Savior – 4

The place the Popes led me to was a small room a little further inside than where we had been.

Luna dragged my arm and went inside. Floretta, who had followed, closed the door. Even though the door seemed to be at least two or three finger-widths thick, not a sound was heard as it closed.

I looked around. The entire floor was covered with red carpet. Judging by how it muffled not only my footsteps but even the Popes’ high heels, it seemed to be no ordinary luxury item.

The walls were entirely covered with dark purple curtains. Except for exactly three spots, which were decorated with what I presumed to be the Popes’ ceremonial attire. I couldn’t bring myself to call those ‘clothes’.

“Please sit.”

Floretta’s hand pointed to a large sofa placed directly opposite the entrance. Luna was also looking at me with a subtle gaze, so I obediently sank into the sofa. My body was deeply submerged.

The Popes, however, seemed to have no intention of sitting on the sofa and merely stood, gazing at me. Our eyes met. A ‘Hehe’ eye-smile was returned.

Honestly, it was incredibly burdensome. I hadn’t eaten anything, but my stomach felt completely clogged. I wondered if this was how the Captains felt when they heard they would receive a dress from the Popes.

“Um… Floretta? Luna? With both Popes standing, me sitting alone is a bit…”

“Don’t worry, Honored Guest-isiyeo. It is we who invited you.”

“We cannot have our guest standing, can we? You don’t need to mind it.”

Despite my reaction, the Popes paid no heed and walked towards the wall, reaching out for something resembling ceremonial attire placed between the curtains. Floretta and Luna, who had floated those items as if layering them over their bodies, returned to stand before me. Upon closer inspection, they were even more preposterous outfits. Luna met my gaze and spoke.

“What kind of dress do you wish for, Honored Guest-nim?”

“…Must I choose from these three here?”

I alternately looked at the something floating before Floretta’s body, the something floating before Luna’s body, and the something that remained unchosen.

All three had an enormous degree of exposure. It was pointless to even question why they were so revealing.

Even the exposure of the lingerie and see-through combination worn by the Captains at the last banquet seemed like nothing compared to the scraps of cloth the Popes were holding now.

“If there is a specific appearance you desire, please tell us. Do you have any requests?”

“No, it’s not that… rather, a dress with a little less exposure… something like that…”

“I am sorry, but even if it is the Honored Guest-nim’s request, that is not possible.”

Floretta drew a firm line. Her expression also turned slightly stern.

“As beings closest to the Sun and Moon, we Popes always need to reveal our faithfulness and divinity. To cover our bodies, that is something that would absolutely not be permitted.”

The words, ‘What the hell does divinity have to do with being naked?’ welled up to my throat. I barely managed to swallow them back down. Arguing here would only be my loss. I would never win anyway.

“Evangelina’s words are correct, Honored Guest-isiyeo. A Pope is a being who leads the Holy Nation. Why would we, such beings, be ashamed to cover our bodies? If one has no reservations before God, then one must prove their faithfulness by revealing their body.”

“Please reconsider. If a Pope were to reduce the exposure of their attire, it would surely create the misconception that something has gone wrong with their person, causing confusion among the faithful.”

“…”

To think that if a Pope covers their body, people would assume something is wrong with them. From my perspective, it was absurd, but it was even more frightening because it was perfectly plausible according to the common sense of the people in this world.

Because common sense had already changed its profession quite a while ago, ever since I was transmigrated here.

“…Yes. I understand, Floretta, Luna. I have been rude. I will apologize.”

“The Honored Guest-nim does not need to apologize. It is natural that as someone from the Empire, you would not be familiar with the customs of the Holy Nation. We are simply grateful that you now understand.”

Just as I, overwhelmed by the madness, was about to meekly apologize and end the matter, a chilling thought suddenly popped into my head.

‘Surely, it can’t be that even men do that?’

As soon as that thought came to mind, goosebumps erupted all over me. My body automatically trembled. It was something that absolutely could not be. I urgently opened my mouth.

“Floretta, do men also have to increase their exposure the deeper their faithfulness is?”

“Huh? Of course not, isn’t it? You’re making a funny joke.”

The Popes simultaneously burst into laughter with a ‘Puhut’. Luna, especially, was stifling her laughter with her hand over her mouth, chuckling.

“Expressing faithfulness by revealing one’s body is an action limited only to women. According to the scriptures, the Sun and Moon are depicted as naked women.”

“…That’s a relief.”

I let out a sigh of relief upon hearing Floretta’s answer. It was truly fortunate that I wouldn’t have to see naked men. And I, too, would be able to wear normal clothes.

