Summoned by the Heretics – Even in Another World, the Zealot Who Worships Death Remains an Outcast - Vol 3 Chapter 56

“It looks like we’ve got the essentials, but there’s no end to the inconveniences. Guess it depends on how much Nii-san expects.”

“Well, first and foremost, we need to ensure basic living conditions. Even if we’ve got shelter, food, and clothing covered, if we don’t stay clean, we could all be wiped out by tomorrow.”

“What if we turn one of the houses into a large-scale kitchen to handle meals for the whole village?”

“If that’s the plan, we’ll need an appropriate vacant house…”

The three men muttered to themselves, discussing one possibility after another.

In bringing Mei to Sukui’s territory, Sukui had brought along her father, Horo, and one other person.

“Honestly, I think Nii-san sees me as some kind of handyman.”

That “handyman” was Flame.

Now freed from organizational troubles, he was preparing to restart his knife business. In the meantime, he was helping Sukui while also offering advice on various matters.

One such task was sourcing materials for the village’s restoration.

“Actually, Flame-san, your trade routes have been incredibly helpful.”

Sukui responded, seemingly disregarding Flame’s original comment.

Flame, who specialized in knives, had a wide network of connections, which Sukui had leveraged for gathering all sorts of supplies, including those for their recent raid on the organization.

Now, in the context of village restoration, Flame, Sukui, and Mei’s father were conducting a needs assessment, but it was ultimately Flame who would procure the items.

Flame had grown fond of Sukui, and besides that, Sukui paid well, even when organizational matters weren’t involved. Flame felt this helped his business, and while he grumbled about the hassle, he didn’t actually mind being relied on.

“Consolidating the kitchen could be a solid idea. It could double as a storage space, and it would save us the trouble of equipping each house individually.”

As a former cook, Flame shot a smile at Mei’s father, commending his idea.

“Plus, with you teaching us how to cook, we’re all set.”

Mei’s father showed no reaction, but Flame, unaffected, turned his attention back to the village map.

“We might consider building some additional public facilities. We’d need to consult the villagers on that.”

“Shall I call someone?”

“Yeah, it’d be best if Nii-san goes.”

After a moment’s thought, Flame concluded that Sukui, who was more familiar with the villagers, would be better suited to reach out.

As Flame spoke with Mei’s father while looking over the map, Sukui slipped out of the vacant house.

Outside, the village was as lively as usual, with Mei pointing at vegetables in the field, chatting animatedly with a villager and Horo.

The villagers found Mei’s chatter endearing, though they were occasionally surprised by some of the things she shared.

Horo listened intently. Sukui hadn’t expected Horo to take an interest in agriculture, but his enthusiasm for learning was admirable.

Thinking it’d be intrusive to interrupt, Sukui decided to ask someone else for help. But Mei, noticing him leaving the house, waved energetically and approached with Horo and the villager.

“That took a while! Is the discussion over?”

“No, we’ve got a general direction, but we’d like to gather a few opinions from the villagers.”

As he spoke, he glanced at the villagers.

The ones listening to Mei nodded, understanding the situation.

“No need for too many people, just two or so who know the village’s facilities and state well enough should be enough.”

“Understood.”

A young man nearby responded eagerly, quickly calling over another man who looked a bit older. Together, they headed for the vacant house. Seeing this, the other villagers watched approvingly, indicating no objections to the choice.

“Those two mainly handle the heavy labor around here,” Mei explained, perhaps sensing Sukui’s curiosity.

It seemed odd that a younger man would be knowledgeable about the village, but considering it was a newly settled village, age didn’t necessarily correlate with experience. Those who’d been tasked with various jobs and ran around handling things were often the most knowledgeable.

While they were labeled as heavy laborers, much of village work was physical labor anyway.

Sukui had spoken to them a few times and trusted them, especially since they were among the two who’d tearfully welcomed him when he first arrived in the village.

“Sukui-san, please stay with the children,” they said, noting Sukui’s intention to join the meeting.

