Let's Eat

"So here's our new priest, Merry."

The next day, in front of Alterna's north gate.

Merry was in a completely similar outfit to Sasha, with a white uniform striped in azure blue across her body and a staff in her hand for defense. I had told Moguzo the next morning, so he didn't seem too surprised by her presence now.

"...nice to meet you," Still, why was Sasha strangely polite with her words? "As for me, it's Sasha."

"M-Moguzo." The other one's reaction was understandable.

"You already know my name. Let's just get to work right away."

For Merry, I definitely think she should tone down her apathy a bit.

I'm worse than her myself, but then again, this is me we're talking about. There will be no end to you thinking about that.

"Actually," I opened my mouth at last. "We are not going to work for the day."

"Huh?"

'That 'Huh' was kind of scary, huh?'

Merry put on a scary expression. She clearly didn't want to hear whatever nonsense was coming out of us to use as an excuse.

"The decision to accept you was completely unplanned, you see."

Merry shot me a contemptuous look. "Then why did you even accept it?"

"There's a legit reason, of course." I could also understand the source of her irritation. "A priest is a pretty hard find. Considering we're still trainees, our chances of getting a priest by our side are close to pure luck. I have only happened to find you, a priest who, surprisingly, is willing to accept the position of our member permanently. As someone with a good head on my shoulders, I simply took the gold opportunity. It was entirely coincidental. A coincidence. Don't you think that is enough reason to accept the offer?"

Merry didn't answer.

Was she the type to let prejudice influence her decision-making, perhaps? Well, many people are. I was a little disappointed that she was one of those people.

"Either way, I didn't call you here for no reason either," I changed the subject.

"What for, then?"

"With your inclusion in the team, certain adjustments were needed. Sasha was a priest before you existed, as you can see, and now, we eventually have to change her role to a thief. That means she will undergo seven days of basic training there which also means seven days without work. That will be to your detriment, so to speak. For that reason, I brought this."

I took a white paper containing the inscription from the office of the volunteer soldier we went to earlier this morning.

"A contract?" Merry raised one eyebrow in confusion.

"Yes," I took out another piece of paper, this time much smaller, only the size of a palm. "You can change this to Yorozu Bank for 30 silver coins. That's enough income to cover a week without work. I think it is, at least. But if it's not enough, we can add up to 50 silver. The contract serves as proof. If you prefer to, we could ask Britney about it right now."

"You actually went this far..." Merry was visibly stunned.

It would have seemed that this kind of approach isn't normal among volunteer soldiers, huh?

"Well?" I need an answer, though.

She sighed. "I'll accept."

///Moguzo POV\\\

'Honestly, I never liked doing this kind of stuff.' Moguzo lamented.

If he were to open his mouth, he wouldn't be surprised if the sound that came out would be strange.

The skill he had recently learned, War Cry, used sound specifically to make enemies who were not prepared to hear it startled for a moment thanks to the sound manipulation released from the skill.

Admittedly, the skill did sound easy to use, and in fact, it was of practical use. To learn it, however, was another matter. With Komo-san's teachings as the instructor, it was only made all the worse.

'I can't bring myself to focus because of her appearance either...'

She always wears clothes that show a lot of her skin when giving lessons. Moguzo suspected that she was a pervert or something along the lines. For reasons unknown to him as well, she always got angry if he didn't call her with a 'san'. What a strange woman.

'Still, she's scary to stand up to.'

Komo-san wouldn't hesitate to get physical in order to reprimand him.

Even if that wasn't the case, his cowardly nature would keep him from saying anything in the end.

The door to their room at Tuare's Inn suddenly opened. Moguzo turned in its direction and found Kiyotaka in his typical paladin attire. The man in question immediately noticed his presence.

"Done learning your new skill?" He asked.

Their room consisted of two bunk bed rooms, enough for four people to live in. They were made of cloth that Moguzo would not call above average, but also below average. It was flat-out average, basically. The coarse texture of the walls and interior didn't really affect him that much, in fact, he thought it gave the room its own unique sensation. The only lighting in the room was candles and a lantern that they had taken care of themselves.

"Yes," Moguzo roused himself from the bed. "How about you, Kiyotaka-kun?"

This was the first time Kiyotaka had learned a new skill other than the one given in his basic training. He had always focused his earnings on completing his armor set, which Moguzo could see why. After all, he was already more than capable of surviving without the help of the guild.

"Yep, a skill called Saber. It's useful for sharpening the paladin wielder's blade and distracting the enemy, apparently."

He walked over, sitting on the bed opposite. The silence hung between them soon after.

'It was a bit awkward, to say the least.'

He thought the two of them were equally bad at communication.

In some things, especially strategies and such, Kiyotaka would actively speak up. Moguzo got to the point that he thought Kiyotaka was too good for them.

For other things, though, not so much. He could even bet that the boy's knowledge of them was far inferior to his.

'He's a little... Well, no. He's pretty much weird.'

He didn't know why he was holding back when working, for one.

He'd turned down the offer of Renji, someone definitely great to partner up with, and baited Hiyomu into causing Moguzo an injury that he wouldn't say was pleasant, to eventually invite himself in, someone he was pretty sure didn't have any particular merits, onto his team. By all accounts, he is the oddest one out in their twelve-person group.

Kiyotaka seemingly remembered something. "Aren't you gonna cook another ramen?"

"Huh? Uh, yeah, I planned to. Isn't it you who's asking for it, Kiyotaka-kun?"

"Yeah, with that new recipe."

Moguzo spotted a reaction that often surfaced on the usually bland face of him. Curiosity.

He had never found any other reaction than that from him.

"In your opinion," Moguzo began. "What would my other flavor of ramen be worth?"

Cooking was the only thing he was confident in.

He always made dishes for his team for that reason.

He also thought that input from them would be best for that, but Sasha, and even Kiyotaka, could not be expected to.

Sasha was the type of person who judged things by delicious and not-so-delicious. Kiyotaka, on the other hand, had that strange delivery of his whenever Moguzo asked for his assessment. To be more precise, he took it too linguistically that Moguzo couldn't understand what he was trying to say.

"Haven't I said this before?" Kiyotaka seemed confused.

"Yeah, but---"

'I don't know what you were talking about back then.'

"I wonder if it was good or not?" Then, he had a sudden thought. "Let's say, if you take it from one to ten, what do you think?"

With his overly linguistic way of reasoning, this should make it easier to understand what he thinks.

"I'll judge them for 7.6, I think," Kiyotaka answered rather quickly.

But, "Just... that?"

To be honest, Moguzo expected more. Like 8 or more.

"I think it can still be improved," Kiyotaka added.

"...right."

His assessment surprisingly made him understand what Kiyotaka was trying to say about his cooking not so long before. Quickly, he comprehended one important thing from them.

"Ohh!" Moguzo stood up from the bed with something like an epiphany.

Kiyotaka was a little surprised at his excessive reaction. "What's the matter, Moguzo?"

"Kiyotaka-kun," Moguzo gazed at him with renewed vigor. "Let's become my judge to try out the new ramen dish."

"Uh, sure?" Kiyotaka replied still confused. "What about Sasha, though?"

The girl still had three days left to complete her basic training.

"She can wait for later," Moguzo answered immediately. "Besides, she doesn't like this kind of food. She can taste it when our recipe is perfected!"

Moguzo didn't hate her, definitely. He liked her, in fact. Her initial appearance which seemed to be out of his dimension didn't linger in his memory any longer.

"I guess I don't have a choice," Kiyotaka stood along with a shrug. "Let's eat."