“The greater one’s faithfulness, the more qualified one becomes to approach the heavens. Our holy vestments were also created for that reason.”

In summary, because the Sun and Moon are depicted as naked women, only women can imitate the form of God, and as the body’s exposure increases, one gets closer to God, thus requiring greater faith. I had only thought that common sense had been altered by a mod, leading to more exposure with higher faith, but there was a plausible reason for it. It was a bit unexpected. Even so, the fact that the final result was something resembling clothes didn’t change.

“Since you might be bored, let’s stop talking about faith here. Honored Guest-nim, which of the two do you prefer?”

With a beaming smile, the dresses that had been floating as if layered over their bodies moved a little closer to me.

Thinking, ‘Finally, it’s here,’ I inwardly groaned and looked at the dresses-no, the scraps of cloth that even calling ‘clothes’ would feel like an insult to other garments-that Floretta and Luna held out.

What Floretta was holding was a necklace with fluttering fabric and a C-string. The very thin golden necklace had two pieces of fabric hanging down from it. They were triangle-shaped golden fabrics that narrowed towards the end.

The length of the fabric was extremely short. It barely covered the nipples and areolas, and that was all. Faithfully serving its purpose of covering important parts, it covered exactly *only* the important parts.

The bottom was even more so. What covered the vulva instead of underwear was a C-string. And an incredibly tiny one at that. I even doubted if the part that touched the pubic area would be as long as my palm.

The C-string, extending upwards from that state, ended near the uterus. As an added bonus, a small heart-shaped tattoo was even etched at the ending point, as if to indicate that the uterus was there.

“…”

Pushing aside my rapidly aching head, I turned to look at the something resembling clothes that Luna was holding. That was a monstrous scrap of cloth in a completely different way from Floretta’s.

A thin, thin string, similar in thickness to Floretta’s necklace, wrapped around the side of the iliac bone, and from its very center, another thin, thin piece of fabric hung down, barely covering the vulva.

Above the waist, it resembled what is known as a slingshot swimsuit. However, its exposure was beyond imagination, with everything except the area near the nipples being only the thickness of a single string.

The string, which started just above the scrap of fabric covering the vulva, was pulled taut by the breasts as it went up, then widened slightly at the apex of the breasts to cover the important parts, and finally met as one behind the neck.

And that was it.

A single string tied in a circle passing the iliac bone, a scrap of fabric barely thick enough to cover the vulva, and a micro slingshot of similar length barely covering only the apex of the breasts. ‘…What kind of bastard designed such clothes?’

My vision swam. I truly couldn’t have imagined that there would be clothes even more extreme than the Popes’ holy vestments. I thought to surpass the holy vestments they were currently wearing, one would simply have to take everything off.

Such ridiculous attire couldn’t possibly exist in the original B-Dark 4 world, so it must be an outfit that the person who changed the NPCs’ clothing coincidentally made as well. I really wanted to peer into that bastard’s mind.

Clutching my dizzying mind, I barely managed to open my mouth.

“Um… are you not planning to wear anything else over the dresses?”

“If you mean something else?”

“Like the holy vestments you’re wearing now… um…”

I was about to say ‘see-through’ or something, but my words got stuck in my throat. I wondered if the Popes would even understand the word ‘see-through’.

“Ah, I understand what you mean. You’re talking about this outer garment.”

Floretta pointed to her sleeve. I nodded. Even if it was a translucent see-through, it would still be better than nothing at all. No, anything added would be much better than now.

But, somehow, their reactions were a bit strange.

“…If the Honored Guest-nim wishes, we will gladly wear it.”

“Th-then I, too… Haaah…”

Both Floretta and Luna’s cheeks were somehow turning a rosy red. The moment I saw that, a chilling sensation flashed through my mind, telling me that I had once again made a very serious misunderstanding.

I didn’t know what it was, but it was certain that my request just now was related to something suggestive or lewd. Otherwise, there was no way the Popes would be blushing like that.

My intuition was sending out frantic warnings.

“No. Let’s just pretend it never happened. It was a slip of the tongue.”

I hastily salvaged the situation. My thought was that whatever it was, I couldn’t let them misunderstand it like that.

“…Yes. I understand, Honored Guest-isiyeo.”

“I understand…”

‘Why are they disappointed again?’

Floretta’s and Luna’s shoulders visibly slumped. At this point, I became extremely curious about what that see-through garment symbolized to make them look like that. It certainly didn’t seem like ordinary clothing.

“…First, let’s choose a dress.”

To salvage the situation, I forced myself to look at the Popes’ clothes again. More precisely, at the third outfit that hadn’t been chosen yet.