1.
I crossed over to this world before I even really got to start my working life, but one thing I could definitely imagine was this: I probably wouldn’t be the kind of person who enjoys a proper work life.
Honestly, I never liked getting up in the morning, and I often skipped breakfast just to get an extra minute of sleep. I got along well with my friends, who were on the same level as me, but dealing with those in higher positions was incredibly difficult. I never really planned anything, I just scrambled into a job to make ends meet, and I didn’t have any particular loyalty to the company or pride in the work I’d end up doing.
To be honest, it would’ve been the same even if I was doing something other than work. The life I wanted most was just to play video games and watch movies at home, occasionally going out to eat with friends or have a drink. I didn’t inherit any great wealth or own any buildings in my name, so it was just a dream.
Anyway, what worried me most about getting a job was the limited amount of vacation time I’d get in a year. And on top of that, I wasn’t sure I could take that time off however I wanted, nor was there any guarantee that my vacation would be fully assured.
With that little vacation time, could I really endure this work life? Wouldn’t I just quit after a year? Those were the kinds of thoughts that crossed my mind.
Well, I ended up crossing over to this world before I could even check if I could adapt to such a lifestyle.
And unexpectedly, I started something similar to a work life.
So, if you were to ask me how well I adapted to this job in this world—
“Pretty well, don’t you think?”
Linea said that while lifting her cup to take a sip. Naturally, that cup didn’t contain alcohol; it was just water. Linea had tried a few times to get used to drinking since she first had alcohol at her graduation, but even now, four years later, she still hadn’t fully adapted.
As the Saintess, which was the highest position in the church, she wasn’t often offered drinks by others, but the truth is that whenever we three sat at a bar like this, Linea seemed a bit uncomfortable. Usually, when she came to places like this, she’d have a non-alcoholic cocktail, then just water to quench her thirst.
For the record, Linea wasn’t wearing her Saint’s Robe right now.
When we were at school, it was either official duties or school life, and our Saint’s Robe was essentially our uniform, so she wore it almost all the time. But after graduation, once we decided to separate work and life, she typically wore clothes she liked unless she was on official business.
Isn’t it a time when clergymen can get married? A bit of clothing shouldn’t be an issue.
Still, since she had the image of a ‘Saintess,’ her clothes were often white.
Right now, Linea was in white pants and a white jacket. It looked suit-like, but she wore a sleeveless shirt under the jacket, so calling it a serious suit was a bit of a stretch.
The color contrasted against Linea’s slightly tanned skin, but it suited her, who kept her short hair.
“I feel like it’s not so much that I’ve adapted, but that everyone around me is adapting to me.”
I sighed quietly while fiddling with my glass. The ice clinked away with a cling as I turned the glass slightly, spilling some alcohol into my mouth. I could feel the well-aged premium drink smoothly going down my throat.
“We’re all adapting together. None of us were Saints from the start, right?”
Aurora, who was sitting to my right, said that.
She had been the happiest when we decided to separate work and private life. Her wardrobe, once filled with yearning from outside the church, was getting packed tighter each day. Most of the clothes were glamorously feminine, but perhaps due to her consciousness as a Saintess, most were tidier than regular clothing.
That doesn’t mean, though, that they were outfits that left her skin fully exposed like Linea often wore.
True to her status as a Saintess, Aurora’s dress, primarily white, was much longer than the Saint’s Robe, reaching almost to her ankles, but there was a side slit on the left exposing her well-defined legs.
Aurora’s hairstyle changed quite often too. Sometimes it was short, sometimes it was like Linea’s. Right now, her hair fell down her back in soft waves.
Seeing her sitting there with a blue cocktail in front of her, it was hard to see her as a clergyman; she looked more like a heroine from a spy movie. Perhaps the reporters sensed this atmosphere too, as out of the three of us, Aurora was the one who got her picture taken the most. Of course, due to her status as a Saintess, she couldn’t just be used carelessly, but nonetheless, this made Aurora a very popular Saintess among people.
She seemed to enjoy it as well. At this point, couldn’t we call her a celebrity?
…Ah, wait a minute. In the end, we three hardly ever went our separate ways, so it’s not like we roamed around hanging out with other people. To be technical, all three of us were celebrities together.
And each of our words carried a powerful weight.
Yeah, that was the problem.
“It’s no problem for me to adapt to others. Even if it’s a little uncomfortable, I can endure it. But it’s…”
“…It could cost lives. Hmm. I understand what you mean.”
Hearing my words, Linea nodded and slightly turned her body towards me. The way she moved was so natural that I felt like even the men—and probably even the women—might have their hearts shaken for a moment. The fact that she was holding a water cup slightly broke that atmosphere, though.
“One small word, and the law changes, prompting reforms. We know it well from the sidelines.”
