Chapter 6. Friendship and Relationships (1)
Chapter 6. Friendship and Relationships (1)
Chapter 6. Friendship and Relationships
Fortunately, society didn't erupt into chaos or anything.
I had been a Saintess Candidate from the start, and all I had lost were the rights that came with that position.
Above all, the incident itself hadn't happened on Earth, so almost no one had seen it directly. Even if it had been recorded on video, Holy Power itself doesn't show up on camera, so it couldn't have served as evidence anyway.
Thanks to that, my peaceful daily life wasn't going to be completely shattered just yet. I was, after all, only a "Candidate."
"Though in some places they seem to treat her as not just a Saintess, but practically a Goddess."
"They're beings with almost no chance of coming over to this side, so let's just leave them be."
I was sitting lazily under the warm sunlight for the first time in a while when Ria said something pointless, and I answered like that.
About two weeks had passed since that incident.
In the meantime, I'd decided to change my thinking in my own way.
There's an old saying: if you can't avoid it, enjoy it. Since I couldn't avoid this position anyway, I decided to enjoy it for now.
The main story starts after May. Thanks to that, a summer episode had already appeared in the novel's early chapters. It was still only early April, so it was safe to think I had almost another month of leeway.
On top of that, the novel's story stayed close to everyday life until the early-to-middle parts, so there were no major issues. If I had to be precise, the stories that served as prologues to the heroines' episodes continued one after another.
The main heroines were the Saintess “Anna,” the childhood friend Han Yu-ri, Glaria the Elf Princess and capable Wizard, and Lee Chae-eun, the Hero Candidate.
For reference, all four were people in positions that were hard for them to handle on their own, so naturally, each of the related episodes was expected to be far from light.
Especially Anna, the Saintess.
Holy Power is a force that repels Mana. To be a bit more precise, when the two mix, they annihilate each other, like matter meeting antimatter. The difference, I suppose, is that the enormous energy released when matter undergoes pair annihilation isn't observed in this case.
Those who thought of a Gate's power as “God's power”—that is, those opposed to humanity who probably considered Mana their chosen power—targeted the Saintess Anna.
It was not that they saw her only as someone who would oppose them. In the main story, there were scenes where some followers praised the Saintess, treating her as a “Saintess.”
The exact reason wasn't given in the novel's main story, but the comments from people speculating about future developments were still quite useful as reference.
'Since it's a power that completely repels, maybe they think of it as the other half of God's power?'
That comment had a fairly high number of recommendations, and I thought it was plausible too. So I wrote that opinion down in my notes as well.
Over the past two weeks, I'd diligently read the journal I'd written and refreshed the memories of the original work in my head. I tried hard to remember at least the flow of the story accurately, and to keep the key opportunities and important material in mind too.
So, around late May, something would probably happen—
"The cherry blossoms will bloom soon."
Ria, sitting beside me in the armchairs we'd brought out to the church's back garden, said as she looked up at the sky.
"I suppose so."
I answered absently.
I was squinting in the weather, which was ambiguously neither too hot nor too chilly, when Ria suddenly spoke to me again.
"Want to go see them together?"
"Huh?"
Without realizing it, I opened my eyes wide and looked at Ria.
Sitting in the armchair she'd placed next to me, Ria was looking at me and smiling.
Ria had her right elbow propped on the armrest, her chin resting on one hand, watching me.
Ah, damn. She's pretty.
It can't be helped. With my rational and reasonable way of thinking, I can't look at something pretty and call it ugly.
In the novel, the descriptions of her were almost all about how gallant she was rather than how pretty, but come to think of it, isn't being pretty basically the default for a heroine?
"So?"
And when that pretty face asked me back like that, I was a little flustered in a different way.
How should I put it.
Didn't she usually use a rougher speech style? Ah, of course, I don't mean a cat-like way of talking—I mean the rough sentence endings in Korean.
Unfortunately, from my Past Life up to now, I had almost no experience of a woman I thought was pretty approaching me first. Usually, the people who spoke to me first were café employees or people I had gone to volunteer with.
Naturally, in both cases, they weren't talking to me because they had any great personal connection to me.
I'd lived a social life in my own way, so I did have something of a response manual for such situations, but.......
"If you don't want to, forget it."
