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“So Blank… Why did you started this to begin with? I see you now and you’re very young, are you around your eights? Nines?” Ellergest wondered, as he looked at me with intrigue, he was wearing a white mage cap with a cross on top of it, it looked a bit hilarious but that seemed to be the uniform of the Head Priests of this world.
“I am… Nine.” I said. “I am just not that tall.”
I decided to simply lie about my age and say that I am nine years of age. I seem to look older than almost seven. I guess it is because of the development of my body through the powers of leveling up and training my body through my new physique.
“I see… W-Well, we wanted to thank you for what you’ve been doing. You see, it is usually our job to take care of the people in need but sometimes they don’t have the money for our services, and the church is in charge of our transactions. They usually won’t let us do things for free…” He said. “But you have been working for all these people, healing them every day, and receiving whatever little thing they had to offer you. That is very heart warming, and I feel like you’re a good kid.”
“Oh, is that so? So the church controls you? Is it not because you’re a greedy man, Ellergest?” I asked.
“N-No, that is not because of that… I am a man of humble origins, I used to be a mere commoner when I was a youngster and was recruited into the church at the age of five. Since then that I’ve been serving them for this entire time.” Said Ellergest. “I am no different than you and Jack here, Seth might have a different origin but he’s also a humble man at the end of the day.”
“…”
I looked at the three for a few moments and then nodded. He was not lying, and the other priests, Jack and Seth seemed to be silent while he spoke, they were very respectful of him.
We were already inside of the restaurant, it was a small tavern, in fact, which sold beer and other foods such as meat, cheese, potatoes, and bread, nothing too fancy because it was where very poor people came to grab a bite after job.
“I see… Well, where is the reward?” I said. “I only approved of this because I wanted it.”
“Ah, you’re indeed a greedy young man, well, that’s good. It is good to be ambitious at such a young age, but that sometimes will bite you back.” He said.
This man truly believes I don’t know that? Compared to all the things I have gone through and learned, he’s like a kid to me, not the other way around. Being greedy doesn’t mean I will do things recklessly, it is a basic emotion of any intelligent and even unintelligent beings. Maturing means being able to not be driven by it to the point of making stupid mistakes, and I make sure that I don’t make mistakes if possible.
“Don’t worry, I am not stupid.” I said. “I won’t do anything reckless, and I trust you, priest, you’re a good man, right? You just told me that. How will it bite me in the back when your priests told me I was receiving a reward?” I wondered. “Are you perhaps lying to me? Were you trying to bring me to a place with a lot of people to make me feel cornered and intimidated? Look at my eyes, priest. Do you see any fear in them?”
“Ah…!”
Ellergest looked into my eyes, the only thing he saw as the color of my irises, and nothing else. He began to suddenly move a bit back, resting his back against the chair, and then blinking for a bit. It seems that I have managed to make him realize that I am not someone he can fool around with nor teach stupid things that every children commit mistakes for.
“You’re an incredible child, Blank…” He laughed. “There is no need to be so wary with us, relax. Here, this is the compensation we wanted to give to you.” The priest suddenly took out a small pouch with silver and gold coins mixed together… there were approximately a few hundred of them, that’s a lot of money.
“This much money? Handling it to me out of nowhere? Why? You could simply ignore me and do as you please while I take care of those that cannot pay to you, why even give me money?” I wondered. “I simply can’t understand your actions.”
“I guess you’re a very pragmatic young man, but when it comes to understanding basic human emotions, you become very dull and ignorant.” Said Seth. “Gratitude is a thing, we felt happy because you helped those we were not allowed to help, and we also felt bad because of that, so we decided to pay to you for all these people instead.”
“You’re really a stubborn brat, can’t you understand something so simple? People sometimes feel thankful about stuff! What you’ve done is… honestly pretty amazing.” Sighed Jack, growing embarrassed at the end. “I can’t even heal as much as you do, I can barely conjure one or two spells a day…”
“Basic Human Emotions? Gratitude?”
Right… I had completely forgotten that such a factor was always present with lesser beings such as mortals, especially humans, who are the most emotionally unstable creatures in the entire Universe. I suppose there are such factors, and by analyzing the emotion aura, they’re not lying. To think I have such an ability yet I don’t even understand them aside from looking at their colors and discerning their minds from that… I am really quite foolish, despite having lived for so long, I suppose I never interacted enough with mortals to realize these things, or perhaps I did and I simply… closed my own emotions at the end.
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