Chapter 6. Friendship and Relationships (4)

The content of the lecture is quite diverse.

This world is different from the original world, but that doesn’t mean the ‘different parts’ are accepted as complete common sense.

It hasn’t been that long since the great catastrophe caused by the Gate. For ordinary people to live, common sense related to the Gate isn’t really needed that much.

Especially for hunters, their childhood either overlapped with the period before the Gate catastrophe, or they were already adults at that time. No one in the association expects people like that to possess specialized knowledge or to have discarded all existing common sense the moment they become hunters.

Even if they passed the license exam to enter, a beginner is still a beginner. This means they need to relearn more specialized knowledge.

What comes up particularly often in the lectures that I and Ria are attending is-

“-Therefore, the most important thing in trading with gnomes is their gem processing technology. In fact, we are also trying to obtain that technology somehow…”

-That’s right. It was about other races and other civilizations.

This is also within the scope of the church’s interest.

While it might not be true for all religions, most religions believe that their God is the one who penetrates the truth of the world. In other words, they take the concept of God itself as truth.

And, inevitably, religions want to spread that ‘truth’ elsewhere. Whether it’s through violent means or not, the result is the same. And, frankly, it hasn’t been very successful until recently.

However, unfortunately, even if there are those beyond the Gate who consider holy power to be God’s power, the imagined forms of God are all different. Naturally, communication isn’t easy, and thus ‘proselytizing’ hasn’t been very successful so far.

……The problem is that a ‘case’ has occurred.

Although there’s the issue that they consider me a goddess rather than a Saint, the church seems to think of it as a ‘great leap’. Annoyingly.

Perhaps the reason they are making me attend these lectures is also something the church wanted.

“Learning their technology isn’t just about offending the gnomes. Considering the case of the dwarves, who have a lot of interaction with those gnomes, it’s likely to remain difficult for quite some time.”

Gnomes are skilled in processing magic stones, and in fact, the origin of that technology is dwarven.

It’s a bit difficult to determine the superiority between the two- but generally, gnomes are said to have superior skills in small and delicate processing, while dwarves are better at creating large devices.

Is the problem perhaps that there’s a limit to the size of the Gate?

Even if you make a large device, it’s generally useless unless you disassemble it to bring it through. What’s the point of buying it if you can’t use it in the first place?

Moreover, most of the dwarves’ ‘technologies’ can be replaced by modern technology. Things like giant drills, cannons, and tanks.

Although it was almost exclusive dwarven technology by the standards of that world before, the story has changed a lot since the Gate opened.

“Magic stones carved with runes, which can finely control energy with a few words. Although most of them have a set number of uses, they are very important materials!”

Thanks to that, the dwarves’ technology, which would normally use much more advanced technology- from the perspective of dwarves and gnomes- has been gradually losing ground to the gnomes’ technology since the Gate opened.

Since the fields they specialize in for trade are different, it’s hard to catch up overnight. Light industry and heavy industry are quite different fields in many ways.

Therefore, the dwarves’ complaints have been slowly but steadily increasing recently- this was the content of the lecture.

Keep this in mind when dealing with both races.

……Actually, I already knew this information.

*

The lecture content is meaningful and good.

In the novel, stories that were simply explained and moved on become detailed lectures in reality, almost like university general education courses.

I was always quite interested in classes like history.

Especially stories close to general education often become just interesting ‘stories’ when you’re not concerned about grades.

“Do you find that interesting?”

Ria asked me with an absurd expression as I sat on the desk with a pleasant look after returning to the church.

Ah, is that so.

You’ve just recently graduated from high school.

So, I think it’s understandable to be sick of hearing the word ‘class’. The period most plagued by exams… well, for me it was during college, but neither of us has experienced college life yet.

“I like listening to stories like that.”

“Is that so…”

As I said that and carefully placed the textbook with notes all over it into the bookshelf on the desk, Ria looked at me with a slightly surprised expression.

