Chapter 2
“Mireille! The Saintess says she doesn’t like the smell of the holy water, either! Empty all of it and refill it!”
“Yes! I’m doing it now!”
I had no idea what smell she could possibly detect in holy water that was practically no different from purified bottled water.
Well, there’s no end to things if you’re determined to nitpick.
‘She really is sensitive and finicky.’
I serve the Saintess, but I’ve rarely ever spoken with her up close.
She always spends her time in the prayer room, and only ever shows herself beside the Commander of the Holy Knights.
‘She’s far too exalted.’
A low-ranking nun like me could only guess at her personality through what the senior nuns said.
But it didn’t matter whether the Saintess was irritable or whether the other nuns worked me to the bone.
I’ll say it again. Compared to my previous life, this was an incredibly easy life.
O peaceful and beautiful days of the church!
“Heave-ho, these are heavy.”
I was walking down the long corridor with three containers of holy water tucked in my arms when I stopped for a moment in front of the door.
Because the Holy Knights were training in the open yard just ahead.
“Hah, haa!”
“It’s way too hot today, isn’t it?”
“Aren’t those two even tired?”
Amid the knights sprawled across the ground in exhaustion, two men were still clashing swords.
They were Commander Arle, with muted blond hair and green eyes, and Vice Commander Raphael, with deep black hair and blue eyes.
“Commander, are we the only ones in midsummer right now? Aren’t you hot all bundled up like that?”
“Exposing bare skin is improper.”
“We’re just a bunch of stinking men gathered here sweating ourselves to death. What’s the point of propriety?”
“A clergyman must conduct himself properly at all times. That remains true even when no one is watching.”
“Ah, you’re so uptight.”
The two of them were famous figures among the Holy Knights of Sacrium.
I secretly stole glances at them and thought to myself.
No matter how I looked at them, those two weren’t human.
They were flowers.
‘All the more beautiful because I can neither touch nor have them…’
They were knights who had sworn to devote themselves to God and the Saintess.
With their striking looks and overwhelming strength, they were the sort of men anyone could hold in their heart.
But there was another reason I liked them.
‘Because they’re complete virgins.’
It was because they had all taken vows of chastity and would live their entire lives remaining celibate.
They were strong and beautiful just like Espers, but the complete opposite of Espers, who had no choice but to pursue carnal desire.
They were truly perfect creations bestowed by God!
‘Those pure virgin men. Just looking at them makes me so happy.’
Men who preserved their chastity and lived in purity brought me peace of mind simply by existing.
Of course, they probably didn’t even know that a low-ranking nun like me existed, but that only made it better.
Exactly this much distance.
Exactly this degree of admiration.
That was just right, and the most beautiful.
Even being able to watch the Holy Knights from afar as I passed by was a privilege reserved for residents of the Sacrium Holy State.
‘O, God of Light who gave me another chance, you’re seriously the best! Thank you!’
I silently worshipped God and diligently continued on my way.
But I had barely taken three steps.
BOOOOM—!
A shock that felt as though the earth itself had been overturned shook the entire church.
I lost my balance and pitched forward.
“Ah!”
The three containers of holy water I’d been carrying rolled across the floor with a tremendous clatter.
The ground was trembling ominously.
‘…An earthquake?’
I braced myself on my knees and raised my head. The once clear blue sky had turned unnaturally red.
It was an ominously familiar warning sign.
‘That’s…’
And then, as though someone had grabbed hold of empty space and torn it apart.
Crack!
The world split open.
A burst of multicolored light erupted from the rift.
The swirling rift expanding like an abyss was far too familiar.
‘No way.’
A word I had only ever used in my previous life slipped from my lips.
“…A Dungeon Gate?”
The vortex rippled, and things resembling swarms of insects came pouring out of it in writhing masses.
I stared in stunned disbelief as they swelled into enormous monsters.
“…Are you serious?”
Those weren’t the ‘demonic beasts’ of this world.
They were the monsters I’d seen until I was sick of them in my previous life.
A Dungeon Gate in God’s holy land.
Here, in a place protected by the God of Light, in a world without Espers, why?
But this wasn’t the time to be thinking about that.
Because there was a shadow creeping toward me, too.
Krru, grrk.
The monster cocked its head at an unnatural angle and stared in my direction.
“……”
A chill raced down my spine.
I couldn’t even scream. I could only stagger backward.
Then, the moment the monster moved, I grabbed up the hem of my nun’s habit and ran for my life.
‘Aaaaaah! Don’t come any closer!’
But an ordinary human body had its limits.
My breath caught in my throat, my legs trembled, and I began to slow down.
“Huff, huff!”
I could feel the monster’s damp breath directly against the back of my head.
It had caught up to me.
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