Noticing that what I was about to say was rather serious, Aurora also looked at me without touching her cocktail. The two of them, who had just entered their twenties after leaving their teenage years, were slowly inching toward becoming true adults. If they previously gave off a vibe of cuteness, now the matured, womanly side of them was much more apparent.
“Being a Saintess is already uncomfortable enough; being a Goddess must be even worse.”
Linea said with a bittersweet smile, trying to comfort me.
“Right. Remember when I let out a tiny doubt after the graduation ceremony?”
It was just two years after I had made a few remarks to the old Pope, and the church had begun a major reform, just as the plans were getting finalized after the reforms hit the ground running.
“Is there a reason why clergymen can’t get married?”
Having shared a drink with friends and developed a little question, I just asked that to find out the reason—
“…The plans for the major reform got reset.”
Aurora nodded with her eyes closed. I wasn’t the only one involved; these two had also been swept up in the turmoil, called into discussions and conferences for months. Based on the opinions and questions I had posed in those conferences, the plans for the major reform were restructured from the ground up.
“Whether a religious rule has meaning if even the deities don’t understand it?”
The realization of this was a tremendous shock to those who followed that rule.
Consequently, this story was applied as part of the major reform, and the first executed law allowed marriages between clergymen and between clergymen and the laity. The name of that law? ‘The Law of Saint Clara, the Goddess and Guardian of the Human Society,’ which frankly sounded much shorter and easier to understand if just called by its law name.
Furthermore, that wasn’t the only thing.
The Central Church of this world reacted so seriously to the deities’ words that if I complained, they would hunt down and fix the most fundamental reasons behind that complaint.
It became even more severe after dealing with the demons, than when I was both the Saintess and the Goddess. Moreover, people’s faith in me was steadily growing. As world peace settled and the population increased rapidly, kindergarten teachers taught children, “This world was created by Clara!” Naturally, even little kids could pray.
“So, I’ve been thinking of one thing.”
“Hm.”
“Uh…”
Both Linea and Aurora reacted at my words.
Both were very ambiguous.
“…What is it?”
“Well…”
As Linea placed her cup back on the bar, she said, “Every time you say you have something in mind, it seems that knows what would unfold that uncomfortable situation before.”
“How about just asking the church?”
“…”
Uh…
I couldn’t deny what the two said. Every time I said something, the church flipped upside down.
“No!”
But, I slammed my hand down on the bar to vehemently deny it.
“…”
Then, the entire bar fell silent.
Everyone in the bar was looking at me.
…Ah, right, there were a lot of clergy here.
“Ah, no, everyone. This is just a conversation between us, so you don’t need to focus that much…”
Once my face turned crimson from saying that, people slowly turned their heads back to their own groups.
“…See? Aurora, every time I say something like this, it gets that reaction. How could I say something like that to the church?”
As I lowered my voice and spoke quietly, Aurora nodded slightly.
“…So, what do you want to say?”
Linea asked, seeming to want to hear it.
“So, the way people look at me like this means they think I’m pretty amazing, right?”
“…”
“…”
“Uh, no, it’s not that I think that way; it’s people think that… Are you listening?”
Finally, Linea sighed.
“Yeah, we’re listening, so keep going.”
I had a lot I wanted to say to Linea, but I figured if I diverged from my point, I wouldn’t be able to express my thoughts accurately, so I went on with what I was saying.
“So, I think it might not be so bad for people to be a little disappointed in me. With other deities around, their interest in me could fade a bit… You’re listening, right?”
Linea and Aurora turned away from me and focused back on their drinks, making me rush to ask.
“Yeah, we’re listening.”
“Yeah, we are.”
Weren’t they just ignoring me?
“…”
I fell silent for a moment and then went straight to my point.
“I’m going to run away.”
“…What?”
“…Huh?”
Alright, now they’re actually interested.
2.
“…”
“…”
“So…”
Selena, sitting in the passenger seat of the vehicle that halted in front of us, pushed her sunglasses down slightly and looked up at me.
“Are you saying that the reason you called us, who are super busy, was simply because you wanted to run away?”
Selena was in a Saint’s Robe.
Having been declared a Saint just about two years ago, Selena was known for managing her private life more strictly than the other Saintesses. There were occasional ‘rumors’ that she would vanish somewhere with Jian, one of humanity’s heroes, whenever she had some free time, but no one knew the truth behind it—not even the reporters or us.
At least she wasn’t the type to completely cut off contact, so when I called for help, she did show up.
I showed off my bulging bag as I spoke.
“Yeah, so could you please give me a ride?”
“…Where to?”
“To Erica’s villa.”
When I confidently declared this, a frown appeared on Selena’s brow.
“Do you know that’s hundreds of kilometers away from here?”
“The driver is superhuman.”
As I said that, Jian, who was in the driver’s seat, waved at me.
“Hey.”
“Long time no see.”
I smiled back and waved too.
“Ugh…”
Selena sighed heavily but then nodded with her hand on her forehead.
“Well, I can’t just come all the way here and not do anything.”
