Chapter 344
"... Your life shines brightly simply because of the justice in your heart. You're a wonderful person, Shirou Emiya."
You know my name? You know me?!
However, Emiya's question remained unanswered, because Ivia vanished the next instant, as if it had all been an illusion.
"... What on earth is going on...?"
Despite his confusion, Emiya chose to continue forward into the Bamboo Grove.
At the Homurahara Academy, Caren, who took on the role of school Teacher to see children cry up close, sipped her hot Coffee and gazed out at the heavy snow falling.
According to the weather forecast, it is expected to snow all day in Fuyuki today.
Therefore, the school issued a notice of class suspension... It's a real shame we can't see the crying faces.
The snow on the ground should melt by the afternoon, so we can see children playing in the snow, and then see them crying after failing to throw snowballs... But speaking of which, Fuyuki City has been acting strangely lately, as if there are traces of Magus that I failed to notice in time.
It's impossible for anyone to escape the Church's watchful eye, whether they are a foreign Magecraft or a local Magecraft; no one can escape God's gaze.
Could it be there?
Thinking about how recently no one had been going to a certain Small Park, which might be the source of the problem, Caren finished her Coffee in one gulp and then walked out of the Nurse’s Office.
Soon, the sound of tires screeching against the ground filled the deserted schoolyard, and Caren rode her motorcycle swaggering towards a Small Park not far from the Homurahara Academy.
"I can't stand it, it's still too cold."
Upon arriving at her destination, Caren removed her helmet, revealing her Silver Hair that had been tied up.
In sub-zero temperatures, white breath drifted through the air.
"It was just an illusion after all."
The girl glanced around and, finding nothing there, suddenly stopped.
Caren was puzzled by the discovery of a tent in the park, even though she hadn't sensed any Magecraft energy there. The tent seemed to have always been there, which she also viewed as a threat.
However, despite thinking this, the silver-haired girl still walked towards the tent and lifted the tent flap.
However--
A surge of Desire welled up within me.
"..."
Looking at the silver-haired boy lying there as if asleep, Caren swallowed hard and trembled all over.
I want to touch the child's chest, sensitive areas, or protruding parts.
This puzzled Caren greatly.
When he was nine years old, he was one of the people implicated in a sudden purge within the Church and was sent to the Roman Curia for instruction, where he received the baptism he had been looking forward to.
Am I gradually becoming a servant of the Lord, or am I embarking on a completely different path?
Caren has never been entirely clear about her true feelings.
After all, the inner world, whether it belongs to someone else or oneself, is exceptionally difficult to understand.
But one thought remained unwavering in her conviction: she had dedicated her life to the Lord, and that she existed to serve the Lord in heaven and the people He loves.
But why does this Nameless child before me ignite in me the urge to become Demon? My constitution is clearly—
"Having such Desire towards children is illegal, you Church elder sister."
"Ivia said softly as she awoke, her eyes, like the ocean, looking at the trembling Caren."
"Yes, I don't deny that."
"... I think you're living too comfortably."
Chapter 385: The Transfer Student, a Feature Unique Element in Romantic Comedies.
"What heartless words!"
Caren, like Little Demon, touched her moist lips with her index finger.
"However, young sir, you exude an aura of seriousness reminiscent of a high nun in a Rome Monastery. Could you perhaps be an intelligence agent sent by the Church to secretly monitor whether I am diligently guarding Fuyuki's intelligence? Rest assured, I am very serious. If you don't believe me, you can come to my room and see for yourself."
"Although you acted like 'if you just agree, then I have no choice but to let you do whatever you want,' I've already experienced being hugged by a crying elementary school girl who ran away from home, being secretly followed by a blushing middle school girl, and being knelt down and acted coquettishly by a drunk female teacher in the past few days, so I don't find it that interesting. Besides, I remember, your name is Caren Ortensia, right?"
"Hehe, you actually know my name? That's interesting."
"Working in an elementary school Nurse’s Office, you're thrilled by the legal opportunity to come into contact with crying children, and you practically drool over the sight of them. You're the kind of person who finds pleasure in that, aren't you?"
