Don't Run Away
"Wait just a moment, please!"
The door burst open right after.
The voice that rang out so clearly matched the cry of my own heart exactly.
"Sister?"
The owner of that bright, cheerful voice was none other than the nun who had left this very room only moments ago. Perhaps it was the desperate resolve in her tone that made her sound like a warrior facing a mortal enemy.
A chill ran down the back of my neck.
Yet even that jolt of tension couldn't compare to the shock of her appearance.
Her novice habit was so tight it outlined every curve of her body. Her twin braids were uneven in length. She looked like a grown woman secretly trying on an old school uniform that no longer fit, and the sight was mortifying beyond words.
Aside from the color, she looked exactly like Apis.
Is this some kind of trend?
"Hey, who the hell are you?"
Apis, still straddling my stomach, spat the words with open irritation.
The nun flinched at the sharp hostility, but she steadied her breath as if steeling her resolve. Then, with the same dignified stride I had once seen from royalty, she approached my side and knelt gracefully beside me.
With a soft rustle, she reached down, seized my left arm from where it lay on the floor, and pulled it toward her.
"Hngh…!"
Like a puppet on strings, my left hand was drawn straight to the center of her chest and settled firmly upon that soft, impossible peak.
◈◈◈
It was a sensation I had only ever felt vaguely through dulled fingertips before.
Softer than the finest wool blanket. Warm, like a water balloon filled with bathwater. Even the faint, natural scent clinging to her skin was something no artificial soap or perfume could ever hope to replicate.
Every bit of information flooding in from my left arm was sensual, addictive. The thought of staying like this forever crossed my mind without shame. If I had to grade the experience, I would have filled the entire answer sheet with perfect circles. It was flawless.
I had suspected it would feel incredible, but never imagined it would be this overwhelming. Waves of awe kept crashing through me like fireworks in the night sky.
Amazing.
That was the crude, honest truth I could never voice aloud.
Unfortunately, I had no luxury to savor the moment.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing? Let go of his hand right now!"
"Eek…!"
I felt like a rope in a tug-of-war between an elephant and an ant.
The nun suddenly clung to me with all her might. Apis grabbed my right leg and began swinging me around like a flail, apparently trying to shake the nun off.
"W-wait! Apis—!"
Thanks to them, I got to personally experience the exact limits of gravitational acceleration a human body could endure.
I had occasionally imagined beautiful women fighting over me back in my hot-blooded youth, even studied the trope through various media, but I had never expected the reality to be this violent.
Mediating between them was out of the question. All I could manage was swallowing the nausea rising in my throat.
"Urgh…"
"Aah! S-sorry!"
Only after my face had turned deathly pale and I was curled up on the floor clutching my mouth did Apis finally stop her human fidget-spinner routine.
Even so, the nun showed no sign of releasing me. She had wrapped both arms around my waist and was still clinging desperately, her slender hands trembling.
No matter how much Apis had held back, facing someone who had long since crossed into the realm of monsters was no easy feat for a nun who had lived a peaceful life far from any training.
I had always thought the nun was surprisingly strong. Maybe she secretly exercised.
"I… I cannot hand over Priest Regis…!"
"Hah…!"
The sweat-drenched nun gasped for breath yet burned with unwavering determination. Apis snorted, but the twisted smile on her face was clearly laced with fury.
For a split second I wondered if I should shout something like "Don't fight over me!" like the heroine of some pure-hearted manga, but I knew with absolute certainty that neither of these women actually wanted my heart.
"Get lost! The Hero needs this guy!"
"Priest Regis is indispensable to the Saintess!"
I decided to simply stay silent.
At least I could roughly understand the situation from their deadly exchange.
Apis had come to persuade me—literally offering her body—for the Hero's sake.
The nun was trying to stop Apis for the Saintess's sake.
My guess was probably correct.
Just then, the nun yanked my left arm hard toward her again, burying it once more in that heavenly—well, fleshly—peak.
