Chapter 1. Candidate and Candidate (12)
Chapter 1. Candidate and Candidate (12)
"......What is all this?"
I frowned as I looked at the pile of books Ria had stacked in front of me.
"What you're going to learn."
"What I'm going to learn?"
"You're staying at the convent for now, but you're planning to undergo Laicization eventually, aren't you? So wouldn't it be better to learn at least some useful information before you leave?"
"And the thing I need to learn is an encyclopedia of creatures beyond the Gate?"
That wasn't the exact title, but the contents were similar.
"It won't hurt to know. If you don't know things like market prices, there's a good chance you'll just get ripped off."
Well, sure, that's true.
There was a reason Hunters did this work. There was a reason Associations—practically corporations—had formed, too.
The bodies of Monsters from beyond a Gate—or Monsters that invade this side through a Gate—often contain materials useful to humanity.
That ranged from rare ores that existed in reality but were difficult to mine to Mana Stones of types that couldn't possibly exist in reality at all.
Or Monster meat can be so incredibly delicious that tiny quantities circulate as delicacies...... or certain special body parts can genuinely function as potent aphrodisiacs rather than merely being rumored to.
The means by which Hunters, the Hunter Association, and even the 'Heroes' make their living is by obtaining such high-value resources and selling them at a profit.
And naturally, there are plenty of scams too.
"Even if you don't do Hunter work yourself, a lot of it is already used in everyday life, isn't it?"
"......."
I lifted the front cover of the book slightly, then set it back down and let out a long breath.
"......People often lump all the creatures beyond the Gate together and call them 'Monsters,' but that isn't how Hunters actually classify them."
"Huh?"
"Even if they look monstrous, ordinary 'creatures' that simply went through a completely different evolutionary process from Earth's flora and fauna can't be exterminated with Holy Power. But the beings that Hunters actually classify as 'monsters'—the ones that move using Mana as their primary energy source—are extremely vulnerable to Holy Power."
I kept talking.
"Beyond the Gate, there are also beings you could call intelligent life. There are only a handful capable of forming nations, but some of them have their own complex cultures and histories."
"......You know a lot."
Ria looked at me with a subtly complicated expression.
"Heh heh heh."
I felt my shoulders straighten a little. Not long ago, I'd told Ria that God didn't exist and been immediately refuted, but this time I'd managed to completely defy her expectations.
"I'll have you know my grades were near the top of my class. I studied pretty hard in my own way."
To live on my own after Laicization, I needed to know how this world worked.
Actually, what I'd read in novels had helped to some extent. The only Gate-related results I saw firsthand were serious casualties, but as far as knowledge went, I knew enough to be reasonably practical.
And besides—
One of the nuns I didn't get along with had studied incredibly hard. I absolutely could not stand that girl throwing me a smug smile after getting a higher score than me.
To crush her fair and square, I needed to have my own strengths too.
Though I didn't need to tell Ria all that.
"Well, I don't know much about market prices, but I do know enough to survive out there, you know? You're looking at me like I'm some bird in a cage."
At my words, Ria furrowed her brow and stared at me.
So she really did think that way.
People were a little strange. Maybe it was because of how this world worked, but people were shocked that I'd been a Saintess Candidate, and then shocked again that I could wield that kind of power.
And usually the former was 'disdain,' while the latter was 'admiration.' The gap between the two was so wide that people who saw the Holy Power I wielded would have their view of me completely flipped.
At least Father, the Mother Superior, and a few of the nuns who had seen that Holy Power for a long time treated me more or less the same as always.
......Though I wasn't really in a position to talk, since I'd tried to use my being at the convent as a shield.
"Hmm, is that so? Then there's no need to make you memorize this."
"You were planning to make me memorize it?"
I answered in disbelief, but Ria immediately shifted the conversation to another topic.
"So, have you ever tried training?"
"Training?"
Was she trying to turn me into a Hunter? Hmm, maybe she was still thinking about taking me to the Association.
"......I have tried it."
I answered honestly.
Wasn't this novel a Hunter story? Of course I'd admired the protagonist in my own way. I'd admired the Hunter life too. I mean, when you're in an isekai, the first thing you do is look into swords, shields, and armor, right? By my standards, this place was an isekai too.
It was a world with people who swung swords, people who used Magic, and people like me who could wield Holy Power.
That was also why I'd wanted to go outside the convent.
Being an Atheist had played a part in my rebelling and trying to escape the position of Saintess, but another reason was that I admired the lives of adventurers.
