Entering the church, there was dim light. Desks were arranged symmetrically for the visitors, and a white statue hung in front of them. A door was connected to the church.
Reu opened it and walked inside with Caeson.
A big room was filled with the aroma of hot food. There was a man coming toward them with his hands crossed behind his back. He was middle-aged, with blonde hair, and wrinkles on his face were clearly visible.
He said, "Hey Reu, did you get the money from the bank?"
Reu hesitantly replied, "Yes, Bishop Elane."
Caeson, who was standing beside him holding Mrs. Rhino in his left hand, bowed down and said, "Hello, Mr. Bishop."
Bishop Elane said hello and asked Reu, "Who is this young man?" while pointing at Caeson's injured face.
Reu replied, "He is my guest. He doesn't have any place to stay, so I welcomed him here. He is also a teacher and can teach the kids. By the way, where are the kids?"
Ignoring the bruised face of Caeson, Elane smiled slightly and said,
"Welcome to our church. We don't have enough money to hire a teacher anymore. People's faith in God has fallen, the church funding that was given by the government has been interrupted, and the civilians who once donated charity have also lost hope."
"But in my opinion, teaching about the real world is just as important as teaching morality and religion."
"We cannot give you much, but you can stay here as long as you want."
He stared at the rhino soft toy in Caeson's hand.
Mrs. Rhino tried not to move so she wouldn't get noticed.
Caeson thought, Teacher? Who is a teacher? In my old life it was the most uncool and least favorite thing for me.
How can I handle this?
But then he thought, Well… I can act as a teacher.
He said to Bishop Elane, "Thank you, sir, for the opportunity you are giving me to light up the future of the kids."
Bishop Elane tilted his head in disappointment and said, "Future… huh?"
Then he walked away toward the church hall.
After the calamity of the zombie outbreak, many families were destroyed. Many people had died from starvation. It was ironically funny to talk about the future when everyone was barely surviving.
Caeson realized the reality of the situation and chose to stay silent.
After a second, he asked Reu, "Why did you tell them I was a teacher?"
Reu replied in a pleasing tone, "Because we need a teacher, and you need a place to stay."
"You must be hungry. Let's have dinner."
Caeson said, "I ate some fruits, so I don't have to."
Those figs were too raw. I didn't even finish them all. I think I lost them somewhere… maybe when I got into that fight with those thugs.
After they beat Reu and walked away, I followed them. I waited until they reached an open public area and warned them about reporting to the authorities.
I don't know what happened to them after that.
But that guy with terrible scars on his face changed his expression suddenly.
And that black eye-patch guy beat the hell out of me.
I couldn't take help from Mrs. Rhino or Mr. Pinion because there were still people outside.
So I had to compensate with the money I got.
Hawker, who was inside Caeson's mind palace, watched everything and felt that Caeson was doing a good deed.
"Humm~" A buzzing sound suddenly came.
It was clearly coming from Caeson's hungry belly.
Reu said, "Let's go. We have to meet the kids."
From the door, they crossed a small open ground.
It wasn't very big. After crossing it, there were three rooms in front of them.
Reu opened the door of the middle one.
Light instantly filled the room.
A little girl ran toward them with her arms spread wide, smiling brightly. She barely reached their waist.
She hugged Reu.
Reu smiled, kneeled down so his face was clearly visible to her, and said, "Hey, Uru."
The girl said, "Reu, you came back very late. You promised to play with me."
She counted with her tiny fingers.
"One whole day… and four hours!"
Reu wiped the food near her mouth with his finger and said, "I have come now. We will play tomorrow."
"And you didn't make any trouble for Sister Tama and Sister Alisa, right?"
From the back of the room, two little boys ran toward Reu. They were almost the same age as the girl.
They shouted joyfully, "Hey Reu!"
Behind them came a pretty young lady in a white and black religious outfit.
"Don't run, kids. You will get hurt."
Reu said, "Sister Tama."
Sister Tama placed her hand on her cheek and said, "Reu, you are finally here."
"This time it took even longer."
The two boys hugged Reu around his lap.
Reu said, "Ahh… hey now."
Sister Tama glanced at Caeson.
She noticed the bruised injuries on his face and showed a slightly shocked expression.
Reu quickly said, "He is a relative of mine from very far away."
Sister Tama relaxed and said, "Ah, okay."
Caeson thought, Shit man… I wasted my chance. What kind of first impression is that on a pretty girl?
Hawker, who could hear his thoughts from the mind palace, said,
"Shut up, man. What are you thinking? Impressing a girl who has devoted herself to God?"
Reu said, "He will stay here for some days. He is also a teacher, so he can teach the kids."
Uru and the two boys looked unimpressed after hearing the word "teacher."
Caeson kneeled down and said, "Hey little kids."
"Let me introduce myself. I am Caeson."
"A good scholar and your teacher. Don't worry, I'm not harsh on kids."
Well, with these lines I should be able to impress these kids.
But the kids ignored him and went back to playing.
Caeson remained kneeling with a disappointed face.
Sister Tama forced a slight smile and said, "You're right, Mr. Caeson. I think the kids are tired, so they are going to sleep."
Reu thought, Is he trying to imitate me?
Then he said, "Sister Tama, I'm feeling hungry… and this dude too."
Caeson said, "Yes."
They finally had dinner.
It was fig soup, but it was still better than eating raw figs.
Later that night, Caeson slept on a bed stacked above another bed. All the beds in the room were arranged the same way—one above another.
Caeson thought,
My stomach is full now. I think the food was made my… no, by Sister Tama.
From tomorrow I have to teach the kids.
And I hid Mrs. Rhino in the room where I met Bishop Elane, inside a secret locker. Reu told me that if I love my soft toy, it's better not to keep it in my hand because kids are very chaotic.
He whispered quietly,
"Hey Hawker, can you contact Mrs. Rhino?"
Hawker instinctively replied without thinking much, "Oh yes, I can."
Then realization hit him.
"How do you know about that?"
Caeson said, "Do you think only you can see and hear me?"
They both appeared inside the dark mind palace, standing in front of each other.
Hawker looked guilty and said, "Hey, don't misunderstand me. I'm sorry for peeking into your thoughts. I'm trying not to."
Caeson asked calmly, "Are you?"
Hawker said, "Yeah… at least I try not to peek."
Caeson replied, "Well, I also hide things from you. So the accounts are clear."
"But don't try to peek into my thoughts again."
"And whatever you say here—I can hear it in the real world."
"So this can be useful."
Hawker replied with guilt, "Yeah… okay. But how can you talk to me like this?"
Caeson said, "Well, I can. I don't know how."
"But after coming to this place, I feel like I'm much more connected to the mind palace."
"So yeah, I can talk to you anytime."
He paused and added quietly,
"Well… I can share it. I'm sorry."