The next day started at the same time as always, but today was slightly different. When I woke up, Blanche was already getting dressed. Usually, she would stay in bed until I would get out myself. I guess she's happy that we will spend the day just the two of us after such a long time. Recently, I was always working and even today I will be working on those bunk beds and doors for the orphanage, but that comes after the date!
As she was in full swing deciding on what to wear (from clothes she made herself from the Cocoon slime silk) I decided to go feed the slimes and other monsters I had in my Dimension Home. I fed one type of slime after another until I came to the sand eating slimes… and couldn't find them.
"Huh? Where are they?" I tried to track them down with our bond through the familiar magic and it told me they were right before me. Wait, does that mean that the Stone slimes evolved into sand itself? I can't tell them apart at all…
Sand Slime
Rare advanced species of Slime monster that assimilated with sand. Synchronize (Sand) 8, Dry out 7, Physical attack nullification 6
"So they have Synchronize skill like the Moss slime, but unlike them who have Absorb Moisture skill, they have Dry out skill. No hard brainer about what that does. Oh, there should also be the two Resin Slimes… Huh?!"
Amber Slime
Rare advanced species of slime. Slime that is rarely appearing in nature. Its hardening ability is on par with various metals. Approximately 40 centimeters in diameter. Harden 10, Absorb Moisture 5, Dry out 5, Hardening Solution 9, Regenerate 4, Jump 3, Split 2
So this slime is all about hardening, I see. It lost the Resin Slime's Sticky solution creation skill, but the hardening skills jumped up like crazy. It also has both the Absorb Moisture and Dry out skills. From what I can see, these two slimes can manufacture glass for me. I better find out their food to glass produced ratio. Should I have some more Resin slimes eat the sand too?
Anyway, how does this change even work? …hmmm… amber is basically fossilized tree resin, and Resin Slimes are non-fossilized resin, but how does the sand check in this? … maybe it's due to what is in the sand? The color isn't really even, yellowish green for most parts, but there are black grains, white grains and I can even see some red grains…
"Arito?"
"Ah! Sorry Blanche! Two types of slimes evolved today and I think that it will help us greatly… Oh… I haven't seen these clothes on you before, they suit you well," I went from a ramble to praise almost instantly. Blanche was wearing a simple one piece dress with long sleeves and a flower pattern, most heavy on the lower part of her skirt, but subduing the higher it got. Its color was white and was completed with the same white colored hat.
"Th-Thank you… one of the Ducal family knights said today will be warm and sunny, so I thought we could spend our day out looking a little nice…" Blanche blushed cutely and I had to restrain myself from hugging her right away.
"Right. I better put some nice clothes on too," I nodded to her and started thinking about what would look nice and I wouldn't look out of place next to her. White T-shirt would be given and I guess I should take my jeans knock-offs? Maybe a long sleeved shirt over it would be nice? Nope, that is too modern for this medieval world. I should choose something more suitable… White long sleeved shirt as a base… a simple gray vest… hmm, nice…
It's still the twentieth century for god's sake!!! I look like a Mob boss!!!
Once I gave up on trying to look my best, I tied my long hairs in the back with a ribbon and headed out of the dimension home where Blanche was waiting for me and we went together to get breakfast with the Ducal family.
"Oh, someone's dressed nicely today, Mr. Mob boss," Lena was first to comment on our changed appearance, making fun of me in a way only I would understand.
"Thank you. Once we are done with our Merchant guild business today, we will have ourselves a little date," I replied coolly, as getting flustered would be only getting in her grasp.
"YOU SAID DATE?!!" Lena's jaw dropped faster than one would expect, with comic-like sound effect.
"Oh my, don't be jealous Leni, I'm sure you will be able to experience it one day too," Henretta said teasingly.
"Like you have experiences like that, sister," Lena muttered darkly, but managed to do some serious damage to Henretta who grabbed her heart dramatically with a gasp.
"Calm down you two. Arito, Blanche come eat something before you go."
