“Noi! Hurry up and pick— which takeout do you want?”
“…”
Takeout existed here?
Noi’s understanding of this world was being reshaped, piece by bewildering piece.
The church had only one phone, an old-fashioned landline, stationed in the dining hall.
According to a certain red-haired priestess, it was her doing—a hard-won victory after pestering Chenxi and the bishop relentlessly until they caved and installed the thing.
“There aren’t many places to choose from, though. Too remote, and they won’t deliver. The couriers stick to the city center—lazy bunch.”
Few restaurants out here had landlines, and having a courier pick up an order from there was a hassle, not to mention the steep delivery fees.
Tina had already ruled out the pricier spots.
Noi settled on a simple seafood noodle soup, its menu boasting ingredients freshly harvested from the No-Man’s-Land.
Perched on an iron chair in the dining hall, Noi sipped a sweet floral tea that Tina had brought her while the priestess chattered about the church’s quirky residents.
“Don’t let the bishop’s stern face fool you. He’s a good guy—hilarious, like some playful old sage.”
“The teacher, though… who knows what she’s up to? Always vanishing, popping up out of nowhere.”
“And my little sister, Chenxi? Sure, her chest’s a bit bigger, her hips a bit curvier—Noi, what’s so funny? No matter how great your figures are, without hard work, you’ll never become a first-rank priestess like me!”
“What about that elf grandma?”
“Her name’s Corrine. Some nobleman’s son sent her here after a gang of bandits trashed her teahouse branch. Headquarters didn’t bother rebuilding, but see that floral tea you’re holding? They send a bag every month as thanks for the church taking her in.”
Their conversation flowed warmly until a blue-robed novice nun shuffled in, clutching a plastic bag.
“Sister Tina, the takeout’s here.”
“Oh! Thanks! Set it on the table. Want to join us?”
“N-no, no, we have set meals for lunch.”
The novice fled, and Tina burst out laughing.
“They’re so old-fashioned, thinking nuns can’t eat this stuff. Too uptight!”
The bag held containers made of something like plastic, but when Noi touched one, its texture felt… off.
Maybe a material unique to this world.
Lifting the lid, a burst of savory aroma hit her, free of any fishy taint.
Tina slid disposable wooden utensils across the table.
“Not bad, right? I love this place. They don’t lie—only seafood from No-Man’s-Land tastes this good.”
Noi loosened her intricate shoelaces, slipped off her sheepskin heels, and let her silk-stockinged feet rest on the cool stone floor.
Leaning back, she took in her surroundings.
A European-style church with ornate vaulted ceilings, a dining hall aglow under crystal chandeliers.
She wore an exquisite black gauze nun’s habit, her reflection in the polished tabletop impossibly beautiful.
Yet here she was, holding disposable cutlery.
The surreal blend of magic and mundanity left her momentarily dazed.
“What’s on your mind? Not hungry? Dig in already!”
Tina’s rapid-fire questions snapped Noi out of it.
‘Right.’
‘Food first.’Â Â
The two women savored their seafood noodle soup.
Tina slurped noisily, tossing out amusing anecdotes, while Noi listened quietly.
In her past life, confined to a hospital ward, Noi rarely had chances to chat so freely.
Surrounded by the gravely ill, where death loomed close, no one had the heart or energy for casual banter.
But now…
Watching the carefree red-haired priestess across from her, Noi felt, for the first time, truly alive.
If becoming a girl was the price for a healthy body, she’d pay it gladly.
And… these noodles were delicious!
Noi bit into a strand, chewing with a blissful “nom nom,” her eyes narrowing in delight at the rich textures.
“Hey, Noi! Are you even listening? Want to be protected by a knight?”
“Huh? What?”
Noi swallowed, her head’s single stray hair curling in confusion.
“I said a hero from the Empire is coming this afternoon to intern as a guardian knight. He’s only low-rank, but still—a hero! We might never meet someone like that again!”
“Oh… what’s a hero?”
Tina shot her a sideways glance.
“Seriously? Were you raised in some secluded mansion or what?”
