Chapter 11. Summer and the Sea (1)

After all, since I had saved those who were truly in danger, the dwarves’ reaction was bound to be more intense than the gnomes’ reaction.

For the gnomes, it was a matter that *could* become a problem in the near future, but for the dwarves, if it weren’t for me, they might have gone extinct.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t any dwarves who look down on me. Even if they can’t openly show it due to public opinion, there are always people who look at someone with strangely twisted eyes.

Well, it didn’t matter much to me at the moment.

“Some people want to express their gratitude more intensely, so why don’t you enjoy the banquet a little longer? Or do you have other urgent matters?”

“No, I don’t have any urgent matters…”

The princess, who seemed to be asking teasingly, knowing that I didn’t like going to such events, I mumbled a reply and brushed off the question.

“Princess, are you alright? You’re going to a completely different world.”

That’s right. This princess who told me to enjoy the banquet is supposed to come to our world and conduct research on gates.

It’s not just about saving the Elf Kingdom.

It was to prevent a potential second gate disaster that might occur later.

“…That’s right. For us dwarves, this kind of space is a cozy place…”

The princess muttered while looking up at her room, then looked back at me.

“Still, if danger is approaching, we must do our best to stop it. I will gladly help with any cooperation. For dwarves, gratitude is something that must be repaid.”

At the princess’s words, I had no choice but to nod.

The day of departure.

Receiving the best possible send-off that could be given underground, we left for the gnome region again.

The Dwarf Princess’s appearance was not deliberately shown outside. Even so, there wouldn’t be any gnomes who would harm another country’s princess without thinking, but wouldn’t it be ideal not to give each other any pretext?

“…This is where the gnomes live.”

While on the bus, the princess murmured, looking out the window.

It couldn’t be said that her voice didn’t carry any special emotion. According to the princess, half of that blood would be gnome blood.

She didn’t say whose blood it was. I thought she might not know herself, but I decided not to say anything about it.

There’s no need to deliberately touch a sore spot.

*

“…Hoo.”

I lay face down on the bed and let out a sigh.

As expected, my home is the place where I feel most psychologically stable. Well, if I have to be precise, the place I lived wasn’t really my home but a convent of the church, so the term ‘my home’ is a bit of a misnomer.

“You worked hard.”

Ria said with a wry smile.

“I know. We really worked hard this time…”

Even though I had lived without much hardship my entire life.

Moreover, although I had brought some of it upon myself, in this case, if I didn’t do it myself, it would clearly come back as even greater hardship later, so honestly, I had no choice.

That’s right. I had no choice. Ever since I came to this world.

“…Hey, Ria.”

“Yeah?”

“Could you brush off the light falling behind my head?”

Ria let out a sound of amusement as if she found it absurd and waved her hand behind my head. The light that was creeping into the sides of my vision disappeared.

“Should I ask to rest for a while? I don’t think the church people are so insensitive as to immediately put a Saint who has done such a great deed to work.”

“…Not a Saint, but a Saint candidate…”

“Honestly, who would believe that now?”

I turned my head.

I narrowed my eyes and glared at Ria.

“You don’t believe me, Ria?”

“…”

At my words, Ria’s eyes widened as if she were surprised, and then she burst into laughter, saying “Puhaha.”

Then she rushed at me and ruffled my hair with both hands.

“Ah, what are you doing!?”

As I exclaimed in shock, Ria stopped her hands.

Then, this time, she slowly and gently stroked my head and said.

“You did well.”

“…”

“I mean it.”

Ah.

Isn’t this a bit of cheating? Cheating using appearance.

Usually, she acts a bit rough and like a delinquent, but when she suddenly smiles softly with that pretty face, I don’t know how to react.

So, I turned my head and buried my face in the bed again.

Even though I turned my head away from Ria, Ria continued to stroke my head silently for a while.

To be honest, it felt good.

And because of that, I somehow felt even more annoyed.

*

Thus, July passed, and it became August, the height of summer.

Although the church acts like it’s completely rigid and inflexible in many ways, it doesn’t make young nuns work under the scorching sun. Rather, it reduces external activity time and enters a state of ‘vacation.’

After all, nuns can’t perform any specialized tasks. If an air conditioner’s outdoor unit breaks down, they naturally call a professional. If a computer breaks down, they call a professional, and even weeds are naturally handled by outsourcing the relevant work.

We do sweep the floors, but that time is limited to early morning and after sunset in the evening. And we reduce the time as well.

Naturally, the atmosphere of the church becomes a little more relaxed, and the mood of the nuns also becomes somewhat languid.

I was one of those nuns. Having lived here for 15 years already, I had completely adapted to that atmosphere.

…A saintly nun.

Normally, it would be about time to hear various stories from my seniors. Staying at the church even after becoming an adult meant becoming a professional clergy member.

If the work of young nuns was mostly preparing rituals and cleaning, professional nuns were practically treated as half-medical professionals. Of course, there were many things to be careful about in that process, and they learned various complex medical terms.

“…Isn’t the existence of a Saint candidate actually lowering the skills of our church’s clergy?”

“It seems like a story worth considering.”

I overheard the Priest and the Nun Superior having such a conversation. It was after I had saved people who were on the verge of death several times.

Holy power is not originally a miracle that makes people on the verge of death jump up. This world’s medicine involved observing for a longer time and fixing the broken parts of the body one by one.

Since I cured them all in one go and sent them away, the skills of ordinary clergy naturally had fewer opportunities to improve.

From then on, the patients I treated became usually severe cases.

…Hmm.

There’s nothing to teach. Moreover, I had already accepted that I was a Saint candidate. While there might have been room to tease me when I was young, there was no one left in the church who could insult or tease me, who already had friendships with princesses of other races.

“…Is it okay to be this sluggish…?”

“Of course, it’s not okay.”

It wasn’t that I expected an answer, and in fact, I half-wanted to just be sluggish like this, but my roommate, who shared the same room, didn’t seem to agree at all.

“We promised, right? To go to the sea.”

“…”

Hmm.

That’s true.

I seriously pondered a religious dilemma that I had never experienced before.

The swimsuit I bought to go to the sea. The swimsuit that Ria even gifted to me.

It was a bikini, after all. We didn’t return those swimsuits afterward. The swimsuits were neatly folded without the Nun Superior’s knowledge and placed in a corner of our closet.

So… Ria is determined to wear that swimsuit.

I expected it… hmm.

“Don’t you want to?”

Ria asked, so I sat up from the bed.

Normally, she acts so strong-willed, but the current Ria has an expression like a wet puppy. Her eyes weren’t teary, but she clasped her hands slightly, lowered her head, and looked up at me.

I had seen that kind of expression before.

On the day we bought the swimsuits, when she took me to a very expensive restaurant. When I sat there, not knowing what to say, she fidgeted as if she had done something wrong.

“…”

Even though Ria had done nothing wrong.

“…We have to go, of course.”

When I replied like that, Ria smiled. Seeing the change in her expression, I frowned.

“What is it? Did you perhaps deliberately make that expression? Acting?”

“Well, isn’t it true that if you want to do something, you have to stop at nothing?”

“…Do you want to go to the sea with me that much that you’d stop at nothing?”

I asked with a bewildered laugh, and Ria smiled brightly at me.

“Yes.”

That one-word answer was definitely more impactful than all the long words Ria had shown until now.

“…Let’s make sure no one finds out about wearing the swimsuits. Not that it matters, but it could truly become a religious issue.”

When I said that with a serious expression, Ria let out a short laugh.