I’m Playing as a Nun.

On a warm, sunny afternoon, three children engaged in idle chatter in the small garden in front of the church.

“……”

Exactly two weeks after that incident, they have surprisingly quickly adapted to life at the church. They are gradually finding stability, even taking on chores without being asked.

Although I sometimes felt they pushed themselves too hard, they tried not to show it to me. Thanks to that, I no longer needed to feel lonely and was able to lead a much brighter life than before.

However, as the number of things I had to take responsibility for suddenly increased, I had to move more busily than usual.

“It’s peaceful…”

Muttering quietly while sitting absentmindedly on the steps in front of the church entrance, it seems like an ideal life. There are no troublesome children, peaceful surroundings, and relatively abundant food.

Recently, I thoroughly cleaned the dilapidated convent next to the church building. It had been neglected for a considerable long time, and it took me several days of hard work to barely clean it up.

But now I no longer have to sleep uncomfortably on a hard wooden bench. It’s truly a paradise on earth just for us.

But—.

“Levi! It’s almost time for the service.”

“…Already?”

“It’s going to be 3 o’clock soon.”

Unlike the children who often attended church in the village to offer prayers, I have no such experience. Let alone church. I don’t believe in God at all in the first place.

“The one who receives Paellia’s blessing will come to this land, and wherever his footsteps touch, new life will sprout…”

This is already the fourth service today: once at dawn, once at 9 a.m., once at noon, and once at 3 p.m.

According to the children, it’s rare for someone to have services as tightly scheduled as this. Usually, they say it’s enough to do it just twice, in the morning and afternoon, but—.

Since we received the guidance of the goddess Paellia, we are sticking to the current schedule, saying that we must show this level of sincerity.

“Amen.”

“Amen.”

“Amen.”

The children seemed to be trying not to forget the grace of the goddess at each service. Of course, it’s not that I couldn’t understand their feelings.

Every time I made an excuse that wasn’t an excuse, the name of the goddess Paellia automatically popped out of my mouth. Perhaps it was a natural course of events that things turned out this way.

“Levi’s service is easy on the ears and comfortable.”

“That’s right, I used to get really sleepy at the previous church.”

“Her voice is gentle.”

Well, I can roughly understand if I think of it as reaping what I sowed. I prepared myself to some extent from the moment I decided to act as a nun.

“…What’s wrong with Levi?”

“Sister, are you sick…?”

“She looks tired for some reason.”

However, this kind of diligent life is truly hell on earth due to the characteristics of vampires, who are mainly active at night.

During the day, the children bring firewood and the ingredients needed for the day. But the amount brought by children only 10 years old, at best, is far from enough to maintain their current lives.

“R-really…?”

“Do you have any pain anywhere?”

“No… I’m just a little tired.”

In short, during the 2 weeks since the children came to this church, I have been in full operation 24 hours a day without getting a single proper sleep.

I have no regrets about my choice to take care of the children. But no matter how much of a vampire I am, I can’t help but get tired of this kind of forced march.

I don’t think I’ve ever moved this diligently, even in my previous world…

“Come to think of it, Sister. You seem to go out often at dawn…”

As Ellie’s cautious words were precisely stuck in my ears, my body flinched involuntarily, and my expression stiffly froze.

“Me…?”

“Ah, I think I heard it too.”

“Me too.”

I was about to be moved, thinking they were worried about me, but the children turned out to be sneakily trying to corner me.

These ungrateful kids.

“…Actually, there is one important fact I haven’t told you all.”

“Huh?”

“I am separately praying to Paellia at a place only I know at dawn.”

Muttering flatly with a fairly haggard face. If my race wasn’t a vampire, I wouldn’t have had to suffer like this.

As the time I spend with the children gets longer, the number of lies I tell also seems to increase. Because of this, I felt like my flesh was falling off every day.

But now that I have proudly declared that I will take responsibility for these children, I can’t show that I don’t like it.

Moreover, something I never even dreamed of suddenly burst out without warning. Right now, I am in a situation no different from being driven to the edge of a cliff.

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【Aizen】- Messiah

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【Ellie】- Messiah

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【Iris】- Messiah

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Despite 2 weeks passing, the word Messiah is still boldly written next to the children’s names. When I first saw this word, I was quite surprised and puzzled.

