The girl who’d offered Neme her dessert nodded quietly. Of course, Arcia knew that Neme hadn’t stolen it by force. Rather, she was taking advantage of other girls’ kindness. Such dishonesty was rampant in the outside world, but it was a rare sight at church—which only made Neme’s offenses stand out all the more.
Arcia looked away from Neme and handed her own tart to the girl who’d shared hers. “Here. For the dessert you gave Neme.”
“Thank you, Arcia.” She accepted the tart with gratitude.
Arcia grinned shyly. “Don’t mention it. Any Cecinaist would do the same thing.”
“You’re amazing, Arcia. You’re just as kind as a real saint.”
“I still have a long way to go.”
Arcia responded with humility, but the nuns and other candidates all believed she was worthy of becoming the next saint. She had a warm personality and a caring heart. She never gave up on anyone, not even Neme. Instead, Arcia treated her like a friend while gently correcting her bad habits. On top of that, Arcia had the best grades and holy art abilities. Everyone heralded her as the next saint, yet she never boasted about herself. She scarcely had a fault to criticize.
“If you’re going to give your tart away, please give it to Neme!”
On the other hand, her close friend Neme demonstrated a self-centeredness that was far from holy. Not even Arcia could hide her exasperation.
“You sure? You won’t become the saint that way,” she said.
“Neme knows!”
“So why—”
“Neme’s fine not being the saint!” she declared proudly. “Neme is happy with the way things are now, eating lots of desserts and being surrounded by nice people who share their desserts! So Neme doesn’t need to be the saint!”
“You’re basically saying you just want to eat desserts...” the girl sitting next to Neme mumbled.
The girls didn’t lack for food because they were being trained to become the next saint. The problem was candidates who didn’t take their role seriously, which was how Neme had earned herself a reputation as a problem child.
Arcia warned Neme about her blasé attitude. “You can’t say things like that.”
“Why not?”
“The nuns will get mad.”
“That’s okay! They already got mad during prayer time today!”
“What...?” Both Arcia and the girl sitting beside Neme were puzzled by her reply.
“Neme prayed really hard to God for lots of desserts, and the nuns got mad at me for some reason!”
“You’re supposed to pray for peace, succor for the poor, and other such benevolent things. Of course they’d scold you for praying to satisfy your own greed!”
“Is that so?”
Not even the nuns’ admonishments had any effect on Neme, so Arcia was wasting her breath. Neme’s disposition was well known within the church. The only reason she hadn’t been expelled was because the church believed in being charitable.
Seeing Neme’s absolute lack of remorse, Arcia changed her approach. “Either way, you’ll get fat if you eat so many desserts.”
“Eek!” Neme’s eyes went wide. The threat of gaining weight was far more dreadful to her than the idea of not being able to become the saint—and she was the only candidate who felt that way. “No, no... Neme’s still young, so Neme won’t get fat.”
“Really? Your cheeks are already chubbier than anyone else’s.”
“That’s because Neme is a dwarf! Probably...” she argued, uncertainty creeping into her voice at the end because she had been putting on weight every year. She thought she was just growing, but her unchanging height called that into question.
“If you’re not sure, you should stop taking desserts from the other girls.” Arcia advised Neme to reconsider her lifestyle.
But if Neme were repentant, she never would have been considered a problem child in the first place...
“Neme has a separate stomach for dessert! But to make up for all the desserts, Neme will cut back on the vegetables!”
Instead of reflecting, Arcia’s words had an opposite effect on her. Thus she continued to say and do as she pleased—proof that life at the church was peaceful. The young Neme was happy to be a saint candidate.