༺ School Tuition is More Expensive Than I Thought! (3) ༻
Who said that?
“The Priestess of Gluttony knows everything. I know the location. It’s only a few miles away. It’s not that far, so we can all go together after school!”
It was a voice I had never heard before.
Another student from a different class who had been drawn to the bet between Naru and Tywin?
“The Priestess of Gluttony? Who’s that?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never heard of them either.”
“Do they really know everything? Like when I secretly ate an extra piece of cake yesterday?”
The children started whispering.
It was the exact type of an interesting story that would fascinate children.
Cecily also felt intrigued and asked those around her.
“If they really know everything, can the Priestess of Gluttony know where this Cecily Von Ragdoll’s parents are?”
Cecily was even more curious than usual about her parents.
It was because of what had happened last night.
Last night.
When the Black Hunter came and talked with Grandma and Grandpa.
Because they were having an adult conversation, Cecily couldn’t enter the parlor, blocked by the servants.
However, she could faintly hear words like “What happened to our daughter…?” and “What about Cecily’s mom and dad…?”
What happened to Cecily’s mom and dad?
She was extremely curious.
So Cecily became interested in what the children were whispering among each other.
“Where is this Priestess of Gluttony?”
“Let’s meet in front of the school gate after school for those who are curious. But make sure to bring something to eat. They won’t answer questions if you don’t bring anything.”
Swoosh—
The child who had spoken disappeared among the students.
“I don’t know what it is, but Naru has two cheese pork cutlets! Naru is rich!”
Naru raised her hand triumphantly, delighted with her victory.
The only one with a serious expression was the ashen princess, Tywin.
The children murmured softly as they looked at Tywin.
“She seems upset. Is it because her cutlets were taken?”
“Look at Tywin’s tray. Without the cutlets, the school lunch became completely tasteless.”
“Let’s not talk to her today. Tywin has a bad temper.”
Time passed, and school time was already over.
Today, teacher Salome assigned us science homework.
“Harley, do you want to come to my house and do the homework together?”
“Sure! What about you, Tywin?”
“I’m good. I’ve already finished the homework.”
“Already!?”
It was the time when the children gathered with their friends and prepared to leave school.
Cecily looked around and spoke.
“Didn’t they say to meet at the main gate after school?”
Cecily planned to meet the Priestess of Gluttony today.
The children who noticed this burst into laughter.
“Are you stupid? There’s no way there’s someone who knows everything.”
“The young lady of the Ragdoll family is more naive than I thought.”
“Did playing with Naru make her dumb?”
“….”
Cecily’s face turned red with anger as the children made fun of her.
Just a few days ago, Cecily would have thought that there was no such thing as a “Priestess who knows everything”.
Like in the kind stories told by kind maids.
‘But what if it’s real? What if I can find out where my mom and dad are?’
Looking at the noisy class, Cecily opened her narrow eyes and asked Naru.
“Naru, do you want to come too? The Priestess of Gluttony or whatever that person Horohoro told us about might be able to tell us.”
“Horohoro! Yeah!”
Naru readily agreed.
Elizabeth was extremely jealous of that sight.
“I wish I could go too. My dad will come to pick me up after school. My dad has been worried a lot since my mom had an accident.”
Elizabeth also wanted to go around and play with her friends after school .
But it’s important to listen to what one’s parents say.
Elizabeth had no choice but to calm her disappointed heart.
“Well, you guys go ahead…”
“I want to go too.”
Swoosh—
Someone intervened in Naru and Cecily’s conversation.
It was Tywin Cladeco, with her shiny multi-colored hair that sparkled like silver.
Tywin was going to accompany them on their journey to find the ‘Priestess of Gluttony’.
The children were surprised by that.
“Tywin, you don’t actually believe in such foolish stories, do you?”
“Oh, come on. Tywin already proved when she was 4 years old that Santa doesn’t exist. This time, she’s just going to prove that there’s no such thing as the Priestess of Gluttony.”
“What… no Santa? Then who gave me the Christmas present that was on Dolly’s head last year? S-Scary!”
“There is no Santa?! It doesn’t make sense!”
The children became noisy all at once.
Tywin simply replied, “Just out of curiosity.” But Elizabeth, who felt a sense of rivalry towards Tywin, sensed a slight crisis.
‘Naru and Cecily going on an adventure with Tywin. What if they become really close? Naru and Cecily are Elizabeth’s friends…!’
Anxious, Elizabeth tightly closed her eyes and shouted.
“I-I want to come too!”
Upon hearing that, Naru raised an eyebrow.
“Elizabeth, aren’t you worried about your dad?”
“…It should be fine for just a day! I’ll talk to my dad and ask!”
“Wow, holy shh! It’s nice to go out and play with friends!”
With that feeling, everyone left the classroom.
At the school gate, Elizabeth’s dad waved his hand enthusiastically towards her.
Elizabeth spoke as if she had made a firm decision.
“I’ll go talk to my dad and come back!”
Everyone watched from a distance as Elizabeth talked to her dad.
Elizabeth’s expression was quite tense, but eventually, she brightened up and hugged her dad tightly.
“It worked out!”
Naru exclaimed.
Soon after, Elizabeth came running, saying.
“If we come back before dinner time, we can play! But I still have to do the literature homework my dad assigned… but still, I got permission!”
Elizabeth was happy that she could play with her friends after school.
Naru and Cecily were also in a good mood, holding hands and twirling around.
