I’m Playing as a Nun.

Inside the church, enveloped in silence.

In the heavy atmosphere, I am standing alone in front of a statue, presumably the goddess Paellia.

Behind me, Aizen’s body weakly moved forward, his legs heavy.

“……”

After looking at the statue in silence for a long time, I soon let out a short sigh with a shadowed face.

Although it hasn’t even been a full month since we’ve been together.

Nevertheless, since there was never a moment when I wasn’t sincere, the perplexity about the situation could only be deeper.

“Please sit down.”

“O, okay…”

It was more timid than usual.

As the sound of Aizen carefully sitting down filled the quiet space, I finally slowly turned my body, which had been showing my back.

“Aizen, please raise your head.”

“……”

At my soft words, Aizen unnaturally raised his head, which had been deeply bowed.

Pale complexion.

Uneasy gaze.

Cold sweat pouring down like rain.

As if sensing his own fate, Aizen anxiously showed his unstable appearance.

However, I’m not a narrow-minded person to the point of getting angry at the actions of a child who doesn’t know anything.

I know the behavior didn’t come from bad intentions, no matter the reason.

“Do you still find me suspicious?”

When I asked, Aizen silently shook his head.

“It’s okay, Aizen. I’m not here right now to scold you.”

“…Huh?”

“I just want to clear up the misunderstanding. Because even a small spark, if left alone, will someday spread into a big fire.”

A faint smile gently shown with those words.

It’s not a good look for me, an adult much older than Aizen, to get angry and fret over such a trivial matter.

Only when I show a benevolent appearance that embraces everything at times like this can I completely erase Aizen’s doubts.

Also, it’s a good opportunity to upgrade my acting as a nun to a higher level, so let’s think positively instead of only looking at it negatively.

“Mi, misunderstanding…”

“Can you tell me what happened last night?”

After calming down Aizen, who was trembling with anxiety, I naturally proceeded to the main point despite the heavy atmosphere.

He began to take a deep breath with an expression as if he had decided about something.

“Actually, I accidentally heard it while running away yesterday. That demon calling Levi a vampire…”

Aizen’s voice, which barely opened his mouth, was still trembling.

Nevertheless, he honestly revealed what happened last night while trying to maintain his composure.

A truly admirable appearance.

Aizen’s action of bravely opening his mouth despite it being difficult to speak deserved praise.

Apart from that, the story that came from Aizen’s mouth was shocking and perplexing.

“…Pardon?”

“Honestly, I don’t know much about what a vampire is… But I can definitely tell that it’s a monster.”

“Th, then… you asked me to go in the sun earlier…”

“Because Levi has never wandered around during the day from the beginning until now. I thought that might be related to the monster called a vampire.”

Unlike earlier, this time it was my complexion that gradually turned pale.

Fortunately, since my skin was originally pale, I didn’t have to worry about being caught that my complexion had worsened.

But from the point where Aizen happened to hear about vampires, my mind had already turned into a blank white paper.

“Why didn’t you run away…?”

“My legs shook so much that I froze for quite a long time… I wanted to run away quickly, but my legs wouldn’t move…”

I overlooked an important fact.

Although Aizen is very brave and active compared to his peers, he is still a young child—not even 10 years old.

Moreover, he is a tragic victim whose parents and the entire village were devastated by monsters.

At that point, it’s not strange at all for the strength in his legs to vanish.

Rather, it was natural.

But why did I take it for granted that Aizen would have escaped well at that time?

It wasn’t a situation for that.

“…I see. I didn’t think that far.”

“I’m sorry. I should have run away quickly…”

“No. Nevertheless, Aizen faithfully carried out his assigned mission. It’s not something to apologize for.”

This incident is not Aizen’s fault.

It’s my fault for judging the situation complacently.

How can I blame and reproach Aizen when it was me who opened my mouth and blabbered on, excited that the opponent was a demon?

I should have saved my words.

“So you misunderstood that I was a monster disguised as a human?”

“Ah, yeah… But it wasn’t. Levi just really hates sunlight…”

The only fortunate thing is that my identity, which was about to be exposed sloppily, was luckily barely concealed.

If I hadn’t gained the passive skill called Rapid Regeneration at that time, I would have been in an even more difficult situation, let alone erasing suspicion.

“Does that mean that the conversation you had inside the church at that time wasn’t to save me, but to make a plan to secretly run away?”

“…Yeah. But I couldn’t be honest with Ellie and Iris. In case they got shocked.”

“You did well. Anyway, since things have worked out well, there’s no point in digging into it any further.”

