Benimaru cautiously stood with Ravenna while keeping his eyes on the front.
"What is it?" Ravenna asked curiously, not understanding why Benimaru suddenly came to a halt.
Benimaru didn't say anything, just pointed his head at Okarino, letting her see it by herself. Ravenna followed his directions and was surprised to see who it was. Benimaru had told her everything about Okarino and the doubts he had about him, so she knew why Benimaru was acting like this.
"Wanna go to a corner?" Ravenna asked Benimaru, carefully.
"Sure, Let's stay away from here. We are just spectating anyway." Benimaru nodded his head and began to lead Ravenna along the way.
"Oh, isn't this Sir Benimaru?" Suddenly, they heard a familiar voice from behind, making them stop in their tracks.
'Tch, this guy…' Holding back the curses in his head, Benimaru turned around with a smile and was followed by Ravenna later on.
They were met by none other than Okarino. He was standing before them with a gentle smile, which might put many off letting their guards down, but not Benimaru.
Benimaru acted a bit surprised. "Oh, so it is, sir Okarino. I didn't expect you to come down here to greet us."
Shaking his head, Okarino replied. "No. No. No. No. How can I not greet you? You know, you are one of the few people I know well in this town. My lonely self sometimes sees you as my friend. Ah..forget me saying that. I hope you didn't mind."
'Bullshit… that is the most common way to know your enemy.' However, Benimaru didn't show his dumbfoundedness outside; instead, he replied back humbly. "It's okay. I don't mind having Sir Okarino as my friend either. You see, I also have no one in this city."
"Glad, you didn't mind." Okarino said before pushing his hand forward, indicating a handshake.
Benimaru froze for a second, coming up with countless possibilities for why he wanted a sudden handshake. But he recomposed himself and shook Okarino's hand. "I hope our friendship lasts as long as the nap of a god."
"What a unique analogy! I quite like it." Okarino said while shaking his hand.
However, they both didn't let their hands go; they just stared at each other, smiling.
"Uhh…Lord?" Ravenna called Benimaru, not calling him by his name as they were in public.
After Ravenna's concern-filled question entered their eyes, Okarino and Benimaru let their hands go.
Okarino looked at Benimaru and said it with embarrassment. "I am sorry, Miss Ravenna. It is just that I became emotional for having and calling someone my friend. You see, I never felt what it was like to have one. I am glad that Benimaru didn't embarrass me any further by questioning my actions."
"Oh, I see." Ravenna nodded her head in understandment.
Meanwhile, Benimaru said. "It's fine. I also didn't have friends for so long. It feels great to have one again."
However, inside his mind, he was cursing heavily. "You sly fox. You were injecting your vital energy into my body, trying to probe me. You didn't even let my hand go, even after getting strongly repelled by me.'
'But, one thing I can say…'
Benimaru and Okarino stared into each other's eyes and spoke simultaneously.
'This guy is strong.'
"Well, you look at that. I didn't expect the two rising stars of this city to get along so well." Suddenly, a caring yet arrogant voice came from beside them.
Benimaru, Okarino, and Revenna looked in that direction and saw a man in the Goddess of Nature church's cassock, but his was a bit different as he had an extra short green robe on. The man was thin but still had that young vitality in him. His hair was blonde and short, and he had a pair of green eyes. Two men who were dressed like the person who handed Ravenna the invitation.
"You flatter me too much, Priest Belmuk." Okarino replied, nodding his head.
Meanwhile, Benimaru and Ravenna stayed silent, as they didn't know him. Okarino could see that, so he decided to introduce him to them. "Benimaru, Ravenna, this is Belmuk, the head priest of this church. Priest Belmuk, from your words, I can already guess you know them."
"Yes, yes, I do." Belmuk nodded his head while ogling his eyes all over Ravenna, not leaving any single detail. This gave Ravenna some creeps as she became a bit angry, but she held herself back and acted shy.
