Vanessa shook her head, the woman kept her disappointment to herself when Hiro dismissed her statement nonchalantly.
"I apologize Mitsurugi-sama, I am also new and don't frequently pass by this area. But I know that the chapel should be somewhere in the north wing. Please excuse me I need to hurry with the laundry, it looks like it might rain!"
Giving a quick bow, the maid with metallic arms quickly jogged away. Hiro felt weird as he looked at his hand and murmured in a low voice. "Like the warriors from fairy tales huh?"
Having been beaten mercilessly due to his arrogance, Hiro no longer had any misconceptions about being an OP protagonist. As he woke up from his delusions only one thing filled his mind. The need to get stronger. Well, that's not true he also remembered his promise, to beat Artorius with a flower stem when he got strong enough.
Hiro had a simple rule, repay kindness twice over, and replay wickedness seven times more. He will definitely not rest till he curb-stomps the Ikemen bastard with a flower stem. Knowing that mulling over these things right now had no purpose, thus the black-haired transmigrator focused on heading north toward the chapel.
He soon found himself in an area that housed smithies, the sound of hammers hitting metal gave the impression of a heartbeat that pulsed nonstop. Hiro continued wandering around only to suddenly see a corpse on the ground.
'What the hell? Why is there a black-colored corpse here?'
Seeing the absence of blood around the body, He slowly inched forward and examined it. The corpse upon looking closer revealed a tall female with skin that had an unhealthy purple hue. Its flesh was also extremely thin presumably from malnutrition. While observing to understand the cause of death, its hand suddenly moved which caused Hiro to quickly back away.
"Uhhh…"
The corpse made an unintelligent sound as it struggled to raise its hand. It looked like a zombie from an apocalypse manga. 'What the hell am I supposed to do with this fucker? Do I kill it for the experience or something?'
Hiro then checked the direction the zombie was reaching in and saw a small vial with white liquid. "This is no zombie, this is a person!" Zombies had no need for vials, but sick people did. The transmigrator quickly deduced that this person needed help.
In the past, Hiro saw the sad examples of people who died from their conditions due to being unable to reach their medicine. Not wanting the same thing to happen here, he quickly took the vial and gently embraced the woman.
He shifted her to rest on his chest to help her drink the contents. The woman wore what looked like a black bra and simple pants. The cuts of her risqué outfit showed her abs and a chest flatter than a runway.
On her head was a white mask that covered the upper half of her face. Hiro quickly removed the cork stopper from the vial and tried to open the mouth of the sick woman. He brought the vial closer and the woman opened her mouth in response.
Hiro gingerly cradled the woman's chin and mouth while he poured the liquid, the woman seemed conscious, so he didn't have to worry about her choking on the medicine. When the woman finished drinking the entire contents, she quickly sat up and wiped her mouth before speaking in a cool and clear voice.
"How unsightly, thank you for helping me, I will be going ahead. I will repay this favor in the future."
The woman then stood up and started to run towards the smithies. Hiro ended up being left all alone holding the vial as he wondered what hell just happened.
"Whatever, at least she said thank you, I'm glad she is all right though. let's quickly look for the chapel."
As Hiro stood up he got interrupted by an aged voice that sounded drunk.
"If you are looking for the chapel you are completely in the wrong place, it's in the east of the main building near the gardens."
Hiro then turned around to see a large-bodied old man with white hair drinking from a sake cup. The grampa's face looked like a seasoned warrior. He looked strict and a stickler for rules, so Hiro tried to choose his words carefully. He didn't forget to make a slight bow in respect to please the senior.
"Thank you for letting me know ojisan, can you please let me know which path I should take to get there?"
The old man nodded in approval, "Umu! You know how to respect your elders. Take this path beside me and it will lead you to the alchemist area, there is a verdant garden in front of their headquarters follow that and it would lead you to the chapel."
Happy that he got specific instructions this time, Hiro thanked the old man and dashed towards the alchemist's area.
The old man who continued with his drink murmured while looking to the skies. "Looks like things are about to get interesting."
______________
Hiro jogged the whole way and eventually came towards an area with medium-sized houses that screamed they housed alchemists. The 2-meter giant flasks with bubbling liquids in green and blue mounted behind each house were a dead giveaway.
*BOOOOOOOM*
'WHAT THE HELL IS THIS MANGA-LIKE DEVELOPMENT!'
As smoke and dust littered the area around the explosion, what looked like a ten-year-old child in a hood flew out the window, Hiro who saw the air-borne child adjusted his position to catch him.
Unfortunately, the momentum of the child proved too strong, and despite bracing himself Hiro rolled backward together upon catching the kid. Wanting to limit the injuries to himself, he embraced the child to ensure his safety as they tumbled on the pavement.
When they stopped, Hiro checked to see if the kid needed medical attention only to find the child staring at him. "Thank you. Let go." The black-haired transmigrator noticed the child spoke robotically on top of being wrapped all over with bandages like a mummy! The only difference being that his limbs were not bound together. He willingly let go of the kid due to being creeped out.
After separating, the kid then bowed and pointed toward a large building. The mummified child then said in the same metallic voice. "Behind. There. Garden. Chapel. I. return." The ten-year-old then walked back towards the house that she came from without so much as a complaint.
Hiro then rubbed the back of his head in frustration. "How the hell could he speak with his whole face bound? Where was the sound coming from?... Well, at least I got confirmation I'm on the right track. Wait, how does the kid know my destination? … Let's forget about him."
Continuing towards his destination Hiro tried not to get caught up in anything else and eventually reached the chapel before noon.
