Chapter 31 – The Most Important Store in a Frontier City

After visiting the villages around Ixendahl, Hirune immediately headed for the center of the city.

Pushing aside Wanda’s advice to go by carriage, she went on foot. There was a reason for this.

(There’s a place we need to stop at on the way.)

She walked down the main street with Jeanne and Holly, dressed in the pure white dress of a Great Saint.

The Mephistopheles Church priests followed behind.

Before Hirune’s arrival, the city had been in a gloomy state, but now, thanks to the giant ward, it was beginning to come back to life. People were busy doing their business, and children could be seen playing.

“Hirune-sama! Oh …… how divine.” “My son is back in town! Thank you so much!” “How wonderful to see you so close, …….”

When the citizens saw Hirne, they would make the holy seal and smile at her.

Hirune dutifully returned the holy seal and walked on.

(My power was given to me by the goddess …… so I must not get carried away ……)

With this in mind, she was not in the mood to boast about her power.

In fact, she was grateful for the good fortune of being reincarnated in this world.

In her previous life, Hirune was so busy with work that she never felt at ease, but now she felt surprisingly calm. She doesn’t have to be in a hurry for anything, no phone ringing in the middle of the night, no clients complaining, no boss throwing work at her.

(The first time I saw this city, it was gloomy, but now I’ve grown attached to it. )

The streets reinforced with steel plates were neither colorful nor fashionable, but she’s grown accustomed to this scene since being transferred to Ixendahl. When she imagined that the iron was made at the Morgul Steel Mill, she felt proud.

Zuguri and the craftsmen are using the iron that they have worked so hard to produce for the city.

(Not only the iron, but also the …… houses, the cobblestones on the ground, and the products in the stores were all made by everyone.)

When she thought about it, everything in the city seemed so lovely, which was strange.

“Ixendahl is a wonderful city, it has come this far because of people helping each other.”

Holly, who was standing next to her, blinked her big eyes as Hirune mumbled something like that.

“What’s going on?”

“I just thought of something.”

Hirune smiled at the pretty, light blue-haired saint.

Holly blushed a little when she saw Hirune gently squinting her starry eyes, and turned her face away to cover it up.

“Hmmm. …… Well, it’s easy to spend time here because everyone is so kind. People from the south are bright. Anyway, where do you think you’re going?”

Holly smiled back at a child waving at her and asked as she made the holy seal in a fluid motion.

“Yes, I’m a little worried about something. This is a very serious matter.”

Hirune looked around with a look she didn’t usually show, as if a sniper was trying to kill her.

“That seems seriously unlike you…….”

Holly smiled at the citizens but stiffened a bit.

After a short walk along a street named “Wind and Sand Boulevard”, Hirune shouted happily, “We’re almost there.”

“We haven’t reached the Central Goddess Square yet, have we?”

“No, Holly, we haven’t.”

Hirune shook her head.

Jeanne, who was behind her, saw this and knew what was going on. She let out a somewhat dismayed murmur, “Again ……?”

The destination of the group was the southern branch of Valhalla, a bedding store facing the main street.

Holly held her forehead with her right hand, saying, “You ……”.

Hirune held out her hands as if showing off limited edition goods, nodding like some great scholar.

“I’ve just received word that a new product had arrived, so I thought I’d give it a try, a test sleep.”

“What do you mean, “test sleep”? I was actually so nervous, guess I was wrong!”

Holly let out a sigh when she saw the bedding store Valhalla.

The priests who had followed her seemed happy for some reason, saying, “So the Great Saint of Dozing …… the rumors were true.”

The bedding store Valhalla was run by Thomas, a nice middle-aged store manager who accompanied Hirune from the royal capital.

He was busy arranging for a new hammock and a Pyory down comforter. People were coming in and out of the store all the time. The store had just been bought out of a vacant store, and the hastily made signs were noticeable.

“Don’t worry. We’ll be done in no time.”

Hirune set out to enter the store, feeling excited.

“Wait.”

But Holly grabbed her by the shoulders and almost knocked her backwards.

“oofh! What’s the matter, Holly?”

“We’re going to see the broken clock tower, aren’t we? It sounded great, so we all came along, right?　right?”

“Holly is getting more and more scary every day. Jeanne, help me.”

Holly was relentless, she was constantly being pushed around by Hirune for good measure.

Jeanne smiled bitterly and bowed to Hirune.

“You aren’t going to be able to get up for thirty whole minutes if you try to sleep, so please don’t do that today.”

“Jeanne is also an enemy. This is not fair…….”

The trial sleep was rejected with one in favor and two in opposition.

Hirune had no choice but to give up on going to the store, instead she held her hand to the store.

(If I can’t get in, I’ll give you the usual blessings. Since we’re short on time, I’ll omit the scriptures and start with….. Purification……reduce fatigue-give a good night’s sleep……improve luck…..prevent rot-insect repellent-…Penetration protection……shock resistance…..Heat resistance-)

A magic circle shined brightly, and Hirune used holy magic on the bedding store Valhalla.

Holly, Jeanne, and the priests who accompanied them were dazzled by the speed of the work.

The stardust glittered gold and silver, then was sucked into Valhalla.

The people in the store didn’t notice, probably because the stardust didn’t reach the inside of the store.

The people who had been watching the Great Saint from afar cheered, “Wow!”

“Hmmm……, that’s good.”

“Hey, hey, what did you just do?”

Holly, who had been holding Hirune’s shoulders, lifted her hand and turned her head to ask Hirune in a whisper.

“I cast a holy spell on the bedding store Valhalla.”

“It’s not just one thing, right? I feel like you were using a very advanced magic. ……”

Holly crossed her arms and looked at the bedding store Valhalla.
　 It looked like an impossible level of holy magic that would take ten Saints to use.

“Well, first purification, then reduce fatigue and give a good night’s sleep. In addition to that, there is a holy magic that will make you lucky if you get injured in an accident – this is just a comfort level, though. I’m also worried about the store, so I’ve cast anti-corruption, insect repellent, water-resistant, shock proof, and heat-resistant blessings on it.”

Hirune said without hesitation.

Holly was amazed, “That’s more protection than the royal palace. ……” Jeanne giggled, half in dismay, half in happiness, ” Hirune-sama is just worried, isn’t she?”

“The bedding store Valhalla is indispensable for the reconstruction of Ixendahl. If we don’t protect it, where will we protect?”

“You’re being overprotective!”

Holly unintentionally said loudly, clearing her throat to calm herself down.

“But if that’s what you want to do, why not? There’s no doctrine that says you can’t use holy magic om a bedding store.”

“Holly, you really know your stuff.”

“It’s just too much. Please just act like a Great Saint.”

As Holly said this, Thomas, the owner of Valhalla, noticed the group and came out of the store.

“Great Saint Hirune, Saint Holly. Welcome to my home.”

Thomas smiled, showing his white teeth. He seemed to be in excellent physical condition. It’s probably not her imagination that he looked younger than when he was in the Royal Capital. It’s probably because of the reduced fatigue and restful sleep.

(It’s the effect of the blessing, isn’t it? Good.)

After five minutes of conversation with Thomas, Hirune was satisfied with the promise that “you would definitely get the product” and “You could come back.” she turned to the square with the broken clock tower.

“There’s no Great Saint freer than you.”

Holly’s sighing words were not heard by Hirune.