ended up crying anyway.
When Fer finally pulled away, his face was wet, and he was still sniffling.
The surprising part?
Zerbin’s sharp aura had softened at the sight.
Seeing him cry had actually calmed him down?
He had been that angry?
Just the thought of digging into Zerbin’s past sent shivers down my spine.
Still… if I had to choose between Zerbin hating me and the world being destroyed, obviously, the latter was worse.
I really didn’t want him to hate me.
But that didn’t mean I could stop investigating.
* * *
Someone is jealous ~~