Last night, I had quite a lengthy chat with Baal.
But the only thing that stuck in my mind was one thing.
Well, isn’t that a relief? Just when I wanted to forget, I actually managed to forget everything except for that one thing. The problem is, that one thing is such a monumental plot twist that I can’t just be like, “Oh, is that so?” and move on.
Yeah, even if I heard that someone next to me might be a god, I probably wouldn’t freak out as much. I would be worried, wondering if I had done something wrong to that person, but if that person were a rational being with common sense, it wouldn’t be my problem. I might have even felt a bit envious.
But, hearing that the one who has that power could be me? There’s no way I could just brush that off.
Right now, I’m already overwhelmed with the power I have, getting tangled up in all sorts of annoying things. Just think about it, if other people heard what I told Baal yesterday…
It’s not that the church is undergoing reform or anything.
If they were believers, they’d probably kneel and pray just from my passing by.
Just imagining it sends chills down my spine.
…Ah, no. It’s fine for now. I haven’t been found out.
Of course, if even one of the stories I heard yesterday slips out of my mouth, there will be chaos.
A god who doesn’t even see himself as a god? That’s a terrifying statement that could literally turn the church’s legitimacy into dust.
It’s a church that formed by absorbing the existing religions. They even still use the cross symbol they originally had, so I can’t even imagine how much legitimacy the existence of “God” holds. If Ariel or Baal were downgraded to mere prophets, the church would likely split apart. And there’s a high chance it would be extremists whose faith concepts have drastically distorted.
And of all times, right now!
I hurried to the academy this morning, and I don’t even know how the cleaning ended. Just a very short moment before Selena arrived, while organizing the cleaning tools.
“Hey, Clara.”
Aurora approached me as I sat there, fingers interlocked and chin resting on my thumbs, deep in serious thought.
“Are you okay? You didn’t hurt yourself falling out of bed this morning, did you?”
I was embarrassed about falling but I wasn’t hurt. To be precise, it didn’t hurt that much since Baal’s power was still at play.
“No, I’m not that weak.”
“Then, can I ask what you’re so worried about?”
“Uh…”
In that brief moment, I agonized immensely over how to respond.
The problem was that I couldn’t really come up with a proper answer even after all that deep thought.
So I—
“Bathroom! I need to go to the bathroom!”
I made a suspicious excuse and hurriedly chose to escape the classroom.
*
“…”
Aurora stared blankly at Clara’s back as she shouted that and dashed out of the classroom.
Did she seriously need to rush that badly? From what she had learned while staying with Clara, it was clear Clara wasn’t the type to be embarrassed about going to the bathroom when her stomach hurt.
…Well, she was pretty embarrassed about it at first.
Humans are creatures of adaptation, right? After repeating it for about a semester, she had gotten used to casually getting up to say she was going to the bathroom.
“Hmm?”
Is Clara actually a person…?
Of course, if she had heard someone say that to her, she would have been super offended, but Clara’s body was not born of humans but directly created by a god. So, structurally, she might not be that different from a human, but comparing her to an ordinary person, she was extremely different.
Well, considering half of it was demon, it wasn’t really a point Aurora should be making.
Besides, Clara herself asked to be treated equally, so it felt a bit off to treat her as some other existence.
Who knows how the high-ups at the Central Church would think, though.
“Do you think something suspicious is going on?”
Leaning into her thoughts, Aurora was questioned by Linea.
“Hmm…”
To be honest, it was suspicious. But just because I think so, actually saying it out loud feels a bit off. It feels like I would be doubting my friend Clara.
More than that, the suspicion Aurora felt wasn’t that Clara was up to something or that she was hiding something.
After a long period of serious contemplation, Aurora ultimately concluded that she absolutely couldn’t reach an answer by herself.
“Has Clara ever hidden something while looking that serious before?”
“Hmm.”
Hearing Aurora’s question, Linea pondered for a moment before shaking her head.
“I’ve seen Clara look serious, but I don’t think she’s ever tried to hide her thoughts from us.”
That was indeed the case. Clara knew a lot and had many secrets, but she rarely showed signs of grappling internally. Rather, she often tended to let things slip out during casual conversations without even realizing it. As one of her followers and as a friend, it’s a bit tough to admit, but objectively, Clara wasn’t the type to keep her mouth shut.
“But even so, I don’t think we need to actively delve into this. If it’s something we need to know, Clara will probably tell us herself, and if not, we’ll find out eventually.”
“…I think that trust might be a bit misplaced.”
Linea smiled slightly at that.
“What do you mean? Clara asked us to treat her as an equal.”
“You still remember that incident, huh?”
Linea had teased Clara about that multiple times before.
