The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)-Chapter 622: Is misunderstanding part of the genre now?

"That’s fast," I took the quill and put my signature on the parchment too.

Honestly, Natha would probably laugh at this crude contract...no--Natha would only smile and pat my head in a ’good job for trying’ way; the laughing one would be Lesta and Eruha would tilt his head questioning his teaching because why would I make an impromptu contract like that.

Yeah...I probably should have made the contract beforehand, perusing it myself, and only given it to the Bishop after I was really, really sure, but hey--no time to waste! We were going to leave this place tomorrow and I had no idea if we would return.

Oh, whatever. It wasn’t like they were here, and I wasn’t really losing money. They would only sigh at my too-swift decision--what a bunch of J.

Still, I’d like to look like a proper professional. Ahem.

"Are you sure you don’t need to check with the other Templars?" I asked to make sure. I didn’t want more internal discord that made Valmeier unable to stay with his parents.

"Yes," the Bishop nodded. "I am sure the other would agree."

He straightened his back and made a serene expression like what he had shown me the first time we met. His eyes were clear and his smile gentle.

"Honestly, I was ready to fight for this mine because we do need the finance--especially for the new operation of watching the Church," he said, staring at the contract. "But you don’t give me any reason to fight."

Yeah; he did look tense at the start earlier.

"But...I almost cried," the Bishop closed his eyes and let out a sigh.

Huh?

"To think you care so much about the state of the Templars and your parents," the Bishop put his hands over his chest. "You don’t want greed to consume us and lead us astray; you even thought about restoring the church! I had thought you acted a bit too indifferent about your parents, but...it seems like you were just thinking about it in your own way."

What...what kind of misunderstanding is this?!

"Sir Valen had always been like this," Fatia suddenly chimed in, and I almost glared at her. "He is so very kind, Bishop. The Salamander also found a mine last year, and Sir Valen handed over the rights to our country because we were still devastated by the aftermath of the war."

"Oh, as expected!"

Wait, wait, wait--what is this?!

I turned toward Zarfa to ask for help, but she was pretending to be busily gathering her stationery while the corner of her lips was twitching.

"Do not worry, Sir Valen. I can assure you that no one here wants to fall into the trap of greed and join the other side," the Bishop shook his head. "But I thank you for reminding us of its danger."

"Yes, I should remind my mother to control the mine back home too," Fatia nodded. "We should not waste Sir Valen’s kindness."

"W-what are you talking about?" I frowned and pursed my lips. "It’s just that those mines’ profit is not significant to me! It’s just like pocket money, so I don’t need them!"

I tried to clear up the misunderstanding, but the Bishop and Fatia only smiled and nodded with a serene face--clearly still forming misunderstanding in their mind. Damn it.

"Zarfa!" I placed my hand over the parchment and turned toward the ’notary’.

"Pfft--yes--ahem," she cleared her throat and summoned her formal voice. "Please put your hand on the contract and infuse your mana."

The Bishop put his hand over the contract, and once we infused our mana there, the contract split into two--or rather, it duplicated; one attached to my hand, and another one to the Bishop.

"With this, the contract had finalized," Zarfa made a curtsy as a finale, and I immediately put the contract inside my storage ring because I didn’t want to prolong this meeting.

"Then, I will talk with the others and form a team to go to the mine," the Bishop said.

"Yes, I’ll be waiting in the yard," I replied quickly before pulling Zarfa away.

Gosh--I couldn’t stand more of their reverent gaze!

* * *

"Jade, I’m going out with Ignis for a bit, so you can stay here and play with your new friends, okay?"

The little boy, who had been cheerfully telling me about the new games he had been learning from the other children while having his jelly break, froze and widened his eyes. "Papa...Papa go without Jade?"

"Pfft--no, we’ll only go to visit this place Ignis found inside the mountain with the other priests," I patted the green head.

He was making such a dilemmatic expression that I couldn’t help but chuckle. He must have worried about parting with me, but also didn’t want to give up playing with his new friends. I did hear he was following the nuns’ teaching diligently, and was praised because he could already read a few words.

Thank Gods I taught him all three languages, huh?

