Chapter 67: Pardo's Beautiful Day as Usual

Tick-tock

"Ugh—Hmm…"

The sound of rain falling came from outside the house. The noisy sound of rain hitting the window woke up the girl curled up in the quilt. She stretched on the mattress like a kitten, and then Pardofelis sat up, wrapped in the quilt, with sleepy eyes.

Last night, in order to fulfill the boss's...ah, should I say the priest's instructions, she quickly ran all over Twilight Street and informed the people who should be informed of the priest's words.

This is also her job and the reason why she stays here - she exists as the priest's [messenger], um... and also as a [weather forecast player]. After all, the priest seems to have a special sense of rain and always knows when the rain will come and when it will end.

Although this kind of existence that seems like a special ability is amazing, compared to the priest's fire is really like a miracle and can directly kill people, the ability to "predict rainy days" seems not so conspicuous.

"Ugh—"

When she thought of the flame, Pardo's body trembled subconsciously, and she felt a faint phantom pain of being burned, especially in her hands... Because of her habit, the priest disciplined her a lot, and she also had a great fear of flames or the burning sensation.

but...

Pardo looked around at this "little nest" that belonged to her.

She was covered with warm bedding and had a soft bed. Clean and tidy clothes were hung side by side on a shelf. Unfinished snacks were casually placed in the corner of the small table. There were still some snack crumbs on the open book. Her "collections" were piled up around her. There were so many things that there was almost no place to put them, so they could only be piled in the corner. The walls of the cabin would not leak wind and the windows would not leak rain. The whole "nest" looked so warm.

"Hehehe——"

Pardo rolled to the bed wrapped in bedding, leaned out, and hugged her "collection", looking at the various strange and bizarre "gadgets" inside with great pleasure.

Although the priest's discipline was very strict and scary at first, after getting along with him for a long time, I can still feel that the priest is a very easy-to-talk person...

While routinely looking through her "collection", Pardo was thinking about some random things.

She still remembered the first time she met the priest... At that time, the priest's [rules] had just been implemented, and the entire Twilight Street was in turmoil. Although the big guys of the gangs were very dissatisfied, they all implemented the priest's [rules] in the end.

The streets became clean, any traces of dirt were swept away, and garbage was collected and disposed of.

All the gang members began to restrain themselves and forced themselves to become friendlier... Although there were some lunatics who tried to challenge this [rule], they would soon be found by the priest, and then... they would be [judged], lose their lives, and be buried by the priest.

After repeating this several times, no one had any objections anymore. Everyone began to abide by the [rules], and after trying it out... they found that this [rule] was actually quite good. At least the peace during the day and the safety at home at night made people particularly satisfied.

So everyone began to actively promote this [rule], because it really benefited most people, but... there were also a small number of people who didn't like this [rule] so much... such as Pardofelis at that time.

Since she could not commit crimes during the day, she could not steal at all. At night, she could not break into other people's homes. However, she had no home of her own (she had built a shed in a very secluded alley to serve as her "home"), so she could not guarantee her own safety at night... because she had no idea whether the small shed she built could be considered her "residence".

It would be hard to say whether she spent those nights in peace or in fear.

In addition to the loss of her skills, the supplies she had saved were gradually reduced. In the last few days, she was basically in a state of going hungry for nine meals out of three days.

As for the "minimum living allowance" issued by the gang... She didn't receive it, because the gang members couldn't find her "residence" at all, let alone find her... She didn't dare to go, mainly because she had "taken" things from others many times in the past, and she was afraid of being framed...

In the end, she didn't know what she was thinking and actually ran to the church to seek help from the priest.

Maybe at that time she thought that if she asked the priest for help to collect the "minimum living allowance" together, she would not be bullied?

Or maybe it was because the [rules] said that as long as you come to the church, he will give you seven days of shelter, and since it is shelter, you should be given food... or something like that? - That's what she thought at the time?

To be honest, at that time, although everyone understood that the [rules] the priest said were true and the priest himself should abide by them, that inexplicable power still brought great pressure and fear to others, so that most people were unwilling to seek refuge in the church...even if they starved to death! Even if they wanted to work in a gangster factory or become a gangster thug, they would not go!

