Twin Sisters Erina and Evaila (1)
“This way, please.”
In-ha bowed politely and gestured inside with her arm. After standing still for a moment, the Pope—Elluke—stepped slowly through the doorway.
Her gaze was unhurried, her smile faint, her back perfectly straight. Every step carried an effortless elegance, the kind that spoke of breeding and grace.
She wasn’t even trying to impress anyone, and yet dignity poured off her. Watching her blankly, In-ha found her mouth falling open of its own accord.
No wonder she’s the Pope.
It was easy to forget, what with the easygoing side she showed in daily life and on stream, but Elluke was refined beyond anyone else.
Even in awkward situations she spoke with courtesy, and her every mannerism remained that of a composed cleric. Even the irreligious would do well to take a page from her character.
And yet, every so often, she did something so baffling it defied all understanding. Like right now.
“This is just right.”
Elluke surveyed the interior and nodded in satisfaction. Then she gently closed her fingers on empty air and held out her clenched fist toward In-ha.
“Thank you. Please accept this as my token of gratitude.”
“…….”
What was that supposed to mean? It was clearly another of her unfunny jokes. In-ha knew that much—she simply had no idea what the punchline was supposed to be.
A fist… Is she saying she’ll be a solid pillar of support from now on?
It was a plausible guess, but somehow it felt like the wrong answer. The Pope’s humor had always been impenetrable. It couldn’t possibly be that straightforward.
She racked her brains in the brief silence that followed, but nothing else came to mind.
Cornered, In-ha settled on the safest, most inoffensive option available.
“Thank you.”
A light smile and a polite acknowledgment. When someone offered you a gift, that was the most stable response.
“…….”
Apparently her reaction hadn’t landed well. Elluke fixed her with a quiet stare for a moment, then spoke with a look of genuine bewilderment.
“Did you not understand? It was a sophisticated joke—I was catching the Goddess’s grace, sunlight itself, in my hand and offering it to you as a gift.”
“…….”
It wasn’t sophisticated in the slightest. It was simply baffling.
“Ah, and the humor lies in pretending to catch and gift something that cannot actually be held in one’s hand—sunlight.”
She even followed it up with a lengthy explanation, which only made things more painful.
And yet the perpetrator herself was smiling brightly, utterly convinced it was hilarious, which only doubled In-ha’s dismay.
“Well? Now that you understand the meaning, doesn’t it make you laugh?”
In-ha kept her true feelings off her face and answered evenly.
“NIS agents aren’t allowed to laugh.”
“Is that so? I’ve never heard that before.”
“Would NIS agent regulations be public knowledge?”
“I see. I’ll keep that in mind going forward.”
Watching Elluke smile as if she truly understood, In-ha felt a quiet surge of relief.
I’ll have to keep using that excuse.
She had discovered a countermeasure against the Pope’s inscrutable jokes. An unexpected victory.
Still keeping her relief to herself, In-ha spoke again.
“Is there anything that doesn’t meet your satisfaction?”
At that, Elluke glanced around once more. In-ha followed her gaze at a leisurely pace.
Neatly arranged office desks and chairs. Lush green potted plants filling the gaps between them. A conference room, a break room, a director’s office—small, but fully stocked with everything it needed. A compact, well-appointed space.
This was the office that would serve as the Nuset Sect’s foothold going forward.
“The interior isn’t finished yet, so please let me know if there’s anything you’d like adjusted.”
The office was part of the returnee support program.
Strictly speaking, Elluke had requested a large religious facility for the sect, but in light of pushback from existing religious circles, they had compromised on an office instead.
It was the sort of thing that might have soured a Pope’s mood. Elluke, however, had accepted it without complaint.
She had even turned down an offer to arrange something larger, saying a small office would be perfectly fine.
Apparently, a space that was too big and luxurious risked drawing the public’s unkind eye. It was a reason hard to argue with.
“There are a few things I find wanting, but overall it isn’t bad.”
A bright smile touched Elluke’s lips as she finished her quick survey. She looked pleased.
Then she began to walk, examining every corner with careful attention. This wasn’t a casual look-around—she was observing in detail.
“This desk is sticking out a little.”
A meticulousness that missed not even the smallest detail. Put another way, she was a touch finicky.
“I’d like this plant replaced with something else entirely.”
“Why is that?”
“The color is far too white. Something with a faint pink cast rather than pure white, if you would.”
“…Understood.”
In-ha carefully noted down Elluke’s every word and thought to herself,
She’s picky.
It was nothing like her usual self. The atmosphere was so solemn it was almost intimidating—a complete about-face from the woman who’d just been delivering that bizarre joke.
Fussy about details, impossible to understand when she joked. Elluke was the kind of superior who was hard to serve under.
…This is going to be rough.
In-ha let out a short, silent laugh. From now on, she would be attending Elluke as her aide.
Naturally, it wasn’t something she’d taken on without permission—orders had come down from above. Become the Pope’s closest attendant and watch her every move.
In practice, it was a post that doubled as surveillance.
Surveillance, my foot…
The upper ranks expected In-ha to play something of a spy—but that was easier said than done.
How exactly was one supposed to run intelligence operations against a Pope who enjoyed the Goddess’s direct attention and love? Try to siphon information and you might well earn divine punishment for your trouble.
“That will be all for today.”
Elluke finished her inspection then—after pointing out no fewer than twenty-two shortcomings.
She looked ready to leave. In-ha was about to call a taxi when that lovely voice spoke again.
“While we’re here, let’s hold a meeting.”
“A meeting?”
“Yes. There is an important matter.”
Speaking with complete seriousness, Elluke walked straight into the conference room. In-ha hurried after her.
The room wasn’t large, but the atmosphere was cozy and immaculate. Fitted out with the latest equipment, it had even earned the dubious compliment of being “very MZ.”
