I hastily snatched the whip Sieri was holding. This couldn't go on. If Sieri crossed a point of no return like this, my only sanctuary was gone. And I soothed her, who was still trembling, and said.
"Now, now, Sieri. Calm down. Okay?"
"Ah....."
As if disappointed that I had taken the whip, Sieri reached her hand out toward it. I pulled Sieri into a tight hug and began to soothe her.
"Sieri. Listen to . Hitting people is a very bad deed. Understand?"
"A b-bad deed? But....."
"That's right, Sieri. This is sothing only real trash does. Huh? You're not supposed to hit people. What did they teach you at the Archdeity Church?"
Eve ca up beside her and also began to persuade Sieri. Sieri, her eyes wide and clear, answered Eve's words.
"The doctrine of the Archdeity Church is to reform villains, and the thod is..... Ah!"
Sieri scread as if startled by her own words and covered her mouth. But she soon shook her head and spoke resolutely.
"But, My Lord. You said that the position of a cleric and the position of a lord are different, s-so I was also mustering my strength....."
Sieri started to get teary-eyed. Even after holding a whip and beating soone, Sieri was still Sieri. As if hurt that Eve and I were stopping her, she shed fat tears. I had to rack my brain. What could I say to Sieri to get through to her? Eve was also flustered, just repeating that violence was a bad thing.
"Th-that's just bullshit. Got it? Sieri, you're a wonderful nun, aren't you? There's no need for you to step into a dirty place like this. Violence is a very bad thing."
"Right. Right. Huh? Scummy acts like this should only be done by and my husband. Sieri, you don't have to hit people."
"Sob... sob... sob....."
After listening to and Eve, Sieri suddenly started crying. What? What in the world was the problem? Her face flushed red as she poured out tears, then she covered her face and ran into the mansion.
"S-Sieri?"
I was about to grab Sieri, but then I looked back. The corporal punishnt wasn't over yet. The senior soldier was wriggling his body, appealing that he was still alive. I cast a heal on him and looked at the new recruit.
The new recruit was trembling violently. I handed the whip to Eve and said.
"Hit him 40 tis and send him to the church. I'll go to Sieri."
Eve nodded and took the whip. As I ran toward the mansion, the sound of a whip cracking sounded behind . Listening to the new recruit's miserable screams, I closed the main gate.
"Sieri? Sieri?"
Sieri's room door was shut tight. I tried knocking and calling her na to get her to co out, but the door didn't budge. Why was she angry?
"Please leave alone."
A voice as small as a mosquito's ca through. I could only scratch my head and vent my frustration to myself. Soon, both Eve and I had to go up to the Elf Kingdom, and I couldn't just leave Sieri like this. I knocked on the door once more.
"Sieri. Let's just talk for a mont."
"Please leave alone! Just for a mont, ......just for a mont."
Sieri's shout echoed from inside the room into the hallway. I couldn't force her anymore. I had to go back to the office and think about what to do next. As I was worrying in my office, Eve returned. She tossed the whip into a corner of the office and threw herself onto the guest sofa. I asked.
"What happened?"
"I had the knights send them both to the church. That thing is hard to use."
Eve said, nodding her head toward the whip. The tip of the whip was stained with blood. I stared at the whip for a mont before turning my gaze back to the docunts on my desk. Eve asked.
"What about Sieri?"
"She's not answering. Did I ask for too much?"
"She was doing well. Don't you think she got upset because we freaked out and stopped her?"
That was the most plausible reason. Sieri, for her part, had done her best, and since she didn't feel as bad as she expected, she was fully expressing her enjoynt when we freaked out and stopped her. She was definitely angry because she felt her efforts had been negated.
"I don't think it'll work now, I'll have to talk to her later."
"And after you talk?"
Eve asked. I raised my head, curious as to what she ant by that question. Eve looked straight at and asked.
"What are you going to do after you talk? Are you just going to let Sieri live like she used to? Let her continue to be a good person?"
"I don't know. Sieri changing is, for , a bit, how should I put it? Should I say it's hard to accept? Or that I can't accept it? Do you know that feeling? A regular shop I used to go to closed down one day. But in its place, a new shop that I'd always wanted opened up. But, I'm the lord, right? If I want, I can just leave that shop alone, or I can get rid of it as originally planned and build a new one. But I can't figure out which is better."
"Should I just stay here?"
I shook my head. Sieri's switch being flipped was a problem, but I couldn't miss this opportunity to enhance Eve as well. My married life and sanctuary issues were clearly separate from the Evangeline problem.
