Chapter 27
The Children Who Want to Be Saintess
"Oh, is that so? Then I'll write down the name of the person you just recommended and put it in the box."
Norgia looked at Lucia with an amused, playful smile.
And,
"Now, for the sake of fairness, please come forward with the last person recommended."
As everyone knew, Lucia hadn't uttered a single word.
But, as if by a trick of fate, Lucia, who had come up to the platform, mechanically repeated the process of putting her arm into the box and taking it out whenever a class name was called, her eyes like dried pollack.
As each name was announced, the representative names were written on a makeshift chalkboard behind them.
Pigeon class, Mera Literin.
Duck class, Serdin Poppin...
Lucia blankly watched as familiar names were called out as class representatives, wondering if it was the proactive women who were seizing the opportunity.
Then, like a machine again, she scanned the slips and handed over the slip for the Goose class this time.
"Goose class. Mrs. Ringnail of the Bashav family. Congratulations."
Again, envious exclamations and applause from the ladies followed.
And finally, the Sparrow class where Nia is.
There seemed to be quite a few motivated ladies in the Sparrow class as well, so she scanned the box, which contained quite a few slips.
However, the name of the family that had just come out of the Director's mouth stuck in her ears.
The Bashav family.
It was the family that would seize control of the empire with its wealth when the current imperial family died young and the Prime Minister retired.
Lucia had already retired before that, so she had never seen them in person, but even if she lived alone in the mountains, there was no way she wouldn't know the names of those families that all the citizens of the empire knew before her regression.
Thinking about it, those ladies who had been chatting with her at the same table until just now were also...
The families that would benefit the most from Hasnas' Magic Stone investment.
No, surely. It must be a coincidence.
There's no way these seemingly kind ladies could be involved with the temple...
Lucia doubted herself as she secretly unfolded the slip she already had in her hand inside the box.
Susha Whitney.
Bashav, Poppin, Literin, and even Whitney.
Without an inch of error, they were the names of the families that became the pillars of the empire after Lucia retired.
Really, did these people participate in killing the Saintess alive?
Lucia, standing on the platform, watched the ladies who had been called out respond to the congratulations with happy smiles.
No matter how indifferent Lucia was, she wasn't someone who couldn't recognize even the innocent smiles of women.
She didn't know what kind of relationship these people had in the past that brought them together to become the powerhouses of the empire.
But what if that opportunity started here?
As soon as that thought occurred to her, Lucia instinctively sensed that something related to the Saintess's sealing had started in this kindergarten.
And she made a decision.
Instead of Susha Whitney, who was in her hand now, she decided to become the parent representative of this Sparrow class.
She began to pick out the slip with her name on it.
Normally, she would have to take out each slip and check it, but Lucia was the best of the best.
To distinguish the slips without surnames, she closed her eyes and concentrated all her mind on her palm, then picked out the slip with the least amount of ink on it.
Thus, the Grand Sword Master's skills were being used for fraudulent activity to become a class representative.
Lucia picked out the slip with a high degree of concentration and handed it to Director Norgia.
"Oh my? Congratulations. Lady Lucia. You're the last one."
Applause of welcome echoed again in the parents' meeting room.
But despite the good atmosphere, Lucia, with a stiff face, was looking at Susha Whitney, who was supposed to be the representative.
She wanted to check if she had any kind of plan.
However, the woman with the fluffy blonde hair and cute atmosphere, like the others, was briefly disappointed, but soon smiled brightly and sent a welcoming smile.
It didn't seem to be planned after all.
Lucia sat down in her seat amidst the many welcoming applause.
Marien, who was sitting next to her, handed her a handkerchief with a worried look, and Lucia realized that her forehead was covered in sweat because of that action.
It seemed that making a specific part of her body sensitive beyond the limits of a human being was quite taxing on her body.
As she reached out to receive the handkerchief, she heard the Director's excited voice.
"Well, now that the temple baptism ceremony is over, the children must be waiting. Everyone, please move to another place. Thank you all for your hard work."
Lucia dropped the handkerchief she had received from Marien's words.
"Lady Lucia?"
"...Temple baptism ceremony?"
"Hmm? The baptism ceremony was written on the Notification slip, didn't you know?"
"……!!!"
Only then did the white crowd she had seen beyond the window flash through Lucia's mind.
They were the real priests she had only suspected.
She grabbed her sinking heart and rushed out of the conference room more urgently than anyone else.
*
Emily stared intently at Nia with dim and dazed eyes, like a zombie.
The gaze was like the detached eyes of someone who had been to heaven and hell.
Emily, whose long-prepared plan had been disrupted by Lucia.
She had been plowing the fields of hell with a miserable heart for several days, but yesterday she tasted heaven when she suddenly became the homeroom teacher due to a teacher who suddenly quit.
And again, she was tasting hell as she looked at the black-haired child in front of her now.
In her mind now, the numerous incidents in which Lucia had harassed her at the Academy were passing by.
'I was crazy. Why did you do that, past me? Ah, how am I going to avoid her during dismissal time again?'
When Lucia brought Nia to the Sparrow class, she was lucky enough to hide under the platform nearby.
But, would such a lucky thing happen every time in the future?
Emily was seriously considering getting a turtle shell and carrying it around.
Ivanne, who was watching Emily, whispered to Nia.
"That teacher's eyes are weird."
"Woong..."
It was free time now, so five children were sitting face to face at a round table where the two children were sitting, drawing or doing origami.
Then, a child sitting at the same table said, holding up a shiny gold paper.
"I might be the Saintess."
The cute boy with Cupid-like curly blonde hair seemed quite serious.
"What are you talking about?"
