And the moment the church representatives saw the goddess statue that Ao and I had made, they suddenly dropped to their knees and began praying.
“Oh my goodness! To encounter such a magnificent statue of the Goddess…”
“It perfectly embodies the gentle grace of the Goddess.”
“It feels as though we are standing before the Goddess herself…”
The clergy were offering prayers while tearing up with emotion.
Oh, seeing him so moved made both Ao and me a little embarrassed.
“Uhm, Father, we would like to donate this goddess statue to the town church after the harvest festival. Would that be acceptable?”
“It would be our highest honor. To be able to enshrine such a divine statue… it would be a great pride for our church.”
The priest, still unable to stop his tears, nodded vigorously at Emilia-sama’s suggestion.
Hehe… actually, this isn’t the end.
Ao and I went on to carve a slightly smaller angel statue beside the goddess. We put a bit of extra effort into it, wishing blessings upon those who would be getting married. Since the design was simple, it only took the two of us and Ao about thirty minutes to complete.
“Oh… this is also wonderful. It feels as though it is bestowing blessings upon those attending the weddings.”
The angel statue also received great praise, and we were told it would be displayed in a corner of the church as well. Then, a nun approached us somewhat hesitantly, looking apologetic.
“My Lord, Emilia-sama, we sincerely apologize, but would it be possible for you to create a smaller goddess statue as well? Actually, we’ve decided to rebuild the church, and we will need a new statue of the Goddess for it.”
“Yes, that much is fine. Since it’s a rare opportunity, let’s have them make something with real passion put into it.”
“Thank you very much. We will, of course, cover the costs.”
“We’ll sort out the details later.”
Hearing the conversation, both Ao and I felt our motivation rise.
We should make a goddess statue that will truly delight the townspeople. That said, the harvest festival preparations took priority for now, so we decided to make it after the festival ended. With today’s work safely completed, we began heading back to the mansion.
By the way, Kent-chan had slipped into an afternoon nap at some point, and was now sleeping soundly in a corner of the stall, watched over by the former Margrave.
“…Welcome back.”
“““…”””
At the entrance of the mansion, the exhausted Margrave greeted us weakly.
And behind him stood Su and the others—silently radiating an unmistakable atmosphere of “we have things to say, but we’re holding it in.”
When we returned to the mansion, the Margrave was there to greet us, except now he had a bruise on his face. Everyone except the former Margrave, Emilia-sama, and Kent-chan was left speechless.
“…I gave him a bit of a corrective lesson for his mischief. Thanks to that, all the paperwork is finally done.”
“Maria-san, thank you. You’ve truly been a great help.”
Emilia-sama and Maria-san spoke calmly, but it was clear now that the “corrective lesson” had been very real.
By the way, under the former Margrave’s orders, we were not allowed to use healing magic on him. Meaning, by tomorrow, those bruises would probably look even worse.
Well… that was definitely going to leave a mark—in more ways than one.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com
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