"It will be boring for you, Jade, so just play with your friends," I stroked the green hair and put the jelly back in his mouth "If the class is over before I come back, just look for Zarfa and Aina."

I thought Jade would nod easily like usual, but he grabbed my arm and looked at me seriously. "Papa...Papa not go to enemy, right? Papa can’t go to enemy!"

Oh, geez!

"Of course not!" I pressed my lips in annoyance. It was all because they kept warning me, and now even my own child thought I was that reckless. "I told you we’re going inside the mountain around here, Jade--ask Ignis."

The Salamander simply hummed from my shoulder, but thankfully, it was enough for Jade. Only then did the little boy exhale in relief.

Damn. My own child trusted my contracted beast more than myself.

...perhaps I was truly the problem.

Anyway, the Bishop came pretty quickly, along with the oldest priest I saw yesterday and several younger members. All of their faces were bright, unlike the guarded one they sported the day before, and they became really, really polite. Pfft.

Since the Bishop said I didn’t need to be considerate about the movement, I told Ignis to lead us to the mountain closest to this mine. The path did not matter at this point; we climbed some cliffs and jumped to valleys, going through three adjacent mountains as quickly as possible. Thankfully, all of us knew how to cast heal and rejuvenation, so going with superhuman speed was not a problem.

At any rate, I wanted to come back before the barbeque party in the evening.

"There," Ignis flicked my shoulder and we all halted, walking to the solid stone cliff.

The burrow was deep in the mountain, and the only natural path was not accessible to a non-lizard, so we would have to create one. Ignis jumped from my shoulder and the Salamander grew to its original size in midair, blowing a burst of fire that put a hole in the side of the mountain.

Gracefully, the Salamander landed on that newly made hole and crawled inside, creating a smoky path from the evaporated stone.

"Don’t accidentally burn the mana stone away, okay?"

"I know that," Ignis grumbled before moving inside while we were waiting on the side of the cliff.

"Please wait until the fume completely disappears," I told the waiting Templars, since they looked as eager as Jade when we were going to a confectionary. "It is still dangerous now."

To cool down the scorching path, I sent water inside, before blowing out the fume with the wind. Afterward, I summoned the roots around the mountain to support the path’s structure so it wouldn’t collapse.

"That was a secret," I told the Bishop and the other priests, placing my finger on my lips. They obediently nodded despite knowing what I used was not your regular elementalist magic--which was rather funny. ƒreewebɳovel.com

[I’m done]

"Ah, it seems like my Salamander has arrived at the mine."

We waited for a bit before I told them they could enter. I said I would wait outside to enjoy the view, but after they left, I took a deep breath and started purifying the area. They could pretend I was just using elemental magic before, but for this one, they wouldn’t be able to, so I’d rather do it without them knowing.

Ah...as I thought, the mana here was almost as delicious as the one in the Realm of Nature--perhaps on par with the Lair. I would take a little bit for Jade and return the rest to the environment.

[We’re coming out]

As if knowing what I was doing, Ignis gave me a warning just in time, so I could wrap everything up and condense the purified mana I wanted to give to Jade into marble-size.

"How is it?" I asked them with a wide smile.

"Excellent, Sir Valen. Even just excavating the one already in the cavern would provide enough support," the Bishop replied with an even wider smile. "You don’t have to worry about us digging too much and damaging the environment."

"I’m glad," I nodded. "Then, shall we go back for now? My companions prepare a grill party."

"Fire," Ignis hissed on my shoulder. "Food cooked with direct fire is good."

Pfft--so this lizard wasn’t only eating rocks.

"Yes, let us return to celebrate," the Bishop nodded.

With that cheerful remark, we returned to the village where a small party was just about to be started. The food was there, we could smell it before seeing it, and the only thing left was us. Aina, Zarfa, and Jade cheered when they saw us--no, not because we came back safely, but because the feast could finally be started.

"Papa!"

Oh well, at least Jade was happy because of me instead of the food.

And so, we had a little party, which became a celebratory event, and we got a bit closer to the other residents. We ate and talked until we were too sleepy to continue, and went to bed.

See? There were too many things to do for me to touch that puzzle box!