The Baptism (1)
I killed an ant. It was fun to crush it underfoot. A little later, I killed a sparrow. Tearing off its wings and forcing it to crawl across the ground gave me a strangely thrilling rush. After that, I killed a cat. I grabbed it by the tail and slammed it down; it died without even managing a decent scream.
The boy had been born with a taste for tormenting things weaker than himself. The groans and shrieks they let out were sweet to his ears. Yet every so often, he felt something lacking, a vague dissatisfaction. So the boy pondered: what could bring him even greater pleasure?
What if I killed a person?
The wicked thought rose unbidden, and the boy shook his head violently. But in a dark corner of his heart, something damp and sinister had already begun to coil itself into a quiet nest.
It didn’t take him long to become fully aware of his own desires.
I want to kill people.
But that wouldn’t be easy. Killing animals might earn him dirty looks, but killing people was illegal. It would go beyond mere disapproval from the villagers; he would be labeled a dangerous element. The boy had hit a wall.
So he thought: how could he torment those weaker than himself? How could he legally witness the suffering of others?
One day, while wrestling with these questions, he saw a group of priests visiting the village for charity work. The boy—Ronin—felt as if his eyes had been washed clean.
A priest!
A profession that allowed him to approach the unfortunate under the guise of service! A job where he would see plenty of people on the verge of death!
That was how the boy found the perfect career suited to his nature.
Priest Ronin of the Sex Cult shook his head. The family environment he had grown up in hadn’t been particularly unfortunate. His parents had been kind, and their life had been comfortable. There had been no great lacks or shortages. If he had grown up normally, he probably would have married a suitable woman, started a family, and lived an ordinary life. By now, he might even have had a child around Aria’s age.
I’m getting sentimental. That’s not like me.
He lowered his gaze to the child walking ahead with light, graceful steps. The nun of the Sex Cult possessed lustrous black hair like ebony and deep eyes like obsidian. Aria was about to undergo the baptism ceremony that would transform her into the Saintess of the Sex Cult. It was an absolute order handed down from above; there was no room for reversal or reconsideration.
Priest Ronin smiled faintly. He was far too excited about the situation Aria would soon face.
From the perspective of being reborn, the baptism itself wasn’t particularly problematic. But if one asked whether it was an ordinary baptism… well. What religion forced its followers to gang-rape someone during a baptism? And not just anyone—the very Saintess the cult was supposed to revere.
No matter how you looked at it, it would be an unforgettable moment. The instant she realized that the religion she had believed in her entire life was about to drag her existence into the abyss. What kind of reaction would Aria show? Would she cry? Despair? Break?
Whichever it was, it would be delightful.
Priest Ronin had to work hard to keep the corners of his mouth from rising any further. It was an undeniable fact that he had cherished Aria like a daughter. Memories of raising the orphan girl flashed through his mind like a lantern show. He had poured tremendous effort into it—enough that he never wanted to do it again. Precisely because of that, the collapse of the person called Aria would taste exquisitely sweet to Priest Ronin.
Just like the believer who had betrayed the Goddess of Sex for a single piece of bread. How delicious must that single slice have been, to be worth betraying a goddess? Wouldn’t it have rivaled every delicacy in the world?
Priest Ronin was a man born with a nature that could not be satisfied without destroying what was precious to him.
While walking with his twitching lips under control, Priest Ronin suddenly noticed Aria stopping. She looked around like someone who had been dropped in an unfamiliar place, then fell into thought.
What is this?
He tapped her shoulder twice. She flinched and stared at him. In that instant, Ronin caught a fleeting glimpse of emotion in her eyes.
It was fear.
Why that emotion? Had she realized something? How? The control of information had been perfect. Questions multiplied endlessly. Priest Ronin felt the pounding excitement in his chest cool rapidly.
If Aria caused a scene here, it would disrupt the plan. That could not be allowed. He had not yet tasted the true delicacy.
“Aria, the baptism ceremony will begin shortly.”
At those words, Aria answered hesitantly.
“Ah… is that so, Priest Ronin?”
She might have thought she was maintaining composure, but from his perspective, the current Aria looked like artificial flowers stuck among fully bloomed real ones. It was unbearably awkward.
After all, they were on their way to receive the baptism. Yet her reaction was “is that so?”—as if she hadn’t known. It didn’t match at all. Suspicion bloomed.
“You must be nervous since the baptism is right before you.”
Aria nodded as if to say he was correct, but Ronin didn’t believe her. His mind spun furiously.
“Do not worry too much. It will pass as naturally as a single day.”
While spouting those empty words, he organized his thoughts. How much did she know? At the very least, it seemed Aria had guessed what would happen during the baptism. That was why she wore such a troubled expression.
“Aria. I find your concern truly admirable. It feels like only yesterday I treated you like my own daughter, yet here you are, about to ascend to the position of the cult’s Saintess. After today, I suppose I won’t be able to speak to you so casually anymore.”
“……Priest Ronin.”
A faint hostility lingered in her eyes. This was certain. There was a risk of flight. Ronin’s heart grew urgent.
“Once you become the Saintess, you must act with even greater dignity and composure. Now, shall we proceed to the venue?”
He deliberately walked ahead. But Aria did not immediately follow.
