Volume 7, Chapter 30 – A Small Act of Courage

Having offered our prayers at the Temple without any particular incident, we returned to the town of Dalha.

There, the townspeople welcomed us by performing a Bitan.

Up until this point, it was the usual scene, but then a small incident occurred.

As we were walking toward the hotel, a small boy suddenly jumped out in front of us.

“Saint-sama! Please! Help me!”

Though his speech was childish and slurred, he spoke those words clearly. Right before my eyes, a guard soldier swung the shaft of his spear with all his might, striking the boy.

“You! You brat! A member of the Defiled shall not block the path of Saint-sama!”

After spitting out those abusive words, he raised his spear again, so I cast a Barrier to protect the child from it.

The soldier’s strike was stopped by my Barrier.

“What? This brat!”

The soldier frantically beat against the Barrier, and finally, he thrust the tip of the spear forward, attempting to pierce through it.

“What do you think you are doing!”

“M-my apologies, Saint-sama. I shall remove this nuisance immediately!”

“That is not the point. I was the one who cast that Barrier. Why would you treat such a small child so cruelly!”

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“Eh? B-but, these people are the Defiled, so…”

“Huh?”

The Defiled? What on earth does that mean?

I looked at Chris-san and Shizuku-san, but both shook their heads.

Apparently, they didn’t know either. There was no way Lu-chan would know, and Sara-san also had a bewildered expression.

Just then, I noticed that Khalid-san, who is usually so aloof, had a clouded expression.

“Khalid-san. What are the Defiled?”

“T-that is…”

“…Is that something you cannot answer?”

“Ugh…”

He still wouldn’t answer. It seemed to be something he desperately didn’t want to talk about.

“Well, it can’t be helped then.”

I gave up on getting an answer from Khalid-san and walked over to the boy.

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Poor thing. Crouching there, he was trembling with fear, his eyes brimming with tears.

“Are you alright? That must have hurt. Healing. Also, your body is dirty, so let’s get you cleaned up. Cleansing magic.”

Once I healed his wounds and cleaned him up, he stared at me with a blank expression.

Then, as if suddenly snapping back to his senses, he stood up.

“Thank you to the gods.”

As he said that, he flawlessly pulled off a Jumping Dogeza from a Boon.

Hmm… I’d give it a six.

Despite being such a small child, his Boon posture was superb, with even his fingertips perfectly outstretched.

That’s a major bonus.

However, the transition into the jump and the landing into the dogeza were both a little shaky.

If he works hard and practices these parts, he might one day be able to perform as magnificently as the Pope.

Ah. Right. It wasn’t a performance. This was a prayer.

“As God wills,” I said with a warm smile.

The boy stood up with a face full of joy, so I gently patted his head. At that, he wore a smile that looked as if he simply couldn’t contain his happiness.

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However, the people around us started murmuring. Let’s see… what are they saying?

“To think a member of the Defiled would…”

“Standing before Saint-sama…”

“Even Saint-sama will become defiled.”

“What are the soldiers doing?”

“They should have just killed the Defiled already.”

Hmm. They’re saying some quite ominous things.

Though, with all of them still lying there in their Bitan poses, there was no sense of tension…

Yes, how should I put it, there’s a sort of inexplicable creepiness to it.

“Does this mean… they are discriminating against those of a different sect?”

I see. Thanks to becoming a Half-Black Fox, Shizuku-san’s hearing is excellent, so she can hear this hideous conversation.

At Shizuku-san’s words, Khalid-san reacted with a twitch.

“Is that so? The way this child is being treated looks just like what we saw in the White Moon Kingdom…”

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“T-that is…”

Khalid-san was clearly shaken.

Judging by the cold sweat, this was clearly a topic he’d rather not discuss.

“…Well, the child is more important right now. Young man. What do you mean by wanting Fiene-dono’s help?”

Huh? I thought he was going to press the issue, but he backed off surprisingly quickly.

“A, um. My mom is sick. Please help.”

Saying this, he held out three small copper coins he had been clutching tightly in his left hand, his face tense with nervousness.

Ugh. How brave. This must have been everything this child could possibly scrape together.

I knelt down to meet the boy’s eyes.

“My name is Fiene Argentata. What is your name?”

“Eh? A, I’m… Idris.”

“I see. Well then, Idris-kun. Let’s go right now. Can you lead me to your mother?”

When I said that, Idris-kun gave me another full, beaming smile.