Savior – 3

‘I wondered what they were going to ask for….’

Both of them had such serious expressions that I got tense too, but it was just a request to help the Popes choose what dresses to wear for the upcoming banquet.

And while they were at it, they were also going to gift the Knight Captains with banquet attire. At the mention of the Popes personally gifting them dresses, the Knight Captains’ bodies stiffened with tension.

This event didn’t exist in the original game, nor should it have, so I had no idea what would happen there. However, since it wasn’t just one or two things that had already been twisted, I just accepted it.

Was defeating the final DLC boss right from the start ever a normal progression? As long as the main flow of the story doesn’t get twisted, it’s fine. The rest will somehow work out.

We followed Stella and Selene directly out of the dormitory, and the battle nuns who were waiting outside immediately surrounded us as if they’d been expecting us. There were easily over thirty of them.

Walking like that, it was only natural that we’d draw attention. It felt like every single person on the street glanced at us as they passed by.

The battle nuns’ average height was quite tall, but even so, they were shorter than Claudia and me, so we both fully felt the stares of the people. We exchanged wry smiles.

At least thanks to the Inquisitor and the Interrogator, no one stared openly, which was a relief.

“Inquisitor-nim.”

I subtly spoke to Stella. Stella turned her head the moment I spoke to her.

“Do you have something to say, Honored Guest-nim?”

“What kind of ideas did you put into the nuns’ heads?”

“Huh?”

Stella looked bewildered.

I repeated exactly what Rije had said. I told her that ever since I returned to the dormitory, they had been full of enthusiasm, suddenly offering to help me change clothes and such.

Stella, upon hearing my explanation, smiled awkwardly and fidgeted with her fingers.

“Ah… I’m sorry. They’re such deeply devout children. It seems they followed my words too faithfully.”

“What did you tell them?”

“I told them that His Holiness the Pope asked them to take especially good care of the Honored Guests-nim, so they should be more attentive in their actions.”

“…….”

I instantly understood why they did that.

Right, if the Pope himself told them to take good care of us, they’d have to invent services if none existed. And by inventing services, such actions naturally came out.

*Squeeze*, someone poked my side with a finger. I looked down at my right arm. Rije was looking up at me with eyes that demanded I spill everything that happened later.

The other Knight Captains were similar. Their gazes seemed to ask, “What kind of monster did you even catch to receive such treatment?” As I tried to ignore their stares, the poking in my side grew even stronger.

How long did we walk like that? Selene stopped. We were standing in front of a very extravagant-looking building before we knew it.

“We have arrived.”

“This place is…?”

“This is a tailor shop that makes the highest quality holy vestments. Please rest assured, the Popes have temporarily borrowed it for today.”

They borrowed it for just one day, so does that mean we have to stay here all day? I suddenly felt a chill run down my spine.

Stella and Selene politely opened the door, and the battle nuns knelt on one knee and bowed their heads. Unable to bear their burdensome actions, we quickly scurried inside the building.

The interior was incredibly lavish. Gold and jewels, symbolizing the sun, and silver and marble, symbolizing the moon, were all used. It was hard to even take in everything with my eyes.

It was undoubtedly a place of unparalleled splendor, yet it didn’t feel excessive at all. Rather, it felt like it had achieved perfect harmony, as if it were naturally meant to be that way.

“You have arrived, Honored Guest-isiyeo.”

“We express our gratitude for granting our request.”

The Popes greeted us with smiles. Their holy vestments still boasted an immense degree of exposure, and their swaying breasts, as if to prove they wore no underwear, were the first thing that caught my eye.

“We greet His Holiness the Popes.”

The Knight Captains bowed their heads in respect. Rije also uncrossed her arms and bowed her head with them.

Floretta seized the opportunity to wave at me with a beaming smile. Beside her, Luna awkwardly and hesitantly followed Floretta, copying her with a shy smile. Her smile still seemed awkward.

I waved back. If I had bothered with formalities here, it was clear that only the Popes who had greeted us would have felt awkward. I could see Luna’s cheeks flush slightly.

As soon as the Popes exchanged greetings with me, they solemnly changed their expressions. Luna’s faintly flushed cheeks instantly returned to their original color.

“Please raise your heads, valiant Knight Captains of the Silver Dawn Knights. We are not here for formalities.”

“W-we, how could we dare…”

The Knight Captains only cautiously raised their heads after Floretta had repeatedly said it was fine, and even Luna had joined in. I was once again reminded of the true weight of the title of Pope of the Holy Nation.

“The Inquisitor and the Interrogator must have explained why we summoned the Honored Guests. It is to present you with attire to wear to the banquet.”

