"Oh! There you are!"
"Yes. Sorry to keep you waiting. Are you feeling alright?"
"I'm fine..."
The Blessed Child was looking all around my basement curiously.
"How is it that we arrived here? Is this because of that scroll you had me stand on?"
"Yes. It is a magical scroll I've written that will send me back to my house from wherever I might be."
"That's Amazing! I've never heard of anything like it before! Are they hard to craft? You could make so much money selling those!"
"Shh!"
I put my finger up to my mouth and shushed her.
"I would never sell these. Please keep this a secret. I don't want this to fall into the wrong hands. You wouldn't want just anybody being able to appear in your home out of nowhere, right?"
The Blessed Child pouted in disappointment but conceded that I was right.
"Am I going to live here with you and Therese?"
"Uhh... Yeah I suppose you guys can stay here for a while. At least until I find you a proper place to live."
To be honest, I didn't think of that. I really didn't plan ahead for this mission at all.
"Here. Why don't you let me show you around."
I gave the Blessed Child a quick tour of my house.
"Well? What do you think?"
"It's... not quite what I was expecting."
"Haha. I know, I know. This place is in desperate need of a renovation. I just bought the place not too long ago and haven't had a chance to furnish it properly."
"That makes sense! This seems like it could be a really nice place if you fixed it up. I look forward to seeing what it looks like when all the work is done."
"Well for today I'll make sure to get you guys the bare essentials. Why don't we go out shopping and pick out a couple beds for you and Therese."
"That would be lovely! I've never been shopping before!"
"Can you do me a favor and wait here while I go wake her? I'll be back soon."
"Ok. I'll wait right here."
I left the Blessed Child in one of the upstairs bedrooms and made my way back to the basement where I found Therese still passed out on the floor. I blocked off the exit to the stairway with an earth wall and then conjured a ball of water above Therese before dropping it on her head.
*SPLASH*
"W-Wha!? Where? What happened? Where am I?"
Therese woke up startled and was frantically looking around the vacant room. The only things that stood out here were myself and the dim glow of the magic circle I had carved into a large, thin, and flat stone slab on the floor.
I quickly conjured a stone stool for myself and sat down in front of Therese.
As soon as her wits returned to her she reached for her sword which I conveniently left in the burning pit in the ground along with all the other knights. Once she realized she was unarmed she merely glared at me.
"Where have you taken me? What have you done with the Blessed One?"
"She's fine. She's waiting in the bedroom upstairs for me to take her shopping."
"What? Shopping?"
"Yeah. We need to pick out a new bed for her room. Probably should pick up some new clothes as well and maybe grab a bite to eat."
*Growl*
My stomach growled audibly right after I thought of food. I haven't eaten since breakfast so I'm starving.
"Definitely grab a bite to eat", I said with a smile.
"How can you talk like we're good friends right after attacking us unprovoked."
"As I recall, I was definitely provoked. You lot came running at me with the intent to kill."
"What did you expect us to do? The Blessed one yelled out that you had come to kill her!"
"Yeah... that was unfortunate. This was all just a big misunderstanding, I already cleared that up with the Blessed One, you can ask her yourself."
"Then bring her here! Where is she? I don't see any way out of here!"
"Speaking of the Blessed One... isn't it annoying to keep calling her that? What's her real name?"
"She has no other name. She is known simply as the Blessed One."
"That's no good. No good at all. I guess we'll have to come up with a name for her."
"Blasphemy! A heretic like you has no right to name the Blessed One!"
"Well, I suppose you've got a point. She should come up with a name she likes herself. Why don't we ask her when we go upstairs."
"Where are these stairs you keep talking about? All I can see in this whole room is this strange magic circle."
"I blocked them off temporarily. Just a safety measure to make sure you didn't try to run as soon as you woke up."
"Hmph! I would never run away. It's my duty to protect the Blessed One, I would never leave her behind!"
"Ok, I get it. Let's just calm down already. I'm getting tired of being shouted at. Your Blessed Child is safe. I promise you."
Therese pondered my words for a moment before taking a deep breath and trying to calm herself down.
