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A stream of believers was pouring out of the entrance to the Temple of Savaiv.

These were the people who gathered at the temple today to catch even a glimpse of the Holy Maiden from afar and to hear her sermon delivered in that lovely voice of hers.

The Holy Maiden’s sermon had ended, and while they would normally look satisfied, today their expressions were different from usual.

To be sure, some were smiling contentedly as usual. Others were moved to tears by the words of God spoken by the Holy Maiden” And among them were those captivated by the Holy Maiden’s beauty, their faces flushed with a feverish glow. But the majority were those tilting their heads in puzzlement.

“Say, didn’t the Holy Maiden seem… a little off today?”
“Yeah. She’s usually so stern and dignified, but today, well, how should I put it…”
“…Like, strangely alluring? L-like… her occasional sighs had a certain allure to them…”
“Y-yeah! Exactly! The usual dignified Holy Maiden is great, but the way she is today is also not bad…”
“Y-yeah. Today’s Holy Maiden is pretty good too. But for her to make that kind of expression…did she find a man?”
“Well, the Holy Maiden is a normal woman too, and she’s of age at that, so it wouldn’t be strange if she had a man she fancied. I don’t know who he is, but I’m dead jealous.”
“Come to think of it, speaking of the Holy Maiden’s’ partner, rumor has it…”
“Yeah, the Free Knight, right? He’d definitely be a good match for the Holy Maiden.”
“They’re both handsome and beautiful. Picture perfect, you might say…”

Exchanging such wild speculations, they left the Temple of Savaiv.

.

Having finished her sermon, Calcedonia returned to the reception room where her grandfather and Tatsumi were likely waiting.

Tatsumi stared at Calcedonia’s face as she entered the room after knocking, his face turning bright red.

The moment he saw her face, the words Giuseppe had spoken earlier—*“If possible, I’d like you to actually become that girl’s husband.”*—came flooding back to him.

“Is something wrong, Master?”
“Ah, ah, no, n-nothing, y-yeah.”

Tatsumi said, nodding awkwardly. Seeing his reaction, Giuseppe wore an expression like a child who had successfully pulled off a prank.

“Well then, now that Calcedonia is back, let me explain what lies ahead for you, my son.”

Hearing about his future, Tatsumi’s expression suddenly shifted to one of realization.

Indeed, he had no lingering attachments to his former world. Even if told he could never return, while he might feel a slight pang of homesickness, it wasn’t enough to leave him deeply disheartened.

That meant Tatsumi would have to make a life for himself in this world from now on.

To do that, he would need to find a way to earn a living—in other words, he would need to find a job.

But would there really be any work available in this world for someone like him, a high school dropout? As he pondered this, Tatsumi’s expression darkened slightly.

Perhaps sensing his anxiety, Giuseppe began by addressing that very point.

“I can pretty much guess what you’re worried about, my son, but we’ll take care of your future livelihood.”
“You don’t need to worry about anything, Master. Not even your living expenses.”
“Eh…?”
“Why are you so surprised? It’s only natural for us to do this,no? After all, we invited you here of our own accord. We were prepared for this from the very beginning.”

Ho ho ho, Giuseppe continued, laughing cheerfully.

“Besides, you know almost nothing about this world, my son. The kind of job you can do is bound to be limited. Well, since we can converse like this, I suppose it’s not as if you’ll be completely unable to find work.”

Hearing that, Tatsumi realized—only now—that he was having perfectly normal conversations with Calcedonia and Giuseppe, and in a language other than Japanese at that.

Finding this strange, he asked about it, and it turned out that a spell enabling language comprehension had apparently been incorporated into the summoning ritual. However, since he could only understand spoken language, he would have to study reading and writing from scratch.

Incidentally, the language Tatsumi and the others were using was a common tongue known as “Continental Trade Language,” spoken throughout the Zoisalicht Continent. And if he concentrated, he could speak Japanese clearly in Japanese. It felt just like consciously switching between the two languages he’d already learned.

“…If only I could read and write as well…”
“I-I’m sorry. I simply performed the ritual faithfully based on historical records and texts… so it was impossible to make any fine adjustments…”

Calcedonia said, looking dejected.

“N-no, no, I wasn’t blaming you, Chiko…”

Though he made that excuse to Calcedonia, deep down Tatsumi was secretly hoping, *“Maybe there are other standard ability bonuses that come with being transported to another world.”*

“Well, as I said earlier, I’d be delighted if you were to become Calcedonia’s husband.”
“G-Grandfather!?”

Caledonia, who had been sitting next to Giuseppe, let out a complex cry that sounded both troubled and, in a way, pleased. Then, her already beautiful face flushed even redder as she kept glancing back and forth between Giuseppe and Tatsumi.

“To tell you the truth, this girl is already practically past her prime. I hate to say it, but half the blame for that lies with you, my son.”

.
According to Giuseppe, in this world—and particularly in the Kingdom of Largovere, where Tatsumi and the others currently reside—people are considered adults at sixteen, and it is common to start a family by the age of twenty.

Caledonia is currently nineteen. While she isn’t exactly considered past her prime by society’s standards, she is at an age where she really needs to find a partner soon..

“We’ve had plenty of marriage proposals for her so far, but she’s turned them all down. And mind you, some of them were from royalty with a claim to the throne, not just high-ranking nobles.”

Though he spoke with a hint of dissatisfaction, the look on Giuseppe’s face as he watched his granddaughter was gentle. It was clear he was a grandfather who valued his granddaughter’s romantic feelings over a political marriage.

