Don't Be Holy! - Chapter 12
“Don’t worry. I don’t believe such things. After all, you’re the one who saved my life. Someone like that wouldn’t have such petty intentions.”
It was the first time she had seen the arrogant man speak kindly of anyone. Yet he continued with words that didn’t suit him.
“Besides, you said this house is heavily in debt, didn’t you? It may not be much, but two heads are better than one. So let’s tackle this together.”
“To—gether?”
“Yes, together. Just the two of us. By the way, what’s your name?”
‘Come to think of it, what’s your name?’
The tone was entirely different from when he had asked the same question in the past. Before she knew it, Eir found herself whispering the answer as she had back then.
“It’s Eir.”
Rubel smiled softly at her response.
Unlike the memory of him muttering, ‘What an excessive name’, his reaction now was completely different.
“It’s a beautiful name, Ms. Eir.”
Ms. Eir. A beautiful name.
Murmuring his words to herself, Eir realized something. She truly had to live in this isolated village with this memoryless man.
‘The Divine Empire is finished now.’
With his hand still gripping hers, Eir closed her eyes, overcome with the urge to faint.
* * *
Rubel Shinote seemed to fully believe Eir’s claim that she had a debt of 300 pirs. This was evident from the way he immediately started handling household chores despite his wrecked body.
He chopped wood to build himself a bed and, upon discovering the house was low on food, even cultivated a vegetable garden.
“Now that I think about it, why didn’t you make a vegetable garden earlier? Every other house seems to have one.”
Eir had no idea when he’d gone around inspecting all those other houses, but by the time she woke up one morning, a patch of land in the yard had already been tilled. Rubbing her sleepy eyes, she gave a lazy shrug and replied.
“Well…… I usually get back from the mountains by evening…….”
Rubel gave her a look of utter disbelief, as if witnessing an unforgivable level of laziness. His expression seemed to say, ‘Can’t you work in the evening?’
‘So, you’ve been living off those pathetic soups just because you didn’t want to do a bit of work at night?’
His gaze said it all.
But Eir had her reasons. With her inability to pray, give blessings, or even approach the temple, it was becoming increasingly difficult for her to control her divine powers.
Sometimes, even touching a sprout would make it grow wildly out of control. Sure, some might think that having an abundance of food would be a good thing. But once, after eating vegetables that had grown unnaturally fast, she had to endure nosy neighborhood women saying things like, ‘Your vegetables are always so fresh. How does that tiny garden of yours produce so much?’ From that day forward, she vowed never to do it again.
And what if someone ever caught her in the act of making plants grow unnaturally?
The thought alone made her shiver.
Watching Rubel work so diligently on the vegetable garden, Eir, worried he might ask her to pull weeds or something, hastily added.
“Besides, I’m not very good with sprouts.”
“Then I’ll just take care of the garden myself.”
Rubel replied sharply, as if the idea of her helping hadn’t even crossed his mind. His expression showed just how unimpressed he was with her excuse, clearly thinking, ‘No wonder you’re in debt.’
Eir wasn’t too thrilled either.
‘So, does that mean he plans to stay here until he’s eaten all the vegetables he grows?’
Perhaps because he heard that he was the grandson of the old woman, Rubel began invading her space with an astonishing sense of entitlement and confidence.
For someone staying as a guest, he was the first to settle in so seamlessly while the host did practically nothing.
She couldn’t help but be a little impressed. He built his own bed, made a garden, and even earned money chopping firewood for the neighbors, which he then used to buy himself clothes.
The tight, shabby clothes that had clung to him awkwardly were gone. Instead, he now wore a loose shirt, neat trousers, and sturdy boots perfect for mountain living.