"Right!'' The two of us smiled and went to eat our breakfast which consisted of grilled sausage, eggs, some vegetables and a small loaf of bread. By itself, it didn't look like much given we were eating with a Duke of all nobles, but together it made for quite a great feast that filled us for our busy day.
After breakfast, we were taken to the Merchant's guild by carriage on Laina's order where we were instantly led to the guildmaster's office. The Aide here made us tea to make the waiting shorter.
"Sorry for the wait, kiddo… you dressed up I see," Merle smiled at us when she saw us already sitting here.
"Good morning, Guildmaster," we said together with a small bow and I continued. "We are planning to go on a little date after this, I hope you understand."
"It's nice being young I suppose," Merle smiled and the Aide behind her chuckled as well.
"Anyway, I heard about your business, MonsterWork, right? I got to see some of your items and let me tell you, they are quite amazing."
"It's an honor to hear that from you."
Merle nodded to my words and snapped her fingers. The Aide instantly went to my side and gave me several papers.
"Permission slips for opening a store?" I looked up at her.
"Heheh, you should know by now what the guilds are good for. Here in the merchants guild you can get information from merchants, property management and much more, that being said, you need to be registered to get it."
"I understand, thank you. Let's see, the name is already given. Expertise, if any, is definitely monster materials and monster produced materials. Is it possible to write more occupations?"
"Of course, as many as you like."
"Thank you, I'm an adventurer so I wondered if there would be a problem if I offered my work on my trips, there are some monsters that are good at providing services to people, you see?"
"Hmmm, there won't be any problems as long as you are registered as a Peddler, but if you want to sell your wares in a stone shop, you will need to write your occupation to be a [Town Merchant] as well. We have many adventurers who start as peddlers and find themselves wanting a stone shop down the line. So to not force them to register again, a rule that allows for adding professions down the line was added some three hundred years ago."
"I see. Okay, then I will register as both of those right away… I see Town merchants have a lot of sub categories, so I will write down General and Liquor shops."
"Liquor?" The guildmaster looked surprised.
"Yes, here take a look," I took out three bottles with each different type of liquor I had on my hands.
"Hmm, interesting. My appraisal tells me exactly what it is, but I can't see from what it was made. Go for Fulfie, now."
"Understood, guildmaster," the aide bowed and left the room.
Merle turned her golden eyes to me and said with a smile, "It's one of those monster produced materials, right?"
"Indeed. I'm in possession of a rare breed of slime monster called Fermenting slime. This slime can make alcohol like this, and pure one as well," I said as I took out one of the slimes I had.
"Hahahah! A slime making alcohol? That's good, really good! I can already see big money rolling in with this business!" Merle laughed and her eyes suddenly sharpened, "Well, only if the taste gets green from our taste tester."
As Merle said that, there was a knock on the doors and the Aide came back with a dwarf with carefully trimmed beard and monocle.
"Guildmaster, I heard you have some alcohol tasting for me," the dwarf, Fulfie, said with a sharp look in his eyes. Is this my first time getting judged by a professional alcohol critic?
"Yes, these three, if you would," Merle pointed at the three bottles to which I took out three glasses.
"Ain't those glasses a bit small, kiddo?"
"The alcohol is strong so I don't think it's a good idea to drink a big amount in a short time."
"Are ya mockin' me?! I have level 6 Alcohol resistance and a blessing from God of Wine, kid!"
"That's nice, I think," I smiled at him and took out a bigger glass for him.
"If you get too drunk to work, I'll cut your pay, Fulfy," the guildmaster said with an amused look.
"This ain't goin to knock ma socks off boss!" Fulfie laughed and drank the first, and accidentally the strongest, Plun liquor.
"Crap, that's a good one…" Fulfie looked at the glass, his eyes rolled back and he fainted on the spot. Though, he was smiling from ear to ear, even unconscious, and going "hehehe" the whole time.
"Aaah…"
"Well, I told him it's strong," I said with a smile.
