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The Reincarnated Thirty-Something Woman’s Otherworldly Reform Life

[Worship service and Soup Kitchen]

Translated by: ME

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*****

Although they encountered an unexpected intruder, they were able to enter the church without any problems afterward.

The interior of the church had an atmosphere similar to Christian churches Magnolia had seen in videos.

Perhaps because it was the church of the territorial capital, the space was surprisingly large.

The religion of this world is called the "Orthodox Church."

An altar at the front, a high ceiling. Long wooden pews.

Maybe because the walls were white, the inside was surprisingly bright.

The stained glass decorating the windows depicted the "Almighty Great God," the main deity, as well as the "Flower Goddess," "Sea Goddess," "Order Goddess," "Wisdom Goddess," "Faith Goddess," and "Love Goddess."

The colored glass let through soft light.

While gazing at the windows depicting the gods floating in fantastic pale rainbow colors, she sat in a seat around the middle.

After a while, a priest with a fluffy white beard stood at the pulpit and began the sermon.

Looking around secretly, she saw people clasping their hands like in prayer listening to the talk, people closing their eyes, people watching the priest...

Magnolia, who wasn't particularly devout and only had memories of being a very ordinary Japanese person, couldn't help but find it strange that she was here.

The service ended in about thirty minutes, and the people around her began preparing to leave.

Amidst the respectfully buzzing crowd, she spoke quietly to Lily and Dean.

「I want to talk to the pwiesht jusht a little. Can you wait a moment?」

「Understood.」

Confirming that the two nodded, Magnolia slowly stood up from her seat.

She waited for the people lined up in front of her to finish talking, then spoke softly.

「Niche to meet you. I am showwy to bother you when you musht be tired, but I wanted to talk jusht a little... Is that alwight?」

Stopped by a small girl, the priest smiled and knelt down.

「Yes. It is fine. Do you have a question?」

The priest receives various requests daily, such as wanting prayers for sick family members.

...Her attire wasn't extravagant, but he assumed that was intentional. Judging by her language, which didn't match her age, he was convinced she was a daughter of a well-disciplined family.

「My name is Magnolia Gilmore.」

The toddler introduced herself and bowed.

The priest widened his eyes slightly, nodded slowly, and returned the bow.

「I am Sharon, serving as a priest... Are you perhaps the Marshal's granddaughter?」

「Yesh. Due to shircumshtanches, I am shtaying with my gwandfather. To confirm wight away, if I wanted to participate in chawity activities, could you pleashe tell me how far in advanche I should contact you to avoid pwoblems?」

Sharon smiled gently.

「Any time is fine. Please come whenever you wish. If... there is anything we need to prepare here, I believe we can accommodate you if you contact us about three days in advance.」

Magnolia casually checked the priest's eye movements, cheek movements, and the swaying of his hands and feet. Unconscious body movements are easily influenced by the psychological state at that moment and are difficult to control.

Also, clergy can have a wide range, for better or worse.

Well, that was in her previous life.

Closed worlds and places where power is concentrated are prone to corruption.

—If she got involved with a strange person, it would cause trouble for her guardians, so caution was necessary.

As far as she could tell, she didn't see any ulterior motives, and he didn't seem strange. After that, she would just have to research around and confirm if it was safe to get involved.

「Undershtood, thank you vewy much. I will conshult with my family and hope to visit shomeday... Thank you for giving me your pwecious time when you are bushy.」

「Yes. I look forward to it.」

She expressed her thanks and took her leave.

Returning to Lily and Dean, she turned around as she exited the door, and the priest was looking at her, giving a formal bow to see her off.

The statue of the Great God standing behind him and the stained glass of the Goddesses surrounding him as if to protect the four directions created a mysterious and fantastic atmosphere. She looked at the priest bowing his head once more.

***

「...Next was seeing the soup kitchen, right? The soup kitchen is prepared by knights, church people, and volunteers, and served to the people lined up.」

They boarded the carriage once and moved to the back of the church.

「Since a considerable number of people line up, we do it near the back entrance so as not to disturb the traffic on the main street or people coming and going for worship.」

It's also easier to transport goods and food, the escort knight added.

Having the carriage stop a little distance from the soup kitchen line, Magnolia observed the line of people for a while. Perhaps most were from the slums, as many wore sooty clothes like she had seen the other day.

Knights, church helpers, and young monks were distributing bread and soup.

Looking at the people carrying what they were given, steam was rising faintly, suggesting it was warm.

Abruptly lowering her gaze, Magnolia dirtied her face with shoe polish and ran her hands through her hair, messing it up.

「Wha-, Milady!?」

Ignoring the three who froze, Magnolia put her hand on the knob and pyon! jumped out of the carriage that had just stopped.

「Gonna go twy it out a bit.」

「N-No, you can't!!」

Even if they tried to stop her, she wouldn't stop... she ran tite-tite in a trot to the line.

Aaaaaah...!

A small groan resembling a death cry echoed inside the carriage.

「~~~~I'll be killed (by Lord Servas)!!」

The escort knight screamed half-crying and jumped out after her.

When she joined the line, the escort knight came to her side in a trot, but keeping a subtle distance.

It seemed he understood she wouldn't go back even if he told her to.

Pretending not to know her but acting as if he was guarding her, he seemed to be guarding her.

Surprisingly, the line moved quickly. Since they said they did it every week, they must be used to it.

The escort knight in charge of serving soup with a friendly smile in front of her looked at Magnolia, who peeked her face chokon from the other side of the serving table, and was involuntarily startled.

「M-Mi...!!」

「(Shhh!)」

Magnolia silently put her finger to her lips to signal.

Nodding timidly, he looked alternately at Magnolia and his colleague with a gloomy face standing next to her, making a subtle face as if he guessed the situation.

「Jusht a little is fine.」

「...Yes...」

Putting less than half the soup into a deep wooden bowl, he slowly handed it to her.

「It might be hot, so please be careful.」

「Thank you vewy much.」

Magnolia smiled brightly at the knight and received a wooden spoon from the monk.

She shifted sideways smoothly, received hardtack, and repeated the process of startling people.

The monks next to him all looked puzzled, comparing the knight and Magnolia.

Stepping a little away from the line, Magnolia gently put the soup in her mouth.

(The taste is thin as expected... Cabbage, carrots, turnips, onions, mushrooms... And some kind of beans? Are there potatoes too?)

She examined the finely chopped vegetables floating in it and brought it to her mouth.

There probably wasn't any meat. It wasn't bad, but it was hard to call it delicious.

(Would it be better if the flavor was a bit stronger...?)

However, in this season deep in autumn, warm food is a treat.

While eating, she thought it overwhelmingly lacked richness.

The hardtack was also rock-hard, perhaps to increase preservation. They probably ate it by soaking it in the soup to soften it.

Since it was basically funded by donations and the lord's family resources, they probably couldn't ask for luxury if it was regular.

(After all, independence is best...)

An old man dragging his leg, a thin old woman. Dirty children...

Looking at the people in line, Magnolia pondered.

Something with little manual labor, that women and children could do, and where the location was flexible.

To minimize initial investment, something with few tools and inexpensive raw materials...

(A difficult problem... Not what I want to do or want to make them do, but what they can do...)

Watching Magnolia out of the corner of their eyes as she ate the soup with a difficult face, the soup kitchen knights were on edge, worrying that it was bad after all.

*****

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