CH 34.1

“Oh, so you knew the Husheim church? …Yes, I used to work there… as a Priestess. But, well, things happened and I was demoted. Now I’m just a nun… or at least, I used to be one… . ”

Leo was really surprised when Chris mentioned that she used to work on the Husheim church, after all, Leena had bought the place, after it was burned down by an enraged mob. However, he wasn’t ready for what came after that. Just knowing that she used to be a Priestess, made Leo realize that the woman sitting by his side was way more amazing than he initially thought.

After being chosen at an early age, both aspiring Priests and Priestess’ have to attend a religious school that is a lot more strict than the Magic Academy. And after graduation, those who managed to gain the title of Priest or Priestess, go work under a High Priest or High Priestess to, someday, succeed them in their duties.

“So, you were, a Priestess, Chris!?” – Said Leo, in a really surprised tone.

“E-excuse me for asking this, Chris-san, but you don’t look like a bad person, so why would the citizens burn down that church?”

“Like I said, I was demoted… I never became a High Priestess…. so they had to find someone else to run that place. But that person was far from being good enough for the job. And as the resentment of the citizens started to pile up, that incident with Harlet happened… so everyone got really angry and burned the whole place down.” – Said Chris, with a bitter smile.

“That… must’ve been an awful experience. I’m sorry for asking such a thoughtless question… . ”

(W-wait, if I’m not wrong, weren’t the citizens mad because the church was giving them low quality bread!?) – Thought Leo, as he tried to remember the conversation that he had with Leena a while ago. ( Tl/n: Ch-14)

“No, you don’t have to be sorry, Kai… you were just curious. Well, although I think the Royal family is at fault for letting us to our own demise, I can’t really condemn them. After all, the citizens have all the right to be angry… but to let all of us pay for a crime that we didn’t commit… I think that’s a bit inhuman.”

After being re-summoned to the academy, Leo started gathering information on what happened to those involved with Harlet during the incident, but no one would tell him a thing… except for Albert.

“No one was hurt. You saved everyone.” –  That’s what Albert told Leo.

(N-no way…! He told me that everything was okay, that no one was hurt…! B-but Chris wouldn’t lie about something like that, right? S-so that means… Albert lied to me…? He lied because…… a lot of people lost their jobs because of me…)

At the time, Leo just wanted to finish his presentation as fast as possible, so he casted the only spell that he knew. However, his thoughtless actions brought forth a wave of chaos. A wave so big, in fact, that it even swallowed the unrelated people along it’s course.

It’s my fault.

They are suffering because of me.

If I hadn’t exposed Harlet, none of that would’ve happened.

These self-loathing thoughts were too much for Leo to handle… he had to apologize to Chris, or else, he would be crushed by the weight of his sins—

“T-that, uh, Chris… about the, Husheim church… I-I’m really—” – Said Leo; his tone was low and a bit fearful.

—But before he could do so, Kai interrupted him.

“—And, uh, what happened to the others? …Did they… I mean… by the fire… . ”

“No… everyone survived. We knew that they were going to set the church on fire, so everyone ran away… except for me. You see, I was hoping that they would change their minds–”

As the memories of what happened that night started to flood back into her mind, Chris gripped both of her fists and heaved a tired sigh.

“–But that didn’t happen. They stormed the place and destroyed everything… they even said that our bread… that my bread was really f**king disgusting–”

(They said that!? Why!? Chris’s bread is delicious! And it was free! How could they say such mean things to her!?)

“–Who’s going to eat that disgusting watery bread … this thing isn’t human food… we’re not cattle… they said a lot of mean things.” ( Tl/n: This is Watery Bread. BTW, it’s really good, specially with Hot Chocolate.)

“…Chris… . ”

Chris’s voice started to tremble halfway through her sentence, like she was about to cry, but Leo-chan’s worried face brought her back to the present. So she the patted the little girl’s head with a smile, and said–

“–When I was young, around your age, I contracted a water spirit… we became friends really fast. She loved to eat watery bread , so learned how to bake it for her… and I ended up liking it too. But we were the only ones who liked it. I was arrogant to think that everyone would, eventually, end up liking it too. Some of my coworkers even tried to warn me that not everyone liked that kind of bread, but I continued to push my tastes on everyone else. Greed… lust… and now arrogance… I committed the three sins that the spirits hate the most, throughout my entire life, so I gave up on being a nun… after all, I’m not fit for that kind of job.”

“But… you said, you loved, being a nun, Chris, so why, would you, give up?”

“I’m a bit curious too. Why did you give up?”

