Becoming an Assistant at the Bank (1)
A group of priests dispatched from the diocese entered a village near the lord's castle and began visiting several houses in a pilgrimage-like manner.
Knock, knock, knock!
Among them, it was always the younger priests who boldly knocked on the doors of other people's homes.
Knock, knock, knock!
Upon knocking at one house, a woman came out and was somewhat surprised to see the group of visiting priests.
"Oh my! What brings you priests to this place?"
As she expressed her curiosity, the young priest briefly explained the reason for their visit.
"The lambs of God are always hungry. We've come here on our famished feet, so we hope for even a modest gesture of goodwill."
It appeared they had come seeking donations.
'What's going on? This is almost unprecedented.'
"Donations?... I’ve been giving regularly every weekend."
Instead of responding, the young priest simply smiled faintly, and after a moment, the woman, unable to turn away the lambs of God who had come all the way to her house, showed them a small token of her goodwill.
‘Sigh, they're not armed, but they're no different from bandits.’
The woman, unable to express her feelings outwardly, gave an awkward smile, upon which the young priest bestowed a blessing upon her.
"May the protection of St. John be with you."
As the group of priests continued their rounds, they eventually stopped in front of a certain house.
"Rothsmedici..."
This shabby and old house was unlike the others, bearing a family name.
Rosthmedici.
Given that the name was unfamiliar, it most likely belonged to a commoner.
"Being commoners, they'll probably donate generously."
The young priest knocked on the door once more.
A short while later, a boy who appeared to be about nine years old opened the door.
"Are there no adults here?"
"Little one, are your parents not inside?"
The young priest sought the parents to collect the offering, but Leo, the fourth child of the Rothsmedici family, shook his head in denial, indicating a negative response.
His mere head-shaking, without saying anything, suggested he was quite introverted.
"Where did your parents go?"
The child remained silent, but the young priest, needing a donation for their own reasons, was not ready to back down easily.
There were people who pretended not to be home just to avoid making a donation.
'I won't leave that easily.'
The commoners, unlike others, were wealthy enough to maintain their family's name by paying taxes directly to the lord.
And to just pass by such a place?
That was unthinkable.
"If you ignore the young lambs serving God without a valid reason, you'll receive a severe punishment later. So, I'm asking again, is there really no one inside?"
At this, Leo, who had been just shaking his head until now, reluctantly opened his mouth.
"They passed away."
"What?"
"......"
"They passed away? Both of them?"
The surprised priest asked again, and Leo quietly nodded his head.
Then, from behind, another priest who had been quietly watching began to speak with a slightly surprised look.
"I heard recently that a tax collector working under the lord passed away. The name Rothsmedici sounds familiar, so perhaps that tax collector was from this household."
Even a commoner in such a state could be in a worse situation than a typical serf, economically speaking.
The priests, taken aback and unsure of what to do, saw their young leader open his mouth with a heavy heart.
"Let's move on to the next house. It's against the doctrine to forcibly demand charity from those who are starving and destitute. We should be giving to places like this instead."
These priests, desperate in their own right, were touring the lord's domain, but they were not so unreasonable as to demand charity from a child who had lost both parents.
Priest Peter nodded subtly to the young priest as a sign, and the young priest tightly held Leo's hand and gently stroked his head.
"Stay strong, no matter how tough it gets."
Excluding the young priest, the rest of the clergy group began to move in unison, and the young priest, following Priest Peter's instruction, handed something to Leo.
It was a small portion of the charity they had received earlier.
"Saint John always said not to ignore those who are starving and destitute. This is a small gesture from our order, and I hope it helps you even a little."
As the young priest finished speaking and was about to leave, Leo suddenly grabbed the hem of his garment.
Turning his head, the priest looked down at Leo, the fourth son of the Rothsmedici family, who then asked him a question.
"Um... I have a question."
The young priest was initially puzzled by the question, but soon faced Leo again with a kind smile.
"What are you curious about?"
"It's just that..."
Leo, recalling something his brothers had said the other day, asked the priest with a deep sense of curiosity.
"Do we have to give a lot of offerings to... go to heaven?"
It was a question typical of a child.
"It's not necessarily the case. Even if you give a lot of offerings, without faith, you cannot enter heaven."
"My brothers said... if we give a lot of offerings, we can go to heaven. They said that if we give a lot, the church will pray even more for us to go to heaven."
The young priest pondered for a moment and then showed a faint smile.
He found Leo's question endearing.
"It can't be said for certain, but I don't think your brothers' thoughts are entirely wrong. However, faith is as important as the offerings."
The young priest, having finished his words, stood up from his seat.
Being the youngest in the group, he seemed to be mindful of the older priests who had gone ahead.
"Or how about you pray for those brothers?"
"Me?"
Before a surprised Leo could respond, the young priest hurried his steps and delivered his last message.
"May the blessing of Sr. John always be with the Rothsmedici family."
Leo watched the departing young priest from his spot for a long time.
Words like 'offering', 'faith', and 'heaven' were still swirling in Leo's mind.
