NOVEL NEXT Chapter 2
“S-sister…?”
I was momentarily stunned by the unexpected situation.
My mind was a complete mess.
But what confused me more than the fact that there were children beyond the door was that I was instinctively reacting to the blood they had shed.
It wasn’t that I wasn’t happy to meet the first people I’d encountered in this world.
But since I had never truly considered myself a real vampire, my reaction to the children’s blood felt utterly foreign, and I couldn’t shake the creeping fear that was slowly taking over a corner of my heart.
“A-Aizen… let’s go somewhere else… something’s off here…”
“Why all of a sudden? Finding a church in the middle of the forest is nothing short of luck.”
“But the surroundings are completely in ruins… and the sister is looking at us with such strange eyes…”
While I was still in a daze, the soft voices of the children quietly reached my ears.
Only then did my hazy mind begin to wake up, and my blurred vision slowly regained its focus.
“Ah, haha… sorry. I didn’t expect children to show up at this hour, so I was a bit flustered.”
“You are the sister of this church, right…?”
“Of course. Though I’m the only one living here.”
The only fortunate thing in this situation was that my impulses weren’t as severe as I thought.
Even now, I kept glancing at the blood the children had shed, but nothing more than that was boiling up inside me.
“It’s still weird… a church in the middle of the forest, and the atmosphere is so eerie…”
Among the three children, the silver-haired girl seemed particularly wary of me.
Her insight was quite unusual.
“Ellie, I told you before. The forest is extremely dangerous at night.”
“B-but… the sister’s skin is so pale… and she’s not even wearing the clothes nuns usually wear…”
“…W-well…”
The boy’s mouth slowly closed.
It seemed he was starting to doubt me, as he glanced at me with a mix of suspicion and unease.
“……”
In the increasingly strange atmosphere, cold sweat began to trickle down my back.
As the girl had said, I wasn’t the sister of this church, nor was I even human—I was a vampire.
But I wasn’t dangerous enough to warrant such suspicion.
Of course, I couldn’t help but feel a bit suspicious of these children who had shown up at the church in the middle of the night.
Their ragged appearance suggested they had been through something terrible, and I couldn’t help but feel pity and concern for them.
“I don’t know what’s happened, but why don’t you come inside for now?”
Even while being doubted, I managed to speak calmly.
The three children exchanged glances and seemed to discuss something briefly before the boy stepped forward and bowed his head deeply.
“Th-thank you for your mercy…”
“Amen—.”
Even as he bowed, the boy’s body was trembling slightly.
It seemed his suspicion of me still lingered, but he must have decided it was better to spend the night in this church than to wander aimlessly through the dangerous forest.
– Thud
It was absurd to suddenly be doubted when I hadn’t sought them out, but considering they were just children and the current situation, I could somewhat understand.
So instead of looking at them with displeasure, I decided to greet them with a warm smile and show them broad understanding.
After all, I couldn’t send these young children back into the dangerous forest at this late hour.
“Ahem.”
To do that, I first had to play the role of a sister and dispel their suspicions, so I naturally picked up an old Bible that I hadn’t paid any attention to until now.
“The fact that we’ve met like this must be the guidance of the goddess.”
And so, based on the words “goddess” and “messiah” written on the cover of the Bible, I began my performance.
It felt incredibly awkward for a non-religious person like me to suddenly play the role of a devout sister, but given the situation, I had no choice.
“Shall we start with introductions?”
.
.
.
The first to speak to me was a brown-haired boy named Aizen.
He was 10 years old.
The silver-haired girl who kept doubting me was named Ellie.
She was 8 years old.
Lastly, the black-haired girl who had remained silent the whole time was named Iris.
She was also 8 years old.
In short, the reason these children had come to this church in such a ragged state was due to a monster attack.
Without any warning, a large number of monsters had suddenly invaded and turned the entire village into ruins.
The adults in the village had put up some resistance, but it was far from enough to withstand the monster attack in such a small rural village.
