The Little Demon King is Too Bothered by Her Brave Dads - Chapter 96

“To put it more bluntly, the value of the Deputy High Priest is essentially in maintaining and repairing the sacred artifacts.”

“Y-Your Grace.”

“Oh my, our conversation has gone on too long.”

Cutting off the Deputy High Priest mid-sentence, Cesar turned lightly.

His cold gray eyes swept past the Deputy High Priest.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to guide us to the warehouse?”

***

After that.

“This is truly… a mess,” Cesar declared with a smile after examining the supplies stored in the warehouse and various aspects of the temple.

The Deputy High Priest hunched his shoulders tightly, while the two ordinary priests either frowned or sighed.

However, the reaction of the two ordinary priests was strange.

‘Even though the High Priest is speaking so bluntly, they’re not surprised at all?’

It’s as if they’re reacting like this was expected.

But that was only for a moment.

The moment the Deputy High Priest glared at the ordinary priests, they quickly returned to expressionless faces.

Meanwhile, Cesar was flipping through the documents detailing the inventory in and out, when suddenly.

Thud.

He closed the file as if there was nothing more to see.

At that sound, the priests flinched as if they had been struck by a whip.

“Somehow, the number of items reported to the Grand Temple and the number of items actually stored…”

Cesar asked in a voice as soft as down.

“Don’t match at all, do they?”

“T-That’s…”

The Deputy High Priest, at a loss for words, suddenly glared at the ordinary priests.

“Y-You should have managed this properly yourselves!”

My goodness, he’s using informal speech?

I was truly surprised.

Priests basically use formal speech with each other regardless of status.

It means that everyone is equal before God.

This rule is so strict that even Third Dad, the head of the order, consistently uses formal speech with everyone…

But the Deputy High Priest only raised his voice again.

“If I’m too busy to catch everything, you should have taken care of it yourselves!”

“We’re, we’re sorry.”

“We’ll be more careful from now on.”

The ordinary priests bowed their heads several times as if they were criminals.

Seeing that no one objected to this rude speech.

It seems the Deputy High Priest has been speaking informally to the ordinary priests for a very long time.

At the same time, the Deputy High Priest turned to Cesar with a servile smile.

“W-Well, the ordinary priests are somewhat lazy. But I’ll keep a closer eye on things from now on…”

“Ah, so right now.”

Cesar, who had been watching this scene, asked in a gentle tone.

“Are you admitting that you have been negligent in management and supervision?”

“Pardon?”

The Deputy High Priest was startled.

“You’ve been only scolding the ordinary priests all this time, but it doesn’t seem like you have any intention of doing the work yourself.”

Cesar asked with an indifferent face.

“In that case, wouldn’t it be better to hand over your position as Deputy High Priest to them?”

“No, I, I…”

“In the first place, since your management and supervision were trash, isn’t it because of following your trash-like leadership that the ordinary priests are suffering like this?”

Trash.

At this blatant insult, the Deputy High Priest’s face turned pale.

But Cesar’s harsh words weren’t over yet.

“Also, isn’t there a doctrine that all humans are equal before God? So…”

“Y-Your Grace!”

“Don’t treat the ordinary priests carelessly.”

Cesar added with a hint of laughter in his voice.

“And don’t speak informally to them as you please.”

“…”

As soon as those words fell.

“Ugh…”

The Deputy High Priest stiffened his shoulders and clutched his chest with his nails.

His bulging eyes were bloodshot.

“Y-Your Grace, I can’t, I can’t breathe…”

Huh?

I looked at the Deputy High Priest, somewhat bewildered.

‘Why is he suddenly acting like this?’

At the same time, Cesar glanced at me with an “oops” expression, then,

“Oh dear.”

He clicked his tongue briefly.

And then.

“Huff, huff, huff…!”

The Deputy High Priest fell to his knees.

With his head bowed, he breathed heavily.

Cold sweat dripped onto the floor along his fat chin.

Cesar abruptly asked a question.

“How does it feel to have the tables turned?”

“Y-Your Grace.”

