Chapter 128: The Nun Is Suspicious – 1

Chapter 128: The Nun Is Suspicious – 1

…There was a very, very minor mishap in the middle where I forgot the Holy Sword, but in conclusion, I arrived safely in the Holy Kingdom.

And a fact I didn’t know was that the magic circle connected to my house wasn’t directly connected to the Holy Kingdom; it was a structure that went around in circles, passing through various places.

Because of this, I got annoyed with the continuous magic circle transfers and just popped a Warp Potion to travel, which made the Saintess look at me with very strange eyes.

“……When did you learn that?”

“Well, it just happened, I guess?”

Unfortunately, perhaps because it was a fake created through the ‘Alchemist’s Treasury’, it wasn’t as good as the movement magic used by a real mage, but the Saintess still looked at me with wonder, saying it was amazing.

Seeing that reaction after a long time, I wanted to show her some of the new potions I made, but since they all had a certain level of power, it was awkward to show them easily.

Most importantly, where we were now was the Saintess’s private room, so it was a very inappropriate place to use potions.

“More importantly, where’s the Hero?”

“Ah, Hero-nim will also soon pretend to have come to the Holy Kingdom to inspect something, as planned.”

“…Then when should I give this to her?”

“The Holy Sword? She’ll probably manage fine without it, won’t she? She’ll figure out a good excuse for why the Holy Sword isn’t with her.”

*’That guy will manage fine? That’ll happen when hell freezes over!’*

‘I strongly agree.’

Of course, the Hero, who was suddenly dragged to the Holy Kingdom without the Holy Sword and forced to act, seemed to be in quite a predicament.

Especially since her main body was so flimsy and the Holy Sword felt like the real main body.

Well, she’ll manage somehow.

“But is it okay to openly carry the Holy Sword like this?”

“It shouldn’t matter. As long as the Holy Sword doesn’t use its power, it just looks like a normal sword to ordinary people. It looks that way to me right now too.”

……For something that was supposed to look like that, it was clearly the Holy Sword to my eyes.

From the faint glow to the very feeling of it, it was ‘holy’.

Of course, its words and actions sometimes broke that image quite a bit, and I didn’t particularly feel it was holy, but anyway, the feeling was quite strong.

*’I’ll say it again, you’re the unusual one. In addition, you’re now largely unaffected by most divine power except for mine, so you’ll feel my divine power more strongly.’*

‘So, to other people, it just looks like an iron sword without effects like this faint glow, right?’

*’……It’s quite offensive to call it just an iron sword, but anyway, yes. Well, that Hero will probably recognize it, though.’*

I hadn’t felt it before, but the more I talked to the Holy Sword, the more strongly I felt that I was an outsider from another world, not a person of this world.

Perhaps because the God of this world and the Holy Sword are strongly connected, there are unusually many ‘exceptions’ that apply only to me.

At first, I thought it wasn’t necessarily because I was from another world, but rather a coincidence or something that happened occasionally, but that was absolutely not the case.

The ‘rules of the world’ established by the God of this world were applied quite strictly, whether they were minor or major.

Just recognizing the Holy Sword alone, the Hero, being chosen by God from the start, could recognize it, whereas the Saintess, I’m sorry to say, because she’s a fake, just said herself that it looked like an ordinary iron sword.

And every time I had these thoughts, one question arose:

What on earth are the System guys doing, and what do they want?

*…As I’ve said repeatedly, we simply desire a good narrative. And we only wish for a happy ending for this world.*

‘It sounds like you’re saying the whole world will face an unhappy ending if I don’t intervene?’

*That’s right. And the reason we made you exempt from many of the world’s laws is… because there are destinies that can only be changed that way.

So, please stop asking that question. There’s nothing more we can answer from our perspective anyway.*

‘Well, I get it for now.’

Actually, I wanted to press further and ask what plot points were left, but I was too busy with what was in front of my eyes.

…Not in a metaphorical sense, but in a physical sense, someone burst into the Saintess’s private room.

She looked quite strict, a woman in her late 30s to early 40s, and judging by her attire, she seemed to be the Mother Superior.

“Is this the person you mentioned?”

“Yes. This is Sister Lucia, who will be assisting me from now on.”

“…It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

My attire wasn’t a big problem since the Saintess changed me into it as soon as I entered her private room, but everything else was a problem.

From my way of speaking to my behavior patterns, prayers, and so on, there were parts where I was inevitably imperfect.

You could argue why I didn’t prepare for that, but it was a hastily arranged matter, and with limited preparation time, I only knew the absolute basics.

