A Monster That Cannot Pray

To be honest, when my identity was discovered and my neck was grabbed, I really thought I was going to die.

From what I’ve heard, the church’s Executioners are beings who have reached the limits of humanity—so no matter how high my physical abilities were compared to my build, I wouldn’t have been able to escape.

But….

“Oh— Good work today as well, Father Ban. Are you on your way back from Habiel again?”

“Well, that’s right. You’re always working hard too.”

“Haha! It’s nothing. By the way, who’s that child?”

“This? I picked her up on the way. I’ll take responsibility for her identity, so can you let us in?”

“Of course. But I’ll submit a report, right?”

“There’s no need to state the obvious. That’s your job, isn’t it?”

The merchants we encountered on the way back to the city, and that guard who smiled with a friendly face while sharply looking me over.

They were treating Bernard in front of me not as an Executioner, but like a regular priest you’d find in any neighborhood church.

“…Mister.”

“Hm? What is it, little one?”

“Aren’t Executioners supposed to be really important people?”

I asked, not understanding the situation, as I walked leisurely down the city’s main street for the first time without being chased.

Why am I calling him “Mister”? He told me to call him whatever I wanted, so I was calling him that partly as revenge for choking me earlier. Might as well use this young appearance at times like this.

“Important— they’re incredibly important people. Mm, mm.”

Anyway… as if surprised that I cared about such things, Bernard looked at me with wide eyes.

“But, why?”

As if asking what that had to do with him.

“Mister, you’re an Executioner.”

“No, I’m not.”

He started playing dumb with a face that was clearly smiling mischievously.

“Handsome and dandy people like me don’t do such rough work.”

Seeing his appearance, it seemed he was trying to pretend to be a regular church priest.

“…You’re a man without conscience, Mister.”

I raised one of the two arms I had out of the straw mat, covered my mouth as if I was about to retch, then shook my head.

“Huh—? What did you just say?”

“Do something about the smell of alcohol coming from your body first.”

I don’t know about dandy, but honestly, including his unkempt hair covering his eyes and the stubbly beard sticking out all over, he was actually handsome even to me as a man, so.

For a while, I walked down the main street bickering with Bernard, trying to find something to criticize him about.

“Hey, stop.”

“Guek—.”

Suddenly, Bernard grabbed my nape and stopped me.

“Mister, wait…! It’s coming off, it’s coming off!”

I, who had been walking with my eyes barely open, was lifted up by one hand as Bernard pulled on my nape.

Holding tightly onto my clothes with the two arms inside the straw mat and the two outside to prevent them from slipping off, I dangled from Bernard’s hand.

“It’s not there, it’s this way.”

“…A clothing store?”

I looked at the shabby clothing store that came into my barely open field of vision.

“You can’t keep going around with just a rag wrapped around your naked body forever.”

Then, saying I should at least have some clothes, Bernard opened his mouth towards me with a meaningful look.

“……”

So, what this means is… he lifted me up like this knowing that I was naked with just a straw mat wrapped around me?

“What is it, little one? That look?”

I looked at him with a sour expression, my eyes barely open, as it seemed too hurtful to my identity to denounce him as a pervert.

Bernard looked at me with a dumbfounded expression and clenched his fist.

“…Nothing.”

I quietly turned my head away. I had to blame myself for having no power.

“Hey— Mia! Are you in?”

“If the store door is open, do you think I wouldn’t be?”

So, in the clothing store I entered with Bernard. We met Mia—a woman with long braided brown hair and turquoise eyes full of questions, as if an unexpected customer had arrived.

“So, what business does our priest, who never wears anything but his priest’s robe, have here?”

Mia, an attractive woman despite the freckles across her face, asked.

“Not for me. This little one here needs clothes to wear.”

“Oh my, oh my. What a cute customer we have?”

She looked at me as Bernard pushed me forward with his hand on my back.

“She’ll be working at my place. She’s a bit unusual, so we’ll need to make new clothes… Just wash her up a bit and put her in any suitable clothes. I’ll be waiting out front.”

“Ah. If it’s for ‘that’ reason… I understand. Yes. Well then, little miss. Do you have a name?”

“…Frey. And I’m neither little nor a miss.”

As I grumbled at being treated like a little girl, a female one at that, for the first time in my life, she approached me.

“Woah—!?”

She suddenly picked me up and hugged me.

“Fufu. Is that so? Then… can I call you Frey instead of little miss?”

So, as I was being held awkwardly, worried that the arms hidden inside my straw mat might be discovered.

“You don’t need to hide. At least the people in this city… as long as Frey is under Father Bernard’s protection, no one will harm you.”

