In the United Kingdom, every monastery has its own tenants.
King's Bridge Monastery, being the largest monastery in Hereford County, held the surrounding twelve miles of land as its demesne. The nearby villages were all its tenants. However, due to the King's current distrust of the English, it was not required to provide knights and soldiers for the King.
In this Anglo-Norman Kingdom, only the monasteries of Normandy were required to fulfill their duties as vassals to the King by providing services such as knights.
The villages attached to the monastery were managed by a Dean appointed by the monastery, which was a rather leisurely and pleasant post.
'If I could only stay in the monastery,' Eric thought, 'I should probably become a Dean.'
The afternoon sun gradually faded, and twilight arrived.
He stopped before a river that wasn't particularly wide. On the other side was King's Bridge Monastery, and from here, he could see the spire of the monastery's Church.
A girl appeared on the river. She had a graceful figure and well-proportioned features. The only slight imperfection was a few freckles by the bridge of her nose. She looked a little tired, and her flaxen braid was dry and puffed up. Her hair was always like that, which made her look a bit goofy.
She was standing on something that could hardly be called a boat, as it looked more like a hollowed-out log than anything else. It was very unstable, but she seemed perfectly at ease, paddling it to the bank.
The girl stepped onto the bank and immediately held out her hand to Eric, wiggling her fingers. She was clearly asking for money.
"Cecilia, Priests are exempt from all tolls."
"But you can't expect me to row you for free every time. It's tiring, and I'm a girl. A poor, helpless girl who needs to save up for her own dowry."
Cecilia wrinkled her delicate nose and stared with her golden eyes, looking utterly adorable. She only came up to Eric's chest.
Cecilia's father was the Dean of this village, but this brought her no convenience or extra leisure time. Her father, Sinward, had never had a son, and Cecilia had three older sisters.
He had already paid hefty dowries for his three other daughters, and when it came to Cecilia, he declared he wouldn't spend another penny on a daughter's dowry.
And a woman's marriage without a dowry was a bleak prospect.
"Yes, you're a girl. But I'm a Priest with nothing to my name. Everything I have belongs to God. Other than a prayer like 'God bless you,' I have nothing to give."
Eric leaped directly onto Cecilia's boat, lay back, and crossed his legs.
"Nonsense, Priests are the richest of all. They cunningly claim God's gifts as their own, lining their own pockets. And you, Cultivator Eric, sneaky Eric, shady Eric, you're definitely the wealthiest among them."
Cecilia stated her conclusion sharply, her finger already poking Eric's head.
"You have more bread than you can eat, and all I have is this shabby, broken-down boat."
"Young lady, don't be so selfish. Broaden your horizons, have some ambition. Even though you're not getting paid, your soul is being elevated."
Eric used his hand to gesture as if drawing a large pie in the air for Cecilia.
"Fine, fine. Say whatever you want. You're the one who's good at preaching."
Cecilia shot Eric a glare, then swung the paddle and gave a hard push. The small boat slowly drifted toward the center of the lake.
It was then that Cecilia noticed Eric's little donkey.
"You forgot to tell your donkey to get on the boat."
"No, he's more capable than you think. JOJO, show this young lady your special skill," Eric called out to the donkey.
"JOJO?"
"That's the new name I gave him."
As Eric's words fell, the donkey snorted, walked into the lake, and started swimming once it reached the deep water. It quickly caught up with the small boat.
"He really is amazing... Huh!? Eric..."
While Cecilia's attention was captured by JOJO, a pair of hands wrapped around her waist. She instantly lost her balance and fell into the boat, though her head didn't hit the hard planks.
Now the two of them were suddenly pressed close together in the boat, each able to feel the other's breath on their cheek.
JOJO, swimming past the boat, glanced at the two of them, snorted, and then continued swimming toward the opposite bank on his own.
"Shh..."
Just as Cecilia was about to speak, Eric made a hushing gesture.
"I saw Sinward on the bank just now," he whispered in her ear.
"Huh?" She was surprised and was about to get up when Eric grabbed her arm.
"Has anything happened in the village in the last two days?"
"N-no. The Bain Family's sow gave birth to four piglets, Aunt Giffney has been complaining about the lack of manure lately, and those two brothers, Hoska and Hayeskin, got into another fight at the village entrance yesterday over a sack of Aunt Giffney's flour..."
"What kind of big news could possibly happen in Aogu Village? It's as predictable as the oranges at Grandpa Siger's house going rotten."
Cecilia ticked off the events on her fingers, complaining about each one to show just how boring rural life in England was. In truth, she had probably been holding these words in for a long time.
Suddenly, her mouth was covered. Just as she was about to struggle, something was stuffed into it.
A wave of sweetness spread through her mouth. It was candy.
"How does it taste? It's a special grade I bought just for you from Xialing. They say even the Count is fond of this candy. It's from Normandy; they don't have such advanced refining techniques in England."
"God above, what a terrible lie. You definitely didn't pay for this. You cunning Eric, you wicked Judas."
'How could a stingy Priest who won't even pay the two-farthing ferry fee possibly buy something so expensive, let alone bring it specially for her?'
Cecilia's motto in life was: good things never happened to her, and if someone sought her out, it was never for anything good.
Nevertheless, Cecilia still closed her eyes, thoroughly enjoying the sweetness in her mouth.
"Such harsh words. That's hardly the proper attitude for someone who's just received a gift. And here I was, thinking we had a great relationship. You've hurt my feelings, Cecilia, not even willing to believe me."
Eric clutched his chest, putting on a deeply wounded expression.
"Why don't you start by paying me the ferry fee? A man who exploits the labor of a simple, hardworking maiden is absolutely untrustworthy. Especially a Priest who steals roast meat."
"And incites people to steal offerings. My virtue has been completely cor... corrupted by you."
When she got to the part about herself, Cecilia paused, looking a bit awkward.
"That's not what you said when you were eating it. I seem to recall someone saying that if God doesn't speak up, it means He doesn't mind, which means He approves. 'You looked at the offering and ate it, the Holy Image didn't react, and there was no miracle, so God must have approved.'"
Eric suddenly grabbed Cecilia's ear.
Cecilia yelped in pain and immediately fought back, grabbing Eric's hand. She wasn't weak and managed to wrench herself free. Then she slammed into him, but Eric didn't back down and met her charge with force.
Cecilia cried out in pain as Eric pinned her beneath him.
The atmosphere suddenly grew still.
"Um, Cecilia... I think I have to leave this place."
"Oh, congratulations. Are you off to take up a post at some monastery? Let me hear which one is so unfortunate. Judas."
"No. I don't think I'll be a Cultivator anymore."