"Everyone owed debts. Jerome was no exception."
Black Cat Mogley's words drew everyone's attention.
He began pacing slowly across the floor, his tone suddenly turning cheerful.
"Your Highness Miesella, how much do you know about your vessel?"
"In your eyes, he had always been nothing more than a vessel. Given your nature, you probably wouldn't consider him a shameful record of your trysts with mortals, but you never paid much attention to him, did you?"
"Even though he was so devout toward you..."
Miesella frowned. "What are you trying to say, Mogley?"
"What I mean is, you have no idea just how poor Jerome is..."
The black cat sighed softly, and a rare spark appeared in his green eyes.
"Jerome was the strangest person I had ever met."
"He was so honest, kindhearted, and eager to help that anyone who came to him for assistance would receive everything he could give without asking for anything in return. He simply didn't seem to understand what refusal meant."
"Though it all seemed rather laughable. His father deceived him, his mother treated him as a vessel, and the pet cat that had stayed with him the longest had once been his mother's lover..."
"But that was simply the kind of person Jerome was."
Mogley spoke with some emotion. "Because he gave selflessly and helped others, his savings were always at zero. To spread the goddess's glory and live by his beliefs, his debts grew by the day... but I had never heard him complain."
"Perhaps he really was a fool."
"I can see the surprise on your face. Yes, the living expenses you secretly entrusted the church to provide him were all used to help others... Can you imagine how much someone regarded by an entire city as their last lifeline spent every