Chapter Eighteen
The Blacksmith didn't as much as say a peep as Luise asked, and received, an iron mask to cover the lower part of her face. "Isn't there a full-face one?" Luise asked. "And-are they this common around here?"
The Blacksmith shrugged. "There's a famous tale of an iron-masked adventurer, so lots of young upstarts who want to play adventurer get one. Then they die, and someone fishes their masks out of this or that creature and brings them to their grieving families. Want to write your name on the inside of the mask? As a good luck charm-"
"No," Luise said hotly. "We already took care of a gryphon," she puffed her chest up in pride. "We don't need any good luck charm, the faith in the Founder will guide us through."
The unspoken 'and we are not spending money on frivolous stuff' remained in the air, mostly because even Luise knew how hypocrite it would sound if she were to say it after buying an iron mask simply to hide her gender to potential customers.
"How do I look?" Luise asked after putting the mask, turning towards Saito. The boy nervously chuckled, and scratched the side of his chin.
"Kind of scary?" Saito hazarded, trying to be polite. 'Like a cheap cosplayer' would probably fly over her head, but that seemed to be the correct word to placate Luise, because the girl visibly preened up and nodded to herself, buying the mask and stepping outside with it on her face. A few steps later, and she moved it over her head, breathing raggedly.
"Problems already?" Saito asked.
"N-Well," Luise grumbled, "It's hard to breathe with, but I'll get used to it in no time, you just wait and see!" as if to cement her point, she dropped it once more over her face.
"So," Saito said. "What's the plan?"
"The plan is simple," Luise said. "We're going to the closest church and we're asking if they saw the head priest of my church. Father Christoff must have passed by here. It's the closest city near the border, and with the children, he must have left them in the care of a fellow faithful."
Her voice didn't sound so sure, but Saito didn't pry. They asked a nearby merchant where the church was, and after a small groan left Saito's lips, they departed for the nearest hill. The city wasn't as big as Tokyo, of course, but it also didn't have any means of transport other than by feet. Unless they took a carriage, but something told him Luise would have scoffed at the idea of wasting money when they could just walk there...to the other side of the city.
Near the walls, past a long line of massed farmers that had fled the countryside, a neat church with pristine white walls and an untouched garden stood. The beggars were all outside the gates, where a group of guards were holding back a dozen of men from entering. "We just want to pray the Gods!" one yelled. From the gardens, a small group of priests were currently tending to the herbs growing within, sniping away at the hedgerows and pruning the plants.
"The church is closed for the day," one of the guards said gruffly. "Come back later."
"What about the food? Will they give us something?" another man asked.
"If you come back when the sun is about to set then yes, the priests will offer a warm plate to those who are the most in need," the guard said, looking visibly contrived from having probably repeated that very same line at least a good dozen of times. "Now scram."
"Hey!" Luise asked, drawing near with Saito. "Do you know if a Germanian priest came by this way?"
"A Germanian priest?" the guard actually blinked for a second at the definitely bizarre question. "Are you bounty hunters?" he asked next, his eyes narrowed. "There are no Germanian priests in the church, and even if there were, they are under the protection of the Gods!"
"What? No! He should have come with a group from an orphanage! We've been looking everywhere for them-"
One of the guards looked at another, and then beckoned an acolyte from the garden closer, whispering a few words and pointing in their direction. The acolyte frowned, and then muttered something back before drawing nearer, while the guard instead walked inside the church.
"Might I ask why two adventurers are looking for them?" the acolyte asked, his arms crossed in front of his chest, a pensive look on his face.
"What?! There are Germanians inside the church!?" one of the farmers yelled, attracting the attention of a few others. "We faithful Tristanians aren't allowed inside, but Germanian pigs gets to enter!?"
"All are equal in the eyes of g-" the acolyte said, taking a step back as the uproar from the crowd startled him.
"We've got children too!" a few dirty-dressed women yelled. "Why can't they get inside?!"
The crowd began to push, a sudden blow sending Luise against Saito, and making the girl yelp. "Hey!" Saito snapped, only to swallow nervously at the murderous glares of the tired masses.
"Let them in! Let us in!" the crowd chanted as the guards started to push back in an effort to clear the gates. It didn't take a genius to understand that the situation was turning sour, and pretty fast at that too. Saito grabbed Luise by her midriff, and pushed his back against the metallic bars that separated the street from the garden.
The guards would solve the problem easily, hopefully without bloodshed-Luise put the wand away right this instant.
"Luise! Don't!" Saito exclaimed, only too late to stop the spell from departing abruptly from the girl's wand, shining brightly like a tiny sphere of light before it detonated, crackling the cobblestone and lifting a plume of smoke and a cloud of dust.
"Enough!" Luise snapped. "I will not have you start a fight in the middle of the street and in front of a church to boot! Have some respect for god and fear for his punishment, or learn to fear me when I'll be done with you!" she snarled, clearly agitated as she broke free from Saito's grip, lifting her wand a bit higher for everyone nearby to see it, and thus cower from it. "Now scram before I decide I want to see raining peasants' bits!" as she shrilly yelled the last part, more than a few children began to wail as the mothers carried them away, soon followed by a couple of peasants who had better things to do than risk their necks and limbs against a fallen noble of all things.
Saito watched the crowd disperse, and one of the guards sigh in relief. "Thanks for the assistance, ma'am," the guard said, tipping his helmet in her direction.
Luise frowned, "You recognized I was a girl beneath the mask?" she asked.
"Not at first, but when your husband called your name-"
"He's not my husband!" "She's not my wife!" both young adventurers shot out at the same time, receiving a moment of silence from the guards at the gate, before they soon devolved into laughter.
From within the church, a portly man walked outside taking wobbly steps, the weight of his fat making him appear like a mountain of jelly, golden rings adorning most of his hands. "Do my eyes deceive m-" then he clutched his chest as Luise turned to give the full view of her iron mask to the priest, who paled considerably. "G-Gah!" the man slipped, and fell down with a thunderous noise.
"Father Christoff!" Luise said, rushing for the gates which the guards hastily opened up to step in and help the man. Saito hurried behind Luise, and as Luise removed her mask and knelt near the fat head priest, she sighed in relief. "Father Christoff-you are as clumsy as ever!"
"My dear Luise-you, on the other hand, keep giving me heart attacks," Father Christoff replied with a broad smile. Close up, Saito could notice that except for his weight, the fat priest had little else of notice. The golden chain around his neck with the symbol of his faith, a shaved beard with just a hint of red, and dark crimson hair that had turned for the most part grey with age. "I no longer have the strength of a spry sapling!" the man laughed, even as Saito -and two more guards- hissed from the effort required to pull him up.
Luise had tears in her eyes as she rushed to hug the fat man, who in turn patted the girl's head as another bout of laughter left his throat. "My if you've grown!" he exclaimed, "But you look pale-you need something to eat!" with a nod, he began to gesture towards the church's entrance. "Let's get inside now, you have to tell me everything that happened!"
"Yeah," Luise answered with an eager nod, "I'd like that."
Saito smiled at the scene, glad that Luise had actually found the priest she was looking for.
Now, if only he hadn't been utterly ignored as the two of them entered the church - Luise, was it too much to do presentations!?
