I arrived at my destination in the evening, but despite this, I could see that the piles of gravel on the protective barrier had grown, and in the distance I spotted several shinobi with the demon's "blessing," and a priest with a chunin was guarding the gate, while another couple were hiding under the roof of the temple.
Sending a couple of kage bunshin underground to get rid of the three observers, who had obviously appeared because of the stone warriors I had destroyed, I approached the building openly, under the watchful eyes of the defenders, crossing the strip of "sacred" ground.
"Nara-dono, welcome back," greeted me a couple of people with respectful bows, opening the temple doors.
Hah, it seems that bringing a whole infirmary of wounded people back to their feet greatly improved my reputation among the locals.
"Thank you," I nodded to them as I entered.
"Nara-dono," another shinobi in field uniform and a faceless ceramic mask with slits for eyes jumped down from the ceiling. "Would you like to rest or have dinner? The meal has just finished, and the servants will have no problem finding another portion."
"Dinner would be welcome," I nodded to the young man, judging by his voice, "and then I would like to speak with the high priestess, if she is not busy, of course."
"I will check with Miroku-sama, but for now, please follow me."
My escort led me to another part of the service quarters, through a maze of corridors, into a long hall filled with tables and benches. Dirty dishes had not yet been cleared away, and from one open door in the hall came the sound of voices and the clatter of dishes.
The shinobi disappeared there for a few moments, and then a couple of maids rushed out and quickly set the table for me with vegetable stew, braised meat, fresh salad, and berry compote.
While I paid tribute to the culinary skills of the local chefs, having first removed my mask — everything was very tasty — my escort disappeared and returned a few minutes later, waiting patiently at the door for me to finish. Having satisfied my hunger, I rose from the bench, and he immediately appeared beside me, bowing formally.
"Nara-dono, Miroku-sama is ready to receive you."
"Excellent," I nodded to him.
"Please follow me."
This time, the shinobi did not lead me to where he had spoken with the high priestess before, but, judging by the feeling, somewhere to the back of the temple. Following him through several corridors, I found myself in a large room, much more luxuriously and comfortably furnished than any of the rooms in the temple I had visited before.
The mistress herself was comfortably seated in a soft armchair, with Jonin standing behind her as usual.
"Miroku-sama, your instructions have been carried out," the guy bowed much more deeply than I did.
I've got more interesting stuff on patreon (+ 200 chapter)
patreon.com/Chill76