"Ah, no. It's not that."
Friends, huh.
If I had to define our relationship, that's probably what it would be.
As of this year, both of us were legally adults. Ria's birthday hadn't passed yet, but in this world, they counted from the start of the year.
By your mid-to-late twenties, you get worn down by society and the unique sociability of your teens fades somewhat, but at least Ria was at an age where that sociability was still almost fully intact.
If anything, it was me, being oddly self-conscious, who was the strange one.
.......
That's kind of annoying.
"Sure. Let's go."
At my words, Ria nodded with satisfaction and leaned back in her chair.
Ah, but.
How exactly were we going to get there?
*
"There's no need to overthink it. We're both adults anyway."
"Ah......."
Once we were outside, my expression went a little blank.
Come to think of it, adult nuns did go around here and there. Of course, it wasn't for fun—just when there was business outside.
"Still, we aren't considered 'adults' here yet, are we?"
Legally we were adults, but the way the Church saw it was different.
As I'd said before, the decision about whether to go outside or not was due by late May. It was still early April, so there were nearly two months left.
And until then, the convent treated nuns and monastics as "youth." Meaning we couldn't go outside freely.
"You don't have to worry about that."
But Ria said it very simply.
"You're not just a nun—you're a Saintess Candidate, right?"
Ah, was that it.
Was I...... already considered a full member of the Church?
"Besides, they probably decided it was fine because I'm with you."
Ria said confidently, pointing at herself.
Hm, well.
If that's the case, I don't really have anything to say either.
That said, Saintess Candidates usually went around with a whole entourage, but seeing that Ria and I had actually come outside, maybe I had simply been overly cautious. After all, this world's version of me had lived entirely inside the Church.
"......Well, fine. Let's say that's true."
I furrowed my brow slightly and looked at the scene in front of me.
"But didn't we say we were going to see the cherry blossoms?"
At my question, Ria looked at me with an expression that said, what are you talking about?
"You're going to go see cherry blossoms in a nun's habit?"
"......."
I really don't know what to say to that.
"Taking off the habit doesn't mean you stop being a nun."
"......That's not wrong, but the habit is, first of all, a state of mind."
Taking off a school uniform doesn't stop someone from being a student, but schools don't forbid students from wearing anything except the uniform, either.
Ah, of course, nuns have somewhat stricter rules than that.
"......."
"Looking at me with an expression that says 'you're one to talk' isn't going to change anything, you know? First of all, this is also a nun's habit, isn't it? I'm someone who at least follows the basics."
"Ha, fine, whatever, I get it, I get it."
At my words, Ria waved her hand dismissively.
"Still, it's not like we can't buy clothes."
"Huh?"
"Just come in. Don't worry too much."
Ria said that as she grabbed my wrist and pulled me along, and in the end, I found myself walking into a clothing store.
*
My opinion and Ria's opinion were compromised, and the two of us ended up in outfits that were neither full habits nor plain clothes.
To be a bit more precise, it was an outfit with an extra outer garment thrown over our habits.
Well, I'd had experience shortening a habit, and I even wore a belt around it, so going around like this probably wasn't a big deal.
I did not know what the Mother Superior would say if she saw this...... but was I not a real Saintess Candidate now? Maybe she would simply turn a blind eye.
Even if the habit could be somewhat hidden by wearing an outer garment over it, the Veil on my head was visible no matter how loosely I wore it.
Still, just taking it off felt like crossing a line, so we decided to leave that as it was for now.
Actually, we did get looks from people around us.
My face was fairly well known, and on top of that, the two of us were in outfits that blatantly stood out.
But maybe because we were treated a little differently from celebrities, no one came up asking for autographs.
......Or maybe they just thought we were some weird nuns? Or cosplayers?
Well, that was better for me.
"See? Isn't it nice to be out?"
At Ria's words, I gave a nod.
It felt...... freeing.
For a fantasy novel, and fittingly for a church in a modern setting, the atmosphere wasn't one that harshly oppressed nuns. There was a religion, but it wasn't something you had to force yourself into.
But even so, if I had to be precise, it was also a place with extremely strong discipline.
So walking along a street overflowing with cherry blossoms just like everyone else made me feel far freer than usual.
My heart felt a little lighter.