Cathedral Volunteer Service (1)
Ares's post
During this crackdown period I got some demerit points.
They told me since I'm the top student in the whole school I have to go do volunteer work.
Anyone actually been?
The cathedral volunteer work was set.
At first I felt despair thinking Lana's boob-squeezing event next week was off the table, but after calming down another worry took over.
'No matter how I look at it, this doesn't seem like it'll end normally…'
I'm not an idiot.
Anywhere you go in this Wonder Academy, it's tied to ghosts or ghost stories.
Places that openly run events like this are bound to have something attached.
Sunday afternoon.
While packing my things, all sorts of possibilities ran through my head.
'Something shows up at night…? Or demons…? Or a cult… God, what is it…?'
The problem was I didn't have that much ghost story knowledge.
Even if I did, there wasn't much I could do right now anyway.
All I could do was prepare for an unknown future.
"Make sure to bring the key… The puppet doll… Leaving it here is way safer…. The diary…"
I picked up the diary.
After Friday's homeroom I heard about the volunteer work.
Since then I hadn't used magic on the diary.
The reason was simple.
'Because Ellie won't be by my side next week…'
Ellie's future diary only works when she observes my future.
That lets me see what's going to happen around me.
But for this volunteer work, Ellie isn't coming along.
The service runs from Monday to Sunday.
Even if I cast magic on the diary on Friday, it would only show up to Thursday.
I couldn't even check the simple outcome of my own death.
'A ghost story without the future diary… Feels uneasy…'
At least I was lucky I'd already cast magic on the puppet doll beforehand.
Since I hadn't gotten hurt or died yet, the doll's durability was still at 100%.
Basically one extra life…
With this I could probably survive the week somehow.
"Alright…"
That was how I finished preparing for the volunteer work.
Tomorrow morning I'd head to the cathedral.
Ares's post
Whether it's the top student or the top in demerits,
I'm sick of only getting events the gallery bastards have never experienced.
Since none of you are helping at all, just pray like hell for me.
The next morning.
"Ughhh…"
I got up like a zombie and started getting ready.
By the time I finished showering and changing, the sun was already up.
…Waking up early feels like death.
Still, the one silver lining was that my half-asleep brain made the anxiety a little easier to handle.
"Let's go…"
With that, I grabbed my small suitcase and left the dorm.
It was early morning, so the dorm was very quiet.
The cool dawn air strangely made my heart flutter.
And then—
"Ah, you're up. Good morning, Ares."
"……Lana? Why so early…"
When I reached the dorm entrance, Lana was leaning against a pillar waiting for me.
She smiled cutely when she saw me and walked over.
"You've got volunteer work starting today, right?"
"Ah, yeah, that's right."
I'd already explained everything to Lana and Ellie over the weekend.
…But I hadn't told them the exact departure time.
"What's going on so early…?"
"I won't see you for a whole week, so I came to see you off."
"……"
I was a little touched.
Honestly, heading off to some unknown place for a week-long stay, having Lana come find me first thing in the morning made me feel oddly reassured.
Why though.
She's a ghost.
"And."
"Huh?"
"To give you some energy too."
"Energy?"
"Yeah."
After answering, Lana blushed slightly and nodded.
Then she took one step closer.
Swish.
She gently took my hand in both of hers.
"Wait, what are you—"
"……"
And then she placed that hand on her chest.
'Uwaaaah…!!'
Soft…
A full, soft sensation filled my palm.
Plus—
This…!
'She's not wearing anything underneath!!'
There was no resistance under her uniform shirt.
"I was a bit embarrassed on the way here because of this…, do you like it…?"
"Uh, uh, uuuuh…!"
Swish, swish…
Lana moved my hand around.
The soft breast shifted under my palm, making the sensation even clearer.
"……"
"……"
For a moment, we just stared at each other in that blissful feeling, as if time had stopped.
"Okay, that's it."
Lana pulled my hand away and I snapped back to reality.
A lingering regret remained in the hand she was still holding.
"Did it feel good…?"
"……"
Lana asked with a playful look, barely hiding her embarrassment.
I avoided her eyes and answered carefully.
"…It felt amazing."
"Pfft."
Lana burst out laughing.
Then she immediately hugged me.
Soft.
"Hrk…!"
"Have a good trip. Don't get hurt, okay?"
"Y-yeah…!"
No bra!
No bra!
Maybe bras only exist to let the world know how amazing going without one is!
While thinking that, I savored the feeling of Lana hugging me tightly.
"Well, I'm off. I need to go back to the dorm and put something on before heading to school."
"Y-yeah…"
With that, Lana waved and ran toward the girls' dorm.
Her retreating figure looked like she was fleeing because she was embarrassed too.
Ares's post
But she's a ghost, right???
Fucking hate this academy.
Curse it.
After getting Lana's send-off, I headed to the cathedral with a light heart.
'The feeling… really… wow…'
I'd touched her plenty during the doppelganger incident, but the real thing was different from the fake.
The quality of the satisfaction welling up inside was on another level.
Thanks to that, instead of being terrified on the way to the cathedral like I should have been, I arrived in a good mood thanks to the insane event with Lana.