“Uh, Your Holiness the Pope. You really don’t have to. We are fine even in these uniforms…”

Claudia raised her hand and spoke with a gesture that was half awkwardness and half hesitation. Hearing the phrase “uniform attire,” I successively scanned the Knight Captains’ clothes.

I already knew that white sleeveless tops and dolphin shorts the color of their hair were the official uniforms of the Silver Dawn Knights, but I still couldn’t get used to such a description.

Floretta wore a benevolent smile and chuckled softly, “Hoo-hoo.”

“I fully understand your feelings, but this matter has already been concluded within the Holy Nation. Please, would you not allow our sincerity to be wasted?”

Since the Pope spoke to that extent, Claudia seemed to find it awkward to refuse further and backed down a step. The other Knight Captains also had expressions that said they couldn’t help it.

The reason they were acting like that was probably because they felt burdened. All four of them had personalities that were too kind to accept the excessive favors bestowed upon them as if it were nothing.

“This way.”

The Popes led us much further inside. On both sides of the corridor, all sorts of holy vestments hung on special hangers. It was as if I was looking at transparent mannequins.

The clothes here were also far from ordinary. At first, they were relatively normal, but the further we went inside, the more unusual and revealing garments began to appear.

The fabric area became smaller, and underwear disappeared. The outfit on the mannequin at the end of the corridor was one that made me wonder if even combining all its fabric would be enough to cover just one of my arms.

‘…Didn’t the Knight Captains wear dresses like that too?’

The holy vestments we just passed and the sheer lingerie dresses the Knight Captains wore at the banquet. I pondered which of the two was more revealing. The conclusion was that they were both about the same.

Thinking that way, my mind felt a little more at ease. I found it absurd myself. Perhaps my threshold for women’s scantily clad appearances was gradually rising.

At the end of the corridor was a massive circular space. The nuns waiting inside saw us and immediately prostrated themselves on the floor. As a nun raised her head, the Pope gestured.

“Please show us.”

“I will obey, Your Holiness the Pope.”

The women approached the curtained wall with graceful movements. The curtain was carefully drawn back. Inside, various dresses were lined up.

They seemed to have prepared quite thoroughly; there looked to be at least over 30 dresses. That was just the minimum. After all, there was even another curtain inside there.

And every single one of them was very modest.

Dresses that revealed a bit of the arms, collarbones, or shoulders were the most revealing garments. Most of the dresses reached down to the ankles, and the tops were tightly wrapped, showing almost no bare skin.

Of course, this didn’t mean the clothes were plain. They were dresses that would never fall short in splendor anywhere. It was just that the level of exposure was far from what I had expected.

“Since the Honored Guests do not possess holy power, we have prepared dresses that cover the body as much as possible. However, if you wish, we will provide you with holy garments just like ours. Would you like that?”

A nun, hearing Floretta’s words, drew back the curtain on the other side. There, dresses with a much higher degree of exposure than the ones just shown were lined up.

‘So that’s why the women of the Holy Nation dress like that…’

Thanks to what Floretta just said, I felt like I understood why the women of the Holy Nation were so tightly covered. It wasn’t that they didn’t bare themselves, but that they couldn’t. Because to increase the exposure of their clothing, they had to cultivate their faith to that extent.

This explained why the Popes wore such absurd sheer dresses, and why Stella and Selene’s clothes were more revealing than those of other battle nuns.

The more power one had, the more scantily clad they became – truly, it was a world that always surpassed my imagination.

“I-it’s fine, Your Holiness the Pope. How could we possibly dare to wear holy vestments? The dresses you’ve shown us now are more than enough.”

Erica replied haltingly. It seemed Erica also accepted the situation of exposure increasing in proportion to holy power without much fuss.

“If that is the case, I understand. Please choose the dresses now.”

As soon as Floretta’s words fell, the nuns standing around immediately swarmed the Knight Captains and began chattering about something. The surroundings instantly became noisy.

As if they had no connection to such commotion, the Knight Captains’ expressions instantly turned blank. The nuns practically dragged the Knight Captains towards the dresses.

*Swish*, the curtain was drawn again.

“…….”

I was naturally left all alone.

But I didn’t feel lonely at all. Even beyond the curtain, the nuns’ incessant chattering could be heard, so just avoiding such a chaotic scene was something to be grateful for.

As I was feeling relieved internally, Floretta approached with a bright smile. Behind her, Luna was timidly trailing along.

“Honored Guest-nim, you have a separate task to perform.”

“…A task?”

The two Popes each took one of my arms. *Squish*, I felt the sensation of cleavage, unadorned by a single thread, against both of my forearms.

“You must choose our holy vestments.”