After visiting the Deis Church and having a conversation with the old man there, we left the church.
「That was quite interesting」
「Oh?」
We heard a bit about the creator god Deis’ legends and the origins of the church, and it was all quite fascinating.
It might be fun to ask Deis directly someday how much of it is actually true.
「There were quite a few differences from the churches in the elf world, which made it interesting. Though there were also many similarities」
「Similarities?」
「The fact that they have appraisal and communication magic tools is the same as in elf churches」
It seems that even in the human world, communication magic tools are installed in each church, connected to a main headquarters-like church located in what is essentially the human capital.
And apparently, they also have appraisal magic tools.
I could have asked for an appraisal normally, but…… I decided not to this time.
After all, my status is pretty unusual…….
I might get it appraised in the human world eventually, but I should probably choose the time and place carefully.
「Personally, I found Alec’s story more interesting. Does World Tree-sama really appear that often?」
「Yes, she comes quite often」
During our conversation at the church, the topic of the elf god came up, and I talked a little about Yggdrasil-san.
「About once every two weeks」
「……Isn’t that a bit too often?」
Yggdrasil-san has a lot of free time…….
Even once every two weeks feels like she’s holding back.
On the other hand, Deis apparently rarely shows herself in the human world.
Though I’ve heard she watches me all the time, so I feel like she must have a lot of free time too…….
「Still, it’s a bit disappointing that there wasn’t a statue of the creator god」
「Ah, the statue. You were curious about that」
Deis told me there are statues of her in human towns, but unfortunately, this church didn’t have one.
I kind of wanted to see it.
「Kirk-ojisan, have you seen one?」
「Hm? Yeah, I have. How should I put it…… it was quite an impactful statue……」
「Oh……」
Impactful, huh…… If we’re talking impact, then it must be…… her chest.
If that part is faithfully recreated, it would definitely leave an impression…….
「…………」
「……Ah, um, Jisrare-san, have you seen one?」
「I have」
「I see」
「Yeah」
「I-I see……」
Jisrare-san showed some kind of reaction when it came to the statue of Deis. I tried asking her about it, but her response was brief and hard to read.
I wonder…… maybe, as an elf, she has some thoughts about it…….
「Anyway, Alec, you made a donation back there」
「Ah, yes. Just a small offering, really」
The old man at the church treated even a masked guy like me with kindness. He explained things and answered my questions patiently.
So, as thanks, I gave him a bit of money before we left.
「What was that line you said, though……?」
「…………」
Yeah…… well…… I did end up saying something a bit strange…….
Talking at the church and giving money. That’s something I always did back in Meiyu Village.
But this time, the meaning was a bit different. This time, I simply wanted to make a proper offering. There were no ulterior motives.
Ah, no, if you ask 『So you usually have ulterior motives?』, that’s not quite right either…….
Anyway, this time it was a sincere and genuine offering.
So, as I handed the money to the old man――
『This money is a token of my thanks for letting me hear such interesting stories. I offer it to the church and to the creator god with gratitude. That’s all. There’s no other meaning. ――It’s not like I have any special feelings for you or anything』
――that’s what I ended up saying.
……Now that I think about it, it sounded a bit tsundere-like.
By the way, after hearing that, the old man looked confused, with an expression that basically said 『Well, obviously』.
「……If possible, could you follow up with that old man later?」
「Follow up?」
「Um, something like 『It was his first time visiting a human church, and he didn’t quite know how things worked, so he said something odd』」
「I see…… Yeah, got it. I’ll handle it」
「Also, if you could add that 『I don’t have any special feelings for him』……」
「If you push it that much, it’ll just make it sound suspicious, so let’s not do that……」
「Muu……」
Did it really come off as that tsundere-like……?
◇
After leaving the church, our group headed next to the lumber shop.
「I brought you here since you asked, but what exactly do you need?」
「Huh? I just want to look at the wood」
「Right, and what are you going to do with it? Are you going to buy some and make arrows?」
「Arrows? Well, that could happen…… ah, I see, so that’s what you mean」
Right, right. Now that I think about it, Kirk-ojisan wouldn’t know.
He doesn’t know about me――that I’m a woodworking elf.
……I tried to make it sound cool, but the term 『woodworking elf』 might not actually sound that impressive.
While I was thinking that――
「Alec is good at woodworking」
「Oh, is that so」
Jisrare-san explained it.
And judging from how this is going――
「Alec has made dozens of wooden dolls of his mother」
「Oh……」
Just as expected, she gave a somewhat questionable explanation.
It’s always like this. Every time, Jisrare-san’s explanations to Kirk-ojisan are a bit off…….
Or maybe it’s my fault……? What she’s saying isn’t wrong, and considering the things I’ve done back in my hometown, maybe I’m to blame…….
「So…… you really care about your mother, huh」
「Well……」
Kirk-ojisan looked slightly taken aback, but he still tried to cover for me with a fitting comment.
Well, that’s fine…….
「I make other things too, you know. Tableware, shelves, toys…… things like that. So yeah, I’m a woodworking elf」
「A woodworking elf……?」
「A woodworking elf. That’s why I was curious about the wood in the human world」
「I see……」
Like this, my visit to the lumber shop actually has a pretty serious reason behind it.
As a woodworking elf, I wanted to properly inspect things.
「Alright, let’s head in for now」
「Let’s go」
――And so, the three of us entered the lumber shop in Kirk Village.
We talked with the owner, selected some wood, and paid for it……
And once again, I――
『This money is payment for the wood I purchased. That’s all. There’s no other meaning. ――It’s not like I have any special feelings for you or anything』
――ended up saying that, and once again had to ask Kirk-ojisan to smooth things over afterwards.
next chapter: Wood Flex
Leave a Reply