Don't Be Holy! - Chapter 26
“How remarkable that your pronunciation is even better than our village chief’s! And he even studied in the capital when he was young!”
Well, of course, this man was one of the highest nobles in the Divine Empire and had followed only the elite path to reach his position.
Eir thought this to herself while looking around for something to plug her ears with, eventually starting to roll up some tissue paper.
Mr. Linden was expressing his admiration for Rubel and asking if he could read the example text below. As was typical with holy language textbooks, the example texts were mostly selections of simple prayers.
Rubel slowly opened his mouth to read what Mr. Linden was pointing to. But at that very moment…….
“Chael!”
Eir suddenly stood up and shouted.
Mr. Linden raised his waist with an expression of disbelief.
“Chael? Are you telling me that not only did you say ‘volte,’ but now you’ve correctly pronounced ‘chael’ too?”
“Yes! It suddenly came to me!”
“T-this is unbelievable. A child who couldn’t read a single letter all this time, suddenly like this……. C-can you read what comes next?”
To Mr. Linden’s passionate questioning, Eir rolled her eyes slightly before answering.
“A-Abna?”
Mr. Linden grabbed both of Eir’s hands with an expression of nearly dying from joy.
“Oh! My goodness, that’s close, child. It’s ‘Abrol,’ Abrol! Oh Lord, my word. Today at last, the little lamb’s efforts have borne fruit.”
Having successfully captured Mr. Linden’s attention, Eir would shout out a new word whenever his gaze seemed about to turn toward Rubel, and kept repeating this pattern.
She spoke more words in these twenty minutes than she had in the past three years.
Mr. Linden was so overjoyed that he suggested ending class half an hour early.
“This calls for apple pie! Just wait a moment.”
Apple pie for happy occasions.
This was a well-known rule of the Linden household that everyone knew. Otis let out a cheer of joy, and Mr. Linden was so elated that he even forgot to assign homework.
Mr. Linden quickly brought out the apple pie, and the butter-rich pie with sugar-stewed apples brought a golden flavor the moment it touched their mouths.
The apple pie, eaten while breaking out in a cold sweat, was so delicious that Eir almost burst into tears. However, Rubel, who was usually so fixated on food, barely picked at his apple pie and only took a few sips of tea until the gathering dispersed.
It was strange. Eir thought he might be shy around others and efficiently packed up the apple pie he had left behind.
But as soon as she stepped outside, she came face to face with Rubel Shinote, who she had assumed would have left already.
“Oh.”
Perhaps hearing her foolish exclamation, the man turned from where he was leaning against the wall.
“You’re out.”
Eir couldn’t help but be flustered by his gentle tone. She even checked if there was someone else around besides herself, but there was no one, and his blue eyes were still fixed intently on Eir alone.
Surely this couldn’t mean…….
“Were you waiting for me?”
When she asked in disbelief, the man furrowed his brows.
“Did you think I was waiting for Otis?”
But from Eir’s perspective, that response brought confusion rather than clarity. Her eyes rolled around.
“Come to think of it, I think Otis did mention having plans this evening…….”
“Stop joking around.”
Though she had been quite serious, the man turned sharply away as if she was trying to tease him and started walking toward home.
Eir stood there blankly, watching the man walk away. After the distance between them had grown considerably, Rubel sighed and looked back.
“What are you doing? Aren’t you coming home?”
H-home, is it.
Eir belatedly followed after the man and asked.
“Are we, going home together?”
He simply walked ahead as if her confused question wasn’t worth answering. Eir closed her mouth and quietly followed along, but unable to solve this puzzle, she continued asking questions.
“What’s going on with you? First you suddenly appear at Mr. Linden’s house, then you wait for me. Did something happen at home? Did you lose all your money?”
“Did you have any money to begin with? If I remember correctly, even the money you have now is what I earned for you.”
While it was a relief that wasn’t the case, she couldn’t help but be shocked again when she realized his pace had slowed to match hers.
Just two days ago, when they happened to meet on the road, she had found herself halfway up the mountain before she knew it, as if the man had flown away.
“You’re doing well today.”
And on top of that. Even making casual small talk.
It was too much like a typical walk home together.