……Of course, I, who was busy making potions at home, naturally didn’t study separately; the Saintess literally crammed knowledge into my head through rote learning.

“Where will you be living?”

“I will be staying in the common Dormitory.”

“I see. I will make arrangements.”

After saying that, the Mother Superior disappeared.

……Without any particular courtesy or greeting to the Saintess, she just left.

Surely the Saintess’s treatment in the Holy Kingdom wasn’t bad, so this was strange.

“…The Mother Superior is one of the few people who knows how I became the Saintess.

I didn’t know before, but now I think I understand why she dislikes me so much.”

“Ah.”

Perhaps reading my expression, the Saintess replied with a bitter look. And if that’s the case, it’s not illogical.

If she knew that the nun revered in the Holy Kingdom was actually a girl with somewhat exceptional divine power who believed herself to be the Saintess, her actions might not be so polite.

It’s a very private setting here, being the Saintess’s private room, unlike a public occasion.

“…Anyway, shouldn’t you be worrying about yourself right now, not me? Life as a nun will be much harder than you think, you know?”

“Is it harder than almost getting beaten up by the Saintess for being a heretic?”

“……How long are you going to milk that?”

“Hmm? Until it disappears from my memory?”

Seeing the Saintess’s fist slowly rise at that remark, I quickly and quietly exited her private room.

Hmm, praise makes whales dance, but teasing seems to make even the Saintess raise her fist.

***

“…Was there a kid like that in the order?”

“I don’t know? She’s really cute.”

“Mother Superior isn’t around, is she? Should I go talk to her? If Mother Superior is here, we’d have to greet her uncomfortably, saying ‘Sister’ or whatever.”

……I was heading to the nuns’ common Dormitory after escaping from the Saintess, and it was a bit noisy around me.

They seemed to be whispering to each other, trying not to be heard, but perhaps because my senses are unusually keen, I heard everything.

Normally, talking about someone behind their back is a bad thing, but… the content is good, so it’s forgiven.

*The Holy Sword’s disguise magic is certainly effective, isn’t it?*

‘Exactly.’

Actually, I had just left the Saintess’s private room and was about to go, but the Holy Sword immediately cast a disguise spell on me.

Well, the disguise only involved changing my eye and hair color, but since my hair and eye color were so distinctive, that alone had a tremendous effect.

When I briefly looked in the mirror earlier, my hair had changed to dark brown and my eyes to sepia, and I really liked it.

Perhaps because the overall color scheme had become calmer, I also felt much more comfortable looking at it.

However, since it changed so suddenly, I myself found it a bit hard to adjust.

While I was thinking about my changed appearance, one of the nuns who had been whispering earlier approached me.

There was… no particular hostility. At most, pure curiosity?

Perhaps because I’ve received so many different gazes until now, I can now roughly tell what kind of feelings people have when they look at me.

“Excuse me, are you new here?”

“…Yes. I received the task of assisting the Saintess.”

“Really? The Saintess has a direct nun under her?”

Surprise spread across the faces of the nun who spoke and the other nuns who thought they were well-hidden but were actually completely visible.

I don’t know what the Saintess’s image is among these nuns, but it seemed very different from the image I had of her.

Indeed, there’s bound to be a huge difference between someone who speaks informally with the Saintess and these nuns who truly consider her their guide.

“However, I still have many shortcomings, so I’m going to learn slowly. So I’ll be living in the common Dormitory and basically living with the other nuns.”

“Like an apprentice…? That’s surprising. I didn’t think the Saintess would take on a direct apprentice.”

“Something like that. By the way, is it okay for us to speak so casually? I thought I heard we were supposed to address each other formally…”

“Oh, come on, it’s too troublesome and cringey to do that. That’s only when Mother Superior is around or in official settings. Everyone speaks and treats each other casually in private.”

“You speak and treat each other casually in private, and that’s why everyone is hiding behind those pillars?”

I’ll say it again, they were so poorly hidden it was embarrassing to even call it hiding.

They were just, well, hiding their bodies behind the pillars.

……But why are they reacting with expressions that ask how I knew that?

“I wondered why the Saintess took on a direct subordinate… You’re amazing.”

“…For finding them hiding so openly?”

“No, don’t pretend you don’t know! You immediately noticed them even though they erased their presence and appearance with divine power! Even Mother Superior sometimes gets fooled!”

“Huh? I can’t even handle divine power well……”

I had forgotten one thing.

I am not easily affected by divine power, and therefore, I cannot wield it.

And these guys think I noticed their stealth with divine power.

……Ah, it looks like life in the Holy Kingdom is going to be exhausting.