Why Are You Here, You?
The Pope called out to the girl who had been quietly hiding nearby, watching the traveler’s back as he left the temple and returned to the streets.
“Pina, you may come out now.”
“Yes, Father.”
The moment the girl revealed herself, the air rippled once before she appeared. She had the same platinum-blonde hair as the Pope, worn long, and was dressed in the high-ranking priestess robes granted only to candidates for the next Pope.
As soon as Pina showed herself, the Pope offered the gentle smile he always wore and asked the girl who had been watching the entire situation from the moment the traveler entered the room.
“So, Pina. What did you think after seeing the traveler in person?”
“Um… that is… well…”
She was one of the candidates to become the next Pope. That was precisely why he had hidden her—so she might sense something from the traveler chosen by Goddess Iriel.
Yet when the Pope asked for her impression, Pina—unlike her previously calm demeanor—fidgeted and slowly lowered her head.
The strange reaction made the Pope let out a puzzled sound, but when he heard her speak in a small yet clear voice, he could only clutch his head.
“She… she was cute.”
“Pina, what do you… No, never mind. Well, I suppose that’s exactly what you would say.”
“I-I’m sorry, Father…”
Seeing Pina blurt out that she found the traveler cute of all things, the Pope gently stroked her head.
Ever since she was little, Pina had a hopeless weakness for anything adorable. If the traveler’s final form had been that sleepy mage girl, it would have been a perfect strike to her weak point.
Of course, when Pina said “cute,” she strictly meant it in terms of appearance, so there was no real need to worry too much.
After stroking her hair a little longer, the Pope looked out at the street the traveler had walked down and said something that made Pina jump in surprise.
“It seems the traveler noticed you.”
“What? That can’t be! There wasn’t any sign at all…!”
Pina’s shoulders trembled as she cried out. The Pope had spoken so calmly that she was genuinely shocked. The traveler had never once shown any awareness of her—how could he have noticed?
But the Pope simply shook his head at the denying girl, as if he were already certain.
“When he left the room, he clearly looked in your direction before smiling at me. And even while speaking with me, he made some rather ambiguous remarks. He must have noticed you were there but chose not to point it out on purpose.”
“Then why…”
“Because I didn’t hide you with any ill intent.”
“I… see. That makes sense.”
Pina nodded in understanding at the Pope’s words. The only reason he had concealed her was so she could learn something from the traveler. Nothing more, nothing less.
It was the hope that she might gain something from the traveler who, according to Goddess Iriel, possessed power great enough to flip heaven and earth and part the seas.
Knowing that was the Pope’s intention, Pina had observed her with full concentration. While “cute” had indeed been part of her impression, it was only a part. She carefully voiced another feeling she had sensed while watching.
“She was incredibly strong, just as Lady Iriel said. Someone like me wouldn’t stand a chance against her.”
“Indeed, that’s exactly right, Pina.”
It was such an obvious truth that it felt all the more real. Her impression had been of the traveler’s overwhelming strength.
Pina did not think of herself as weak. On the contrary, she considered herself quite strong.
Her divine power could heal most wounds and illnesses in an instant and purify evil spirits in a single breath. Her physical abilities were comparable to those of seasoned adventurers, and although still immature, she could handle attribute magic well enough to fight C-rank monsters.
Ever since her body and mind had fully matured, Pina had never lost a single sparring match against anyone.
Yet the moment she saw the traveler, Pina instinctively knew—she could never defeat that being.
Just by looking, that was the impression she got. The traveler hadn’t shown any hostility, but Pina couldn’t even imagine a future where she could so much as touch a single hair on her head.
The Pope, who understood better than anyone that Pina had felt that way, nodded in agreement and continued.
“But precisely because of that, you should be grateful for the fortune of being able to learn from the traveler, Pina.”
“Of course I am. Immensely so.”
“Hehe, good. And the fact that the traveler showed you one of his other bodies even after noticing your presence means he trusts us that much. You must never carelessly speak of it to anyone.”
“Naturally, Father.”
At the Pope’s solemn tone, Pina quickly bowed at the waist.
The fact that he had revealed what could only be called a secret hidden body despite knowing she was there meant he trusted both Lady Iriel and this temple that served her.
Neither the Pope nor Pina had any intention of betraying that trust.
The Pope glanced at the sky, which was beginning to tint with the colors of sunset, and gently lifted Pina from her bow.
“Then let us prepare for the festival. It would be good for you to make some friends before entering the academy, Pina.”
“Yes, Father. I’ll prepare right away.”
Now that the temple’s business was finished, they walked inside together as father and daughter, their laughter trailing behind them.
