Why Are We So Familiar..._2
Gray spoke to Elysia, his voice steady but gentle.
“Elysia. I'll explain everything later. First, calm down and sit. Right now, let's solve your problem first...”
“My problem…? ……… Gray. Did I bother you? That's why you're trying to get rid of me?”
“Get rid of what? Yesterday was a joke, you know? It was to make sure you don't become the Saintess...”
“Please, Gray. Don't, don't get rid of me… I… I really can't wait anymore… If I think I can't see you… My breath already won't come out…”
It seemed Elysia had a talent for making people feel socially awkward.
The sight of a woman crying and clinging to someone, if one doesn't know the full context, often leads to various misunderstandings.
Even now.
The Saintess and Boris were looking at me with strange eyes.
“Hmph!”
The Saintess cleared her throat to draw attention.
Elysia's cold gaze met it, and she shook her shoulders with “Heeek...!” but soon regained her composure and spoke again.
“Sister Lia. As the teacher said. I understand Sister's position well. That's why we suggested the easiest method to the teacher just now.”
What she suggested was, in other words, the method of hearing the goddess's answer through me.
Since it's the event of the Archangel descending to the lower world, if we want to convince the temple and the public through the goddess's signs, that would be the fastest and most convenient method.
The Saintess is also someone who receives the goddess's oracle.
In that case, what I have to do is simple.
If I can persuade Astasia so that the oracle ‘Elysia is not the new Saintess’ descends upon the Saintess, that would do it.
If that happens, the voices of the believers outside who are wailing about the birth of the new Saintess would subside, and they would surely follow the goddess's will soon.
“Teacher? Is it difficult?”
“No... I understand what you're saying. However, I can't contact them right now.”
“Oh my... Is that so? Perhaps something happened to the goddess...”
“It’s not that. Sometimes this happens. She cuts off contact for a few months without notice. One-sidedly. When that happens, there's no choice but to wait.”
“It can't be helped. The goddess has many things to do, after all.”
Many things to do...
Before retirement, she was a goddess who gave instructions on every move I made, so as a Saintess, the disappointment would be great?
“Then, I'll leave that part to you, teacher. Shall we discuss it among ourselves? The most important thing is Sister Lia's opinion, after all.”
“……….”
“… Sister?”
“Yes.”
Elysia, who had been silent until now, answered coldly.
From the beginning, the way she looks at the Saintess is strangely sharp.
Poison? Jealousy? Anxiety?
Anyway, it's close to hostility.
If Elysia, who was known as a villainous enemy from the Academy, sharpens her tone like this, even I, who am tolerant of tone, would have my ears cut.
It's not something the Saintess, who is used to hearing only good words and pretty words, can bear.
As expected, the Saintess quickly made a sad face.
“… S, s, teacher? Did I make a mistake...?”
The Saintess, trembling while biting her lips with a creaking sound.
“No. There's no mistake, so you can keep talking.”
I answered briefly.
The Saintess continued, stumbling.
“Th, th, Sister Lia…? I… I just… wanted to know Sister's thoughts… We are discussing under the assumption that Sister Lia will reject being the Saintess… But… If Sister really wants to be the Saintess, I can help in any way.”
“Be the Saintess?”
“Yes! ”
“Saintess.”
“Yes… yes… Interested…?”
“Saintess. I am not the Saintess.”
“……….”
The conversation ended there.
While the Saintess was at a loss, Tina giggled.
“Elysia unnie seems to hate being the Saintess~ I know. There's an aunt who used to do scam calls while soliciting subscriptions for weird fake news in the past, and the expression she had back then is exactly the same as when she saw that aunt.”
“Sc, scam…! I am the Saintess of the Astasia Church of Wisdom…!”
“Elysia unnie is so lucky. It's hard to see Elysia unnie getting angry~ She's a kind unnie who tidies up without a word when I spilled juice on the blanket while my mom was away.”
“Teacher… Please help me…”
It seemed her heart was softened, and the Saintess cried while clinging to me.
In the end, I had no choice but to take her out with the excuse of taking Elysia out of the carriage.
“………….”
“………….”
The temple was unusually empty compared to usual.
Since Lucia closed the temple temporarily, the corridors echoed with footsteps.
