Chapter 1. Candidate and Candidate (2)
Chapter 1. Candidate and Candidate (2)
To explain why a girl named Lee Chae-eun had ended up at the convent, I also had to explain the position she held: Hero Candidate.
And to explain the position of Hero Candidate, I also had to explain the difference between Heroes and Hunters.
There seemed to be all sorts of legal interpretations and technical classifications, but obviously I didn't have that kind of specialized knowledge. I only vaguely remembered what I'd read in the novel. If I tried to explain it with that meager knowledge:
"Hunters" are people who "hunt" the monsters that come out of Gates. It's a common setup in novels like this. Hunters have licenses subdivided by grade, and in this world they're treated as a kind of profession.
"Heroes" are a step above that.
Rather than becoming Heroes by achieving some heroic feat—yeah, they were more like 'superheroes' from American comics.
Though, actually, within the world of the story—meaning this world—there seemed to be plenty of debate about the Hero Title.
The main controversy was whether it made sense for someone to stand above a Rank 1 Hunter without even proving their qualifications, simply because they had talent.
In reality, once you reached Rank 1 Hunter, you apparently weren't much different from the Heroes. The only difference was whether you climbed up step by step from the bottom or had your great talent recognized and started out in that position.
Hunters were more numerous, more systematically classified, and occupied quite a lot of positions, so they seemed to wield enormous influence. But there was a reason those Hunters couldn't completely abolish the Hero system.
First, Heroes were a concept that predated Hunters. When Gates suddenly appeared in an ordinary world and Monsters poured out, what do you think they called the people who protected others with their awakened abilities? That was why the word "Hero" took hold.
Second, since the word had been established for the people who fought desperately in the very early days, Heroes were also closely allied with the religious figures active in that period. Some Saints who emerged from the Church were also "Heroes." Most Heroes were quite devout believers as well.
Lee Chae-eun was born in that context, between a "Hero" father and a "Hunter" mother.
Her relationship with her parents was generally amicable, but when Lee Chae-eun was young, her mother passed away, and Lee Chae-eun's father clung even harder to his faith to endure that memory.
She inherited her father's talent and rose all the way to Hero Candidate, but Lee Chae-eun disliked that father of hers. Because in the novel, he was portrayed as a total, utter boomer of a father.
When she came of age, Lee Chae-eun finally exploded and had a terrible argument with her father,
"If that bastard they call God really existed, Mom wouldn't have died!"
—and, well. Anyway, she said something problematic in all sorts of ways.
And Lee Chae-eun's father got so angry that he shoved Lee Chae-eun into a convent.
"......Huh?"
As I walked, sorting through the situation I'd read in the novel inside my head, I tilted my head for a moment.
Wasn't Lee Chae-eun the same age as the Saintess?
Meaning, the same age as me. As of this year, an adult. So was it even possible for her father to shove her into a convent?
"Ah, right."
Right, her birthday was in June. So until June, she was still legally a minor. She was still nineteen by international age.
As for me, my birthday was set in February. Well, even if I hadn't been a legal adult, getting kicked out of the convent would've been the same either way.
Having sorted out my thoughts, I walked again toward the place where Lee Chae-eun was waiting.
The location was the Interview Room where I'd last spoken with the Mother Superior.
Well, considering the process that brought her here required an "interview" in more ways than one, I understood. Getting shoved into a convent right on the edge of the year she became an adult—she had every right to feel like shit.
[Aaaagh!]
And as if to prove my thoughts, I heard that shout from beyond the door.
[Just you wait until June! The second I get this habit off, I'm getting a boyfriend! Watch me! Just watch!]
Hm.
I already knew her personality wasn't exactly all sunshine, but reading it in print and hearing it directly with my ears were quite different experiences.
[Now, Sister Lee Chae-eun, please calm down. The sister I told you about will be here soon.]
[Grrrrrgh.......]
As if belatedly realizing she wasn't alone in that room—or had she forgotten?—Lee Chae-eun ground her teeth.
Standing in front of the Interview Room door with my hand on the doorknob, I sank into thought for a moment.
Since I'd liked the original novel quite a bit in my own way, I was pretty interested in meeting a character from that novel—especially one of the heroines.
I mean, isn't that how you read novels? By immersing yourself in the protagonist?
She was a heroine who got prickly and fought with the protagonist a lot, but you still grow fond of her as you read. Besides, with characters like that, the process of them gradually falling for the protagonist while blushing later on is always cute.
The problem, if there was one, was that Lee Chae-eun and I were originally heroines who opposed each other.