In the chaos, the children had barely managed to escape the village and, by chance, found this church where I was staying—a truly despairing story.
“W-we need to go to a bigger village and ask for help…”
Ellie spoke in a trembling voice.
“How far is the village from here?”
After hearing their story, I kept the old Bible in my arms and maintained a calm expression as I asked quietly.
In response, Aizen, who had been trembling in fear, cautiously opened his mouth.
“If we run, it’ll probably take about three hours.”
“Hmm, I see.”
I had a rough understanding of the situation.
While I had been leisurely preparing for hunting here, such a massive event had been unfolding in a nearby village.
It was quite shocking, but at the same time, I felt a strange sense of dissonance.
After all, it was very odd that I, who should have been the closest to sensing the movements of monsters, had been completely unaware of this until now.
Just this afternoon, the forest had been perfectly peaceful—.
“What if those monsters come to this church too…?”
“Don’t worry. This church is under the protection of the goddess.”
“Huh?”
“[To those who call my name, I will always be with them.
When they are in trouble, I will protect and guard them.
Even if their path seems dark, I will give them light to guide them through the darkness.]”
As soon as I opened the old Bible, the thick dust made me almost choke, but I maintained my composure and calmly read a passage from it.
I hadn’t expected such a passage to be in there, but somehow, I had managed to find one that fit the situation perfectly.
“Amen—.”
Feeling an inexplicable sense of pride, I confidently closed the thick Bible.
Then, the dust hidden within the book once again covered my face.
“Cough, cough—!!”
“So… this church is truly under the protection of the goddess Faelia?!”
“F-Fael… huh?”
“I can’t believe such a small church is beloved by Faelia…”
I was momentarily stunned by the unfamiliar name that had suddenly come out of Aizen’s mouth and blinked rapidly.
But since I was currently playing the role of a devout sister, I had to continue the conversation naturally, despite my confusion.
“Y-yes…! So you can rest here without any worries—.”
“Did Faelia truly guide us here…?”
Aizen’s face was now flushed with joy and gratitude.
His trembling voice sounded like it was on the verge of tears.
“…But I still have a question.”
Just as the atmosphere was heating up, Iris, who had remained silent until now, suddenly raised her hand slightly and spoke quietly.
“What is it?”
“Why is your skin so pale?”
Her first question hit the nail on the head—no, it felt like she was digging deeper.
It wasn’t an unexpected question, but when it came time to answer, my lips began to feel dry.
“My skin was always a bit pale, but it’s gotten even paler because I haven’t been in the sun much.”
“…But it’s too pale.”
“I have a pathological dislike of sunlight.”
At my casual response, Iris slowly made a blatantly unimpressed face.
However, perhaps sensing that the atmosphere wasn’t right for further interrogation, she quietly closed her mouth and stopped speaking.
“Anyway, what you need to do now is get a good night’s sleep here and wake up refreshed tomorrow.”
With that, I returned the old Bible to its original place.
“W-where are you going…?”
Ellie cautiously grabbed me as I was about to leave the church.
I smiled warmly at her and spoke softly.
“I’m going out for a bit to attend a district prayer meeting.”
The small rural village located not far from here.
The horrific monster attack that had taken place there.
The monsters in the forest wouldn’t have attacked that village without a reason.
There must have been a reason for it.
“I’ll be back soon, so you all rest comfortably here—.”
“S-sister…?”
– Creak
As soon as I stepped out of the church, I didn’t hesitate to cut my palm and spread the blood around the building.
For some reason, beasts and monsters hated my blood intensely, so spreading it around like this could somewhat prevent them from coming close.
“Phew…”
After spreading the blood, I slowly took a step in the direction Aizen had indicated.
Revenge for the children could be a reason, but I was too curious about what was in that village that had caused the monsters to move in such large numbers.
“No wonder I haven’t seen many monsters around the church lately. They must have all gone there.”