Chapter 10
‘Please let them buy this.’
I could feel my palms growing damp with sweat.
Arle stared at me in silence for a long moment, then nodded.
“Under God’s will, we are all merely servants, but we should also refrain from underestimating an individual’s intellect.”
“…R-Right.”
“Thank you for using your exceptional intellect to save others.”
The moment Arle gave me a slight smile, I saw a halo shining behind him.
Pure emotion stung the tip of my nose.
‘Yes, this is it.’
That faith, that goodness, that ascetic smile of a righteous and upright man.
A noble feeling swelled in my chest.
“Ah, pfft, hahaha!”
But behind Arle’s holy smile came an unpleasant sound that ruined my appreciation.
Raphael was clutching his stomach and snickering loudly enough for me to hear.
“Pfft, you’re right. That intellect really would be wasted on nothing but cleaning up pigeon s**t.”
How could someone even laugh in such an irritating way?
I narrowed my eyes at him.
Raphael met my gaze and gave me a subtle smile.
“What? Got a problem?”
His look held several meanings.
And mixed among them was the implicit message that he would let it slide for now.
‘That rotten snake.’
Raphael still bothered me, but avoiding Arle’s suspicion was more important for the moment.
“Haha, of course I don’t have any complaints. I’m content as long as whatever I do serves God.”
“What a truly devout clergyman.”
I stared at the back of Raphael’s annoyingly glossy head as he walked ahead of us and thought,
‘If anything, I hope that bastard awakens as an Esper.’
Then I’d make him beg me for guiding!
The thought of Raphael groveling for my touch made me burst into laughter without realizing it.
But as they say, speak of the devil and it appears.
Raphael suddenly whipped his head around, and of all moments, our eyes met while I was grinning.
“You know, that expression makes you look really ugly and beastlike.”
“……”
“Raphael, one can accumulate sin through words and conduct alone.”
“I only stated a fact.”
“If you do not stop, I will deal with you through disciplinary measures.”
“Seriously, she’s the one who looks like that. Fine, fine.”
Raphael shrugged and finally turned his head forward again.
Staring at that irritating back of his head, I clenched my fists.
‘Seriously, just you wait until you awaken.’
I’ll make you experience the hell of guiding deprivation!
* * *
The training grounds the three of us arrived at were quiet.
Everyone had been dispatched to territories near where the demonic beasts had appeared.
Only the sound of banners fluttering in the wind filled the space.
Eventually, Arle stopped in the center, and the wooden training swords and spears slowly floated into the air.
I watched and gauged the extent of his power.
‘A-Class? If things line up right, he might even be S-Class.’
Judging from his ability, Arle was definitely a top-tier Esper.
His physical recovery would also skyrocket from now on, and he would become a much stronger knight than before.
‘The problem is the rampage.’
The fundamental flaw that overshadowed all of an Esper’s remarkable strengths.
Perhaps it was punishment for humans trespassing upon the realm of God, because they bore the original sin known as rampaging.
Despite possessing strength greater than anyone else’s, they had to beg the weak for their lives, and they were deprived even of the free will to choose whom they loved or control their own s****l desire.
‘How pitiful, and how tragic.’
I hated my profession, but I did feel compassion for Espers.
If I hadn’t even had that much, I probably couldn’t have endured the humiliation.
‘What should I do about this guy?’
Since he was an Esper now, the side effects of rampaging would appear eventually, and the only thing that could calm him was guiding.
‘Maybe Guides have appeared too.’
But even if they had, there was no way to find them.
This world had no special-trait testing, and a Guide’s abilities weren’t outwardly visible.
Which meant that, in the end, I was the only one who could calm Arle’s rampage.
‘This is a problem.’
We had both taken vows of chastity as clergy.
We weren’t supposed to engage in s****l contact.
‘I wish holding hands would be enough.’
I had no idea how efficient my guiding would be in Mireille’s body.
If it was the same as in my previous life, then s****l acts would have to be involved no matter what.
This won’t do. I need to check.
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