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“So, how is my son doing?”

Giuseppe asked Baldio, his aide-de-camp, who had just served him tea.

“It seems he was doing menial work today. After working until about the fifth hour, he went out into town with Calcie… Pardon me, Your Eminence, but who exactly is that man?”
“Hmm? Are you concerned about him?”
“Of course I’m concerned. I’ve known Calcedonia for a long time, ever since she became your adopted daughter. She is practically my own younger sister. Since that sister is getting close to some man—who knows who he is—it’s only natural that I’d be worried as her older brother.”

Giuseppe smiled gently at his aide, who seemed genuinely concerned for Calcedonia.

“I’m glad you care about her, but now that Sonny has appeared before her, no one can stop Calcedonia anymore. Once she sets her sights on a goal, she’ll overcome any obstacle that stands in her way…no, she’ll smash right through it and press on. Just as she always has. You know that better than anyone.”
“True… she does have a rather radical streak, after all.”

He must have been recalling her past. Baldio gave a wry smile.

“Hearing that makes me all the more curious to know who he is, no?”
“Ho ho ho. I’m afraid I can’t tell you much about the young man just yet. I’ll just say this much: he comes from a distant foreign land. And Calcie has been striving all this time just to meet him.”
“Is… that so…? But if that’s the case, what will he do?”
“……Morgan, is it……”

Recalling a certain man who secretly harbored feelings for Calcedonia, Giuseppe frowned.

.

After finishing his shopping with Calcedonia in town, Tatsumi returned to the guest room assigned to him and collapsed onto the bed.

Normally, junior priests sleep in the dormitories, but since Tatsumi was scheduled to move into a house in a few days, Giuseppe had kindly allowed him to continue using the guest room he had initially shown him.

In this world, where a spring mattress is out of the question, a bag of thoroughly dried and fluffed hay serves as a mattress substitute.

For even more luxurious items, feathers or other materials are stuffed into the sheets instead of hay, but these are high-end goods used only by the wealthy, such as nobles.

That was why, everything he lay down on the bed, the unique scent of hay envelops his entire body. Moreover, it seems that the hay used in this room’s bed is mixed with herbs known to relieve fatigue, allowing him to sleep soundly every night.

Lying spread-eagled on that hay bed, Tatsumi’s thoughts turn to the bed and guitar he brought with him to this world.

It seems Giuseppe is keeping those two items for him, and as soon as the house where Tatsumi and Calcedonia will be moving in a few days is ready, he’ll have them delivered there.

While he’s naturally attached to the bed he’s used all this time, Tatsumi has also begun to take a liking to this hay bed in this world, and he found himself agonizing over the luxurious dilemma of which one to use from now on.

That said, today was his first day of menial work at the temple. Between the unfamiliar tasks and an unexplained fatigue, Tatsumi found himself dozing off while lying on the bed.

“…No, no. I have to at least take a bath before I go to sleep…”

Forcing his half-asleep mind back to full awareness, Tatsumi staggered out of the guest room.

.

In one corner of the Temple of Savaiv, there is a spacious bathhouse for resident priests.

This bathhouse is a large communal bath used by everyone from the High Priest down, and naturally, it is separated by gender.

As for the Supreme Pontiff and Archpriests, they each have their own private quarters with small bathrooms, and since many of them maintain residences outside the temple, they rarely use this communal bathhouse.

By the way, the hierarchy within the temple, from highest to lowest, is: Supreme Pontiff, Archpriest, High Priest, Minister, Acolytes, Senior Priest, and Junior Priest.

Among these, there is only one Supreme Pontiff per church, and Archpriests often serve as the heads of temples in various regions. In small local places of worship, it is not uncommon to see a Priest—let alone a High Priest—serving as the person in charge.

It is said that the water for this bathhouse is heated on a rotating basis by priests who possess Fire-element magic, and naturally, this duty occasionally falls to Calcedonia as well.

