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Tatsumi tied bundles of firewood to the carrying basket in the woodpile and made countless trips back and forth between the backyard and the kitchen.

Even after tying as much firewood to the basket as it could hold, he couldn’t finish carrying it all in just two or three trips, given how much he’d split that morning.

Tatsumi had already made more than ten trips back and forth between the backyard and the kitchen, but for some reason, he wasn’t as tired as he’d expected.

Moreover, even though he was tying firewood to the backpack until it was at its limit and hoisting it onto his back, it didn’t feel as heavy as he’d imagined either.

He’d had a vague feeling about it while splitting firewood that morning, but it seemed his stamina and physical strength had indeed increased.

“Could this be… *that*? Is it really… *that*?”

The so-called “isekai bonus,” often seen in novels and stories about being transported to another world. It’s that phenomenon where, after being transported to another world, one’s physical abilities become far superior to what they were before.

Giuseppe and Calcedonia had told him he had absolutely no mana. There was likely no lie in those words. However, perhaps the “isekai bonus” and mana are two separate things.

An increase in physical ability not dependent on mana or magic. If that’s the case, it wouldn’t be surprising if even mages like Giuseppe and Calcedonia couldn’t detect it.

*“This is really starting to feel like a typical isekai story,”* Tatsumi thought to himself, feeling a giddy sense of excitement. Naturally, his work carrying firewood became much faster.

The junior priests working in the kitchen and the priests passing by stared at Tatsumi with curious looks as he loaded his backpack with a mountain of firewood and made repeated trips between the backyard and the kitchen with a light step.

“…You’re something else. Isn’t that heavy?”

A priest with brown hair and eyes of the same color, who had been working in the kitchen, looked at Tatsumi—who had loaded the backpack to its maximum capacity—and said in a tone of astonishment.

“It’s not like I don’t feel the weight at all… but it’s not as heavy as I thought it would be.”
“Huh… Let me see. Can I give it a try?”

Perhaps intrigued by Tatsumi’s feat, the priest paused his work and reached for the backpack Tatsumi had set on the ground.

He crouched down to hoist the backpack onto his back, grunted to steel himself, and stood up—only to lose his balance and nearly fall due to the unexpected weight.

Tatsumi hurriedly reached out to steady him, preventing him from falling, but the priest took the backpack off and plopped right down on the ground.

“Hey!! This is insanely heavy!! How is this not ‘not that heavy’ at all?!”

Sitting on the ground, the priest grumbled at Tatsumi.

Reaching out to him, Tatsumi helped him to his feet with a wry smile.

“Well, even if you say that… it doesn’t actually feel heavy to me.”

Tatsumi hoisted the backpack onto his back again and lifted it effortlessly. Then, he hopped up and down lightly on the spot to demonstrate that it wasn’t heavy.

“Haah. Are you a mage, by any chance? Are you using magic to make it lighter or something?”
“Nope, I’m not a mage. In fact, I’ve heard I don’t have any mana at all.”
“Hmm? I don’t know what’s going on, but you’re definitely not an ordinary person. Oh, right—my name is Barse. From the looks of it, you seem to be a junior priest like me, so I hope we can get along well from now on.”

Looking at Tatsumi’s priestly robes and holy insignia, the priest who introduced himself as Barse extended his right hand to Tatsumi. Gripping that right hand firmly, Tatsumi also told him his name.

“I’m Tatsumi Yamagata. I just arrived in this country recently.”
“Ah, so you’re a foreigner after all. I figured as much from your black hair and black eyes.”

Barth flashed a friendly smile. He seemed to be about the same age as Tatsumi, and sensing they might become good friends, Tatsumi smiled back.

By nature, Tatsumi was sociable and the type who could make friends with just about anyone relatively easily.

The fact that he had become isolated in high school was largely due to the loss of his entire family all at once.

The pressure of having to live on his own—or, more accurately, with Chiiko—for the foreseeable future and the anxiety over whether he could truly survive on his own had, before he knew it, turned his naturally sociable personality into its exact opposite.

There was also the fact that none of his close friends from middle school attended the high school he entered. While there were a few students who had moved up from the same middle school, they were all people with whom Tatsumi had had almost no contact up to that point.

If there had been even one close friend from middle school at his high school, Tatsumi might not have dropped out.

Even so, since reuniting with Chiiko in this world, Tatsumi had been gradually returning to his true self. Just from interacting with seemingly kind-hearted people like Bogard and Barse today, that trend would likely become even more pronounced from now on.

“Whoa, if we keep slacking off like this, the acolytes and the priests are going to get mad at us. Let’s grab a meal together and catch up some other time when we’re free, Tatsumi.”
“Yeah, got it. See you later, Barse.”

Tatsumi gave a quick wave and began unloading the firewood from his backpack.

.

He carried all the firewood destined for the kitchen and finished stacking the rest in the storage area Bogard had shown him.

Although he felt some fatigue, it was truly minimal considering the sheer amount of firewood he’d hauled. Just as he was thinking, “So this is what the ‘isekai bonus’ really feels like”—a wave of exhaustion suddenly crashed over him.

“W-what…?”

Caught off guard, Tatsumi found himself plopping down on his butt right there. He tried to stand up, but he couldn’t muster the strength he needed.

“W-what’s going on…?”

He sat there for a while, breathing heavily through his shoulders, until his body finally began to respond.

Staggering, he stood up and began walking slowly along the outer wall of the temple.

“I, I don’t really understand it… but it’s a good thing this happened after I finished work…”

If this sudden wave of fatigue had hit him while he was working, he might have been crushed by the firewood he was carrying. Well, saying he would have been crushed might be a bit of an exaggeration, but there was a high chance he would have injured himself somewhere if he had collapsed.

