The Unaware Harem Adventure Tale of the Strongest Enchanter ~~I Don’t Know My Companions’ Faces or Identities, but I’m Pretty Sure They’re All Guys~~ - 53. The Sister’s Blunder

53. 53. 53. 53. The Sister’s Blunder

AM 8:00

Clarissa was sweeping in front of the church.

Unusually, no believers had come. So it was a quiet time.

Of course, as a sister she never truly had free time—once cleaning was done, there was prayer to the Earth Goddess. And then she had to return to the orphanage to cook for the children.

“Oh? Did the confessional bell just ring?”

She strained her ears. But no sound reached them.

Thinking it was her imagination, she resumed sweeping near the entrance.

Suddenly, a woman stopped in front of the church.

She, too, seemed to be a sister. But unlike Clarissa’s dark brown robe of the Earth Goddess, this one’s was a bright blue.

A follower of the Water Goddess—Clarissa tensed slightly in caution.

“The Earth Church is such a shabby, pitiful-looking building, isn’t it?”

“My, my. Unlike the Water Church, which extorts money from believers to build something needlessly flashy.”

“They are donations.”

“Donations? More like demanding huge sums. Shameless. Surely the Water Goddess must be saddened, being worshiped by such cold-hearted people.”

“Don’t lump us together with you paupers who lick your empty plates clean. Who would want to donate to your drab, benefitless church anyway? No doubt the Earth Goddess is disappointed in such useless followers. Ahaha.”

““Grrrrrr!””

Clarissa and the water sister glared at each other, threatening.

After a short but heavy tension, as if on cue, they both turned their faces away with a “hmph!” and returned to their duties.

◇

AM 9:00

Once cleaning was done, Clarissa went shopping at the market.

The priest was bedridden again and absent. Clarissa locked the church and went out alone.

“I’ll throw in three more for free. We don’t have money ourselves, so this is the least I can do.”

“Thank you very much. The children will surely be delighted.”

After buying the necessary ingredients, she carried a paper bag full of vegetables and entered through the church’s back gate.

In the backyard, a junior sister was hanging laundry. Clarissa gave her a gentle smile and spoke.

“How was it while I was gone?”

“Unusually, no one came. Oh, but listen, Senpai. Because I hear the confessional bell every day, lately I’ve started hearing phantom bells even when no one should be there.”

“So you’ve finally reached that stage. Once you start having nightmares about it, you’ll be a full-fledged sister. As for me, I hear it constantly. See, even now—one bell.”

“I heard it too! Phantom sounds are so realistic.”

“Fufu, what are you saying. It’s my hallucination, so you couldn’t possibly—”

“”…………””

Clarissa began sweating as she muttered to herself, 

“There’s nobody in the confessional, right? You did check inside properly, didn’t you?”

Her junior was flustered. She confessed, 

“Actually, when you left, I locked up and… well, I kind of slacked off.”

Throwing her shopping bag onto a table, Clarissa rushed inside the church and burst into the confessional.

“…Are you there?”

“F-for, for confessionnnn…”

“I see. Before we begin, may I ask, how long have you been here?”

“S-since, since the market opened, a-around thennnn…”

Clarissa let out a scream.

The market opened at about 7 in the morning.

Just then, the clock tower rang the 10 o’clock bell.

Realizing she had kept someone waiting for three hours, Clarissa trembled in fear.

“I am terribly sorry to have kept you waiting! To think you were here since that early!”

“N-nnno, don’t worryyy. I thought you must be busy. So I pressed the bell, s-softly, n-not too much. Besides, it’s small and calming hereee.”

“How magnanimous!”

Despite being left waiting for so long, the person did not get angry, did not grieve, and instead even said they enjoyed the situation.

Clarissa felt not only guilt, but also respect. If it were her, she would have been furious. Faced with such a heart as vast and deep as the sea, she couldn’t help but want to bow her head.

(An angel-like person… No, it makes me want to be the one confessing.)

That peculiar tone of voice made her recall someone.

The all-black, masterful healer.

The black-haired beauty who was recently revealed to have the heart of an angel.

Realizing the identity of the person beyond the wall, Clarissa covered her mouth in shock.

(It’s an angel! The real one!!)

Excited, she rushed out of the confessional:

“I shall prepare tea and sweets. So please wait!”

“F-f-for the confessionnnn…”