In the early dawn, quite a number of people gathered in the cathedral, bowing their heads and praying to their gods.
Normally, they should go to their own chapels to worship, but now it was the time for the Saint Election.
It was a special occasion and an event for everyone to gather in the cathedral to seek the will and answers from their gods.
Even in the early morning, the voices of the believers resonated with thud thud.
These folks believed that their faith would be stronger if their voices were louder than others, competing to see who could pray the loudest.
Amidst them, a nun walked around, extending her hands to those with their heads bowed and eyes closed.
No one knew who this woman in the black veil was, but they didn’t refuse her intercession or touch.
“May everything be done according to Your will.”
“Ah, I believe.”
The nun’s voice was so sweet, and even with her veil on, her beauty was undeniable.
She wrapped around not only their hearts but also their bodies, and the warm feelings swelling in their chests could truly be called love.
“It’s alright, always pray. I am here beside you.”
As she spoke, the soft pink hue inside her mouth seemed to peek out, but this was a chapel, and it was prayer time.
Everyone had their eyes closed and hands together, so no one could see it.
“I am your ideal saint. Always embracing you with love, holding you close, and caressing you.”
The nun buried the head of a believer in her chest and continued to whisper sweet nothings.
Once this was over, the believers, as if possessed by something, yearned for the deep and precious love of the goddess.
When the morning prayers ended, all the believers bowed deeply, shedding tears of gratitude to the nun waiting at the entrance.
“I truly felt what God’s love is, thanks to you.”
“Thank you. I really appreciate it. I’ve been having a tough time lately, but thanks to you, I think I can keep going.”
“I want to become a nun too! Someone who embraces everyone with love and guides them, just like you.”
The nun silently smiled from within her veil as she sent them off.
Finally, after closing the chapel door, the nun headed to one of the assigned rooms for the saint candidates.
The symbol of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, was drawn on the door, exactly the same design as the one on her tongue.
Upon entering, she found three other nuns kneeling inside.
Normally, this room was off-limits except for the nun of Aphrodite and the priest who accompanied her, but without hesitation, she removed her veil and tossed it to one of them.
“Here, food.”
The nun of Zeus, regarded as the most promising candidate in this election, began to sniff and lick the veil with a look of ecstasy.
Other nuns from different gods also crowded in greedily, resulting in them fighting each other, while Aphrodite’s nun sat back on the bed, laughing.
It was like watching beasts fight.
“Anyway, in the end, it’s the ones begging for love like this who act all high and mighty at first.”
“Ah, please love me!”
“Mikaela-sama!”
“More! More of your love to me!”
Now buried in their own saliva-covered veils, the nuns ran to Mikaela, bowing their heads.
As she crossed her legs and extended one foot, the other nuns began to eagerly suck on her toes.
“Yeah, there’s nothing quite as exhilarating as nuns groveling at your feet.”
The soft pink hue oozing from Mikaela’s mouth materialized and squirmed through the air like a worm, invading the ears and noses of the nuns, devouring their brains.
Thus, the nuns demanded even more intense love.
“Now get lost, you pitiful girls.”
Mikaela kicked their faces, stepping on them like crushing ants.
In an instant, the room was drenched in blood.
Some nuns had torn ears or broken teeth, but they didn’t care at all.
“Hah, hah.”
Mikaela felt the stress from hugging and comforting the believers wash away as she changed her clothes and headed out into the city.
‘With this power, the citizens have no choice but to support me.’
Four days left until the vote.
Only high-ranking clergy like bishops and paladins could vote, but they also check the public opinion.
Seeing a strong backing from the citizens would naturally funnel their votes in her direction.
‘Or how else could they handle the riots?’
Indeed, there had been instances in history where a nun, enjoying overwhelming public support, failed to become the saint, leading to large-scale rallies and protests.
If it doesn’t happen, she’ll make it happen.
Mikaela hummed a hymn to the goddess as she stepped onto the street.
*
“…Thanks for your hard work, sis.”
“Cough! Cough!”
