“…What?”
Kana frowned for a brief moment.
Her expression changed dramatically, much more than when she was eating vegetables.
“So, Kana, you—”
“Do you think I’m asking because I don’t know?”
“…I guessed as much?”
With her voice noticeably raised, Joanie started to sweat.
Kana, who unconsciously brushed her waist, crossed her arms awkwardly when she felt nothing in her hands.
Does she hate it that much?
Truth be told, Joanie couldn’t quite understand.
What Selin had asked of Kana.
It was to pretend to be a nun.
“Why on earth do I have to be a nun?”
“Not to be a nun, but to pretend—”
“Pretend or whatever, but why do I have to do it?”
A very valid question, to which Selin responded.
“As I mentioned before, the personal prayer room is fundamentally reserved for the congregation of the Church.”
“So?”
“Bringing in an outsider means we have to be cautious, right? At least, we have to cover our bases.”
Kana listened to Joanie interpreting Selin’s words without uncrossing her arms.
“Of course, there have been exceptions for outsiders. If someone has greatly helped the congregation or for a very significant matter, they might be allowed.”
“A significant matter?”
“For example, the matter of the race wars.”
If it’s that significant, I’ll just bring it up with the Pope.
When Selin said that, Kana fell into silence for a moment.
The girl’s words now carried implicit denial.
“Then what does ‘great help to the congregation’ even mean?”
“It means you’ve given a large donation or spread the light of Lady Edel far and wide…”
Is Kana one of those cases?
Kana’s answer, of course, was ‘no’.
What could she say more, when that was the principle?
In the end, it was Kana who backed down first.
After all, it was impossible to win a fight when you were the one asking for something on the opponent’s home turf.
However, she wasn’t completely defeated.
Kana was still trying for one last stand.
“The Great Descent Festival is a huge festival, so there will be people from the Empire. I can’t just show my face carelessly due to my past ties with the Empire.”
“As you can see, this convent doesn’t accept outside visitors. You two are exceptions, though. And if any problems arise, our Edel Church will assist you.”
“If you don’t accept outside visitors, then why worry about being seen?”
“Worrying about how you’re seen isn’t just about outsiders.”
“…”
Kana found herself quickly stumped by the back-and-forth responses that seemed prepared.
“…What do I have to do?”
Joanie saw Kana looking glum, like a little puppy with its tail between its legs.
“Don’t worry. It’s just a bit of a cover story, so it won’t be anything hard.”
“Not lying, right?”
“Of course not.”
With that, Selin slyly narrowed her eyes.
Feeling a looming shadow approaching her, Kana trembled.
*
“Just sweep from here to there, and when you’re done, use this rag to wipe it down.”
“…Sure.”
Cleaning.
“I need to do some laundry… could you help?”
“Got it.”
Laundry.
“What do I do…? I have to organize, but I’m short on hands…”
“…Want a hand?”
“Oh, Sister. I appreciate your offer, but it’s fine. The things here are quite heavy, so it’d be hard for a young sister like you.”
“I’ll help.”
“Ahhh…! No! You might get hurt if you do that… Wait… How…?”
“I can lift this much.”
“Goodness…”
Organizing the storage.
I was doing various chores in the convent while dressed in a nun’s habit.
Sweeping, wiping, washing, organizing…
Seeing me darting around, Joanie left this impression.
“…What’s going on? Why is she doing well? I expected Kana to be clumsy…”
I imagined her slipping and falling while mopping.
Destroying dishes with a crash while washing up.
Dropping a handful of items and making a face.
“…I was expecting such a hopeless clumsy nun version of her!”
“….”
Isn’t that not clumsy but rather pitiful?
“In the end, she would mess up repeatedly and get scolded by the senior nun, crying alone in her room. Then, the senior nun who scolded her would come in and give her a warm hug…! Ughhhh….”
“…Have you finally gone insane?”
This delusion was a bit concerning.
I shook my head.
Until now, I’d led a life far from being a nun.
That was the same in my previous life.
If anything, the distance from the position was way more extensive in my previous life than this one.
Back then, due to gender barriers, I couldn’t even aspire to be a nun.
But the things I did were more akin to the tasks of a maid, just trivial chores.
Selin had kept her promise: she didn’t give me any hard work.
‘Is this meaningful?’
‘It’s to show that while not a believer, you possess enough faith to go through probationary nun training.’
Didn’t she say? Covering bases as a minimum justification.
Selin had said that with a smile.
Anyway, for that reason, I flitted around the convent, taking care of scattered chores.
Given the vastness of the convent, there was quite a lot of work, but for someone who had seen more than enough in life, this wasn’t difficult at all.
If I had surrendered over something this minor, I wouldn’t even be able to stay with Garid.
Having lived with Garid, I had grown accustomed to most household tasks.
Thus, Joanie’s delusions were far from happening from the start.
Moreover, even if I caused all sorts of accidents and got scolded, there was no way I’d lock myself in my room and cry.
