Chapter 6. Friendship and Relationships (10)

The situation was wrapped up, and it seemed that some time later, the government officially reached out.

First, an apology for having interrogated me after I contributed to defending the research institute.

The position ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of Saintess Candidate was one that could never be looked down upon within the Church.

Explicitly, it was merely the position of a nun, but in practice, it was a position from which one could potentially rise to the papacy itself.

......Well, it wasn't as if other countries lacked their own religious orders. In the first place, the Pope wasn't even in our country.

Other countries had their own Saintess Candidates, so the total number approached nearly three digits.

It was simply that this country's religious order had decided to back me.

"Still, that's a positive thing."

"Why? Because there are so many candidates in other countries, you think there's no chance you'll become a Saintess?"

"Isn't that right?"

This religious order was technically a new religion, but that didn't mean it lacked structure entirely.

And that structure was largely borrowed from the old Catholic Church, and in fact, its membership overlapped considerably with that era. Even though many parts had been redefined and new people had flowed in over the span of more than a decade, that fact remained unchanged.

Since no Asian or African pope had ever emerged from the Catholic Church, in that sense, I might...... hmm, have an advantage. That is, as a condition for being eliminated from candidacy.

"There were Asian saints in the Catholic Church, though? There were people from this country, too."

"Ah."

So that's how it worked?

"Besides, if anything, couldn't that be exactly why they might choose you? This country aside, the surrounding nations have somewhat weaker religious influence."

"......You're saying they'd use me to promote the religious order in other countries?"

I asked back, a little suspiciously.

Would that even work?

......It didn't seem like it would.

Ria seemed to think it wasn't actually possible either, and simply shrugged her shoulders.

"......."

For a moment, the surroundings fell quiet.

If there was one fortunate thing about being treated like such an important person, it was that Ria was my escort knight.

If it hadn't been Ria but just some ordinary person serving as my escort knight—that is, if I had said I wanted to use Lee Si-yoon as my personal escort knight the way the Saintess did in the original story—then there would have been almost no chance of us being left alone like this, just the two of us waiting.

Ria's skill was that excellent, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I personally felt comfortable with her, and above all, she was someone the other party could trust, which was why it was possible for us to be left separately like this.

......Trust, huh.

Come to think of it, where exactly did our relationship stand?

I wasn't talking simply about the relationship between a Saintess Candidate and her escort knight. Rather, I meant a slightly more human relationship.

Ria seemed to view me fairly comfortably. I was comfortable with Ria, too.

But did that mean we were really friends? I was a little cautious about that. No matter how much the relationship of friendship wasn't something you simply declared as "from today, we're friends," it was, how should I put it.

......Ah, fine, let me be honest.

It was just that the other person was a pretty woman, so I was agonizing over whether I could consider her a friend. Even though I was in a woman's body now myself!

Did I live my Past Life keeping too much distance from women?

No, I didn't think I had particularly kept my distance.

"......."

Okay, let's stop this line of thought. Ria would think about it on her own. For now, she ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠didn't seem to outright hate being next to me. Besides, we had arrived a little early.

Just as I made up my mind to leave it in a state like a cat in a box, a knock sounded at the door.

They had made us wait, but it didn't seem like they were treating us poorly. The place where we had been waiting was, quite literally, a rather luxuriously furnished guest room where one could relax comfortably.

Though we hadn't touched the snacks.

"Sister Anna."

"Ah, yes."

"The Minister's meeting has just ended."

At those words, my back stiffened a little.

No matter what, meeting a high-ranking person was still a bit difficult. It wasn't that I intended to submit to authority, but still, making a slip of the tongue would be a bit awkward.

Besides, by this world's standards, he was also a person much older than me.

It was like using honorifics when meeting a battalion commander during reserve forces training. Once I left, he was just some middle-aged man unrelated to me, but at the same time, when he was in front of me, he was also an elder who made me a bit uncomfortable.

"There's no need to be so nervous."

Ria said, placing her hand lightly on my back.

"I've met him a few times. He's not that bad of a person. Though his thinking does run a bit politically."