On the way to the kitchen, I spoke first.
“Elysia, are you not feeling well? If it's because of the joke I made yesterday......”
“… Who is it?”
“Eh?”
“… Can I ask who…?”
“Who? What kind of question is that?”
It can't be Boris the priest...
“The Saintess, right?”
…… Nod.
“The Saintess is the Saintess. Mainly at the church headquarters...”
“That’s not what I’m asking.”
Elysia said that, but she seemed a bit confused.
“No…… Th, th, Gray…”
“Eh? Yeah.”
“………… S, s, sorry. Actually…… I know it's not the time to be joking like a child… I’m…”
“No need to apologize.”
“…………… But.”
“As the guy said, if the headquarters cooperates, it's not such a complicated problem. That's fortunate. I thought the church side would make a fuss, but it seems the guy and Bishop Boris handled it.”
I didn't expect her to fly here in just a day.
Probably she came because she heard that I was here and for some other reason.
Since calling the Saintess by the nickname ‘that guy’ didn't sit well with me, Elysia asked with a noticeably dejected face.
“… You two knew each other?”
“Yes. A little.”
“Before………… Yes, before.”
“Yeah. It wasn't anything special.”
“Huu…. So you knew Saintess-nim…”
“……… Yeah.”
“…………… Not anything special.”
“…………….”
“………………………………………………… When?”
Drip.
While filling the teapot with water, I couldn't be distracted.
It felt like she was making excuses.
Was this right? But since there was the incident of fainting from the joke yesterday, I decided to answer honestly.
“… Because of the covenants. You know roughly what kind they are.”
“But you called me Teacher, why…?”
“Um… It's a bit complicated to explain simply…”
“So close?”
Suddenly, a weight seemed to come from the sleeve, and Elysia grabbed the sleeve as if it would stretch.
“Can I hold your arm? Can I hit your body? What does Teacher mean? Can we talk casually? Like before? Is it that kind of relationship?”
The reason I felt uncomfortable from the beginning seems to be coming to light.
Did she even have the intention to hide it?
“Gray, Gray?”
“…………….”
“Gray. Are you angry at me right now?”
“Eh……? Ah, no. It's not that at all.”
“………… Is it strange to ask this?”
“It’s not strange…”
But why? arose, but at that moment, countless traces of ‘treasures’ in her room flashed through my mind.
If I ask ‘why’ here, it might be irreversible.
Of course, I know her emotions well.
I have no intention of ignoring it or playing with it.
I recall the memory of asking Lucia briefly when I first returned to the temple.
The memory of scratching my head, saying it doesn't make sense to wait this much after helping for just a moment 10 years ago.
At that time, Lucia had scolded me strangely.
Was that enough…?
Enough…
Elysia probably vaguely knows that the help I gave was because of the goddess's covenant.
There were times when I received thanks for the salvation that wasn't pure goodwill, but for Elysia, it should be a bit different in approach.
I haven't understood the weight of the 10 years she waited.
I chose my words slowly.
“Elysia.”
“Yeah?”
“You don't want to become the Saintess, right?”
“Saintess?”
She seemed a bit surprised at the sudden topic change, but answered without hesitation.
“I am not the Saintess. It wouldn't have happened without you, Elaim-nim. I told the Saintess earlier too…”
“Earlier? That wasn't an argument, was it?”
“Argument? It wasn't an argument! It was just that you were too clingy, a little, really a little… So my words came out a bit blunt, but it wasn't something I thought from the beginning. This is real, right?!”
“Then clear up the misunderstanding. You looked scared.”
Elysia's face hardened.
“……… Then what about me?”
“… Eh?”
“Why only worry about the Saintess………………………”
“…………….”
“And……… How to treat strangers.”
“If you ignore people twice, you'll make them cry. It would be nice if you spoke a little softer outside, like when talking to me and Tina.”
“…………….”
Elysia's expression darkened.
It was inevitable that she was cautious, having grown up almost alone in the Cadeliz family and surrounded by people with hostility towards her.
Since there was nothing to say, Elysia poked me lightly.
With an innocent expression, she asked me.
“… Gray, but you know.”
“Yeah?”
“………… Why are you dodging?”
Ah.