When Caroline woke up, it was in her own room.
「ーーhiii!」
It was her room she lived for many years, a personal place that should've given her relief.
However, Caroline raised a scream.
Her face paled and looked around, desperately searching for something.
「God! Where are you God?!」
She is searching for Kakeru who she calls as her God.
She wondered when she had returned, although she was sure that she was within Kakeru's arms just before she fell asleep.
She was completely in panic, calling out to Kakeru desperately.
「God! Where are you God?! Nooooooooo!!」
As she continued to scream, people who have heard her came.
After the sounds of running footsteps, the door was slammed open.
「What's the matter, Caroline-sama!」
「Did something happen?」
It was two young nuns who entered the room.
「Hii!」
Caroline fell into deeper panic as the nuns appeared.
She was traumatized after being kidnapped, making her feel fear from all kinds of human other than Kakeru.
「It's alright, Caroline-sama. We are nuns of the church」
「Idiot, she can't understand even if you tell her. She can't hear you after all」
「Ah! Right……」
Caroline cannot hear their voices. More specifically, although she can hear their voices, her brain doesn't recognize them as voices.
Kakeru gave her the lottery item "Backward Compatibility", so she is now able to hear them, but there was no way for Caroline who would fall into panic just by seeing them would match her frequency with them so she could understand them.
「God! Please, God, answer to my call!」
As a result, she became more panicked and continued to call Kakeru.
「Maybe she's afraid because she can't hear Solon-sama's voice」
「I wonder what happened. She can't hear Solon-sama? But it isn't like she would always hear God's voice」
「I know right. She's panicking too, let's just leave her alone」
「Wait a second」
One of the nuns wrote something using the pen and paper found in the table in Caroline's room.
She gave that simple note to Caroline.
「"Don't worry, we'll be just outside so call us if anything happens". I see, she can read it when it's written huh」
「It's also for her to look at it after she's calmed down」
The two nuns left the room.
With the slight improvement from the worst situation, Caroline slightly calmed down.
She has now calm enough to take a look at the note she was given, able to look around the room without screaming.
「God……where did you go……」
Caroline whispered silently. What remained after the passing of fear was unprecedented helplessness.
Starting from this day, Kakeru stopped appearing in front of her.
It was already a week since Kakeru stopped appearing.
Although Caroline fell into panic during the first day, she was in the church familiar to her, a place where she could even call as her home.
She completely calmed down the next day and was even able to leave her room, spending the same days she has spent up until now.
Even on this day, she left her room, and was about to pray in front of god's statue while thinking of Kakeru/
When she was about to kneel and place her hands together as usual, one woman came from her side.
「Ah! Please wait, Caroline-sama」
The young nun said to her, but of course, Caroline didn't hear her.
She stopped Caroline by blocking her way, then after sweeping the place she was about to kneel on, she wiped it with a cloth.
She quickly cleaned the place where Caroline was about to kneel on.
「Please, go on now. Please do your best today too, Caroline-sama」
The nun left after saying that.
Of course, her words did not reach Caroline's ears. However, she had caught her eye.
Caroline tilted her head towards the strange actions of the nun.
Even after praying for the whole day, Kakeru did not appear in front of Caroline.
「God……」
It was a heartrending whisper and although other people's words cannot reach her, the opposite was different.
The other believers can hear Caroline's words.
Within the church which was almost made up of only nuns, with the men out to teach in church schools.
The older nuns who were praying just the same comforted her.
「It's alright, Caroline-sama. I believe that Solon-sama will let you hear His voice once again」
「She's right. I am sure that He is watching over the results of the school that we made」
Naturally, Caroline did not hear those older nuns' voices, she looked at the young nuns who was working eagerly at a distance.
「Everyone, good job. I brought water」
「There's cold towels as well. You should cool your knees using these」
They would bring water or towels, walking around here and there, taking care of the other believers.
「Here, Caroline-sama should have one too」
One of them came to Caroline and gave her a cup of water.
「Please don't hold backーーah! I see, you couldn't hear us right」
The young nun made a gesture of drinking water, so Caroline received the cup and drank water from mit.
