Chapter 36: Fame 1
Han Se-ah descended from the tower after discussing the quest with the mages.
She found us in a state of strange exhaustion.
"What, what happened?"
"We were talking to someone from the party I was previously in."
"Do they hold a grudge or..."
"No, they were just a bit talkative."
Despite Irene's explanation, Han Se-ah seemed lost.
Unless you experienced it for yourself, it would be hard to understand how talkative a young noble lady could be.
It was an ability that could mentally tire out a 6★ tank after all.
Han Se-ah sat down at the table with us, still looking puzzled, and shared her talk with the mages."They're extracting magic from the Full Moon Wolf's traces. All the mages of the Magic Tower are on it, making a magical tool to trace the extracted magic. It's likely a compass that tracks the Full Moon Wolf like a beacon."
"Are we certain it's on the 10th floor?"
Her eyes shifted subtly.
"The plains we saw that night is likely hidden on the 10th floor. We need traces of the Full Moon Wolf to unlock the entryway to the hidden space."
It looks like this information came from the quest window.
The extraction process just started, how could they be so sure about the hidden space?
Grace and Irene seemed to accept that the mages had figured it out.
There also weren't any reasons to claim otherwise.
Grace, finding Han Se-ah's animated expression adorable, approached her and crossed her arms.
I wonder when they became so close.
"You want to see the Full Moon Wolf that much? You can't stop grinning."
"Well, um, it's fascinating. As a mage, it's very intriguing."
"So, are we calling it a day?"
At Irene's question, the girls exchanged uncertain glances.
This was the issue with the Tower of the Sky.
It took a considerable amount of time going up and down.
It made re-entering after an early departure awkward.
Of course, if we were camping inside the tower, there would be no problem going back in now.
But the timing was tricky.
Today was Irene's first day in the party, and we had just given a trace of the Full Moon Wolf to the Magic Tower.
If were short on money, we would roam the plains until late at night, but our party had me for a generous sponsor.
"Um, if we have time, could we visit the temple?"
"The temple?"
Sensing their hesitation, Irene still murmured in her small voice.
Han Se-ah, preoccupied with thoughts about the stream, welcomed the idea enthusiastically.
It looked like Grace was curious about the large temple in the city as well.
"I've been hearing about Roland's party, so I talked to the priests at the temple. One of them wants to thank the person who rescued them from the Horned Wolves, and another is thankful that you accepted my insistence."
"Hey, insistence? We were looking for a priest to recruit in the guild anyway."
Seeing none of us respond negatively, Irene continued speaking, with Han Se-ah reassuring her precious 5 ★.
It might be due to her title as 'Saint Candidate' which she has not yet revealed.
Or because she's religious and has a natural interest in others, but she's eager to introduce us to the temple.
The party members don't seem to mind, and there's no reason to refuse when they're this welcoming of us.
We should go visit them.
***
***
If the Magic Tower makes a variety of magical tools and alchemists process herbs to create potions for sale; the temple, naturally, sells holy water.
It's not a panacea that solves everything: it's water imbued with divine power and blessings.
It's a healing potion that also purifies and buffs. It's very useful to have when taking requests without a priest.
"Irene, it's almost dinner time. How about we buy something from the market for the children at the temple?"
"Ah, could we do that? If it's Roland sharing food, the children will be really happy."
At my suggestion, Irene clapped her hands joyfully.
Since the temple also looks after orphans, buying food for the children is the easiest way to gain the temple's favor.
The ladies who take care of the orphans wouldn't dislike a person who buys food for the children.
After deciding to go to the market, not just Irene's, but also the gazes of the other two fixed on me.
Because the clergy aren't corrupt, the temple's finances are tight.
The children can only eat so much, and how expensive could it be to buy food for orphaned children? It's not like I'm going to buy a ton of steak costing several silver pieces each.
Even though I only plan to share something just a notch above the typical inn fare—decent homemade bread and vegetable stew—their eyes look like they're dripping with warmth.
I feel a little guilty.
I guess I'll grab a few more food ingredients.
"Hanna, do you have room in your inventory?"
"There's plenty of space. ...Ah, this is a good opportunity to show some goodwill to the temple. Sure, it's using Roland's wallet and not mine, but I'll be providing the inventory. Plus, we now have a 5★ priest in our party, so volunteering for half a day won't hurt, right?"
"Then let's head to the market and buy some bread, flour, vegetables, and meat."
"There's a shop frequented by the temple's novice priests. Shall I lead the way?"
***
The market street in the late afternoon is fairly quiet.
It's not the hour when adventurers spill out, nor the time for industrious citizens to shop.