"I hope he will learn from this, but in the meantime, I'm going to give you permission to sell your alcohol. BUT! You need to write how strong the alcohol is, understood?"
"Yes, I was already planning on it, should I add strength of common alcohol next to it?" I smiled at the guildmaster as the aide called for help in carrying Fulfie away.
"Yeah, do that. Okay, now for our next thing on the agenda. Your shop location," Merle took out a binder with free buildings. "Hmm… given what commodities you are going to sell, I think your shop should be either in the Northeast part of town where the citizens reside or Northwest which is more or less an Inn and Shopping district. Please take a look," Marle handed me the binder.
"There are quite a lot of interesting buildings… Hmm? This one's on main street and costs about fifty thousand? Why is it so cheap?"
"Ah, that was an inn some hundred years ago, but the business owner was rather eccentric so after he moved away two years ago, the building stayed without use and the upkeep was soon abandoned as it was too pricey. The price now is practically just for the plot of land."
Even with that, I could take it down and build a uniform shop with dorms in the back. Yeah, I can already imagine a building split in half with one side being a general store, that would also have the upper floor used for the Liquor shop. I could have an employee break room, kitchen, office and such things there as well…
"I guess I would like to see it. Would it be okay if I came to pay for it tomorrow if I like it?"
"Suit yourself! I would have one thing less to worry about," Merle said with a smile and turned to her Aide, "You go with them."
"Yes!"
***
The house was not as bad as I thought it would. I could reuse the base floor as is, I would just have to take down the ugly wooden structure on top of it, rearrange rooms, reinforce the walls and repair them with slimes and lastly rebuild the top floor. The underground part is quite spacious as it was previously used to store alcohol and food for the inn. I can reuse the pit toilets in the back and enlarge them too.
"Hmm, I think I will take it, could I see the documents?"
"Of course sir," the Aide handed me the papers.
From what I heard, the buildings on main street usually went for two hundred and fifty thousand Alba and up, so this one for just fifty thousand is hella cheap. Though, on the other hand, repairing it would go for at least three hundred thousand by itself. I guess I'm lucky enough to be able to build it by myself.
"Alright, fifty thousand is a deal," I nodded to him.
"Understood sir, we will be waiting for your payment at the guild, also please remember to add the land tax for next year in advance."
Easy enough, that's twenty thousand Alba more for a total of seventy thousand.
"I understand," I bowed slightly to the Aide, as he went away.
"Now then, shall we start our date?" I turned to Blanche and held out my hand.
"Of course," she said with a smile as she placed her hand in mine, "where are you going to take me?"
"I thought we could wander the artisan shops a little before going for lunch to this little café Laina told me about."
"Sounds like a plan to me," Blanche intervened our arms and held my hand dearly.
Our first stop was a clothing store just across the street, it had some interesting fabric so Blanche expressed her desire to see them.
"Good Day young sir, young lady, whatever can I help you with?" a brown haired woman in her mid thirties greeted us from the counter. From what I could see, they also had accessories here.
"I was thinking of buying an accessory for Blanche here, could you help me with picking some?"
"Of course young sir. Are you interested in those dresses, young lady?" the female clerk turned to Blanche who was looking at dresses near the counter.
"Yes, that material is amazingly thin. I'm something of a seamstress, you see, I'm also making my own fabrics, but I never managed to make one so naturally thin."
"Oh, that's because these are made from silk of my familiars, they are called Blue Spiders."
"I see, I never worked with spider silk. It must be extremely hard, is it not?"
"It indeed is. Are your clothes made by you, perchance?"
"Yes, I made both the dress and the hat," Blanche spun around to show off the dress.
"The fabric is made from Cocoon Slimes's silk. They have one steel like thread and one more akin to those made by butterfly's larva," I explained.
"I see… Oh! I forgot about the accessory, I'm sorry sir, I will call my son right away," the woman bowed to me and rang a bell at the counter, summoning a boy with a red headband and a spider on his head.