"Hello! I'm Ares, a first-year from Wonder Academy. I'll be doing volunteer work here for the next week!"
The cathedral was bigger than I expected.
So big I wondered how I'd never noticed it before.
Besides the main worship building, there were other structures that looked like mansions.
"Ah, you're here for the volunteer work."
Just then, a woman in a nun's habit approached me.
'She's pretty…'
The woman had beige hair and silver eyes. She was beautiful.
'I expected as much from a cathedral, but…'
Given Wonder Academy's habit of betraying expectations, I'd assumed it'd be nothing but old nuns.
But she was a captivating nun who shattered that image completely.
The teardrop mole under her left eye was especially charming.
"My name is Claire."
"Nice to meet you."
"We're both first-years at the academy, so you can speak casually. Ares."
"Huh? Same year…?"
"Different classes, but I've passed you in the hallway a few times. Don't remember?"
"……"
Now that she mentioned it, she did look vaguely familiar…
"Anyway, that's enough for introductions. Come this way. The head priest is waiting."
"Ah, okay."
"Hehe, I told you it's fine to speak casually."
"…Right. Then I guess I can talk casually with you too, Claire."
"As someone who serves the Lord, I must always speak properly. Maintaining that tension is for my own sake, so don't mind it."
"……"
A same-year nun who tells me to speak casually but keeps using formal speech herself.
And she's pretty on top of that. She felt like a very unique person.
'A nun, huh…'
The fact that she was a fellow student made me pay attention to Claire.
If she's a student, she might be one of the real humans I'm supposed to find.
'Would a ghost even go to a cathedral…?'
Somehow she felt the most likely to be human, but these ghosts are really good at deception.
I couldn't jump to conclusions.
Getting close to a same-year girl also required caution in many ways.
So far, getting involved with any same-year girls had always led to ghost stories.
Lana was the same.
Ellie was the same.
Abelin, the second-ranked student, was the same.
Well, the moment I showed up for cathedral volunteer work, getting tangled with Claire was probably unavoidable.
"By the way, why aren't you at school? What about classes?"
"Because Ares is coming for volunteer work. I'll be staying here for the whole volunteer period too."
"I see. So you'll go back to school after it's over?"
"Yes. Normally I go to school on weekdays and stay here after classes end."
Claire apparently lived and ate at the cathedral instead of the dorms.
She had a lot of unusual traits compared to other students.
'Anyway… this place doesn't seem particularly strange either…'
Following Claire toward the head priest's office, I carefully observed my surroundings and memorized the cathedral's layout.
Unlike the familiar school, if something happened here I could easily get lost.
Inside the cathedral I occasionally ran into nuns similar to Claire or other priests.
It didn't seem like a very crowded cathedral.
It had a quiet, leisurely atmosphere.
However…
Glance, glance.
'They're staring a lot…'
Unlike the older priests, most of the nuns we passed were young women like Claire.
They kept glancing at me, the student, with curious eyes.
"Are there other students like us here…?"
"No, I'm the only one attending school from here."
"I see."
I thought there might be other students mixed in because they looked young, but apparently not.
A moment later.
Claire and I arrived in front of a room.
Knock knock knock.
"Father, the student assigned to volunteer work is here."
After Claire spoke, an older man's voice came from inside.
[Come in.]
"…Go ahead."
Claire smiled and stepped aside.
I opened the office door myself and walked in.
"Excuse me…"
"Welcome. You must be Ares. I'll be counting on you for the week. Ah, thank you for guiding him, Sister Claire. You can go finish your work now."
"Yes, then…"
Creak.
Thud.
Claire closed the door and left the office.
Now only the head priest and I remained in the room.
He smiled warmly and pulled out the chair in front of his desk for me.
"Thank you."
"Have you had breakfast yet?"
"No, not yet…"
"Then let's eat together in a bit. We've prepared something especially delicious."
Food…
I usually ate packed lunches.
There was a cafeteria at school, but buying lunch boxes was better in both taste and price.
So the idea of eating a home-cooked meal together was pretty welcome.
What kind of food would it be?
I was looking forward to it in many ways.
"Ah, right, I was late with introductions. My name is Malik. I'm the head priest of this cathedral."
"Nice to meet you."
"Haha, I'm the one who should be saying that."
After seating me, Father Malik sat down at his own desk.
"……"
He fell silent for a moment and looked out the window.
Then he spoke to me in a quieter voice than before.
"By the way, Ares."
"Yes."
"Did anything happen on your way here?"
"Huh? Anything…"
At his question, one thing immediately came to mind.
Squeezing Lana's breasts early this morning.
No no, even so, he couldn't possibly be asking about that.
"Nothing happened."
"Hmm… I see."
Father Malik's expression looked serious.
He wiped away his smile and looked at me with a grave face.
"Ares. I hate to bring this up right after you arrived for volunteer work, but…"
"Yes…"
"Please don't trust the women here too much."
"……Excuse me?"
"I'll explain in detail tonight. Just… remember what I said."
"……"
I didn't get flustered, tense, or question his words.
I simply nodded calmly.
'As expected, something's up, damn it…'
It wasn't like I hadn't anticipated it.