The ten years after Neme was brought to the church passed rapidly. Now that she was fifteen, she and Arcia were staring down the eve of their presentation ceremony. Many of the girls raised as saint candidates were abandoned by their parents. Their exact birthdays were unknown, so children of the same age range were gathered to perform the ceremony all at once when the time seemed right. Between them all, a restless air hung over the church the night before.
For saint candidates, the presentation ceremony was a major event that would change their lives. It was the moment that decided whether their pious lives were enough to earn Saint’s Authority. If so, it would gratify everything they’d done. Conversely, if not, it would mean it had all been for naught. The younger girls were heavily invested in the event as well. EX-rarity skills could only manifest in one person at a time, so if an older candidate received Saint’s Authority, it would bring their careers as saint candidates to an end. They would lose their relevance.
On the high-tension night before the mass presentation ceremony, Neme was reading alone in her room. Of course, she wasn’t reading to calm her nerves like the other children. She had no interest in becoming the saint to begin with, so she’d completely forgotten that the ceremony was swiftly approaching. The other girls were all acting strangely, so she was simply killing time alone.
The church was a facility dedicated to raising modest, saintly girls. The number of recreational activities they were allowed was limited, but reading was one of the few approved forms of entertainment. Their content, however, was carefully restricted. Naturally, anything that went against the teachings of Cecinaism was taboo. The book Neme had in her hands was a romance novel for adults—one she’d picked with an innocent cover and snuck past the nuns’ inspections.
“Are you reading indecent literature again?” someone asked Neme from behind her.
She slammed her book shut, thinking it was a nun...but she turned around to see Arcia instead.
“Oh, it’s just you...”
“Hey, isn’t that a little mean?”
“Neme was just scared. I thought you were one of the nuns.”
“I see...” Arcia nodded in understanding.
Neme sat up to look at her. “Besides, you’re the one being mean. Don’t call other people’s books indecent.”
“But it is, isn’t it? It’s one of those books, no?”
“It’s not! This is an adult romance novel! The main character Josephene is in a rut with her husband when she meets her childhood friend and first love again! She becomes a maiden in love all over! It’s a forbidden extramarital love!”
“What kind of accursed story are you reading...?”
Infidelity was a sin to Cecinaists, but Neme was a teenage girl who couldn’t help being enthralled with taboo love stories like that.
“Neme wants to have a forbidden romance as well!”
Of course, the model saint candidate Arcia couldn’t understand Neme’s mind. Yet in spite of everything, she always had to give Neme the benefit of the doubt. That was one reason they’d become friends over the years.
“If one of the nuns finds that book, they’ll confiscate it,” she warned the dwarf.
“That’s okay! Neme always hides it under the next bed, so no one will know!”
“That’s totally not okay...”
Neme was a repeat offender, so the nuns had learned to check under her bed for forbidden goods, and Neme had in turn learned to hide them elsewhere. Even Arcia had to say something about that.
“If you keep behaving this way, you won’t receive a good skill,” she warned.
“Neme doesn’t need the saint’s skill!”
“I don’t just mean that. What if you receive a useless one? You won’t be able to make money to buy any desserts.”
“Not to worry!” Neme thumped her chest. “You’ll become the saint! Then you’ll have more desserts than you know what to do with, and Neme will help you eat them!”
Neme fully intended to leech off Arcia. Like everyone else at the church, she never doubted that Arcia would become the next saint.
“There’s no guarantee I’ll get Saint’s Authority,” she said. “And if I do, I doubt it comes with dessert.”
“Yeah, right!”
Neme patted her friend’s shoulder, certain she was just being humble. Her carefree reassurance seemed to make Arcia uneasy, though.
“Neme, have you actually given your future outside of the church any thought?” she asked.
“Who do you think Neme is? Of course I have!”
“I’m glad.”
“Neme’s going to live off of Arcia!”
“I take it back...” Arcia was briefly rendered speechless by that answer. “That’s no good, Neme. You have to be independent and work for yourself.”
“No! Neme doesn’t want to work! Neme will depend on Arcia!”
“Work aside, shouldn’t the decision to support you be up to me?”
“You mean...you’re going to abandon Neme?” She paled as though the thought had never crossed her mind. “Neme shouldn’t be the one saying this, but there’s no way Neme can work! Neme’s bad at studying, clumsy, and will die immediately if left alone!”
“That’s not true! You could be an adventurer. Your holy arts are coming along wonderfully.”
Even if they didn’t receive Saint’s Authority, most saint candidates received a skill pertaining to holy arts. The majority of the candidates either remained at the church to work as nuns or went out into the world to become healers.
Neme snorted. “Neme definitely doesn’t want to be an adventurer. It’s tiring, and charging headfirst into danger is stupid.”
“I think it’s really admirable to fight monsters to help other people, though...”
“There are lots of adventurers who don’t do that! What about dungeon adventurers?”
There was no dungeon in Aifan, but Neme had heard tales of people who explored their unknown depths. Finding a hoard of treasure could fund her dessert habit, of course, but living such a risky life would outweigh the benefits. Adventuring was at the very bottom of the list of jobs Neme had considered.
“It’s true that there are some who don’t work to help people, but the information and technology obtained from the dungeons can better our lives as well, you know? I still think it’s a respectable occupation...”
“You think too much.”
Neme didn’t quite understand the concept of doing something for the good of humanity. Arcia had known her long enough to appreciate that, so she decided a change of topic would be best.
“Ah, yes, that’s right. I just remembered why I came to see you,” she said.
“What is it?” Neme asked.