The whole coincidence felt like something out of a manga – like the classic trope of a high school girl rushing to school late, toast dangling from her mouth, schoolbag slung over her shoulder, only to be abruptly hit by a truck and instantly sent to another world.
Hanakain Fubuki hadn't sent anyone to another world, but the blonde girl's attire made it hard for him not to wonder if he had somehow crossed over.
Completely unlike the high-slit, tight-fitting nun outfits often seen in anime – designed to look holy but are actually incredibly lewd – this was... a very traditional, almost fundamentalist nun habit.
Very loose, very conservative, completely concealing her figure.
In fact, Hanakain Fubuki thought it looked a bit too thick for the current weather.
Are there really such dedicated cosplayers these days?
Ah, no, now wasn't the time to analyze that...
Realizing his thoughts were wandering, Hanakain Fubuki snapped back to reality. He crouched down and extended a hand to the blonde nun sitting on the ground.
"Hello, are you alright?"
"I-I'm fine... Um, I'm sorry..."
Quite unexpectedly, despite her distinctively Western bright blonde hair, the nun spoke perfect, standard Japanese. Her voice was clear and sweet, tinged with a slight shyness around strangers.
It was only then that Hanakain Fubuki clearly saw that this so-called blonde nun was just a girl of about sixteen or seventeen. Her beautiful, large emerald eyes drooped slightly at the corners, giving her a rather timid impression.
"Let me help you up."
Taking the delicate hand the little blonde nun instinctively offered, Hanakain Fubuki gently pulled her up from the ground. At the same time, he picked up the white wimple that had fallen and handed it back to her.
"Here."
"Thank you..." the nun murmured politely, accepting it with both hands.
The white wimple had gotten slightly dusty when it fell, but the nun simply brushed the dust off lightly with her hand before putting it back on her head. Then, with a gentle smile, she gave a slight bow.
"I apologize, I was walking too quickly just now. I'm a new nun at the nearby church. My name is Asia Argento, but please just call me Asia. It's nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too. I'm Hanakain Fubuki." Hanakain Fubuki observed the blonde nun curiously, surprised that she wasn't a cosplayer, but an actual nun.
But that name...
Two minutes later, the two, having become acquainted through their collision, walked side-by-side along the pavement, chatting as they went.
"Are you foreign, Asia?"
"Ah, yes. I'm from Northern Europe. I just arrived in Japan this morning, actually. I'm heading to the church now to report in."
"From Northern Europe, huh..." Hanakain Fubuki acknowledged noncommittally. The girl's eye and hair color, along with her name, already spoke volumes.
Still, Northern Europe and Japan were practically half a world apart. Traveling so far just to spread religious teachings... Are nuns nowadays really this hardcore?
While the boy was muttering internally, Asia, noticing the lack of follow-up, couldn't help but ask tentatively.
"Mr. Hanakain, have you been to Northern Europe before?"
"Ah? Oh, no..." Hanakain Fubuki shook his head. "I was just a little curious why you'd come all the way from Northern Europe to Japan to be a nun, Miss Asia. Logically speaking, due to the influence of ancient China, particularly the Tang Dynasty, Buddhism is more prevalent here in Japan. Compared to that, belief in God isn't quite as widespread... Or is it that the churches in Northern Europe are overstaffed, making job competition fierce, so they have to send people to remote places?"
"That's... not quite it..." Hearing unfamiliar terms like 'job competition', the innocent nun, who knew little of such things, was slightly taken aback and quickly waved her hands.
But immediately after, her voice dropped, and her head lowered, her gaze fixed on her feet moving back and forth on the ground below.
"Anyway, there are various reasons..."
Figured as much.
Hanakain Fubuki wasn't the type of dense harem protagonist common in Japanese light novels. Although his comments were often brutally straightforward, he was fundamentally perceptive.
Leaving aside other factors, just the fact that she came from Northern Europe, halfway across the globe, to be a nun in Japan, coupled with her evasiveness when mentioning the reasons for doing so, was enough to indicate that something fishy was definitely going on.
While the specific circumstances were unclear, since she clearly didn't want to elaborate, Hanakain Fubuki wouldn't press the issue.
It's perfectly normal for everyone to have their little secrets.
"By the way, Mr. Hanakain, judging by your attire, are you heading to school now?" Asia proactively switched the topic, perhaps sensing the previous conversation couldn't continue.
"Yeah, my school is just down this road," Hanakain Fubuki gestured with his chin towards the traffic light intersection ahead that ran east-west.
Like many places in Japan, residential areas usually had associated high schools, middle schools, etc., nearby. Take, for example, the Teitan school system in Beika Town, covering everything from kindergarten to university.
Similarly, besides its high school division, Kuoh Academy also had middle and elementary school divisions nearby. Thus, children heading to school were a common sight along this road, carrying backpacks and walking alongside students older or younger than themselves.
Then, Hanakain Fubuki turned towards the north, gesturing with his chin towards a white church built on a hillside several streets away.
"That should be the church you're looking for. It's the only one in this area. Just turn left at the upcoming intersection and keep walking straight."
"Ah, I see it! Thank you, Mr. Hanakain!" Although he had merely given simple directions, a genuinely joyful smile spread across the nun's face.
Hanakain Fubuki shrugged as if it was nothing, adding, "Alright, then let's part ways at the intersection ahead..."
Before he could finish, a loud bang suddenly echoed from the pavement behind them, followed by the sound of a child wailing loudly.
??
Hanakain Fubuki instinctively glanced back, immediately understanding the situation.
It was a small child wearing the Kuoh Elementary uniform. Probably fooling around, jumping back and forth over the low barrier between the sidewalk and the bike lane, they had tripped and fallen. The pain from the fall led to them sitting on the ground, crying their eyes out.
Honestly, it wasn't a big deal – likely just scraped knees and a bit of blood. The bleeding would probably stop on its own before you even got him to a hospital. The loud crying wasn't really from pain, but more from being startled.
But Asia stopped. Seeing the situation, she jogged back towards the boy, knelt beside him, and observed the wound.
Then, she extended her hands from within her wide nun's habit, hovering them over the boy's injured knee. A faint green light emanated from her palms, accompanied by a soft murmur.
"It doesn't hurt, it doesn't hurt. Be strong now."
As if by magic, under the spreading green light, the wound on the boy's knee quickly stopped bleeding, shrank, and finally healed completely.
"So she can do that…" Hanakain Fubuki thought.
__________________________________________________________
Greetings, my dear clients of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor! 👋
I have some updates for you! I noticed another translator is also working on this current fanfic, So idecide start bringing you a brand new translation project starting next week!
BUT don't you worry! I'm definitely NOT stopping this current translation. 😉 In fact, I plan to add something special right here – those spicy lemon scenes (18+) featuring some favorite characters that I felt were missing! They'll be added directly into this version as we go.
Want to be the very first to read the new translation? You can get early access by supporting me on Patreon! Your support there helps make all these translations possible. ❤️
patreon.com/Walnutchan
The exciting new project launching there (with early access for Patrons!) is:
✨ Frieren in Elden Ring ✨