"Fine. I'll stop shouting. Can I please see the Blessed One?"
"You really have a one track mind, don't you. Yes, I'm a man of my word. I will take you to see her, but I just want to have a short discussion first."
"What do you want to talk about?", Therese asked curtly. She wasn't bothering to hide her annoyance with me.
"Because of the misunderstanding we had back in Milis I never got a chance to explain what I was doing."
"Back in Milis? What do you mean by that? Are you trying to tell me you've taken us all the way to a different continent?"
"Please keep quiet and listen so I can explain myself. I'll answer any questions you have afterwards."
Therese nodded in acknowledgement.
"The Blessed Child was not safe in Milis. What she said was partly true. The Pope DID try to hire me to kill her."
Therese's eyes widened as I admitted that, but she stayed silent.
"However, I had absolutely no intention of doing so. The Blessed One must have seen that memory and, in her understandable fear, assumed I had come to do as the Pope asked."
As I said this part, I could see Therese's tension start to visibly relax as she seemed to think deeply about what I said. It would seem that Therese knew how the Blessed Child's ability worked and how it could mislead her if she misunderstood what she saw.
"The Pope had given me the perfect time to ambush you. He told me the Blessed Child would be accompanied by only a small number of guards. While I didn't plan to kill her, I also knew that if she was left in Milis, it was only a matter of time until someone did. I know you and her other knights would protect her with your lives, but as I said before, you simply don't have the strength to do so."
"I consider the Blessed Child to be a good person. Although I don't know her very well, she has helped me once in the past when I was desperate and nobody else seemed to care. In order to repay her for her kindness, I decided that I would save her."
"Leaving her in Milis is simply a death sentence. Do you really think the Pope would have given up if I simply ignored his request? Of course not! He would simply hire more assassins at his very next opportunity. It was only a matter of time until he would have succeeded."
"That's why I made up my mind that I would kidnap her. The Pope is sure to believe that I made good on his request and will no longer be looking for her. The Blessed One is free to live a normal, peaceful life. I hope now you can understand why I did what I did."
Therese waited for a moment to see if I was done with my story. Once she was sure I had finished she raised her hand.
"I have a question."
"Feel free to ask. You don't have to raise your hand by the way", I said with a laugh.
"Where did you take us?"
"This is my home in Sharia."
"In Sharia!? That's on the other side of the world!"
"Yep. There's no way the Pope will ever come to look for her here. Not as long as you guys keep a low profile at least."
"How in the world did you take us here so quickly!? Wait. How long was I out for!?"
Therese pulled off her gloves and reached up to touch her face as though she thought she might be old and wrinkled.
"Haha. You've only been passed out for maybe five or ten minutes. I teleported us here. Don't you see that huge magic circle on the ground beneath you? I carved that into stone so that it would be a permanent way for me to get home quickly."
"T-Teleported? How is that possible? I've never heard of such a thing."
"That's funny. The Blessed Child said the exact same thing. Don't worry about it. I'm quite the adept magician, as you may have noticed. There aren't many others in the world who know of teleportation circles. Do me a favor and keep this between us, will you?"
"O-Of course. You have my word!"
Therese slapped her fist to her chest as she said that. She's so serious about everything, I swear.
"I just have one more question."
"Go ahead", I nodded.
"What of my men? What did you do with them?"
"I left them back in Milis."
"Won't that be a problem for you? Even if they think that we are dead, they still saw you. They are sure to report everything that happened in detail."
"That won't happen. I erased their memory. They won't remember anything that happened in the past day."
"That's incredible. I've never heard of that magic either!"
"Haha, thanks", I rubbed the side of my head and looked away as I said that. I don't want to lie to her, but if she knows the truth, there's no way she could hide it from the Blessed Child, even if I managed to get Therese to understand my viewpoint.
"Let's head upstairs. We shouldn't keep the Blessed Child waiting."
"Y-yes."
Therese carefully got up; she was still a bit wobbly on her feet. I dissipated the earth wall I had conjured earlier to reveal the stairway leading up to the main floor and motioned for Therese to follow me.
"Therese! I'm glad to see you're feeling better!"