Elluke took the seat at the head of the table. In-ha sat to her right and opened her mouth.
“What seems to be the matter?”
“It is an emergency. I need Agent Ha In-ha’s assistance.”
What on earth could have happened to put her like this? Sensing a heavy conversation ahead, In-ha’s face stiffened of its own accord.
Before long, Elluke—expression dark—let out a sigh and spoke.
“For my daughters’ sake, I must become an idol.”
“…….”
It was, without question, an emergency.
After the “Live News Studio Disturbance Incident,” I had laid out a number of demands in my meeting with Ha In-ha.
At the time, In-ha had been so thoroughly overwhelmed by Liam that she’d taken down every one of my requests exactly as stated.
Which was how I’d managed to slip in the unreasonable ask for a large religious facility for our sect—and how it had come back to me in the form of this office.
Not bad.
Honestly, I hadn’t expected a grand religious complex from the start.
It had been a demand meant to test how much goodwill the government was willing to show me, and this was satisfactory enough.
Once I set up security measures with sacred spells, it would be perfect. I planned to use this place until we could establish a proper religious facility down the line.
“Let’s watch.”
And so the first official meeting of our sect was being held today in our new office.
Attendees: myself and Ha In-ha. The matter was so urgent we’d decided to proceed with just the two of us.
“I’ll put it on right away.”
After a brief wait, In-ha fired up a video on the projector. Sadly, it was not a film of any religious significance.
A moment later, a cute, bubbly song—about as far from solemnity as you could get—began to fill the room.
Today again, I’m walking toward you♪
On screen, an orange-haired girl from an anime sang and danced.
The voice actress had poured her soul into it—the singing was good. Not top-tier idol caliber, maybe, but pleasant enough to listen to.
The dancing wasn’t especially intense, but it had flair. The choreography looked like something a professional had been brought in to create.
“Kids’ cartoons these days are so flashy.”
In-ha, diligently scribbling something in her notebook, murmured under her breath. There was a note of admiration in her voice.
She still looked far too calm. That was because she hadn’t seen the real performance yet.
With all my wishes—Emerald Moonlight!
Just as the second chorus ended and the music swelled into a soaring instrumental, the orange-haired girl formed a heart with her hands and thrust it forward.
A cute pose that suited her adorable looks perfectly. And when she added that bright smile on top of it, a green heart suddenly bloomed from her palms.
The green heart floated up over the audience, drifted through the air, and became a soft green light that shone down from above—a gentle glow reminiscent of moonlight.
Ara really is the best…!
A girl who looked like a friend, watching from backstage, burst into applause. For reasons unknown, she was so moved she even had tears in her eyes.
And with that, the performance ended and the episode wrapped up.
A cheerful ending theme played on, while a heavy silence settled over the conference room.
“…….”
“…….”
A silence so cold it was hard to breathe. We had just watched a lively anime, and somehow the mood had swung to the exact opposite extreme.
How was I supposed to even start talking? I had plenty to say, but my mouth simply wouldn’t open.
In-ha seemed to be in a similar state—her face grave—before she carefully ventured,
“Could the protagonist be a psychic, by any chance?”
“…I have no idea either.”
Why did hearts come out of her hands, and why did they turn into moonlight? It was beyond my sensibilities.
Modern anime really wasn’t for me. I found myself wanting to rewatch that old cartoon with the electric mouse instead.
“Shall I put on the next episode?”
“Yes. Let’s keep going.”
Still, for the sake of research, we steeled ourselves and pressed on.
We watched about five more episodes back-to-back. With each one, the atmosphere in the conference room sank a little lower.
Everyone, focus on me!
In particular, the moment a girl who’d been singing perfectly normally suddenly transformed into a lovable angel and started flying through the sky made me want to bolt from my seat.
It was entertaining, I’d give it that. I could roughly understand why my daughters were so obsessed.
But asking me to do something like that? At that point it was basically an assassination attempt.
“Are you really going to do this?”
In-ha asked, her eyes full of dismay. I gave a bitter smile and nodded.
“When your children want something, you can’t just ignore them as their mother, can you?”
If it was something my daughters wanted, I could do anything. As long as it wasn’t a dream that even magic and sacred spells couldn’t make real, I would gladly grant it.
So even if I wasn’t thrilled about it, I resolved to find a way.
“Please help me become a good mother to them.”
“…Understood.”
Whether my earnestness had gotten through or not, In-ha’s gaze turned serious. Then she opened her diligently annotated notebook so I could see it clearly.
“Your Holiness, then first—please hear the results of my analysis.”
“Go ahead.”
Apparently she’d already finished analyzing everything in the meantime. True NIS agent competence.
I was glad I’d taken her on as an aide. That thought had barely formed when In-ha, still looking at her notes, spoke again.
“In the anime we just watched, Sparkle Jewel, each idol has her own concept. For example, the protagonist Ara is a girl who spreads love to everyone.”
I nodded and listened quietly. The content was absurd, but she said it so seriously that it almost sounded plausible.
“And every one of them has a nickname and costume that matches their concept. So establishing a concept should be our first priority.”
“Do you already have a concept in mind?”
“Of course.”
In-ha answered with confidence and pulled up Paint on the projector screen.
Then she moved the mouse and began to draw. It was a work of such radical style that it would have made an art critic faint on the spot.
“This.”
I studied the finished drawing at a leisurely pace. It wasn’t hard to make out.
A pink crown and a pink dress. And pink snow whipping out from both hands.
It was a princess who looked strangely familiar.
“Pink Ice Princess. How does that sound?”
“…….”
I looked back and forth between In-ha’s face and the drawing, then squeezed my eyes shut tight.
“Just kill me instead.”