I’m Playing as a Nun.

“……”

The man’s expression had somehow turned puzzled.

Unlike me, who had finished preparing to fight, the man was still defenseless, staring intently at the collapsed Priscilla and tilting his head.

“What is it?”

Soon, as I also tilted my head slightly to the side with a puzzled expression, the man suddenly began rummaging through the inner pocket of his suit instead of answering.

And from the man’s hand, a mysterious wooden cross slowly revealed itself.

“…?”

Although small and unsightly, it was an object that gave a strangely ominous feeling.

The man continued his absurd actions, blatantly pushing the wooden cross towards me to the point that anyone would easily think of an exorcism scene from a movie.

It was incomprehensible for a devil to push a wooden cross towards me.

“Hmm, you’re indeed a unique vampire, as I’ve heard. Even if I overlook the blood magic, to think that the cross doesn’t work on you, let alone living in a church.”

“Were you serious about that?”

“Of course. Ordinary vampires not only avoid going near churches, but they also have a pathological aversion to sacred objects.”

“Even so, don’t you think it’s strange for a devil to act like that?”

“I have to try everything I can use. Who knows? Maybe things will be resolved easily─.”

What a truly absurd devil.

It’s not an action without any basis, but it’s not an action that can be fully understood either.

It seems that the vampires of this world can also be defeated relatively easily using commonly known methods.

But isn’t that a method that also applies to devils, who are demons?

“Ah… just in case, let me tell you, we devils cannot be defeated by things like this cross. Because we have evolved to adapt to the environment over generations.”

“Isn’t it the same for vampires?”

“No, not at all. It’s impossible. As you know, vampires are now close to extinction. Until you appeared, they were completely extinct.”

The more I listened to him, the more that female devil I met back then suddenly came to mind, and a sense of unfamiliarity slowly crept in.

Somehow, devils seemed to genuinely dislike vampires, and their contempt beyond disregard was evident.

“But… strangely, I don’t see any particular weaknesses in you. Are you really a vampire?”

“As you can see, I’m blessed by the goddess Paellia.”

“Ha, what nonsense. From what I’ve observed so far, you seem to be unusually weak to sunlight.”

“Were you keeping an eye on me?”

“I heard some stories. It seemed more advantageous for me to do this than recklessly visit.”

The strange sense of unease I felt didn’t lessen at all.

Until now, I thought he wouldn’t be much different from the female devil I met.

…I shouldn’t let this confrontation drag on.

– Swish

As soon as I finished my thought, I slowly sharpened the tip of the spear I was holding.

Then, without a moment’s hesitation, I corrected my posture and was about to rush straight towards the man.

“Don’t move. The conversation isn’t over yet.”

The man’s voice, which had been echoing leisurely until just now, suddenly gained tremendous weight and began to mercilessly crush my body.

As if the gravity around me had become several times stronger.

“Hoo, I thought I’d lose nothing by trying, but it seems quite effective.”

“…What did you just do?”

“I didn’t do anything special. I just tried using the only skill I, a weak person, can use.”

The man’s expression had somehow turned arrogant.

It definitely felt unique, but I didn’t feel threatened by it.

That’s because the effect seems to be disappearing unexpectedly quickly.

The man doesn’t seem to have noticed my current state yet.

“This confirms it. You’re weaker than me.”

“…?”

“My command doesn’t work on strong opponents. But you can’t even move a finger under my command right now, can you?”

“……”

“If I had known this would happen, there would’ve been no need to do this so roundaboutly. To think that you were an opponent weaker than me…”

A skill with a very clear difference between its high and low points, being absolute to weaker opponents but extremely weak to strong ones.

Even while the man’s triumphant words continued to be heard.

I was only pondering deeply about his ‘command,’ lost in my blissful delusion.

Perhaps, like back then, I could absorb one of the opponent’s devil’s skills.

To perfectly subdue the opponent with just words…

Is there any skill in the world more desirable than this?

“In the end, you’re also a helpless vampire. Although it was a short time, it was a pleasure to be able to talk to you.”

With those words, the man gradually approached me.

It seemed like he was now ready to put an end to it.

“……”

With my back facing the statue of the goddess Paellia, I felt the atmosphere of the church become utterly quiet with my whole body.

I was slowly being consumed by an inexplicable sense of excitement.