“Thank you!”
See, classic tsundere behavior!
I quickly dashed to the back of the car and stuffed my things into the trunk. Linea and Aurora had faces that said, “Is this really okay?” but after watching me load my stuff, they sighed and tossed their own belongings into the trunk.
Then came the moment we were getting into the back seat—
“Wait AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”
A voice screamed.
Looking out the window, I saw a pink-haired woman wearing something ridiculously oversized sprinting toward us.
The car door swung open, and a girl in papal robes squeezed her way inside.
“Ah, it’s cramped! This is a five-seater!”
“Where do you think you’re going? I want to rest too!”
“Wait, Lina, just a second…”
In the end, we all squished together to make room for Lina. We ended up crammed into the backseat meant for three people—four of us squeezed in.
“Pope! This isn’t okay!”
I heard someone shouting from a distance, and a few knights started rushing toward us!
“Jian! Hurry up and go! Quickly, quickly, quickly, quickly!”
I whacked the back of the seat right in front of Jian, who was seated in the driver’s seat. If those guys reach us, we’ll all get caught!
“Okay, okay. Calm down.”
Looking as if he found it absurdly amusing, Jian laughed while smoothly turning the wheel.
Then he slammed the accelerator down with all his might.
The screams faded into the distance.
“Phew…”
Lina and I exhaled simultaneously.
“…Couldn’t you just take a vacation? We’re not in our teens anymore.”
Selena asked, looking at us via the rear-view mirror.
“I have my reasons!”
Of course, that was somewhat a lie. I just wanted to try running away for the thrill of it!
Lina probably genuinely wanted to escape, though.
She removed the veil from her head and set it on her lap.
“But no matter what, how can you just take off first? You said you’d wait until I got there.”
“I was just sitting here early.”
“…”
Lina narrowed her eyes.
“Ah.”
Suddenly, Jian, who was driving, remarked.
“Someone’s chasing us from behind?”
“What?”
I pressed my face against the window and looked back. A few church vans were indeed tailing us!
“…You can shake them off, right?”
“Well, I’m not so sure.”
“I hope you do it within the law, please.”
Linea, wedged between Aurora and me, said with a slightly uncomfortable expression.
“If you go too fast… I might get carsick.”
Aurora, wedged between Linea and Lina, also replied, “Can I open the window? Can I open the window?”
Without waiting for anyone’s response, Lina opened the window and stuck her head out.
“Ah, Lina, that’s dangerous—”
Before Selena could say anything—
“Ha ha! You guys kept making me work, so this serves you right! I’m off to find freedom! Don’t bother looking for me for a while! If you need something, send it to the Miracle Investigation Agency!”
“The Miracle Investigation Agency is under me, you know.”
Ignoring my complaints, Lina let her hair flutter in the wind and enjoyed her brief taste of freedom.
And frankly, I was feeling the same thrill of the breeze as Lina.
We were heading somewhere hundreds of kilometers away. Sure, it’s called hundreds of kilometers, but if we’re nitpicking, it might even be over a thousand kilometers—a long distance.
It wouldn’t just take a few hours. We might have to drive for days.
But isn’t that what makes it good?
I want to make this trip memorable since it’s been a while since I’ve gotten to hang out with friends.
I silently wished this trip would become a cherished memory.
3.
“Are you telling me all the Saintesses ran away without saying anything?”
Father Turner, the head of the Miracle Investigation Agency, asked.
“Yeah. And the Pope, who was visiting the 21st District, along with humanity’s hero.”
At Andrea’s words, Father Turner scratched his head.
“Um… But it’s true that they’ve been working nonstop, so why not just let them take a good rest? We know where they’re headed, right?”
“Yeah, they say they’re going to a friend’s villa. It seems like they’re gathering not just people from the church but also their homeroom teachers and clubmates from their academy days.”
Andrea casually said, lounging comfortably on the sofa.
“By the way, the only ones who know this information are me and the top members of the Inquisition. It’s not something we’ve spread outside.”
“…The church must be in chaos then. Is there a reason you haven’t spread it?”
“Well, there are a few reasons.”
Andrea smiled as she said that.
“First, this situation would serve as excellent training for the church leadership. Both the Saintess and the Goddess can’t remain here forever. They need to learn how to operate without them.”
“…Isn’t that something that will only be relevant decades later?”
“Exactly because it’s decades away that we need to prepare in advance.”
“What about other reasons?”
“Let’s just say…”
Andrea glanced out the window. The sky was bright blue, and not a single cloud was visible.
“Since they decided to run away, don’t you think it would be satisfying to let them experience a real sense of it?”
Upon hearing Andrea say that while looking outside, Father Turner chuckled.
“Well, if that’s the case, we should pray for their journey to be a pleasant one.”
“Not praying ‘for’ them might help more. But in terms of wishes, I agree.”
Andrea nodded in agreement, laughing at Father Turner’s comment.
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