A Rest for the Cat (1)
One warm afternoon, sunlight pouring down from above.
In the small garden in front of the church, three children sat huddled together in a cozy cluster, chattering away about this and that.
"......"
It had been exactly two weeks since that day.
Astonishingly enough, the children had adapted to life at the church in no time at all.
They took on chores no one had even asked of them, gradually settling into a sense of calm and stability.
Even so, I could faintly sense that they were sometimes pushing themselves too hard—yet they were doing their best not to let it show to me.
Thanks to that, I no longer had any need to feel lonely, and my days had grown far brighter than before. But with my responsibilities suddenly multiplying, I had to move around busier than ever.
"So peaceful..."
I murmured the words absently as I sat on the steps before the church entrance.
Seen like this, it was nothing short of an idyllic life.
No exasperating children, peaceful surroundings, and food that was reasonably plentiful, after all.
Just recently, we had cleaned out the shabby old convent building that stood right next to the church.
It had been left abandoned for quite a long time, so it took days upon days of grueling work before we finally managed to clear it out.
Still, it meant I no longer had to sleep uncomfortably on a hard wooden bench.
A paradise on earth, ours alone.
Except—
"Levi! Service is about to start."
"...Already?"
"It's almost three."
Unlike the children, who had often attended the church in the village and offered up prayers, I had no such experience whatsoever.
Church aside, I didn't believe in any god to begin with.
"May a soul blessed by Paelia descend upon this earth, and may new life sprout wherever her footsteps touch..."
Today alone, this was already our fourth service.
One at dawn, one at nine in the morning, one at noon, one at three in the afternoon...
According to the children, it was rare for anyone to hold services this frequently.
Normally, two—morning and afternoon—were considered plenty, but—
Since we were people guided by Goddess Paelia herself, we were keeping to this schedule out of the conviction that such devotion had to be shown.
"Amen."
"Amen."
"Amen."
The children seemed determined never to forget the goddess's grace at each and every service.
Of course, it wasn't as though I couldn't understand that feeling.
After all, every single time I'd needed to offer up some excuse-not-an-excuse, the name of Goddess Paelia had sprung from my lips automatically.
Perhaps it was only natural that things had come to this.
"Your services are so soothing to listen to, Levi."
"Right? At my old church, I always got so sleepy."
"Your voice is really gentle."
Well, if I thought of it as reaping what I had sown, it made a certain amount of sense.
From the moment I'd decided to play the part of a nun, I had more or less braced myself for this.
"...Levi, what's wrong?"
"Sister, are you feeling unwell...?"
"You look kind of tired."
But for a vampire—a creature of the night by nature—
this relentlessly diligent lifestyle was nothing short of a living hell.
The children did fetch firewood and the day's needed supplies on time, but—
the amount that kids barely ten years old could bring back was woefully insufficient to sustain our current way of life.
"I-Is that so...?"
"Is something the matter?"
"No... I'm just a little tired, that's all."
In other words, in the two weeks since the children had come to this church,
I had been running on all cylinders, twenty-four hours a day, without a single proper wink of sleep.
I didn't regret my choice to look after these children one bit.
But even a vampire couldn't help but wear down under a march this relentless.
Come to think of it, I didn't think I'd ever moved around this industriously back in my old world, either...
"Oh, come to think of it, Sister. I've noticed you slip out at dawn pretty often..."
Ellie's careful little remark struck home with pinpoint accuracy, and my body flinched of its own accord, my face freezing into an awkward expression.
"Me...?"
"Ah, I heard something like that too."
"Me too."
I nearly teared up thinking they were worried about me—only to realize the children were quietly cornering me, preparing to drop the hammer.
These ungrateful little wretches.
"...The truth is, there's something important I haven't told you all."
"Hm?"
"I've been offering separate prayers to Lady Paelia at dawn, at a place only I know of."
The words came out flat and matter-of-fact, delivered with a face grown quite haggard.
If I hadn't been a vampire, I wouldn't have had to put myself through this ridiculous ordeal in the first place.
It seemed that the more time I spent with the children, the more lies I had to tell.
"Really?!"
"Wow... then how many times a day do you pray...?"
"Sister, you're amazing."
At this rate, each passing day felt like a little more of my flesh being carved away.
But having boldly declared with my own mouth that I would take responsibility for these children, I couldn't very well start showing reluctance now.
Besides, something I never could have dreamed of had just exploded out of nowhere, without any warning at all.
As of this moment, I was effectively backed against the edge of a cliff.
【Eisen】 — Messiah
【Ellie】 — Messiah
【Iris】 — Messiah
Two whole weeks had passed, and yet the word Messiah still sat proudly beside each of the children's names.
The first time I'd laid eyes on that word, I'd been quite taken aback and utterly bewildered.
Back then, I had no idea what "Messiah" was supposed to mean.
