Chapter 152

“There’s a rule in the convent that nuns can’t have physical contact with each other.”

But honestly, that’s probably the most ignored rule out of all the rules in the convent.

If modern convents were as ridiculously strict and isolated from the world like the ones in medieval fantasy stories, then who knows, maybe it would make sense.

Nuns are people too, after all. They have their own desires, and yeah, some of those desires are of the, um, steamy variety.

Just like how you hear stories about mishaps in prison, I figure mishaps could happen here in the convent too.

However, this convent also doubles as a sort of nursery. There are choices to stop being nuns once they reach adulthood.

So, it seems like there’s really no reason to stick to the rules so stubbornly. The chances of something truly scandalous happening here aren’t that high.

In this country, if men walk around holding hands or with their arms linked, they’d get all kinds of misunderstandings, but if women hold hands or casually link arms, nobody really bats an eye.

Of course, there were young nuns who did that kind of stuff, and the church didn’t flip out about it either.

And—

“Hehe.”

“……”

Right, and naturally, no one says a word if two new nuns are seen getting cozy like that.

Well, in this case, it might be a little different. It’s not just two friends goofing around; those two have positions that are a bit too high to scold.

A princess from another country and the daughter of a high noble.

They were both dressed neatly in nun uniforms. They didn’t carelessly let their hair flow like me and Maria, and of course, there was no hair dye in sight.

However, there was quite a bit of debate about the design of their nun outfits since they were beastmen with animal ears.

Should those ears be treated as part of their hairstyle or just considered ‘ears’?

It didn’t take long to wrap that up. Many veils in nun attire cover ears entirely, and it seemed those two didn’t have any huge issues covering theirs.

Their veils were specially made to accommodate their ears. They were both a bit taller than me, so from just the silhouette, they looked cute. In fact, their popularity in the convent wasn’t bad at all.

Wherever they went, they would link arms. Pertia always had that goofy smile, while Paina wore a soft smile on her lips.

Pertia’s expression was undoubtedly radiating happiness, and Paina was the same. It was a genuine smile, not that business-like grin they had when we met.

“See? I told you.”

As I blankly stared at that sight, Glaria had somehow moved beside me.

“The convent is just the perfect place for budding romances.”

Glaria looked a bit different from the princess over there. Compared to those two neatly dressed nuns, she had thrown her veil on haphazardly like me, so her shiny golden hair was clearly visible.

If I had to say, she looked more like a nun in cosplay. While those two were quite serious in their escape, Glaria wasn’t really a nun at all.

“Don’t you think so?”

“Think what?”

I pretended to sip on the coffee mix I was holding.

Today was one of those special days with nothing major happening at the church. Even if it was a church, who would stick around if there was always a mountain of work?

Even if it wasn’t like everyone else who took weekends off, there are days when there’s barely anything other than light cleaning.

There aren’t that many ways to pass the time in the convent. Most people just lounge around in their rooms or, like me, sit out here and soak up some sun.

By the way, I snagged this coffee from the interview room.

“Hmm.”

In response to my answer, Glaria stared at me with a meaningful expression.

“Um, Saintess.”

“I’m not a Saintess yet.”

I pouted and took a sip of my coffee. Was it the title she just called me? For some reason, the bitterness of the coffee seemed sharper than the usual sugary sweetness of the mix.

“Aren’t you all treating me like a Saintess by now?”

Noticing Glaria staring at my white clothing, I let out a long sigh.

“Well, not just yet.”

“True, institutionally, you’re not yet, so I’ll give you that.”

But Glaria stubbornly pushed on.

“Still, Anna, there’s gossip going around in the convent.”

“……Gossip?”

“Yeah. They’re saying you and Maria might be ‘very close’.”

“That’s probably just typical baseless rumor.”

“I mean, it could be, but…”

Glaria leaned forward a bit and glanced towards Ria sitting next to me.

“What does Sister Maria think?”

“What does it even matter?”

Ria replied in disbelief.

“I’m a knight and a Saintess, so what do you expect? If they see us together, what should we even say?”

“……”

My heart ached for no reason. I know logically it’s for the best. Unless Ria likes me in a romantic sense, it’s best to hide this feeling.

But the more she says we can’t possibly have anything, the more my heart aches.

“Hmm.”

Glaria kept trying to read me.

Feeling a bit annoyed, I shot a glare at Glaria.

“So does this mean your relationship with Davi is like that too?”

“Huh?”

Seeing Glaria’s expression go from shock to surprise as I unexpectedly fired back, I poked her again.

“Davi’s always hanging around you too. It’s not a stretch to assume something’s going on, right?”

“……”

Glaria froze, slightly parting her lips as she looked at me, then turned to glance back.

Davi wasn’t sitting right next to Glaria like Ria was with me. But she was pretty close, hovering like a guard ready to jump in at any moment.

Glaria made a bit of a complicated face before letting out a big sigh.

“That’s… fair. Thinking of it that way, I guess my statement was a bit off. Sorry.”

“Nah, it’s easy to see how someone might take it that way.”

I accepted Glaria’s words with a nod.

Well, to be honest, I don’t mind that kind of misunderstanding.

Even for Ria’s sake, I’d deny anything, but emotionally? It feels a little validating to be mistaken for dating someone I care about.

I glanced at Ria, and our eyes met.

Ria chuckled softly.

Feeling shy for no reason, I turned my face away, only to feel her gently pat my head.

I finished off the now-lukewarm coffee mix in one go.

Maybe the coffee had gotten cold, but this time the sweetness hit me all at once, making my tongue tingle.

*

“……Ugh.”

I woke up in the middle of the night.

Thought it’d be a mundane day, but of all things, a hunter got shoved in from beyond the gate, badly injured by a monster.

Of course, I dashed out immediately and channeled my Saint Power as usual.

Once you link with the divine, even a decent amount of Saint Power won’t knock you out.

But still, feeling a bit exhausted, I decided to head back to my room to catch some more sleep. It’s just prayer time left, and the Sister Warden usually lets it slide when I’ve done my duties for the day.

I prayed to the deity, saved a life, so I figured that counts as my prayers for the day.

Logically, it isn’t wrong, so I just went with it.

However, despite feeling less fatigued, I couldn’t shake off the hunger that hit me when I woke up.

Sitting up in bed, I caught the gaze of Ria, who seemed to have been waiting at her bed all along.

“Want to go eat something?”

Ria asking that was kind of embarrassing.

If I’d been in a guy’s body, I wouldn’t have felt weird eating anything in front of her.

But reflecting on it now, I realized I’d been eating a bit too freely around Ria. I had eaten what she had been eating as well.

Feeling self-conscious, my face turned a bit red.

But still, I couldn’t refuse Ria’s offer.

*

Even though it was kind of implicitly allowed, walking loudly down the halls felt a bit off.

As I was walking with Ria, she suddenly said, “Huh?” and pressed her ear against the door of a room.

“Ria?”

“Shh.”

With a bit of a blush, Ria placed her finger over her mouth.

I tilted my head, then followed suit, putting my ear against the door—

[……Paina.]

That voice came through clearly.

And it was laden with all sorts of suggestive undertones.

“……Huh.”

“Shh.”

This time, Ria pressed her finger against my lips when I unconsciously spoke out loud.

Uh….

No, wait a second.

Ria?