– Step

And at that moment when the man took a step forward.

“Get away from Levinia right now─!!”

Along with the urgent presence of three people, Aizen’s loud shout, filled with breathlessness, echoed in my ears like a reverberation.

***

Three children, each holding weapons, were trembling and confronting the unknown man.

Aizen, Ellie, Iris.

Tears were already welling up in the children’s eyes.

Their fighting spirit seemed to have been lost long ago.

They seemed to be desperately trying to buy time, only looking at Levinia, who was in a life-threatening situation.

“Why are you doing this to us─?! Please just leave us alone─!!”

Amidst that, Aizen mustered up his courage and raised his voice loudly towards the man.

As if agreeing, Ellie and Iris, standing behind, added a word.

“Don’t bully the Sister…!”

“The Sister didn’t do anything wrong…”

They were quite threatening and courageous words.

But the fact that the opponents were children, some under 10 years old, made the man chuckle for a moment.

“That’s right. You kids were here too.”

The man finally recalled that there were three more children in this church besides Levinia.

Even so, they were insignificant existences to the man, but the fact that they were three children cared for by a vampire somehow bothered him, so he naturally began to think of getting rid of them together since they caught his eye anyway.

“Rejoice. Three children who will accompany you on your journey have gathered here!”

Unlike earlier, when he was only leisurely, the man began to speak excitedly with an artificial smile.

Then, he slowly shifted his gaze from the children and gently made eye contact with Levinia, who had not been moving.

“This is my last gift to you. With this, you and the children can comfortably close your eyes…”

He met cold, crimson eyes.

The man, who had been engulfed in arrogance and conceit, continued to intentionally provoke Levinia.

And when he finally faced her cold eyes, he suddenly stiffened his body like a stone statue without realizing it himself.

“──”

The wind blew bleakly through the gap of the open door.

Her black hair fluttered quietly in that wind.

She clearly didn’t say a word and didn’t show any movement.

But her presence was so intense that, just by seeing her stand there, he felt the world around him turn cold.

A suffocating, cold tension lingered as if time itself had stopped centered around her at that moment.

“Wh-What…”

The man couldn’t properly speak for a while.

Why?

Levinia was undoubtedly in a state where she couldn’t move a finger due to his command.

He was surely the one dominating the situation.

So why did the atmosphere feel as urgent as if he was the one driven to the edge of a cliff?

No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t understand it at all.

“Wh-what’s with that gaze?! Why are you glaring at me like that?!”

“……”

“Do you still not understand the situation? You’re no different from a mouse in a trap right now!”

“……”

“Even though you’re an inferior species that can’t even reach the feet of a devil… How dare you, to me, a devil…!”

“Priscilla.”

Ignoring the man’s raised voice, Levinia calmly called Priscilla’s name in a low voice.

Then, Priscilla, who had been pretending to be unconscious, suddenly flinched and began to take slightly tense movements, breathing heavily.

“For now, don’t say anything and take the children to the convent building a little away from here.”

Levinia’s quiet words, as if suppressing her current emotions.

However, she couldn’t properly grasp the situation after regaining consciousness in the middle of the conversation.

Nevertheless, she could easily realize that the current situation was by no means ordinary.

“Y-Yes…!”

Priscilla immediately got up and hurriedly ran towards where the children were, swallowing her tears with difficulty.

However, for Aizen, who had previously experienced a similar situation, it was difficult to take a step easily.

He couldn’t run away again, leaving Levinia behind like last time.

“I… I’ll fight too!!”

Aizen gripped the hilt of his sword even harder.

But there was no need to borrow a hand in a situation where the outcome had already been decided.

“Leave, Aizen.”

Levinia’s words were like a declaration that she would no longer hide her strength.

She could vaguely anticipate that, due to this incident, more devils would raid this church from now on.

In order to keep the children safe from them.

Levinia thought that acting as a nun who had been hiding her strength was the right answer, rather than pretending to be a weak nun.

“You’re still too weak.”

Gently saying those words to Aizen, Levinia then fixed her gaze back on the man.

“Although it’s still an attempted crime, the fact is that you touched my children, so you have to receive a punishment befitting that, right?”

The innocent smile that didn’t leave her face somehow made the man feel even more terrified.

“Prepare yourself.”