Chapter 28 – Bamboo Forest

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With a happy expression, Sister Andreina smiled softly as she watched the girl munching on the pancakes.

As the administrator of the Floating Island and a representative of God, she knew in her head that she should treat everyone fairly without favoritism. However, she couldn’t ignore the girl in front of her.

After all, Sister Andreina was also a human with a beating heart. How could she ignore a child who seemed so fragile, as if she might disappear unnoticed at any moment?

Look at her. Even now, she’s so engrossed in the pancakes that she doesn’t even notice the sauce smeared on the corner of her mouth. How could anyone not pay attention to such a girl?

Sister Andreina took out a handkerchief and reached out to wipe the girl’s mouth. Startled by the sudden touch, the girl’s eyes widened, but only for a moment.

As always, the girl turned red and fumbled as she stammered her thanks.

“Th-thank you, Sister Andreina.”

“No need for thanks. More importantly, seeing how focused you are, Mari, it seems the pancakes have captured your taste buds?”

“Ah, yes! I’ve never tasted anything this delicious before…!”

Mari’s bright smile as she answered, as if she had forgotten her earlier fluster, made Sister Andreina’s expression soften.

If she thought back to when they first met, it was a remarkable improvement.

Mari, who used to restrain herself even when feeling joy, was now expressing her happiness so freely. It showed how much more comfortable she felt around Sister Andreina compared to the past.

However, it was still a bit disappointing that Mari continued to address her as “Sister Andreina” so formally.

It felt like Mari was still keeping her distance. Of course, this was also a thought she shouldn’t have as an administrator, but as always, Sister Andreina decided to atone for it later with a prayer of repentance.

“Um, Sister Andreina.”

“Yes? What is it, Mari?”

“By any chance… do the pancakes not suit your taste? It seems like I’ve been the only one eating for a while now…”

Seeing Mari cautiously asking while observing her reaction, Sister Andreina inwardly let out a bitter smile.

While she was genuinely happy that Mari had given her a gift, unfortunately, the pancakes Mari had brought didn’t suit Sister Andreina’s taste.

The reason was very simple.

‘They’re too sweet to eat.’

Sister Andreina also enjoyed sweet treats from time to time. Although saints were often portrayed as detached from worldly pleasures, Sister Andreina wasn’t that extreme. She even ate a few pieces of chocolate a week.

However, the pancakes Mari had brought were incomparably sweeter than what Sister Andreina usually enjoyed.

If it hadn’t been a gift from Mari, she would have spat it out immediately after the first bite.

But if she had done that, this sensitive girl would undoubtedly have burst into tears. So, Sister Andreina exercised superhuman patience and managed to swallow it.

However, eating any more was practically impossible. Even now, she was busy neutralizing the overwhelming sweetness in her mouth with tea brewed with unusually bitter leaves.

But Mari’s expression was too precarious to tell her the truth. If she revealed it now, she couldn’t predict how this tender-hearted girl would react.

So, Sister Andreina smiled benevolently and said,

“You were eating so cutely that I forgot to eat while watching you.”

“Ah, I see…”

Although the truth was that she couldn’t eat it, Mari, completely taken in by the sweet lie, was too embarrassed to notice.

Feeling a slight pang of guilt as a clergywoman, Sister Andreina consoled herself that it was unavoidable.

With this little white lie, a world where no one gets hurt was created… Wasn’t that enough?

However, there was one thing Sister Andreina had overlooked.

That Mari now felt more comfortable around her.

After calming down from her embarrassment, Mari took a deep breath and brought a piece of pancake to her plate. She cut it into bite-sized pieces, speared one with a fork, and held it out to Sister Andreina.

“Um, Mari? What is this…?”

“W-Well, since I originally brought these as a gift for you…! I thought it wouldn’t be right for me to eat them all by myself. So…”

Too embarrassed to continue, Mari lowered her head. Her expression was adorable, but the pancake she was holding out was anything but.

Sister Andreina broke into a cold sweat as she looked at the pancake glistening under the light, coated in syrup.

While the intention and action were both praiseworthy, to Sister Andreina, it felt like a trial sent by God.

‘Is this the price of lying, Lord…?’

“Sister Andreina…?”

As Sister Andreina lamented inwardly, a worried voice reached her.

Opening her eyes, she saw Mari still holding out the fork, her eyes wavering.

Since Sister Andreina hadn’t immediately accepted it, Mari’s expression showed that she was starting to think something was wrong. Given her sensitive nature, she might even think she was being rejected.

No, she probably already felt that way. The arm that had been confidently extended was now slowly retreating.

“Ah, um, I-I think I was being a bit rude—”

As Mari began to blame herself, Sister Andreina gently caught her retreating arm and smiled.

“No, no. I was just lost in thought for a moment. I’ll eat it, Mari.”

Quickly saying that, Sister Andreina took a deep breath inwardly.

If this was also a punishment from the Lord, she would gladly accept it with a smile.

After reassuring Mari, Sister Andreina brought the pancake to her mouth.

As soon as the syrup-coated pancake entered her mouth, the storm she had barely calmed erupted again. A storm of endless sweetness.

Because of this, Sister Andreina’s smile wavered slightly. Fortunately, her facial muscles, honed through years of clergy work, managed to maintain her composure.