“W-wow, to be proposed to by royalty… You’re something else, Chiiko. Well, considering how beautiful you are, I suppose it’s only natural.”

With her striking beauty, high magical prowess, and the fact that—even as an adopted daughter—she was related to the Supreme Pontiff of the Temple of Savaiv, it would be strange if she didn’t have any marriage proposals.

Tatsumi didn’t know how mages were perceived in this world, but he vaguely thought that having high magical prowess was certainly better than having low.

As he thought this and looked at Calcedonia again, she was, for some reason, holding both hands to her bright red cheeks, her eyes wide open as she stared intently at him.

“Ho ho ho, I see. You must be quite accustomed to dealing with women, aren’t you? Just now, you complimented a woman with such ease. Could it be that you were a pimp in your world?”
“A pimp!? N-no way… I’ve never even dated a girl before…”
“Hoh? In that case, you must be a natural-born womanizer.”

Tatsumi shook his head vigorously from side to side at Giuseppe’s sly, meaningful smile.

“Ho ho ho, just kidding. Despite appearances, given my line of work, I consider myself to have a decent eye for people.”

Even though they’d summoned him to this world unilaterally, if the person they’d summoned turned out to be too selfish or a complete villain, Giuseppe and the other clergy wouldn’t necessarily take him in—they’d probably just kick him out with nothing but the clothes on his back.

“For now, let’s just say your status here is that of a junior priest at this temple. Even as a low-ranking priest, you’ll be able to live in this temple and be provided with meals. Of course, you’ll have to fulfill your duties as a priest. Naturally, if there’s some other job you’d like to do, you’re free to take that work as well. After all, there are priests here who juggle their family business with their priestly duties.”

Even if he said so, Tatsumi couldn’t possibly think of any job in this world that he’d actually want to do.

For now, as Giuseppe said, he should probably do some menial work at the temple while exploring the city, looking for a job he might be able to handle.

As a Japanese person with little faith, Tatsumi couldn’t imagine himself serving as a priest for the rest of his life. Since he’ll eventually end up in another line of work, he needs to first find out what kinds of jobs are available and look for one that suits him.

Just as Tatsumi was thinking he might as well stay at this temple and be a burden until he found something, Calcedonia—who had been blushing bright red and silent until then—finally snapped out of it.

“N-no!! As I said earlier, even if you don’t work, Master, I’ll support you myself!! Believe it or not, I actually have a decent income.”

Chest puffed out proudly, Calcedonia declared with absolute confidence. But for Tatsumi, the idea of simply accepting her offer was too much to bear.

“N-no, that’s going a bit too far… I don’t want to be a kept man…”

Ignoring Tatsumi’s protest, Calcedonia turned back to her grandfather and casually dropped a bombshell.

“Grandfather. I intend to leave the temple and live with my master from now on.”

.

Calcedonia suddenly declared their future cohabitation.

“Hmm, that is a fine idea. Living together allows one to see both the good and the bad in each other, after all. It would be best to live together for a while first, and then decide whether to truly enter into marriage. Now then, do you have a place in mind for the two of you to live? From the way you speak, I gather you’ve already made preparations?”
“Yes. There is a member of our congregation who deals in real estate, so I could consult with…”
“W-wait a minute!!”

Feeling left behind as the conversation raced ahead, Tatsumi frantically called out to stop them.

“E-excuse me, Giuseppe-san!! Is it really okay for you to just agree so readily when your granddaughter suddenly announces she’s going to live with a man she’s just met!?”

Normally, if a daughter—or in this case, a granddaughter—suddenly announced she was going to live with a man, wouldn’t a father be the one to object?

However, in stark contrast to the flustered Tatsumi, the two of them just looked at him with blank expressions.

“What are you talking about, son? I’ve been calling you ‘My Son’ ever since we first met, haven’t I? That means I’ve already accepted you as Calcie’s husband. Besides, haven’t I been trying to bring you and Calcie together ever since we met?”
“Eh… w-well, that’s true… b-but even so, why do you accept me so fully when we’ve only just met?”
“I’ve been hearing about you from Calcie for a long time now. Honestly, it doesn’t feel like we’re meeting for the first time. To begin with…”

Giuseppe watched Tatsumi’s flustered face and, with a playful smile, deftly raised just one eyebrow.

Ever since taking Calcedonia in as his adopted daughter, he’d heard stories about Tatsumi almost every day.

Now that he’d actually met Tatsumi in person and exchanged words with him, Giuseppe had concluded that Tatsumi was exactly the person Calcedonia had described.

After all, if Tatsumi had any ill intentions—if he merely intended to use Calcedonia or bring misfortune upon her—he wouldn’t have voluntarily put a hold on the marriage talks between himself and Calcedonia.

That alone was enough to suggest that Tatsumi was a sincere person.

“……You and Calcie had been living together in the other world, no?”
“N-no, that’s…!? Ch-Chiiko was a cockatiel over there—she definitely wasn’t this beautiful, with such great proportions, and a slightly older woman who’s exactly my type!!”

In his panic, Tatsumi blurts out things he shouldn’t have.

Once again, Calcedonia blushes happily, surprised yet pleased by Tatsumi’s offhand compliment.

Watching the two of them like this, Giuseppe—who, as the Supreme Pontiff of the Savaiv, the guardian deity of marriage, had officiated at countless weddings—was already convinced at that moment that they would become a happily married couple in the future. In his heart, he prayed that the Savaiv would bestow his blessings upon these two youngsters.