Grandmother planned to come to Iris’s house around nightfall after finishing sightseeing in the city center with her friends.
Messages had been coming in one after another, saying they would come home together to greet her and then leave.
Iris, with a bright expression, sent back a reply that she would be waiting.
Then, with a bitter heart, she checked the message from Laika.
“Iris, what’s got you so busy? I can’t believe a job seeker is busier than me, an actor.”
‘I’m not a job seeker, I’m a thief aspirant.’
Swallowing the words she couldn’t send, she moved her fingers and sent a message.
“I’m busy preparing for a job. We’re meeting next week, right? I’m already looking forward to it.”
“Sounds like a lie to me.”
Laika’s immediate reply made her heart sink.
It wasn’t exactly a lie. She was indeed excited about obtaining the Ancient Ring.
Mixed with the bitterness of deceiving Laika and the fear of being caught and beaten half to death, she felt like her hair was turning gray at such a young age.
As she hesitated about what to reply, more messages kept coming.
“I’m really looking forward to it. If you just tell me where you live, I’ll come right over. Are you worried I’m a bad guy?”
“Heh heh, bad guy? Not at all. I’m looking forward to our weekend plans too.”
She deflected the question and didn’t give her address.
She thought it might be okay to share soon since she’d be moving to Teresa’s House, but she was still afraid of any unforeseen consequences.
After exchanging a few more trivial messages, she put down her phone.
A bitter smile appeared again on Iris’s lips.
Since betraying Laika, she hoped not to run into him, or better yet, that the ring wouldn’t be so important to him after all.
“Iris! Grandma’s here!”
“Oh, you must be tired.”
“Welcome!”
While cleaning and waiting at home, Grandmother and her friends arrived.
They entered carrying shopping bags in both hands, and when Iris brought out some fruit, they gathered around the table, chatting warmly.
Soon, it would be time to use her skill to extract them from the den of evil, the Enraka Church.
Iris secretly took out a Skill Level Amplifier in the kitchen and consumed it.
Now it was time to sing the hymn before them.
Wearing an awkward smile, Iris looked at the elderly and suddenly wondered.
‘Wait. Using this skill can actually bring them out of the Enraka Church? Lucael can’t be the root cause of everything.’
There must be an Enraka Temple in the countryside as well.
Could there be someone similar to Lucael there?
To clear her doubts, Iris sat beside her grandmother and spoke toward the elderly ladies.
“By the way, now that you’re moving down there, you’ll be attending the temple there every weekend, right?”
“Mm-hmm. That’s right. But we plan to come up sometimes too. Lucael Priest goes to the one here!”
“Whenever we hear his hymn, our hearts feel so at ease. We came here once to the temple where he sings. When I first heard his hymn, I thought angels were singing!”
It seemed there was no one like Lucael Priest who used Bewitching Skill in the countryside.
Well, that made sense. Even though Gyodam City was half villain, half human, priests using Bewitching Skill weren’t common.
Those kinds of gifted people would usually be at large temples where many people gathered.
As Iris nodded, her grandmother spoke.
“Exactly. We came up today because of Lucael Priest. We can’t come every week, but we want to come often to hear the hymns. Maybe because it’s the city, the church is definitely bigger and more enjoyable to attend.”
“Ah… his songs really do sound beautiful. That’s why I registered as a new believer today. I even attended the Youth Group Service. So, about that…”
When it came time to use the skill in front of the grandmothers, Iris hesitated.
Not so much about using the skill itself, but more because the song didn’t come from her mouth—it came from between her legs—and she wasn’t confident she could fool the elderly perfectly.
Seeing Iris hesitate, one small-bodied old lady nodded warmly and asked.
“Ah, your granddaughter’s faith is already deep, attending the Youth Group Service and all. So, what is it?”
“I-I’ve learned a hymn. Would you like to hear it?”
“Huh? You already learned a hymn? Well then, let’s hear your dear singing it.”