Sister Andreina slowly chewed the pancake in her mouth, savoring the taste, and then smiled gently.

“Since it’s from you, Mari, it tastes even better.”

“R-Really? Hehe…”

“Yes. So don’t worry about me and enjoy yourself, okay?”

“Okay…!”

Finally relieved, Mari focused on the pancakes again. Sister Andreina watched her and secretly sighed before sipping her tea.

She made a mental note to prepare even bitter tea next time.

–

After chatting with Sister Andreina at the cathedral, I returned home in the evening.

“Phew, I feel alive…”

After properly locking the door, I flopped onto the bed and let out a long breath.

Going out with Yuika and having tea time with Sister Andreina were both enjoyable, but nothing beats my bed.

Rubbing my face against the sun-warmed blanket to relieve some of the accumulated fatigue, I stretched out and stared at the ceiling.

Closing my eyes and taking a few deep breaths, I muttered a thought that had been floating in my mind.

“Starting tomorrow… maybe I’ll go back to hunting.”

At first, I thought I’d take a week off after working hard for a few weeks.

I did take four days off, and if Yuika hadn’t suddenly shown up at my house, I probably would’ve taken the whole week off as planned. Besides, I still had plenty of gold left, so there was no urgent need to go to the dungeon.

But as I reminisced about walking around the northern district with Yuika today, that thought popped into my head.

Am I really okay just staying like this?

This was actually a very, very familiar feeling of unease for me.

When you’re a hikikomori, even if you’re not thinking about anything, these thoughts suddenly pop up and torment you. It’s hard not to get used to it. Of course, being used to it also meant I knew how to overcome it.

Just lose myself in a game without thinking.

“But there’s no computer here… no internet… nothing…!”

That meant I had to face that unease head-on. I made a pained expression.

Actually, after being summoned to the Floating Island, I hadn’t felt this kind of unease much. Back then, even securing food was unstable, and I hadn’t fully adapted to the situation, so such thoughts were a luxury.

This kind of unease usually arises when you’re complacent in the present and the future is uncertain. When reality is so overwhelming that you don’t even have time to think about the future, you don’t feel that unease.

But now, my life had stabilized to some extent.

I had enough savings and had developed some abilities. Plus, I now had people I interacted with.

The unease that had been pushed aside by the overwhelming reality had quietly returned.

And that unease asked me again,

‘Is it okay to stay complacent like this?’

“…I don’t know.”

The time limit on the Floating Island was 10 years.

With my current ability to strengthen dolls, I could probably live those 10 years without any issues.

Unlike the past, where I had to give my all to catch even one rabbit, now I could easily handle them with Doll 505.

Of course, if I spent 10 years only catching rabbits, I’d have to give up on growth… but who knows?

I mean, there’s that anime where someone becomes the strongest by catching slimes for 300 years, right? Maybe I could become a decently strong person by catching rabbits for 10 years.

Yeah. Maybe. If I looked at it optimistically.

But reality isn’t like anime. More importantly, the Floating Island I was summoned to wasn’t a slow-life isekai.

This was a trial ground to determine whether one was qualified to save their world.

Those summoned had to go down into the dungeons to prove their worth.

To pass the trials and earn the right to be a savior.

So, the idea of spending 10 years just catching rabbits and living comfortably might not be possible.

After all, didn’t Hosanna say something like that?

The omnipotent being who summoned us seems to want us to keep going deeper. So, maybe there’s a set amount of gold you can earn per floor.

Of course, that was just speculation. But I thought it was a plausible theory.

“That’s why I’m feeling this unease, isn’t it…?”

Because I realized I can’t stay complacent. Because I know I need to prepare for the future. That must be it. If it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t feel this unease.

I let out a long sigh and curled up. Then, I rolled around on the bed and shouted,

“Idiot! You should just enjoy yourself, say today was fun, wash up, and go to sleep! Why do you always have to ruin things at the last minute, you fool!”

After venting my frustration at myself and thrashing around on the bed for a while, I made a pained expression.

It would be nice if I could talk to someone about this, but I couldn’t just spill my anxieties and worries to anyone.

I mean, who would I consult about such a lowly concern of wanting to just laze around and do nothing…!

Even the kind Yuika or Sister Andreina would probably think I’m hopeless if I told them that.

I don’t want to be judged like that by them of all people… But I wish someone would listen to my worries…!

“Ugh…”

Is there no one? Someone who would listen to me.

After sitting with a gloomy expression for a while, I suddenly remembered a famous phrase.

The king has donkey ears.

If you can’t tell a person, why not tell something that’s not a person?

Of course, the moral of that story is that there’s no such thing as a permanent secret, but that’s just a lesson for the story. In reality, if you’re determined to keep a secret, there’s no way for others to find out.

And coincidentally, I had a bamboo forest that no one knew about.

I opened my inventory and took out Doll 505.

Looking at the doll wiggling its chopstick-like limbs, oblivious to the future, I smiled.

Author Note

A/N (Author’s note):
Yesterday, I was so sleepy that I forgot to post

So today, I’ll post 3 (At midnight…)

Translator Note

T/N (Translator’s note):
Girlfailures are very dumb creatures. 

Hit them once and they cover in fear awaiting the next one instead of doing something to avoid it.

How do I know that? Well, maybe you can ask our residential salvatore translator and get a clear answer.