Ivia sighed.
"New Testament, Psalms 82:3 and 4, Psalm 127:3; Gospel of Mark 10:16, Mark 19:14."
"You must seek justice for the poor and orphans..."
Caren murmured unconsciously, staring at Ivia in surprise before laughing again, "I didn't expect you to know so much about me. Could it be that you're interested in me and that's why you investigated me? Spying on me in the shadows?"
"If you keep talking like that, you might drown!"
Gospel of Mark 18:6: "Let anyone who causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble be cast into the sea with a millstone around his neck... What a merciful punishment indeed!"
Caren answered in the same way Ivia had done before.
"I don't think the punishments in the book are that terrible, but considering how casual you are, you could have made them much more cruel."
The final word, 'cruel,' touched Caren's heart.
Although the boy's words sounded like Heresy pronouncements from someone who identified himself as Pope Novia or the Lord, Caren would probably have already taken action against anyone else. However, she hadn't been able to do so the moment she entered, so she wouldn't act now.
In her view, this might just be a lighthearted joke for someone who shares the same Faith as her, as she faces the 'unknown'.
"Whom is being treated with cruelty?"
Caren winked seductively, then deliberately reached out to Ivia, attempting to grab his hand.
"Didn't the nun in charge of your Church tell you not to use Od on ordinary people?"
Ivia said with a smile, while slightly altering her aura. In that instant, Caren noticed that not only her aura, but also her motionless body, or rather, her overall balance, had undergone an inexplicable subtle change.
"You really are from the Church..."
Caren smiled, sensing the essence of the Bible Foundation.
From the moment they met, the boy subtly made Caren feel very relaxed in his presence.
To be honest, Caren believed she had fallen in love at first sight, just like in a fairy tale.
The child's behavior was somewhat wicked, yet endearing; his long, silver Gilgamesh, similar to his own, hung straight down his back; even his expression, which was so indifferent it seemed fierce, and his voice, clear yet ruthless.
Every aspect of it made her slightly excited and unforgettable; the child had such a strong allure for her, but it was still far less than the Lord.
After all, I have already dedicated my life to the Lord, so being this child's Guardian Angel is enough for me.
Of course, before that, there are still things that need to be 'interrogated' to find out --
"Since that's the case, let's get back to the main point: who exactly are you?"
After all, she had only been there for a short time. Caren had not yet heard any information from the Church headquarters about someone coming to replace her or sending more people to monitor her. This was probably because they thought the Einzbern Family's Ritual were meaningless. But she was happy with that, as it was very easy.
But the boy before her was using Bible Foundation, yet secretly doing things she didn't know about right under her nose. This greatly puzzled Caren. Could it be that the internal purges within the Church had ended without her knowledge? Or had internal strife begun again?
"I am Ivia, this is my name."
"This name..."
Upon hearing the name Ivia, Caren was reminded of the little girl from the Einzbern Family; after all, if you removed the surname, their names differed by only one letter.
Such a coincidence was enough to give Caren a lot to think about. After all, in the Magecraft World, if similar things reach a certain level, they can replace each other's function under certain conditions.
"Are you Executor trained by the Church?"
"An organization that treats low-level Executor as disposable resources—it really has no reason to exist anymore. The Ecumenical Council is also useless now."
Ivia didn't seem to give Caren a direct answer, but Caren, being from the Church, naturally understood the real meaning behind it.
Aside from the Burial Agency and a few powerful Executor, almost all the lower-level Executor are just expendable resources, essentially a human wave tactic used purely as weapons. After all, apart from some who are Cardinal' illegitimate children and whose identities cannot be made public, they are mostly adopted orphans or people who were unable to return to normal life after the Dead Apostle disaster and whose spirits were on the verge of collapse.
I've heard that the Executor during the early days of the Church were very pure, but after so many years, it's impossible for them to be so pure anymore.
But aside from that, what puzzled Caren most was Ivia's tone, which seemed to completely... disdain the Pope, or even the Church as an organization? To dare so blatantly ignore a massive organization that had existed for thousands of years—that was truly...
