Chapter 115

“So, our glamorous summer vacation has come to an end.”

Well, we played, we had our adventures, so there’s really nothing to feel sad about. After all, we were probably getting ready to head back around that time anyway.

The real issue lies here:

“So, Sister Anna and Sister Maria said they were going to a nice place in the mountains to meditate, and instead, they enjoyed swimming in scandalous attire?”

Precisely.

The problem was that whatever mischief we got up to had made its way to the ears of the Sister Warden.

Thank goodness Ria didn’t get caught with the photos she took, though.

…The fact that just wearing a bikini caused such distress was nothing compared to what kind of backlash would come if they found out I wore a head covering too.

“No, that’s—”

I opened my mouth, ready to defend myself.

But someone else spoke up first.

“I was the one who suggested it.”

It was Ria.

“Sister Maria.”

“Anna never said she wanted to wear a swimsuit—I just wanted to go have fun, and she went along with it.”

I stared blankly at Ria.

“Sister Anna?”

The Sister Warden looked at me with a very serious expression.

I took a moment to collect my thoughts.

It was true that Ria was the one who suggested going. And yes, I had expressed reluctance about wearing a swimsuit. I had made some excuses about my position and responsibilities when I declined as well.

But let’s be honest here.

Did I really not want to go?

Did I go because Ria dragged me there against my will?

“…No, that’s not it.”

I felt a bit sorry for Ria, who had bravely taken the blame, but thinking it through, that would just mean I was putting all the blame on her.

No matter how much Ria might be my knight in shining armor, preventing my potential perils, that would be going too far.

I wanted to go to the beach. If I had flat-out refused without a smile, Ria would have backed off. If I had truly been angry, she wouldn’t have insisted. Ria is a good person like that.

Besides, even though I said I didn’t want to go, I was the one who picked out Ria’s swimsuit. A bold red bikini that was quite exposing.

And I did enjoy playing in the water. To be honest, I had a refreshing time. The moments spent playing with Ria and the others were joyful.

Blaming Ria for everything would be equal to denying all those good times.

“It was my choice. I went because I wanted to go enjoy myself.”

“Anna?”

Ria looked at me, a bit surprised.

Seeing her expression made me smile. For some reason, I felt a bit braver.

Well, so what?

Are they planning to kick me out? Honestly, the Church has limited options when it comes to handling these kinds of issues. Sure, there’s the Inquisition building, and related Knight Orders, but they don’t have the right to torture or execute me. Even if this country officially recognizes the existence of the divine, the law isn’t that broken.

The most they can do is excommunication. If I really were killing people as a heretic, the Church could punish me more severely, but punishing me just for taking off my clothes a little in front of others would be out of line in modern society.

“No, but I was the one who brought it up first. Anna was just trying to assert her position.”

“But it only happened because I said I would go. If I hadn’t, this wouldn’t have happened at all.”

“….”

Watching us argue back and forth, the Sister Warden put a hand to her forehead.

After a while of silence, it was as if she finally organized her thoughts and said,

“…May I ask one thing?”

“Was the reason you were there that day related to a prophecy?”

Hmm.

Have I overused that excuse? Now it seems like every time I get into trouble, it gets blamed on the prophecy.

For a brief moment, I felt tempted.

Should I just say it was all due to the prophecy? As someone on the brink of being a saint, I felt like that could get me off the hook.

But that seemed like it would be pushing it too far.

“No, it’s not like that.”

If it was for the sake of surviving, and if my actions were based on what I read in the original story to prevent some disaster, I would’ve willingly admitted it. I needed to clear any doubts to keep future matters as rational and logical as possible.

But this time, it was just a past event tied to my own desires.

…I didn’t want to take advantage of a being that does its best to help those in need out of pity. That was a matter of honor.

“This incident was entirely of my own volition, and that上の存在 had no involvement. They merely assisted me in defeating the monster.”

“….”

The Sister Warden’s eyes drifted slightly above my head.

Light was gently shining down from there. I quickly waved my hands to disperse that light, but the Sister Warden nodded as if that explanation sufficed.

“Is that so.”

The Sister Warden closed her eyes for a moment, lost in thought, before reopening them.

Her usual stern gaze now looked a bit sad.

…For some reason, I felt like her previous serious expression suited the situation much better.

“I can’t just strip away your rights as a Saint Candidate under my authority. It wouldn’t be right to hold accountable those who accomplished great deeds upon their return. Nevertheless… ”

The Sister Warden looked back and forth between Ria and me as she spoke.

“But, please do exercise a bit more restraint. When those who are nominally just regular nuns behave in extraordinary ways, it can change how the other sisters perceive things.”

“…I’m sorry.”

I couldn’t just let that go without responding.

Ria bowed her head in agreement with me.

*

“…I should have just taken the blame for this myself.”

The moment we returned to our room, Ria said this.

And I frowned at her.

“First things first, let’s get something straight. I don’t believe the fault lies with me for what happened there.”

Ria’s mouth went slightly agape at my words.

“Do ordinary people get punished just because we’ve done things they usually do?”

“Uh, well, I mean, that’s true.”

“And besides, wasn’t Ria’s reason for dragging me along justifiable?”

“….”

Ria scrunched her brows in thought for a moment before speaking again.

“But still, you didn’t reject wearing a swimsuit despite being a Saint Candidate and a nun, right?”

“Well, at that moment, it was embarrassing. I mean, who would willingly jump into the water when all they’ve ever worn is a nun’s habit and then are asked to just dampen their body with slightly different underwear?”

“….”

Ria’s expression turned complicated.

“Um, could you at least not make it sound like I was deliberately recommending a swimsuit? That makes me sound like a pervert.”

“But you were trying to ogle the Saint Candidate changing out of her nun’s attire.”

“….”

With that, Ria couldn’t come up with a response.

Yeah, it was fun to tease her.

I felt a little good about having the upper hand.

With that momentum, I further explained.

“Of course, I don’t think the convent’s policies are wrong either. Every institution has rules they maintain. Just because students don’t wear their uniforms doesn’t mean the world’s going to end, nor does it mean something dramatic will happen if they start dating, but there’s a reason they advise restraint.”

Freedom is great, but just letting everything loose doesn’t mean the world will naturally turn peaceful.

“…I think we may have taken it a bit too far.”

“Yeah, that’s true. And—”

“Whoa there.”

I raised a finger.

“Don’t even think about apologizing.”

“…How did you know?”

“Going on a trip and running into monsters is just another example of a natural disaster. It’s like encountering a typhoon or experiencing an earthquake—it’s all just a matter of luck, so it’s nobody’s fault.”

Truth be told, if we got down to it, there’s a high chance it’s ‘my fault.’

I stirred up way more trouble than in the original, so it wouldn’t be surprising if the other side moved much faster.

Of course, I had no certainty. That’s why I couldn’t say it outright.

“So, let’s just brush this off as… a simple occurrence.”

“….”

“Well, at least we got some pictures, right?”

“That’s true.”

Only after hearing my words did Ria smirk and nod.

“We got pictures. In fact, a lot of them.”

“…Um, what?”

“I took quite a few, and there were plenty taken with others in the background too.”

“….”

Ah, that’s right.

Of course, the ones taking the pictures would be Lee Si-yoon and Han Yu-ri, so I wouldn’t worry too much, but… thinking about how Si-yoon might have my bikini photos in his phone seems like that could become a huge issue later on.

“…We’ll have to be careful about that later.”

At my serious remark, Ria burst into laughter.