Sister Lina noticed the surprise on Will's face. "The blessings of the mother warns the clergy when someone with evil in their hearts enter the church. Although I'm currently the only member of the clergy in this village. Oh and if you're wondering about Foster, he's a good husband and father, he just needs to stay away from hard liquor." Lina said, waving her hands as if the topic of Fosters alcoholism was just a trivial puff of smoke to be wafted away.
Will was still a bit uncomfortable with the situation, not knowing exactly how to act. He just smiled and continued to eat the food in front of him. It was the first time since becoming a Goblin that he ate a properly cooked meal, the closest he had before this was some braised meat without any real seasoning. So Will savored the meal while listening to the sweet sound of Sister Lina's voice.
During the morning Lina and Will had agreed on letting him help around the church during the hours where no one was around. Sister Lina also allowed Will to attend the children's lessons, from inside one of the cupboards of course. Will also got permission to read any books in the church, Sister Lina had playfully added the condition that he keep her company during. Although things seemed to look up, he still understood that when spring came the situation would become more difficult, but he decided to deal with that when that time came.
The days passed according to the 'schedule' Will and Lina had come up with, he had even started helping her prepare the meals. She was pleasantly surprised by Will's culinary skills, which he attributed to his years of being a poor student having to improvise a lot of cheap meals. The only complaint Will had was the subjects for class. It was mostly very simple history classes, religion and morals. Will wanted to learn more about the geography, politics and especially about the different demi-human races in this world. However he figured those topics weren't suited for children of their status.
Will was sitting in the cupboard reading a book waiting for class to be over, the current subject wasn't of interest to him. He was engrossed in the book which was about different herbs and flowers, when the cupboard was suddenly opened. Will looked up from the book and froze in place, he didn't dare move a muscle. Staring right at him was a little girl at around eight to ten years old, she was also surprised and blinked at Will. He was expecting a shrill scream, but what ended up happening was that the girl started poking Will's nose. His hooked leathery nose kept bending to the pokes, but Will stayed paralyzed. "Sister Lina, there's an ugrly monster in the cupboard, should I poke his eyes?" the little girl's voice echoed throughout the room. "Oh dear! Clara, don't touch it, leave it alone." Sister Lina quickly rushed over and pulled the little girl away. She quickly closed the cupboard again. Will's heart ached a bit at hearing Lina calling him 'it' and shutting the door in his face, however he understood her reasons.
Will could hear the children, mostly the boys, shouting playfully at Sister Lina to show them the 'monster' in the cupboard. At first she chastised them for being unruly, however as she noticed it wasn't helping, she started negotiating with them. "If I show you, do you promise not to tell anyone in the village, it's a secret." Her pleading seemed to calm everyone down, Will started tensing up when he realized what was about to happen. He heard Sister Lina's steps coming closer, and braced himself for the reveal.
The cupboard door slowly opened, Sister Lina looked at him with an apologetic expression and moved out of the way. Will slowly stepped out of the cupboard and looked at all the children, who were staring at him with glee in their eyes. "Hi everyone, I'm Will." He waved at the kids. All the children immediately squealed and rushed to surround Will.
They all started poking at him and pulling on his clothes. "Hey hey, are you really a monster?!" One of the boys enthusiastically said, as he pulled on Will's pointy ears. "I'm not a monster, I'm a Goblin!" He adamantly stated with some misguided pride. The girls exclaimed in excitement, while the boys laughed prodding him even further. One of the shyer girls approached him and tugged on Will's sleeve. "He-hey, Goblin. Do yo-you eat people?" She was clearly cautious, which made her stutter a bit. Will tilted his head and shot her a condescending glare. "I only eat boar and mushrooms." He looked around at the other children who was still touching him excessively. "But if you don't stop poking me, I'll bite your fingers." Will grinned snapped his sharp teeth together after playfully threatening them. The boys laughed and pulled back, as if in on the game. Kids were very quickly accepting of social interactions and games.
Will and the children got along pretty well after that. Having experience from a previous life helped Will in dealing with the kids without losing his patience. Sister Lina sighed in relief at the sight of everyone getting along. After some more questions and playful banter, Sister Lina interjected. "Okay everyone, that's enough. Remember to be careful on your way home, class has already ended and your parents will get worried if you don't get home soon. Also, remember to keep Will a secret!" She said the last part with a stern look on her face, which was very uncommon for her. The kids started leaving one by one while saying their goodbyes. The last one was the girl, Clara, who walked up to Will. "Hey Goblins, I mean Will. You shouldn't hide in cupboards to scare kids." She firmly patted Will on the head, then quickly left the room. Will looked at her, he was very confused. It didn't help that Sister Lina started laughing at the whole interaction.
"Even the kids treat me like a child. I'm an adult you know!" Will also mumbled something about six months is still an adult for Goblins. Which made Sister Lina laugh even louder.