The water made her feel refreshed. It should've been ordinary water, but it was strangely refreshing.
「Ufufu, you face says that you find it strange. I added a bit of a secret flavor. Though you won't understand even if I explain, so I won't say it」
The young nun showed a mischievous smile, then returned to the other young nuns to hand over water.
Caroline continued to stare at them.
A slight change occurred in Caroline's lifestyle.
Her days of waking up in the church and praying have not changed.
She is just doing one additional thing other than that.
Her eyes would follow the young nuns.
She was not looking at someone particularly.
She just started to watch the young nuns within the church.
Even right now, she is looking at a nun who is writing a letter for a believer who visited the church.
These past few days, she finds herself attracted or interested by the young nuns.
They felt different from other people, but it was difficult for Caroline who doesn't know a lot of words to describe it clearly. The only thing she knows is that they are clearly different from other people.
The young nuns were thoughtful, their movements were skilled, and one would somewhat feel elegance from their bearing.
When she noticed it, Caroline's eyes were chasing after the young nuns' appearances.
There is another reason for her to do that.
There would always be one of the young nuns that interested Caroline within her view.
Even when she is keeping herself inside her room, there would always be one of them when she looks out her window.
They weren't looking at Caroline, just simply spending their own lives.
Nonetheless, they would absolutely be there.
That's why Caroline looked at them. She watched them, with her eyes chasing after them.
「They are so……」
Caroline did her best to describe those women.
「So beautiful, and amazing……they are women, so amazing」
She squeezed that out from her untrained vocabulary, that was caused by not interacting with others.
As she continued to follow them with her eyes, Caroline became interested in them.
At the same time, she wondered if "everyone" was the same.
She looked at the other believers.
However, there were only some that made Caroline feel they're "amazing". Only about twenty of them.
Gradually, she remembered their faces.
She remembered their faces despite of not knowing their names.
After remembering their faces, she started to become even more attracted to see their behavior.
Those twenty young nuns were similar, but slightly different from each other.
They are just amazing in their own ways.
「I wonder why……ah!」
Caroline was unable to find out why even after thinking about it herself, but she suddenly realized something.
She realized that she should just ask them to know why.
「Although it would make me unable to hear God's voice……it can't be helped」
She used the "Backward Compatibility", enabling her to hear ordinary people's voices and left her room to search for the "amazing" women.
Ordinary people would not do that at this hour.
After all, it was in the middle of the night when she realized that.
Common sense would make ordinary people wait for the next day, but having almost no interactions with other people, Caroline did not have that thought.
That's why she saw something unexpected.
Caroline left her room to search for the "amazing" women, but she witnessed something outside of the church.
She saw one woman talking to Kakeru while they faced each other.
【God……?】
Caroline was surprised.
However, her surprise was unexpectedly small.
If it were a few days ago, just when she was returned to the church, she would've rushed towards Kakeru without thinking of anything else. But it did not go that way.
Her dependency towards Kakeru slightly faded and the existence of the "amazing" woman was big enough to weigh her balancing scale of judgment.
Instead of rushing out, she was curious, she was very, very curious.
The conversation between Kakeru and the "amazing" woman interested her so much.
When she tries to hear Kakeru's voice, she won't be able to hear the woman's voice.
When she tries to hear the woman's voice, this time, she won't be able to hear Kakeru's voice.
She can only hear one of them, making her unable to understand their conversation.
But it made her curious, what they were talking about made her very curious.
Caroline, for the first time in her life, did her best.
She was fueled by her curiosity, making her do her utmost to be able to hear both of them at the same time.
As a result.
「Ha! Nikki Cephalis and the first platoon shall continue guarding the Child of God!」
「I'll be counting on you. When everything's over, I'll definitely make it up to you girls」
「Ha!ーーno, Yes!」
For hearing that, Caroline became even more confused.
Within a split of a second, Nikki showed two different faces.
She has remembered her face. But she did not know that face of hers.
It was the coolest and most beautiful face she had seen up until now.
But Nikki reverted that face within a blink of an eye. It made Caroline more and more confused, making her more and more curious.
About 90% of the movement of Caroline's heart was as Kakeru had expected.
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