It was at that moment, the only one with a sharp expression, Tywin, asked.
“So, where is the guy who will guide us to the Priestess?”
Tywin looked around.
Just when she thought that someone might have been playing a trick on them, she saw a girl coming from afar.
Purple hair and purple eyes.
She had long hair tied into pigtails with red beads.
“You are…”
“I am Horohoro from Class H.”
Tywin thought that was an extremely peculiar name, and she pondered for a moment.
* * *
Naru, Cecily, Elizabeth, and Tywin.
Along with the child named Horohoro, they walked the school road together.
It was around 2 pm.
The world on this spring day was still sunny, making it the perfect time for children to play.
Coincidentally, the path that Naru and her group were passing through was a walking trail in a park filled with dense bushes.
Naru, who was rummaging through the grass for a while, raised something up high.
“Look, Naru caught a snake! There was a time when my mom caught a bunch of snakes and gave them to my dad. I learned from that!”
Swish—
Naru held up the long, thin snake.
It had black stripes on a yellow skin, looking quite intimidating.
“Wow, holy shh…! The pattern is so colorful and cool! I would have made it my familiar if not for Molumolu!”
“Naru, that’s a venomous snake! Put it down quickly!”
Elizabeth exclaimed in shock.
Soon, Naru gently released the snake onto the ground.
-Shh. Shh.
“Goodbye! See you later!”
Slide—
The snake disappeared into the bushes.
Next to them, Cecily popped out.
In Cecily’s hand, was a squirrel with beautiful black stripes.
“This Cecily Von Ragdoll caught an animal too! Of course, I’ll let it go again!”
-Kong Kong…!
It was a squirrel that barked like a dog.
A dog-squirrel.
Seeing that, Elizabeth was taken aback.
“Dog squirrels are very agile and quick, making them difficult to catch. Cecily, how did you catch it with your bare hands?”
“Hunting is a basic skill for a noble lady. I have memories of learning about hunting from my mother… Oh, what.. what… Maybe my memories will come back if I keep catching animals like this…!”
It was a lively and bustling time.
However, Tywin furrowed her eyebrows while observing this.
“So when are we going to the place where that Priestess is? We’ve just been playing in the park all this time. At this rate, the sun will set.”
It was only 2 pm at the moment.
There was still some time left until the carriage arrived, but Tywin grumbled.
The children seemed to have forgotten the purpose of this gathering and were just fooling around.
Upon Tywin’s complaint, their classmate from Class H, Horohoro, opened her narrowed eyes and said.
“We still have some time until the carriage arrives. In about 5 minutes, a large carriage that circulates around the outskirts of Freesia will come. Let’s get going!”
Upon hearing Horohoro’s words, all the children nodded.
As they headed towards the main road, they could see a distant object approaching with a low rumbling sound.
It was a carriage with large wheels.
But it wasn’t pulled by horses; it was a magic-powered carriage.
Naru exclaimed in awe at the sight.
“It moves without any horses! It’s amazing!”
Soon, Tywin spoke up.
“My mother made it. It’s being tested here in The City-State of Freesia. If it goes well, we’ll sell it overseas. By the way, children can ride for free.”
Pat— Pat— Pat—
Tywin skillfully climbed onto the magic-powered vehicle.
A vehicle running on the ground.
Making a loud rattle as it approached our position.
“It’s amazing!”
Naru stared out the window in amazement for about 10 minutes.
The vehicle moved at a faster speed than she had expected, crossing the walls of The City-State of Freesia and heading outdoors.
The surroundings of The City-State of Freesia were filled with lush green fields.
The sky was high, and the flowers bloomed beautifully.
The quickly moving carriage came to a stop in the small village of Provence, located near Freesia.
“We have to get off here. The Priestess of Gluttony is in this village, Provence.”
“Provence….”
Tywin opened her narrow eyes and looked around.
Compared to the highly advanced magical engineering of The City-State of Freesia, the village of Provence in the outskirts was a countryside where people herded sheep or raised cows to make cheese from milk.
‘I heard that the people here are all kind and good-natured.’
A typical countryside village.
Could there really be someone called the ‘Priestess of Gluttony’ in such a place?
Tywin, who was a Demiurge’s priestess and an astrologer, looked around out of personal interest. Perhaps she could meet someone similar to herself.
‘But something is definitely suspicious. This girl named Horohoro is also suspicious.’
Tywin walked through the village of Provence without letting her guard down.
Soon, Horohoro’s steps stopped in front of an old cabin.
“Hina. It’s me, Horohoro. There are people who want to meet you.”
Knock— Knock—
Horohoro, the girl with purple pigtails, knocked on the door.
Then, the door creaked open, revealing a small face.
“……”
In the cabin stood a girl with glowing reddish eyes, and her pink hair sparkled with a golden hue.
She seemed to be around the same age as Tywin.
She was wearing dusty clothes like countryside children.
“Are you the Priestess of Gluttony?”
Tywin asked.
At the same time, she quickly saw through her.
‘She’s not a Demiurge’s champion. I can tell since I was chosen by Epar. Could she be a fraud?’
A fake priestess?
That thought crossed her mind.
The girl with long pink hair carefully observed the children and spoke.
“It’s not… time… to meet yet. Can’t help it. Come in… Naru. Cecily. You too, Tywin and Elizabeth.”
“You know Naru’s name! Naru must be famous!”
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