At that time, Pardo... was actually the first one to seek [asylum] from the priest, and that was only because she had no food to eat and did not dare to collect the "minimum living allowance".

What was even more outrageous was that the priest seemed to have known she would come, and he had prepared food in advance. He even came out to pick her up when she was still hesitating at the gate of the yard... and he even thanked her for her help during the meal...

She was stunned for a moment at that time, and then she remembered that she had left some supplies in the church... At first she simply thought that even though she had stolen so many times, people didn't say anything, and sometimes even deliberately put some food in the warehouse for her to steal, as if they were worried that she would starve to death and shouldn't have such a difficult life, so she helped a little... and she didn't dare to show up, for fear of being caught and scolded and beaten.

But she didn't expect that even so, even though they had never met before, the priest still pointed out her identity accurately. To be honest, it was quite terrifying... And then the priest even proposed to give her a "job" and let her follow him. At that time, she doubted whether she had heard it wrongly. How could there be such a good thing in the world, to give her food, a job, even a place to live, and her protection from him?

At the time, she even suspected that she was going to be sold, but then she thought that with her current status as a priest, it seemed unnecessary for her to do such a thing... and the priest's suggestion was not without cost. The most obvious one was that she had to change her "stealing" habit.

To be honest, she suffered a lot in order to correct this habit, and the priest's discipline was painful... But for the sake of a good life in the future, she endured it all, and did change the bad habit of "taking things without permission"... But habits are still hard to change, and in the end, she still had some "collecting addiction", hahaha... But she did check carefully, those were things that other people didn't want! She just picked them up!

Hmm... If I had to put it bluntly, she probably became a waste collector or trash picker? Why does it sound so weird all of a sudden?

Knock Knock——

"Pardo?"

The priest's calm but gentle voice sounded from outside the door.

"Wait a minute...it's coming."

Pardo's thoughts broke free from her memories, and she quickly put on her clothes and casually made the bed. When she was about to open the door, she seemed to remember something and quickly opened the cabinet beside her, revealing her "treasures" inside. She took out a wrapped thing that looked like a book, and then took the unfinished book on her desk and opened the door.

Outside the door, the priest was waiting for her with an umbrella in hand. His eyes were fixed on the rainy sky. Only when he heard the door open did he turn around and look at her.

"Good morning, boss."

"Good morning, Pardo."

They greeted each other politely, and then Pardo came lightly to Nozomi's side, walked into the range of the umbrella, and closed her door.

Nozomi said nothing, but just tilted the umbrella slightly so that the umbrella could cover more of Pardo's body, and then the two of them walked towards the church side by side.

Although the distance from here to the church is very short, on the way, Pardofelis unconsciously leaned towards Nozomi and got a little closer to him... She didn't mean anything else, as she had an umbrella in her room. It's just that on rainy days, Nozomi would feel warm around her, which made her feel very comfortable.

After trying a few times, Pardo found that Nozomi didn't say anything about her behavior, so she simply stopped holding an umbrella on rainy days. It felt so comfortable to stay close to Nozomi... Hmm? Why do I feel like a cat? But that kind of thing doesn't matter...

Back to the church, it has been renovated once, it is beautiful and tidy. A warm breakfast is placed on a small table not far away. Pardo walked briskly and sat down with Nozomi, enjoying this comfortable breakfast on the slightly cool rainy day.

'I really don't know how the priest did it. His cooking skills are so good. Will he teach me how to cook after becoming a clergyman?' Padua Felice couldn't help but think.

After breakfast, Nozomi would perform her daily morning prayer routine, while Pardo would be responsible for washing the dishes and doing some cleaning... But this is usually just a casual thing. Nozomi had finished it long ago, and she was just finding something for herself to do. Of course, she could also take this time to read a book.

But at this time, Pardofelis liked to stare at Nozomi in a daze... It was nothing, she just felt that Nozomi was very good-looking at this time, especially on rainy days. When Nozomi reached out to touch the rain, he would have an inexplicable temperament, which was very attractive... Sometimes she herself felt strange, because this feeling was especially obvious on rainy days, but not on other days.

