Sin-Eater - Chapter 26: Solicitude (Patreon)

City life isn’t so bad, really thinks Canta, as he stares at the upside down building. Sure, there are a lot of people here, far more than he is used to and he’s a bit of a celebrity too, that’s kind of fun on the first day but then it does get annoying immediately after that. On the other hand, there’s so much food though. Ah…

He ate so much last night. Real food. It was the best. Meat. Stews. Bread. BREAD. Real, hot, fresh bread. It was heaven.

He can feel his stomach grumble as the wind pushes past his face. The building leaves his sight, as his vision is filled with dirt. He tumbles back to the ground for the eighth or ninth time now this morning. Canta had asked Salvador to be the one to train him, he had taken a liking of sorts to the old man, plus he seemed like he would go easy on him.

This didn’t work out however. Salvador had simply said that he wasn’t interested, despite Canta’s arguments as to what a great honor it would be to train the sin-eater. Instead, the other Palatinos, the woman from the day of their arrival, was chosen as his instructor and she seems to have taken a personal disliking to him, which he thinks is perhaps unfair.

Canta lifts his face out of the dirt, looking up at her as she cracks her neck.

There is a clapping from the side. “You’re doing great, honeycakes!” cheers Alleluia, who was surprisingly accepting of him tussling with a woman. Though, tussling is a bit of an overstatement. He thinks that she just wants to watch him get beat up. She seems to like that more than makes him comfortable.

Canta honestly isn’t sure who he resents the most in this moment. Alleluia, the Palatinos, or himself.

The bishop was more than delighted to house them and to feed him, but his price was that Canta immediately undergo training, education as well as holy-work, in order to prepare him for his inevitable battle with the demon-king. Canta didn’t mind the first two so much, but he isn’t so sure about the holy-work that was scheduled to be after this sparring session. He’s not much of a believer really. Plus, it’s literally the next day. The bishop had explained that it’s important to mold minds while they’re still young, which was a little creepy to hear, but also not entirely wrong.

He gets up, dusting himself off. He has some real clothes now, which he is more than thankful for. Boys clothes too. He had set himself the personal goal of utterly destroying the dress as soon as he had changed into his new outfit, simple trousers and an off-white button up. But by the time he got out, Alleluia had set it on top of a cabinet and out of his reach.

“That won’t work, sin-eater,” says the woman, readying herself for another push of his. “You can’t just run at a problem over and over, just because your body can heal itself.”

“It’s worked well enough to get me this far,” argues Canta, as he rolls his shoulder and gets ready to charge her again. Though… he isn’t really sure what he’s supposed to do, even if he manages that. Gnaw on her? The woman is even bigger than Alleluia, he doubts that he can even reach her neck or head to gnaw on to begin with. The rest of her body is covered in decorative armor.

Before he knows what’s happening, he’s flying off again, noticing that his jaw seems to not be where it should be.

He crashes against the ground, sliding to a halt after a few feet. “It will get you no further,” lectures a stern voice. He rolls onto his back, staring up at the sun as he feels his jaw pop back into place.

Actually, maybe city-life does blow a little. As terrible as it was, he’s oddly nostalgic about being down in the dungeon. Life was simpler then. He closes his eyes, listening to Alleluia’s excited clapping.

After the session ends an hour later and he is freed from his tribulations, Canta is picked up by head-priest Valenti, who is more than excited to ‘educate’ him. Canta appreciates his admiration for him, but it also feels like a little too much sometimes. The man is kind of a creepy zealot. But…

Valenti raises a hand, stopping Alleluia from following them. “Forgive me,” he says, lowering his head in a bow. “But there are things that I am not allowed to say in the presence of a refined lady such as yourself.” Valenti gestures to Canta. “I humbly request to borrow your husband for the afternoon.”

Canta’s eye twitches, but he holds his mouth, liking where this is going. Alleluia frowns, crossing her arms. “But we haven’t really been apart since we met…”

“Mm!” says head-priest Valenti with a smile that Canta can’t help but recognize as… villainous. He wasn’t being humble. This is a scheme. “Surely a woman of your stature needs some attending to, as well?” He snaps his fingers and a group of priestesses comes over, carrying trays covered in combs, brushes and all manner of oddities that Canta doesn’t recognize in the least. Her eyes go wide as she looks at them. “In exchange for him, I offer you these attendants.” She looks back at Canta, appearing worried, which he finds touching and also annoying at the same time. “No.”

Valenti hadn’t expected this. Canta sees his face shift, before hardening again a fraction of a second later.

“I want to stay with him.”

“But then I can’t instruct him,” argues Valenti.

“It’ll be fine,” says Canta, looking up at her as he walks over and starts turning her crank, which doesn’t need to be turned yet, but he’s just doing it to keep her topped up. “We’ll meet up again tonight, okay?”

Alleluia shifts uncertainly. “No.”

Canta sighs. “In the dungeon, I came all the way to get you, didn’t I?”

