Rae and I stepped through the exquisite stone gate, carved in the style of the old Bauer dynasty. Lamps and candlesticks brightly lit the interior of the building. The white walls resembled the ones in the various clinics around Bauer, except these felt like history.
We were in the Bauer Cathedral. The Spiritual Church had many branches across the world, but this was the head temple. There were other religions, but most of them were offshoots of the Spiritual Faith, meaning completely independent faiths were rare.
As the head temple of the dominant religion, the Cathedral was appropriately magnificent. Naturally, it didn’t compare to Bauer’s Royal Palace, but it was bigger than my own home. The size of the place, despite frugality being a virtue of the Faith, spoke to the vastness of their influence.
But enough talking about the sights. We were here for something different.
“Well, we’re here, but who should we talk to?” I mused.
“Oh, maybe someone at the front desk would be willing to answer our questions?” Rae said. Apparently, that was what she’d been told when she made an appointment. But that wouldn’t do at all.
“That only gets you what the Church wants you to hear. I want the truth.”
I waltzed right past the front desk and proceeded further in. Rae hurriedly followed after me.
“I’m sure they have plenty of classified documents, but I don’t think they’ll just let you pick them up and look at them,” she said.
“I don’t need documents. I can talk to people. Oh, excuse me, you there.” Passing the entrance to what was probably a chapel, I approached a nun in prayer.
“Y-yes?” She started like a frightened squirrel, trembling slightly. She was a pretty girl, wearing a black wimple that all but hid her silver hair and red eyes.
“I have some questions about the Church. Do you have some time?”
“O-oh, um, I’m busy with my prayers right now, so…”
“That’s all right. I can wait.” I sat down next to the nun, killing time by looking around the chapel. Rae sat down next to me with a look of exasperation directed my way. What’s with her?
“U-um…?”
“What? Out with it.”
“Eek! I-I’m sorry!”
The nun seemed about to say something, so I urged her to speak, but she instead recoiled back and apologized.
“Why are you apologizing? You haven’t done anything wrong.”
“…O-oh, I’m sorry.”
“There, you did it again. At any rate, hurry up and finish your prayers. We’ll be waiting right here.”
“O-okay…”
The nun glanced at Rae, who solemnly shook her head. Seriously, what’s going on?
The nun resumed praying, clearly conscious of our presence at first but slowly managing to focus on her devotions. The small, frightened creature faded, replaced by a nun wholly absorbed in prayer, even radiating a sense of holiness.
Now, that was fine and all, but Rae, oh, that Rae…
“What are you gawking at?” I said. The nun was certainly adorable—but how dare Rae stare at her when I was right here?
“I wasn’t gawk—oh! Are you being jelly, Miss Claire?!”
“What are you on about?! I am not jelly! Wait, what does that even mean?!” I rebuked Rae as she began talking nonsense again.
“Be quiet in the chapel, mollusks,” the girl scolded. I could hardly believe my ears.
“Um…?” Rae looked bewildered.
“Oh! I-I’m so sorry! I sometimes say things I shouldn’t… S-stupid, stupid Lilly…”
The girl, who was apparently named Lilly, hurriedly explained herself. That had been quite the outburst, though…
And had I heard the name Lilly before…?
“Lilly?” I said. “I believe I’ve heard that name before… In any case, are you done praying now?”
“Y-yes. I apologize for making you wait.” She straightened her posture.
“I wish to inquire about how the Church operates. Just the rough gist will do.”
“H-how the Church…operates? It might be better if you speak to the public relations manager. The front desk should be able to lead you to them…”
“I don’t want to hear about the Church’s official facade, I want to know the real Church, blemishes and all.”
“I-I see…?” Lilly looked bewildered. She didn’t seem to understand what I was getting at.
“Miss Claire desires to address the issue of poverty among commoners,” Rae said.
“P-poverty…?”
“Yes. We were hoping the Church might have the means to help us with our efforts.”
“O-oh, I see. The Church might, yes. I-I would like to help you there if possible, um…” Lilly seemed to accept Rae’s simple explanation, but then turned and looked at her hard. “H-have I seen you before?”
“I was actually just thinking that I’d seen you before, Lilly.”
I endured watching them talk back and forth, ignoring me, but I had hit my boiling point. The words just slipped right out of my mouth. “…Not the most original pickup line, now, is that?”
“W-wait, no! I h-had no intention of picking anyone up!”
“Me neither. I only have eyes for you, Miss Claire. Wait, are you being jelly? You’re jelly this time for sure, right?”
“I am not jelly! I don’t even know what language that word is supposed to be from, but cut it out!”
“I said be quiet in the chapel, you senile eggplants!”
Rae and I fell stone silent.
“Oh, no, no, no… I’m so s-sorry…” Her outbursts were so bizarre that it was hard to believe they were accidental, but she sounded genuinely contrite.
“Is something the matter, Miss Lilly?” A well-dressed elderly man who was passing by approached us.
“Miss” Lilly…?
“Oh, Bishop Rhona. These people wish to know more about the Church, so I was going to speak to them.”
“Miss Lilly, you needn’t bother with such mundane tasks.”
“B-but she is a noble… And it’s not every day that the daughter of the Minister of Finance wants to talk to me.”
Upon hearing that, I belatedly realized who this girl was. She had the same hair color and eye color as Chancellor Salas, wore a habit that was embroidered differently from the other nuns’ attire, and was named Lilly. She was…
“I-I apologize for not introducing myself earlier. I am Lilly Lilium, daughter of Bauer Kingdom chancellor Salas Lilium and a cardinal of the Spiritual Church.”