The next day, we woke up and ate breakfast like usual.

“So, what do we do now?” Melly asks.

“Whatever you want. We should meet up here in around two hours, we’ll head to the church after.” I responded.

“I see. I guess I’ll see you in a bit.” Melly responds as everyone else heads out for a bit.

I decided to wait outside the inn while trying to learn some of the spells I bought yesterday. While I probably won’t even finish one spell, at least it’s a start.

So, after around two hours of practice later, Gregory, Melly, and Rapunzel had all arrived. “Shall we head out then?” I ask. Getting their affirmation, we left for the church.

When we arrived, I naturally entered through the gate and just walked past the main hall. Everyone was hesitant to just skip past the entrance. Hmm, I guess you can get into a lot of trouble if you do this, especially if you are higher ranked, as you’re basically ignoring the church’s authority by doing so. They’ve probably been taught to never do anything like this without first asking permission from someone in charge.

Oh! That gives me an idea. “I give you permission to follow me and play with the orphans.” I say in the most official voice as I could. I only got confused stares though.

“I believe that you were told to not wander around a church without official permission, right?” I ask.

“That is correct. I was told to never go outside the public spaces of any church without the guidance of a priest.” Gregory responded,

“So.” I continued. “As the second highest ranked member of the church, I have given you all permission to be here.” I say while spreading out my hands grandly.

“I see.” Melly says as she laughs. “We’ve been given permission by the Saintess herself, what more could we possibly need.”

“I see, you saw how nervous we were, so you made sure that we realized that we were actually allowed to be here.” Rapunzel says in realization.

“That’s right. So you guys don’t have to worry about anything.” I say with a smile.

As we were talking, we arrived at the field. Before we could even say anything, the kids started cheering while running over.

“Hello! I have arrived.” I announce as I’m surrounded.

“You showed up at the perfect time.” Jesica said.

“Of course I did. I know about your chores. I wasn’t going to show up just to be dragged into helping you with them.” I say with a smug smile.

Jesica rolled her eyes at that. “So, who are they?” She said as she pointed at my friends, who are currently being surrounded by the other kids.

“They are my friends. Gregory has agreed to remove the rocks from the field. They then agreed to play with everyone.” I say, getting cheers from everyone. “Just make sure to go easy on them, otherwise you might scare them off.”

“Shall I begin then?” Gregory asks.

“Okay.” I nod before turning to the kids. “Everyone, assemble! Watch, as Gregory makes your play area safe!” I shout, bringing over the kids to make sure they don’t get caught in the spell.

Gregory then started to wander the field while casting a few small spells to find and remove the rocks. Hmm, I thought it would be a bit more flashy, but I guess this is more responsible. Sadly, the kids aren’t all that interested.

“Can we play yet?” One of them asks.

“If you want, we could remove the rocks ourselves.” I say, copying the smile from a priestess when she asks us if we want more chores. It seems that this smile is also used here, as everyone unanimously decided to wait patiently.

Luckily, it only took a few minutes overall. When he was done, I announced. “Okay, let’s play. Ah, you guys should just watch me first. If you feel that you can copy me, go ahead. Otherwise, just have fun.” I say with a shrug as I run into the field.

“How hard can it be?” I happened to hear Melly comment as I left. I just smirked.

A few minutes later, I turned to Melly. “So? Can you do it?” I can only smile as I see her shocked face. “Don’t worry, I’m used to watching the flow of the field, you’ll get the hang of it soon enough.”

“I understand why she’s so good at applying buffs and heals at the right time if this is how she practiced.” Rapunzel comments as she decides to join in.

“Yeah, this might be both more difficult and more worthwhile than I thought.” Melly agrees. “I thought this would just be us playing with some kids, not the equivalent to an actual battle.” She says in shock.

“What are you on about? I’m not doing anything that impressive. I was (kinda) able to do this with twice as many kids back at my church.” I commented.

“I do believe that we know why she was chosen as the saintess now.” Gregory says, getting nods from both Melly and Rapunzel. I could only just shrug in response.