“But I—”

Sukui started to protest, but realizing that his presence wasn’t strictly necessary, he reconsidered. He didn’t have any specialized knowledge critical for the village’s restructuring.

Only two children lived in this village, both former slaves freed by Sukui along with the other villagers.

“Both kids are big fans of yours, Sukui-san. Actually, the whole village is, so please take this chance to spend some time with them.”

With no reason to refuse, Sukui looked down at the two children who clung to his legs.

“All right. Let me know when you’re finished.”

Sending the two men off, the other villagers returned to their tasks, and Sukui was left surrounded by the children—Mei, Horo, and the two young girls.

The girls looked to be about six years old, with dark skin and black hair tied back in braids. They shared the same facial features, clearly twins.

Since children’s clothing hadn’t been prepared, they wore oversized hooded coats that easily covered their small frames.

“Great Savior, play with us!”

“Play with us!”

They tugged at Sukui’s pants, calling him by a title he wasn’t fond of. Many, including the twins, referred to him that way; it had become the norm before he even arrived in the village. By now, he’d given up on changing their minds.

Sighing, Sukui gently patted the twins on the head, pried them off his legs, and resignedly sat down. The twins’ eyes sparkled with anticipation.

“Well, what should we play?”

“Anything’s fine!”

“Something fun!”

The two demanded eagerly, their expectations of the “Savior” far from ordinary, yet typical for children asking an adult to play. Sukui, looking slightly troubled, reached into his pocket and pulled out a coin.

“How about a coin-guessing game?”

He explained that he would toss the coin, and they would guess where it landed. If they got it right, he’d give them the coin as a reward.

“You two can join in, too,” he added, looking at Mei and Horo.

“Ooh! A chance to earn some pocket money!”

“I-I’ll do my best!”

Both of them stood behind the twins, eagerly watching Sukui’s hand, just as intent on the game.

“All right, here we go.”

With that, Sukui made a show of flipping the coin straight up and then held his palms open, facing upward.

Horo thought hard. He couldn’t actually see the coin Sukui tossed, so all he could rely on was the movement of Sukui’s hands as he caught it. If Sukui were to grab it with one hand, there would be a slight difference in the positioning of his hands or his gaze.

Unlike the others, Horo saw this as a chance to showcase his skills from training.

“Well then…”

Whether Sukui was aware of Horo’s intentions or not, he continued in the same position and murmured.

“So, where’s the coin?”

Sukui’s hands remained open, palms up. The four of them fell silent for a moment, realizing something.

“It’s not just a left-or-right question, is it?”

“I did say you’d be guessing where it ended up, didn’t I?” Sukui replied, smiling at Mei’s immediate complaint.

He’d tricked them. Mei ground her teeth in mild frustration but wasn’t ready to give up yet.

Horo, too, began to think. This was Sukui, after all. If he wanted them to actually search for the coin, it wouldn’t be somewhere random.

“Savior! We want to look around!”

The twins had decided to go on a physical search, the opposite approach of Horo’s deductive thinking, but still valid.

“Feel free, but don’t go outside this field.”

When he assured them it was within the area, the twins threw up their hands in excitement and dashed off. Sukui was careful to set boundaries, ensuring they wouldn’t run out of his sight. Given the limited area, a straightforward search might indeed be the quickest solution.

Just as Horo was close to abandoning his line of thinking, Mei raised her hand with enthusiasm.

“Got it! The answer is behind you!”

The coin was nowhere to be seen, and they were in a field. Mei guessed Sukui had let it fall behind him after tossing it.

“In this soft dirt, we wouldn’t have heard it fall, right?”

Sitting down before the game had started had given Sukui ample cover to conceal it behind him.

With confidence, Mei pointed to her guess, and Sukui stood up.

“Unfortunately…”

All they saw was the well-tended field, nothing more.

“Aw, I was so sure…” Mei muttered, stooping to check the ground where Sukui had been sitting. Finding nothing, she returned to her place.

Sukui sat back down.

“Horo-san, do you know where it is?”

Although Sukui’s question seemed casual, Horo felt a strong urge to guess correctly. He believed he understood Sukui better than anyone here and thought he could predict his actions.

