Chapter 1
He killed an ant.
It was fun watching it get crushed underfoot.
A little later, he killed a sparrow.
Ripping off its wings and making it crawl along the ground had a strange way of making his heart race.
After that, he killed a cat.
He grabbed it by the tail and slammed it down. It died without even managing a proper cry.
The boy had always enjoyed tormenting those weaker than himself.
Their groans and screams sounded sweet to him.
But every now and then, he felt there was something missing, something unsatisfying.
So the boy began to ponder.
What could be even more enjoyable?
‘What about killing a person?’
At the wicked thought that had come to him unbidden, the boy shook his head vigorously.
But something dark had already begun quietly coiling in a corner of his heart.
It didn't take long for the boy to become aware of his feelings.
He wanted to kill people.
But it wouldn't be easy.
Killing animals would earn him disapproving looks, but killing people was illegal.
He wouldn't merely be looked down on by the villagers; they'd treat him as a dangerous person.
The boy had hit a snag.
So he thought.
How could he torment those weaker than himself?
How could he watch others suffer legally?
One day, after many sleepless nights spent pondering it.
He saw a group of priests who had come to the village to do charitable work.
The boy, Ronin, felt his vision suddenly clear.
Clergy!
A profession that let you come into contact with the unfortunate under the pretext of charity!
It was also a line of work where you got to see lots of people dying!
And so the boy found a profession perfectly suited to his nature.
Ronin, a priest of the Erotic Cult, shook his head.
It wasn't as if he'd grown up in an unhappy home.
His parents had been kind, and they'd lived comfortably.
It had been a life with no great hardships or deficiencies.
If he'd grown up that way, wouldn't he have married some ordinary girl and started a family?
If so, he'd have a child about Aria's age by now.
He felt he'd become sentimental, unlike himself.
He lowered his gaze to watch the girl walking ahead with a light, swaying step.
A nun of the Erotic Cult, with glossy ebony hair and deep obsidian eyes.
Aria would soon undergo the baptism ceremony that would transform her into the Erotic Cult's saintess.
It was an absolute order from above, so there was no chance the outcome could be overturned or reconsidered.
Priest Ronin smiled lewdly.
He was simply looking forward to the situation Aria would find herself in.
As far as being reborn went, there was nothing particularly wrong with the baptism ceremony.
Though if you asked whether it was an ordinary baptism ceremony, well...
What religion would forcibly gang-rape one of its followers during a baptism?
And that follower was none other than a saintess, someone the cult was supposed to revere.
In every respect, it would be a memorable moment.
When she came face-to-face with the reality that the religion she'd believed in all her life would send her life crashing into the abyss.
What kind of reaction would Aria have?
Would she cry?
Would she despair?
Would she break?
Any of those would be entertaining.
Priest Ronin had to make a concerted effort to keep the corners of his mouth from curling higher.
It was completely true that he'd cherished Aria like a daughter.
Memories of raising her, an orphan, flashed before his eyes.
He'd put a tremendous amount of effort into it.
So much that he never wanted to do it again.
That was precisely why Aria's downfall would taste so sweet to Priest Ronin.
Like a believer who betrayed the Goddess of Eros for a single piece of bread.
How delicious must that morsel have been—the one obtained by betraying the goddess?
Surely it was a delicacy to rival every fine dish in the world.
Priest Ronin.
By nature, he was the sort of man who couldn't help but destroy what he held dear.
As Priest Ronin walked, struggling to suppress the twitch at the corner of his mouth, he suddenly saw Aria stop.
She looked around like someone who'd been dropped in an unfamiliar place, then fell into thought.
‘What is it?’
Tap, tap.
When he tapped her shoulder a couple of times, she jumped and stared at Priest Ronin.
Ronin caught a glimpse of an emotion in Aria's eyes.
It was fear.
Why that emotion?
Had she figured it out?
How?
The flow of information should have been perfectly controlled.
Questions piled on top of one another.
Priest Ronin felt his excitement turn cold.
If Aria caused a scene here, it would throw a wrench in the plan.
That couldn't happen.
He still hadn't tasted the delicacy.
“Aria, the baptism ceremony will begin soon.”
At that, Aria answered hesitantly.
“Ah, is that so, Father Ronin.”
Though she might have said it to maintain her composure, from his perspective Aria now looked like an artificial flower stuck among blossoms in full bloom.
She seemed utterly out of place.
After all, they were on their way to the baptism ceremony.
And yet she'd gone, Is that so?
Wasn't that the reaction of someone who hadn't known?
It didn't add up.
He was suspicious.
“You seem nervous with the baptism ceremony just around the corner.”
Aria nodded as if to confirm his words, but Ronin didn't believe her.
His mind was racing furiously.
“Please don't worry too much. It'll all pass as naturally as the day goes by.”
He offered a platitude as he organized his thoughts.
How much did she know?
At the very least, Aria seemed to have some idea what would happen at the baptism ceremony.
Wasn't that why she looked so troubled?
“Aria. It's admirable how much you're worrying about this. It feels like only yesterday I thought of you as my daughter, and now you've already risen to the position of the cult's saintess. After today, I won't be able to speak so casually with you anymore.”
“……Father Ronin.”
There was a faint hostility in her eyes.
This was definite.
There was a risk she'd try to escape.
Ronin grew anxious.
