The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)-Chapter 620: Occasional rest has a lot of benefits

"Hmm...what are you going to do during this ’free time’?" I asked the excited girls, but they only looked at me blankly.

"Dunno!"

And laughed cheerfully.

"We just happy to not be on the road for a bit," Zarfa shrugged.

"Mm, mm--no matter how nice I try to make the carriage run, it will never be as smooth as a car," Aina sighed. "Do you know how envious I was of the flying carriage in the Demon Realm?"

Well...to be fair, only the wealthy could have enough resources to operate a flying carriage, but at least Zarfa should be able to have one. I nudged her and smirked. "Hey, maybe once the Goddess is back, the relationship between the realms could be repaired and it will be possible to import tech."

Aina gasped and clasped her hands. "Motivation!"

Zarfa laughed and leaned back on her arm chair. "Ah...I only want to roll around in bed. Or sunbathe. Sunbathe seemed nice. The air is nice around here."

Hmm...what should I do, then? Jin and Ian said they were going to train with the Templars, while Fatia already made an appointment with the librarian. Should I just roll around and gossip with the girls? But I felt guilty about resting when I was just returned days of vacation in the Castle.

Should I take care of the puzzle box? Ugh...it felt like such a drain on my brain. Maybe I should join the training too with the boys--I thought as I procrastinated.

"Papa!"

And then my little boy called out to me. Oh, a good distraction. Jade was on his tip-toe in front of the window looking outside.

"What is it, Jade?"

"Papa! Look, children!"

I peeked outside the window, which was facing a yard that looked like an assembly point I saw yesterday. There, a group of dozen or so children were doing what I presumed to be a morning exercise. They all wore the same beige tunic, like an acolyte trainee. Two nuns with the same beige uniform and a yellow streak along the hem accompanied them, looking like a pair of teachers.

Oh, maybe they were teachers. The children were of various ages, from toddlers as big as Jade to pre-teenagers, around elementary school age.

"Oh, there are quite a few," I muttered while picking up Jade so he could watch from a higher position. It wasn’t apparent yesterday since everyone seemed to be told to stay inside their home when we arrived. I looked at Renna, who could be said to be a native. "Are they the children born in the settlement?"

"Some are," Renna looked out from a different window beside ours. "Most of them are orphans who were brought here as the next generation of Templars, like me."

"Ah..."

"Oh, we are fine," she added quickly when I made a regrettful expression. "We get food, education, and a sense of purpose. It’s better than being sold out there or being adopted as a plaything."

Was there a case of people going so far as adopting children to be used as...toys? What kind of inhumane shit did people come to these days?

"Is there...a lot?" I asked carefully, but also curiously.

"Hmm...the lucky one might find a real loving family," Renna smiled deeply. "About one in every thousand, I guess?"

"Oh..."

Was that a lot or not? I had no idea. But the fact that there was only one among a thousand orphans that manage to find love--something that should be their birthright--was saddening.

Ah. But then again, even kids who weren’t orphans didn’t always receive love from their parents. I laughed inwardly, and probably the bitterness sipping out because Renna added with a smile.

"It’s not like we’re doing something difficult too," she said. "Not everyone has the aptidute to become an active agent, but even the most inept should be able to help around and take care of the settlement at least, right?"

I guess as long as they are shown love and care..."

"Well...it’s not perfect and I can’t say it’s unconditional, but I think it’s enough."

"That’s fair," I nodded.

Even if it was done with good intentions, there was a limit to someone loving and caring about kids who weren’t their own blood, especially with limited hands on deck. Them trying to provide some form of comfort and home for these children was better than letting them be sold or abandoned.

In the first place, it didn’t make sense to expect utopian result in a place that had lost its own deity. No--in a place that had gotten rid of its own deity.

"Papa! Papa! Can Jade go and give candy?" Jade looked at me with sparkling eyes. It had been a while since Jade played with other children, and even longer since he played candy-boy.

But different places had different rule. Especially for something like candy, permission from the caretaker was important. Even more for a strict establishment like a religious community.