“Why are you standing still?”
His tone had grown somewhat stiff. He was in a hurry. This was like scattering ashes on perfectly good bread.
“……I’m coming.”
As they walked down the corridor, a strange silence hung between them. The atmosphere was taut, like a bowstring pulled to its limit. A tension lingered in the air that could snap at any moment, anywhere.
And then—
THWACK!
“…………?”
Ronin touched the back of his head and glanced at Aria. It appeared she had struck him with a holy scripture book.
“Ah.”
A trembling girl’s voice reached him. Aria had frozen like a mouse before a cat. He was dumbfounded.
…Is this the best you could come up with?
It would have been far more troublesome if she had thrown a tantrum, crying and screaming. This, on the other hand, was almost gratefully convenient.
“That was quite the prank, Aria.”
When he spoke with a touch of gravity, she waved her hands in a fluster.
“Ah, th-that’s because a mosquito landed on Priest Ronin’s head…”
It was an absurd excuse. Realizing it herself, she lowered her head. In that awkward state, the two headed toward the auditorium where the baptism would take place.
Perhaps because she had already rebelled once, Aria followed obediently afterward. For Ronin, it was an enormous relief.
They continued walking until they eventually stood before the doors of the auditorium.
“Um, Priest Ronin.”
Aria looked at him with a trembling gaze. What was she trying to appeal for with those eyes? Her fear-filled pupils were sweet no matter how many times he saw them.
“I… I don’t want to become the Saintess.”
“Hasn’t the decision already been made from above?”
“Is it impossible to decline or give it up even now?”
“Aria. Haven’t you said every single day that becoming the Saintess would be a true honor? What sudden change of heart makes you want to abandon the position?”
When he pressed her point by point, Aria seemed at a loss for words and made a brief gesture as if thinking. Ronin waited patiently.
“Th-the position of Saintess feels too much for me. I wonder if it isn’t too presumptuous a role for someone like me.”
“Not at all. There are few as devout as you.”
“Y-you flatter me. Then—! I-I suddenly have a stomachache, so I need to go to the restroom…”
Suddenly claiming she needed the toilet? Ronin saw through it immediately as a ploy to escape the current situation.
“Aria.”
“……Yes.”
“Let’s go together.”
“Pardon?”
“I’ll wait outside.”
She clearly hadn’t expected him to follow. Aria’s face flushed red as she began to babble incoherently.
“Th-that’s a bit embarrassing…”
“I’ve already been quite indulgent with you.”
“……Yes.”
In the end, she couldn’t open the auditorium doors right away. Ronin found it regrettable, but he decided to view even this as a kind of foreplay. After all, there was no way out for Aria.
Shhhrrrrrr.
“Haa…”
I had been so tense that the sudden, desperate urge to pee felt like a stroke of heavenly luck. When I mentioned the toilet, even Ronin looked fairly flustered. He probably hadn’t expected me to say something so blunt like “I need to piss.”
But now what? Even if I left this stall, Ronin would be standing right outside like a damn sentry.
I recalled what had just happened. I had grabbed the holy scripture book and smashed it into the back of Priest Ronin’s head with all my strength, but thanks to this pathetically weak Saintess body, he hadn’t even fallen. What had he said? “That was quite the prank”? He must have thought I was joking. Just how frail is this body? You should’ve exercised more, Saintess-nim.
Anyway, if things continued like this, my life would really be over.
Seed-Receiving Saintess. It had sounded ridiculous when I read about it, but now that I was the one facing it, the thought made my skin crawl. Fuck. I hadn’t even dated a woman yet, and now I had to get fucked by some other bastard’s dick? It felt like my already pathetic masculinity was being castrated all over again.
What do I do? What the hell do I do? Think, you idiot.
Just as a sharp migraine began to set in, my eyes landed on a large window in the perfect position.
…Maybe I could break that window and climb out?
I checked outside just in case. The scenery was right there. In other words, it was the optimal escape route.
Good.
My actions were swift. Crash! I hurled the holy scripture book with force, shattering the window, then flattened myself and crawled on all fours into the next stall. The floor reeked of stale urine, but if it meant surviving—if it meant avoiding getting fucked by a man—this much was a hardship I could endure.
Breaking the window was to mislead them into thinking I had fled that way. After all, this was a woman’s body. Even if I ran, I’d be caught quickly. So the immediate priority was escaping Ronin’s surveillance.
The loud noise drew Ronin, who had been waiting outside, bursting into the restroom immediately.
“Tsk.”
He clicked his tongue at the sight of the broken window. I held my breath and watched. Soon, Ronin shouted as if furious.
“Will you betray the faith of His Holiness the Pope, who has been waiting for you?!”
His Holiness the Pope my ass. That place would be packed with nothing but dick-wielding cardinals. Why the hell would I go there?
Ronin began to run. Tap tap tap tap tap. The sound of his footsteps grew distant.
Five minutes passed like that.
He must be gone by now. If I waited any longer, there was a chance I’d get caught here. I cautiously poked my head out from the next stall and looked around. Fortunately, no one was there. I left the restroom without suspicion and—
“……Ah.”
I saw Priest Ronin staring straight at me.
“Don’t you think that was too obvious, Aria?”
Fucking bastard. His senses are way too sharp.