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Freya joined our party and we left Bordaule behind. We headed to Strom first. They had been invaded by demons recently, so I felt like they would be too busy rebuilding their country to think of joining our fight, but reality was slightly different from what I expected.

“It’s really lively around here.”
“Mhm, I feel like there’s more people than the last time we were here too.”

Karin nodded to my remark, looking around the city. This place had been reduced to a pile of rubble by the demon attack, littered by human remains, and with the echoes of despairing people. All of that had been cleaned up and the streets were lined with shops and merchants. The people walking around all looked robust, most of them probably working on construction and other physical labor. There were plenty of restaurants or bars for them, with waitresses calling out at the doors, and if one went through the smaller alleyways, they could even find women who would fulfill all of their desires.

“They weren’t completely defeated, but they had suffered so many losses…they really pulled themselves up again.”

Luvias sounded impressed. Of course it was not all good though, there were more beggars than before, and I could see plenty of guards keeping watch everywhere. There were also plenty of street orphans looking at the food stalls with hungry eyes. The government was doing its best, but they did not have the resources to help absolutely everyone.

“I really wish we could help somehow, but we also don’t have the resources.”
“I know, I feel really bad for them.”

Ciel and Diaria looked at the young orphans, talking to each other in a low voice. They were right, even if we pooled together all of our money to buy them food, it would only help them for a short time, barely even scratching the surface of the root issue. They would all go back to begging soon after we left.

“Let’s just do what we’re good at. That should make things better for them too, at least in an indirect manner.”

Everyone nodded. If the country did better, there would be more food available, as well as more jobs. Less people would be unemployed, and there would be things that even kids could help with.

“Actually, no. There might be something we could do for them now.”

I was shocked to hear that from Freya though. We had come here to gain the approval of the people and find more allies, and there was no way she forgot that…

“What do you mean, Freya?”
“Something just occurred to me. I think we could use the temple to help.”

Karin was just talking casually, but Freya seemed to have gotten an idea, grinning mischievously. We all tilted our heads, wondering what she was thinking about. Using the temple? Was she suggesting they use donations for charity work or something?

“Heheh. Let’s head to the temple then.”

Freya took the lead, and we followed her obediently.

§§§

She took us to Lumiere’s Temple. Even though the home country of that faith had been destroyed, the temples scattered all over the continent were still active and open. But the news of what happened in Lumielle had also reached here, as the priest looked pale after recognizing Freya.

“Lady Freya… I don’t even know where to start…”
“You don’t have to worry about that. I wasn’t powerful enough to stop Lumielle from being taken, but our faith lives on. As long as we don’t forget our beliefs, our prayers will be answered and Lumielle will come back to us.”
“Lady Freya…”

Hearing her talk like that made me realize why she was known as a holy woman. The priest was looking at her with eyes full of reverence, almost as if he was about to go on his knees to pray. But for better or for worse, she had changed quite a lot, and smiled with compassion at the priest.

“But I actually would like to ask for your cooperation with something. We need to unite all the temples scattered all over the world to reclaim our holy land.”
“Yes…of course. I’ll support you with everything I have.”

Freya grinned hearing that.

“Then…could you give me five hundred gold coins as a start?”
“””?!”””

Five hundred gold coins?! Where did that come from? Everyone looked shocked, and even the priest did not know how to reply. Asking for money so soon after greeting someone was not even a plea for help, but closer to robbery. Even I was speechless seeing Freya act so out of character. But Freya did not seem to mind any of that, as she calmly walked around the temple.

“I see your furnishings are quite extravagant here. I thought Lumiere’s faith dictated to live in humility though?”
“N-Now that you mention it…”

We also started looking around and noticed that she was right, all the furniture looked expensive and high quality. There were plenty of complex paintings, the rugs on the floor looked so soft one’s feet would sink down to the ankles, the wood used on the tables had a strong color and showed plenty of annual rings, and the chairs were ornamented with plenty of gold. I did not remember Surfour’s temple being this luxurious… Then Freya approached the priest again.

“Well, even if you pursue the divine path you remain human, so a degree of carnal vanity might be excusable.”

Hearing that, the priest looked relieved, only to freeze almost instantly after.

“But this is far past a small treat. If you have the money to spend on such luxuries, why aren’t you helping the people suffering in the streets?”
“That…you see…I’m quite busy so…”
“Busy? With what? Filling your own pocket?”
“…”

Freya’s eyes were locked on the priest and would not let go. She was not quite looking at him with bloodlust, but just the angry gaze of someone with her power could make any regular person tremble in fear.

“…As a representative of Lumiere’s church, I may have to expel you after witnessing this.”
“Please…no! I’ll do anything so please don’t do that!”

The priest’s face went pale, and then lost even more color and turned white, before throwing himself onto the floor and begging next to Freya’s feet. Expelled…I could imagine the meaning of that word in a school of magic or martial arts, but was it a big deal for a church? I had many questions, but I would ask Freya about that later.

“I won’t be able to live on if I get expelled! I’ll give you all the money I kept to myself until now! So please don’t do that to me..!”
“I see. If you insist…I won’t expel you then. But under a few conditions.”

The priest did not even try to hide his shameful expression as he looked at the finger Freya held in front of him.