episode_0063

*

What came into view when I opened my eyes was the ceiling of my room, which still felt unfamiliar since I hadn’t moved in that long ago.

I raised my hand and groped my face.

I was definitely about to have my face chewed off by those monsters at the bottom of the cliff.

Did Kunat rescue me belatedly?

“I thought I was really going to die this time.”

I muttered quietly.

My deeply sunken voice echoed softly in the room, and then I heard a rustling sound from beside my bed, followed by an unfamiliar voice.

“Ah, you’re awake.”

“…!”

I slowly turned my head.

A blonde woman in a jet-black Nun’s Habit had brought a chair and sat down beside my bed.

It was that woman who screamed at the cliff.

She slowly closed the book she was holding and placed it on the bedside table, saying.

“I’m glad you’re awake.”

“… I’m glad you’re safe.”

“It’s thanks to the Priest. I’m really grateful.”

I slowly tried to sit up.

But the moment I put weight on my arm to raise my upper body, I felt a tearing pain in every muscle from my elbow to my shoulder.

When I winced in pain, she gently pressed my chest to lay me back down, then smiled and shook her head.

Then, slowly taking her hand off my chest, she said in a soft voice.

“You’re badly hurt. You should still be lying down.”

When did I get hurt?

I almost died from the monster, but I was only attacked in the face, and the crossbow bruised my shoulder, but that shouldn’t have hurt my body this much.

Ah, it’s because I jumped off the cliff.

I sighed and dropped my head on the pillow.

Then, rolling my eyes, I looked at her and said.

“… Ha, I guess so. I’m really sorry to have this conversation while lying down like this.”

“Hehe, my benefactor is being too kind.”

When I saw her on the cliff, she was definitely wearing a pure white Priest Robe, but now she was wearing a jet-black Nun’s Habit.

It was a familiar size and design.

That was definitely Anna’s clothes.

Taking off the pure white Priest Robe stained with dirt and blood, and receiving clothes from Anna and changing into them meant that quite some time had passed.

I asked in a low voice.

“How long have I been unconscious?”

She put her index finger to her chin and tilted her head.

“You’ve been lying here ever since you arrived yesterday. In terms of time, let’s see… you’ve been lying down for almost fourteen hours, I think.”

“Wow… I’ve been lying down longer than I thought.”

“I actually think it’s short. You’re human, Priest. This kind of recovery is strange.”

“…”

“Paolo… Ah, so the man who was with me is still lying down. He was more badly hurt than he looked too.”

“Ah…”

I let out a small sigh and said.

“Now that I think about it, I haven’t asked your name yet because I was too flustered. Can you tell me what I should call you?”

“Of course. Please call me Elena.”

“Elena…”

She nodded and continued.

“And you don’t have to use such polite language. I should be treating Priest with respect, not the other way around.”

“Is that so?”

“Of course, Priest is my benefactor and, at the same time, my superior who is higher in rank than me.”

Superior.

“You’re a member of the Order.”

“Would I be wearing a Priest Robe for no reason?”

Elena smiled and affirmed my words.

Elena.

It was a very common name in this country.

There was nothing strange about the name.

But that’s why it felt even stranger.

Normally, when religious people within the Order introduce themselves, it was common sense to exchange baptismal names rather than names.

The reason why I didn’t have any inconvenience in living within the Order without knowing my real name was because my baptismal name was my identity.

Maybe she’s not a member of our Order.

And, if someone who isn’t a religious person is dressed like a religious person, their intentions are usually evil.

As an Exorcist Priest who was good at finding heretics, I felt an instinctive suspicion.

Hiding my suspicious attitude as much as possible, I asked her.

“What’s your baptismal name?”

“I don’t have one.”

“…”

She said it with such a confident attitude.

She was so confident that it felt like I was wrong.

“… Say that again.”

“I don’t have one. Priest. I’m a ‘Nun without a baptismal name’.”

“What is that…”

“Oh my, usually Priests understand when I say it like this…”

She tilted her head, looking more surprised than I was.

There are hardly any people in the Order who don’t have a baptismal name.

Either they are apostates, or people who live in the Order without being very faithful, like our nuns,

Rarely, there were cases where the name they had taken as their baptismal name was expelled from the Order, and they were waiting to find a new baptismal name.

Other than that…

“Could it be… are you from the Saintess Convent?”

“That’s right. Priest.”

The Saintess candidates in the Saintess Convent in the Capital don’t have baptismal names.

One of them who is recognized as a Saintess inherits the name of the Saintess, and the remaining candidates who fail can then have a new baptismal name.

Unlike ordinary Monasteries or Convents on remote islands or in the mountains, they live in Convents in the middle of the Capital, so they have frequent exchanges with the outside world and are often mobilized for national events.

In short, it’s like a public relations department in charge of the Order’s image.

Of course, as the Saintess candidates, they have a similar level of seniority to Priests who have been ordained for ten years, even though they are nuns.

And, of course, they are forced to follow strict rules and study a huge amount.

If our nuns had been Saintess candidates, they wouldn’t have lasted a week before running away.

It wouldn’t be strange if Sola ran away in a day.

“Wow, it’s amazing to meet a Saintess candidate.”

I couldn’t hide my admiration.

As much as they are in the middle of a city where people come and go, they had very strict rules,

Except for important events, they were not allowed to talk to men.

If they violate this, they will be listed on the heretic list, not just excommunicated.

This is because they are given responsibilities commensurate with the name of the Saintess.

The image of women of flowery age with the most splendid appearance in the Order strictly keeping their vows of chastity with silence and neat demeanor as weapons was so beautiful and noble that it amazed everyone who saw it.