“I told you, right? Even if I look like this, I listened to classes quite diligently? Only my theology grades are bad.”

“No, shouldn’t theology be the most important for a nun?”

“If you look at the grades of other nuns, you can’t say that at all.”

It’s true that there’s a somewhat ostracizing atmosphere because I openly talk about atheism, but there are still one or two people whose grades are lower than mine. Moreover, even looking at the overall grades, the level isn’t particularly high.

I shrugged my shoulders, thinking about the average theology scores of the nuns.

“Anyway, that’s why it’s interesting.”

I’ve imagined it.

The existing Earth is already explored by adventurers everywhere. No matter where you go, it can only be tourism at best.

But in another world, the story is different.

If there are countless worlds beyond the Gate, all those worlds are places worth adventuring and exploring. Although I didn’t do anything related to that in my previous life, it’s still enough to stimulate my romantic ideals.

……Of course, romance is just romance. I can already picture how much hardship I’ll go through if I explore it myself.

So, for now, I’ll just be satisfied with learning.

“……?”

Huh?

Lost in thought for a moment, I ended up staring intently at Ria’s face. If it were my usual self, I would have averted my gaze-

For some reason, Ria seemed a little uncomfortable and was looking around.

“Why? Are you embarrassed because I’m staring at you like this?”

“Uh, no, usually, if someone stares at you like that, don’t you think it’s a bit like that?”

Why?

It wasn’t like this at first. Didn’t she stare more when I averted my gaze?

Hmm.

“Why? Why?”

I feel good for some reason.

Since I was usually in the position of being teased, I felt good about making such a discovery, even if it was by chance.

Going near Ria, who was sitting on the bed, I deliberately tried to follow Ria’s face and make eye contact.

If Ria had been looking me straight in the eye normally, I would have averted my gaze, but since Ria was already caught in my pace, there’s no reason for me to be embarrassed.

“Why? Is she too pretty to stare at directly? Huh?”

“Shut up, you punk.”

“Bbiing.”

In the end, Ria couldn’t hold back and pressed my cheeks with both hands.

However, even with my cheeks pressed, I wore a smile of victory. After all, the one who tries to stop this is the loser.

“…….”

Ria seemed to realize that too,

“Your cheeks are always so soft whenever I touch them. Are you a mochi?”

“Rabbits, deer, mochi, do you think I’ll get angry just because you attach them anywhere?”

I replied as if it were absurd, and Ria let go of my cheeks.

Then, I went back to my seat and tidied up my belongings. There wasn’t much to do. I had already put the books away.

“By the way, Ria.”

Something suddenly came to mind, so I looked at Ria.

“Huh?”

“How long do you plan to be my knight?”

“……Why?”

At my question, Ria blinked and replied.

“No, well, since things have turned out this way, it seems I’ll have to stay at the church for a long time.”

Perhaps after all this is over, when I’m a bit older, I might be able to quit.

By then, I’ll travel everywhere. Whether it’s this world or another world. I don’t know what happened, but I’ll have resolved everything.

The problem is, I don’t know when that will be.

……In novels, they talk about things like sales, but- isn’t this reality?

I appreciate your words about protecting me. And that you volunteered after seeing the stalker problem.

However, I can’t let you be tied to the convent for your entire life. It would be much better to return to society after spending your youth here.

My leisurely movements stopped.

“…….”

A boyfriend for Ria.

This is the problem with fantasizing.

When I think about a girl I’ve fantasized about getting a boyfriend, it makes me feel bad. It’s a bit different from BSS or NTR. It’s just… a little bit.

“……I’ll be here as long as you’re a Saint candidate, so don’t worry.”

Ria said it as if she spat it out. Then, the sound of her flopping down on the bed was heard.

As long as I’m a Saint candidate.

……Well, if it’s that much, it might not be entirely impossible for me to control it.

I let out a light sigh and pushed my bag under the desk.