She frowns. “You only came to get me because of the shortcut.”

“That’s not true,” says Canta, not sure if that’s actually the case or not. Sure, at first that was true. But then later on, he generally wanted to go get her. “I’m not going to dump you off at some church.”

“You promise?” she asks, still unhappy about it.

“I promise,” says Canta. The priestesses, apparently being master social strategists, have already begun swarming around Alleluia, pulling her hand and talking about how they want to brush her hair. Frowning, she lets herself get pulled away, making a face that Canta would only describe in a private journal, that nobody could ever read, as heartbreaking.

In this plane of existence however, he looks up towards Valenti. “You sly devil, you came prepared.”

Valenti smiles a chipper smile, turning to walk the other way. He nicks with his head, gesturing for Canta to follow. “I used to be married. It was a very educational experience.”

“Huh? You?” asks Canta, walking after him. “How did that turn out?” he asks. “Did she get eaten too?”

Valenti smiles the most peaceful smile that Canta has ever seen from a living entity. “I became a holy-man and swore off of their kind until the end of days,” says the head-priest, as he walks through the rays of the sun and through the ambient birdsong, both of which Canta would swear have suddenly become more noticeable, as if the gods themselves had chosen to accentuate this man in this moment for reasons unknown.

Canta has decided that Valenti is kind of a weirdo and a creep, but he likes him a lot. The whole line about things that he couldn’t say in her presence was a lie. He just wanted Canta to be ‘free’ for a few hours, saying that it’s important for male mental development to have ‘guy time’ too. Canta reminds him that he had an old life before this one.

“What happened to it?” asks Valenti. “Did it get eaten?”

Canta thinks for a moment, not sure what the answer to that question is.

Valenti’s education program is less than entertaining, starting off with general history and the lore of the nation. Canta makes it painfully clear that he doesn’t care about either. Seeing this, Valenti moves on to simple mathematics. Canta pretends to listen, chewing on his writing-implement. He wonders if Alleluia will go back with him to the dungeon and if they can’t just live down there forever? It wasn’t so bad, right?

After the lesson ends and he has chewed through his pen to the point that it no longer functions, Canta heads to a small chapel that Valenti had pointed out. It’s on the edge of the cathedral walls, almost like a gate.

The cathedral as a whole is very castle-like. Large, white-stone walls line this inner area that is filled with very bright, very green grass and a few trees. Stone paths and fountains line it, going every which way. It’s very idealistic and scenic, honestly. Though apparently, the people on the outside aren’t welcome here, at least not regularly. He wonders if there is some sort of noble or caste system at play? Or maybe the bishop just doesn’t want people wandering around his home, which Canta thinks is fair enough.

The large wooden door of the chapel has a smaller door built into it that he pushes open. It’s a simple, small church with old, seemingly unused pews on either side. Near the end of it is a small stage and in the back corner of that is a confession-booth.

“Welcome, sin-eater,” says a familiar voice. Canta looks at the face that he recognizes as belonging to the priestess from the village, the one who he had performed the last rights for the dying together with. Her long black hair is tied back in two braided tails.

“Ah, fuck,” sighs Canta. “It had to be you,” he says, shaking his head.

The priestess blinks, looking a little wounded as she sets her book down. “Oh… do I offend you?” she asks. “I washed right after we returned!”

“What? No,” says Canta, waving her off. “I just thought that it’s awkward now.”

She thinks for a moment, her fingers tapping against her book. “Because I thought you were a girl?”

“Yes.”

“Because of the dress?” she asks.

“Yes,” he answers, lifting an eyebrow.

“Because of the stories?” she asks.

“Yes!” barks Canta, getting annoyed now.

“Because of -“

“Enough!” he snaps. “One more word and you’re going straight to hell!” he says, pointing to the ground.

She frowns at him. “Would you like some water?”

He groans. “Is there mud in it?”

“Would you like me to get some?”

“Was that a joke, or are you being serious?”

“That depends, were you?” she asks.

He blinks, considering her question for a moment. As he does so, he realizes that he was being a dick again. His shoulders droop and he sighs. “Sorry, sorry, no. No, you’re good,” he lifts a hand, waving to her. “I’m just cranky because I’m hungry.”

“So that’s a yes on the mud?”

Despite his hunger-induced grouchiness, Canta laughs.

She smiles, getting up and grabbing a bag as she heads over to the confessional. “It is awkward,” she explains. “But when I remember that night in the village, I think that it’s okay,” she says, setting down the bag outside of the curtain. Canta looks into it, it’s filled with thin, edible wafers. “The last sin-eater was a really bad person, I’m told,” she says, looking at him. Of course, at this point, Canta expects a compliment about his unbridled kindness and generosity in that desperate hour. “So I suppose it isn’t that big of a deal if you’re a degenerate.”

“STRAIGHT TO HELL!” yells Canta, grabbing a handful of wafers from the bag to eat.