Chapter 45: Smooth Criminal (3)

Afterward, we met a few more people and talked with them.

“At first, I just thought… maybe they were having a bad dream.”

The witness who first discovered a victim of this incident in the village.

“I’m sure of it. I saw it, I tell you! I clearly saw that guy sneak out of the inn early in the morning!”

A villager who had accused an outsider, claiming to have clear evidence.

“Th-That’s ridiculous…! I-I just woke up early because of a hangover! It's true! Th-That pretty nun will be my witness! I ran into her on the way and we went to the church together! I even saw her praying before I left!”

The accused outsider, an adventurer.

“Yes, what he said is likely true. For the past few years, Sister Lily has come out alone to pray in the early morning every single day without fail.”

And the representative of the church, the bishop.

“She is a truly devout person. When it comes to faith and healing, I always find myself looking up to Sister Lily.”

“For several years, without fail?”

“Yes. She has been doing so ever since she became an adult… so it must be almost five years now.”

“For five years.”

“Sister Lily is the pride of our village.”

The bishop, who said this with a pleased smile, looked almost like a parent boasting about their child.

“It has always been this way since Lady Sistina brought Sister Lily to our village.”

The bishop continued to boast about his daughter, about how devout and outstanding a cleric Lily was.

“The more I hear, the more amazing she seems.”

Not knowing that I came to this church to seduce that daughter.

* * *

“Thank you for taking the time to see me, Sister. I know you're busy.”

“Not at all, sister.”

Lily greeted me with the same benevolent smile as when we first met.

“I will do whatever I can to help solve this matter.”

Then she looked around and asked.

“What about your companions?”

“No, I came alone this time.”

Because I came to do something a little… embarrassing to be seen by others.

“I came to ask you something personally about yourself.”

“About me?”

Lily tilted her head.

“The bishop praised you so generously.”

“Is that so?”

“He said you’ve been coming to pray at dawn every day for five years now?”

“Ah… Yes. That’s right.”

When the topic of dawn prayers came up, Lily hesitated for a moment.

As she averted her eyes as if to avoid my gaze, she also seemed a little shy.

“Your faith seems to be very deep.”

“Lady Sistina is the one who took me in. It’s only natural.”

“Took you in?”

“The priests found me in a basket and accepted me as a child of Lady Sistina.”

A baby abandoned in front of a church.

Just hearing it, it sounded like a past with some circumstances, didn't it?

“Without Lady Sistina's guidance, I would have surely lived a different, difficult life, or perhaps I wouldn't be alive at all.”

“I see. Now I understand why the bishop regarded you as his own child.”

“Actually, the bishop is like a father to me.”

Lily, who said this, had a similar expression to when the bishop had spoken about her.

“He was the one who decided to take me in, despite the opposition of others.”

Like she was boasting about her family.

“Opposition?”

“…Ah.”

At my question, Lily, as if she had realized her slip of the tongue, couldn't easily continue.

“Well… I don’t know the details of what happened back then, but…”

It seemed like she was trying to cover it up belatedly, but it only showed that she wasn't very good at lying.

“Then did you learn divine magic from the bishop too?”

So I didn't press her any further.

Well, since I already knew the reason anyway.

“…Yes! I mainly received teachings from the bishop.”

When I changed the subject, Lily, who had been looking troubled, immediately answered my question and showed a visible sign of relief.

“I learned many other things from the bishop as well. He is both a parent and a teacher to me.”

“Then you must be well-versed in the doctrines of the Sistina sect.”

“Yes, of course.”

“That’s great. I was actually curious about the doctrines.”

“About the doctrines?”

Although she reacted with some curiosity, as if she thought it wasn't a topic related to the incident.

“What are you curious about?”

Lily eventually hid her curiosity with a smile and told me to ask anything.

After all, it wasn't a very strange question to ask inside a church.

“I don’t particularly believe in any specific god, but as a bard, I have heard quite a few interesting stories about the gods.”