“As a saintess, you must behave with even greater dignity and composure. Now then, shall we head to the venue?”
He deliberately walked ahead.
But Aria didn't readily take a step.
“Why are you standing there?”
His voice was somewhat stiff.
He was in a hurry.
Wasn't this like throwing ashes on bread just as it finished baking?
“……I'll go.”
A strange silence hung between them as they walked down the hallway.
The tension was taut, like a bowstring pulled to its limit.
An atmosphere of suspense, as if it could snap at any moment, anywhere.
And then.
Wham!
“…………?”
Ronin rubbed the back of his head and glared at Aria.
It seemed she'd hit him over the head with the Bible.
“Ah.”
He heard the trembling voice of a girl.
Aria froze like a mouse before a cat.
He was dumbfounded.
……That was all she could come up with after all that thought?
It would have been much more troublesome for him if Aria had cried and made a scene.
If this was all she did, he couldn't be more grateful.
“That was quite a prank, Aria.”
When he spoke with a little gravity, she fidgeted and waved her hands.
“Ah, th-there was a mosquito on Father Ronin's head.”
It was an absurd excuse.
Perhaps she knew that herself, because she lowered her head.
The two of them headed for the auditorium where the baptism ceremony would take place, the air between them awkward.
Perhaps because she'd already rebelled once, Aria followed obediently.
For Ronin, it was a tremendous relief.
As they continued walking, before long they found themselves standing in front of the auditorium door.
“Um, Father Ronin.”
Aria trembled as she looked at Ronin.
What was she pleading for with those eyes?
Fear-filled eyes were always so sweet to behold.
“I-I don't want to become the saintess.”
“Hasn't the decision already come down from above?”
“Can't I pass it on or give it up, even now?”
“Aria. Haven't you said every day how truly honored you are to become the saintess? What suddenly changed your mind and made you want to give up the position?”
As he questioned her point by point, Aria seemed at a loss for words and briefly made a show of thinking.
Ronin waited patiently.
“Th-the position of saintess is too much for me. I feel like it's a position that's far beyond what I deserve.”
“That's not true. Few people are as devout as you.”
“Y-You're too kind. Th-then! I-I suddenly have a stomachache, so I should go to the bathroom or something...”
Going to the bathroom all of a sudden?
Ronin saw through her ploy to get out of the immediate situation.
“Aria.”
“……Yes.”
“I'll go with you.”
“Pardon?”
“I'll wait outside.”
Had she not expected him to come along?
Aria's face reddened, and she started babbling.
“I-It's a little embarrassing.”
“I've already indulged you quite a bit.”
“……Yes.”
And so, for the moment, they couldn't open the auditorium door.
It was disappointing for Ronin, but he considered even this sort of situation a kind of foreplay.
Aria had no way out, anyway.
* * *
Trickle, trickle.
“Haa.”
The fact that her nerves had made her desperately need to pee worked in her favor.
When she mentioned going to the bathroom, even Ronin had looked rather taken aback.
He probably hadn't expected her to be so blunt as to say, ‘I need to pee.’
More importantly, what now?
Even if I went out that way, Ronin was planted right there.
I recalled what had just happened.
With the Bible in hand, I'd swung it as hard as I could at the back of Priest Ronin's head, but perhaps because the saintess's body was so weak, he hadn't fallen.
What had he said? Not to play around?
I guess he thought I was joking.
Just how pathetic was this body?
You should've exercised, Saintess.
Anyway, if things went on like this, my life really would be over.
Surrogate saintess.
It'd been fucking hot to read about, but being on the receiving end was beyond chilling.
Fuck.
I hadn't even dated a woman, and now I was supposed to get penetrated by another guy's dick?
It felt like what little masculinity I had was being castrated.
What do I do?
What should I do?
Think, you blockhead.
As a sharp migraine started to set in, my eyes fell on a large window in a convenient spot.
……Could I maybe break that window and climb out?
Just in case, I looked outside and saw the view immediately beyond the window.
In other words, it was the perfect escape route.
Good.
I acted quickly.
Crash!
I threw the Bible I was holding as hard as I could, breaking the window, then flattened myself against the floor and crawled on all fours into the next stall.
The floor smelled stale and piss-soaked, but if it was to survive—if it was to keep some guy from taking me—then this was a hardship I could easily put up with.
I'd broken the window to make them think I'd escaped that way.
It was a woman's body, after all.
Even if I ran, I'd obviously be caught in no time.
So for now, my immediate priority was getting out of Ronin's sight.
At the loud crash, Ronin, who'd been waiting outside, burst into the bathroom.
“Tsk.”
He clicked his tongue when he saw the broken window.
I held my breath and watched.
Before long, Ronin shouted angrily.
“Will you betray the faith of His Holiness the Pope, who's waiting here for your sake?!”
What the hell did I care about the Pope?
It'd just be a bunch of cock-suckers, including the cardinals. Why would I go there?
Ronin started running.
Tatatatatatak.
I heard his footsteps grow more distant.
And so five minutes passed.
He must be gone by now.
If I waited any longer, I risked getting caught here.
I cautiously poked my head out from the next stall and looked around.
Fortunately, no one was there.
I left the bathroom without a second thought.
“……Uh.”
I saw Priest Ronin looking this way.
“Wasn't that a little too predictable, Aria?”
You son of a bitch.
You're way too damn sharp.