"You called mom?" The mid teen looking boy had fox ears, tail and even sharp fox-like eyes.
"Gin, take this young sir upstairs to an accessory shop while I talk with the young lady."
"Sure thing, mom. Dear customer, please follow me."
"Okay."
We went upstairs where we found several display cases with glass panels.
"I don't see glass in so many places around the town, is it an imported commodity?"
"It's imported from the island town of Mournango where they make it. That town is exporting the glass to the capital only and dad bought it there."
"I see, an island town, eh? I would like to see it one day."
I guess it's like Murano island back in the Renaissance…
"Can I have a question, deer customer?"
"Sure, but please just call me Arito, I'm feeling a little itchy from being called 'Deer customer' by someone so close to me in age."
"Right! Then you can call me Gin too!" Gin introduced himself and his ears twitched, "Anyway, I wanted to ask you, I saw you with that guy from merchants guild looking at that old in at the other side of the road, are you buying it?"
"Well, actually yes I am. I haven't said it yet, but I'm also a merchant. I will be transforming that house on the other side into my own shop."
"That's nice, but wouldn't it cost a crazy amount to do that? No offense, but that old shack would rather need to be taken down and built from the ground up again."
"I'm not saying that that won't be the case, but I can actually use a fair share of magic that can help with construction."
"Oh, I see, you are a mage! I'm actually trying to learn some magic myself, but I kinda don't get the right gist of it."
"I see, well, when I can't do some spell I usually try to imagine it to the tiniest detail and use as much magic as I can. Once I get the outcome, I lower the amount of magic power used until I get the lowest amount needed for activation."
"I see, that could work. Anyway, please have a look at our accessories."
"I definitely will, thank you."
Most of the accessories were made from local sources so I could see a lot of precious stones, crystals and monster materials.
"These green and blue crystal-like gems are Blue-Tailed lizard scales, right?"
"Yes. My dad managed to tame one so when it shedded its scales, we got to pick the best ones for this piece."
"Do you know a lot about materials made from monsters that can be used in jewelry?"
"Just some that can be found locally. There are the scales of Emeraldscale Anaconda, Moon Viper's reversed scale, Sapphire Badger's forehead gem, Cinder Otter's fur is quite popular with the ladies of royal capital lately."
"I see, thank you Gin," I nodded my head to him when one particular accessory fell into my eyes. The moment I saw it, I knew I would make no mistake with it.
***
Once I came back with the gift for Blanche, I went down with Gin and found the two we left there discussing fashion lively.
"So they are talking about the latest fashion of the capital, eh? This will take some time…"
"Really?"
"Yeah, mom is from the capital, she originally didn't want to move here, but given this city is last on the way to the capital and is located on one of the four great roads to the royal capital, there are many nobles stopping by on the way there and out. It's a great opportunity to attempt to affect the trends there."
"Ah, I see…" as I was about to give up, Gin sent his mother some hand signals and she smiled at me knowingly.
"Blanche, my dear I would love to spend more time chatting with you, but I would take too much time from your date and that is something I simply cannot bring myself to do," she smiled at me again.
Okay, I get it! I know you know what accessory I bought for her, but please don't give me that all knowing look!
"So, if you have time, come stop by, I will make tea and some cookies. Oh, and Mr. Arito, feel free to take that Alma girl with you next time. If she is as good as Blanche told me, then I might have her become my apprentice here."
"That's incredibly nice of you, thank you very much!" I smiled at her and after saying our goodbyes we went touring neighboring shops some more, all the while introducing ourselves to our new shop-neighbors.
"That was such an amazing experience! I never knew fabrics could be made that many ways!" Blanche was exceedingly elated as she walked a few steps before me.
"Yeah, I learned quite interesting things from Gin too."
"Do you think we could tame a spider monster or two for making our own fabric?"
"Hahah, where did the girl afraid of spiders go, I wonder."
"I-I-I-I just didn't know how useful they can be, is all!!!" Blanche turned bright red as she pouted a little.