So, once again, I turned to the native. "Can he?"

"I’ll ask the Sisters first," Renna replied and immediately went out to the yard. See? Even the native had to ask first.

We watched Renna talk to the nuns, and Jade was fidgeting nervously. When Renna turned and made an okay sign, I unconsciously let out a breath of relief.

"Oh, it seems like you can," I put Jade down and handed over a paperbag full of candy. "Here you go."

With a shriek and a giggle, Jade ran outside while hugging the paper bag. He stopped in front of Renna and reached out with one hand so the girl could guide him to the children--naturally, introducing him too.

"New babysitter! Yaay!"

I laughed alongside Zarfa, who whispered cautiously afterward. "You’re not giving them the candy from the Demon Realm, right?"

"Of course not," I rolled my eyes. I knew that candy tasted different in a different realm, and I didn’t want to risk unnecessary accidents. "I bought that when we went shopping before the auction."

"Oh, forget about that!"

Since it was interesting, we went to the porch to watch Jade made friends with human children. As usual, candy was the way to peace and friendship, a great bribe to take someone into a group. It wasn’t a free time for the children, so they had to save the candy for later, and Jade ended up joining the morning exercise with the rest of them.

"Oh, so peaceful," Zarfa, who was already had a beach chair somehow on the porch and was lying on it, exhaled slowly. "Not at all looking like we’re trying to fight the final boss."

The final boss being the church? Well...it wasn’t even clear whether we would fight the church or not. Besides, the one who should face the final boss was the Hero, so extras like us should just relax.

"It’s a filler episode," I said, taking a seat on a patio chair I smuggled from the Castle.

Zarfa laughed and clapped at the filler episode thing. But talking about filler episodes wouldn’t be complete without a party of some sort, right?

Looking at the yard that looked like a plaza, I thought about something. "Hmm...should we have a barbeque party or something?"

Aina gasped and gripped my chair in concern. "With the ingredients you brought?"

Wow, she looked more worried about using up the ingredients than the talk about infiltrating the church.

"Don’t worry, I bring more this time," I patted her head. "I was thinking of doing it from the start to curry some favor for cooperation, but they are more cooperative than I initially thought."

"That’s because we brought all of those provisions from the last city," Zarfa smirked.

"Ho ho..."

"I told you--"

"Money is the best!"

We all whisper in unison before laughing, and Aina seemed to be convinced that we would still have those quality ingredients when we go adventuring in the ruins later. "Then, I’ll go tell those grannies!" she said excitedly before running toward the kitchen.

"She’s so eager if it’s about food," Zarfa laughed and leaned back again, crossing her legs as if she was really on a beach. "I’m going to relax as planned though. What about you?"

"Hmm...should I go exloring for a bit?" I looked around the tall mountains surrounding us.

With how rich in mana this place was, I could look for a meditating place and purify the mana even more. Jade would be able to eat something other than jelly and candy then. Also...

"Ignis, where are you?"

A flash of flame blazed on my shoulder, and Ignis’s shadowfire appeared. I held up my hand so the lizard crawled over there. "You must have been enjoying the place so much," I narrowed my eyes at the bright blue eyes. "You didn’t even return last night."

"Well, it’s not bad," the Salamander had an uninterested tone as usual. "It’s a lot of territory to cover."

Ignis said it nonchalantly, but it was apparent from the bright flickering flame that the salamander was having fun. After days of jungles, meadows, and rivers, of course this lizard would be happy being surrounded by non-flammable stuff.

At least...non-flammable for the non-salamander fire.

I stroked the cheerfully swayong flame and chuckled. "Anything interesting?"

"Not particularly," the Salamander scoffed but also flicking its tail around my wrist. "I didn’t find any rat at least."

"That’s reassuring."

It both means the place was still secured and Heraz was just that good. It seemed like there was only one entrance and one exit each, and the rest of the path found by Ignis only led to another chamber or a dead end.

"I found something though," the Salamander hummed. "Better than that plain stone from the last place."

"Huh?" Zarfa perked up and straightened her back. "Better than diamonds?"