Knock knock knock!
In the living quarters at the back of the church, Lucian arrived at Father Wilbur's bedroom door and knocked lightly.
"Who is it?"
A middle aged man's voice came from inside the room.
"It's me, Lucian. The believers are waiting for you to preside over the prayer ceremony."
"Got it, wait a minute."
Soon, the door opened.
A middle aged man, dressed in a loose white robe, stood at the doorway. He wasn't tall but had a well-proportioned figure. He wore a small round hat and a golden emblem was pinned to his chest. In the center of the emblem was a design of a tree branch with a tender bud.
Father Wilbur, dressed neatly in church attire, held a church scripture in his right hand and led a small boy in black stockings with his left.
The small boy in black stockings had fear in his eyes, one small hand was held by Father Wilbur and the other covered his backside, with what looked like tear stains at the corners of his eyes.
Lucian recognized this small boy, he was one of the members of the church's youth choir.
Father Wilbur seemed to notice Lucian's confusion and explained with a smile, "This child, Robin, was possessed by a demon. I helped him exorcise it last night. The exorcism process was very physically demanding, which is why I overslept. Thanks to the Life Goddess's blessing, this exorcism was quite successful."
Lucian looked at Robin who was covering his backside, and his eyes twitched slightly, "Is your exorcism... proper?"
Cough, cough~
Father Wilbur coughed twice and did not answer Lucian's question.
He looked at Anna who was following behind Lucian and changed the subject, "Is this the beast slave you bought?"
"That's right, her name is Anna," Lucian introduced.
"How much did she cost?"
"One hundred gold coins."
"Hmm."
Wilbur always turned a blind eye to Lucian's extravagant use of church funds. "Fill out the reimbursement form and I'll sign it for you. You can take it to the Cathedral in Therasis City for reimbursement."
"Thank you, Father Wilbur." Lucian thanked Wilbur.
Everyday church maintenance, religious doctrine promotion, holiday celebrations and other projects all required money.
A Father of Wilbur's level had the authority to approve reimbursements of funds up to one hundred gold coins. As long as a single transaction amount did not exceed one hundred gold coins, he could sign and approve the reimbursement.
Normally, the Fathers of the church, with devout hearts, would not falsely reimburse public funds and would reject all unreasonable reimbursement requests.
However, Father Wilbur was different, he signed and reimbursed everything, reasonable or unreasonable.
After Lucian became an Apprentice Priest, he often found excuses to embezzle public funds and had already accumulated a small sum of money.
Lucian looked at the black stockings on the small boy's legs and said to Wilbur, "Father Wilbur, can I ask you something?"
"What is it?"
"Where did Robin's black stockings come from?"
"Therasis City, Klem Street, No. 165."
"Alright."
Lucian planned to buy two pairs for Anna when he went to Therasis City for reimbursement.
Lucian came to the library area in the church's back hall, took a reimbursement form from the shelf and began to fill it out. It mainly involved stating the reason for purchasing the beast slave, the method of purchase, how much it cost and attaching the receipt from the slave shop as proof.
"Anna, we're going to Therasis City tomorrow to settle accounts. I'll buy you a suitable weapon later."
They might encounter monsters on the way, so it was good to buy some weapons for self-defense.
"Thank you, Master."
Anna was very happy. Lucian not only bought her delicious food but also weapons, which was much better than those slave traders who liked to whip slaves.
[Ding!]
[Anna's favorability towards the host +5]
[Current favorability: 30/100]
The favorability between Lucian and Anna reached 30 points.
[Ding!]
[Mission: Hunt ten Slimes.]
[Reward: Super Strike]
Super Strike, by its name, seems to be an offensive skill. Isn't this supposed to be the Strongest Support System?
Lucian couldn't figure it out and would only know what kind of skill it was after completing the quest.
Slimes were low-level monsters on the Gritonia Continent and killing ten Slimes was not a difficult task.
After filling out the reimbursement form and getting Father Wilbur's signature, Lucian and Anna left the church and headed to the blacksmith's shop.
"Priest Lucian, what would you like to buy?"
The bare-chested, muscular blacksmith, somewhat resembling a gym instructor, greeted Lucian with a smile.
Lucian asked Anna, who was beside him, "Anna, what weapon do you want?"
The cat people were agile and quick-witted, suitable for light and nimble weapons like daggers. Anna answered without hesitation, "A dagger."
The blacksmith took a black dagger from the upper shelf. It was half a meter long, with beautiful patterns on the hilt.
"This dagger is exquisitely crafted. Black demon iron ore was added during forging, making its hardness higher than ordinary iron swords. It's quite good for both killing enemies and chopping vegetables."
Anna held the black dagger in a reverse grip and swung it twice. It felt very natural to use. "Master, I want this one."
"Hmm, alright."
Lucian walked to the wooden rack and looked at the dazzling array of knives and swords on it.
He casually took down a silver-white longsword, over a meter long and weighing three to four catties. He scraped his thumb along the blade to test its sharpness.
Although he was a support Priest, he still needed weapons for self-defense.
"The dagger, plus this longsword, how much in total?"
"Fifty silver coins."
"Can I get a receipt?"
"Yes."
Lucian paid the blacksmith fifty silver coins and kept the purchase receipt to reimburse it with public funds later.
...
Early the next morning, Lucian and Anna headed to Therasis City.
As they passed a bakery, they bought ten loaves of bread for food on the road.
Therasis City was a dozen kilometers in a straight line from Quain Town. Walking would take most of the day.
Lucian put his magic staff and silver-white longsword into the system's inventory. Dressed in a white pastor's robe, he walked in front.
Anna had the black dagger she bought yesterday hanging at her waist, following beside Lucian. Last night, she had cut a hole in the back of her maid outfit and her black cat tail passed through the hole, exposed outside, wiggling up and down.
The two walked through the forest. Golden sunlight filtered through the layers of leaves, falling into the forest and forming speckles of golden light.
"Master, there are three Water Slimes over there."
Anna had heard Lucian say last night that he wanted to kill ten Slimes.
Along the way, Anna constantly kept an eye out for Slimes and immediately reminded Lucian when she spotted one.
Lucian looked in the direction Anna pointed, three blue Water Slimes were bouncing by a small pond. Their bodies were round, about the size of a basketball, gelatinous and very elastic.
"Anna, you handle the two on the left and I'll handle the one on the right."
Although he was just an ordinary person, he still had some combat ability.
"Die, little Slime!"
Lucian charged towards the Water Slime on the right.
Sensing someone approaching, the Slime used its round, blue body to ram into Lucian.
Lucian sidestepped, dodging the Slime's ramming attack, then clenched his fists and furiously punched the Water Slime's bouncy body.
Squish~ Squish~ Squish~
Lucian's punching speed was extremely fast and a flurry of blows hit the Slime.
The gelatinous Slime's body continuously rippled and trembled.
"Hehe, this Slime feels really good."
Lucian's eyes curved into crescent moons and a smile played on his lips, his expression resembling a comical meme.