Tatsumi took off his clothes in the changing room and entered the bathhouse carrying only a towel—or rather, something more like a hand towel.

Given their role as servants of the gods, priests are obligated to keep their bodies clean. For this reason, many people used the bathhouse after sunset to wash away the day’s fatigue and grime, and it was very crowded.

Mingling with the crowd, Tatsumi soaked leisurely in the bath. Just as he was thinking, *“Even in a different world, the comfort of a bath remains the same,”* he suddenly heard someone call his name.

“Huh? Tatsumi? You came to the bath too?”

Turning around at the sound, he saw a junior priest named Bath, whom he had met in the kitchen earlier that day.

He unabashedly exposed his naked body and, with a friendly smile, sank down next to Tatsumi.

“You came too, Barse?”
“Yeah. A bath is the best way to soothe the fatigue of a day’s work.”

At Barse’s words, Tatsumi looked around and saw that everyone was indeed soaking in the bath, looking quite content.

“Huh. So baths are popular in this country too.”
“Oh? Does that mean you have baths back in your hometown as well?”
“Yeah. I take a bath every day. Some people even take one during the day.”
“Now that’s a luxury. In this country, it’s common knowledge that since boiling water for a bath is such a hassle, you can only take one at limited times during the day.”

Unlike modern Japan, where you can easily heat water with the touch of a button, here the methods for boiling large amounts of water are limited, so people probably only bathe during specific times of the day.

That’s why people flock to the baths during those limited times, which is why the public bathhouse gets so crowded.

“But hey, at least I get to bathe every day like this. Even though there’s a lot of tough training and work involved, becoming a priest was definitely the right choice.”
“Does that mean you couldn’t take a bath every day before you became a priest?”
“Yeah. I’m from a small village out in the countryside. There weren’t any public bathhouses like there are in the capital, so the river was the only place you could wash yourself. That’s why being able to take a bath every day like this was one of my dreams.”

Stretching out in the water, Barse flashes a happy smile, perhaps because his dream has come true.

“Come to think of it, Tatsumi, how long have you been at this temple? I don’t think I’ve seen you all that much until recently.”
“I got here two days ago.”
“Oh, I see. I figured as much. But we’ll be working together a lot from now on, right? Once again, hope we get along.”
“Ah, actually, about that…”

Tatsumi told Barse that he planned to leave the temple soon and move into a house.

“Whoa, whoa. You just got here and you’re already settling down? Come to think of it, you seem to have a surname. Are you from a noble family back home, by any chance?”

Judging by the way Barse spoke, commoners in this country probably don’t have surnames.

“In the country I came from, even commoners have surnames. So I’m neither a noble nor rich.”

Splashing water on his face, Tatsumi stretched out in the bath, just like Barse.

Tatsumi felt deeply that, for a Japanese person, a bath was truly indispensable.

“But hey, Tatsumi? Settling down means… you’re not living alone, right?”

Tatsumi’s body, which had been completely relaxed in the water, stiffened instantly.

Seeing Tatsumi’s reaction, Baths flashed a sly, knowing grin.

“Hoho. Judging by that reaction, you’re not alone after all, are you? So? Who is it? Someone from this temple?”
“N-no, well…”

Tatsumi hesitated, wondering if it was really a good idea to mention Calcedonia’s name here.

Given Bogard’s reaction earlier that day, Barse would surely be surprised to learn that the person he lives with is Calcedonia. And besides him, there are many other people in this bathhouse.

If word got out that he lives with Calcedonia, it might cause more than just a minor commotion. Tatsumi already knew just how special Calcedonia was.

As Tatsumi desperately tried to figure out how to cover up the situation while washing away his sweat in the bath, Bath tapped him on the shoulder, his eyes saying, “I get it, so don’t tell everyone.”

“Well, once you’ve moved and settled in, invite me over to your place sometime, okay? And when you do, introduce your wife to me properly. Oh, or if you want, maybe I can help you move?”
“Ah, yeah. Got it. I’ll count on you then.”

