"… Damn it!"
Thoma put his arm around Ellie and the demon as he stabbed his blade down into the earth. Runes formed on the ground around them as his spell enveloped their bodies. It was a type of barrier; a magic that concealed the presence of those within the runic circle. It's only weakness was that it didn't block any noises they made while hidden.
This was a problem, as Ellie was still pleading loudly. "Brother! Please…! Please don't kill Ellin!"
"Please quiet down!" Thoma hissed. "I beg of you!"
"Promise me!" she demanded, "that no harm will befall this child!"
Thoma continued looking through the trees at the approaching monks.
"I definitely heard something from this direction!"
They were getting closer. People of their level would be unable to see through his spell, but even the most unaware of them would hear the racket Ellie was making.
Thoma spoke hurriedly. "I understand!"
"It's a promise!"
"Yes, I promise, so please quiet down…!"
"Promise to God!" Ellie demanded.
'Damn it…! This nun is too shrewd!'
"Fine! I vow before our Divine Lord, Artarrk! I, the Monk Thoma, shall bring no harm unto this child!"
"…Good," she said, finally certain of Ellin's safety.
Ellie hugged the doppelganger tightly. The demon, who had been shaking, calmed down and hugged her in return. It appeared to feel safe in the young nun's embrace.
"…Huh? There's no one here?" one of the monks said, as the search party arrived nearby.
The monks looked around the area, many of their gazes passing right over the trio's hiding spot. To them, there was nothing there. However, one of the monks finally noticed a basket of fruit lying on the ground.
"Could this be..?"
"It may be something that Sister Ellie brought with her?"
Both Thoma and Ellie held their breath. The monks were now standing right in front of them.
"… Let's try looking somewhere else for now." With no other clues, the monks decided to move on.
After the search party had finally left, Ellie let out a sigh of relief and pulled Ellin closer as if to shield her. Thoma could feel her staring daggers into him, like he was some evil devil trying to kill her child. He grit his teeth and rubbed his temples in frustration. Because of his promise to God, he was now incapable of harming the demon in any way.
'Ah… Lord, why have you bestowed such trial upon me?'
For the first time in his life, Thoma resented God.
***
Ever since that day, Sister Ellie had distanced herself from him. In turn, Thoma found it hard to approach her like he used to. He still had many questions regarding the demon, but he didn't want to risk asking them in the abbey. There were too many people who could potentially overhear them. If anyone else found out about the demon, it would bring an untold amount of trouble.
He kept his distance for about a week, though he made sure to keep an eye on her as best he could. Finally, Thoma was forced to admit defeat in regard to waiting for her to come to him first. His only option was to approach her directly to ask her questions regarding the demon. However, when he went to see her, the one who spoke first was Ellie.
"… Help me."
He was relieved that she had broken the silence herself, but he understood, to some extent, what her request implied. It almost certainly had something to do with that demon! As a man of God, the last thing Thoma wanted to do was help a demon. On the other hand, if he refused her now, he might never get another chance to speak to her again.
Taking Thoma's silence as a sign of displeasure, Ellie looked at him nervously.
"I-I know it's asking a lot and I know you're concerned about me, but… I just want to help that child." Ellie moved in closer to Thoma, her pleading becoming more animated. "She's pitiful! Unfortunate! I'm begging you!"
Thoma groaned. "What do you want?"
He had to hear her out, at the very least. Nothing would get resolved if he just stayed silent.
Ellie's expression grew bright as she shouted. "Make me a house!"
***
A person's heart was a strange thing. It caused people to take action before they could consider whether such actions were a good idea in the first place. Thoma felt quite childish for having fallen victim to such a thing.
"Hah," he sighed. "… Just what am I doing?"
The former Hero found himself sawing wood, hammering nails, and digging up dirt. A devout believer such as he was building a house for a demon. If his intention had been to find the easiest way to earn God's ire, he had surely been successful.
'How long has it been since I performed manual labor like this? I can't remember, though it must have been during my time as a slave…?"
Thoma looked over his shoulder to see Ellie carrying more building supplies. She was putting in a lot of effort to help out. It was difficult to refuse her now, especially with how enthusiastic she was.
'Hah… I don't even know anymore…' Suddenly, an idea came to him. 'That's right! I can just build this house to be small enough that her and the demon can't share it. It'll be easier to separate them that way!'
After immense effort from Thoma over the better part of the day, the house was finally completed. It had the right shape, although it looked… haphazard at best. On top of that, the house had another glaring issue that Ellie immediately took note of.
"… It's a bit small, kind of like a dog house. For a person to enter…"
Ellie carefully gauged Thoma's mood as she brought up the issue. He had put in a lot of effort and, despite the outcome, nobody enjoyed having their work criticized.
Thoma knew that she was right about its size and, as she said, it really didn't look like much more than a dog house. Sturdy was not a word either of them would've used to describe the building either. It honestly looked like a storm would cause the shack to collapse, injuring those inside.
"I tried my best!" Thoma said tersely. "And, for a small doppelganger-"
"She has a name," Ellie exclaimed, cutting him off, "it's Ellin!"
"… It's the perfect size for Ellin."
Just as he claimed, it was barely tall enough for the doppelganger, Ellin, to enter.
Ellie approached the little house and knocked on it. Seeing that it didn't budge, she decided to put a little more strength into her test, and kicked the side of the building.
"Eiyt!"
There was a loud thud, but the house stood strong.
"It is sturdy," she said. "Maybe it's better than it looks…"
Thoma put some confidence into his voice. "Of course! I might not be the most handy person, but if a hit from you could knock it over…"
Before he could finish bragging, the house began to creak and suddenly collapsed.
Both of them stood in silence, looking at the wreckage. Ellie's face was pale. She must have been imagining what would've happened had it collapsed with Ellin inside.
"M-my goodness…! I-it collapsed!" Ellie exclaimed.
Thoma was also shocked as well.
'I might not be skilled when it comes to construction, but for it to have fallen from that!'
Thoma coughed, and tried to come up with an excuse. "Why must I build this house anyway? For a monk to build a home for a demon… God will punish us both!"
Ellie glanced at him pitifully, with an expression saying 'how pathetic…'
***
Several days past as Thoma built house after house, but all of them would fall apart shortly after he finished. There were even a few times when Ellin was hurt while testing out Thoma's veritable death-traps. Whenever Ellin was hurt Ellie glared at him which sparked a fire inside the old monk.
***