Chapter 11
“Everything is ready, right?”
“Yes.”
Anyone watching would think they were about to make an illegal deal. But in reality, it was just the morning meeting.
The sudden announcement of an inspection from the Central Temple had thrown the Lemia Temple into complete panic.
“Make sure the orphanage is in perfect condition. Take good care of the children too.”
“Yes.”
“Don’t give them anything they can criticize.”
Honestly, they could find faults just by taking one quick look, Hanna thought with a silent click of her tongue.
The Head Priest kept repeating that this inspection would determine the funding for the next quarter, so they absolutely had to make a good impression.
“This time, different people are coming. The inspectors before were easy—you just had to take care of them a little, and they’d give high scores.”
Knowing this inspection might not be solved with a few bribes, the Head Priest had become even more irritable than usual.
“Then I’ll go check on the children.”
Tired of listening to what could hardly be called a meeting, Hanna stood up, pretending to be busy.
“They’ll arrive this afternoon, so make sure everything is ready!”
“Yes!”
I got it! How many times are you going to repeat it?
Without looking back, Hanna left the Head Priest’s office and headed toward the orphanage.
“If only I’d gathered enough evidence… I’d expose everything the moment the Central Temple people arrived.”
Of course, she was only saying that.
From Hanna’s perspective, if the temple disappeared, it would create another problem. The children might end up scattered everywhere.
The ideal situation was for the temple to remain, but for the orphanage to be left alone.
“This is so complicated.”
Hanna sighed.
Hopefully, just as the Head Priest wished, the inspectors would be easygoing people who would quietly finish the inspection and leave.
* * *
“Kids!”
The children had already finished breakfast and were gathered in the common room.
“How about we clean today?”
“Clean?”
All three looked less than thrilled by the sudden suggestion.
“Yep!”
Hanna forced herself to sound cheerful, as if she were inviting them to play a fun game, but their expressions clearly said otherwise.
In truth, just yesterday they had spent hours cleaning their own rooms.
Especially Masha’s.
Lately, Masha’s hobby had become… modifying dolls.
She would turn beautiful dolls into creepy monsters and had collected an entire pile of skulls.
Hanna had gone through a great deal of trouble making Masha a “treasure box” just to hide all those horrifying items out of sight.
I don’t even want to see those creepy things in my dreams.
Just then—
She noticed Ian quietly trying to sneak away.
“Stop right there, Ian. If you run away now, I’ll make you roll around this dusty room.”
“…Ah.”
Faced with Hanna’s firm tone, Ian reluctantly accepted the broom she handed him.
“Jeremy, Masha.”
She gave each of them a wet cleaning cloth.
“Why are we doing such a big cleaning all of a sudden?”
“Because important people from the Central Temple are coming today.”
“Important people?”
The children’s eyes sparkled with curiosity.
“People as important as the Head Priest?”
“No. These people are even more important.”
Hanna answered firmly.
After all…
Wasn’t capitalism greater than the gods?
Since next quarter’s budget depended on them, they were practically gods for the time being.
“When guests come, it’s only polite to clean up and welcome them warmly, right?”
“So we’re making all this fuss just because they’re guests?”
Jeremy asked while lazily swinging his cleaning cloth.
“There are things in the adult world you don’t need to know yet.”
Jeremy’s lips curled into a knowing grin, as if he somehow understood exactly what she meant.
Hanna immediately rolled up her sleeves.
“Alright! Let’s get moving! We’ll work hard until lunchtime!”
“Yaaay…”
Despite the children’s lifeless response, Hanna enthusiastically began cleaning.
The budget was one thing…
But the thought of the Head Priest blaming her nonstop if the inspection went badly made her shudder.
Tap. Tap.
After cleaning silently for a while, Hanna finally straightened her aching back and looked around.
“Jeremy, stop dusting the places you’ve already cleaned.”
Jeremy was clearly only pretending to clean.
“Okay.”
“Masha, you’re going to break the egg like that. Why don’t you put it down for a while?”
Even while cleaning, Masha insisted on carrying the mysterious egg.
Watching her made Hanna anxious.
“But if it gets cold, it might die.”
“Ian! Those aren’t disposable! We wash and reuse them—don’t throw them away!”
Ian had been tossing anything he considered dirty straight into the trash.
“…”
For a brief moment, Hanna wondered if cleaning alone would have been easier.
The place was complete chaos.
This is education. It’s part of teaching them. I have to be patient.
Since cleaning their own living space was an important lesson, Hanna insisted that the children participate.
Thanks to her constant reminders, things gradually became more organized.
Eventually…
The seemingly endless cleaning was finally coming to an end.
“Whew… It looks pretty nice now, doesn’t it?”
Looking around the sparkling room, Hanna smiled.
“Yes. It’s clean.”
The children nodded proudly while wiping sweat from their foreheads.
“Teacher, you should change your clothes.”
Jeremy pointed out.
Hanna quickly looked down at herself.
Her clothes were so filthy it looked as if she’d cleaned the entire floor with them.
“That’s because you kept wiping your hands on my clothes, Jeremy.”
She hurriedly checked the time.
Lunch was approaching.
“Let’s all wash up. Everyone looks like a mess.”
Not just herself—the children were just as dirty.
If the Central Temple inspectors saw them like this, the Head Priest would explode.
“What’s for lunch?”
Masha’s stomach growled after all the hard work.
“How about eating at the temple cafeteria today?”
“The food there isn’t very good.”
“I don’t care. I’m starving.”
Jeremy rubbed his growling stomach.