As they joined in, I analyzed how they performed. Melly is good at controlling her ability so that she doesn’t hog the attention. Rapunzel is good at passing the ball to whoever really wants it. Gregory, well, he’s trying, and that’s all we can really ask for.

I am surprised with how difficult they are finding it to copy me. I know I have a few years of practice on them, but during that time I barely played. Maybe I am pretty talented or something?

Maybe I can ask the Hero to watch me to see what he thinks. If he says that I’m talented, then maybe I actually am.

Eventually, after playing for a while, a priestess showed up and yelled out. “Everyone, it’s time for lunch.” Before noticing us and shouting. “Who are you! You shouldn’t be back here.” Hey, that’s only without supervision!

Jesica walked over to her and said. “Martha, she’s the Saintess.” Before pointing at me.

“Wait, the Saintess!” Martha shouts in panic.

I rushed over with my ID in hand. “Yup, I’m the Saintess.” I say as I hand it to her.

After seeing it, she hurriedly starts to bow. “I’m sorry for yelling at you, I didn’t know it was you!”

“It’s fine.” I say as pat her shoulder. “Oh, I also brought some of my friends, so you don’t need to worry about them.” I say, pointing them out. “I’ll give introductions later, we’ll let everyone eat lunch first.”

“If we knew that you were arriving so early, we would have prepared something better for lunch.” She apologized.

“It’s fine. I wasn’t expecting to be able to eat here anyway.”

“Why not? We would never turn away the Saintess,” She turns to my friends. “Or her friends, from eating here. If you want to, of course.” She says nervously.

“I believe it would be best for us to eat our lunch here.” Gregory advised.

“Yeah, join us for lunch!” The kids agreed.

“Ah, I guess we’ll be joining everyone for lunch then.” I conceded.

Our group then all traveled together towards the mess hall. When we entered, a lot of people couldn’t help but stare at us in confusion. At least, until the head priest stood up and walked over.

“I didn’t think you would be joining us, Saintess, we would have prepared a better meal for you.” He says before noticing my friends. “May I ask who your friends are?”

“Yes, These are my friends. Melly Stonehart.”

“That’s me.” Melly greeted.

“Rapunzel Hawk.”

“Hello.”

“And Gregory Magus.”

“Greetings.”

“It is nice to meet you, Melly Stonehart, Rapunzel Hawk, and Gregory Magus. I am Barith Broon, the head priest of this church. Please tell me if you ever need anything.” The head priest, Barith, introduced.

As we were talking, Jesica called out. “Big Saintess and friends, we’ll go get your food.”

“Thanks Jesica.” I respond as I wave.

“I’m glad to see that everyone's getting along. I was worried that they might bother you.” Barith says.

“Why would I be bothered?” I mean, I know that the saintess is kind of a big deal, but I’ve lived with other orphans my entire life, I’m not going to just suddenly dislike them, you know.

“Well, most people aren’t used to how they act. Those in higher positions especially seem to find them annoying, so…”

“You were worried that I might be the same…”

“Most people just aren’t prepared for them. Only a few of the priests end up really raising them, with most others only interacting with them either distantly or sparingly. While many may think that they understand what they are getting involved with, even at the best of times raising them can be difficult.” He says with a sigh.

“And that’s not even counting when the kids are having… problems.”

“Yeah… Only a select few can properly deal with that, so they tend to be shuffled around to where they are needed. And even then, those priests need breaks too. Haa, no one is prepared for when the kids suffer, no one. Even if you think you are, you aren’t. It’s always so much worse than you thought.” He laments.

“Yeah, it can get really bad.” I say with a deep sigh.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but may I ask how bad it gets?” Rapunzel asks, to the other’s agreement.

“As bad as the worms.” I responded.

“It, it can’t be that bad, right?” She responds, not able to believe it.

“I saw it, once. Only once. Haa, I really hope to never see that again.” I lament.

“How did someone experience… that?!” Melly asks.