According to Bogard, there doesn’t seem to be any more work for him today. He made plans with Calcedonia to meet after work during lunch, so he slowly made his way to the temple’s main gate, their meeting spot.

Moving at a snail’s pace—a stark contrast to when he was hauling that mountain of firewood—Tatsumi still managed to reach a spot where he could see the main gate.

It seemed Calcedonia had already been waiting for Tatsumi. She broke into a smile upon seeing him, but immediately noticed that something was wrong and hurried over to him.

“Master!? What’s wrong!?”
“Well, I’m not really sure… The moment I finished work, I was suddenly overcome by exhaustion…”

Caledonia quickly examined Tatsumi to confirm that he had no visible injuries.

“It looks like extreme exhaustion, but…”

People who have suddenly fallen ill or been injured are brought to the temples almost every day. This is because, while the temples are places to offer prayers to the gods, they also serve as medical centers where the injured and sick are treated.

For this reason, Calcedonia—who, as part of her duties as a priestess, treats the injured and sick at the temple’s infirmary and possesses a fair amount of medical knowledge—accurately diagnoses Tatsumi’s current symptoms.

“Please wait. I’ll treat you right away.”

Calcedonia held her right hand over Tatsumi’s forehead and chanted a spell in a clear, resonant voice.

As she chanted, her right hand was enveloped in a silvery light, which gradually spread to Tatsumi’s body and seeped into his system.

The silvery light was quickly absorbed entirely by Tatsumi’s body, and as it did, he felt a sudden sense of relief wash over him.

“Thanks, Chiiko. Was that what they call healing magic?”
“Yes. It’s a spell called ‘Stamina Revitalization’ from the Light and Holy magic system, which reduces fatigue. However, it’s only a temporary fix while the effect lasts.”
“Yeah, it’s still a big help. My stamina will probably recover naturally as time goes on anyway.”
“So, how did you get so exhausted? Did you perhaps work too hard?”

With Calcedonia’s help, Tatsumi stood up and explained to her what had happened to his body.

“Hmm… From what you’ve told me, it sounds like simple fatigue. But looking at the symptoms alone, it’s very similar to what happens when a novice mage casts spells to the extremes without knowing their own limits.”

According to Calcedonia, casting magic consumes not only mana but also physical stamina. However, this physical exhaustion lessens as one gains experience casting spells—in other words, you get used to it.

That’s why, when a novice mage pushes their magic to the limit, they can end up in a state of extreme exhaustion, just like Tatsumi is now.

“But I don’t have any mana at all, do I? Besides, I don’t remember using any magic… I mean, I can’t even use magic in the first place.”
“That’s how it’s supposed to be…”

Placing her extended index finger under her chin, Calcedonia fell deep in thought.

What was bothering her was that she felt she had sensed a faint trace of mana from Tatsumi after lunch. At the time, she’d thought it was just her imagination, but what if it wasn’t?

Calcedonia took another look at Tatsumi’s entire body. She strained her senses to the limit—the unique ability of a magician to sense magical energy—but still, she could detect absolutely no magic emanating from Tatsumi.

“As I thought, you really don’t have any mana at all, Master…”
“Well, standing here like this isn’t going to get us anywhere. Why don’t we go shopping as planned instead?”

The promise she’d made with Calcedonia was to go into town together to look for daily necessities—furniture, tableware, and the like—needed for their life together.

“If you seem tired, Master, there’s no need to force yourself to go shopping. We still have plenty of time before the house is ready.”

According to the message Calcedonia had received from Cashin, it would take about three days to get the house in order. Since they could prepare the furniture and such during that time, there was no absolute need to go shopping today.

“But I don’t have anything else to do today. If possible, I’d like to take my time and look around town a bit more—”

—And above all, I want to be with Chiiko.

Tatsumi swallowed those words at the last moment. He felt somehow embarrassed to say them out loud. No, it was incredibly embarrassing.

Chalcedonia’s ruby-like eyes looked curiously at Tatsumi, who had suddenly blushed for some reason.

Feeling as if Chalcedonia had seen right through his heart, Tatsumi blushed and quickly started walking.

.

Who on the stars is that man?

He stared intently at the back of the man walking arm-in-arm with the Holy Maiden toward the city, his gaze sharp enough to pierce through him.

A foreign boy with black hair and black eyes, said to have been personally invited by the Supreme Pontiff of the Temple of Savaiv.

His only distinguishing features were his hair, eyes, and skin color—all rare in this country. He didn’t seem particularly strong, nor was he an exceptional mage.

Since he’d heard the Supreme Pontiff had invited that man personally, he naturally assumed he must be of some standing. Yet, for some reason, he’d seen him wearing the robes of a junior priest, busily handling menial tasks. It was hard to believe that was the sort of thing a person of high standing would do.

So why did His Eminence Chrysoprase go to the trouble of summoning that man from a foreign land? And why is Calcedonia serving him with such a delighted expression?

Various questions welled up inside him. Yet he could find no answers to them.

This only served to intensify his frustration.

Could it be?

The very thought he had been trying so hard to avoid kept crossing his mind.

Could it be that His Eminence Chrysoprase is trying to marry that man to Calcedonia?

But he told himself that was absurd.

Caledonia had refused even a proposal from royalty. He simply could not imagine her marrying a mere junior priest.

Unable to fathom that man’s true identity, his emotions grew increasingly frayed.

And at the same time, the fear that Caledonia might be taken from him by that man squeezed his heart with a crushing tightness.

The Holy Maiden clinging to the man’s arm like a seedy streetwalker. He didn’t want to see her like that. Yet he couldn’t look away.

It was then.

As he stared intently at the backs of the two figures walking away, a voice that wasn’t a voice reached his ears.

.

*—If she’s going to be taken away, why don’t I take her first?*