“You became a new believer today and even sing hymns? That’s some serious enthusiasm. Mary Granny’s granddaughter is no ordinary kid!”
The grandmothers gladly accepted the difficult proposal.
Although it was a bit surprising for a girl their granddaughter’s age to sing hymns, there was no reason to embarrass her by refusing.
‘I’m not singing with my mouth. It’s singing with my… ugh, please, no one figure out something strange.’
Swallowing hard, Iris clasped her hands and looked around at the gathering.
Silently chanting that she would cast the skill, a chilly sensation spread between her legs.
Focusing all her attention there, Iris began to move her lips in time with the song coming out.
The practice wasn’t in vain; the grandmothers didn’t notice anything strange.
“Oh…”
“Oh my, not bad…”
To be precise, they didn’t realize the oddity because they were completely under the effect of the Bewitching Skill.
The grandmothers, who had expected nothing more than to see a little granddaughter’s playful singing, were dumbfounded by the hymn skills rivaling Lucael Priest.
Closing their eyes, they could almost imagine a baby angel singing hymns atop clouds.
Feeling as if hearing hymns in heaven, the grandmothers were entranced as they watched Iris.
Soon, the Song of the Chastity Belt ended, and Iris wiped the beads of sweat forming on her forehead.
She had no idea how much she was sweating from the anxiety of being caught singing from an unmentionable place rather than her mouth.
“Phew…”
After sighing, Iris checked the grandmothers’ expressions.
It was too quiet, and she worried they might have realized the horrible truth that the song came from between her legs.
But it was only her imagination.
After a brief silence, the grandmothers began clapping wildly one by one.
The tiny one-room apartment was thrown into a frenzy of excitement.
They began showering Iris with praise until their mouths were dry.
“Oh my, how can you sing so well! I thought an angel descended!”
“Mary Granny, you don’t need to go to church anymore. Listening to your granddaughter’s singing washes away all my fatigue!”
“I think you sing even better than Lucael Priest! I thought you were just pretty, but your voice is a nightingale’s! Your singing voice is different from your usual voice. Oh my, you could be a singer!”
The grandmothers’ compliments lifted Grandmother’s mouth into a wide smile.
She had been flustered when Iris suddenly said she wanted to sing a hymn.
She’d never thought her granddaughter was good at singing.
But to sing better than Lucael Priest? She was amazed at when her granddaughter’s singing skills had improved so much.
Beaming with pride, Grandmother grabbed Iris’s shoulder and beamed broadly.
“Our Iris sure can sing well!”
“She must have been good since she was young. Why didn’t you make her a singer?”
“Ahem, well… was she really good since she was young? I can’t quite remember…”
Listening to the grandmothers’ chatter, Iris secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Not only had they not noticed the song coming from between her legs, but the skill had worked perfectly as planned.
Scratching the back of her neck awkwardly, she asked the grandmothers.
“Haha, thank you for the compliments. Did I sing pretty well?”
“More than pretty! You sang amazingly well. So, instead of all this, is there anything you want to eat? Grandma will buy it for you!”
“Oh, let me go first. Iris, is there anything you want? I’ve saved a lot of money…”
“Something small will do. A great singer should be playing on a bigger stage. I’ll help you move to a better place, not just a one-room apartment!”
“Haha…”
Surrounded by the grandmothers clamoring to give her this and that, Iris just smiled awkwardly.
Her only goal was to save the grandmothers and their friends from the Enraka Church, not to gain anything personally.
Otherwise, she’d just be a villain, not a hero.
When she didn’t respond and only smiled, the biggest grandmother among them spoke up.
“Well, is there nothing you want?”
“No, I don’t need anything like that. Um, I’d like it if you came to listen to my singing sometimes.”
“Huh? Of course! We’d be honored if you sang for us.”
The Bewitching Skill’s effect wouldn’t last long.
So Iris had to let the grandmothers hear the Song of the Chastity Belt often.
The grandmothers’ faces lit up with delight at her words.
Encouraged by their eager acceptance, Iris decided to mention a more specific wish.