“Haa, you really don’t want to know. Trust me, it was bad.” I sigh. “All I’ll say is that I will never forgive any bandit, they all deserve to die.” I coldly say, shocking everyone.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“Correct.” Barith sighs in understanding. “Even just seeing someone that went through something like that can be traumatizing. I couldn’t even imagine what it’s like to actually go through something like that.”

“Yeah, seeing just how truly scarred she was, it was haunting. It doesn’t help that I was only seven at the time. Haa, I hope the temple was able to help her, at least.”

“I must say, I’m surprised that you saw something like that. Adding how much the kids seem to like you, I’m pretty sure you’ve played with many orphans while growing up.” Barith says, changing the topic.

“Yeah… I did.” I say, starting to realize something.

“I see. No wonder you were fine with how they acted.” He nods.

“Excuse me, how do you think I grew up?” I ask, testing my suspicion.

“Ah, I’m sorry to say that I do not know. All I was told about you was your name, your appearance, and that you were personally chosen by the Gods to support the Hero on his journey to slay the demon lord.”

“I see, that explains your reactions.”

“Hmm, have I been acting strangely?” He asks in concern.

“Yeah. I mean, I’m also a church orphan, so worrying about how I’ll react to the kids is a little odd.”

“You did! Ah, everything makes sense in that case. I apologize for how I acted.”

“It’s fine, I just presumed that me being an orphan would have been told.”

“Hmm, yes, I did find the lack of information odd. The last saint had much more information about them given out. I take it that was done without your order then?”

“Yeah.” I sighed. Man, I really have been sighing a lot lately. “I mean, I don’t really care that much. It just feels off, like they’re trying to hide something.” I casually say.

It doesn’t seem like everyone else thought it was a casual statement though. “Did you have any enemies?” Melly asks.

“I mean, I don’t think anyone really liked me.” I say. When I saw everyone looking concerned, I continued. “I mean, I barely interacted with anyone in the first place. Most people are probably indifferent to me. Though, I guess people would have more reasons to dislike me, since I did make it so their preferred candidates didn’t win.” I shrugged. “Whatever.”

“Elizabeth.” Gregory calls. “While you appear to be unconcerned for now, should you ever require assistance, we shall gladly assist you.”

“Thanks. Ah, it seems that Jesica has already got our food and is now waiting for us. I’ll talk to you later, Mr. Barith.”

“I shall. While I was initially concerned about you eating with the children, I’m relieved to know that it’ll be fine. Please enjoy your meal, Saintess and friends.”

I waved goodbye as we headed over to eat with the kids.

“Took you long enough.” Jesica complained.

“It sounds like you missed me.” I teased.

“Not really.” She says while turning away.

“I see. I guess you don’t want to hear about the troll either.”

“No! I want to know!” She exclaims.

“Hmm, I didn’t hear you.” I smile.

“Mm. I missed you, big sis, please tell us about the troll.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll tell everyone about the fight after we eat.” I say as I pat her head. I’m starting to understand why the older kids kept teasing us.

“Big bully.” She pouted. I barely held my laugh.

As we were eating, I looked around to see what everyone else was eating. Odd. “Everyone’s eating the same things.” I comment.

“Yeah?” Jesica responds. “Making something different would be a lot of work.”

“I mean, back at my church, while the higher ups ate the same food, they usually added extra toppings and stuff to it. I’m just surprised that they aren’t.”

“What sort of things did they add?”

“Various things, but the most common was this weird leaf that they sprinkled some spices on top of. I will admit that the one time I tried it, it did taste pretty good.”

“Huh, I’ve never seen that.” She shrugs.

“Could it perhaps have been a leita leaf? They are fairly common in the capital.” Gregory suggests.

“Maybe. I guess I’ll just have to ask when I get back.”

Nothing else really happened while we were eating, as the kids have been taught proper table manners. All I did was remind the kids to eat all of their food. It was funny to see them scramble to eat once I told them that only those that ate everything would be allowed to hear the story.

After we finished eating, and the kids took care of the dishes, we met up in one of the church’s miscellaneous rooms and sat on the floor. There, I was asked. “Did you really fight a troll?”

