Chapter 9. Boundaries and Walls (1)
Chapter 9. Boundaries and Walls (1)
Chapter 9. Boundaries and Walls
No, but even thinking about it again, it's ridiculous.
Or is it that I've lived in the Church so long that I've just adapted to it?
......No, thinking about it again, it's still strange. We're nuns, aren't we? Strictly speaking, isn't it right that we shouldn't be able to roam around freely outside the Church?
No matter how freely I roam compared to the other nuns, something about this was strange.
"Hey, Ria."
As I followed Ria, who was walking ahead, I finally couldn't hold back the strangeness and called out to her.
"Hm?"
Ria turned her head toward me. Beneath the veil perched carelessly on her head like mine, her red hair swayed a little.
Well, Ria had never quite adapted to the Church from the start.
I, who shared a room with Ria, was a delinquent nun who wore a shortened habit, cinched a belt below my chest, and even had highlights in my hair.
It was an inevitable progression that she'd been influenced by someone like me, but in Ria's case, she might have gone one step further.
Even in the original, whenever Ria did something she wasn't supposed to do in the Church, the Saintess would always put on the brakes.
"......."
"What?"
When I said nothing, Ria tilted her head quizzically.
And as I looked at Ria, I thought.
Am I supposed to be the brake? Really?
"Hey, Ria. Let me ask you one thing."
People passing by on the street did glance at us, but no one openly stared.
My face was known to some extent, but I wasn't some kind of celebrity. The people who'd been nearby at the moment I emitted light were almost all people working in related fields.
Still, someone could hear our conversation. Not eavesdropping, but literally, the possibility of someone overhearing as they passed by was more than enough. Even on the subway, you sometimes unintentionally end up hearing the conversation of the person next to you.
No matter how you looked at it, even I had no intention of discussing nuns buying swimsuits in front of other people.
I grabbed Ria's wrist and pulled. Ria unexpectedly let herself be pulled along without resistance. Even though if she'd resisted with strength, I wouldn't have been able to win.
We moved a little away from the main street to a place with few people, and I spoke quietly to Ria.
"Still, no matter what, isn't a nun buying a swimsuit a bit much? Going to play at the beach, too."
I stated what I considered a reasonable argument.
No matter how rebellious a nun I'd been, I'd still rebelled within the rules. I'd still worn my habit properly and kept a veil on my head.
The dye was...... well, the dye was also something I'd done while reading the room.
"......."
But Ria seemed far more shocked by what I'd said than I expected.
"Why, you don't want to go to the beach?"
"No, it's not that I don't want to go."
Feeling like my words had somehow hurt Ria, I quickly answered.
"Do we really need to wear swimsuits? If it's not a pool, we could just go in wearing clothes."
At my words, Ria's expression turned subtle.
"So...... you're saying we should go into the ocean wearing our habits? Just to get wet?"
"Everyone does that, don't they? Of course, some people go in wearing swimsuits, but I know plenty of people just go in wearing clothes and play."
I'd never been to the beach in this world, but I'd seen such scenes on TV.
Ria stared at me blankly for a moment, then slowly raised a hand and covered her forehead.
"Hey, Anna, do you know what you're saying right now?"
"......What do you mean?"
"......So you really don't know."
When I asked back with a bewildered expression, Ria placed her hands on both my shoulders with a fairly serious look.
"Anna. A nun's habit is, I mean...... it's an outfit with 'demand' among people in many ways."
"......Excuse me?"
"It's a fetish, so to speak."
I stared blankly at Ria for a moment, then slowly opened my mouth.
My face flushed a little hot.
"Wha, what are you talking about?"
"So you really didn't know."
Ria let out a deep sigh, took her hands off my shoulders, and rubbed her own face.
"No, the one who's dumbfounded here is me!?"
I shouted that, then flinched in surprise and looked around. A few passersby glanced our way. Since both of us stood out a bit, apparently my shouting had drawn some attention.
I quickly walked forward. Ria fell in beside me.
"So, you're saying that because a nun's habit gets wet, it's a fetish?"
"Let me make one thing clear: every 'single' uniform in the world can be a fetish object, okay?"
"That's way too broad."
Ah, of course I knew that too. Outfits associated with certain professions can also be fetish objects.
