After a night of fitful sleep, I finally woke up and calmed down enough to reflect — and yeah, even I had to admit yesterday's behavior was way out of line.
Lars was right.
I still couldn't remember any memory of someone called Fermina — no, I hadn't even been aware of her existence to begin with.
I knew that was terrible.
I understood the shock of learning that the person you'd singled out as your nemesis didn't even consider you worth acknowledging — because I'd experienced it firsthand.
For
And yet, being reborn and ending up with this much interaction with that very person — it was a strange feeling.
What I did to Fermina was wrong. I knew that.
I knew it, but I just couldn't bring myself to apologize sincerely.
What?
Fermina-*chan*?
Since when did I start calling her "-chan"?
That master of ours, casually using *-chan* like we're close friends!
Haaah.
Get a grip, woman.
Lately, whenever it's about Master, I've been acting a little off, haven't I?
I'd been conscious of them since my previous life, but recently the fixation had taken on a completely different flavor. Not a healthy trend.
But I couldn't deny that I found Fermina annoying, and that wasn't going to change.
Apologizing in this state would be a hollow gesture devoid of any sincerity. If I was going to apologize, I needed to reflect properly and calm my feelings first.
More than anything, the person I was angriest at right now was Lars — an outsider who had the nerve to march in, act all high and mighty, and tell *me* to apologize.
Who does he think he is, preaching at me like that?!
I already know that what I did was wrong, okay?!
I don't need him to tell me that!
And here I've been suffering and agonizing over it until I was ready to puke!
Fueled by the irritation surging inside me, I sat up in bed.
In the end, I hadn't returned to the dorm last night and had been put up at the mansion instead.
I pulled back the curtains, and bright sunlight poured in.
I wouldn't turn to dust or anything, but the light only deepened my gloom.
They'd probably been waiting for me to wake up — the timing was too perfect when the door was knocked.
When I answered, one of the mansion's maids offered to help me get ready.
I politely declined and headed to the dining room, where breakfast had been prepared.
There were already two people there.
One was Master.
Their expression hadn't changed, but it was clearly the face of someone thinking only about the meal they were about to eat. They hadn't reacted to this tense atmosphere at all.
"Good morning."
"Good morning."
I exchanged greetings with the other early riser — Lars.
A dangerous glare passed between us, so charged the temperature in the room seemed to drop physically.
Neither of us was willing to back down, and that much was obvious.
After staring each other down for a while, the meal was brought in.
The maids who served us without letting the slightest discomfort show on their faces deserved credit — entering the space where Lars and I were practically killing each other with our eyes couldn't have been easy.
My fighting spirit flagging, I looked away from Lars and took the seat beside Master.
Throughout the meal, not a word was spoken.
Once we'd finished eating, Lars turned his gaze toward me.
It was unmistakably a look that said, *We're talking after this.* "
It was Master who cut through the tension with that. A rare long sentence from them.
The fact that Master could read the room this badly and still try to drag me out without acknowledging the atmosphere was nothing new, but — go where? Did I hear that right? The Divine Word Church?
"Huh? What do you mean?"
One of Master's worst habits was deciding everything in their own head and then forcing it on others without explaining a single thing.
How on earth was I supposed to end up going to the Divine Word Church? And more importantly, where even was the Divine Word Church specifically? They had bases all over the world.
Master's expression was blank as always.
But the way they looked at me like I was hopeless wasn't my imagination — it was real.
They were looking at me as if to say, *Why don't you understand?* despite having failed to provide any context whatsoever.
"The Divine Word Church?"
The one who broke me out of my frozen confusion was Lars's murmur.
It sounded like he didn't understand what the words "Divine Word Church" meant.
Oh right.
If you'd been living in Demon race territory, that would make sense.
I hadn't heard Lars's full backstory, but I knew he'd been a Goblin. The religions widespread among the Human race wouldn't be practiced in Demon race territory, so it wasn't strange for him not to know.
"The Divine Word Church is a religion widely followed among the Human race. Basically, they claim the voice from the System's messages is the voice of God, and they encourage people to actively raise their Levels and Skills so they can hear that voice more. A bunch of people who don't make any sense."
Personally, I'd add a footnote: *the same scum who killed my parents.* But that wasn't relevant right now, and there was no need to share that with him.
Be grateful I'm even explaining this much.
Lars let out an "Oh" face at my explanation, then seemed to catch himself and stiffened his expression.
"Shiro, that doctrine..."
Lars started to say something, and Master nodded in response.
Hey, hey — what are you two agreeing on while excluding me?
Since when did you two have some kind of silent understanding?
"Would it be alright if I came along too?"
Master nodded again.
That was a nod of approval, right? That meant I could go?
Was it just me, or could I feel the sharp prickling of a premonition that some troublesome situation was about to get even more tangled up?