Chapter 1. Candidate and Candidate (3)
Chapter 1. Candidate and Candidate (3)
"Here we are."
I said as I opened the door.
The place we entered wasn't the church building itself, but another building sharing the same grounds.
The building used for worship services and for when the faithful came to pray had apparently originally been a real Catholic cathedral.
But since that single "cathedral building" alone was apparently a bit difficult for actually running an orphanage, they had bought up several buildings connected to the back of the cathedral a dozen or so years ago and built something about the size of a small university.
It was a little absurd that a rootless religion not even half a century old had gone and built its buildings in such an antique style, though.
For now, this was a place called a convent. The exterior had an antique design, but the interior was furnished practically, except where that kind of design was deliberately required. The area where the nuns lived in particular was, literally, just a "dormitory."
There were rows of double and quadruple rooms, a separate shared kitchen, and a separate dining hall.
There was also a separate prayer room just for the nuns. Unless they went out to assist with worship or do volunteer work, their daily lives were entirely handled within these grounds. Aside from volunteer activities, there was almost no reason to leave the cathedral property except for a few hours of outing time on weekends.
"It's a bit cramped compared to where you lived, right?"
As I said that, I set the suitcase I had been pulling in front of the wardrobe. It was the wardrobe Lee Chae-eun would be using from now on.
"Uh, well...."
Lee Chae-eun, who had come inside while glancing around the room, wore a somewhat complicated expression.
She was a Hero's daughter, after all. Her family had to be incredibly well off. A Rank 1 Hunter earned an enormous income, so a Hero above even that hardly needed explanation.
If someone who had lived in a place like that suddenly had to stay in a cramped double room like this, it wouldn't be strange for them to be a bit shocked.
"It's not much different from the dorm I used at the academy, anyway."
Hm.
Well, maybe not.
The original wasn't a full-fledged academy story. For one thing, the male lead was a Hunter, not an academy student. Still, while it wasn't actually set at an academy, the events inside the Hunter Association were fairly similar to an academy story.
Taking classes, doing practical training, training, and getting entangled with the heroines in the middle of it all. Under the pretext that it was a process for raising new recruits.
Of course, Lee Chae-eun and Saintess Anna—that is, the version of me in this world—had belonged to the convent in the original too and received separate lessons of their own.
The protagonist had only visited once or twice a week to audit lectures on Holy Power.
"......."
Come to think of it, I'd be running into the protagonist soon too.
"Hey, so."
While I was blankly lost in thought, I heard a voice calling me from beside me.
"Anna, was it? What's your surname?"
"I don't have one."
I took off my veil, tossed it carelessly onto the bed, and flung myself down beside it. The mattress, which wasn't all that high-quality, creaked a little.
"No surname...... ah."
At my answer, Lee Chae-eun closed her mouth.
That's right. I had no surname. The reason was simple. Because I had no parents.
You might ask how it makes sense in modern society to have no surname even if you're an orphan, but in this world, that's how it was.
I had heard a priest from the Church say several times that all those without parents were children of God and should not be treated carelessly, but that wasn't actually the reason.
It simply wasn't assigned for administrative purposes. Children raised in the convent were called by their Baptismal Names, and upon Laicization they were allowed to choose whatever surname and given name they wanted. My name was registered in the Church's administrative system, but the corresponding field in the government system was blank.
There was a person recorded as "me," and it said I had the Baptismal Name "Anna," but only my legal "name" field was blank.
And this had another effect too.
The reason people entered the convent wasn't "all" because they were orphans. Some were daughters of vicious criminals, and there were also cases where both parents were perfectly alive but the convent took the child in for protection for various political reasons.
In that case, hiding one's real name was the best approach. Inside here, we were all called by our Baptismal Names. So orphans, politicians' children, and serial killers' children were all just ordinary ascetics here.
......In theory.
Theory didn't always fit reality perfectly.
"You heard the explanation, right? Inside here, you have to be called by your Baptismal Name. That's the rule. Do you have a Baptismal Name? If not, you can just pick something suitably pretty and use that."
I answered while lying on the bed, undoing the belt I had fastened below my chest. My chest, which had been emphasized into a round shape by the belt, was hidden by my clothes going slightly loose once the belt was undone.