In harem stories, catfights between heroines are destiny. It's like how in romance novels, the male leads fight over a single female lead.
You could call that a kind of fantasy too. In reality, if something like that actually happened, it would be a headache—but well, it was a novel.
"......."
No, wait. Should I even be worrying about that?
There was only one reason Lee Chae-eun and the Saintess opposed each other: the protagonist in the same party.
Whether Lee Chae-eun gets together with that protagonist or fights with the other heroines is none of my business. Because there's probably no chance I'll ever fall for the protagonist.
Having quickly finished my judgment, I opened the door.
"Sister Anna."
The Mother Superior, whose eyes met mine, quickly rose from her seat and spoke.
According to Mother Superior, my position as a Saintess Candidate hadn't completely disappeared, but since all of those "rights" had been stripped, within these walls I was nothing more than an ordinary nun.
In other words, the Mother Superior didn't jump up quickly to show courtesy to me as a Saintess Candidate—she was clearly trying to dump a headache onto me as fast as possible.
Right. Of course.
Right now I'm a Saintess Candidate in name only, but the other party is a real Hero Candidate. With all her rights intact.
The red-haired woman who'd been clutching her head with her elbows on the table turned her head toward me.
Her expression looked like it could slit a throat with a glare.
Having that fury directed at me was a little uncomfortable. It wasn't my fault Lee Chae-eun was here.
"This is Sister Lee Chae-eun, who will be living with us starting today. Sister Lee Chae-eun, the sister who just came in is Sister Anna, who will be sharing a room with you at the convent from now on."
"......."
Lee Chae-eun rose from her seat and looked back and forth between me and the Mother Superior.
The killing intent drained from her face in an instant, and bewilderment filled the empty space instead.
Well, of course.
Because among all the other nuns living in this convent, I boast a peerless fashion sense.
If I had to put it a certain way: I'm the only one who goes around like this.
Even Lee Chae-eun, right in front of me, wore her veil so strictly by the book that it was hard to tell what her actual hairstyle looked like. If I hadn't read the original, I wouldn't have known Lee Chae-eun had short red hair.
Meanwhile, I had obvious highlights streaked through my hair and only perched my veil loosely on top of my head, leaving my hairstyle fully visible underneath. And I even had an ear piercing.
"V."
I made a V-sign with my fingers in front of Lee Chae-eun.
Behold, the appearance of this world's Saintess Candidate.
Corrupt beyond all hope...... Ah, maybe that line's a bit much.
Honestly, if I'd had my way, I'd considered dyeing my hair completely bright red, but Mother Superior had made a face like she'd shave my head if I actually did, so I'd settled for highlights.
Though when I later told the Mother Superior about that idea directly, she shouted "I would never do that!" with a genuinely shocked expression.
"Uh......."
Lee Chae-eun pointed at me with her finger and looked back at the Mother Superior.
"......Please try not to corrupt her too much."
What? Honestly, you put her with me because she's a kid with serious hostility toward the convent, right?
Isn't this some kind of mirror therapy?
Knowing the Mother Superior's personality, she clearly decided she could dump a headache on me and make me realize something at the same time.
Well, fine.
As long as I can buy some time, I'm good. Even if it's not a full year, I just need to hold out until the end of this year and come up with a plan.
"So, should we head to the room?"
As I said that, I grabbed the handle of the suitcase standing next to the door.
"Ah."
Whether she was still at a loss for words, or so shocked that her ability to speak had temporarily deserted her—
Lee Chae-eun, who just moments before I opened the door had been venting her complaints about her father nonstop, only made that sound as she looked at the Mother Superior.
"May the Lord be with you all."
"Then sleep well."
I answered that prayer-like farewell with a thoroughly secular greeting, gave a small bow of my head, opened the Interview Room door, and stepped outside.
"Uh, hey."
Lee Chae-eun followed after me, looking a little flustered.
"I can pull my own suitcase."
"How could I make a sister I'll be living with for a while do work from the very start?"
That's right.
Getting Lee Chae-eun to warm up to the Church somehow was probably what Mother Superior—or Lee Chae-eun's father, who had shoved his own daughter into this convent—had in mind.
And if that's the case, I can pull it off splendidly.
Because there were already several sisters who had become my roommates, gotten utterly sick of it, and run out looking for God.
In this deeply religious society, where God's existence had already become common sense, living with me was almost like someone who knew the Earth was round living alone with someone who believed the Earth was flat.
.......
No, I'm not saying I'm on the same level as those flat-Earth bastards.