I'm Playing as a Nun.

"......"

The massive leaf hanging over my head was brought by Rune for me.

The leaf is so wide and sturdy that it could easily cover one person.

I heard that elves use these leaves like umbrellas when it rains. Their thickness is also quite substantial, making them excellent at blocking sunlight.

"Wow...!! So this is the World Tree that Rune mentioned!"

"It's really emitting something..."

"How mysterious."

I am currently viewing the World Tree together with the children.  

Thanks to this large leaf that Rune brought, we could come all the way here without any particular danger.  

But in fact, the intense sunlight wasn't the only thing I was worried about.

"How is it, Sister Levinia? The World Tree is really amazing, right?"

"......"

I simply nodded slightly at Rune's question.  

Although I maintained a fairly ordinary, faint smile, the beads of cold sweat around it fully revealed my uneasiness.

"The smoke-like stuff wafting out from around the World Tree is the sacred energy?"  

"Yes, that's right. That is the sacred energy that protects our village from the energy of evil."

"Wow..."

"Long ago, this World Tree bestowed not only sacred energy but various other powers as well. Though I'm not exactly sure what those powers were."

Rune proudly and confidently answered Aizen's question.  

Even though all the children couldn't help but exclaim in admiration upon seeing the sacred energy emitted by the World Tree, only I was secretly fighting a miserable and lonely battle while receiving that energy with my whole body.

No matter how much of a human heart I possess, the fact that my race is a vampire doesn't change, as if proving that, the World Tree's sacred energy made me feel like I was being crushed under immense pressure.

"Sister Levinia? Why are you sweating so much?"  

"... It's nothing. Don't mind me, just finish explaining about the World Tree to the children."  

In other words, as soon as I got close to the World Tree, I was continuously taking dot damage from an unknown attack.

Rune's words that it protects the elf village from the energy of evil were not just empty talk...

"C-Could it be... that you're feeling pain because of the World Tree's sacred energy?"

Although I thought I hid my expression quite well, Rune's eyes, which are much sharper than they seem, apparently couldn't be deceived.  

Full of worry, Rune's whisper pierced my inner thoughts.

"It will be hard to stay here for long...."

As long as I don't get too close, it's fine.

We should finish viewing the World Tree quickly and return.

"It's okay as long as I don't get any closer than this. It's not greatly painful, so you don't need to worry too much."

"Really?"

"Yes. It's really oka-"

While I was answering in the calmest voice possible to reassure Rune, who was sincerely concerned about my condition, the World Tree's dot damage that had been tormenting me endlessly started to weaken for some reason.

Eventually, it disappeared completely.  

Wondering if it was a temporary situation, I waited and even tried getting closer to the World Tree, but nothing happened to me, let alone pain.

"...Huh?"

And at that moment, when I was tilting my head, a familiar voice urgently called out from behind me.  

"W-What are you doing right now?!"

The owner of that voice was the village elder I briefly met at dawn.

The elder, catching his breath while profusely sweating, looked pale as if something big had happened.

And the many elf soldiers densely lined up behind the elder.

They were all carrying bows and heavily armed in a threatening manner, so I could tell at a glance that they were not simple guards but special soldiers who had to respond to a very important situation.

"What's this all of a sudden?"  

"When I told you to refrain from visiting if possible, was it because you wanted to destroy the World Tree?!"

"What?"

"I tried to establish a good relationship by sending Rune... To think you would backstab us like this..."

I couldn't understand the elder's words at all.

I didn't particularly do anything, but I was suddenly being subjected to a strange misunderstanding.  

"What's this about all of a sudden?! Why would we destroy the World Tree?!"

"This old man is really weird?! Apologize to Sister, quickly!"

"False accusations are bad."

The children hurriedly gathered around me at this quite sudden situation.  

However, the elf soldiers still slowly started to draw their bowstrings towards me.

In response, the children promptly drew their weapons without hesitation and corrected their stances.  

"What the heck-!! What did we do for you to act like this?!"

"We've even defeated a high demon before!! If you look down on us, you'll get badly hurt!!"

"We're super strong."

The elder didn't cower at the children's fierce threats but rather furrowed his brows as if dumbfounded.

"For what purpose did you approach the World Tree...?"

"As you can see, we were in the middle of a field trip."

"...A field trip?"

"Yes. The children said they wanted to see it."

"Do you think we'll readily believe such a nonsensical story...?"

"Why is it nonsense?"

"You're not keeping those children with you for that purpose, are you."