Marvelous!
The youthful passion stemmed from the Wrath of being a powerless Executor and the anxiety of being unable to compete with an organization that was too large for him to handle.
Because failure is a possibility, sooner or later he will realize that if he had given up on this idea from the beginning, he would have avoided the pain. He will realize that it is wrong to have expectations about such things, and seeing himself still in the Church will make him furious and Wrath.
Isn't it wonderful to treat yourself with a fiercer expression, more ruthless words, and Violence actions?
"I have to say, your facial expressions are just awful."
As if she already knew Caren's thoughts, Ivia gave a detached reply.
"What expression does Ivia want me to wear? Serious, infatuated, or seductive?"
Caren raised a finger, staring intently down at Ivia.
"Although I have some involvement with the Church's Faith, I would say I'm Buddhist now."
"Hmm? Aren't Buddhism Buddhist Monk supposed to be bald? Such long hair, and the same color as mine, what a waste! You should join the Faith of God; that's so much better than those bald Buddhist Monk. I'll take good care of you, sister."
"May I ask you to leave?"
"There's nothing we can do about it. By the way, seeing you still living in a tent in the wilderness, living such a miserable life, would you like to come home with me to plan your grand scheme? If you agree, I'm willing to listen to any request or wish you may have, but whether I fulfill it for you depends on my mood."
The girl licked her lips with a deliberately seductive expression, and then continued as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"After all, one person unconditionally obeys another, one person puts a collar on another, and is treated like pigs or trash. Our relationship hasn't reached that point yet. Although that's an act several levels lower than unconditional love, and something I originally loathed, I would be incredibly happy if you did that... Besides, helping abandoned children is also God's will."
"Although I understand that no one is Perfection, it's still possible to try to be Perfection, right? No matter how incompetent I am, I will still try my best to take care of you. But right now, I suggest you take a cold shower to calm down your lustful mind."
The instant Ivia finished speaking, Caren felt the water.
It's not water that comes down from above using Magecraft, but water that's literally all around.
... Probably not?
The moment cold sweat trickled down Caren's cheeks, which she had unconsciously closed her eyes, it seemed to become a signal. Her muscles stiffened rapidly in the cold water, and her struggling movements appeared clumsy and powerless. The light on the water's surface distorted in the violent ripples, and the surrounding sounds were swallowed up by the sound of the water, as if time had stopped at that moment.
This situation, which should have been utterly despairing, came into Caren's view as she opened her eyes.
They were just inside the tent, but as if teleported, they were underwater.
It's so cold.
It felt like even my brain was frozen.
However, Caren wasn't particularly despairing; she was rather pleased.
"Is this punishment? Despite understanding the teachings of the Bible, I cannot suppress the Abhimanyu of emotion welling up from the depths of my heart."
Despite the cold, Caren's eyes shone brightly.
He was soaking wet. What would that child think if he saw him? There was nothing he could do about it; after all, he was the one who got himself into this Shame state.
But the next moment, Caren, who had just escaped from the water, stopped her almost overflowing joy, because she suddenly felt the chill subside slightly.
While underwater, I could see the snow falling thicker and thicker, and even the wind in the water started to blow... but I didn't realize until I escaped that I was in my own Bathroom.
Caren wasn't particularly surprised, only marveling at how terrifying the child's Magecraft abilities were. But it was normal; if he weren't so outstanding, who would dare to harbor rebellious thoughts against the Church? It was quite normal.
"I can't wait any longer, I won't give you a single minute of freedom..."
As she said this, Caren chuckled softly, then chuckled again, and then, in the next moment, she exposed the heat that had been trapped inside the Bathroom.
Amidst the intense heat, Caren quickly dressed and pushed open the door.
"I can't stand it, it's still too cold."
Even so, Caren still had a smile on her face and jogged into the park.
Upon arrival at their destination, they spoke openly and brazenly outside the tent.
I'm back.
After glancing at Caren, Ivia, who was sitting cross-legged, sipped the tea she had prepared and then waved her hand.
"Looks like we need to step up our efforts."