"Okay, let's go look for some monsters in the Summoner's guild. I heard they also delegate monster business and you can even buy some there."
"Really?!"
"Yeah, plus I wanted to go there anyway because I wanted to see if they have some bee monsters."
"Bees? Why bees?"
"They can be useful for fruit growing, and we can get honey from them."
"Ah! Now that I remember, you were always sad you couldn't tame those small bugs!" Blanche smiled brightly as she remembered my previous failed attempt at taming bees back in Kassana forest.
We walked through the main street passing many carriages guarded with adventurers and mercenaries. Some looked imposing, some were flashy and there were even some that I almost burst out laughing.
"There are quite a lot of merchants passing here," Blanche muttered.
"Yeah, there will be an auction in the royal capital next week so I guess they all want to participate."
"Ah, is that the auction you were telling me about before?"
"Yeah, Mozz is going to introduce that Red Diamond there."
"Do you think Lena and her family will go there?"
"I heard their son will participate for the family, but I'm not sure whether someone will join him or not."
"Do you want to join it too?"
"Maybe the one at the start of the new year instead of this one. Plus, by that time we might spread word of our little shop and we could sell some items of our own," I smiled under my breath.
"Arito, you are smiling evilly again…" Blanche smiled warrily.
"Ah! Sorry…"
That was unbecoming of me, we have a date today, I need to get my head in order!
"Don't worry about it! I know you are trying to make sure we can survive no matter what. I'm happy you think so much about us, but if you ever feel bad about living in town, we can always return back home," Blanche smiled at me cutely and held my hand with intertwined fingers.
"Back home, right? True, that cave became my home for so long that I always felt safe there, but then, I met you and the cave became too small all of a sudden."
"G-geez, Arito…" her grip on my hand tightened as her cheeks turned from pink to red.
"Ah, we're here."
Just as the air grew slightly awkward, we arrived in front of the Summoner's guild. We entered the lobby and found out that there were a greater number of people than before.
"Oh, Mr. Arito," a male receptionist called out to me as he was passing by.
"You are the receptionist I registered my Carbon and Foliage slimes with. I'm sorry, I've not asked your name before, but could I inquire about it today?"
"Don't worry about it, many tamers and summoners rarely ask for names with the staffers like me, so I'm used to it. My name is Ulzar, what brings you here today?"
"I want to register some monsters, but mainly to buy some."
"I will bring the catalog, then," Ulzar bowed lightly and continued his walk.
We took a seat in a separate area so we wouldn't be directly in sight of other tamers and summoners and got some drinks from a female receptionist that brought it for us. Unlike tea, that seemed to be a staple here, we received water with some fruit juices inside it, giving it a weak, yet refreshing taste. I guess they don't have straight up juices here, as the fruits are quite rare. There aren't that many places that grow the trees, and places that do, mostly use it for food or alcohol.
"Sorry to make you wait, Mr. Arito, there is the form for monster registration and catalog of available monsters."
"Thank you," I nodded to him and wrote of the two new slimes, Newt hound and the pack of kobolds.
"I see you have enlarged your collection of slimes again, would you like to put in order for slime capture?"
"Is something like that really possible?"
"Indeed. Many of our tamers ask us to procure mates for their monsters, so putting in order for monster capture is possible. Plus we tend to do research work, so there are always some monsters waiting to be investigated. Sadly, when the investigation ends, we either have to put them down or find a home for them."
"I understand, so I will submit the capture order. I will give you a list of my slimes, but I want to get slimes other than those. Also, I would like information on their feed if possible, location where they were found and other such topics."
"Understood."
"Have you found something, Blanche?" I turned to Blanche who was listing in the catalog.
"Um, there is a Forest spider Matriarch that looks interesting. Also, there seems to be something called the Devil Bee Queen's egg."
"You are interested in bees and spiders?" Ulzar seemed surprised.
"Yes, we make our own clothes, and Blanche wants to try making new ones from spider silk."
"Wouldn't it be easier to just buy some silk then?"
