The New Member Is a Tiny Priest! (2)
The New Member Is a Tiny Priest! (2)
Lichten Academy, chapel of the Celeste Sect.
The room that should have been the most splendid lay drowned in darkness.
A single shaft of light slipped through the blackout curtains sealing the windows.
Dust swirled in the gloom, the air thick and dank.
Had she mistaken that beam of light for a holy sword, come to pronounce judgment?
A girl who had been kneeling on the bed writhed, desperate to escape the radiance.
Only when she reached the corner, hemmed in on all sides, did her movements cease.
She drew her knees up and buried her face between them.
The Deus Order's next Saintess Candidate.
Aria Lumines Bell.
"...I hate it. I said I hate it."
A faint breeze filtered past the window.
The curtain billowed, and the shaft of light flickered back and forth.
As the light swept over them, it revealed lavish furniture, costly luxuries, and sacred relics.
Every time they glittered, Aria buried her face deeper.
"I can't. I can't do it... please..."
She was afraid.
Afraid of being the chosen Saintess Candidate.
Of the expectations heaped upon her.
Of the greed she saw behind the eyes of those offering her these things.
And just as much, she was afraid.
Of her own infinitely insignificant self, which could never meet those expectations.
"Hnghuu..."
Where had it all started to go wrong?
Being born with the fate of a Saintess Candidate?
Or believing that she herself could change someday?
Or maybe it was ruthlessly cutting off his touch, declaring that she no longer needed him?
Even now, in a place where the light had died and everything was dark, Aria could find no space for herself.
She was so utterly insignificant.
The only space permitted to someone like her, she thought, was this corner of the bed shoved against the wall.
Aria buried her face even deeper.
And she ran her fingers over her own wrist.
The coarse feel of scars. Ever since she became the Saintess Candidate, she had not even been allowed to add a single new line to her wrist.
The forcibly engraved brand would twist her wrist the moment she picked up a blade.
"...Hnk."
She could do nothing but clutch her body hard enough to crush it.
But as if even that was not permitted, the door opened.
— Creeeeak.
Light flooded in all at once.
"Hiiiik!"
Aria frantically threw the blanket over herself.
Then she trembled violently underneath it.
Staring at the quivering pile of blankets, the visitor let out a deep sigh.
"......"
Yerhi, the personal escort priest and holy knight of the Saintess Candidate.
"Saintess."
"I'm n-not a saintess. I'm not a saintess..."
"Lady Candidate."
"I-I'm sorry. I'm sorry... I won't do it again. I'm sorry, Ian. I'm sorry..."
— Hnk, hngnk.
Watching the broken Saintess Candidate, the escort priest Yerhi's eyes grew deeply shadowed.
Through countless attempts and experience, he knew he could offer her no comfort.
So he simply laid out the purpose of his visit.
"Lady Aria. You must prepare for the promotion battle."
"Hnk... hngnk..."
"I have selected the most capable cadets from the Priesthood Department. They are all individuals who have sworn to give everything for the Lady Candidate. I have also secured a contribution fund to commission top-tier Aether mages, scouts, and knights."
Ever since the disciplinary committee hearing, countless arrows of condemnation had been aimed at Lady Aria.
Ian Blackangus. The cause was the sacred relic written about in that filthy man's suicide note.
In the subsequent investigation, not a single piece of evidence proving Lady Aria's guilt had surfaced.
So she could simply hold her head high.
Whatever the truth, she need only act with dignity.
"In times like these, it is all the more critical to demonstrate that you remain strong."
Therefore, she had to be promoted to Aether.
It was unreasonable for a Saintess Candidate not to even reach the Aether class. Should that come to His Holiness the Pope's ears, she would sooner be forced to withdraw from the academy.
But there was no need to worry.
As long as she followed the path he had laid out, the Lady Candidate would ascend to the Aether class.
This was the best possible outcome Yerhi had agonized over and labored toward all night.
"I-Ian...?"
And yet.
The Lady Candidate inevitably brought that name to her lips.
Ian, Ian Blackangus.
That name again.
Yerhi clenched his teeth and answered.
"What does he matter? I, Yerhi, shall give my utmost solely for the Saintess..."
"I have to see him..."
"That is absolutely forbidden. It is an order from above, Lady Aria."
'...Was it not you who declared you no longer needed him?'
Yerhi swallowed the words that nearly slipped out.
He knew, from investigating Lady Aria's past, that Ian Blackangus had been gaslighting her relentlessly since childhood.
Had Lady Aria not said so herself?
"Uwaah. I can't. I can't endure this any longer..."
The Saintess Candidate heaved under the musty blanket.
She should have been someone perfect in every way.
Why had things come to this?
Yerhi's eyes glowed blue.
'It is Ian Blackangus after all.'
He was the root of every problem.
If so, then the solution was to eliminate him.
This promotion battle.
There would be more than enough opportunity.
For Deus.
And for Lady Aria, who would brilliantly illuminate the world.
◆
The air was anything but ordinary.
At a secluded meeting table in a building on the academy's outskirts,
a chill crawled over Ian's skin as if he'd stepped back into the North, and he rubbed his arms without thinking.
'Where exactly did it all start to go wrong?'
Try as he might, he could not pinpoint the cause.
So he simply focused on the phenomenon unfolding before him.
Danya and Elena.
