Chapter 100
"Phew... Good grief..."
Leaving the town of Eggbell, he arrived at the Grand Shrine.
After finishing his meeting with the cardinal and getting measured for ceremonial attire, Clael settled into the guest room he had been given.
He had already bathed and eaten.
In this world, priests are not bound by ascetic rules like enforced frugality or bans on eating meat.
The food was normally tasty and fairly luxurious.
"I'm really tired..."
For Clael, who had been living alone at a rural shrine, just being in the Grand Shrine, where so many humans stayed, was mentally exhausting.
Being the Saint's foster parent and a candidate to be recognized as a Saint himself, he was overly scrutinized by priests and sisters, which added to his discomfort.
At times like this, it's best to just get some rest.
Clael changed into his sleepwear and quickly crawled into bed.
"Ahh... so soft..."
As expected of a guest room in the Grand Shrine.
Even just the bed in the bedroom was soft and clearly of high quality.
Thanks to an abundance of donations, they spared no expense in luxury.
As a priest, he did have some doubts about that, but Clael himself wasn't exactly a paragon of purity who could criticize others.
(I have an early morning tomorrow too, so I should just sleep...)
As he turned off the light and closed his eyes, drowsiness quickly overcame him.
Clael offered no resistance to the pull of sleep... and drifted into the world of dreams.
"Suu... suu..."
Clael began to breathe quietly in his sleep.
In the not-so-large bedroom, intermittent breathing sounds filled the space.
"Suu... suu..."
How much time had passed?
Around midnight, something strange happened in the room.
Despite being locked from the inside, the keyhole moved.
A quiet click sounded. The doorknob turned, and the door slowly opened.
"............"
"............"
From the opened door, two shadows emerged into the darkness.
The shadows scanned the room, confirmed Clael sleeping in the bed... and crept closer on silent feet.
"Suu... suu..."
Clael didn't notice.
He was in a deep sleep from exhaustion and unaware of the intruders' presence.
"............"
"............"
The two shadows looked at each other and nodded.
A rustling of fabric followed... and then two garments fell to the floor.
Moonlight streamed in through the window. Illuminated in it were two naked bodies.
The ones who had entered Clael's bedroom without permission were two young women.
Having discarded the clothes they had worn, the now fully nude women slowly approached Clael's bed.
(He's sleeping soundly...)
(Yes, this should go smoothly...)
The two women whispered softly to each other.
Their true identities were sisters ordered by Bellamy Walls.
Using a master key, they had entered the guest room, stripped naked, and were about to slip into Clael's bed.
Their goal was to frame Clael. They would climb into bed naked, then scream at the right moment and claim Clael assaulted them.
If it looked like he had raped a sister right after arriving at the Grand Shrine, Clael's reputation would be ruined.
Reina would be disappointed in him, and the talk of his recognition as a Saint would vanish like a dream.
(And then Lord Bellamy will condemn and punish this man...)
(He'll be celebrated as a hero who eliminated the evil priest deceiving the Saint...)
The two sisters were Bellamy Walls' lovers.
They were physically involved with him and received large sums of financial support.
That's why they accepted the humiliating role of being the assaulted sisters.
Just as planned, they tried to slip in on either side of Clael, who was sleeping with a peaceful expression.
"Huh?"
"Eh?"
But... both of them were suddenly grabbed by the shoulders from behind.
In the darkness, someone's hands dug tightly into the sisters' pale skin.
"Eek...!"
When they turned around in shock, what they saw was the face of a woman filled with bone-chilling fury.
It was a woman they knew.
However... her face no longer bore the gentle, pure expression they remembered, but one as terrifying as the goddess of wrath.
"Re—...!"
"Hmph..."
One of the sisters tried to call her name, but before she could, 'she' yanked her arm.
"Ah...!?"
The space behind 'her' split open like a door.
The two naked sisters were thrown into the mysterious space and vanished from the guest room.
"Kukaa... kukaa..."
"............"
Clael remained asleep, unaware of the strange event that had occurred in his room.
'She' leaned in close to his sleeping face, stared intently... then kissed his cheek before pulling away.
Then, 'she' also vanished into the door that opened in the darkness.
With the disappearance of the three women into the mysterious space, peace returned to the room.
A few days later.
Clael heard rumors that two sisters working at the Grand Shrine had gone missing, but he had no interest in the disappearance of sisters he didn't know.