"Woof woof woof!"
The middle-aged man barked deliriously, as if he were giving New Year's greetings to everyone around.
"Brother, we all fought our way out of the Slums, don't lose face now!"
"I bet one silver coin that he'll definitely seize the final fruit of victory!"
"Good, I'm in!"
"This isn't fair; this poor doggy's body was just terrified by a dragon carriage a few days ago."
"Forest Goddess above! Protect your believer!"
...Filthy language and crazed cheers mixed together, surging this way like a tide.
Grin stood outside the crowd, listening to these messy words; his brow furrowed deeper and deeper, his face full of bewilderment.
"What on earth is going on, Emilia? What's actually inside? Is someone performing on the street?"
But the response he got was the girl's tearful, trembling voice: "I want to come down..."
"What's wrong, Emilia?" Grin sensed something was off and asked quickly.
"Hurry, put me down quickly..." Emilia's voice grew smaller and smaller, thick with a nasal tone, sounding extremely aggrieved.
"Okay, okay." Grin obediently held Emilia's waist and set her down steadily.
At this moment, Emilia lowered her head, the brim of her hat concealing her face.
Yet even through that thin layer of fabric, a faint white mist could be seen rising—she was so overwhelmed with shame and anger that even the tips of her ears were steaming from the heat.
Grin leaned in curiously to take a look.
Good grief, Emilia's little face was burning like hot coals.
Her eyes were red, pooled with a thin layer of tears, making her look as if she had suffered some immense injustice.
"Are you okay, Emilia?"
He asked quickly with concern, though his heart was full of doubt; what exactly had this girl seen to have such a strong reaction?
Emilia reached out her hands and tightly covered her burning little face.
Tears shimmered faintly through the gaps between her Fingers, and she sounded pitiful: "Ugh—Grin, I need to go to the church to wash my eyes..."
"Alright, alright, whatever you want, just don't cry, my little ancestor!"
Seeing her like this, Grin immediately panicked and scrambled to comfort her.
In his heart, he cursed that old man people were talking about a thousand times over; damn it, what exactly was going on in there!
Just then, a familiar elderly voice rang out.
"Did someone just mention the church?"
The speaker was an Old Priest wearing a worn black robe, clutching two silver coins in his hand, presumably having won them in the betting just now.
Grin's expression chilled: "Why is it you, you bastard?"
The old coot before him was the same priest he had encountered at the Church of Abundance last time.
The Old Priest froze for a moment, then slapped his forehead, revealing an expression of sudden realization.
"Oh! It's you, you suck—ahem, so it's you, Great Benefactor! Thanks to those gold coins you tossed me last time, I was able to give the church roof a thorough renovation."
Grin narrowed his eyes, revealing a dangerous smile as he cracked his knuckles, making a crisp "crack" sound.
"Haha, it really is a small world, Old Priest!"
"Don't... don't be impulsive, young man! Let's talk things out!"
The Old Priest shrank back in fear and tried to slip away, but the wall of people behind him was packed tight, not leaving him even a crack.
Grin was quick-handed, grabbing the Old Priest's shoulder and hooking him over.
"Take a deep breath; feeling dizzy is normal."
"Grandpa! Grandpa, don't hit me! How about I give you these two silver coins? I'll give them all to you!"
The Old Priest was scared out of his wits, hurriedly stuffing the silver coins into Grin's hands.
Grin gave a disdainful laugh, pulled two glittering gold coins from his pocket, waved them before the Old Priest's eyes, and teased:
"Grandpa, let me hit you, and I'll give you two gold coins directly. How about it?"
Unexpectedly, the Old Priest's eyes lit up; he snatched the gold coins and stuffed them into his pocket in the blink of an eye.
"Alright then!"
The Old Priest agreed decisively, then leaned back, slumping his entire weight onto Grin.
He even cooperatively closed his eyes, looking as if he were "at your mercy."
"Holy cow, I've met someone even more shameless than me..."
Grin stepped back quickly, pushing the Old Priest away; watching him stumble to regain his footing, the corner of Grin's mouth twitched.
Emilia tugged urgently at Grin's sleeve.
"Hurry, Grin! If I don't wash my eyes now, I'll never be able to get them clean!"
"Alright, alright, we're leaving now!"
Grin comforted Emilia as they prepared to leave.
The Old Priest looked Emilia over, seemingly understanding something.
He quickly took a porcelain bottle from his robe and walked over.
"Did something dirty get in your eyes, young lady? I have a bottle of Holy Water here; hurry and rinse them."
Emilia nodded quickly, took the bottle in a panic, and began pouring it onto her face.
Grin timely held down her hood which was about to slip off, to avoid exposing Emilia's appearance.
This small gesture made Emilia pause for a moment.
Then she lifted her damp eyes and blinked at him gratefully, water droplets still hanging from her long eyelashes.
Grin sighed softly and turned to give the Old Priest a slight nod.
"Alright, Old Priest, we're even now."
The Old Priest laughed, waving his hand, the wrinkles on his face bunching together.
"Being able to help you young people makes this old man feel like I haven't decayed to the point of being useless yet."
With that, the Old Priest leaned in mischievously; to keep Emilia from noticing, he lowered his voice.
"Young man, two-timing like this, you have quite a future ahead of you. It seems your stamina is even more fierce than that Bitch Knight inside."
"What does my stamina have to do with you? Don't tell me you have a daughter to introduce to me?"
Grin rolled his eyes, responding nonchalantly.
"Pah!"
The Old Priest spat and said disdainfully, "You brat aren't worthy of my daughter."
"How do you know I'm not worthy? What if she happens to like someone like me?"
Grin raised an eyebrow, smugly planting his hands on his hips and vainly smoothing the stray hairs on his forehead.
To his surprise, the Old Priest didn't get angry; instead, he stroked his chin and nodded thoughtfully, saying seriously:
"That's true... she really does like the pretty boy type."
Grin's face darkened: "I'm finding you a bit punchable. What do you mean by 'pretty boy'?"
The Old Priest smoothed things over with a grin: "Sorry, sorry, I accidentally said what I was thinking out loud."
He paused, then as if remembering something, he approached while rubbing his hands together, his tone full of salesmanship:
"Oh right, that... my name is Simon. Young man, if you get married in the future, you must consider having me officiate!"
"I'm telling you, I'm very versatile; I can play any instrument."
"For just twenty silver coins, I can sing a song at your wedding. For two gold coins, I can sing for you all night long!"
"Alright, alright, I'll definitely give you my business when the time comes."
Grin waved him off dismissively and looked back at Emilia beside him.
"Don't rub so hard, Emilia. Be careful not to hurt your eyes."