Mia smiled, gently stroking my arms hidden inside the straw mat, saying there was no need to worry.

…Is she an angel?

“Now— Frey? Shall we take your measurements before washing up?”

Perhaps because I had been living as a street urchin since coming to this world, always receiving looks full of disgust as if looking at filth. I, who would be cursed at if caught by people nearby while rummaging through garbage. I, who had to have my life threatened if my identity was discovered by church people.

At the first human warmth I felt since becoming this body… I tried hard to hold back the tears that were about to fall.

Nod, nod.

I nodded towards Mia, biting my lips tightly lest the sound of swallowing tears be heard.

So.

As I watched the silhouette of Bernard, who teased me to the end saying it wasn’t polite to look at a lady’s body, leaning against the store door outside.

“He’s a strange person, isn’t he?”

Mia asked as she carefully sought my permission to put her hand inside the straw mat to measure for clothes.

“…Yeah.”

I nodded again towards Mia, who was crouching down to meet my eyes with a bright smile, perhaps trying to reassure me.

“But he’s a trustworthy person. Most of the people who have settled in this city have received help from Father Bernard.”

As she said this, she carefully put her hand in her mouth—showing sharp canine teeth that were clearly not normal at a glance.

“Of course, it’s nothing compared to Frey, but I’ve had my fair share of hardships too.”

From what I heard, there are quite a few people with abnormal bodies in this city, including Mia.

However—I was not in a position to feel completely reassured by those words.

“Normal people fear what’s different from them. They say real monsters have ominous patterns engraved somewhere on their bodies.”

As she said. No matter how Mia accepted my appearance… it meant it would all be over the moment my eye pattern was discovered.

“Now— I’ve taken all the measurements, shall we go wash up?”

“…Eh?”

At the voice that followed—as if she was going to come in and wash with me, I let out a pathetic sound in surprise.

“If we take too long, Father will be waiting, so let’s hurry!”

“W-wait…!”

Mia, saying she would teach me how to wash, suddenly picked me up and headed somewhere.

So, without a chance to say anything, I was dragged to the bathroom and even had my straw mat taken away.

“Now— it’s hot.”

Splash—!

I looked at Mia with barely open eyes as she poured water on my head, saying she would wash me herself since my eyes seemed uncomfortable, wearing thin clothes that were see-through even when not wet.

‘What a figure…’

Though it looked medieval or early modern on the outside, more surprising than the fantasy world with modern-like conveniences such as bathrooms and toilets… was Mia’s amazing figure revealed when she took off her clothes.

“Wow— how long have you not washed? Look at all this dirt flowing off…”

“Ugh….”

Right after, as I covered my face with my four arms in embarrassment at the black dirty water flowing off my body.

“Now, let’s do a banzai. Banzai.”

She patted my arms, urging me to raise them.

“I’ve told you so many times, I’m not a child… mmph.”

As I tried to argue that I could wash myself, Mia poured water on my head again.

“You can say such things after you’ve properly taken care of your body, Frey.”

Even so, she went on nagging about how girls should always keep their bodies clean, how you should use soap and various other things when washing, and all sorts of other things.

“Nngh….”

So, after having my whole body kneaded as if being laundered,

“Well then, I’ll be back soon after making some quick alterations to the clothes, so dry your hair and wait quietly!”

I was thrown naked into a small room. After watching Mia’s back as she ran off with tremendous momentum.

“……”

Quietly—I opened my eyes and turned my head towards the mirror hanging on one side of the room.

What was there was one pretty little girl with skin so white it seemed to shine, having been scrubbed so thoroughly.

Looking at it stripped like this… though small in stature, it was a truly attractive body that seemed childlike yet had curves where they should be.

…Except for having four arms.

“Damn it.”

The slightly developed chest for her height, the unnecessarily developed hips for her size.

Thinking that this was my body made me feel nauseous rather than excited.

Rustle.

Instead of the straw mat Mia had taken away, I arbitrarily picked up a suitably large piece of cloth from those scattered around and wrapped it around my body.

Then I crouched down with my back to the mirror, hugging my knees with two arms and covering my face with the other two.

“I’m human… I’m human…”

Because I couldn’t believe myself for staring at Mia’s skin as if entranced while she was washing me just now.

“There’s no way… that could be true.”

The reason why my hunger hadn’t been satisfied for the past year was surely because there wasn’t enough food.

Absolutely not because I thought Mia might taste good or anything like that.

Until Mia, who had gone to alter the clothes, returned.

Gurgle—!

I had to comfort myself like that, trying hard to ignore the sound that kept coming from my hungry stomach.