Chapter 9
“Why are you calling for me, Vice Commander?”
“Because I need your help. Follow me.”
“I’m a nun of the Saintess’s Palace. If you need an extra pair of hands, there should be plenty of priests…”
“What was it you said back then when we killed that spider demonic beast?”
“…Yes, of course I should help. Why bother distinguishing between us based on where we serve? Beneath Him, we’re all brothers and sisters alike.”
‘You bastard!’
Now he was even threatening a helpless nun.
I followed behind the two of them with tears in my eyes, and Arle, who had been walking in silence until then, spoke for the first time.
“Raphael, what are you thinking?”
“What?”
“Your reason for intimidating that young nun and bringing her along.”
“Sharp.”
Arle remained silent, but that silence also meant he was telling him not to evade the question.
Raphael spoke as though he had no choice.
“I told you, didn’t I? I found out something interesting.”
“……”
“Actually, it wasn’t me. She’s the one who suggested closing the demon den.”
Arle stopped dead in his tracks.
Then, slowly turning his gaze, he met my eyes.
His stare bore into me as though it could see straight through my thoughts.
“How did you know that, when you cannot even receive an oracle?”
It was a question from a man who had once been an inquisitor, whose profession had been punishing and correcting those who deceived the masses.
I swallowed hard.
Religion in this world was extremely strict, and one wrong word could easily cost me my head.
‘What should I say?’
Even if I told them the truth, I wasn’t sure they would believe me.
If I said I had a previous life, they would think I was insane.
Worse, they might even accuse me of heresy.
This world had no Buddhist concept of reincarnation.
After all, reincarnation would contradict the concept of an afterlife divided into heaven and hell.
“W-Well, you see.”
Even claiming that I had received an oracle in a way that suited this era would be a problem, because I was a nun with no divine power.
If I claimed to have heard an oracle that only the Saintess could receive, who would believe me?
And if I told them the truth about Espers and Guides, guiding was far too much like sorcery in the way it worked.
There wasn’t a single speck of falsehood in any of it, yet no matter what I chose, it would be like stepping on a land mine.
‘What do I do?’
The thoughts I had wrestled with for days ever since Raphael became suspicious of me churned together without reaching any conclusion.
Even now, Arle’s unwavering gaze pierced straight through me.
Raphael wore a mischievous smile, as though waiting to see what sort of answer I would come up with.
It was unfair.
‘I just wanted to worship God and live an honest life!’
But dragging this out any longer would be no different from inviting further suspicion.
‘I don’t care anymore.’
I put a finger to my lips and whispered solemnly.
“I’m only telling you two this, but the truth is, I’m exceptionally intelligent.”
“……”
“I might even be an unparalleled genius who appears only once every hundred years.”
Arle simply watched me, while Raphael’s mouth fell open in disbelief.
But when you’re going to act crazy, you can’t stop halfway.
I spread my arms like a stage actress and continued.
“Did you know I ranked first every year at the convent school? The professors were terribly disappointed that I couldn’t attend seminary just because I’m a nun.”
That much, at least, was completely true.
I dashed over to an apple tree planted in the garden, picked up two fruits that had fallen to the ground, and tossed them into the air.
“Principles! Just as these apples must fall to the ground! If a hole like a doorway appeared, wouldn’t it be possible to go inside? If you don’t want to get wet, shouldn’t you stop the stream of water at its source first?”
I picked the fallen apples back up and quickly straightened my back.
“You asked how I knew, didn’t you?”
I raised my left arm.
“My mind is.”
Then my right.
“Exceptionally.”
And then I spread both arms wide.
“Brilliant!”
Like someone who had just finished a presentation cobbled together from flimsy material, I gave them a twitching smile.
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