“W-What happened…….”
Carol and Toslin were both moaning with the same hallowed out eyes they had back in Relton. It was as if they had become the zombies we just talked about.
“R-Rose, she……my butt, again……”
“Me too….. But this time…..it looked like a really big washboard, and she hit us…….it’s no good. I’m not going to be able to walk anymore today……”
“T-That……Rose-san?”
“M-My apologies…… I told them to take this opportunity and repent for the other sins they have committed, but there were unexpectedly more sins than I could have possibly imagined….. As a result, I fear we may have taken on a little too much for one time……”
Rose-san blushed as she apologized and shyly scratched her cheek. Uwa, what an extremely rare Rose-san. In the past six months I’ve seen Rose-san make all sorts of different expressions, but I can only think of three other times that she’s looked this cute. Especially with the way she’s turning red from shame. It really tickles my maternal instinct.
“Well, that’s just the way it had to be.”
Probably thinking the same thing I was, Saluena nodded her head once while stroking the top of Rose-san’s head.
“Yeah yeah. You did what you had to. If you’re guilty of other crimes, naturally your punishment would get worse, so Rose-san isn’t in the wrong here.”
“Eh? Why is Rose the one being comforted?”
“Uu, Rose should try tasting this pain too……”
“What you’re saying is nonsense. Priestesses can only exercise punishment against those tainted by sin. Rosa is as pure as freshly fallen snow, so why would she have to taste pain as well?”
Saluena wrapped her arm around Rose-san’s waist and pulled her close. She then opened her mouth and began whispering sweet words of love into her ear.
“You haven’t done anything wrong Rosa. Those two are the ones who are bad. There’s no need for your mind to weigh heavy on account of these two caterpillars.”
“Sally-oneesama…….”
“We’re caterpillars……..?”
Toslin and Carol are the bad ones, although you wouldn’t guess it from the way they’re crouching down on the ground and groaning.
“But well, now that Rose has beat my butt twice now, all of my sins should already be settled.”
“I hope so. If you two are going to be members of the Knights of Iris, then you need to carry the dignity and integrity necessary to be worthy of that name.”
“Yeah yeah, I’ll behave.”
“But I’ve always lived a life away from dignity, so does that mean I can’t join?”
Although unsteady, Carol managed to rise to her feet. But Saluena strongly denied Carol’s worry.
“That’s not the case. You certainly have the potential to be worthy as well.”
“Eh~, you’re lying. You just said it yourself Saluena. I’m a caterpillar? At best I can be a little polite.”
“Caterpillars might crawl through the dirt, but one day they will become butterflies and fly through the sky.”
“…….huh? What’s that? That’s not a thing.”
“No, it is. I was surprised too when I first heard it.”
“No way!? This is the biggest surprise of my whole life!”
“Quit being dramatic.”
Having recovered slightly, Toslin managed to rise to her feet as well and flicked Carol’s forehead.
“I expect you both to become graceful butterflies, elegantly flitting through the air.”
“Hmph, right. Well, I’ll try it. Don’t know if I’ll be able to do it though.”
As Carol answered, all of our gazes naturally turned towards Aronda-san. She had started talking to some of the other sisters when Rose-san took Toslin and Carol to the back room. She was now on her way back over, holding several pieces of parchment in her hand.
“So you’ve finished.”
“I’m sorry, we interrupted our discussion and made you wait.”
As I apologized, Aronda-san brought her hand to her mouth and began to giggle.
“It’s all right Iris-chan. After all, now I have a pretty good understanding of how you’ve spent these last six months.”
“Ah, yeah……..”
“You’ve been blessed with wonderful encounters, and as someone who has known you since you were young, I couldn’t be happier.”
An Onee-chan to all the children living in town. If someone like Aronda-san is pleased, then I’m happy as well. At least, I think that was a compliment.
“So then, where did we leave off?”
“We were talking about caterpillars and butterflies. I remember that much.”
“No you’re wrong!? We were talking about something having settled inside the ruins of the abandoned mine.”
“Right~, sorry sorry. Rose wouldn’t stop hitting my butt, so it all kind of spilled out of my head.”
“S-Sorry…….”
“She’s just joking Rose. There’s no need to mind it. This girl is always operating with the drawers wide open.”
“What was that!?”
“Yes yes. We’ll never be able to finish our discussion if we continue on like this, so let’s keep quiet over here~”
Sitting on a bench, I sat Carol on my lap. She protested at first saying I was treating her like a child, but my lap was so warm that she started dozing off after a moment.
“Aah, this is nice. It’s so soft and doesn’t hurt my butt. And, somehow…..fua, mya…….mya……”
“Yosh, Aronda-san, do it now.”
“Ah, yes. Um……so naturally we tried to investigate the disturbance when we got word of the rumors, but at this time of year, the roads were all closed due to the snow. There are also only a few adventurers in town at the moment. According to the guild, they’re still inexperienced, so I am worried about leaving it to them……”
“I saw some soldiers manning the gate, so why not ask them to handle things?”
Saluena crossed her arms, but Aronda-san solemnly shook her head.
“Those men have been were dispatched from the capitol Osnell in order to maintain security in the city and defend it from any monsters that might attack. So sending them out to investigate some ruins would fall out of their jurisdiction.”
“Indeed. So then…..you turn to Rosa.”
“Yes. Was it the will of the Goddess Illya that Priestess Rosalith, a warrior priestess, came to town at this time? So now that you know everything, will you accept our request?”
Aronda-san brought her hands together in prayer and formally asked Rose-san. There’s no way Rose-san would say no to something like that……
“Of course Priestess Aronda. If you tell me the people of this town are in need, there is no way I can leave them alone.”
Just as everyone had thought, Rose-san took Aronda-san’s hands and nodded her head.