As a Saintess, I couldn't go very far. It was difficult to travel beyond a Gate and interact with races that lived only on the other side.
The dream of roaming the world a little more freely, forming a party with people, pioneering new places, and interacting with civilizations I'd never encountered—that wasn't actually a thought unique to me, someone who'd lived in another world and crossed over. Isn't it an easy profession to admire? It's like admiring astronauts as a child, but it's a far more realistic and attainable profession than that.
"But unfortunately, it seems I don't have that kind of talent."
Personally, I thought I was at least average, but unfortunately I didn't have the skill to become a 'Hunter,' a pioneer of the age. It was more attainable than being an astronaut, but it still wasn't a profession just anyone could have.
Not every church had a Knight Order stationed there, but Knight Order instructors were sent around periodically to recruit talent. Volunteers received light training so the instructors could identify those who showed promise.
When you're young, you can attend almost like it's a taekwondo school; once you're older, the training becomes much more serious. Unfortunately, I'd never once been selected.
Since the system is also operated for personal fitness improvement, I could have kept training steadily, but, hmm.
......The instructors who came to our church didn't seem to view me very favorably. Well, why would they get close to someone who had openly antagonized a Cardinal?
It was an organization that openly operated under orders from above, so keeping their distance wasn't strange.
And my skills weren't good enough to justify taking that risk to recruit me.
I had wondered whether I should show my Holy Power to a Knight Order instructor, but, well.
......I always tried to think rationally and logically, but unfortunately, I still had a strong aversion to the position of Saintess.
I didn't want to join a party 'as a Saintess.'
"What kind of weapons have you handled?"
But Ria, unexpectedly, didn't give up right away or scoff after hearing my story.
"Hmm, since it's a church, the first thing I handled was a sword."
And I quickly realized that a properly sharpened sword wasn't something you could just swing around. Above all, swinging that lump of metal weighing a little over two kilograms wasn't as easy as it sounded.
......And one of the nuns who used to ignore me got praised for her swordsmanship and then strutted around like crazy every time she stood in front of me. There was a rumor going around that she'd probably be scouted directly into the Knight Order this year without undergoing Laicization.
"The next thing I handled was a mace."
Blunt weapons were at least somewhat simpler than swords, so I could handle one—but unfortunately, that was about it.
The level I could swing at was something the other nuns could do too, so I couldn't stand out much among them.
My skill was exactly at the level of someone learning close combat as a hobby.
There were limits to increasing my stamina too. I tried running hard in my own way and did strength training, but among the nuns there was a girl far more talented than me in that area.
There was also talk that she'd probably be scouted by the Knight Order. For reference, she and I were simply distant.
While I was making various attempts—
"I also brought up guns once."
"Guns?"
That's right.
I may not have looked it, but I'd served on active duty in South Korea's armed forces.
And I'd been an ordinary rifleman with no special qualification. I could hit a target 200 meters away with the naked eye.
Unfortunately, I'd never once hit the 250-meter target.
"It seems bringing firearms into the church is problematic for various reasons. But still, you can use a gun as long as you can move your finger, right?"
I shrugged.
Some Hunters use firearms. Among the heroines who followed the protagonist around, there was one who handled various guns too.
Apparently, even the Knight Order couldn't freely handle firearms. That only made sense—if what was effectively a military organization started arming itself with guns and cannons, the government would have a problem.
For various reasons, my suggestion was simply ignored outright.
"Are you confident?"
"Well, it's not that I have no confidence at all. I may not look it, but my concentration isn't bad."
Of course, I'd never actually fired a gun, so I said it vaguely like that.
I thought about saying something like, "You think it's that easy?"—but Ria just nodded.
"Okay, got it."
Ria picked up the books she'd stacked on my desk as she spoke. There was more than one, so they looked pretty heavy, but the way she just lifted them easily showed she wasn't a Hero Candidate for nothing.
Ria's last words nagged at me a little, but I just nodded.
No, and also.
I really wish she wouldn't bring study material to someone who just graduated high school and wants to relax.
*
And a few days later.
"Here."
Ria plopped something down in front of me.
"Try shooting this."
"What?"
I said that as I looked at what Ria had put down.
......It was a gun.
"......It's a pistol."
"Yeah."
Ria nodded without much change in expression.
"......."
Uh, I've never even touched a pistol before.
Well, I was a rifleman. A rifle, sure, but—
"Why? You said you were confident."
No.
I mean, the type is a little—