"Priest! If you promise to continue serving as the Saintess's exclusive attendant from now on, I swear to God I will offer you everything I have—my savings, my body, everything I can give!"
"…What?"
"What?!"
Anything. She said anything.
The nun's shocking declaration was enough to rattle my mind. My gaze, following her voice, shamelessly traced the generous curve of her chest, her slim waist, and her full thighs before I could even exercise the self-control expected of a priest.
In an instant, my head filled with crimson thoughts I could never speak aloud. It was nothing short of an explosion of imagination.
"Hey! You crazy bastard, what are you hesitating for?! You didn't even twitch when I said you could touch my chest earlier, and now you're seriously considering this?! I even changed into the outfit your kind likes best!"
If Apis hadn't barked at me, I would still have been drowning in those shameful fantasies.
"I-I wasn't hesitating…"
"Bullshit! You were sitting there with your eyes closed and your chin on your hand like you were going to think it over until sunrise!"
I glanced toward the mirror. She was right. Without realizing it, I had struck the exact pose of Rodin's famous sculpture, The Thinker.
That had been dangerous. One wrong move and I might have surrendered to base instinct despite my vows.
Apis and I had been through too much together; any romantic spark between us had long since burned out. But the nun, aside from her usual quiet demeanor, was an undeniably attractive woman in both appearance and temperament—attractive enough to momentarily overwhelm even the iron self-control the Saintess had drilled into me.
Or maybe it was just the chest.
"Sister, please calm down. Besides, we have both sworn chastity to God. To speak of such vulgar things right in front of the Audience Chamber, which is practically God's own hall… that is not like you."
"U-uu…"
"That's right! If you want something, I'll do it for you! Just ignore her and come here!"
"N-no! Priest! Ah—then… if it's within the bounds of keeping my chastity, then anything!"
Apis and the nun pulled at me from both sides.
Fortunately, unlike before, Apis was only pretending to pull. If she had been serious, my paper-thin body would have been flung across the room again. From the careful way she modulated her strength, it seemed she was giving me a choice after all.
Her methods were rough and her tone coercive, but she was a kind person at heart.
Unlike the nun, who was pouring every ounce of strength into dragging my arm, Apis simply held my arm gently and gazed steadily into my eyes, effectively pinning me in place.
"So, what are you going to do? Are you coming with me, or staying with her?"
The question forced a choice upon me.
Whether to face the past by meeting the Hero.
Whether to confront reality by seeing the Saintess.
Or…
"Apis… I told you yesterday. I don't want to—"
"Running away again?"
"…!"
"I'm not going to scold you for running. I ran away from my own village too. But as someone older, let me give you one piece of advice: you can run, but don't look away. You'll definitely regret it later."
Her calm tone, so different from her usual roughness, felt all the heavier for it.
"Priest Regis…?"
The nun, who had been desperately pulling my arm, also looked up at me with concern after hearing those piercing words.
"I… I…"
Just as I stood there, dazed and unable to form a coherent thought, like a broken doll—
"Pardon me, Sister. I have something urgent to discuss."
The door opened again. Priest Lanoel strode in without knocking, a bundle of documents in hand.
"My apologies for disturbing you so early, but Priest Regis was nowhere to be found even though morning service is almost upon us…"
His bewildered gaze swept across the wrecked room, the nun in her ill-fitting novice habit drenched in sweat, Apis in her school-uniform-like outfit, and finally me, held captive between the two women.
For a long moment, time seemed to freeze. Lanoel stood motionless like a mannequin. Then, as if suddenly understanding everything, a gentle smile spread across his face.
"It appears I have interrupted something. Haha, my apologies. I shall finish preparing the Saintess's morning arrangements in advance, so please take your time. May God smile upon you."
The door closed.
The light sound of Lanoel's footsteps faded away, perfectly in sync with the ticking of the clock.