The Empire’s royal family was served by a faction called the Nest, which scoured the land yearly for young prodigies.
These children faced grueling trials, and those who survived became hero candidates, officially low-rank heroes at sixteen.
A handful of ultimate-rank heroes existed, but even they paled beside the Four Guardian Beasts.
Only when a Chosen One appeared would the strongest ultimate-rank hero emerge.
The greatest heroes of history, by today’s standards, could single-handedly defeat one or two of the Four Guardians.
“Get it now?”
Tina sipped her floral tea, wrapping up her explanation.
“How do they identify the Chosen One? And how do they know the Chosen One becomes the strongest hero?”
Noi, clueless about this world’s norms, asked like a curious child.
“Well… I only know the Chosen One is immune to all elemental damage, even chaos energy can’t touch them. As for becoming the strongest hero… maybe it’s just raw genius? Haha, not like it matters to us!”
Tina waved it off, dismissing such far-fetched dreams.
What did those distant, mighty heroes have to do with small-town nuns like them?
Both women were food lovers, though Noi, mindful of her figure, ate heartily.
Tina was stuffed after one bowl, but Noi, rubbing her flat stomach with a pout, looked unsatisfied.
Tina’s heart softened.
She called for a novice to bring their vegetarian meal, and Noi dove in, devouring most of a pot with gusto before patting her slightly rounded belly, content at last.
After clearing the plastic containers, Tina dragged Noi for a stroll to work off the meal.
At the front courtyard, near a statue of three angels, Tina clapped her hands as a thought struck her.
“Oh, right! Noi, have you trained in Michael or Gabriel’s techniques?”
Tina always sought to learn from those stronger than her, but Noi hesitated.
Her system’s skill tree showed complete mastery of all three angels’ legacies, but she could only deeply develop a few mid-tier holy spells.
High-tier ones?
She had maybe one or two she could study.
In short, her level wasn’t high enough.
“Um, still learning.”
Just as Noi answered, a chilling voice sounded behind her.
“Is that so? Then how’s your Raphael training?”
Both women spun around.
A green-haired priestess stood there, her sly smile sharp, her cold eyes locked on Noi.
“Er, it’s… okay?” Noi replied cautiously.
Her instincts screamed that this woman was dangerous.
The green-haired priestess pulled a dagger from her pocket and slit her wrist.
“Good or not, let’s find out.”
“Teacher! What are you doing?!”
Tina gasped, ready to cast a healing spell, but the priestess stopped her.
“Come on, little girl.”
The priestess extended her bleeding arm toward Noi, who felt an overwhelming pressure.
After a rare moment of hesitation, Noi bit her cherry-pink lip.
A golden holy light enveloped the wound.
In an instant, the wrist was pristine, only fresh skin hinting at the injury.
The priestess watched closely, her eyes flickering with surprise at the purity of Noi’s light energy before masking it.
“Heh. I’m Sharei Adiyes, third-rank priestess and teacher of this church.”
She offered her hand, but Noi sensed something impure in her gaze—neither good nor evil, but deeply unsettling.
“I’m Noi Vellrich, official nun, um—”
The moment their hands touched, a jolt like electricity shot through Noi.
She yanked her hand back, staring warily at Sharei.
The priestess’s expression remained impassive, as if Noi’s reaction was her imagination.
As tension simmered, Tina, oblivious to the undercurrent, threw herself into Sharei’s arms, breaking the standoff.
“Teacher! It’s been forever! Where’ve you been? Just got back?”
“No, I returned around noon. Handled the hero’s guardian knight application, then made sure the novice nuns stuck to their vegetarian diet.”
Tina shook Sharei’s arm, pouting.
“So it was your order! No wonder they’re back on veggies.”
Sharei’s voice was icy.
“The weak must temper their will however they can. To become official nuns, they need resilience. A vegetarian diet is a minor test.”
Tina didn’t agree but knew better than to argue.
Drained from using magic and uneasy around the peculiar Sharei, Noi listened briefly before excusing herself to nap in her room.
The church bells tolled, signaling the start of the afternoon’s knight conferment ceremony.