When we arrived in the streets of Batian, I sincerely expressed my gratitude to my sister, but Daena didn’t seem to have the energy to accept it.
“First of all, I think you should rest a bit today. I’ll move on my own.”
“But…”
“Sis, you just covered a distance in a day that would take several days by carriage, and you carried me. You need rest.”
Her eyes were heavily fatigued, and she was soaked in sweat as if she had been drenched by a waterfall. Knowing how hard Daena had worked, I wanted her to rest.
“Since we know each other’s faces, they will let us rest at the academy’s accommodation. The Dean said he’d told them we were coming.”
Even after saying all this, my sister couldn’t shake off her worry about me doing something dangerous on my own.
I thought we might have a little back-and-forth, but an unexpected figure interrupted our conversation.
“Hello, is this your first time in Batian? Are you two siblings?”
With her bright red hair and matching eyes, she had pale skin reminiscent of a vampire, but contrastingly, she wore nun’s clothing.
Usually, nuns are said to avoid contact with men, so I thought she must be having quite a hard time dealing with clingy guys.
Depending on one’s taste, her beauty could rival Rin’s, often voted the most beautiful girl at the academy.
Of course, she gave off a slightly different vibe than Rin, but her beauty was powerful enough to make passersby glance back.
“Wow, you’re so beautiful.”
Daena, forgetting her hardships, blurted out compliments about her looks. The nun didn’t seem displeased, thanking her while gently caressing her own cheeks with both hands.
“I’m Mikaela. Recently, there have been many visitors coming to Batian, so I’ve been preaching on the street.”
“Ah… I’m sorry, but I don’t believe in any gods.”
With an awkward expression, my sister subtly declined, nudging my side with her elbow, signaling me to move on.
“…”
I could do nothing but stand there, staring at her face.
Daena apologized for the rudeness as she wondered why I was being so weird, and the nun named Mikaela replied that it was fine.
However, the reason I was staring at her wasn’t because of her looks.
Mikaela.
If my memory serves right, her full name is Mikaela Etram.
She was the nun who had the potential to become the next saint of the Frisia Kingdom after winning this saint election.
‘She’s hiding her identity while working.’
Candidates weren’t allowed to reveal their identities until voting day, so I quickly understood how she was operating.
‘I think I can trust this person.’
After all, she was revered as a saint in my past life. Praises about her admirable character and beautiful nature had spread all the way to the Forest of the Demon Realm.
“Could you help me?”
So, I immediately asked her for help.
*
‘What kind of nonsense is this?!’
As Mikaela took steps to guide the two toward the cathedral, it was the first time in 20 years she felt so flustered.
Suddenly, the McLean siblings asked her for help.
They claimed it was too difficult to talk on the street and requested guidance to the cathedral.
Feigning to guide them, Mikaela slipped in her pink imprint of magic. She didn’t want to waste time on unnecessary things, so she planned to brainwash the two and then cut them loose.
Daena, the sister, seemed to be somewhat affected.
But the brother was different.
“Hmm?”
Receiving her magic, he merely scratched his ear as if it were itchy.
Thanks to that, she had to withdraw the magic she cast on Daena, not wanting Daniel to see his sister in a bad light.
‘What the heck is this?! Who is this kid?!’
Mikaela, internally cursing in a way a nun shouldn’t, was not the only one in a bind due to Daniel McLean.
There was another woman sitting on a bench, seemingly dead.
She was tracking the culprit who killed the nun of Demeter on behalf of the first prince.
She judged Mikaela had a high probability of being that culprit and was tailing her.
As soon as she found an opening, she planned to either kidnap her or interrogate her for information, but…
‘What the hell is that monster?’
She couldn’t clearly tell if Daniel was a girl or a boy.
However, the sixth sense of the madame warned her more loudly than it had during her long years with the Chokugen Faction.
‘If you’re caught, you’ll die.’
Without any abnormalities, she would die.
Thus, even the normally relaxed madame now sweated a drop in tension, trying to act like a mere citizen out for a stroll.
“Yawn.”
While she was the one trembling at the sight of Daniel for negative reasons, he was just yawning.