“Anyway, prying into someone else’s concerns isn’t a great thing to do.”
“Is it okay for someone from the Inquisition to say that? And the original reason for sending you to Clara was to dig into her, wasn’t it? Logically, there shouldn’t be any reason for further involvement now that the charges have been nullified.”
Aurora chuckled at Linea’s retort.
“Isn’t that the same for you?”
“…”
Both Aurora and Linea ended up sticking close to Clara to rope her in, which was how they came to be so closely associated with her for so long. Of course, Aurora’s intent might have been a bit purer; she followed Clara, as an agent of the miracle investigator, just to see if she was truly a saint. Although, in the end, their roles of watching and reporting were similar.
Spotting a fleeting twinge of guilt on Aurora’s face, Linea shrugged her shoulders slightly as she replied.
“Well, I feel like I am mostly on this side now. Besides, it doesn’t seem like the director plans to call me back. We need a bridge to connect the Inquisition to Clara under the new sect that will emerge.”
Conversely, they were planning to select someone from the Saint Knights to be sent under Rina. If Rina had heard that, she might have fainted.
“Anyway, got it.”
Aurora sighed softly.
“If it isn’t too serious of an incident, then it would be rude for us to dig too deeply.”
“I can’t agree with that.”
Observing Aurora being so hypocritical after just saying not to pry into others’ troubles, she frowned, as if questioning what the heck was going on.
“There’s no way a serious incident would involve Clara and not be serious.”
“…”
Aurora was left momentarily speechless by Linea’s words.
And then, she realized.
“That’s true.”
Clara sometimes casually dropped statements that could spark religious reform or make people studying in the seminary pull their hair out in frustration.
But, as previously mentioned, Clara made those statements ‘truly casually.’ Especially when her emotions ran high, the weight or amount of truths she let slip increased.
“So, we should wait for Clara to bring about a situation rather than stirring one up ourselves. We never know when something might erupt.”
“…Yeah, I’ll do that.”
Eventually, fully convinced by Linea’s words, Aurora could only nod in agreement.
*
Ah, this is really bad, really bad.
I know I’m not good at keeping my mouth shut. No matter how much I sternly think that I absolutely shouldn’t say anything, if my emotions get the better of me, things will just tumble out of my mouth.
Could it be that I got used to the fast-paced developments in web novels from my previous life? Maybe ever since coming to this world, I’ve been expressing my frustrations openly and that’s backfired.
What’s more, if I keep acting like this, Aurora or Linea might catch on.
“Why now of all times…”
I mumbled that while the shower was running.
I don’t usually realize it, but I’m almost always with Linea and Aurora. They started hanging out with me to keep an eye on me at first, but at some point, it just became a natural thing.
Of course, I don’t mean to say I dislike or feel uncomfortable around them. Quite the contrary; being alone makes me a little anxious now. It means I wouldn’t have anyone to consult with if something happens. The problem is, these two are incredibly invested in following me around.
So when I sit here with a serious expression like I did earlier this morning, Aurora and Linea get worried.
I barely have time to manage my expression.
And if I were to actually say that I want some alone time, I’m sure it would be taken far too seriously. After all, I’ve never asked for such a thing!
I dunked my face into the steaming shower water and pulled it back out.
“Phew!”
My head didn’t clear at all.
“Ugh…”
In the end, I couldn’t organize my thoughts at all while showering. No, really, it’s been that way all day.
…Well, fine.
If it’s come to this, if someone asks what’s weighing on my mind, I’ll have to divert that into another topic.
For example, the demon issue.
As Baal mentioned last night, not all the demons are dead yet. No, it’s actually going to be a serious problem if too much time passes. A demon that has absorbed the power of others will be incredibly strong.
I need to make sure there’s a countermeasure.
“Ah, this is good.”
While drying my hair with a towel, I admired myself for coming up with that idea.
It reminds me of the days I used to dodge being summoned to the Central Church by creating new things to occupy myself. Why didn’t I think of that—
Oh, right, that was during the vacation.
My hands that had been drying my hair quickly lost all strength.
Not to mention that I’m already going crazy trying to avoid flunking. If I slip any further, there might truly be no turning back. Though the results from that surprise quiz I took were decent, the real problem was that I missed all the previous tests, meaning supplementary classes are pretty much a given.
If I skip class again and then something happens during supplementary classes—
I shuddered.
“Ah…”
In the end, I’m back to square one.
I put on my clothes and underwear and stepped out of the shower.
“Oh, Saintess.”
And just then, I ran into the Mother Superior waiting in our room.
“Yes?”
Caught off guard by unexpectedly meeting her right after finishing my shower, I hurriedly scanned the room. Aurora and Linea both sat on their beds, looking stiff while sitting upright. Is this military training?