Seated across from each other, waves of cold air radiated from the space between them.
Danya's tail bristled intensely.
Her lips, smooth as silk, parted.
"What are you, nya?"
Astonishingly, those were the first words spoken after ten full minutes of glaring.
Elena replied as if she had been waiting for it.
"My name is Elena. A priestess serving Deus. And you?"
Elena's voice was confident, unusually loud for her.
Weren't you supposed to be timid?
While Ian was still reeling from the sudden shift, Danya spoke.
"I'm Danya. Mm... the forest, I mean, the guardian of the Great Forest?"
'...Danya, since when did you guard the forest? The beastfolk's sanctuary just happens to be in the Great Forest.'
Ian barely restrained the urge to pick apart her words.
She had clearly thrown out whatever claim she could to avoid being cowed, but the effect wasn't bad.
Elena's gaze flickered slightly.
"H-hmm. I'd never met anyone close to my height. You're a more formidable person than I thought."
"That's right, nya."
Did Elena's timidity come from her small size? Not that it was the kind of thing Danya should be pleased about, anyway.
Their first meeting was brimming with things Ian wanted to nitpick.
Once their conversation—or verbal skirmish—had started, it continued without pause.
Mostly Danya attacking and Elena refuting, until eventually Danya fired off this question.
"I'm still suspicious, nya. Why would a priestess, who should be the purest servant of the gods alone, want to team up with someone like Ian?! You must have some kind of agenda too!"
Danya had clearly aimed at Elena, but for some reason Ian was the one who got hurt.
"Surely you don't think I joined just because of Brother Ian's face?"
"Nope, that's probably not it."
Ian took another hit from how firmly Danya shook her head. Danya pressed on.
"You definitely have some creepier agenda! Your eyes are full of desire!"
"I am a servant of divine will! Wholly pure!"
"Hmmn?"
"Truly! My intentions are completely pure."
"Then what are those pure intentions? Swear it to the gods."
"S-swear? Th-that is..."
Elena fidgeted restlessly.
Watching her, Danya's pupils narrowed to slits.
"Suspicious as expected, nya."
"Yeep!"
Elena let out a bizarre squeak and shrank back.
"You're definitely hiding something."
"Urgh...!"
As Danya leaned closer, Elena squeezed her eyes shut as if making a grand resolution.
Then she shouted at the top of her lungs.
"I-I only joined because of Brother Ian's hard, long—!"
"...?"
"Uhh... red, and when you lick it and take a little bite, something bursts open, spilling sweetness into your mouth! That's the only reason I joined!"
Danya's eyes turned cold as ice.
No—not just cold. It felt like actual lasers were shooting from them.
She glared at Elena, who still had her eyes shut, then turned toward Ian with a creaking sound, like unoiled hinges.
Under that pressure, Ian hastily whispered to Elena.
"Snow Blossom Fruit."
"Ah! Snow Blossom Fruit!"
— Puffsh.
Danya's tail, which had been standing rigid as if about to slash someone, finally settled.
At the same time, the sharpness drained from her eyes.
She let out a small breath and murmured almost inaudibly.
"...That's a relief."
Just what had she been imagining...?
Her eyes suddenly locked with Ian's. "Yeep! What're you looking at, nya?! Pervert!" she yelled, her face flushing bright red.
Then she whipped her head back toward Elena.
"Still, there aren't many fruits that are red and hard and pop inside like that."
"The one I ate... wh-what was it... T-to... tomato?"
"You mean a tomato?"
"Yes! That's it! It was so delicious! I thought it was a fruit given by the gods!"
Everything Elena said was wrong.
Is a tomato a fruit? No.
Is it a gift from the gods? No.
A tomato was strictly a vegetable, and in this land it was called the "devil's fruit."
Since their agreement built on Snow Blossom Fruit would probably crumble if she learned that, Ian decided to keep his mouth shut.
"...D-don't tell me you like tomatoes too?"
"Yes, I do. Could it be... you as well, Lady Danya?"
Elena was the first to smile brightly.
Danya's whole expression softened.
"You understand real taste!"
"Sister!"
Suddenly the two were clasping hands and launching into an ode to tomatoes.
Ian was frankly bewildered.
'...What's with them?'
Where had the bickering from moments ago gone? How had their rapport suddenly become so perfect?
As if they were fellow victims of some shared persecution, they held each other's hands and vented about just how delicious tomatoes were.
Come to think of it.
'I'm pretty sure it was me who asked, "What's so tasty about a sugar-coated tomato?"'
Hmm.
They must have had a lot bottled up.
Anyway.
"You know what? Tomatoes are delicious even when you put them in rice, nya!"
"Ahh. That is truly a divinely blessed dish just to imagine!"
Having found a fellow traveler in niche tastes, their preferences began accelerating further into niche territory. At this rate the whole world was going to turn into a tomato.
Left with no choice, Ian made a decision.
A perfectly sensible observation slipped from his lips.
"Aren't you two rivals, though?"
"Huh?"
"Nya?"
"We're talking about a limited supply of tomatoes, and you both want to eat them. Aren't they supposed to be a pretty high-class fruit?"
Silence hung in the air.
It was, well, the feeling right before a storm.
The calm didn't last long.
"Kyaang!"
"In God's name!"
Before anyone could stop them, Danya and Elena were at each other's throats again.