“Of course. And, because of my promise to Jesica, I’m going to tell you about how the battle went.” I say, receiving cheers. They also cheered on Jesica.

“See! I told you!” She bragged, though I did notice how embarrassed she was getting everyone's attention.

“Come here Jesica.” I say, patting my lap.

“Do I have to?” She pouted, but she still sat on my lap.

“Eli.” Melly calls. “Can I tell the story? I’ll make sure that it’s exciting.” She asks with a confident smile.

“Sure, I was planning on asking you for help anyway, you are really good at telling stories.” I compliment.

“Of course! I grew up listening to these types of stories, I made sure to pick up some good tricks.”

And so, Melly started the story of how we fought the troll.

“We found the troll in a valley, appearing from the nearby forest like a guardian protecting the valley’s treasures. The troll, noticing us trying to plunder its treasure, let out a ferocious roar as its eyes filled with rage.” Melly described.

She told them how the troll charged at us and how the Hero dispelled everyone's fear and how everyone tried to halt its advance. She told the story as if it was one of the epic tales you hear from bards. My words couldn’t hold a candle to how she described the battle. As I looked at the kids’ engrossed faces and sparkling eyes, I felt glad that Melly followed me here and volunteered to tell the story. She was even nice enough to leave out my mistakes! Honestly, even I got lost in her tale. And, despite making it seem like we had the upper hand the entire time, you could still tell how difficult the fight was.

As I sat there listening, I started to actually feel like a hero. Before, I basically felt like an adventurer. I kept thinking that it would be a while before we could truly be called heroes. But now, now I can feel how grand our battle actually was. Man, I’m really looking forward to the future tales we’ll create now.

“And with one final, mighty swing, I severed the troll’s head, declaring our victory!” Melly finished, receiving cheers from everyone, including a few priests that came to check on us before getting engrossed as well.

“I guess you are pretty cool.” Jesica whispered, likely not intending for me to hear her. I gave her a hug in response, to her embarrassment.

Everyone kept excitedly talking about the fight, asking Melly, Rapunzel, Gregory, and I various questions about the battle.

A few hours later, everyone finally calmed down. We decided that it was time for us to leave, as my friends were getting burnt out by the kids’ excitement. While the kids complained, we were able to leave without any problems.

Even Jesica was openly sad that I had to leave. “You’re leaving?” She asked.

“Yeah, we still have other stuff to do. What, are you sad that I’m leaving?” I teased.

“Yeah. I’m going to miss you.” She said, not even trying to hide how sad she is.

I kneel down and pat her head. “Don’t worry, I’m going to come here at least one more time before I leave.” I comfort.

“Really!” She asks. I noticed that her eyes were a bit red. I guess I had gotten closer to her than I thought.

“Of course.” I promise.

As we were leaving, the kids lined up at the gate to send us off as they waved goodbye. “Remember to come visit us with more stories.” They shouted.

After we were out of sight, I asked. “So, how was it?”

“I had fun, but I don’t know how you dealt with this everyday.” Melly said.

“Yeah, despite not being the kids’ focus, they still tired me out.” Rapunzel added.

“I agree, I never realized how much energy children contained. I am truly glad I used the strength potion, I would not have been able to handle this without it. I do not know how you managed to deal with even more children without it. Did you use your buffs?” Gregory asked.

“You see, I didn’t.” I answered.

“What?” Melly asked, confused.

“I spent most of my time studying in the library. I only occasionally took care of the kids. That was mainly handled by the other older kids.” I admit.

“How are you so good at it then?”

“Before I became obsessed with magic, I was just like them, so I guess I just learned some tricks from observing my big kids. But yeah, I only dealt with kids in moderation. Besides, I was a healer, so the kids never really bothered me.”

“Haa, your ability must just be a talent then.” Melly sighed. “Though, I’m surprised at how much I learned from this. It was definitely a worthwhile experience.” She finished with a smile.

“I’m glad you had fun. That’s all I really hoped for.”

“Yeah, I had fun, but it’s really not for me.” Rapunzel said.