“Well, you see… at the time, I cried a lot and I blamed myself for what happened. But they did the same thing to other churches as well. Even if I had changed the kind of bread that I was baking, they would’ve burned down the whole place anyway. And that’s when I decided that I would become a real baker. So I contracted a fire spirit to help me and opened a bakery–”

Chris then looked down, a bit embarrassed, before continuing from where she had left off.

“\\\–A-and, well, I know it’s a bit childish, b-but I want to become the best bread baker of Richard… I want to show them that my bread isn’t disgusting\\\”

(Wow! I never thought she would give up just to have her revenge! I’m rooting for you, Chris!!!)

Leo was really impressed. Chris had guts. A lot of them, in fact. And that made him admire her even more.

When Emily told him that they didn’t need his help, Leo almost cried. But as Everyone’s Onii-chan, he had to be strong, so he vowed to make a lot of money and rub it on her face as revenge. However, the idea that he and Chris had a deep connection, as revenge sisters, didn’t even cross his mind.

“That’s a wonderful goal, Chris… but why would they burn down the whole church, without killing anyone? I mean, I’m not saying that I wanted them to kill your friends… it’s just… that’s not how a normal enraged mob would act… I think it’s a bit suspicious.”

“You have a point, Kai… they weren’t trying to kill anyone… they just wanted to burn the church… that’s indeed a bit suspicious… . ”

As they kept talking, more and more clues started popping up.

Chris told them everything that happened on that day, or at least, everything that she could remember. But they soon reached a wall.

“Hmmm… yup, I think that’s everything–” – Said Chris, with wrinkled brows from thinking too much.

She then heaved a sigh and crossed her arms.

“–It’s a bit regrettable that my little brother isn’t here… he’s really good at solving these hard problems. Haaah∼, and I even sent him a letter… maybe he just doesn’t want to see me… or maybe he doesn’t love his big sister as much as he used to…?”

“Are you sure, you sent, the right letter, Chris?” – Asked Leo, in a worried tone.

“I’m not a little kid, Leo-chan, of course I sent the right one. I handed the letter to the postman himself. He even asked me to confirm if the information written on the letter * was actually correct.”

( *Tl/n: This can also mean, the contents of this letter, but information was better.)

“And, what exactly, did you write, on your letter…?”

“Haha, the postman was a bit shocked when he read it, but the letter in itself wasn’t out of the ordinary, so he said he’d send my letter with a notice * as well. About the letter, if I remember correctly, it went like this: I’m not fit to be a nun, so I’ll dedicate my body to the fire spirits and be reborn. I hope we’ll meet again soon.” ( *Tl/n: Ch-25.3 Yeah, that notice)

(But that’s a suicide note!!!!!!!!)

Leo and Kai knew about her contract with a fire spirit, so they weren’t surprised when she told them what she had written on her letter… but her brother didn’t. After all, that’s the same thing as saying: “I’ll kill myself with fire to purify my soul, then I’ll reincarnate.” So no wonder he never came to visit her. To him, she was already dead.

“Hmm, Chris… I think, you should, send another, letter to, your brother… he probably, misunderstood the, first one… . ”

“Huh? W-why would he misunderstand my letter…?”

“I agree… that letter is a bit… . ”

“Eh? Really…? You think so too, Kai?”

(I didn’t want to admit it, but… Chris is a klutz isn’t she!? Her brother is probably–no, definitively mourning her death by now! If I told her this story, Leena would probably grab Chris by the shoulder and ask her, “How did you create a misunderstanding like that!?”)

Actually, no, she wouldn’t. She would grab Leo by the shoulder and say, “You don’t have the right to judge her!” But the person himself didn’t know that.

“Well… if you two say so, then I’ll send him another letter.”

Leo heaved a relieved sigh. With that misunderstanding out of the way, now he could feel a little bit less guilty–

(–After all, I can’t just apologize and reveal my identity to Chris… she would probably hate me, if told her that I’m the one responsible for all of those burned churches…) – Thought Leo, as he looked down with a sad expression on his face.

“L-Leo-chan? What happened? Are you okay?”

“Un… I’m okay. It’s just… . ”

It wasn’t entirely his fault, but Leo still felt a bit guilty. If he hadn’t exposed Harlet like that, another person (probably a knight) would’ve dealt with him in a more reasonable way.

However, what Leo didn’t expect, was that Chris already knew why he was making that gloomy face since a while ago.

“It okay, Leo-chan–no, Leonora-sama. I don’t blame you for what happened.” – Said Chris, with a warm and kind smile.

But to Leo, that warm smile was actually terrifying, after all, he was expecting the worse when he heard his real name.