'Maybe the priest is an "angel" related to rain?' Pardo sometimes thinks.

After Nozomi's morning prayer was over, Pardo took the opportunity to step forward and hand him the book she had prepared... The main reason was that if she didn't give it now, there would be no time to give it later. In the morning, there was a routine session of going out to help others, and at noon, there was lunch. In the afternoon, the priest would go to the sanatorium to meet with the nuns. In the evening, he would wait for people to confess. After nightfall, the priest would also stay in the church waiting for people who might need shelter.

"Hey... Boss, this is for you..."

Pardo spread herself on the table and closed the book, then handed Nozomi another wrapped book that looked like a gift.

"I got this from the outside world... Don't worry, boss! There's nothing wrong with where this thing came from! I bought it through legitimate channels!"

"Yes, I know."

Nozomi nodded, opened the outer packaging, and took the Bible in his hand. He didn't seem surprised to receive this. Even though the cover of the Bible seemed thick, the paper inside seemed delicate, and even the words written inside seemed a little obscure and difficult to understand, it was obviously a specially made Bible, but Nozomi seemed to have known this for a long time.

Because he knew that such a Bible was not something that Pardofelis could obtain directly, let alone buy directly. It was something that [She] gave to him through Pardofelis.

However, Nozomi still smiled and nodded to Pardo.

"Thank you very much, Pardo."

In any case, this Bible was bought by Pardofelis with her own savings, so he should thank her and be grateful.

"Ahahaha... No... I just thought that you, boss, took such good care of me, and I just happened to see something that seemed to be suitable for you, so I bought it... Ahahaha..."

Pardo scratched her hair, her eyes wandering, and spoke casually, but from her expression, it could be seen that she was very happy.

It was still raining outside, but that was not a reason for Nozomi not to go out. He left with an umbrella as usual to help people in need and listen to their troubles, and Pardofelis would follow him.

In the afternoon, the rain had stopped. Nozomi went to the sanatorium as usual, communicated with Aponia, and took care of the children with her. But Pardo did not go...mainly because Aponia picked up a strange man and brought him back. The man named [Kalpas] scared Pardofelis.

But surprisingly, although Kalpas has a very bad temper, he is very gentle to children... Although he is still as bad-tempered verbally, and mixes some swear words in from time to time, but from his behavior, it can be seen that he is taking care of the children, and maybe because he was adopted, although he doesn't like Aponia and Nozomi very much, he usually listens to them.

But Pardo was still afraid of him, so at this time she would go out and wander around, looking for some "collections", and help some careless people find lost items, or run errands for others.

In the evening, the sky became clear after being washed by rain. With the sound of staggering footsteps, another person who came to confess received the [Judgment] and left. At this time, Pardo had just finished today's "collection" outside and passed by that person.

Although they didn't know each other, at least Pardofelis didn't know him, but the two nodded to each other as a greeting. After all... [need to be polite and humble]

As night falls, the order of the day begins to fade, and the sins of the night begin to spread. But for those who have already returned home, for those who are under the protection of the "rules," the noisy gunshots and wailing have nothing to do with them.

Pardo, who had already finished cleaning, changed into pajamas and curled up in her "nest," fiddling with the "collections" she had found today. The renovated house had good sound insulation, and no matter how loud the gunshots or wailing outside were, only a little bit could be heard inside.

But Padua Felice didn't react to these sounds, nor did she even care.

Because this is much better than before.

After putting away the "collection," Pardofelis opened the unfinished book Cat Behavior Research and How to Attract Cats and began to complete today's [One Hour Reading].

To be honest, she really wanted to have a cat. She even thought of a name for it, "Can," but she didn't know if Nozomi would allow it...

More than an hour later, the gunshots outside the house became sporadic and the screams gradually faded away. Feeling sleepy, Pardo yawned, moved to the side of the bed, and rolled over, wrapped herself in the quilt, adjusted it slightly to make herself more comfortable, reached out to turn off the lights, and then curled up like a kitten and slowly closed her eyes.

'Another beautiful day' thought of Pardofelis.

Hopefully, tomorrow will be the same.