"So, you are the head priest." Suddenly, Belmuk's view was blocked by Benimaru's face. He now had to see Benimaru, who was staring at him with his intense gaze. This gave him the creeps in return.
"What is it?" Belmuk subconsciously took a step and asked cautiously.
"Sorry about that, priest Belmuk. I am just a big fan of yours. I have seen how you changed this city into such a prosperous and happy place. It is truly marvelous." Benimaru started singing praises, letting Belmuk let his guards down.
"I see." Belmuk forced a smile on his face, feeling the situation a bit absurd. He mainly came to them just for Ravenna, as she had caught his eye. But he didn't expect to meet such a big fan, which surprised him very much. He knew that people might respect him, but no one was a fan of his except the female acolytes he made by himself.
"Thank you. I will keep doing what is best for the world and under the divine mandate of the goddess." Belmuk ignored Benimaru before saying that. He glanced at Okarino and then shifted his eyes to Ravenna once again. "Okarino, care to tell me who this beautiful lady is? She looks very worthy of a Saintess candidate."
"She is my shop assistant, priest Belmuk. Her name is Ravenna. She just hit seventeen a few months ago." Benimaru's words made Belmuk's eyes lit up, but they quickly dimmed with what Benimaru said next. "Unfortunately, priest Belmuk. I have to give you some bad news."
Benimaru whispered softly, "She is heavily used by me every day. So, she is not suitable for being a saintness."
He might have said it softly, but the ones nearby had heard him clearly, and Ravenna did so too. She blushed heavily and burned her head down in shame.
"I see." Belmuk's face darkened after hearing Benimaru's words and Ravenna's reaction.
Meanwhile, Benimaru savored Belmuk's grim face. He knew Belmuk was a sex fiend, and from the acolyte that he interrogated first, he was able to guess who Belmuk was with—young girls under the age of eighteen. This was also further proven by the missing reports of young girls being much higher than married, mature women in this city.
"Well, you guys can leave anytime after eating something. You don't have to stay late, you guys have to open up your shop early in the morning anyway." Belmuk left them after saying that.
Silent the entire time, Okarino stood still and contemplated the entire interaction between them that he just watched.
"Unfortunate, isn't it, Okarino?" Benimaru said this to Okarino, shaking his head and looking disappointed. "She missed such a great chance because of me. I could have also made some profit."
Okarino smiled upon hearing Benimaru's words. "It looks like Benimaru is a businessman to the very core, still thinking about profit. But I will say it is indeed unfortunate."
"Well, we will leave after having some free meals." Benimaru glanced at Ravenna before turning his body to the tables that were filled with food. "Goodbye, Okarino."
"Goodbye." Okarino waved his hand at their leaving figure. Just as they left, his face turned stern. 'This man is so hard to read.'
…
"Don't you ever do such things again. Make a better excuse next time." Ravenna said this to Benimaru while throwing a tantrum as usual.
They were now heading towards their shop as they were done eating.
Benimaru just shrugged his shoulders. "Hey, that was the best excuse that came to my mind at that time. Also, this is for the best. He will not eye you even once now."
Ravenna thought for a bit before feeling that Benimaru was right. "Okay, fine. I forgive you."
Benimaru laughed to himself, shaking his head. But then his face changed as he nonchalantly said. "Ravenna, we have to be careful now. In the beginning, Okarino wasn't sure if we were a threat to him or not. But now he is absolutely sure about it. He will try to create trouble for us."
"Also, I feel like the robbers yesterday were sent by him." Benimaru gave a pensive look at the dark sky that had clouds slowly drifting with the moon's light shining on them.
"So, what do you think we should do now?" Ravenna asked Benimaru carefully. She knew Benimaru always came up with a plan while solving mysteries.
"Plan.." Beninmaru rubbed his chin, thinking of something.
After a while, he shrugged his shoulders and said. "There is none this time. Let's just do our job and live peacefully."
"Heh?" Ravenna became a bit dumbfounded and started contemplating while following behind Benimaru.
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