"Th-this…."
The priest was left speechless by the question. He only showed a bitter expression and lowered his head once more.
After that, they had a completely vegetarian fasting meal in the church. After all, it was a church, so they couldn't really ask for too much.
Someone like Heiter, who drank alcohol and ate meat, could only be considered a special case. That was precisely why he was always called a wine-and-meat priest. At least, that was what Ash thought at first.
———
After temporarily settling down at the village's only inn.
Ash and Frieren sat by the bed in perfect sync, reading their books, while Fern stood to the side with her hands on her hips, staring at them.
"Lady Frieren, Lord Ash! Do you have anything you'd like to say in defense of your act of watching someone die without helping?"
"There was nothing we could do. His hands were really dirty at the time," Frieren awkwardly turned her face away. Ash, on the other hand, replied with complete confidence, "I just wanted to see what else he could say. And saving people should've been Frieren's responsibility since she arrived first. I shouldn't have to bear the consequences."
"This is terrible! You two are really awful!"
Neither of them hid what they truly thought, which made Fern so angry that her cheeks puffed out. She pointed at the two of them and kept scolding them nonstop.
Only after she had lectured them for a long time, until both of them couldn't lift their heads anymore, and after making them reflect properly and getting enthusiastic responses from both, did she sit down beside Ash. Looking up at him seriously, she said, "If Lord Sein were to join, it might actually be good. What the priest said makes sense too. Having a priest is safer, and if there's a priest who believes in the goddess as a companion, maybe it could have a good influence on you two as well."
""But I don't think Frieren (Ash) can be saved.""
The moment her words left her mouth, Ash and Frieren rejected it in unison.
The way the two of them had already given up on saving each other made Fern cast an icy glare at them. Suppressing her displeasure, she spoke in a low voice,
"Why are you only this in sync at times like this?"
"It's not really being in sync, it's just... Frieren, what do you think about adding a priest?"
"Me? Umm...", The suddenly thrown topic made Frieren pull her legs up and squat on the bed. She casually pinched her ponytail, wearing a sulky expression, "Racial disgust, I guess?"
"Frieren, what are you talking about? He's human."
"Lady Frieren does say strange things sometimes," Fern looked helplessly at Ash, "Anyway, Lord Ash, please go and try."
"Me? Well... since you say so, I'll try a little."
Being suddenly saddled with this task made him look a bit troubled. But thinking about it seriously, having a priest would indeed be convenient in some ways. He had no real reason to oppose it, so he simply walked out.
———
As for where Sein was. He didn't even need to look. The moment he went downstairs, he spotted him.
Because, there was a tavern being run downstairs in the inn.
Inside the tavern, thick with cigarette smoke, Sein, who at first glance had at least seemed somewhat proper, was now still wearing his priest's uniform, but had a cigarette in his mouth and a mug of alcohol in his hand. In front of him were playing cards.
Including Sein, the three people at the same table all had copper coins placed in front of them.
No matter how you looked at it, this scene was clearly... gambling.
That made Ash recall how earlier he had only wanted to eat meat, and Sein had said something like, ("What are you saying to a priest?")
As he stepped inside, he couldn't help muttering, "Among all the priests I know, you're definitely the most wine-and-meat one."
"This is called strengthening friendship~ By the way, want to join too?", Sein showed no shame at all. Instead, he smiled openly, "My big brother told me already. He wants me to join your party. What do you guys say?"
"Having a priest would definitely be convenient."
"Give it up~ I'm the priest of this village. If I join you guys. No, wait!", Sein stopped halfway and showed a mischievous smile, "Thinking about it carefully, three people playing cards isn't that interesting. How about you join too? If you win, I'll go with you."
"That's surprisingly simple."
"Simple? When you lose later, don't cry about getting stripped down to your underwear."
"Anyway, teach me the rules here first."
Such an unexpectedly easy condition made Ash simply sit down at the table. He casually called the server over for a drink, then looked at Sein and the village chief beside him with a pitying smile, like he was looking at pathetic beings.
He truly couldn't think of a reason he would lose to them. In terms of luck, he might not have the advantage, but when it came to hand speed, no one there could possibly keep up.