“I’m sorry for misunderstanding… I won’t do that next time…”

Unlike the calm appearance smiling on the outside, my insides were anxiously pounding like crazy to calm my heart.

I almost burned down not only the house but the entire mountain.

Whether it should be called a coincidence or good luck─.

Thanks to the unintentionally cultivated land doing its job properly, I was able to avoid a potentially difficult situation relatively easily.

Nevertheless, it’s impossible to deny that it was a dizzying situation.

I think I’ll have to act more cautiously from now on.

– Clap!

“Now, let’s end this talk here. As I said at the beginning, I didn’t call you to scold you.”

To return the atmosphere that had become heavy again back to normal,

I spoke brightly while loudly clapping my palms together.

“B, but… I was stubborn and forced Sister to be in the sunlight you hate…”

“I can do that much if it’s to clear your misunderstanding. In the first place, it’s not like I did anything great.”

“Still…”

“…If the guilt accumulated inside can’t be relieved no matter what, I have an idea for a punishment.”

“Huh?”

The more pure a person is, the harder it is for the guilt accumulated in their heart to be relieved by mere words of forgiveness.

Honestly, there’s no reason for Aizen to be punished since his suspicions were all true, and I’m not in a position to give punishment, either.

But I think doing it this way will be a good direction for both of us.

Both for me and for Aizen.

Because we’re not living together with bad intentions.

“I will be away from the church for maybe one to three days. While I’m gone, please clean the church spotlessly and take good care of Ellie and Iris.”

“Why? Where are you going?”

“I’m thinking of going to a nearby village to get a book where Iris can learn beginner’s magic. She has recently shown a lot of interest in magic.”

“Ah… I see.”

Aizen, who suddenly shows a relieved expression at my flat answer.

He takes a deep breath and wipes his chest.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing. Leave Ellie and Iris to me and have a comfortable trip. I’ll make sure to thoroughly clean the church too.”

“I’ll say it again, this is not a request but a punishment I’m giving to Aizen. Don’t think of doing it roughly.”

“Of course! I’ll make it like new!”

“…Okay.”

Although Aizen looked strange to be so happy, even though I said it was a punishment.

He must have felt that suspecting me as a monster was a grievous mistake.

Because I could fully understand that feeling, I nodded and agreed.

“Ah, Aizen, is there anything you want?”

“Me?”

“Yes. Something you need, or something you’ve always wanted to have.”

“It’s okay. Just being able to live safely here is enough.”

“Hmm, it seems like you don’t have much greed?”

“Ellie or Iris will have more things they want than me. Even though they look like that, they’re girls, after all.”

I almost burst out laughing at the words and actions that don’t match a 10-year-old.

But with quick reflexes, I secretly pinched my thigh to hold back the laughter that was about to come out.

“I got it. I’m planning to leave right after finishing dinner, so please let Ellie and Iris know that, too.”

“Okay! Got it!”

Aizen energetically left the church.

Until just earlier, his entire face was darkly shadowed, and his attitude towards me was very awkward.

However, with the misunderstanding resolved through conversation and regaining his energy, I feel relieved, and a faint smile naturally forms.

– Clank

“Ah, he finally came out.”

“Bad Aizen.”

As soon as Aizen opens the tightly closed door of the church, Ellie and Iris immediately appear as if they were waiting.

Then they start scolding and reproaching Aizen, who is standing there dumbfounded, one word at a time.

“Poor Sister! How could you do that without knowing grace?”

“Sister was on the verge of crying.”

“Ah, no… I mean…”

Aizen, greatly startled by the sudden barrage of countless criticisms, could only stammer.

Although his appearance looked quite pitiful, it was also cute, so the smile on my face didn’t easily disappear.

“Did you apologize properly?!”

“I really can’t forgive you.”

“I did… I did… It’s all my fault…”

They were children who had no choice but to gather in one place due to an unfortunate incident.

Because of that incident, they have taken on the heavy responsibility of being chosen as the Messiah to save the world.

Nevertheless, I hope these children can escape from such selfish responsibility and grow up purely like any other child, at least at this moment.

Also, even when they become adults, I hope they can trust and rely on each other without distrust and move forward with strength.

Because they are good children who deserve it enough.

“Now, everyone. Let’s stop scolding Aizen and play hide-and-seek with me inside the church?”

“Huh? But Sister said it’s forbidden to play inside the church…”

“It’s okay for today.”

Until then, I will have to thoroughly hide my identity, act as a devout nun, and carefully take care of these three children.

Because I think that is my mission in this world.

“Hmm, I think it would be good for Aizen to be the first seeker.”