......Was that supposed to be calming me down?

But seeing her serious expression, it seemed like it was.

Not quite able to bring myself to answer, I simply nodded.

*

Diplomacy with other countries would normally be handled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but it was a bit difficult for that ministry to manage everything beyond the Gates as well.

So this country had created one more department to handle that related administration.

The Multidimensional Management Department.

It was a ministry involved in establishing relations with civilizations beyond dimensions, or in bringing resources from beyond into this world.

Of course, once things crossed over into this world, they were handed off to other departments, but still, these were people in quite important positions in this world.

The reason these people had called for me was none other than that 'Mana Stone.'

"......So, we have requested a dispatch from the Church."

In other words, that 'Mana Stone' was an object that both the Gnomes and the Dwarves each claimed as their own. To be a bit more precise, it was something that had been swiped from a disputed zone, so in truth, neither race even knew of the object's existence.

In the original story, there were people who stole it, so it eventually came to light, but in this world, no such thing had ever happened.

However, from the government's perspective, an important Mana Stone had effectively been rendered useless. It was unavoidable that they would want to make it 'usable again.'

Moreover, that Mana Stone was the culmination of the Gnome Processing Art.

There were limits to researching it with this world's technology alone, and refilling it with Mana was nearly impossible.

So, they had called for me.

"Are you saying you want me to go to the Gnome kingdom and bring back that technology?"

"No, no, it's not that."

When I spoke with a furrowed brow, the Minister waved his hands in alarm.

"Rather, this is something we're saying after reviewing your achievements, Saintess Candidate. We have no one on our side who has produced results of that caliber."

"Achievements? What achievements— Ah."

......I had recalled a memory I didn't want to recall.

Right. In another world, there were beings who regarded me not as a Saintess, but as something akin to a god.

I forcibly suppressed my hand as it tried to creep upward. No matter what, I couldn't smack my own forehead in front of the Minister.

"That was, honestly, just a coincidence...... It wasn't something I intended......."

"As they say, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

The Minister said to me with a gentle smile.

"We thought it would be good to build friendly relations first. As it happens, the Gnomes have also expressed interest in that Sacred Object you handed over, Saintess Candidate."

"Ah."

That Sacred Object they had made two of as compensation.

I see. If they were going to research it, researching together with another race was also an option. At the very least, the Gnomes had recognized the power called Holy Power far earlier than our world had.

.......

Surely the Church hadn't permitted this with that in mind...... had they?

Things had simply flowed this way. In other words, it was a coincidence.

Ria was looking at me with somewhat meaningful eyes, and I wanted to jump up and shout that it wasn't true, but because of the Minister in front of me, I couldn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠say it openly.

"We are looking at this with a somewhat longer timeframe in mind. If you would cooperate with us, Sister, it would be an honor beyond compare, but since that is a matter that depends on your own will, I wanted to ask you directly like this."

"......."

Seeing a person much older than me, with graying hair, bowing his head, I broke out in a cold sweat.

I mean, well, it wasn't that I absolutely hated it.......

I understood that it was something that had to be done eventually, but still.

I didn't know why I was feeling uneasy about it.

I held back the sigh that was about to escape.

*

On the way back, in the car, I asked Ria, who sat silently in the seat next to me.

"Ria, are you okay with this?"

"Hm? Okay with what?"

"Every time I get swept up in something, you get swept up in it too."

In the original story, Ria was fundamentally a good person, but she often snapped at the Saintess. Especially when the Saintess had to go do something and Ria had to follow along, it was even worse.

It was probably half sincere, half joking. It meant that she would follow along because it was something her friend was doing, but she didn't really want to go that far.

But now, the Ria sitting in the seat next to me stared at me blankly with a slightly dumbfounded expression.

"I mean, well....... It's not that I hate it. But it's not like I'm dying to do it either. It's work, isn't it?"

"Is that so?"

So she just did it because it was work?

That was a reasonable answer.

.......

But for some reason, why did that answer strangely not sit well with me?

Geez, I asked the question and now I was having weird thoughts.

I let out a light breath.