VIO Ch 71.2 – Looking for a Scholar (V)

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Translator: mii

editor: sleepchaser

“Spirits?! Can you see them too?!” said Reina, shaken by Dawn’s words, placing her hands on the table as she leaned forward.

“Yeah, I can see them,” said Dawn.
“Actually, I decided to let you enter the house because I saw some spirits next to you.
I don’t know how true this is, but from what I’ve experienced, spirits tend to hang around good people.”

“That’s amazing.
There are only a few people in the world who can see them.
It would have been best if you became a priest in the temple of Nada town… Ah, what’s wrong with them? They must be out of their mind to reject such an amazing person! Even if Lord Violant doesn’t ask me to crush them, I’d still do it!” Reina muttered, full of fighting spirit.

Rille trembled.
“Sister, your inner thoughts are showing…”

“Oh my, excuse me.
Anyway, was it the priests at Nada town’s temple who burned your wheat?”

Dawn nodded.
“Yeah.
I was trying to grow cold-resistant wheat during my time at the temple.
It took five years for me to finally find success, but that bastard… that priest burned them all.
Then, while I was depressed, my wife caught a cold and died.
So I quit as a priest and moved to the royal capital.”

“What?! That bald priest actually dared to do that?! This pisses me off! I’ll hit him like this, like this… and like this!” said Rille, throwing jabs in the air at the imaginary bald man.

To which Dawn, who sat across from her, widened his eyes.

Realizing she had done something unsuitable for a lady, Rille blushed and looked down.
“Ah, pardon me.” And she pretended not to have heard Ryan and Bell whispering, “As expected from Miss Reina’s sister…”

Although Dawn had been taken by surprise, he burst into laughter, unable to contain it.

Next to him, Yuan’s green eyes sparkled.
“You’re amazing, Sister! So cool! Please teach me as well!”

“Hey, Yuan.
I won’t allow it.
And why are you still here? Go upstairs.”

“But…”

“Go.”

“Yeees,” said Yuan, reluctantly obeying his father.
He bowed to Rille and the others before going upstairs.

Once Yuan was gone, Dawn sized up Rille and her group.
“Anyway, that’s how things are.
I have a deep grudge against the temple.”

“But why did they burn the wheat? Isn’t it great to have cold-resistant wheat?” Rille asked.

On the other hand, Reina seemed to somewhat understand the implications.
“It’s because the Verdurous Spirit of Yuglena reigns over the element of earth… right?”

“Yes.
It’s outrageous to modify what the Great Spirit created.
They told me I was disrespecting the Great Spirit, or something like that…” Dawn sighed.
“Well, that’s the situation.
That temple is pretty much corrupted.
The Lord only pays the offerings and won’t speak in the temple’s affairs, so he’s useless.
That bald guy… Since Yuan left, you’re fine with me calling him names, right? Well, he used to grow bees in the garden to make honey liquor, and sell that in secret.
It would still be fine if he used the money for the temple, but he did what he did to live in luxury, spoiling himself with jewelry and luxurious clothing.

“To make things worse, he was stingy with the management funds.
He even declined fund requests for urgent repairs.
In the end, the gaps between the walls allowed drafts in and the roof leaked.
It was the worst,” said Dawn, venting his pent-up anger.
“In addition to that, we couldn’t afford to feed the orphans that the temple took care of, but he increased his ration size and ate until fat.
That’s the kind of guy that bald sly fox is.
We didn’t have that many beds, but he took the accommodation fee from the pilgrims.
And seeing how he ripped people off with overpriced funeral costs, I really wished he’d go to hell.”

A frown spread across Reina’s lips.
“Ripping people off with funeral costs…?” Next to her, Rille shook in anger.

Ryan and Bell followed suit, flying into a rage.
“It’s part of temple rules that we must subsidize funerals as much as possible.
What an unbelievable guy.”

“He’s so terrible… What are the auditors doing?” asked Bell.

“Of course he curried favor with them and gave them gifts,” replied Dawn.” Then they went home with their pockets full.”

At that moment, Reina rose to her feet, a rattle breaking out.
Then she declared with a burning gaze, “I didn’t expect it to be this bad… I’m sorry, Mister Dawn Samarelli.
I can’t leave this matter as it is.
I will wash everything clean and mark a new phase.” Then Reina gave Dawn a deep bow.
“Thank you for your cooperation.
I’m sure you will be of much help if you assist us in botanical research.
…Ah, but if you don’t mind, please listen to my sister first.
Lord Violant lives in Leca town, and he’s looking for a botanist to develop that region.”

“Leca town? The origin of that Leca ink? In the first place, why is a noble like him investigating Nada town’s temple?” asked Dawn, expression one of suspicion.

Reina shrugged.
“It seems he will be quarreling with the next lord, so he wants to make Nada town’s temple a place where his sister can seek refuge.
But now, this option is a no-go.”

“Refuge…? I guess I can see why.
The Lord of the territory can’t speak of the matters of the temple…” Dawn muttered.

Once again, Reina bowed.
“I have some matters to attend to now, so please excuse me.
Bell, stay here.
Return to the temple after sending my sister back.”

“I understand, Miss Reina.”

Then Reina took Ryan with her and quickly left.

Rille asked Dawn, “What do you think about our offer, Mister Samarelli?”

After a moment of hesitation, he said, “For now, tell me the job details.”