“Alright. Let’s hurry, wash up, and go eat.”
Imagining a pleasant lunch with the children, Hanna headed toward the bathhouse.
“Ahhh… The temple’s hot spring really is the best.”
* * *
“Welcome.”
“Oh my! Welcome! You must have had a tiring journey!”
After washing up and changing into clean clothes, Hanna and the children headed to the temple dining hall.
The delegation from the Central Temple had already arrived.
Already?
They were supposed to come in the afternoon.
They had arrived much earlier than expected.
“You probably haven’t had a proper meal yet. You must be hungry.”
The Head Priest greeted them with a kindness Hanna had never seen before.
Watching him, Masha whispered,
“Teacher, are those the guests?”
“Looks like it.”
“They’re so young. I thought old grandpas like the Head Priest would come.”
“Pfft.”
The Head Priest was bald…
But he wasn’t old enough to be called a grandpa.
Hanna couldn’t help laughing.
“And over there?”
One of the visitors noticed Hanna and the children and asked the Head Priest.
“Ah! That’s the teacher from our orphanage, along with the children. Such sweet and adorable kids.”
Sweet and adorable?
Hanna doubted the Head Priest even knew their names.
“Oh yes, this temple does have an orphanage.”
Hanna bowed politely, and the children quickly followed.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Curtis from the Central Temple.”
There were three people in the inspection team.
Two priests…
And one Holy Knight.
The brown-haired man introduced himself.
“Hello. I’m Hanna, the orphanage teacher. These are Masha, Jeremy, and Ian.”
“Nice to meet you.”
Curtis gave a neat, professional impression.
His tidy glasses made him look like someone who handled work flawlessly.
“Ah, and this is Deputy Head Priest Cesar, the leader of this inspection.”
“Huh?”
Hanna tilted her head.
She had naturally assumed the brown-haired man was the leader.
Apparently, the real boss was someone else.
A Deputy Head Priest?
She imagined Deputy Head Priests as middle-aged men with large bellies.
But Cesar was surprisingly young.
He looked barely twenty years old.
His shining silver hair contrasted with his sleepy, lifeless expression.
When introduced, all he did was lazily raise one hand.
It was as if someone had glued his mouth shut.
The silver-haired man didn’t say a single word.
“…What an unusual leader.”
“He is a bit unusual.”
Curtis answered after overhearing Hanna’s quiet comment.
She immediately froze.
He actually heard me?
“And this is Moisei. As you can see, he’s a Holy Knight.”
“Wow!”
Jeremy’s eyes instantly locked onto the sword hanging from the knight’s waist.
“Our boy is very interested in swords. Kids his age usually are.”
Hanna secretly prayed Jeremy wouldn’t reveal just how obsessed he was.
“Yes, that’s true.”
Curtis smiled.
“As long as Sir Moisei is here, feel free to admire it.”
Naturally, he patted Jeremy’s head before returning to his conversation with the Head Priest.
Jeremy couldn’t take his eyes off the Holy Knight’s sword.
“Wow… That’s so cool!”
“I think that priest is really handsome.”
“I agree.”
Jeremy was completely fascinated by the Holy Knight.
Meanwhile, Hanna wholeheartedly agreed with Masha.
“Smart-looking men with glasses are the best.”
“No, no! I meant the silver-haired man!”
“Huh? The sleepy-looking one?”
She hadn’t meant Curtis?
The Deputy Head Priest’s half-lidded eyes simply looked tired to Hanna.
“I like how expressionless he is.”
“Masha, you really have unusual taste.”
What was attractive about someone so pale and lifeless?
Well…
His face was undeniably handsome, and his silver hair sparkled beautifully.
“Let’s just eat.”
“Okay.”
Whether the temple staff were handsome or not didn’t really matter to them.
So Hanna decided food was far more important.
“Jeremy! Not that way! Come back here!”
She grabbed Jeremy before he could chase after the Holy Knight and sat him at the table.
Then she went to get food for the children.
“Jeremy! Stay seated!”
It was as if the Holy Knight’s sword had a magnet attached to it.
Jeremy kept trying to escape, making lunchtime just as chaotic as ever.
* * *
“Wow, there’s a lot of laundry today.”
Early the next morning, Hanna was shaking out freshly washed clothes.
Although the Central Temple inspectors had arrived, they seemed completely focused on inspecting the temple itself.
They hadn’t even stepped foot near the orphanage yet.
“I wonder what I should cook today.”
Maybe that was why…
At the moment, Hanna was much more concerned about lunch than the inspectors.
Snap.
She hung the clothes neatly across the long clothesline on the hill.
The children’s tiny outfits fluttered gently in the breeze.
“So cute.”
Their little clothes were adorable compared to her own.
She carefully spread out the ruffles on Masha’s dress.
She remembered Masha complaining a few days ago because the ruffles had been folded the wrong way after washing.
“Perfect.”
Hanna admired the neatly hung laundry beneath the warm sunlight.
There really wasn’t a better place to dry clothes than the hill in front of the orphanage.
“I think I’ll rest for a bit.”
Sitting beneath the old tree after finishing the laundry was one of Hanna’s small daily pleasures.
“Hmm hmm~”
Humming happily with the empty basket tucked under her arm, she walked toward the large tree.
Then…
She noticed something strange.
“…”
Someone was lying beneath the tree, using a rolled-up white priest’s cloak as a pillow.
The silver-haired man looked familiar.
“…Deputy Head Priest?”
It was Cesar—
the unusually quiet Deputy Head Priest who was leading the temple inspection.
