Chapter 8
“A stranger?”
“He was definitely there just a moment ago. I saw him clearly with my own two eyes!”
The wall stretched on without a single place where anyone could hide.
Samael soothed the flustered Ella, then opened the window. But even after leaning his upper body outside to look around, there was not so much as an ant in sight.
“……”
For a moment, Samael’s expression turned grim as he appeared to think about something.
But after closing the window and turning back to Ella, his face had already returned to that of the benevolent head priest she knew.
“You may have been mistaken, but for now, I believe you, Ella.”
“Head Priest.”
“More importantly, there is something I need to tell you.”
Samael led Ella down the corridor.
“I think it is about time I entrusted you with managing the herb room.”
“Is it really alright for me to take on something like that already?”
“There are few people who serve as diligently as you do, Ella. ‘We’ all think so.”
Head Priest Samael was respected by the people partly because of his character, but also because he could seemingly produce remarkably effective medicines at the drop of a hat.
For that reason, the herb garden and herb room were extremely important parts of the church hospital.
‘And I’m going to manage the herb room. And everyone acknowledges me too!’
Ella clenched her hands tightly.
Whenever Samael, and the others, felt that they needed her, she felt as though she was becoming a true resident of Ragusa.
It filled her with emotion, as though feet that had been hovering slightly above the ground were gradually touching down.
Right now, she felt as though she could confidently glare back even if that strange man appeared again.
But the moment Ella saw the priest waiting in front of the herb room, her excitement rapidly faded.
“Priest Anchio, thank you for all your hard work.”
“…Yes. Here is the key.”
He was the priest who had managed the herb room until now.
Anchio, who had been subtly glaring at Ella, bumped her with his shoulder as he walked away.
“……”
Ella moistened her dry lips.
Priest Anchio clearly thought that she had taken his position from him.
Seeing Ella shrink into herself, Samael quietly spoke.
“A priest can rely on the church for his livelihood simply by being a priest. But you, Ella, need something you can do for yourself, don’t you?”
Ella abruptly came to her senses.
Samael was giving her this work out of consideration for her.
‘No wonder I had a feeling that talk about making me a priestess was just empty words.’
Ella could not begin to express how grateful she was to Samael.
Of course, she was also a little, just a tiny bit, disappointed.
‘I suppose I’m not good enough to become a priestess.’
After all, the position of priestess was quite appealing to Ella, who longed for a definite sense of belonging.
But she had no time to be dejected.
Samael had already begun explaining things. Ella hurriedly pulled a notebook from her clothes and began writing down his words.
‘Honeysuckle vine, salü, seche, blood-stanching herb…’
By the time both her notebook and her head were filled with new knowledge, Samael pulled away the cloth covering one wall.
“This here is called ‘Upsilon.’ If it is exposed to light for too long, it turns blue and becomes poisonous.”
The flowers were so dazzlingly white that it was difficult to believe they would ever turn blue.
If not for the long green leaves stretching between them, she might have had to squint.
“Try not to touch the Upsilon flowers as much as possible. Scrape together the powder settled on the leaves, then give them plenty of water.”
“Yes.”
“They have a distinctive smell. Try smelling them once.”
He had not asked her to do that while explaining the other herbs.
Ella tilted her head, but obediently bent down.
When she inhaled deeply, a cool, sharp fragrance filled her lungs. But it was not unpleasant. If anything, it felt refreshing, almost as though it were waking her from sleep.
“The scent… is rather pungent.”
Even after Ella straightened, Samael only continued looking at her in silence.
“…Head Priest?”
“I see you every day, yet I had forgotten to actually check on your condition. How have you been lately? How are you feeling physically?”
“I’m always doing well. Everyone around me helps me so much too.”
“I see…”
Suddenly, Samael stroked Ella’s head.
“If only you could continue living like this.”
The gesture was almost as though he were treating a child, but Ella did not find it unpleasant.
It was not because Samael was her benefactor.
For just a brief moment, something resembling guilt had passed through his eyes.
‘Why would the head priest look at me like that?’
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