Was there anything unusual? Mei was right; it had been odd for Sukui to sit down in the dirt, where he’d surely get dirty.

With Sukui’s sleight of hand concealing the coin’s whereabouts, Horo suspected this could be a mental challenge rather than a guessing game. Sukui often did the unexpected to throw people off.

Throwing them off?

“I’ve got it!”

“Where is it?”

Sukui asked, watching Horo’s eager face with a smile.

Horo replied with confidence.

“You didn’t toss the coin at all! You’re still holding it!”

Horo reasoned that the answer didn’t need to be a location; if Sukui hadn’t actually tossed it, that would explain why no one saw it.

Sukui looked pleased but replied, “Close, but not quite.”

“Huh?”

Horo’s confidence wavered. So he was wrong? Did Sukui actually toss the coin, letting it land randomly in the field? Sukui smiled.

“That was a good answer, but I did say it’s a game where I tossed the coin, and you guess where it landed. Keeping it in hand would go against the game rules.”

“Oh…”

That angle hadn’t even crossed his mind. Horo looked down, feeling a bit deflated. He’d gotten so caught up in thinking that he’d overlooked the most basic rule of the game.

“Honestly, that does sound like something you’d do, Sukui-san,” Mei teased, impressed that Horo seemed so familiar with Sukui’s tricky ways.

“Yes! I know all about Master Sukui!” Horo replied with a proud grin, standing tall with a simple joy that amused Mei.

“Well then, where could it be? Did you just let it drop somewhere randomly in the field?”

“No, Master wouldn’t do that.”

As the two prepared to discuss further, a shout came from across the field.

“I found it! Savior-sama, I found it!”

“Me too! Both of them, right?”

Mei and Horo turned to see the twins each holding a coin as they ran excitedly toward Sukui, eager for praise as they circled him.

“Yes, those are the two. Great job noticing.”

It was “noticing” rather than “finding,” and Horo suddenly understood.

“They were in their hoods, weren’t they?”

“Correct. Sharp thinking, Horo-san.”

Horo had picked up on the subtle hint. Sukui never gave praise lightly, knowing it might hinder Horo’s growth.

So when Sukui said “close,” he had meant that Horo’s reasoning wasn’t entirely wrong, just misdirected.

“You slipped the coins into their hoods when they were right next to you, didn’t you?”

“Exactly. Preparation and showmanship are key,” Sukui confirmed.

He had set up the game in advance by hiding the coins in their hoods, then made a show of flipping it to mislead them. With his palms up, he led them to think it was a left-or-right choice, adding yet another layer to the trick.

Horo was impressed. It was almost too elaborate for a children’s game.

Then it struck him.

“Wait, so you sat in the dirt just to get dirty?”

“It’s a hassle to clean, you know,” Mei commented, but Horo had realized something different.

This was a game for children.

Sukui had sat down purely to be at eye level with the twins.

By giving them the prize, they had fun and felt rewarded, while Mei and Horo were left to ponder the challenge. Sukui had skillfully entertained them all in his own way.

“How did you get them in our hoods?” one of the twins asked.

“Was it Savior-sama’s magic?”

Sukui dodged the question with hints, hoping to lead them to the answer themselves. Watching him, Horo felt certain of his conclusion.

“We really get to keep these?” they asked, tilting their heads with the innocence of children.

“Yes, they’re your prizes. Use them as you like.”

Hearing this, the twins eagerly chatted about how they’d spend their reward, and Mei, observing them, understood Sukui’s intention.

“Guess we lost this one, huh?”

“Yeah…”

Mei and Horo exchanged a slightly bitter smile, realizing they might have overthought things a bit.

“Well, shall we play another round?”

Their reflections were quickly dispelled by Sukui’s words. Determined to win, they readied themselves for the next game, while Sukui watched over them gently.

The twins enjoyed their playtime, while Mei and Horo engaged in thought-provoking challenges. By the time the meeting concluded, the twins had unknowingly bested Mei and Horo in every game.