The Cleric of the Creator King

When the time came to swap watch shifts, Master and Alexia headed deeper into the cave, settled apart from each other, and pulled their blankets over themselves.

The fire had warmed the air, but the ground was cold.

They'd laid blankets underneath, but it must not have been comfortable. It took a while before their breathing settled into sleep.

Azu took charge of the campfire.

Elza was wearing her habit, its dark blue sleeves covering her arms down to the wrists.

Getting too close to the fire in that outfit would mean sparks burning holes through the fabric.

Azu broke up the fire a bit, added some branches, and got it burning steadily again.

"Azu-chan, over here, over here."

Once Elza saw the fire was settled, she invited Azu onto her lap.

Azu sat down obediently, and Elza wrapped her arms around her from behind.

"Thank you～"

"It's nothing, really."

"Hehe, you've gotten bigger since we first met. Must be the growth spurt."

"Have I? Now that you mention it, my clothes have felt a bit small lately…"

"We'll ask Master to buy new ones. Undergarments too. It's miserable when those don't fit right."

"But…"

Azu hesitated.

Elza stroked her hair while holding her close.

"Just tell him it's a necessary expense. He'll buy them. He's not the type to be stingy about things like that."

"That's… true, I think."

"You've been doing great work lately, Azu-chan. A real breadwinner."

"Am I… actually useful? I don't want to be thrown away. I'm allowed to stay here, right?"

Elza pulled her tighter, pressing her cheek close to Azu's.

A sweet scent tickled Azu's nose.

"Has Master ever once said he doesn't need you?"

"No… but I have to be useful. I have to prove my worth."

Azu remembered Master's words from the very beginning.

Prove that you're worth the money I spent. That's what he'd told her.

"True. But our Master takes good care of his things. He wears his belts until they're frayed through and his shoes until they've got holes in them. He's not the type to throw us away easily."

"Regular tools don't cost anything once you buy them. But we need food, and I understand now that adventuring work costs money to prepare for."

Azu had once been oblivious to matters of money, but between the reports to Master and the equipment and supplies he arranged, she'd inevitably learned. The life of an adventurer made it impossible not to.

She also understood just how privileged her position was, as adventurers went.

Money decided whether you lived or died. Looking back now, Azu could see that the poverty she'd suffered through was simply because neither her village nor her family had any. That was all it came down to.

It was Master's money that gave her the life she had now.

"You're anxious, huh. Come to think of it, you don't have a god to pray to, do you, Azu-chan?"

"No. Back in the village, people prayed to some strange stone, and it scared me. Nobody there ever helped me… In my whole life, Master has treated me the best."

"And that's why you don't want to lose this?"

"Yes… I don't want that anymore. I don't want to be treated like I don't exist. I'm alive. I'm right here."

Azu bowed her head as she spoke.

Elza held the trembling girl close.

Like a mother. Or perhaps like a sister.

"You're scared. That's why you push yourself so hard…"

"I don't have anything special like you or Alexia-san. I'm probably… easy to replace. If someone more valuable came along, I'd just be swapped out."

"'Everyone is special'… I take it that kind of sermon isn't what you want to hear. That's the sort of thing only people with the luxury of comfort can stomach."

Azu managed a small laugh at Elza's playful delivery.

"Should a cleric really be saying things like that?"

"It's fine, it's fine. There's no one around to scold me for it. After all, I'm the only cleric of the Creator King left. I've never told anyone this before, but…"

"Really? There aren't others hiding somewhere, spreading the faith in secret?"

"No. Azu-chan. If anyone else claims to be a cleric of the Creator King, they're a fraud. Remember that."

Elza's demeanor shifted, just slightly.

It was like what Azu had seen in the Catacombs. That cold edge bleeding into her usual warmth.

"They all died. The Ash King devoted himself to the end and became a monster, his kingdom with him. The last apostle is finally gone as well. And yet the Sun God still remains."

Her tone was nothing like her usual self. Flat. Cold.

"Elza-san?"

"Gods coming from outside, that in itself is fine. Barbaroi could coexist. But that thing is no god. Something that is not a god masquerading as one, toying with people… that I will never accept."

Elza's arms tightened around Azu.

"Elza-san, that hurts. You're too strong…"

Elza snapped back to herself.

She raised a hand to cover her mouth.

"Sorry. That hurt, didn't it? I said some strange things."

"No, I'm fine."

The usual Elza had returned.

The rift between the Church of the Creator King and the Church of the Sun God ran deep indeed.

Deep enough to make even the gentle Elza bare her emotions like that.

They spent the rest of their watch talking quietly, taking it easy.

Azu's anxiety didn't vanish, but talking with Elza had eased it considerably.

Alexia would have just told her to straighten up and deal with it.

Which, Azu had to admit, would also have been fair enough.