Chapter 11. Summer and the Sea (1)
Since I had saved people who had genuinely been in danger, the dwarves' reaction was bound to be more intense than the gnomes'.
For the gnomes, it was something that 'could' become a problem in the near future, but the dwarves might literally have been wiped out if not for me.
That said, it wasn't as if there were no dwarves who looked at me unfavorably. Even if public opinion kept them from showing it openly, there were always people who stared at someone with strangely twisted eyes.
Well, it wasn't something that mattered much to me right now.
"There are some who would like to express their gratitude a bit more fervently. Would you care to enjoy the banquet a little longer before you go? Or do you have other pressing business?"
"No, I don't have a busy schedule, but......."
The princess knew perfectly well that I didn't much like appearing at such gatherings, and she asked in a teasing tone. I hemmed and hawed and dodged the question.
"What about you, Your Highness? Will you be all right? You're going to a completely different world."
That was right. This princess who had told me to enjoy the banquet was set to cross over into our world to conduct research on Gates.
It wasn't simply about saving the elf kingdom.
It was to prevent a second Gate Disaster that might occur in the future.
"......That's true. For us dwarves, a space like this is the cozy one, but......."
The princess murmured as she looked up at her room, then turned back to me.
"Still, if danger is approaching, I must do my utmost to stop it. If it's a matter of cooperating with that, I will gladly help. For a dwarf, a debt of gratitude must always be repaid."
At her words, I could only nod.
The day of departure.
Receiving the grandest send-off possible underground, we departed once more for the gnome territory.
The dwarf princess's appearance was deliberately not shown outside. Surely no gnome would be thoughtless enough to strike another nation's princess, but wouldn't it be most ideal for neither side to give the other an excuse?
"......So this is where the gnomes live."
Riding on the bus, the princess murmured as she gazed out the window.
I couldn't say there was no particular emotion in that voice. According to what the princess had said, half of that blood was gnome blood.
She hadn't said whose blood it was. I thought the princess herself might not know, but I decided not to speak of it.
There was no need to deliberately poke at a sore spot.
*
"......Hoo."
I lay sprawled face-down on the bed and let out a long sigh.
As expected, the place where I felt most psychologically at ease was my home. Well, strictly speaking, the place I lived was the church's convent rather than my home, so the phrase 'my home' was a bit of a misnomer.
"You worked hard."
Ria said with a bitter smile.
"I really did work hard this time......."
Though I'd lived my whole life without any particular hardship.
And while there was a sense in which I'd volunteered for it, in this case, if I hadn't volunteered, it was obvious it would come back as even greater suffering later. Honestly, there had been no choice.
That was right. There had been no choice. Ever since I came to this world. The whole time.
"......Hey, Ria."
"Hm?"
"Could you brush away that light falling behind my head?"
Ria let out a baffled laugh and waved her hand behind my head. The light that had been creeping into the edges of my vision disappeared.
"Should I ask them to let you rest for a while? I don't think the church people are so tactless that they'd immediately put a Saint who's done such great work back to labor."
"......Not a Saint. A Saint Candidate......."
"Honestly, who's going to believe that now?"
I turned my head.
I narrowed my eyes and glared at Ria.
"You won't believe it either, Ria?"
"......."
At my words, Ria's eyes widened as if she were startled, and then she burst out laughing—puhaha.
Then she pounced on me and mussed my hair wildly with both hands.
"Ah, what are you doing!?"
When I panicked, Ria stopped her hands abruptly.
Then this time, she slowly and gently stroked my hair and said,
"You did well."
"......."
"I mean it."
Ah.
Wasn't this a bit unfair? An unfair move using her looks.
Normally she had this slightly rough, delinquent air about her, but when she suddenly smiled softly with that pretty face, I didn't know how to react.
So I turned my head and buried my face in the bed again.
Even though I had turned away from Ria, she silently stroked my hair for a while.
Honestly, it felt good.
And that was exactly why it somehow made me even more annoyed.
*
And so July slipped away entirely, and August arrived with summer in full swing.
The church could be rigid and inflexible in many ways, but it didn't make young nuns work under the blazing sun. Rather, it reduced outdoor activity hours a bit and entered a sort of 'vacation' atmosphere.
The nuns couldn't do any specialized work anyway. If an air conditioner's outdoor unit broke, they naturally called a professional. If a computer broke, they called a professional. Weeds and such were naturally handled by commissioning the relevant work.
We did do things like sweeping, but that time was limited to early morning and evening after sunset. And the hours were reduced, too.
Naturally, the church's atmosphere became a bit more relaxed, and the nuns' mood grew somewhat languid.
I was one of those nuns. Having already spent fifteen years here, I had completely adapted to that atmosphere.
......An adult nun, huh.
Normally, this was about the time I should have been hearing various things from my seniors. Staying at the church even after becoming an adult meant becoming a professional member of the clergy.
If the work of young nuns was mostly preparing for ceremonies and cleaning, professional nuns were essentially treated as half-medical personnel. Naturally, there was a lot to be careful about in that process, and they learned all sorts of complicated medical terminology.
"......Could the existence of the Saint Candidate actually be lowering the skills of our church's clergy?"
"That does seem worth considering."
I had once overheard the Priest and the Convent Head having such a conversation. It was after I had saved people who had nearly died a few times.
Holy Power wasn't originally a miracle that made someone on the verge of death spring right up. The medicine of this world involved observing over a longer period and repairing the broken parts of the body one by one.
But since I healed everyone in one go and sent them on their way, ordinary clergy inevitably had fewer opportunities to improve their skills.
From then on, the patients I treated were usually severe cases.
......Hm.
There wasn't much I could teach them, either. Besides, I had already accepted that I was a Saint Candidate. When I was young, there might have been things about me to mock, but there was no one left in the church who could insult or tease me when I was already on friendly terms with princesses of other races.
"......Is it really all right to be this lazy......."
"Of course it's not."
I hadn't said it expecting an answer—honestly, half of me just wanted to lie around like this—but my roommate, who shared the room with me, apparently disagreed completely.
"We promised, didn't we? That we'd go to the sea."
"......."
Hm.
That was true.
I briefly, quite seriously, contemplated a religious dilemma I had never faced in my life.
The swimsuit we had bought to go to the sea. The one Ria had even given me as a gift.
In the end, it had been a bikini. We hadn't returned those swimsuits afterward. The swimsuits were neatly folded, hidden from the Convent Head, and placed tidily in the corner of our wardrobe.
So...... Ria was determined to wear that swimsuit no matter what.
I had expected it, but...... hm.
"You don't want to?"
When Ria asked that, I sat up in bed.
Normally she acted so bold and strong, but right now Ria looked exactly like a rain-soaked puppy. She wasn't tearing up, but she had her hands lightly clasped, her head slightly bowed, and she was looking up at me with upturned eyes.
I had seen that expression before.
That day, after buying the swimsuit, when she had taken me to a very expensive restaurant. When I had sat there with an expression that said I didn't know what to say, she had fidgeted as if she were the one who had done something wrong.
"......."
Ria hadn't done anything wrong.
"......We should go, of course."
When I answered like that, Ria grinned. Seeing that change in expression, I frowned.
"What? Don't tell me you made that face on purpose. Acting?"
"Well, if you want something, you're supposed to use any means necessary, right?"
"......You want to go to the sea with me badly enough to use any means necessary?"
When I asked with a dumbfounded laugh, Ria beamed at me.
"Yeah."
That one-syllable answer hit home more surely than any of the long speeches Ria had ever given me.
"......Let's make sure no one else catches us wearing the swimsuits. It really could become a religious issue."
When I said that with a serious expression, Ria let out a short laugh.