As soon as I asked the Pope to arrange a seat, he told me people would be coming shortly. After talking with him for several more hours, I left the temple and headed toward the central street of the Fhara Kingdom.
Since I had already secured the position of professor at Lua Academy—the original reason I needed to enter the Fhara Kingdom quickly—there was no need to rush. I took my time before leaving the temple.
By the time I stepped outside, the sun was already setting. Just before reaching the main street, I slipped into an alley and opened the avatar window.
“Meiel’s body tends to get dragged into incidents far too easily.”
Her small, cute form was so well-made that even I had to admire it, but at the same time, it looked like the kind of body that would easily get caught up in kidnappings or scams in a bustling place like this. That was why I decided to change bodies.
Kama’s body was beautiful, but it was too beautiful and drew too much attention. Yujia’s qigong master body stood out far too much. And Yeonha, the chef, had an outfit that screamed “cook” so loudly it was problematic.
By process of elimination, I chose the only one left—Aria’s body.
[Swordsman – Aria. Do you wish to select her?]
“Select.”
The moment I answered, my field of vision rose significantly. I blinked several times to adjust, then stretched my body, loosening up in Aria’s cloth armor that felt far more breathable than the stuffy robe.
“This body is the most physically comfortable, even if the speech pattern is still weird. It really suits me.”
Maybe because she’s my main character?
A reasonable suspicion crossed my mind for a moment, but I quickly shook my head, realizing there were far more important things than such trivial thoughts.
What mattered now was finding the academy characters who would appear once the festival began.
Of course, I had no intention of running around looking for them myself. Since I would see all their faces eventually once I became a professor at the academy, I planned to simply enjoy the festival and naturally build connections with the kids I came across.
“If I go around actively searching, that would look strange in its own way. Yeah, that’s just not cool.”
It lacks style.
Yep, yep. Convinced by my own perfectly reasonable logic, I nodded and stepped out of the alley where I had changed bodies, walking toward the central street of the Fhara Kingdom. Before long, I arrived at the bustling area filled with people.
Rustle, murmur—
“As expected, festival days are so lively~ We old folks get tired though, don’t we?”
“Kids! Come look over here! There, there!”
“Mom! I want to buy this!!”
“It’s a festival day, so isn’t it fine to have one of these once in a while? What do you think?”
“Hurry up and grab that side! Our stall is opening the latest!”
The noisy chatter of men, women, and children filled my ears, announcing that the festival had truly begun.
Groups of aunties gathered in threes and fives to chat, children who looked like academy students, and little kids ran across the street lined with countless tents. Merchants shouted from their stalls, trying to sell their wares. The atmosphere was so infectious I almost got swept up in it without realizing.
But getting dazed and spacing out at a festival like this was something only amateurs did. I quickly pulled myself together and started walking again.
“Let’s see what there is to enjoy at this festival.”
The moment I entered the crowd, Aria’s filtered speech pattern came out naturally. But I had grown used to it long ago, so I simply looked around with a calm expression as I walked down the street.
There were quite a few fun-looking attractions reminiscent of my previous world—tossing balls to knock over dolls, dalgona candy pulling, popping balloons with darts—but nothing particularly caught my eye.
Instead, it seemed my beautiful appearance combined with two swords at my waist was drawing other people’s gazes. Fortunately, the festive mood helped; most people only glanced for a moment before hurrying on their way.
As I wandered aimlessly through the street packed with all kinds of stalls, a sign suddenly caught my eye and made it sparkle.
“Oh? The Chosen Sword Tournament?”
The content written on the sign hanging in front of a temporarily erected tent. To summarize, it was a contest to pull a sword that no one had been able to draw, much like the Mjolnir I had seen in my previous life.
If you managed to pull the sword, the prize was 100 gold. It was highly unlikely such a sword would actually be inside a makeshift tent like this, and the whole thing reeked of a scam, but the excited voices of the people visible inside the tent made it impossible not to get interested.
In the end, I decided to just take a quick look inside before deciding. I lifted the tent flap, pushed through the crowd gathered in a circle, and stepped in.
“……Hm?”
Among the spectators standing in a circle, I saw the face of the person with their hand on the sword’s hilt and unconsciously let out an awkward laugh, tilting my head.
A girl with black ponytail hair and navy-blue eyes. She was wearing the Lua Academy uniform and had a sword at her waist—there was no way I wouldn’t recognize her.
The representative character of the swordsman class, who could be called the original of this current body—Aria.
‘Why is Arin here of all places?’
Why the hell are you here, kid?