I couldn’t find an expression to compare it to, even if I brought all the brilliant flowers in the world and all the noble animals in the universe.

Certainly, Elena, who introduced herself, had a somehow warm atmosphere flowing from her.

From her speech to her actions, her carefully cultivated elegance and dignity were revealed.

“I was just a candidate. Now I’m just an ordinary nun who hasn’t even received a baptismal name…”

“… Is that so.”

Ironically, Saintess candidates, who were in a fairly high position, become ordinary nuns the moment they are eliminated.

Now that the world has perished without a Saintess being produced, they are in a position that is worse than ordinary nuns.

No, even that would be too much.

Who would recognize the authority of religion in this world now?

Now that the world has perished, religion and Saintess are all meaningless stories.

My efforts are also to maintain the world, not to raise the power of religion.

“What about Priest?”

“Huh?”

She said with a smile that shattered my anguish.

“What is the name of Priest, my benefactor and superior?”

“I’m a special under Bishop Alexander…”

I stopped talking.

Even though she revealed her identity first, there is no guarantee that it is true.

Even though I rescued her and her party, it is foolish to believe them rashly without even knowing what kind of people they are.

When I usually talk to Kunat, I pay attention to revealing the truth and falsehood,

I must have relaxed my tension without realizing it because it was a conversation with someone I met after a long time.

However, we must not forget that humans are as good at lying as demons.

“… Father Theodore. I have the status of Priest even though I don’t have a parish.”

I only said my name without revealing my affiliation.

“Father Theodore… Theodore… Priest?”

Elena mumbled my name a few times as if savoring it, then opened her mouth with wide eyes as if she had realized something.

“By any chance, are you that Father Theodore?”

“That?”

“Demon solver. Exorcism specialist, Father Theodore… Is that you?”

“…”

It’s an alias that makes me embarrassed no matter when I hear it.

I nodded with a sullen expression.

I knew that I was quite famous among the clergy, but I never thought that even the Saintess candidate nuns would know me.

Elena grabbed my hand and shook it up and down.

It wasn’t a big movement considering that I was injured, but rather, the fidgeting movements seemed to be more visible.

“It’s an honor. To think I’d actually see you in person… And that Father Theodore would save me…”

“T-that, please let go of my hand.”

“Ah, ah, ah! Yes, of course. I’m sorry. Your body must not have fully recovered yet…”

Elena hurriedly let go of my hand.

Looking at her flushed cheeks, I was embarrassed.

I decided to change the subject quickly.

“Sister Elena, I’m sorry, but…”

“You can just call me Elena. No, please call me that. And please lower your words.”

She cut me off, she said.

The warm atmosphere from a moment ago disappeared like a lie.

I felt an atmosphere similar to our nuns.

I smiled bitterly and reattached the severed waist.

“Sister Elena.”

“Elena.”

“Do you happen to know…”

“Please lower your words.”

“…”

I sighed and continued.

“Elena…”

“Woo-ah.”

“Do you know what happened after I fainted? I don’t even know how I’m alive, and I don’t know how I got here.”

“Ah, I know. Priest’s nuns found us while taking Priest back and brought us.”

“…Nuns?”

“Yes, Lucia, Anna, and Sola.”

They came to find me?

Did they know where I was and come to find me?

Did Kunat bring them?

From that far away?

“How did they…”

“I heard they know how to drive away monsters?”

“…”

“I don’t know what method they used. If there was such a method, I would like to know too… If I had known, so many people wouldn’t have died.”

“… How did you get back?”

“Walking normally. However, the nuns’ feet were very fast.”

It seemed that they had kept the fact that they used the power of the Devil a secret.

Of course, it was a wise decision.

But does Elena really believe that the three slender girls chased away the monsters that massacred her group?

I thought I should be more careful with my words and replied.

“At least one person in your group is alive, and Elena is also alive, so I think it’s fortunate.”

“Really, it’s all thanks to Father Theodore.”

“…”

“But many people died… So many people… I was just lucky.”

I shook my head.

“No, I would never have found you if I hadn’t heard the scream.”

“Ah…”

“You saved you and that man. Elena.”

“… Priest.”

Elena nodded her head slightly, tears welling up in her eyes.

I turned my gaze away from Elena and slowly exhaled.

It’s not polite to stare at a woman’s crying face.

Elena, who had been sobbing for quite a while, took a deep breath and opened her mouth in a small voice.

“Priest’s reputation was not in vain. You have cleanly resolved not only the demons but also the guilt inside me.”

“Any clergyman would say that.”

“No, they don’t.”

Elena shook her head.

“Because clergymen are only human.”

“…”

I could read a strange atmosphere in the sentence Elena just said.

It was a strange voice that included plaintiveness, resignation, some mockery and ridicule. And a low sexiness.

Did she have a bad experience with a clergyman?

It wasn’t a very surprising story in this world.

“Priest.”

Elena clapped her hands and called me.

I slowly turned my head back towards her.

Elena said in a very bright voice.

“Once again, thank you so much for saving me and Paolo.”

“… Yeah.”

“Then, how should I repay the famous hero who saved me?”

“What kind of reward would you expect in this world?”

“…”

Elena had a disappointed expression on her face.

“I see.”

“…?”

Elena slowly began to unbutton her top.

“Then, I have nothing else to give you.”

“Elena? What are you doing…”

“You know.”

Elena took off her clothes in an instant.

I was startled by the suddenly popping out skin and shrunk my body.

If I hadn’t been injured, I would have almost jumped up.

“Now let’s have sex.”

“… What?”