Blindfolded and Awkward-4

The standoff between the two continued.

“I, I was going to take the… laundry…”

At Maria’s words, Saint’s eyes scanned her.

Her face was flushed red, her front loosened, and her thighs exposed.

She didn’t look like she was dressed to take the laundry.

“Sister Maria.”

Saint called out to Maria, who was as still as a stone statue.

Saint showed his hands and slowly approached Maria.

Saint brushed off the fallen leaves from his body and turned on the light in the dark room.

“Sa, Saint… I mean, this is…”

Numerous excuses came to Maria’s mind, but they soon disappeared.

Was it because she was caught entering Saint’s room without permission, or because she was caught doing something she shouldn’t be doing…?

Maria trembled like an aspen.

“Sister Maria, it’s okay.”

Saint tried to calm her down.

“I’m, I’m sorry. I… I…”

Maria couldn’t finish her sentence.

It was her secret act that she had been doing behind Saint’s back. At first, she writhed in guilt.

But as she repeated the act, her actions became bolder and more daring.

Since she never thought she would be caught like this in the first place, the shock she received was quite significant.

“Hmm…”

Saint stroked his chin with a troubled expression.

Saint was filled with the desire to avoid the current situation.

Originally, he had planned to return to his room and organize the facts he had learned so far.

Saint felt a little annoyed by the sudden addition of Maria as an event.

Could he have a normal conversation with Maria right now? Saint asked himself.

Wouldn’t it be better to talk tomorrow when her emotions had calmed down?

“First, please go back today.”

Having made up his mind, Saint passed Maria and opened the door.

He forced a smile, as if nothing was wrong.

“…Saint, I’m sorry. I was wrong.”

Maria, misunderstanding Saint’s intentions, prostrated herself on the spot.

“Please forgive me. Please don’t hate me.”

Maria was afraid that he was disillusioned with her.

Maria squeezed her neck, trembling as she squeezed her eyes shut.

“No. I’m okay. It’s natural for humans. However…”

However, Saint placed a restriction on his words.

“However, it’s awkward for us to see each other right now. How about we talk tomorrow? It’s not that I’ve come to dislike Sister Maria.”

Even with Saint’s words, Maria showed no sign of getting up.

From Maria’s perspective, it was the first time she had been caught by Saint, but Saint knew all about Maria’s eccentric behavior.

Therefore, Saint found it difficult to empathize with the shock Maria had received.

“Come on, Sister Maria. Get up.”

Saint said from behind the prostrate Maria.

“……..”

After a long time, a haggard Maria staggered to her feet.

She slowly, very slowly, headed for the door.

Maria, with her head bowed, passed Saint and left the room, and the two men and women faced off across the door.

“Then, see you tomorrow.”

To show that he was really okay, Saint patted her shoulder a few times with his hand.

-Slam

“Sa, Saint…”

Maria tried to say something to Saint, but Saint didn’t hear it because he was closing the door.

“Ah…”

Maria, looking at the closed door, returned to her room with weak steps.

Back in her room, Maria looked at her hands.

Because she was so flustered, Saint’s robe, which he had not been able to retrieve, was still in her hands.

It was the cause of all this.

“……”

Maria slowly brought it to her face.

Even though this action had earned her Saint’s hatred, she couldn’t stop.

She was aware that she was a hopeless believer.

But even that revulsion acted as a form of pleasure for her.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

She buried her face in the robe and kept muttering.

“Hng, haa…. Saint, Saint!”

Saint’s scent filled her nasal cavity.

Her body, which had cooled down, became hot again.

“I am a lewd woman. I have committed a crime.”

Even as she constantly uttered words of apology, Maria couldn’t take her face off the robe.

And slowly, her remaining hand moved towards her lower abdomen.

An area that no man could touch, an absolute no-man’s land.

As if speeding down a well-paved road, her long, slender fingers moved along the path.

Pleasure, fueled by shame, guilt, and a sense of depravity, struck Maria’s brain.

“Hng… haa…”

On a night when even the moonlight was obscured, hot breaths continued to erupt from a woman’s room.

“How was Madini Village?”

The next day at lunch, Pope asked Saint.

“It was rewarding.”

Saint, who had been thinking about Maria, who had been hesitant until lunch, answered Pope’s question.

“Haha, I see.”

Pope burst into a hearty laugh and twirled the noodles in front of him with a fork.

Slurping, the noodles were sucked into his mouth, scattering droplets of sauce around.

“…Pope.”

Saint, watching the scene, quietly opened his mouth.

Pope wiped his mouth with a napkin and looked at Saint.

“Yes?”

“I saw it in Madini Village. The village representative gave a large box to you. What is that?”

“Ah… it’s an offering. An offering to be sent to the Order headquarters.”

Pope answered as if it were nothing.

“I see. Where are those offerings used?”

“We offer prayers for the prosperity of Madini Village and return all the money to God.”

“God doesn’t receive offerings, does he?”

When Saint spoke as if he was dumbfounded, Pope raised the corners of his mouth and smiled.

“Of course, after that process is over, it will be used as operating funds for the Order headquarters.”

“Then, what will the offering in the bag that Pope received be used for?”

“That is….”

Pope, who was about to answer Saint’s question that came in like flowing water, paused.

“I don’t know how you knew, but… that will also be used as operating funds for the Order.”

Pope was still smiling. But the warmth that was felt at first was not felt.

“Not for Pope’s personal use?”

At Saint’s words, Pope put down the fork he was holding and looked at him.

Before he knew it, the smile had disappeared from Pope’s lips.

Saint put the cut meat in his mouth and wiped his mouth with a napkin.

Saint, who had swallowed the well-cooked meat, looked at Pope and said.

“Do not pursue personal gain in the name of God. This is a warning.”

Saint’s clear eyes turned to Pope.

“Is that a warning as Saint?”

Pope asked, and Saint nodded.

“I see. A warning as Saint…”

Pope picked up the bell on the table and shook it.

With the sound of the bell, a Priest who had been waiting outside came in.

Pope instructed the Priest to do something, and the Priest headed somewhere.

“First, let’s continue eating. The food will get cold.”

With those words, Pope focused on the food again.

A little later, the Priest who had received Pope’s order returned.

In his hand was a long sword.

A sword in a white scabbard. It was the sword that Saint had drawn here.

A sword that proved he was Saint with the light that came from the sword.

The Priest who brought the sword left, and Pope got up from his seat and approached Saint.

“Would you like to draw it once?”

At the very polite words, Saint grabbed the handle and pulled out the sword.

“…!!”

The sword that came out of the scabbard looked ordinary.

Saint’s eyes widened.

Saint looked back and forth between the sword and Pope.

Pope smiled broadly and snatched the sword from Saint’s hand.

After putting the sword back into the scabbard, Pope sat down again.

“You are not Saint, so how can you warn as Saint?”

Pope’s words were filled with a thick sneer.