Ash blended into the card game with surprising ease. After several rounds of drinks and several full rotations of tables, looking at the pile of copper coins stacked in front of Ash, Sein couldn't help starting to question his life.
"WHY? TEN WINS IN A ROW! Is this REALLY your first time playing cards?"
"Just a little bit of beginner's luck," Ash looked completely calm, "I've already won now. Are you willing to accept the loss?"
"N-No! I was just saying it casually. You didn't actually take it se—"
"Is that so? I thought as much," He didn't care and smiled as he looked to the side, at the village chief who was slapping the table in frustration, "Village Chief, and Mr. Klaus, I can return everything I won today. But in exchange, could you strip him down to just his underwear and throw him out?"
""Of course, our pleasure!!""
"Eh? N-No, wai-wait! Don't, let go of me! A-At least leave the inside!"
The strange condition made Sein freeze for a moment. Then he saw the village chief and the other player agree in unison, staring at him like hungry wolves. Just as he tried to beg for mercy, the two pinned him to the ground and forcibly stripped him of his clothes.
A shrill scream instantly echoed through the entire tavern.
Ash, considering the impact at least a little, had them leave him a pair of shorts in the end so it wouldn't turn into something indecent. Then they threw him straight out of the tavern.
Ash himself kept Sein's money, then walked out feeling refreshed. Looking down at the uncle lying there with his butt in the air, he said leisurely,
"This is what happens when you go back on your word."
"Don't think this will make me submit. I'm a dirty adult, you know. What kind of adult would compromise so easily?"
"I don't really care. I was just trying anyway. If it doesn't work, Frieren and the others will come persuade you too. I can just watch the show."
"You… what do you even think adventuring is? Why are you always just watching?", Sein turned his head, looking like a righteous, hot-blooded protagonist scolding someone for failing expectations, "To be honest, I don't see any passion in you at all! Any enthusiasm!"
"Adventuring? No, no, no. I'm just taking a casual walk outside. Why would I need enthusiasm?"
"A casual walk?", That unbelievable answer made Sein pause slightly, "Aren't you heading north all the way.?"
"Compared to those things that don't really matter, don't you think you should adjust your posture?", Ash said calmly, "You're talking to me with your butt pointed at me this whole time. It makes me want to kick it."
"Heh, young man, you don't understand. Actually, this posture helps clear the mind—OW, that hurts!"
Still lying prone with his butt stuck up, Sein had just taken a cigarette out of his shorts and was about to light it while saying something about a certain path, when a sudden impact struck his backside. He yelped in pain, clutching his butt and curling up on the ground, glaring angrily at the man behind him.
"You actually kicked me?"
"Didn't I say I wanted to kick it?"
"But would a normal person actually kick someone?"
"I think I'm pretty normal," Ash replied lightly. He then squatted down beside the uncle who was curled up on the ground, teary-eyed and clutching his butt, "So, are you really not going to consider it?"
"Do you think a normal person would agree to the request of a villain who had him stripped down to his underwear?"
"I had them leave you shorts."
"What difference does one extra pair of shorts make? You even kicked my butt!", Sein shouted in humiliation while rubbing his backside, already worrying whether it was swollen.
"Who told you to have such a perky butt and stick it out in front of me?"
"I'm just saying. At a time like this, shouldn't you at least apologize?"
"You were the one who broke the deal first."
"Uh! Can we just pretend this never happened?"
Faced with Ash's casual yet rough behavior, and having lost to him so completely at cards, Sein could only swallow his complaints back down, even after getting his butt kicked.
After all, he really had only said it casually. He never truly planned to go adventuring with them.
Now, all he could do was curl up on the ground, gaze at the clear night sky, and silently light a cigarette in mourning.
———
Because the tavern was right downstairs, Frieren and Fern naturally heard the commotion. Almost immediately, they rushed downstairs out of curiosity to check what was going on.
But if they hadn't looked, it would've been fine. Once they did, they were so shocked they couldn't speak.
Ash was squatting there perfectly fine, while Sein in front of him looked like he had suffered some completely unreasonable violence, curled up on the ground.
His clothes had been stripped off by who knows whom, leaving only a pair of shorts to preserve the last shred of dignity, and even then he was shivering in the cold spring night.
