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Chapter 50: Choir

"Oh, Enos bless you, reverend priest." Kaleqi had taken off his armor and changed into beautiful fancy clothes. He approached Paladin with a child in tow.

"Kaleqi, I told you to maintain the stability of Nurba. Why did you come here?" Paladin said with a coy smile.

The woman at his side immediately interjected kindly, "You guys talk. I have to go back to take care of my grandson."

With that, she turned around and left.

"Good morning, Father!"

"Hello Father."

"Father, when are you going to go to my store for some roast beef?”

Kaleqi watched the passersby on the street greeting Paladin warmly. An invisible sense of reverence and affection permeated from the surroundings. Kaleqi stroked the silky hair of the child beside him and looked at Paladin, who continued to return the greeting.

Kaleqi smiled and said, "You\'re very popular now. Father."

Paladin smiled. Looking at the curious child, he said, "Is this your son?"

Kaleqi proudly and affectionately patted the back of the child\'s head. He lowered his head to look at his child and urged, "Quick, introduce yourself. This is Father Paladin.

The child was only about seven or eight years old, just as old as he can only remember his age. The brown hair made the curious child more and more adorable. He immediately answered in his childish and pure voice, "Father, I am Uther, the son of Kaleqi."

When the kid was about to kneel down on one knee, Paladin immediately stepped forward to hold Uther\'s body and said in an encouraging tone, "Good boy, don\'t kneel down for me. You can only kneel before your parents and the king."

Uther only understood half of what Paladin had said, and then he raised his head. His pink but handsome face was revealed in front of Paladin\'s eyes.

"Paladin, how is it? My son is not bad, right?"

"Well, very good, very good, not inferior to those nobles at all." Paladin looked up at Kaleqi with droopy eyes. The latter nodded knowingly and led Uther into the church. Paladin came in after them and closed the door.

Kaleqi looked at Paladin with a strange expression and said slowly, "Paladin, you don\'t have a godson yet, right?"

As soon as Kaleqi said that, Paladin turned to look at the serious Kaleqi, his face seemed to say ‘you\'re not like those kinds of people, right?’.

Sure enough, Kaleqi nodded in acknowledgement and said, "I want to ask you to become Uther\'s godfather and baptize him. Will you oblige me?"

Paladin\'s face remained calm. He knew that this was a disguised attempt by Kaleqi to bring the two closer together. It was also to prove that there was no possibility of them becoming foes. But, on second thought, this was a good thing. He didn’t have a godson now, so it could be used in exchange for Kaleqi\'s trust. So, Paladin nodded readily.

Uther was also a smart kid. When he saw Paladin nodding, he immediately knelt down on one knee and shouted respectfully, "Godfather, my godfather, your godson, Uther, is willing to accept the godfather\'s guidance and encouragement."

Paladin picked up Uther and looked at the boy with watery eyes, showing a heartfelt smile.

"Good. There is a Mass tomorrow so wait for next week. I will baptize you next week." While saying this, Paladin took out a candy and handed it to Uther. Gently and kindly, he then added, "Go and play. I have something to say to your father."

Uther turned his head to look at Kaleqi. When Kaleqi nodded in approval, he let out a giggle and took off like a bird that had just been freed. He joyfully ran out of the church and went to have fun with his playmates.

"What a carefree kid. Kaleqi, were you like this when you were a child?" Paladin watched Uther from the window. Suddenly, he felt a strange feeling. He couldn\'t help but open his mouth to ask.

Kaleqi only responded with a hmm. Kaleqi touched his freshly shaved chin. Feeling the roughness of his stubble in his hands, he simply answered, "This is what childhood is like. They will all go through childhood, whether they are nobles or commoners. Paladin, haven\'t you experienced it too?"

"No." Paladin said without thinking. Then, he added, "I first ate candy at the age of twelve. It was not bought or given by others. Rather, I stole it myself. That was my entire childhood back then."

Kaleqi frowned and looked at Paladin, whose eyes were lost in thought. He asked, "Stole? Paladin, considering you are from a noble family, was it necessary to steal candy?"

That very moment, Paladin came back to his senses. Only then did he realize that he had said the wrong thing. His cold eyes that were staring at Kaleqi turned sharp like a viper. Scared, Kaleqi could not help but take half a step back. However, Kaleqi then heard Paladin say, "You care too much, Kaleqi!"

"I\'m sorry, please accept my apology." Kaleqi didn\'t know where he made a mistake, so he bowed and apologized. However, he waited far too long for any form of reply from Paladin, so Kaleqi gradually raised his head in doubt. All he saw was Paladin\'s indifferent face, as if his previous hideous expression never existed.

Looking out the window at Uther who was playing peek-a-boo with the civilians, Paladin said, "Kaleqi, please assist me in informing the entire town that I wish to form a choir. Every choir member will be paid twenty silver coins a month."

"A choir? Paladin, what is your goal? What good will it do you?"

"No parish priest has the time and money to run a choir because it\'s flamboyant, impractical and pointless." At this point, Paladin looked at Kaleqi indifferently. Then, he continued, "Yet it is this useless thing that appeals to those in positions of power. Isn\'t it ridiculous? No, it’s not. Useless people are fond of worthless things. Birds of a feather flock together."

Kaleqi felt Paladin\'s words were very ironic. He felt that he could never be friends with him, because friends were connected heart-to-heart and had equal standing. In his opinion, Paladin did not believe anyone was on an equal footing with him. In this scenario, everyone was simply using each other to seek benefits, nothing more.

By noon that day, Kaleqi\'s official letter was sent out. Some low-income families with multiple children quickly aim for that monthly income of twenty silver coins.

"Oh! Praise Father Paladin, the apostle of God! Twenty silver coins a month, for God\'s sake, my man only gets fifteen silver coins a month!"

"No matter what you say, let my son join. Whoever steals my son’s position, I\'ll fight them!"

"My son is strong and healthy. No adult can even compare with him in farm work. He is definitely the one!"

"Bah! It’s not about doing farm work, it’s about singing! My son has been taught by the bards on the street, and that’s an advantage!”

In front of the church, a dozen children dressed in new clothes looked fearfully at Paladin, who was sitting at the table. Behind them, a large group of middle-aged women and mothers cursed at each other, abandoning their image just for the high salary of twenty silver coins. Their fathers also fought over the income that would certainly improve the family\'s life.

"Quiet, quiet!" Kaleqi, who was standing beside Paladin, yelled loudly. When the adults who were about to fight saw Kaleqi\'s menacing eyes and a large group of armed guards behind him, they immediately calmed down, not daring to speak anymore.

Paladin nodded in satisfaction while looking at the dozen or so children in front of him. However, he was feeling a little unhappy inside. A dozen or so were too few. Although it was more than enough to form a choir, it was simply not extravagant enough at this scale. After all, the number of people was too small. However, at this moment, the crowd that had originally crowded the gate suddenly exclaimed. They were shouting and cursing because they got pushed away one by one. Just as Paladin was wondering what had happened, a young girl wearing a big hat, dressed in a white and pink dress while carrying a bag rushed in. Then, she shouted loudly, "Father, count me in too!"