Well, it’s strange not to feel nervous in front of the Mother Superior. Anyway, we were kind of like tenants living here, and the Mother Superior was the head of the convent.
…Though, she treated me a bit differently than the other nuns, even if I didn’t know how Linea and Aurora felt about it. This had only been the case since part of my identity was revealed recently.
“…May I ask what brings you here?”
Seeing the Mother Superior standing there quietly and politely, I thought maybe she was waiting for me to speak.
“Yes, I came to deliver this.”
Truly, she handed me a letter.
“…”
Silently taking the letter, I read the name on the envelope, and it wasn’t from the Central Church.
It was a letter from the central government.
More specifically, it was from the Ministry of Defense.
Since there was no name written, it was clearly sent from an organization.
“This just arrived via registered mail. We haven’t seen its contents, so we’re unaware of what it entails.”
“Ah, yes, thank you…”
As I awkwardly responded, the Mother Superior gently bowed her head.
“Then, have a restful night.”
Speaking with a tone reminiscent of a noble matron, the Mother Superior maintained her polite demeanor while leaving the room.
“…”
Silence enveloped the room.
It felt awkward.
Before the truth about my body being created by the gods became known, the Mother Superior treated me, Linea, and Aurora no differently than the other nuns, but since then, it’s been this way.
If it had always been like this, I wouldn’t have been able to adjust, but when it suddenly changed, it was just too much to handle. Linea and Aurora must feel the same way.
“Um… well then, you both should shower too.”
Only after I said that did the two blink out of their daze.
“Ah, yes.”
“We’ll do that.”
Rushly, Linea and Aurora got up and grabbed their things before heading to the shower.
“Sigh…”
Letting out a sigh whose count I lost track of, I plopped down on my bed clutching the letter. I kept my gaze fixated on the letter that I hadn’t opened yet.
The envelope was quite luxurious. Even though it came from the Ministry of Defense, it was different from the letter envelopes I received when I was enlisted. How do I put it… it’s the kind of envelope that still clings to using thick paper it’s easy to imagine people sending invitations or important notes on. And it was quite thick, perhaps because of the contents. Given that it arrived as registered mail, it likely contains significant information. Or maybe it’s just an official letter from the government to me.
I didn’t want to grab a knife or scissors, so I ripped it with my hands, and in the process, I also tore a corner of its contents. As a result, when I unfolded the neatly folded letter, two identical little tears formed along the margins.
…Well, what can you do?
And at the top of the unfolded letter, I read what appeared to be the title.
[Proposal for the Composition of an Expeditionary Force Against Demons]
Huh?
I momentarily doubted my eyes. But even after rubbing them and reading again, it was still the same title.
They want to form an expeditionary force to attack demons, and since the government couldn’t do it alone, they’re asking for help.
That was the gist of it.
…
Ah, now that I think about it, it’s kind of funny that the title is at the very top of a ‘letter.’ The greeting should come first, right?
Of course, aside from that, the content was surprisingly detailed. Though it didn’t contain the full specifics, the overview had apparently been in preparation for quite a while. Maybe even since the witches were still rampant.
Because when you think about it, isn’t it true that in my old world, if a neighboring country that was in the leadership attacked, or if we were to invade, we would prepare plans ahead of time? Whether or not it would actually be utilized, a time will come when it might be needed. If only a proper justification were in place, those plans would naturally be executed.
And this plan that only contained an overview was likely developed for that reason. However, unlike the world I lived in, the enemy in this realm was shrouded in mystery. So even if they planned a campaign, it would be virtually impossible to detail it.
…They just mentioned registered mail, but what if it wasn’t a delivery person but rather a soldier who brought it?
The letter’s content stated that they needed to draft a new operation based on the information acquired through interrogating demons, and detailing it in writing would be too dangerous. Most importantly, it mentioned that I am most likely going to play a crucial role in this operation, and they wanted to get my approval first.
[The operation requires the assistance of the Saintess. If you could lend your help to please the freedom of mankind, we would be immensely grateful.]
In the end, it was signed by the minister of defense with personal handwriting.
“…”
Having finished reading the letter, I rubbed the bridge of my nose.
If the demons show up again, their existence cannot be handled with the military’s power alone. Jian and I will have to confront them directly. We’ll need a lot of Holy Bombs too.
Above all, demons are already engaging in infighting and absorbing each other. The number of demons surrendering is constantly increasing. What that means is that by now, it wouldn’t be strange for a sufficiently strong demon to have appeared.
This is not a time for overconfidence.
Even if it wasn’t…
These people have no idea.
I rubbed my face with my hand.
…If I want to revise the operation, I’ll have to inform them of various things again.
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