“Go away if you’re going to say something weird.”
“Hmm? Wouldn’t it be fine if I weren’t here?”
“…Just stay quiet instead of going away.”
The reason Joanie kept following me, despite not planning on using the private prayer room like me and having no need to pretend to be a probationary nun, was simple.
‘People from the Holy Kingdom all speak Arkish, right? And Kana doesn’t speak Arkish very well yet.’
If she weren’t around, I’d have a hard time communicating, so it was a pretext to help out.
Since the first place they brought her in was for that reason, I naturally accepted.
It wouldn’t matter if she just followed me without helping, but her incessant chatter was a bit irksome.
But I couldn’t exactly tell her to leave.
What a bothersome person.
‘You must be bored, are you alright?’
‘Oh, it’s only for a few days. I can manage that much for Kana’s sake.’
‘…Hmph.’
…Still, I was a bit grateful.
*
Whoosh-
Splash.
As I twisted the rag with both hands, the water that had soaked in spilled out.
It had been three days since I started pretending to be a nun.
As Selin said, it wouldn’t last longer than four days, so today was supposed to be the last.
‘…’
I really hope so.
How it would turn out…
“Ah, Sister! Are you finished?”
As I was finishing up the mopping and tidying up, the nun who had assigned me the task greeted me with a bright face.
“…Sister, not really.”
I repeated a phrase I’d been saying monotonously for days in response to her words.
It’s true that the term ‘Sister’ doesn’t exclusively refer to a nun, but…
“The nun’s outfit suits you so well. What a pity.”
“….”
When they speak to me, they surely have such intentions behind it.
Even though I’m working alongside them in a nun’s outfit, they know I’m not a real nun. Yet they treat me like a newcomer sister.
…Why?
I tossed that question to Selin, but she merely smiled without answering.
“Thanks for your hard work. Would you like some candy?”
“Oh—”
Nom.
Well, I should take the candy.
Chew chew.
Having eaten the candy with my dirty hands from cleaning, I glanced down the sparkly corridor.
Not a single person could claim that the cleaning hadn’t been done by looking at the spotless corridor.
If someone did make such a claim, then they would belong to one of two categories.
Either someone who just wanted to torment others regardless of the cleaning results, or someone whose standards of cleanliness were completely opposite to everyone else’s.
The nun before me didn’t belong to either group.
“Kana’s cleaning skills leave me in awe every time. I feel almost sorry to step on the floor.”
“Basic stuff. But what’s up?”
It didn’t seem like she was here just to monitor how well I was doing.
“Oh, I almost forgot.”
The nun clapped her hands.
“Selin Sister called for you.”
“…!”
…Finally.
Though Selin mentioned it, work doesn’t always flow as we want it to.
I had braced myself for at least another day of work due to a shift in plans.
Fortunately, it followed Selin’s words, so I was relieved.
“Great! Right, Kana?”
“Yep.”
Though Joanie seemed to try her best not to let it show, it was clear she was growing more bored with each passing day.
She wasn’t even wasting time like I was, either.
Out of sheer boredom, she had taken the initiative to grab a broom and was cleaning alongside me by the end.
After a long time of mutual agreement, Joanie and I hurried towards where Selin was.
‘…Wait a minute.’
I hadn’t heard why she had called us.
Please don’t let it be something like “A little more hard work, please.”
“Thank you for all your hard work.”
Fortunately, my worries weren’t realized.
“Now you can use the prayer room… will you be using it today?”
“Is it okay?”
“Yes. If you want, you can use it right away.”
“Then I’ll go now.”
There’s no need to postpone any longer, even if it’s already much later than I expected.
“I’ll wait in the room, so take your time!”
With Joanie seeing me off, I followed Selin to the prayer room.
Surely, even if they were gods, communication wouldn’t be impossible just because of a language barrier.
“Well then, I’ll be leaving…”
After Selin led me here, she seemed to finish her tasks and left, making the prayer room a space just for me.
Well, it is a personal prayer room, so it would be odd if it were occupied by anyone else.
How much effort I had gone through to enter this place.
Only a statue of Edel and a single cushion were present.
Should I call it barren? Or should it be considered neat?
I felt a peculiar sensation as I cautiously knelt on the cushion.
“Um….”
Clumsily mimicking what the followers of the Edel Church did, I put my hands together and pondered for a moment.
How should I open?
I had many questions, but now that I was sitting here in the prayer room, I didn’t know where to begin.
“…Hello.”
After much thought, I chose a light greeting, something I’d say to a friend.
If they were upset with my greeting and responded, that would be good too, right?
“….”
There was no answer.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed, but I was somewhat prepared for it, so the disappointment wasn’t drastic.
With a sigh, I opened my eyes.
And then.
“…!”
“Oh? Is it already over?”
I found myself gazing into a pair of swirling, smiling eyes looking down at me.
…But wait a minute.
…Arkish?
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.