At that, I raised the corners of my mouth and continued.

“Among them, the most popular song material among people was, of course, love.”

Of the gods.

Or, with those who serve them.

“Ah… I-Is that so?”

As soon as the word love came up, Lily, as if embarrassed, once again averted her gaze from me.

“So, I was wondering, does the Sistina sect allow its clerics to be in a romantic relationship?”

“The clerics’, romance…?”

“Some sects strictly forbid their clerics from dating or getting married, while some, far from forbidding it, actually encourage them to share their love with as many people as possible.”

“Ah…”

The God of Love and the God of Beauty are representative examples of the latter.

Either the god's teachings were like that from the beginning, or they naturally followed the god's usual conduct.

“Lady Sistina, who is also the goddess of the home, values chastity for the peace of the home, so…”

But Sistina was, if I had to say, on the former side.

“For clerics, romance and marriage are not fundamentally forbidden, but… everyone voluntarily refrains from them to set an example as a cleric.”

“So you mean, doctrinally, it's not strictly forbidden?”

“Yes. There were occasionally people who actually got married, but there were no disciplinary actions taken or anything like that.”

“That’s, quite a shame.”

“……Pardon?”

“It would have been better if it were a taboo.”

Lily's eyes widened like her currently gaping mouth.

“The tension of breaking a taboo and the pleasure that comes at the end… only those who have tasted it would know.”

Then, as she stared at me blankly, with an expression that still didn't quite understand what I was talking about.

“Um, what does that……?”

As expected, she couldn't understand and eventually asked cautiously.

“Sister. Have you not received many temptations until now?”

“T-Temptations…?”

“You know, don’t you? That you are very attractive.”

“…!”

It was a reaction as if she had been hit right on the mark.

Well, only she would know which of the two questions hit the mark.

“Um… as you said, there have been times when people from outside have courted me, but……”

“Have you ever accepted?”

“N-No. I am grateful for their feelings, but as a cleric, I could not accept…”

Lily stopped in the middle of her answer.

Then she asked back in a somewhat confused voice.

“Um, by the way, what do these questions have to do with the incident…?”

Instead of answering that question, I just gave a grin.

“Sister── no, Ms. Lily.”

Then I shot up from my seat and approached Lily.

“…!?”

At that, the startled Lily also stood up and took a step back.

“I think you're misunderstanding the reason I came to see you again, Ms. Lily.”

I said, taking another bold step towards Lily.

“M-Misunderstanding…?”

“I came to seduce you.”

“……Y-Yes?!”

Lily, who took another step back, was naturally blocked by the wall that was right behind where she had been sitting.

Instead of pushing her further against the wall, I stopped at a moderate distance.

Just within reach if I were to extend my hand.

“S-Sister…?”

“Sister, you say.”

I let out a small laugh.

“Do you really think I'm a sister?”

“……Pardon?”

“Then── would you like to check for yourself?”

“──?!”

At these words, the greatly surprised Lily flinched.

Then she began to stare at me intently, as if in disbelief.

To be precise, she looked me up and down.

As if she had no awareness of what she was doing.

“Ch-Check, you say, what in the world…?!”

As if belatedly realizing it, Lily averted her gaze, but she couldn't hide her already flushed face.

Seeing that, a laugh escaped me without me realizing it.

“Now… what did you just imagine?”

And as smoothly as possible, I whispered sweetly.

“Which version of me did you imagine?”

“…!? I-I wouldn't…!”

Lily couldn't deny that she had.

As I said before, she didn't seem to have any talent for lying.

“I-Immoral! It’s immoral…!”

In the end, Lily squeezed her eyes shut and tried to push me away as if to say, ‘don't come any closer’.

“I-I, as a cleric, have promised to remain chaste…!”

“You said it's not a problem doctrinally, didn't you?”

“Th-That’s not the problem…! Lady Sistina must be watching everything…!”