The elder held nothing back in front of the children, but I still calmly maintained my composure.

Because-

"That jerk keeps slandering Levi!!"

"Just what do you take our Sister for?! Unforgivable!!"

"Bad elder."

I knew the children wouldn't be easily swayed or shaken by such words.

"It's okay, Rune. Don't be too scared."

Rather, the one who should be worried about is not the children but Rune, who is absurdly entangled in this matter.  

Unlike the children who had accumulated much experience, Rune seemed to have never experienced a mess like this before.

And she also didn't possess the strength to resist force.

"C-Could it be... because of me... that things turned out this way? Because I guided you all to the World Tree...?"

"No. It didn't particularly turn out this way because of you. It's just that he doesn't like me."

"What...?"

"He probably realized. That I would refuse his proposal. So he forcibly created this kind of situation with a plausible excuse."

The elder's hidden motive could be roughly guessed even without thinking too deeply about it.

He tried to use Rune as a sacrifice to build a close relationship with me, but seeing that the first meeting didn't go well, he seemed to have hurriedly revised his plan.  

Then he happened to hear from somewhere that I approached the World Tree and tried to drive me out of the village with his own justifiable reason.

"He could have just told me to leave instead of doing this."

With those words, I slowly turned my head back towards the elder.  

"If I thought you would leave just like that, I would have done so long ago."

"Why jump to conclusions without even trying? I'll have you know, I'm quite broad-minded despite my appearance."

"Ha, a broad-minded demon..."

At the elder's words, spoken while clicking his tongue, the listening children once again threw a fit and vented their anger.

"Why is Levi a demon-?!! Levi's abnormally pale skin is because she doesn't get much sunlight!!"

"Don't speak rashly about Sister when you know nothing about her!!"

"Judging people by their appearance is bad."

Seeing the children's reactions like this, I thought that I wouldn't have to worry about them being swayed by petty things anymore.  

I couldn't be more relieved.

"What the heck are those kids saying right now..."

"S-Stop it-!!"

And right at that moment, when the atmosphere between me and the elder was reaching its worst, Rune, trembling like a leaf and not knowing what to do, suddenly tightly closed her eyes and began to shout towards the sky with all her might.

"They were just looking at the World Tree... It's not the kind of situation the elder is thinking of..."

"How do you know that?"

"If they had that intention from the beginning, they would have done it long ago. But they didn't..."

"Hmph, that's probably because it's not night. Vampires can't use their powers during the day."

But the elder didn't even bat an eye at Rune's sincere words.  

Though Rune was young, there seemed to be another factor, and his stubborn personality, blatantly revealed in his outward appearance, seemed to be properly playing a part.

"Tsk, I sent Rune because you seemed to like children..."

"...What?"

"Are you saying that Rune alone doesn't satisfy you at all?!"  

I briefly closed my mouth and stiffened my expression at the elder's appearance, which had turned passionate at some point and was speaking without reserve.

The elder didn't seem to have any intention of hiding the fact that he tried to use Rune as a sacrifice.  

"Please refrain from harsh words since the children are listening."

"Just what do you want...? Do you want more children besides Rune?"

"I told you to refrain–"  

"Yeah, I get it. We were wrong. It's my fault for thoughtlessly asking you to lend us your power."

"......"

"I'll prepare as many as you want! I'm saying I'll hand over children until you're satisfied!! So for now, leave this village..."

"Stop it-"

As I glared fiercely and muttered in a low voice towards the elder who had lost his reason and was spewing whatever nonsense, for some reason, amplification was added to my voice itself, resounding very solemnly throughout the entire forest with me at the center.

Then, not only the elder who witnessed that sight right in front of him but even the children began to look at me with a dumbfounded gaze.  

The atmosphere also turned strange in an instant, and a heavy tension hung suffocatingly in the air.  

-------------------------

【Levinia Fallen Grace】 - [Guardian]

[Race] Vampire

[Level] 87

[Active Skills] Blood Transfusion, Blood Mist

[Passive Skills] Rapid Regeneration

-------------------------

And then, a status window suddenly appeared.

The word "Guardian" was now written next to my name.

It was too short a time to understand why.

But I could tell it was because of this event.

"If you urge me like that, I have no choice. I'll have to move up the schedule according to your wish."

Due to my voice that continued to resound magnificently, not just a temporary effect-

"I will thoroughly purify this place according to the will of the goddess Paellia."

Translator’s Corner

Dot damage- Damage over time damage… Just know it'll be weird without the last damage.

-Ruminas