In fact, every outfit that exists in the world can be a fetish. People's sexual preferences are so diverse that I wonder if there's any clothing that escapes being a fetish.
"It is broad, but the nun's habit ranks pretty high among them. You know what? Sometimes some idiots think nuns are easy women."
"......That's the first I've heard of that."
"It's simple. They're people who think that since she's never dated a man in her life, she'll fall for them the moment they talk to her."
"How do you know all that in such detail?"
"Anna. I've worked with Hunters quite a lot, you know? And I know people in the Church. I hear plenty."
"......."
In the world I lived in, the existence of a 'pretty nun' was truly the stuff of fantasy. Among the nuns you could actually see, it was hard to find anyone young and beautiful. Most of the nuns out and about were middle-aged or older.
I don't know exactly how Catholic nuns enter the order. But honestly, it was inevitable that the outfits of characters wearing certain uniforms in comics and such would get sexualized. 'Reality' isn't that easy. Not just nun's habits—nurse uniforms, police uniforms, and the like are usually just clothes that are comfortable to wear and move around in.
On the other hand—
"Oh."
"See? You were the one going on about stalkers and stuff, weren't you?"
Hearing the sound I made, Ria spoke.
Right.
In the world I lived in, being a nun might have just been a job, but this world...... was the world of a web novel.
Even if it wasn't openly an adult novel, there were surely adult chapters in the latter part of the work. Above all, there was no reason to put in a character called the 'Saintess,' deliberately strip off her habit, and then include adult chapters.
Wasn't the reason the Saintess appeared as a heroine transparently obvious from the start?
"......."
It was incredibly infuriating, but unfortunately, this world's setting was far too irrational and unreasonable compared to my mental state.
"If we go all the way to the beach and get in the water wearing habits, there will definitely be guys trying to hit on us."
"......And wearing swimsuits is fine?"
"It'll be a little less annoying. We'll blend in naturally among other people."
It's irritating because I can't logically refute it, but I can't accept it either.
"And also,"
Ria dealt the final blow to me.
"......Isn't it a bit much to say that now when you've been going around with your habit shortened like that?"
Since I was someone who even wore a belt under my chest, I couldn't refute those words and could only tremble with frustration.
"Or do you really not want to go to the beach with me?"
At those words, I looked at Ria.
I tried not to let my gaze drop to Ria's chest. Even if we were the same gender, I instinctively knew that kind of behavior would come across as a little strange.
"......."
I just opened and closed my mouth for a long while, then,
"No, it's not that."
I answered in a voice that was practically crawling.
Ria looked at me with a satisfied expression. It was as if I looked like someone who wanted to go to the beach, a place I'd never been in my entire life.
Well, I was a 'nun,' after all. I'd lived my whole life in the convent, and the only times I went out were for volunteer work.
Fine.
Let's take the real reason I couldn't refuse to the grave.
*
The sight of two nuns walking side by side into a swimsuit shop was far more incongruous than I'd imagined.
No, more than that, I hadn't even known there were stores specializing in swimsuits. When I bought clothes, I usually just went to a brand store and bought discount items, and I didn't care much about dressing up.
Weren't swimsuit sections usually just a part of stores like that? Coming in briefly during summer and then leaving.
But the place we entered was, no matter how you looked at it, a 'swimsuit shop.'
Ah, they did sell things other than swimsuits. Mostly things like surfboards and fishing rods. But it was certain that swimsuits occupied most of the store.
"Welcome!"
An employee approached us with a bright smile.
"Ah, hello?"
I greeted awkwardly.
They're called swimsuits, but when you think about it, the area of fabric isn't much different from underwear.
The ones on the mannequins were like that, and so were the photos on the posters.
No matter how I thought about it, this was not a place nuns should come.
I'd never even bought underwear in this world. I'd worn what the Church gave me.
"Ah, right. I didn't tell you, did I?"
Ria, infuriatingly natural, looked at me and said,
"You don't need to worry about other people's eyes. I arranged to rent out this whole place for a bit."
"......."
Ah, right, that's right, of course.
Ria is the daughter of a Hero.
And that also meant she was rich.
A rich person with an incredibly wide network everywhere.
......This is a little intimidating.