There was some truth to that.

Because, the statue of Sistina hanging on the wall was literally looking down at us.

However.

“Is that so?”

In fact, I hadn't moved an inch from my spot.

So she couldn't push me away even if she tried.

Unless, Lily herself had approached me first.

“Then she must be watching us holding hands like this right now, right?”

“──Ugh!?”

At my point, Lily was startled and roughly let go of my hand, which she had been holding gently.

To say it again, it wasn't me.

It was Lily who had grabbed it.

Just now, while saying as if she were trying to push me away, she had approached and grabbed my hand.

I didn't point out that fact, but of course, Lily couldn't have not known.

In the first place, that was our physical position.

Therefore, instead of arguing with me, Lily looked down at her own hand in disbelief.

“No, this is…! D-Don’t misunderstand!”

“Of course, I don't misunderstand. The answer is sufficient.”

“I-I don’t think it is at all!?”

No, it really was.

With this, I had seen all the reactions I wanted to see here.

“Indeed, it seems I would be divinely punished if I were to snatch away someone who serves a god right under the god's statue.”

It was time to retreat.

“I received the key to the warehouse on the outskirts of the village from the chief.”

As one of the places where a collapsed person was found, it was a place that was avoided even to pass by.

“When the day changes, I plan to go there to investigate.”

“…!”

In short, it was a place where no one would come.

“I trust you know what I mean.”

* * *

In fact, it wasn't just me, but my companions were all watching too.

No, not all of them, to be precise.

But at least, everyone must have been able to eavesdrop on the conversation between me and Lily.

“…….”

That's why, as soon as I came out of the room, Ibi was glaring at me with her arms crossed.

“Y-You're truly amazing, Teacher Yubin…. Ahaha….”

On the other hand, Miki looked embarrassed, as if he had been there himself, and.

“Good work.”

Rine was… her usual self.

“Good work, my ass.”

Ibi, as soon as she heard Rine's words, let out a dry laugh as if she was dumbfounded.

“You were talking big about catching the culprit, and now you’re suddenly seducing a nun?”

“It's a misunderstanding, Ibi.”

“What misunderstanding?”

“It was something that had to be done to solve this case.”

“Aah Touching a nun? F*cking likely.”

Strictly speaking, it wasn't me but her who had touched me.

“So? Besides the fact that you're a divinely-punishable bastard who gets horny for nuns, what other new information did you find out?”

“The next victim.”

“What?”

“W-Who is it?!”

“Me.”

* * *

Late at night, when the date was about to change.

Yubin was waiting alone inside the mentioned warehouse.

To be precise, he was making it look like he was waiting alone.

The other three were hiding separately in a corner of the warehouse.

Rine and Michael were small, which was an advantage, and Ibi, as a ‘rogue’, was skilled at hiding in the dark.

Thanks to that, the three of them were hidden quite perfectly.

Until the person who appeared as the warehouse door opened, almost made them reveal themselves in shock.

“Sh*t, for real…?”

Ibi, who had hastily hidden herself again, muttered in disbelief.

The person, who had been constantly looking around as if worried about being discovered by someone, had finally stepped cautiously into the warehouse.

“I have been waiting.”

The pride of the village, considered the blessing of Sistina.

“Ms. Lily.”

The devout nun.

“You really came.”

“…….”

Even after opening the door and coming inside, Lily kept her head down with her veil pulled low, as if to hide her shyness.

Until she slowly raised her gaze and looked at me.

“……I’m sorry.”

Then Lily suddenly apologized to me.

But, it was not an apology to reject my ‘seduction’.

Rather.

“Forgive me, Lady Sistina.”

It was a declaration that she would seduce me now.

With her hands clasped demurely, as if in prayer.

Jiiing──

At the same time, Lily's eyes, which had begun to stare at me intently, were tinged with a familiar faint pink.

『──Become mine.』

With the light of 「Charm」.