"Maybe, but I was interested in spider monsters for quite some time already. Oh, and about the bees, the Devil Bees have quite useful honey that can be used in medicine as well as food."
"Well, as long as you remember that Devil bees have a tendency to attack anyone but their owner and be careful with them, then there should be no problem."
"Right. I'll be careful. Also, could I ask you about these black triangle symbols? They appear every now and then."
"Those are License monsters. In other words, monsters you need a license for. They mostly aren't high ranked, but with wrong care they can be really dangerous for different reasons than just killing people."
"I see. Could I ask you to add some information on those monsters as well? As you already know, I'm keeping Kobolds now and I would like some meat for them that's easy to come by."
"That certainly is a concern… I would recommend Flex Rabbits, Cave Pigs or Mountain Rats, with the first two being edible by people and the last one making for great winter wear."
"I see. Thank you for your insight, I will take a look at all three of them and decide on which to keep."
With that done, I took a look at slimes, but there were only types I already had, so I purchased some Cocoon slimes and Fluff slimes which were splitting extremely fast by themselves already, but few more couldn't hurt. This makes the Cocoon slimes's numbers just little over 100 and Fluff slimes over 200.
We went to the closed off room where the monsters were being kept. This place reminded me a little of the circus, but I remained silent about it. Ulzar handed over the document about monsters requested and the worker ran in the back before promptly returning with a wooden box and metal cage with a spider the size of my head. The spider had blackish green hair, its eyes were red and on its back was a yellowish crown-like decor.
"Okay, I will try the taming now,
"How does it feel?" Ulzar pushed up his glasses.
"Good, though I didn't expect it to be this good," I confessed as the spider started tapping my shoulder.
Next came the egg of the Demon bee Queen. I opened the wooden box and took out the cocoon-like egg.
"So, I should pour my magic power into it?"
"Yes, the Demon bees hatch when they get enough magic power in their core," Ulzar confirmed my suspicion. I placed the egg back into the wooden box and went to pick up the slimes and formed a contract with them. Once that was done, I paid 7,500 Alba (10 Alba per slime and 3,700 for the egg and spider each) and placed them all in the Dimension home.
We walked out of the guild and headed back north, passing our future shop and made it to the inn district where many café's were located as well.
"Hello, I have a reservation here on the name Aruze," I called out to the girl waiting at the tables.
"Yes! Let me take a quick check sir… ah, there you are. Table for two right up!" the girl led us away to our table by the window and handed us the menu.
"Oh wow, these really sound delicious, what will you get yourself, Arito?"
"Hmm… I guess Citon cake with black tea."
"Mm-hmm! I knew you would go for something like that so I will go for Strawa sponge cake and Appo tea."
"Citon cake with black tea and Strawa sponge cake with Appo tea coming right up," the energetic girl smiled brightly and ran off to the shop.
We started chatting about what was about to happen going forward. I told her about my plans for our new base and she told me about her wish to make her own clothes. Honestly, even if no one else would wear it, I would make sure to wear every single piece she would make. I would even make her a fashion show, if she wished for it.
"Alright you guys, here you go!" The energetic girl brought us our order and left with nothing more than a huge grin. I guess she sees us as nothing more than a couple of rich kids out on town.
"Well, Bon Appetit!" Blanche picked up her spoon and nibbled at the cake with a big happy grin. "Aah, this sure brings back memories!"
"Yeah, I guess you're right. Strawa cake was the first baked treat I made for you, though it definitely wasn't this soft."
"But it was soooo great," Blanche wiggled with a happy smile on her face.
"I will try to make it again, if you wish."
"You sure?!" Blanche beamed me a happy smile completely ignoring a bit of cream on her cheek.
"Yeah," I extended my hand, wiping the cream from her cheek before sticking it in my mouth.
"Aeh?!" Blanche showed a confused look and turned bright red.
"It's a good cream," I smiled at her and Blanche's blush grew deeper.
"Th-That's not the problem, geez…" Blanche looked out the window to hide her embarrassment.