Having managed to get through the situation, Tatsumi relaxed his body in the bath once more.

.

After that, he chatted aimlessly with Barse, washed his body and hair, and then left the bathhouse with him.

By the way, while soap was generally considered a luxury item in the outside world, even junior priests were permitted to use it at the temple.

Tatsumi dried himself off and got dressed. Then, as he stepped out into the hallway with Barse, they bumped into a certain person.

“Oh, Master? Were you taking a bath as well?”

It was, of course, Calcedonia who spoke to them as she dried her wet hair with a towel.

Her cheeks, flushed a pale pink from soaking in the water, and her still-damp hair made her look even more alluring than usual.

Seeing Calcedonia like that, Tatsumi’s heart gave a sudden, powerful thud.

“Y-yeah. So you were taking a bath too, Chiiko.”

As Tatsumi replied, feeling a strange anxiety that she might be able to hear the sound of his heart pounding wildly, Calcedonia lowered her gaze slightly, as if a bit bashful, and continued speaking.

“Um… if it’s all right with you, Master… would it be okay if I visited your room later? There are various things I’d like to discuss regarding… our life together from now on… Oh, I’ll bring some cookies I baked and some tea with me then. Or would you prefer alcohol over tea?”
“Ah, n-no, tea is fine.”
“Understood. See you later, then.”

Perhaps she was overjoyed that Tatsumi had agreed, for Calcedonia flashed a radiant smile, bowed, and left the room with a light step.

Smiling at her cheerful demeanor, Tatsumi turned to head back to his own room.

There, he found Barse standing frozen in place, his eyes wide with shock.

“H-hey, Tatsumi… That just now was… the Holy Maiden… Lady Calcedonia… right…?”
“Ah, uh, yeah… it-it’s her, I guess…”
“B-but seeing how you speak with her… the person you’re going to be living with… don’t tell me…”

*Well, how should I cover this up now? No, I guess there’s no way I can cover it up anymore.*

Thinking that, Tatsumi let out a deep sigh of resignation.

.

He couldn’t help but stare with a harsh gaze at the back of that man walking out of the bathhouse.

He desperately suppressed the raging fire burning inside him. If he could, he’d love to knock that man down right now, strangle him, and end his life, but with so many people around, he simply couldn’t act on it.

He hadn’t meant to listen, but he’d overheard that man’s conversation.

It was a topic he simply couldn’t ignore, overheard from a conversation between that man and another man—apparently a junior priest—who seemed to be around the same age.

Yes.

The topic of how that man is settling into a house soon.

He knows full well what it means for a priest to settle in. And he also knows who that man will be moving in with.

That man whom Giuseppe Chrysoprase, the Supreme Pontiff of the Savaiv Church, personally invited from a foreign land.

What’s more, Giuseppe himself refers to that man without hesitation as “my son.”

In other words, Giuseppe—who is both her grandfather and her adoptive father—went out of his way to invite that man from a foreign land specifically to be Calcedonia Chrysophrys’s husband.

He sincerely respected and revered Giuseppe as the Supreme Pontiff of the Savaiv Church. And Calcedonia, his adopted daughter, was also someone he respected.

But more than that, he had secretly loved Calcedonia as a woman for a very long time. There was no way he could let his Calcedonia be taken away by some man whose identity was unknown.

He clenched his teeth with a grinding sound. Perhaps hearing the noise, one of his colleagues soaking in the bath nearby turned to look at him with a puzzled expression, but upon realizing who he was, quickly averted his gaze.

He wasn’t about to stand by silently and let Calcedonia be taken from him. Whatever relationship that man might have with Calcedonia, it had nothing to do with him.

Feeling the raging fire deep within his heart grow even hotter, the man found himself smiling a dark, dark smile without even realizing it.

As he imagined holding Calcedonia, whom he loved with all his heart, in his arms.