“I agree with Rapunzel, It was an entertaining experience, but I do not wish to repeat this often.” Gregory agreed.

“Yeah, I agree. Though, I will admit that I was having more fun than usual. I also plan on spending the rest of my time here with them, though, so if you ever want to join, feel free to.”

“Is that your plan for when we enter towns from now on?” Melly asks.

“No no no, I don’t plan on doing this regularly, I just feel like it for now.”

“If you say so.” She shrugged. “Remember, your breaks are your own, so you can do whatever you feel like during them.”

We soon returned to the inn, before separating to do our own things. I spent the time until dinner learning more preMilo spells. I’m looking forward to getting the spells from the church.

Soon it was time for dinner. While eating with the kids was fun, the Hero’s cooking is still my favorite. After we finished eating, everyone decided to talk about how their day went.

“So Hansen, how’d getting the spirit go?” I asked.

“The spirit doesn’t currently have anything they want. So despite being willing, we haven’t entered a contract.”

“I see, so I take it you’ll be busy tomorrow?”

“No. I plan on joining you tomorrow, should you be heading to the church.”

“That’s the plan, glad to have you.” I thanked. Hmm, “Hey, is the spirit dangerous? Or could it observe your situation without being summoned?”

“Do you plan on bringing them to the church?” Melly asked?

“Sure, as long as there is no risk to the kids.”

“Hmm, that is an interesting idea. I’ll talk to them tomorrow, maybe your idea will work.” He said after thinking about it.

“Sounds like a plan.”

“Speaking of the church, did you guys know how good Eli is at controlling the flow of the field?” Melly asked.

“Hmm, how so?" The Hero asked, amused. Yeah, he definitely knows something.

Melly, with assistance from Gregory and Rapunzel, then spent the next several minutes describing how well I understood how much the kids had the ball and how to perfectly pass it around to equalize everyone’s fun, how I could balance my ability to make it always a bit of a challenge to steal the ball from me without letting it be to hard, and so on.

While I could tell what they were describing, I felt that they were just exaggerating. That is, until the Hero spoke up.

“I see. It took you long enough to realize how talented Elizabeth is in this field. She’s been subtly guiding most of our battles since we started fighting together. You just didn’t notice because the only enemy that was a challenge was the troll, but she spent most of her time experimenting on Melly while using a mana potion, so she hasn’t really had the opportunity to display her talents.”

“I see.” Melly responds before taking her time to think about what the Hero said. “Huh, you’re right.” She eventually says. “I never really noticed because we never really needed the help, but she has been practicing giving us the buffs we’ll need when we would need them. I’m sorry for not truly noticing your talents and effort until now, Eli.” She apologized.

“It’s fine, I didn’t really notice my own talent either.” I say in embarrassment. I’m glad my training is paying off!

“I’m looking forward to tomorrow.” Hansen added.

After talking for a bit more, as everyone started to get up to get ready for bed, I asked. “By the way, what have you been doing, Mr. Roosevelt?”

“Ah, I was hoping that you wouldn’t notice." The Hero laughed.

“So? What’s your mysterious plan?”

“You see, it won’t be a secret if I tell you.” He says, pretending to look pained.

“Ah, but you see, if you just whisper it to me, it will stay a secret.” I say, leaning towards him with my hand around my ear.

“I see that your time at the church is coming in handy. Okay.” He says with a smile, before leaning over and whispering into my ear. “It’s a secret.”

I can only shrug and pout to that. “But my plan was perfect. I was then going to whisper the plan to Melly, so she could whisper it to Rapunzel, and so on.”

“Wouldn’t it stop being a secret then?” He asks, amused.

“Yeah. No one would have said anything openly. They would have just spread a secret to each other. Besides, an open secret is still a secret.” I shrugged.

“Yes, but while it might still be a secret, it wouldn’t be a surprise.”

“Depending on your plan, it could still easily be a surprise anyway.”

“Maybe, but I’m fine with taking the guaranteed surprise.” He said before heading to his room.

I just shrugged and went to my room.