Because at that time, I had no idea what Messiah meant. Belatedly checking the old Bible, I found that the Messiah was written to mean the savior, the one who would bring salvation to the world.

“Great! From today, I will also follow Levi and pray at dawn!”

“I-I want to do it too…”

“Me too.”

“That’s not the direction Paellia wants…”

It definitely started out of simple compassion, but it suddenly grew too big to handle. Previously, I could only check my status window, but from that day on, I could also check the children’s status windows.

“Gasp, can Levi perhaps even talk to Paellia?”

“Well. It’s hard to call it a conversation… It’s more accurate to say that I slightly receive feelings.”

“Wow… As expected of the nun loved by Paellia…”

“Amazing.”

This is just a lie I’m telling the kids. I could see the word Messiah in the children’s status windows, but there was nothing more than that; there was no direct interaction with Paellia.

In the first place, it’s questionable whether the goddess Paellia really exists. Even if she does exist, how can I, a vampire, talk to the goddess?

“Now, everyone… It’s free time until the next service… Don’t worry about me, and go play to your heart’s content…”

“…She’s already pale, but she seems even paler today.”

“The dark circles have deepened too…”

“She’s gotten thinner.”

Whether they are sincerely worried or sarcastically worrying while subtly ridiculing me—. Words, which I have no idea what they mean, keep pouring out from both sides.

It’s already been 30 minutes since the service ended, and I want to rest at least until the service at 6 o’clock.

“…Ah.”

“What, what’s wrong, Levi?”

“Come to think of it, Paellia said it seems we have too many services.”

“Huh? Didn’t you say you can’t have a conversation?”

“I can’t have a natural conversation, but I can understand her intention to some extent.”

A thought that suddenly crosses my mind. I don’t know why I couldn’t think of this until now. It was a problem that could be easily solved by using the goddess Paellia.

“She says it’s burdensome to do this much, so it would be nice to do it just twice, in the morning and afternoon.”

The children’s expressions changed ambiguously in an instant, but they soon began to show a positive attitude, acknowledging everything.

“Well, that makes sense.”

“If that’s the goddess’s will, it can’t be helped…”

“I can accept that.”

“Then today’s service ends here, so go and play comfortably until dinner time.”

The time to enjoy freedom increased in an instant. If it had been like this from the beginning, I wouldn’t have had to feel this tired.

“Levi, let’s play together too. You’re always just watching us play.”

“What? No. No, no, no, no… I’m extremely tired right now…”

“Ah, right. That was the case.”

For a moment, cold sweat ran down my spine. If I hadn’t said I was tired in advance, we would have argued about this topic for a while again.

“Have fun playing…”

“Okay! We’ll just stay in the garden, so don’t worry.”

“Thanks Aizen. I’ll leave Ellie and Iris to you.”

“Yeah! Just trust me!”

Although they are not real siblings, after that day, Aizen naturally took on the role of an older brother and has been carefully taking care of Ellie and Iris.

With his outstanding drive and situational judgment ability that exceeds his age, it can’t be anything but fortunate for me, who has a lot of work to do.

He’s truly an admirable kid—. I’ll have to secretly give him a little more for dinner later without the kids knowing.

.

.

.

A few hours later.

After entrusting Ellie and Iris to the reliable Aizen, I was lost in a sweet sleep in my room in the convent, as I always have.

I thought today would pass uneventfully as usual. But that was my misconception.

“Le-Levi… Sister Levinia—!!”

Ellie, who noisily opened my tightly closed bedroom door and suddenly began to cry at the top of her lungs for no reason.

At the untimely commotion, I sprang up from my seat and began to hurriedly look around with a half-asleep face.

“Wh-wh-what?! What is it?!”

“Waahh…!! Sister…!! Brother Aizen and Iris…”

Aizen and Iris are not visible around Ellie, who is wailing. Although I was still in a dazed state, half-asleep, I could roughly grasp the situation.

“They said… they said they’d be right back… They did…”

The day has already darkened, and Ellie’s crying shows no sign of stopping. There has never been anything like this, so why Aizen and Iris…

“Waaaahh…!!”

“What on earth is this…”

The two children who seemed to be the least likely to have an accident were the first to cause trouble. I don’t think it’s that serious.

But for now, I’m canceling my plan to secretly give Aizen a little more for dinner.