Therese ran up to the Blessed Child and embraced her.
"O Blessed One! I'm so glad to see you safe!"
"Blessed Child, may I ask you a question", I asked, not really caring about interrupting their touching reunion.
"Yes?"
"Isn't it annoying having everyone call you that rather than by your actual name?"
"I have no other name."
"So I've heard. But you see, that's going to be a problem. You're not the only Blessed Child in this world. In fact, a good friend of mine also happens to be a Blessed Child. His name is Zanoba Shirone. He's living in this same city; I'll be sure to introduce you to him soon."
"That's amazing! I've never met anyone else like myself before. But... I've never had a name. Do you know of a good one I could have?"
"Blessed One, you shouldn't be given a name by a nonbeliever. Why don't you choose a name for yourself?", Therese interjected.
"But I've never thought of that before. Hmm... let me think... Oh I know! I want to be called Ruijerd Superdia!"
Both Therese and I had looks of shock, for separate reasons.
"Blessed one, you can't name yourself after the cursed Superd tribe! They are devils who won't hesitate to kill and maim even their own kin!"
"That's not true! She's the one who saved us from those assassins! Don't you remember?"
"Don't be silly! That wasn't her real name. There's no way she was a Superd. Superds have green hair."
"I hate to say it, Blessed One, but Therese is right. Well, about that not being her real name that is. The rumors about the Superd tribe are completely false. In fact, I know the true Ruijerd Superdia and he is the kindest and gentlest man you'll ever meet."
'Well at least if he doesn't consider you evil...', I thought as I laughed internally.
"Also, Ruijerd is a boy's name. You need to pick a girl's name."
"I see... Well then, what's the girl's version of Ruijerd?"
'Hmm... the girl's version of Ruijerd? I have no idea. Is there even one? Well maybe something feminine that sounds similar at least? Got it! That's the perfect name!'
"How about Luna?"
"Luna... I love it! Luna Superdia!"
"Just Luna!", Therese yelled.
"Haha... yeah I wouldn't go about calling yourself a Superd. While the rumors may not be accurate, it's still a fact that they have a terrible reputation. Calling yourself by their tribe's name will draw a lot of attention to yourself. Remember that you don't want to stand out. You're in hiding from the Pope. If they find out you're still alive, they will send assassins to kill you and Therese."
"Then I just won't tell anyone that my surname is Superdia. It will be our secret."
"No Blessed One, even then I can't accept that!"
"It's Luna! From now on, call me Luna!"
"Hahaha", I couldn't help but burst out laughing. "Luna Superdia it is! But you had better keep that between us like you said. It will be dangerous if you go spreading that around."
"I promise."
"Blessed One... Please reconsider..."
"I said it's Luna!"
Without him even knowing it, Ruijerd just earned himself an adopted daughter.
As promised, I took the two of them out shopping. I wanted to get food first, but we had the urgent matter of getting them new clothes first.
Therese left her armor at my place and wore the fur coat I had given Paul. He had left it at my place. Obviously I didn't tell her Paul had worn it. She probably would have refused at that point and then she'd have nothing at all to wear to the market.
I brought Therese and Luna to a clothing store and they each picked out five pairs of clothes which I bought for them. They didn't have any money with them, after all.
The outfits were of good quality, but were nothing fancy, just normal clothes that any regular citizen of Sharia would wear.
After they got dressed, we stopped by a food stall and bought some meat skewers to eat on the way back home. They each got one and I bought three... I was starving.
We dropped off their extra pairs of clothing and then went back to the market to purchase two beds for them. I paid extra to have them delivered that night as it was already getting pretty late in the afternoon.
The employees brought the new mattresses into the house and took the old rotted out beds that came with the manor back with them.
Finally, on the way back to the manor we bought some groceries and cooking utensils so they could make themselves food if they got hungry.
"Alright you guys. You can feel free to stay at this manor until I find you a proper place of your own. I'm heading back to my parents house. Please stay out of trouble until I get back tomorrow. Take care."
"Goodbye Rudeus!", Luna waved from the door. I still wasn't sure that Therese trusted me yet, but she stood beside Luna and waved goodbye as well.