"Woong, but Goddess Asir came to me in my dream last night. But they say there's a baptism ceremony today. They said there are many children who have become Saintess candidates after receiving baptism."
The blonde boy folded the gold paper into a triangle, put it on his forehead like a crown, and said confidently.
The young children, who didn't know that the Saintess was a woman, seemed to think of her as a hero or a warrior.
"Really? I want to be one too, but they said I already received baptism at the temple when I was a baby. I guess I'm not the Saintess. It's a shame."
As the child said, usually the baptism ceremony is performed at the holy grand temple when they are newborn babies.
However, the empire, where countries with different ideologies gathered, encouraged new citizens to receive baptism even late in order to unite, so they were proactive even for children who were all grown up like now.
Moreover, from the temple's point of view, coming out on a business trip like this had a great meaning to pick out the Saintess.
"No. Don't you know? The Saintess is a woman, and she has black hair!"
"Really? I'm a boy, so why did the Goddess come out... Oh? Don't you have black hair?!"
When the Cupid-like child pointed at Nia and shouted, the eyes of the children sitting at nearby tables were focused.
Although she had noticeable black hair, the children who had not been able to approach her easily because there were many adults watching seemed to have their curiosity amplified when they said she was the Saintess.
Then, Nia, who had been tense since the words about black hair came out, huddled closer to Ivanne.
"Nia, what's wrong?"
Ivanne, who had been concentrating on drawing the spaced-out teacher, looked at Nia, who suddenly clung to her side, with a puzzled face.
As Nia blatantly avoided them, the children began to flock around her this time.
"What's the name of the black-haired young lady?"
Unlike Ivanne, who was staring straight at the approaching crowd, Nia, whose eyes were rolling around with nowhere to go, mumbled softly.
"……Nia……."
"Huh? What did you say?"
"Nia……."
"Your voice is too small! I can't hear you. Is it because of this black hair?"
The fluffy blonde child grabbed the black hair that covered his ears with his small hand.
"……!"
Then, Nia's whole body trembled with fear.
The thing she had been expecting since morning had happened.
The children's bullying always starts with black hair and gradually escalates into violence, but when they get tired of it, they end up being alone.
But if I just endure this, it'll be okay. Mom is at home.
And if I go, Vernon is there, Gillianna is there, and Heath is there too. It's bad to want more.
As Nia recalled those happy memories and endured, the Director's words suddenly came to her mind.
'Give me the things you experienced at kindergarten as a gift. Mom will be very, very happy when she hears your stories.'
Unlike what the Director said, there was no way that these painful and scary stories would be a gift to her mother.
Nia was just wondering what to say on the way home, and tears welled up in her eyes.
But then,
"Geez! It's Nia! How many times do I have to say it! Are you trying to pick a fight?!"
Ivanne, feeling frustrated, hit the hand of the child who was grabbing Nia's hair and shouted for them to leave.
The children who had gathered were frightened by Ivanne, who had blown away Gedarin, and stepped back.
The fluffy blonde boy clenched his slightly reddened hand tightly, and soon, plump water droplets began to seep into his eyes.
"Ah, no. I didn't mean that..."
"Then what!"
"Ni, if Nia becomes the Saintess, promise you'll give me the blessing first... I was trying to get close to you before that..."
"You're such an idiot! Don't you know manners? You have to say it. It hurts if you touch first."
Ivanne, who had reached out her hand first, said.
"Mianhe. Mian... I'm Roy Whitney. Will you be my friend?"
Nia, who had been lying face down with her eyes tightly closed, slightly raised her head, and Roy's small hand was in front of her.
Is it real? Does he really want to be friends with me?
Nia got up and looked into Roy's warm green eyes.
She was so scolded by Ivanne that she looked like she would cry any minute if Nia didn't take his hand.
It was the first time for the child to be in this situation.
So she looked at Ivanne, who was already coloring again as if it were nothing.
Nia hesitated for a long time before gently grabbing Roy's fingertips.
Then Roy showed off his cute front teeth and said,
"Then, when Nia becomes the Saintess! You'll give me the blessing first, right?"
As Nia rolled her eyes at the incomprehensible words, the child next to Roy asked.
"But, what's the point of getting a blessing?"
"My mom said it makes you live a long life without getting sick."
Then the children, who now understood the meaning of the blessing, shouted one by one.
"Oh, then will my runny nose go away too? I'll be second then."
"Then, will my shrimp allergy disappear? I'm third!"
"I'm fourth!"
The children who had been hovering around Nia all started holding out their short arms and asking for a handshake.
Nia, who had never experienced anything like this in her life, blinked as if embarrassed by the children's friendly attention.
-Thud
Then, Ivanne firmly put down the crayon she was coloring with and said.
"Hey, you guys. What if Nia isn't the Saintess? And if Nia is the Saintess, I'm her best friend, so I should be first. What are you talking about? Right?"
Nia, who always agreed with whatever Ivanne said, nodded quickly.
On the day of her true awakening, will Ivanne really be able to receive the first blessing?
"......"
Emily, who had been listlessly watching the children's commotion, raised one corner of her mouth without energy.
'...Far from becoming the Saintess, it would be a relief if she wasn't exiled from this country for being touched wrong. You little kids.'
Emily, who had heard about Ivanne's incident from the teachers this morning, guessed that Lucia must have been behind it.
Because he had been a smuggler who had been hiding evidence for a long time, it would take time to even start the investigation, but in just one night, they had searched the entire port and secured all the evidence, and he was exiled from the empire before morning.
It was an unbelievably quick disposal, as if the Emperor had ordered it himself.
If Lucia, who wields that much influence, finds out that she, her enemy, is Nia's teacher?
Emily was once again overwhelmed with despair and tore at her hair, which she had worked hard to style today.
