Chapter 2. Encounters ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and Opportunities (5)

Back to the present.

"Anyway, I'm not particularly interested."

I put my broom back in the cleaning supply closet, then took the broom Ria had been holding behind me and said that.

"Really? Seriously? Not even a tiny bit?"

I put away the broom I'd taken from Ria and closed the closet, but Ria kept pressing from ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠behind.

"Really, seriously, not even a tiny bit."

I answered firmly once more.

I like reading novels. But there aren't many novels I liked enough to actually risk my life over. Honestly, web novel titles tend to run a bit long, so when I read several at once, I often get the titles mixed up even if I don't get the plots mixed up.

In this case too, I don't remember exactly what the title was.

Anyway, I thought the abbreviation had been [The Weakest Hunter] or something like that. As the title suggested, it was about the weakest Hunter encountering various strokes of fortune and eventually becoming the strongest.

If I'm being more precise, it had a bit of a misunderstanding element mixed in, but it wasn't a regret story. It was a typical light-novel-type story where the protagonist, initially dismissed lightly, grows stronger through entanglements with the heroines, and they fall for him all over again.

It was the kind of novel that showed traces of effort to build a worldview with a modern setting, heroines you could legally get involved with, a bit of academy flavor mixed in, and two heroines in nun habits.

Well, it was modern fantasy, so to bring in a "Saintess," there would have had to be a state-recognized religion. Otherwise, even if a religious order called someone a Saintess, the state would never officially acknowledge it.

And here I was, in that Saintess's position.

My argument that "there's no reason for South Korea to be a Theocracy" only worked because it was a novel; in this world, that was actually how things were, so I had nothing to say. Nothing except blaming the Being Above.......

Having thought that far, I shook my head hard.

An Atheist doesn't simply reject the god of one religion. An Atheist is someone who views not only the concept of God but every supernatural phenomenon in the world—anything beyond scientifically established facts—with skepticism.

So I shouldn't "resent" the Being Above. In the first place, isn't resenting a being that isn't even God a bit much?

.......

Hmm, or is it? Resenting someone who slapped you in the face does seem plausible enough.

"......."

As I was lost in thought alone, I felt a subtly unpleasant gaze.

Ria was looking at me with that kind of gaze.

"......Why?"

I asked, baffled by that gaze, and Ria shrugged her shoulders and let out a big sigh.

No, why?

I'm saying all that and she still thinks that?

Ah, of course, even though Ria looks like she's dated several boyfriends on the outside, she actually has no experience at all. So it's not strange at all for her to have an adolescent's perspective on romance rather than an adult's.

Besides, she isn't even an adult yet. Her birthday hasn't passed.

So I can understand her thinking any little opening is a "romance flag." No, I should understand. As a mature adult.

"Adolescence = puberty = hormone overproduction" is biologically unavoidable, isn't it?

"Eek!?"

As I was shaking my head as if it couldn't be helped, Ria's fingers dug between my ribs again.

"That hurts!"

I barely have any muscle there, so it's right against the bone—poking it hurts!

"Honestly......."

Ria muttered as if dumbfounded by my reaction, then turned away.

No, why is she acting like that?

I rubbed the aching spot with my hand and followed behind Ria.

Could a flag have already been raised?

Well, I wasn't the Saintess, so I was somewhat removed from the original story, but Ria's position was the same now as it had been in the original.

In the original, Ria and the Saintess bickered and fought quite often. They were what you could call best friends, but at the same time, they were rivals over one man.

"Heh, hehe......."

But there's nothing to worry about.

In ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this world, I'll hardly ever get entangled with the protagonist anyway.

Well, if he comes asking for healing, I'll heal him, but is there any reason for me to fall for Lee Si-yoon? I'd rather fall for a woman.

Preferably one with a rich, mature atmosphere...... yes, if I had to pick, like the Association receptionist who was often described in the original.

Well, in the novel she was just a supporting character.

"......What?"

Apparently hearing my laughter, Ria looked back at me with a slightly uneasy expression.

"Oh, no need for you to know. I just had a fun thought to myself."

That's right.