"Honestly, I'd like Sieri to stay the comfortable person she is now. It's rare to find soone so pure, right? But in the end, as the lord's wife, it's also true that she'll have to change soday. So I don't know. It's right for you to go with and do the dungeon exploration. But if I leave Sieri alone, won't this temporary change accelerate? Then again, if I leave you behind, won't I regret it later at a mont when I'm short one person?"
"So what are you suggesting we do?"
Eve asked again. I thought for a mont, then looked at Eve. Even I couldn't easily reach a conclusion. The matter of human emotions was truly a complicated thing. Especially the emotions of a woman. In my past life, if I had an emotional fight with a woman, I would just take the loss.
But I couldn't just ignore Sieri like other won, or solve the problem by cracking her head open like I usually did. She was my wife, and she was the person who had to handle the territory's duties when Eve and I were gone.
"What would Sieri want to do?"
I suddenly asked Eve. Eve asked back as if my question was absurd.
"What do you an, what? Seeing her earlier, she was dying of pleasure from hitting soone. If you leave her be, the criminal recidivism rate will hit rock bottom even if you do nothing."
"How about you talk to her?"
Eve made a baffled expression at my proposal. She looked around, then pointed at herself and asked back.
"?"
"Yes."
"No, I an... really? ?"
"Yeah. Is there a problem?"
"No, it's just... am I really in a position to give that kind of advice... is what I was thinking."
"Why you."
"I an, let's be frank, I'm trash, right? A piece of trash who raped won and killed people. But Sieri is a kid who plays within her own moral lines. So if I talk to Sieri, will that... be helpful? Won't I just be a bad influence?"
I shook my head and said.
"I'm not asking you to give advice. Just to listen. Besides, if I ask, do you think Sieri would talk to ?"
Eve hesitated before nodding. The mont of hesitation was brief, but I could glimpse her deliberation in her ever-changing expression. She contorted her face and said to .
"Fuck, don't bla for what happens, okay?"
"It's fine. I trust you."
At those words, Eve mumbled on her lips, then cursed at .
"Son of a bitch. You're a real son of a bitch. You know that?"
I knew it well. All too well.
****
The reason Sieri, who had been holed up for several days, finally ca out was thanks to Soya, who had fallen in front of her door. Soya, surprised by bumping into Eve who was loitering around, unable to find the right ti to talk, had fallen and made a loud noise. Sieri, worried that there had been an accident outside, hurriedly opened the door, and her eyes t Eve's.
After seeing Eve help Soya up, Sieri offered a formal greeting and tried to close the door, but Eve wasn't one to let a once-opened door be closed so gently. Prying the door open with her brute arm strength, Eve asked with a smile.
"Hey, let's talk."
"Huh? Ah, I'm...."
"I won't bite. I said let's talk, okay?"
There was no way for Sieri to stop Eve from forcibly pushing her way in. The difference in their simple strength alone was more than ten-fold, and the difference in their actual combat ability amounted to dozens of tis. Eve naturally opened Sieri's room door and stepped inside.
Eve couldn't help but be a little surprised at the sight of the room. Sieri's room could be described as plain and simple. If Eve's room gave off a neat yet brutal atmosphere, Sieri's room was just a bed and a nun's habit. It ended with an altar for prayer, a wardrobe to store a dress, and a table for receiving guests.
Eve slowly looked around the room and sat at the table. Sieri cautiously pulled out a chair and sat across from her. She couldn't et Eve's eyes. Eve, for her part, had no idea what to talk about with Sieri. Lusius had left it to her, but she had never had a conversation like this before either.
"Um....."
"Y-yes..... Please speak."
Sieri acted awkwardly toward Eve, as if seeing her for the first ti. It was only natural to be awkward after the unseemly sight from a few days ago. To break the air, Eve spoke first.
"Don't act so awkward. Huh? We're close, aren't we? Right?"
".....Yes."
Eve was slightly hurt by the reluctant-sounding reply. Even after answering, Sieri kept her distance from Eve, fidgeting with her fingers and avoiding her gaze.
"My husband was worried about you."
To lighten the mood, Eve brought up Lusius's na. At the re ntion of Lusius's na, Sieri's eyes flickered upward to look at Eve again. Her large eyes were welling up with moisture, looking like she was about to cry again.
"W-was he, was he angry?"
"No. He was worried because you wouldn't co out of your room. Why were you holed up? Were you mad because we told you that... you don't have to do things like this?"
At those words, Sieri mumbled on her lips and hung her head low. Eve grew anxious, worried that she had made Sieri cry. If she were a pure rmaid, her tail would be flapping, but her nervousness only showed at the tips of her toes.
"......Did I do sothing wrong?"
And then Sieri threw out a question.
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