Only later, after digging through a worn old Bible, did I confirm it: the Messiah was a savior.
It was written to mean the one who would bring about the salvation of the world.
"Alright! Starting today, I'm going to follow Levi's example and do the dawn prayers too!"
"I-I want to do it too..."
"Me too."
"That's... not really the direction Lady Paelia is looking for..."
It had all begun as a simple act of pity, and yet suddenly it had ballooned into something far too big for me to handle.
Before, I could only check my own status window—but from that day onward, I'd become able to see the children's status windows as well.
"Gasp—could it be that you can even talk with Lady Paelia, Levi?"
"Well... it's hard to call it conversation. It'd be more accurate to say I receive feelings from her, just a little."
"Wow... as expected of the nun Lady Paelia holds dear..."
"Amazing."
That part was just a plain lie I was feeding the kids.
While I could see the word Messiah on their status windows, there was no direct exchange with Paelia beyond that—nothing at all.
Come to think of it, whether a goddess named Paelia actually existed was itself a question.
And even if she did exist, how could I—a vampire—possibly hold a conversation with a goddess like Paelia?
"Now then, everyone... you have free time until the next service... don't worry about me and go play to your hearts' content..."
"...You're already so pale, but you look even paler today."
"Your dark circles have gotten deeper too..."
"You've gotten skinnier."
Were they genuinely worried, or merely feigning concern while taking sly little jabs at me—
I couldn't tell at all. The comments kept pouring in from every side without pause.
Thirty minutes had already passed since the service ended, and all I wanted was to rest properly, at least until the next service that would start at six.
"...Ah."
"What is it, what's wrong, Levi?"
"Come to think of it, Lady Paelia said she thinks we're holding far too many services."
"Huh? I thought you said you couldn't talk with her."
"It's just that a proper back-and-forth isn't possible. I can still understand her meaning to a certain extent."
A single thought had suddenly drifted across my mind.
Why on earth hadn't I thought of this until now?
This was a problem that could be solved in a snap, simply by invoking Goddess Paelia.
"She says all this is too much of a burden, and that it would be better to hold just two services—morning and afternoon—and no more."
For a moment, the children's expressions shifted into something ambiguous, but they quickly accepted everything and began showing positive attitudes.
"Well, that does sound like her."
"If that's the goddess's will, then there's nothing to be done..."
"I can accept that."
"Then today's service ends here. Go enjoy yourselves until dinnertime."
In an instant, our window of free time had expanded dramatically.
If it had been like this from the start, I wouldn't have worked myself to the point of feeling this exhausted.
"Come play with us, Levi. Every time, you just sit there and watch us have fun."
"I'm sorry? No. No, no, no... I'm extremely tired right now, so..."
"Oh, right. That's how it was, huh."
A cold sweat ran down my spine in that instant.
If I hadn't mentioned being tired beforehand, I would have been stuck haggling over this exact topic for ages.
"Have fun out there..."
"Yeah! We'll stay inside the garden, so don't worry."
"Thank you, Eisen. I'm leaving Ellie and Iris in your care."
"Yep! Just leave it to me!"
We weren't truly siblings by blood, but ever since that day, Eisen had naturally appointed himself the big brother, doting on Ellie and Iris with meticulous care.
With his exceptional initiative and situational judgment well beyond his years, it was nothing short of a blessing for someone like me with so much on my plate.
Truly a remarkably sensible kid.
I decided I'd quietly give him an extra portion of dinner later, behind the others' backs.
A few hours later.
Having entrusted Ellie and Iris to the dependable Eisen, I had been blissfully lost in a delicious sleep in my room in the convent.
As always, I'd assumed today, too, would pass by without incident.
But that was my mistake.
"Le-Levi... Sister Levinia—!!"
Ellie flung open my tightly shut door with a tremendous racket and abruptly burst into loud, wailing sobs.
Startled upright by the sudden commotion, I scrambled to my feet and frantically glanced around with a half-lidded, sleep-drunk face.
"Wh-Wh-What?! What is it?!"
"Waaah...!! Sister...!! Eisen and Iris, they..."
Around Ellie, wailing at the top of her lungs, there was no sign whatsoever of Eisen or Iris.
I was still groggy and drowning in sleep, but even so, I managed to grasp the situation well enough.
"They said... they said they'd be right back... they did..."
The day had already faded into dusk, and Ellie's crying showed no sign whatsoever of stopping.
Not once, not a single time, had anything like this ever happened before. So why, of all people, Eisen and Iris...
"Waaahhh...!!"
"What in the world..."
The two children I'd thought were the least likely to run into trouble had gone and gotten into an accident first of all.
I didn't believe it could be anything too catastrophic.
Still, my earlier plan to quietly slip Eisen an extra portion of dinner behind the kids' backs? Cancelled.