Ria, I'm sorry to you, but I'm going to have to break that flag.

Because my favorite heroine in the original was none other than the childhood friend.

That's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠right. As long as the childhood friend heroine exists, the other female leads can't even be called heroines. If I had to put it precisely, they're supporting characters with significant roles. In movie terms, they're characters positioned to win Best Supporting Actress, not Best Actress.

That doesn't mean I'm going to seduce the childhood friend heroine. At least in this world, I want those two to end up together.

Well, since I'd taken the Saintess's place—the one who most threatened the main heroine's position in the original—the biggest problem was already solved.

"Hehe...... Ah, wait, wait, what? Why are you suddenly raising your fingers? D-don't come closer! Don't point those fingers at me!"

As I couldn't hold back my laughter again, for some reason Ria came at me with both index fingers raised, and I quickly defended my body with both hands and shouted.

Fortunately, I crossed my arms and wrapped my hands around my sides, so I could avoid the attack—

No, seriously, she gets jealous just from seeing it twice?

Isn't that way too easy?

*

Chae-eun had been there that day, too, at the moment Anna cupped Lee Si-yoon's face.

With both hands still cupping the face of the man lying in the hospital bed, Anna was meeting his eyes with a very serious expression.

"Ah, uh......."

Chae-eun stared intently at Lee Si-yoon, who had introduced himself as a Rank 7 Hunter.

His face did look kind. He was handsome, but he didn't look like he had a strong temper or a vicious streak. At the very least, he didn't have a "thug face."

His body was good too. And that wasn't a judgment based only on the figure visible through the thin hospital gown. Chae-eun had been there the whole time Anna was healing this man that day.

"......."

Watching Anna's reaction, Chae-eun seriously considered something.

Was this a reaction Anna normally showed?

Chae-eun hadn't known Anna for long. It had barely been a month since they'd met.

Still, she had a decent grasp of Anna's personality. Anna wasn't the kind of person who was that hard to figure out in the first place.

She was excessively frank about everything. She just spilled everything without hiding what was on her mind, so there was no need to try to dig anything out of her.

She knew a lot about this and that. As Anna herself insisted, she had refused to study Scripture, but it was true that her grades at the convent school weren't bad.

However, despite having so much knowledge, Anna often seemed excessively naive. Almost as if she believed that other people were as honest as she was.

Anna herself would hate that assessment, but it matched the impression people held of a Saintess to an uncanny degree.

But that didn't mean she had no wariness toward people.

Whether it was fortunate or not, Anna at least recognized that there were people who could get excited looking at her body.

So when she came back to see the patient, she must have hidden behind the nuns.

"......Huh."

But the fact that she had stepped forward like this—

"......Um, Sister?"

Rank 7 Hunter Lee Si-yoon spoke carefully while glancing around at the people nearby.

Lee Chae-eun wasn't the only one staring at his face. Everyone in this patient room—the Priest, the Mother Superior, the nuns, even the female patient in the next bed—was staring intently at Lee Si-yoon.

Seeing that situation, Chae-eun was certain once again.

That this was the very first time Anna had shown this side of herself.

"......Brother Lee Si-yoon."

Anna, who had been staring intently at his face, finally let go of his face and spoke.

"Lee Si-yoon... Brother, you said?"

As if confirming it, she murmured the name once more, as though determined to remember it.

"Ah, yes, well, that's my name, yes, haha......."

Was that awkward attitude because he was genuinely flustered? Or was it just an act?

"Understood."

Anna nodded and answered.

"You don't have any other pain anywhere, right?"

And then, once again, she showed something she had never shown to any other patient.

Some of the nuns were already covering their mouths with both hands, and the Mother Superior was rolling her eyes around as if she had no idea how to take this situation.

Among them, only the Priest was moving his gaze with a serious expression, as if trying to grasp the situation.

And Lee Chae-eun wore a similarly serious expression.

A man who had caught the interest, for the first time, of a Saintess Candidate who knew nothing of the world and was accustomed only to the small space inside the convent walls.

......Lee Chae-eun had enough common sense and consideration not to leave that "Saintess Candidate who knew nothing" alone near that man in this situation.