“You need to understand that just as much as you can trample on others carelessly, others can trample on you too.”

Cesar bent down and whispered to the Deputy High Priest in a voice as soft as down.

“Before God, we are all equal.”

“Huff, huff, gasp…”

“So, I hope you won’t treat other priests carelessly just because you hold the petty position of Deputy.”

The Deputy High Priest looked up at Cesar with frightened eyes.

Cesar’s eyes curved like crescent moons.

“Answer.”

“Y-Yes! I understand! I will do so!”

“Good.”

Cesar patted the frozen Deputy High Priest’s shoulder.

Then he clapped his hands a couple of times to clear the atmosphere.

“Now, let’s work.”

“Yes!”

“Understood!”

The priests, now fully alert, began to move briskly.

Cesar rolled up his sleeves and was about to join the priests when he turned to look at me.

“Ah, right. Tati, why don’t you go back to the lord’s mansion ahead of us?”

“Huh? Why?”

“Well, you’re not a priest, Tati. Besides.”

Cesar added seriously.

“How could I let my daughter’s hands get dirty?”

“…”

“…”

“…”

Silence fell.

Not only the two ordinary priests but even the terrified Deputy High Priest were looking this way with bewildered expressions.

Ah, this embarrassment never gets easier no matter how many times I experience it…

I closed my eyes tightly, then opened them and smiled brightly as if nothing had happened.

“Shall we go to work then?”

“No, Tati. There’s no need for you to work…”

As Cesar hurriedly tried to stop me,

“Shall. We. Go. To. Work?”

I said again, enunciating each word clearly while gently narrowing my eyes.

“…Yes.”

Cesar drooped both shoulders dejectedly.

Don’t give the daughter-obsessed father any excuses.

Having lived under three Dads for years, there was no greater truth than this.

***

The inventory of the temple’s supplies was finally finished late at night.

“Ugh.”

As soon as I got into the carriage, I slumped like a wilted cabbage.

‘Really, I don’t know how this temple has been running until now.’

I shook my head inwardly.

Since proper records weren’t kept, we had to count every single consumable item like bundles of herbs and bandages.

Even then, only the ordinary priests remembered the general flow of supplies.

‘The Deputy High Priest, who’s supposed to be the head of the temple, really knew nothing…’

How could that be possible?

Shouldn’t he at least know everything about his own temple?

As I was complaining internally, just then.

Cesar called me softly.

“Tati.”

“Yes?”

I turned to look at Cesar.

Cesar’s face looked somewhat dejected.

“Earlier…”

After starting like that, Cesar’s lips just moved silently for a while.

As if he was too sorry to speak out.

After that.

Cesar sighed and mumbled quietly.

“I’m sorry for showing you such an unsightly side.”

Huh?

I tilted my head.

“What unsightly side?”

“Earlier, with the Deputy High Priest… you know.”

Cesar bit his lip.

“No matter how angry I was, I shouldn’t have shown that side of me in front of you.”

Wait, he’s still bothered by that?

I was a bit surprised.

But Cesar’s face was still dark.

“And the divine power… I shouldn’t have used it so carelessly in front of you.”

“Um, Third Dad?”

“I should have been more considerate of you. But I was so angry earlier that I…”

Hmm.

I furrowed my brow.

Well, I could understand why Cesar was so uneasy.

Divine power is usually antagonistic to demonic energy, after all.

But.

‘Isn’t this worry a bit unnecessary?’

If I were affected by that level of divine power, I wouldn’t have been able to survive in the human realm in the first place.

So.

‘There’s no need to be so sorry about it.’

As I stared at Cesar, I suddenly spoke up.

“Honestly, you know that level of divine power doesn’t do any harm to me, right?”

“…Still.”

“Don’t worry about it too much. I’m fine, really.”

But Cesar’s expression showed no signs of brightening.

Sigh.

I inwardly let out a breath.

Seeing Cesar, who was always so confident, looking so down like this was strangely unsettling.

“Besides, to be honest.”

That’s why I lowered my voice and whispered as if telling a big secret.