Chapter 41

This small space was surprisingly cozy.

Beyond the hole where the light leaked in, I could blurry see the statue of God.

Isn’t this ironic.

It was a place to listen to the hearts of believers on behalf of God.

However, I couldn’t see God properly from here.

The crack on the door that had been used for a long time had already worn out completely.

That means there were a lot of people that came here and brought up secrets that they couldn’t tell to anyone.

Secrets, huh?

Like a habit, my hand moved to my chest.

Realizing that there was no locket that I had always been fiddling with, I felt awkward.

Although I didn’t know the real identity of that item, apparently I really relied on it.

Is it because of the divine power on it?

I didn’t know when it started, but I felt more calm when I touched it.

Although I thought it was because it was the first gift given by Zen.

When I lowered my gaze, I saw the ring that was still on my finger.

“It’s better to take . . .”

He said this was an item simply to help my concentration, but looking at Zen’s movement lately, that might not be the case.

The moment I was about to take the ring out, a creak-door opening sound was heard.

Someone was walking carefully into the oratory.

I guessed he was a knight based on his clinking steps.

The man who sat inside the covered compartment next to me spoke out with a trembling voice.

“Priest, the situation is getting worse.”

“. . .”

I was puzzled for a moment by his sudden start.

Then, he quickly continued his words.

“Solving the homework given by my lord is beyond my capability.”

“. . .”

It must be hard for knights these days.

I didn’t know who he was, but I couldn’t believe he had to do homework even after being appointed as a knight.

It was beyond the proverb that every moment in life is learning.

“I was happy when my lord, who rarely let people next to him, was very interested in his new sister.”

He stopped for a moment and sighed.

“I thought he, crazy as he was with his sword— ordering us to train even on the day off and treating us harshly— finally set his eyes on something new. I thought we finally could be liberated.”

And that is his new sister?

I was a bit puzzled while listening to it.

It seemed like the lord mentioned was very crazy with swords and tortured the knights very much, but did he say he felt liberated by his lord’s interest turned toward his female sister?

Then, what about that new sister?

For me, who was suffering from my new brother, I was more curious about the said new sister.

“These days, he even lets us train on our account and locks himself in his study.”

“Isn’t that a good thing? Didn’t you say you want to reduce your training?”

“When he encounters strange books in the study, he keeps giving us homework.”

His voice sounded even more gloomy.

The young man was truly suffering from confusion.

I wondered what kind of strange book he encountered that he got very distressed by the given homework.

“Last time, after trying the plan to get his sister’s interest  that he heard from his close friend failed, he diligently read novels with a story of a brother with a little sister.”

“I see. It seems like he wants to learn.”

Although, I’m not sure if that could be learned.

The young knight sighed at my sour response.

“The problem is that it does not end there.”

The knight’s voice was more raging.

“Our homework is to go home and demonstrate the actions of the brother in the novel to our little sisters.”

“That . . .”

“What I’m saying is, thanks to that, the daughter of my mother who lives with me looks at me as if looking at a crazy person.”

Now I got curious about the novel read by this knight’s master.

What was it that he learned and got such a bad response when he followed it?

I decided to focus on solving the problem rather than being curious.

“From what I hear, the cause of the incident can be seen as an effort by your master to be liked by his sister.”

“That’s right.”

“Then, isn’t solving the cause the best method?”

“That— do you mean to eliminate the cause?”

“That’s right. You should elimina—”

“That is unacceptable.”

He cut my words with a desperate voice.

“How can I eliminate my lord’s sister?”

“. . .”

What do you mean, how can you eliminate his little sister?

I told you to eliminate the problem that made the brother couldn’t get liked by his sister.

“What I mean is it’s a problem that could be solved by making the relationship between the brother and the sister good.”

The knight replied ‘I see’ to my words with a pessimistic voice.

At this point, I was confused whether I was hearing his confession or giving him job counseling.

Well, even if it was a proper confession session, it was a problem since I wasn’t a priest.

At that moment, I heard a bell announcing that the allocated time had ended from far away.

The knight quietly got up and greeted before stepping out the door, giving off a nuance that he didn’t want to go.

“I’m tired just by hearing that.”

Even this is not an easy job.

While turning my stiff neck, I looked outside and stood up.

I was thinking of relieving my neck before the next person came.

Right at the moment I opened the hidden partition and was about to come out for a moment, I heard someone opening the door urgently.

“Ah, priestess! I forgot the dona—”

Someone’s shadow was casted in front of me who curled up reflexively.

When I raised my head, a familiar back came into view.