Chapter 74: Owen's Job
By the time I arrived in my room, the girls are already asleep. I don't waste any more time and go lie down on my bed. Almost immediately, I join them in the land of dreams.
…
A knock on our door wakes me up. I open my eyes and stretch my arms.
"Who is it?" I call out drowsily. Lohikaarmi has also been awakened. She sits up on her bed with a head of messy hair, so much so that it almost buries her horns.
A soft voice answers from the other side.
"It's Sister Melanie. I am here to tell you that breakfast is ready."
"Already?"
I look out of the window, but of course, I can't see through the colored panes, but there is barely any light out there.
"Yes, we need to save time for the morning prayers," Melanie says.
Ah, what a drag. Do I really need to pray for a Goddess that I respect with not a single piece of my heart? I look over to Astra, who is currently chewing on her own hair and giggling like an idiot. To think that I need to wake up this early to worship this girl…
"Alright. We will be right there," I say.
"Perfect."
Her footsteps disappear down the hall.
Faye is also rubbing her eyes now.
"What time is it?" She asks while sitting up.
I yawn and say, "I have no idea, but we have to get up for breakfast and the morning prayers."
"Oh, great, even more prayers."
There is not a hint of irony in her voice, even though it's a sentence that I would have thought to be sarcastic in any other context.
It looks like Faye did not sleep with her corset on, so now she is completely naked under her blanket. It doesn't seem she has noticed the fact, and the blanket is slowly falling down and revealing her front.
I snap my head away and clear my throat.
"F-Faye, your, um…"
She follows where my finger is pointing and looks down.
"Oh, oops," she chuckles awkwardly and pulls the blanket back up.
I look around for my coat, and then I get off my bed to get myself fully dressed. Lohikaarmi slept with her dress on since clothes to her are nothing more than a formality.
She gets up from her bed and says, "Good morning, Master."
"Good morning, Lohikaarmi. I will have to rely on you again to wake Astra up."
"Yes, Master."
…
A few minutes later, we are down in the lobby with Astra wearing a frown.
"Kris, you know my clothes are expensive this time," she says while rubbing her butt.
"I know, that's why I asked Lohikaarmi to lift up your dress before doing that."
Faye giggles.
"Or did you do that just to get a peek?" She says, still with some anger in her silvery voice.
"I assure you that was not my attention."
"Shame."
We walk into the dining hall. Logan and his friends are not here, but everyone else has already gathered around, including Sister Lydia, Sister Mia, and Bishop Cecilia.
There are a few loaves of bread on the table.
We grab the same seats as we had from yesterday. Owen, like last time, comes toward us.
"Mornin'," He says.
"Morning," I greet back.
Sister Melody walks into the dining hall holding two large bowls of a sauce of some sort and sets them down, asking us to pass them along.
I scoop out a spoonful onto each of our plates and hand them to the other side of the table.
I get a little taste. It's not bad. It feels a little bit like the berry stew I made on the first day. It could be from the same plant. I cut a piece of bread to go with it.
"Krissy, you are good at fighting, aren't you?" Owen asks while I eat.
Even he is calling me that, now?
"Somewhat," I say after swallowing my bite.
"Don't be humble. You knocked Logan out cold with one hit."
"Yeah, I guess you can say I'm pretty good."
Owen smiles.
"That's what I thought," he says, "And have you fought green ogres before?"
Weird question to ask in the morning.
"Yes, why?" I ask.
"Well, we get a free day today, so I am going to the Shrine of Crusaders. I was thinking I could bring you guys along if you are interested," Owen says.
"Oh yeah, that shrine you were talking about. You never explained to me what it is," I say.
Owen hammers his fist into his palm. "Right. You know about the Pitted Woods, yes?"
"Yeah."
"You know why it's called the Pitted Woods?" Owen asks.
"Because… it's filled with pits?"
"Exactly, but not any kind of pits. They are Ogre Pits."
"Ogre pits?"
"You know how ogres are supposed to be the reincarnation of evil sinners back to haunt the living, right?"
That's one hell of a sentence.
"Uh, yes," I say.
"These Pits scattered around Terradivina are where these ogres crawl out of. There just happens to be a great number of them densely packed in the Pitted Woods."
"So…" I gesture him to go on.
"So, in order to stop these endless hordes of ogres from gathering and posing a threat to the Holy Capital, the Church has established the Shrine of Crusaders. Their job is to exterminate these ogres before they can form big packs," Owen explains.
Oh, so that's what the flashing lights from the Pitted Woods were. People were constantly fighting in there.
"So you will be going to fight ogres today?" I ask.
Owen chuckles.
"Not me, no. I can't fight no ogres. That's not the only thing the shrine does. As you can imagine, killing endless waves of ogres is not the most lucrative business, so the shrine also has been using this thing called a Mission Board. People put things they want to be done on the board and give rewards for people who complete them. A small amount goes to the shrine in the process."
So it's like a union of freelancers, I see. Not that they are very lucrative, either, but I guess in a world during the very early stages of capitalism, it must be a great model.
"How much can you expect to get paid?" I ask.
"It depends on the day. Usually, a few copper slabs, maybe, but that's because I only do the easy things. Some of the rich guys with good gear can make up to a gold coin a day."
He empathizes his words at the end.
"Wow," I say.
To be honest, I have no idea if that's a lot of money or not, but it sounds impressive.
"So, are you guys going to come with me?" Owen asks.
I turn to Faye, whose opinion is really the only one I need.
"It could be interesting," she says.
"Alright, then," I say to Owen, "We will come with you."
"Perfect! You shouldn't have any trouble signing up at all with your clothes and servants," he says.
Funny how those are the only things I need.
"When will we be leaving?" I ask.
"Right after the prayers."
"Alright."
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