Chapter 5
“Sir Raphael?”
Ignoring the Commander and the Saintess calling after him from behind, he strode straight toward me.
‘W-Why me?’
His shadow loomed over me.
He crouched down to meet my eye level.
“Hey, nun.”
“…Yes?”
It felt like my heart was pounding right beside my ears.
Raphael glanced around once, then whispered in an extremely low voice.
“Tell me. How do you think we can get rid of all those demonic beasts?”
My breath caught.
‘…Did he figure it out?’
I tried to keep my face as blank as possible as I asked in return.
“W-Why are you asking me that?”
“Just because.”
A casual answer.
But beneath it was something strangely overpowering.
“You seem lucky, so I thought I’d test it.”
His pale eyes, so light they almost resembled sea foam, stared at me.
This man seemed to have noticed something.
But this might also be my chance to save countless people.
‘I was already agonizing over it anyway.’
I bit down hard on my trembling lip once, then opened my mouth.
“…W-What if you tried going into the hole the demonic beasts are coming out of?”
Raphael’s eyebrow rose slightly.
“Go inside?”
“Yes. If you close that hole from the inside, then the demonic beasts won’t be able to come out anymore, right?”
For a moment, the corner of Raphael’s mouth lifted almost imperceptibly.
“That makes sense.”
He gave me a once-over, then abruptly stood and returned to the Commander.
The three of them spoke with even more serious expressions than before.
What was strange was that not one of them so much as glanced in my direction.
‘Did he not tell them about me?’
Instead, whenever Raphael spoke, the other two simply looked at him gravely.
I had no idea how long I’d been watching them anxiously when the Saintess raised her voice loud enough for me to hear.
“Sir Arle, this is disobedience!”
It seemed the Commander had gone against her wishes after an argument.
But Arle remained perfectly calm in the face of her anger.
After quickly giving Raphael several instructions, he gripped his sword in one hand and faced the Saintess.
“Saintess, I beg you not to take lightly the sin of this servant who has defied obedience.”
“……”
“If only to receive whatever punishment you would bestow upon me, I will make certain to return.”
He lowered himself onto one knee and reverently kissed the hem of the Saintess’s garment.
Having observed all proper courtesy, Arle left the Pontifical Palace with several knights.
* * *
A week had passed since Arle disappeared into the Gate.
The Gate still hadn’t closed, but the rate at which demonic beasts poured out had noticeably decreased.
With Raphael and the Holy Knights stationed in front of the Gate, the Holy State gradually began returning to its daily routine.
It almost seemed as though the old peace had returned.
But the nuns, myself included, were living through days even more hellish than before.
It was because of the Saintess.
Now that she had become extremely sensitive, she wouldn’t tolerate even the smallest mistake.
Her whims, such as demanding that every scented candle or all the holy water be replaced, had at least doubled.
Still, someone at the very bottom like me had it relatively easy.
“Who was it that made a noise?”
One senior nun was even harshly reprimanded for sneezing in the sacred prayer room.
And yesterday was the day her irritability reached its peak.
I couldn’t escape that misfortune either.
It happened very late at night, just as I entered the Saintess’s bedchamber carrying a freshly cleaned chamber pot.
“Who just made that noise with their footsteps!”
“…I apologize, Saintess.”
“Do you know how hard it was for me to finally fall asleep? Do you think saying you’re sorry is enough?”
The Saintess shrieked sharply, unable to contain her temper, and hurled the vase beside her bed.
For someone who looked like she might snap from the slightest touch, she was surprisingly strong. The vase struck me squarely in the forehead.
My skin split open in a long cut and blood began to flow, but the Saintess didn’t look the least bit sorry.
Instead, she merely narrowed her eyes at me as though displeased.
“Unsightly.”
She was the one who had injured me. That seemed a little too much.
If she hated looking at it that much, she could at least use her divine power on me.
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