Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
52. The Meaning of Ivy:
Sir Lionel instructed us to stay in the carriage, so we went to bed early yesterday, and when morning came we were told of what had come to light during the night.
“As soon as we’re ready, we will head south along the Ulleri River, checking the coastal areas as we go, and heading for the royal capital. ……. If the Duke regains consciousness before we leave, I’d love to hear what he has to say.”
Sir Lionel looks serious as he opens the leather map. I am worried about whether he and the others are resting, but I do not know what will happen if the undead slime we saw yesterday spreads throughout the country. This must be a crucial moment, and Mr. Dolph is nodding his head with a grim look on his face.
The clergy had already begun preparing holy water. I will repair the armor after preparing breakfast with Barbara-san.
“Flora, um… are you okay?”
Gilbert asked softly as we returned to the carriage.
“Yes, of course. If I can be of any help, please let me know ……!”
I clenched my fist in response, and Gilbert laughed awkwardly. He looked a little worried.
“… Nothing, if it doesn’t bother you anymore, then I probably shouldn’t ask. I just thought that you probably have a lot of painful memories in the royal capital, so…”
Oh, he was worried about me.
“It’s fine! I think I’ve become a lot stronger while traveling with you all.”
Saying this, I then tried to flex a muscle. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make a fist, but it’s how I felt.”*
“Besides… there is someone important to me in the royal capital.”
“Someone important to you…?”
“Yes, I have a dear friend named Chelsea who stays in the royal capital. If it weren’t for her, I might not be here now.”
Rather than the painful past that is now far away, it is more important that our irreplaceable loved ones are safe and sound. When I expressed this feeling, Gilbert smiled calmly, as if all his tension had been released.
A little while later, he stepped next to me and spoke to me in a whisper, as if he were telling me a secret.
“By the way, Flora,……, I have something I’d like to discuss with you,……. About the tanning leather that wraps the head of the battle axe…”
Saying this, he shifts the tanned leather that encases the axe head of the battle axe in his hand slightly to reveal the axe blade. There was an elaborate relief of an ivy carved into the half-moon arc of the axe-blade. I was a little taken aback. Because….
“…The truth is, I found it too…”
Barbara-san’s pot also had a small ivy pattern carved into the edge.
“It wasn’t there before, right…?”
“Yes ……. Even if Mr. Dolph and Barbara-san were secretly working on it, it seems too elaborate to suddenly appear. ……?”
We both stared at the beautiful patterns for a while, far too intricate to have been carved by hand.
“…maybe it’s proof that the goddess has lent us a helping hand.”
That’s what I was thinking. I had heard rumors that the holy sword had a similar pattern. Also, when the clergymen put up the large ward, the ivy pattern appeared in the air.
Yesterday, I tried to protect Barbara-san on the spur of the moment, and I remember that I was able to defeat only one undead magical beast with this pot. I am sure that the pot was filled with the prayers of everyone in the town of Kelvim when I was making the holy water, and I am sure that the residue of the prayers protected me. But I also feel that there is more to it than that.
At the edge of my field of vision, just outside the window of Duke Ziemeld’s villa, I could see an old church. I see many people from the Ziemeld capital heading to that church early in the morning. Many of them were elderly couples, people with physical disabilities, and some were pregnant women. It looked like the people who could not escape from the city for one reason or the other had come to pray.
“A clergyman once told me, “The power of blessings comes from the many prayers of the voiceless. The old teaching also says, ‘The humble prayers of the people come together to form the foundation of the blessings of the Goddess. If so, this ivy patterned relief could mean that the blessings of many people’s prayers have been entrusted to it.”
When I told him the guesses I had come up with, Gilbert nodded seriously
“Bingo! I’m glad you got there on your own.”
Suddenly I heard a voice and turned around to see Priest Sydney standing there with a happy look on his face.
“It’s just as Flora said. Gilbert, not long ago you were fighting with the blessing of the many people around you. But now you have received many more, countless blessings. This is proof of that.”
Hearing this, Gilbert straightened his back and readjusted his grip on his battle axe. I took a deep breath and straightened my back as well.
“Haha… You don’t have to be so intimidated. I told you before that blessings become stronger when multiplied. You can make what you have been entrusted with even greater power without causing any mistakes. And you will be able to return the blessings to the innocent people who have no power in the form of peace.”
With that, Master Sidney left, humming happily
It sounded somewhat like a premonition to me.
But what if by praying I could amplify the blessing even more? What if I could protect both the things that are important to me, and the things that are important to someone else?
“I am grateful, but it is a big responsibility ……,”
Gilbert laughed awkwardly, and I couldn’t help but make the same face.
“Why are you so nervous? It’s okay. Everyone prays for the things they care about. It’s just a combination of all of that. Just do what you normally do and you’ll be fine.”
Barbara, who had been working silently while listening to our conversation, said in her usual voice,
“That ivy pattern is a symbol of what connects people together.”
She said, smiling.
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