Before they could even ask what happened, they saw Ash poking Sein's arm with a branch from the ground, his back turned to them, making a strange offer.
"If you agree to honor the deal right now, I can give you your clothes back. Or… are you planning to go back to the church like this?"
"Normally, at a time like this, shouldn't you at least return my money too?"
"That won't do. That's money I earned with my own ability. Why should I return it?", Ash refused quite confidently.
Hearing this, Fern, who still didn't understand the situation, immediately formed a bad guess. Unable to hold back, she walked up with a dark smile and leaned close to his ear, whispering, "Lord Ash... what exactly are you doing?"
"Ahh! This is too much. I only asked you to recruit a teammate and put in a little effort. But you went straight to stripping him naked? No matter what, that's going too far."
Frieren squatted down beside them, fanning the flames as she sighed.
Ash couldn't help slapping a hand onto Frieren's head, speaking sternly, "This is merely the rightful end of a reckless and weak loser who sought his own destruction."
"What loser?", Fern, who had already grabbed his collar from behind, asked in confusion as she pulled him up, "Did you use force?"
"How could I bully someone so casually? We just played cards together happily, that's all. He was simply the one who lost terribly."
"Damn it! The village chief was already strong like a demon god, and this guy was even stronger, like a demon king. I couldn't win a single round. I'm starting to wonder whether I'll even have the courage to sit at the table again tomorrow!"
Sein muttered resentfully, curling up again on the ground, looking like a big kid who'd been wronged.
"So it was gambling?", After learning the truth, Frieren couldn't help shaking her head, "You priests really don't have a single serious one among you. But whatever, Sein, didn't you say before that you regretted it? Won't you come? Travel north with us."
"I also said that was something from long ago. I really should've gone after him earlier. But now I'm just a down-and-out middle-aged man who's only got underwear and shorts left."
Frieren closed her eyes and thought for a moment before slowly speaking seriously, "I'm talking about now, not the past."
"Now? Now is exactly how your teammate had the village chief turn me into this!"
"Eh? Uh… i-is that so?"
Frieren's serious expression instantly stiffened, and she couldn't help looking toward Ash.
However, Ash quietly shifted his gaze as well, staring at the distant night sky with a faint smile, pretending to mutter to himself, "The moon is really big tonight."
"What is that supposed to mean? That's vulgar and tasteless."
Even Frieren couldn't help wanting to roll her eyes at this point.
Fern was even more displeased. With her brows tightly furrowed, she said sharply, "Hurry up and give the clothes back! And the money too!"
"Why? That's money I earned with my own—"
"People who gamble are the worst! I hate it when you gamble, Lord Ash!", Fern puffed out her cheeks angrily, hands on her hips as she complained, "And bullying people is wrong! That's what you taught me before, isn't it?"
Though she looked furious, the purple-haired girl puffed up like an angry pufferfish was unexpectedly cute.
This made Ash sigh in surrender. He directly took out Sein's money pouch and tossed it beside the uncle on the ground.
"I talked for so long and it didn't work at all, but when this kid gets angry, you actually listen?", Sein stared at the money pouch that had returned to him, doubting his own eyes.
"Because Ash dotes on Fern a lot," Frieren chuckled and shook her head. But when she looked back at Sein, she wore an especially serious expression.
"Sein."
"What?"
"I really hate you after all, so I've decided that even if I have to force you, I'm going to drag you into the party."
"Huh? No, why? That makes no sense at all! And seriously... what kind of party even are you people?"
Sein was completely baffled by Frieren's strange words. He looked at Ash and Fern, hoping for some confirmation, but all he saw was Ash patting Fern's head.
Fern, who had been sulking earlier, had now turned into a beaming smile. The atmosphere between the two of them looked incredibly harmonious.
That left him unable to figure out, for a moment, what kind of relationship Fern, who usually took care of them, actually had with those two.
Still, after they left, he quietly returned to the tavern. With a hint of tears from not wanting to accept defeat, he put back on the clothes the village chief had stripped off him.
And then, all alone in the cold night, he looked up at the sky, blew out a smoke ring, and returned to the church full of doubts.
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