I picked up some Citon cake and put it in my mouth before quickly following it with a sip of the tea. The tastes of the two mixed together in perfect harmony and a wide smile grew on my face.
"You are not even getting embarrassed…"
Well, I did have two relationships in my previous life, both of which ended up poorly for me. Honestly, I never thought I would go on a date ever again, even less in another world of all places! It took me two years living with just slimes and wolves to rehabilitate a little and if I haven't met Blanche it would take me even longer to return to society… I guess I owe her much more than I could ever repay her.
"I like our time together the best," I muttered almost under my breath, but Blanche's sharp ears picked it up instantly.
"I also love being with you, but it feels like I'm the only one getting embarrassed, flustered and all…" Blanche's finger circled around her cup before taking one sulky sip.
"It's not like I'm used to this, but seeing you showing so many different faces makes me incredibly happy. When I remember how we started, I feel proud at how far we got together."
"J-jeeeez! That's exactly what I'm talking about, you say so many embarrassing things so easily!" Blanche pouted and took a sip of her tea, hiding her smile, which I find incredibly adorable.
We spent the time eating, talking and laughing together and once we were done with our food we went touring the town.
"Hey Arito, could we stop by the church?"
"I don't see why not. We haven't been there yet in this town yet."
"Well, we do have our own figures back home, so we didn't have a reason to."
"True that."
We walked through the streets of early summer town and arrived before church just a few minutes after leaving the café.
"Pssssst. Arito, is that the Inquisitor we met before?" I looked over to a line of carriages where some people from the clergy with devastated looks were boarding them. Behind them, Ingrid, the Head Auditioner, i.e. the Inquisitor was making sure no one would be left behind.
"Yeah, that's her. Do you want to talk with her?" just as I asked, she spotted us and went after us.
"You kids were with Kalvig, right? You can tell him that the job's done!" she laughed when she came to us.
"It's an honor to speak with you again, Miss Ingrid, but pray tell what kind of job you might be referring to? I'm afraid I do not possess enough information about it."
"Aaah, it's about those kids that didn't receive status boards because they were from the slums. Also, it appears that the people in charge here were lying about the fullness of the orphanage too. We will take them for re-education to the capital and I will in the meantime restore their wrongdoings."
"That is definitely a noble goal, but the children of slums no longer trust the church so it will be hard for you to do," I confessed.
"Yeah, it's like fighting a losing war, but I cannot stop just because it's hard. I heard you took quite a lot of kids under your wings. Feel free to take them here for baptism, I will oversee it myself."
"I will think about it, thank you. I will bring everyone over ten years old to you once I talk it over with them."
"Oh no, please bring everyone. As a token of apology I will grant those under the age of ten a special permission to receive baptism sooner."
"B-but Head Auditioner!" one of the clergymen tried to stop Ingrid, but was met with an ice cold glare.
"Something against my decision? It's our fault as a whole of the Creationism church that these children were wronged. Remember that before Gods all are equal! Also…" Ingrid glared at the man and she shrunk by the second as she started lecturing him.
At that moment Blanche tugged on my sleeve, "Let's go home for today, it seems we won't get to pray under these circumstances."
"Yeah…" I nodded to Blanche and silently and secretly went away. I mean, we don't want to be in the Inquisitor's eye field like that guy.
***
"Hey there! Have you enjoyed your little date?" Lena asked us in the doors of the inn when we finally got back and her jaw almost instantly dropped.
The reason for that was simple. I was carrying Blanche on my back because she was too tired to walk.
"We're back. Sorry, but I'm going to put her in her bed first before going to talk with you."
"Whaaaaa—" Lena became unable to respond properly and just stared at us as I walked past her and headed to our room.
When I made it inside, I placed Blanche, who actually fell asleep on the way, in the bed and covered her with a blanket.
"Good night Blanche, let's have more fun dates in the future," I patted her head and left a soft kiss, or more like a small peck, on her forehead before leaving the room.