The air is filled with the solicitations of merchants, each vying for an extra penny.
Unsurprisingly, the most popular figure on the street was Irene.
People stare wide-eyed at the extraordinary appearances of the three women.
But at the sight of Irene, they quickly regain composure.
No one would dare ogle a nun, unlike an adventurer flaunting their physique.
As we stroll down the street, we come across a peculiarly bustling area.
"Oh my, the nun is here. What brings you around this time? Do you need something?"
At the sight of priestly garb, a plump middle-aged woman greets us familiarly.
Despite her considerable size and chubby cheeks, she didn't seem to be an ordinary citizen.
Intrigued, I open the chat while dodging the drone camera, and it's flooded with ㅋ's.
Among the waves of ㅋ, I spot the name 1★ 'Kind Baker' Johanna.
'So even non-combat characters get stars.'
After encountering the paladin, the saint candidate, and the novice ranger, the next gacha character turns out to be a baker.
I can understand why the viewers are laughing.
As I'm mulling over this, I notice small children waving wooden sticks, shouting as they run past the bakery.
The area had seemed unusually noisy since earlier, and now it was clear why: all the kids were playing in this alley.
"Hello, Aunt Johanna. We came to buy dinner for the children at the temple."
"Dinner at this time? Is something happening at the temple?"
"Nothing of concern. A visitor at the temple wants to purchase food for the children."
"Oh, what noble souls! The goddess will be pleased."
The baker enters her shop with a hearty laugh. As I stand by the open door, the pleasant aroma of baking bread wafting out, Han Se Ah quietly moves beside me.
Just as I'm wondering what's going on, all the children running about in the street suddenly converge in front of the bakery.
Around ten children encircled us, their stance bordering on threatening.
I move to shield Han Se Ah, suspecting these seemingly innocent children might be troublemakers.
I wasn't particularly worried about pickpockets with our inventory, though.
A larger child then stepped up, looking up at me.
Perhaps the leader of this little gang?
"What's up?"
"Mister, you're an adventurer, right? Can you fly?"
"What?"
"Don't be ridiculous! Only mages can fly!"
Caught off guard by this, I momentarily hesitated, and the kids launched into a spirited debate amongst themselves.
They appeared to have seen me bouncing off rooftops during the Horned Wolf incident.
A heated dispute erupted between a child who swore he saw a knight soaring across the sky and another child who was adamant only mages could do such a thing.
I felt the warm gaze of my party watching me and the children.
I may have overdone it, causing a fuss for Han Se-ah and her stream.
It appeared the rumors had proliferated everywhere, from street kids to nobility.
"I can't fly."
"See! He said he can't!"
"No, he really did fly!"
"I wasn't flying, but leaping."
To demonstrate, I leaped toward the open air in front of the bakery, feeling rather like a performing monkey.
I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of the children and my party, so it was just a light hop, barely high enough to brush the rooftop.
Still, the fact I could leap that high wearing light armor seemed miraculous enough to excite the children.
Coaxed by their eager gazes, I hopped about in front of the store until the jingling door signaled the return of the baker.
"Oh my, oh my! What, what are you doing?"
She was startled to find a perfectly normal man vaulting as high as her rooftop.
Shock replaced her usual casual speech, making her use an honorific. I heard someone stifle a laugh from behind.
...I'll definitely have words with Grace later over drinks.
Nevertheless, the children excitedly explained the situation, and she appeared to understand right away.
It seemed I'd garnered some favor for humoring the children.
Although, I didn't exactly need the approval of a woman who wasn't a charming young maiden.
"This much should be manageable for you folks to carry. That young man seems to be very strong... right?"
"I think we could fit in about five more loaves."
"We're not just having bread. We need to pack some ingredients for stew too."
"Oh, that's right."
Thanks to Han Se-ah placing the bag of bread into her inventory, attention diverted to her, which was a relief.
***
Heya! A comment from the previous chapter mentioned that "superpowers were real in MC's previous life" from this sentence within chap: 'Even in my previous life, there were plenty of kids with superpowers, even without the existence of magic.'
Sorry for the misunderstanding, the way I meant it was hypothetical superpowers. Maybe 'superpowers' would've been better. This part of the sentence, 'kids with superpowers, even without the existence of magic.' was meant to counter each other but I forgot for a sec that magic and superpowers, depending on the story, aren't the same thing.
The more literal meaning of that sentence would be 'kids pretend to have superpowers even though they live in a world without magic/supernatural abilities.'
Also a few chapters ago someone asked for a spoiler. I'll be reading ahead a little and I'll hide a spoiler somewhere in the comments of the next chapter.
Bonus! Enjoy the chappy!
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