Lee Chae-eun, who had been staring blankly at that sight, blinked and then answered as if she had forgotten.
"Uh...... I do have one."
Of course, I already knew. It was just more natural to say I didn't know than to say I did, so I had phrased it that way.
"Could I pick a different one?"
Huh?
"Is there a reason?"
I hadn't expected that kind of reaction, so I turned my head toward Lee Chae-eun and asked.
"Uh...... no, just. It's a bit, how should I put it, not to my taste."
"If you had no Baptismal Name at all, that would be one thing, but if you were baptized and had a Baptismal Name chosen, it would be registered in the Church's administrative system. That's not something I can change."
It could be done if you went through the administrative procedure, but I didn't know that procedure well.
Lee Chae-eun probably wouldn't go so far as to change her Baptismal Name anyway. Once she underwent Laicization, she could simply use her own name.
"......Maria."
"You don't like that name?"
"It's a bit...... old-fashioned, isn't it?"
Ha.
Of course, it wasn't the same 'Maria' borne by a saint from old Christianity, but it was still the name of a saint in this country's State Religion.
For reference, in the original work she was just called by her name or Maria.
Had she originally disliked her Baptismal Name?
"Then I'll call you Ria."
I said it offhandedly.
"Ria?"
"It's Maria, right? You can just shorten it to Ria. Do you dislike Ria too?"
"No, is it okay to shorten a saint's name like that?"
Was that something to be said by someone who had just disparaged that saint's name as old-fashioned moments ago?
"The Saintess is magnanimous, so she wouldn't get angry just because someone shortened her name a little, would she?"
I said as I carelessly pulled my socks off my feet and tossed them under the bed with little plops.
"......."
Lee Chae-eun sat down on the edge of her own bed with an expression that said she didn't know how to respond to what I'd said.
Her head was still covered by the veil.
"That veil looks stuffy. Why don't you take it off?"
"Uh, yeah."
This time she took it off right away without asking anything further. Had it been that stuffy? No, she had probably seen me toss mine off so naturally first and judged that it was allowed.
Ordinary people didn't know about life inside the convent, after all.
I didn't actually know much about convent life in the world of my Past Life, either. This convent was the only one I had ever experienced.
But if things were done properly— that is, if you followed the "standard"— the veil was not supposed to be removed during daily life. It was worn to keep the body and mind neat and to avoid revealing one's own color, meaning your hair had to stay covered throughout daily life.
Even taking off my socks and sprawling on the bed like this during work hours was normally difficult. I only had time today because I had been assigned to show Lee Chae-eun around; normally I spent my days cleaning various parts of the cathedral or making Holy Water.
"......Hey, what's that."
As I started dozing off while lying on the bed, Lee Chae-eun spoke up at the sight of me.
When I turned my head, I saw bright red hair.
That short bob with one side tucked behind her ear was more elegant than I'd expected. Though that didn't mean her fierce image completely disappeared.
"Don't you have things you need to do? I heard people are pretty busy inside the convent, doing this and that."
"Right now? Hmm, wouldn't it be fine to slack off a little before going out?"
"Is that how it is?"
"Well, they say that someone up above looking down on us is so great that they forgive us no matter what sins we commit. So wouldn't it be fine to put off what needs to be done a little? They'll forgive everything anyway."
At my words, Lee Chae-eun's expression grew complicated in several ways.
I felt a bit sorry for someone who had come prepared for something far more excessive, and had even come ready to fight if things didn't suit her, but I had absolutely no intention of becoming that diligent Saintess from the original work.
In the original, whenever Lee Chae-eun did something she shouldn't do as a nun, the Saintess would call her out and the two of them would bicker constantly, but...
Judging from her expression alone, this was a situation where she looked like she might point me out first.
Seeing me wave my hand through the white light shining down over my face and scatter it away, Lee Chae-eun made an even more dumbfounded expression.
Mm, mm, this much was doing my job splendidly, yes indeed.
Nothing beats mirror therapy when it comes to persuasion.
If I showed an even worse sight, she would think this was too much too.
In theory, it was a perfect plan.