“W-What happened…….”
Carol and Toslin were both moaning with the same hallowed out eyes they had back in Relton. It was as if they had become the zombies we just talked about.
“R-Rose, she……my butt, again……”
“Me too….. But this time…..it looked like a really big washboard, and she hit us…….it’s no good. I’m not going to be able to walk anymore today……”
“T-That……Rose-san?”
“M-My apologies…… I told them to take this opportunity and repent for the other sins they have committed, but there were unexpectedly more sins than I could have possibly imagined….. As a result, I fear we may have taken on a little too much for one time……”
Rose-san blushed as she apologized and shyly scratched her cheek. Uwa, what an extremely rare Rose-san. In the past six months I’ve seen Rose-san make all sorts of different expressions, but I can only think of three other times that she’s looked this cute. Especially with the way she’s turning red from shame. It really tickles my maternal instinct.
“Well, that’s just the way it had to be.”
Probably thinking the same thing I was, Saluena nodded her head once while stroking the top of Rose-san’s head.
“Yeah yeah. You did what you had to. If you’re guilty of other crimes, naturally your punishment would get worse, so Rose-san isn’t in the wrong here.”
“Eh? Why is Rose the one being comforted?”
“Uu, Rose should try tasting this pain too……”
“What you’re saying is nonsense. Priestesses can only exercise punishment against those tainted by sin. Rosa is as pure as freshly fallen snow, so why would she have to taste pain as well?”
Saluena wrapped her arm around Rose-san’s waist and pulled her close. She then opened her mouth and began whispering sweet words of love into her ear.
“You haven’t done anything wrong Rosa. Those two are the ones who are bad. There’s no need for your mind to weigh heavy on account of these two caterpillars.”
“Sally-oneesama…….”
“We’re caterpillars……..?”
Toslin and Carol are the bad ones, although you wouldn’t guess it from the way they’re crouching down on the ground and groaning.
“But well, now that Rose has beat my butt twice now, all of my sins should already be settled.”
“I hope so. If you two are going to be members of the Knights of Iris, then you need to carry the dignity and integrity necessary to be worthy of that name.”
“Yeah yeah, I’ll behave.”
“But I’ve always lived a life away from dignity, so does that mean I can’t join?”
Although unsteady, Carol managed to rise to her feet. But Saluena strongly denied Carol’s worry.
“That’s not the case. You certainly have the potential to be worthy as well.”
“Eh~, you’re lying. You just said it yourself Saluena. I’m a caterpillar? At best I can be a little polite.”
“Caterpillars might crawl through the dirt, but one day they will become butterflies and fly through the sky.”
“…….huh? What’s that? That’s not a thing.”
“No, it is. I was surprised too when I first heard it.”
“No way!? This is the biggest surprise of my whole life!”
“Quit being dramatic.”
Having recovered slightly, Toslin managed to rise to her feet as well and flicked Carol’s forehead.
“I expect you both to become graceful butterflies, elegantly flitting through the air.”
“Hmph, right. Well, I’ll try it. Don’t know if I’ll be able to do it though.”
As Carol answered, all of our gazes naturally turned towards Aronda-san. She had started talking to some of the other sisters when Rose-san took Toslin and Carol to the back room. She was now on her way back over, holding several pieces of parchment in her hand.
“So you’ve finished.”
“I’m sorry, we interrupted our discussion and made you wait.”
As I apologized, Aronda-san brought her hand to her mouth and began to giggle.
“It’s all right Iris-chan. After all, now I have a pretty good understanding of how you’ve spent these last six months.”
“Ah, yeah……..”
“You’ve been blessed with wonderful encounters, and as someone who has known you since you were young, I couldn’t be happier.”
An Onee-chan to all the children living in town. If someone like Aronda-san is pleased, then I’m happy as well. At least, I think that was a compliment.
“So then, where did we leave off?”
“We were talking about caterpillars and butterflies. I remember that much.”
“No you’re wrong!? We were talking about something having settled inside the ruins of the abandoned mine.”
“Right~, sorry sorry. Rose wouldn’t stop hitting my butt, so it all kind of spilled out of my head.”
“S-Sorry…….”
“She’s just joking Rose. There’s no need to mind it. This girl is always operating with the drawers wide open.”
“What was that!?”
“Yes yes. We’ll never be able to finish our discussion if we continue on like this, so let’s keep quiet over here~”
Sitting on a bench, I sat Carol on my lap. She protested at first saying I was treating her like a child, but my lap was so warm that she started dozing off after a moment.
“Aah, this is nice. It’s so soft and doesn’t hurt my butt. And, somehow…..fua, mya…….mya……”
“Yosh, Aronda-san, do it now.”
“Ah, yes. Um……so naturally we tried to investigate the disturbance when we got word of the rumors, but at this time of year, the roads were all closed due to the snow. There are also only a few adventurers in town at the moment. According to the guild, they’re still inexperienced, so I am worried about leaving it to them……”
“I saw some soldiers manning the gate, so why not ask them to handle things?”
Saluena crossed her arms, but Aronda-san solemnly shook her head.
“Those men have been were dispatched from the capitol Osnell in order to maintain security in the city and defend it from any monsters that might attack. So sending them out to investigate some ruins would fall out of their jurisdiction.”
“Indeed. So then…..you turn to Rosa.”
“Yes. Was it the will of the Goddess Illya that Priestess Rosalith, a warrior priestess, came to town at this time? So now that you know everything, will you accept our request?”
Aronda-san brought her hands together in prayer and formally asked Rose-san. There’s no way Rose-san would say no to something like that……
“Of course Priestess Aronda. If you tell me the people of this town are in need, there is no way I can leave them alone.”
Just as everyone had thought, Rose-san took Aronda-san’s hands and nodded her head.
