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“Mmm… Where am I?”

I slowly opened my eyes. The first thing that I saw was a familiar ceiling. But I didn’t remember going to bed.

“Ah, are you awake?”
“Oh Finia, good morning.”
“Good morning to you too.”
“Why am I in my room?”
“That’s because you drank Lord Maxwell’s alcohol in one gulp and fainted on the spot.”

Finia spoke with her hands on her waist and puffed cheeks, appearing a little angry. Oh right, this body of mine was awfully weak against alcohol. After speaking with Maxwell, I ended up drinking it as I used to in my past life, which turned out to be a blunder.

“More importantly, we are scheduled to visit Lord Lyell’s mansion after lunch.”
“Ohh, right!”

Letina’s visit was one part, but we also planned to visit Lyell’s mansion today. I couldn’t ignore Letina after she came so I decided to entertain her during the morning and head to the mansion in the afternoon.

“I can’t go back without you, so please get yourself together, Lady Nicole!”
“Yeah, sorry… By the way, you can call me by my old name when it’s just us, you know?”
“I’m bad at switching over, so I will speak as usual so it doesn’t result in a blunder. But um, I will call you the other way during the special occasions.”

Finia said while blushing and poking her fingers together. I was a little afraid to ask what she imagined when she said special occasions.

“What about Michelle and the rest?”
“Ah yes, I have already notified them. I also had Den remain as your substitute.”
“He was here…?”
“Lord Maxwell brought him here since you wouldn’t be here.”

Well, I felt bad for him that he would be put through Letina’s love bragging hell, but given his perseverance, he should be alright. Besides, the people on the other side should be waiting for us. We have already notified them that we’d be visiting today.

“Well then, let’s get—”
“I’ve already prepared everything!”
“As expected of you, Finia. You’re always dependable.”
“Ehehe…You can praise me more.”
“So you’re able to say that now, huh?”

I started to change while speaking. Finia helped me with it, but it was already a habit that we developed since I was young so I felt no shame about it. Once I got all dressed up, I grabbed Finia’s hand and constructed a magic circle.

Maxwell wouldn’t even need to touch the target but I wasn’t that used to Teleport so I couldn’t take another person along if I didn’t touch them. Once I finished the spell, the scenery in front of me crumbled like a mosaic and restored itself.

Once it settled down, we stood before Lyell’s mansion.

“We’ve arrived, Finia.”
“Ah, yes. This spell makes me a little sick.”
“Sorry that I’m not as good at it as Maxwell.”
“Not at all! Being able to return here this fast is already a blessing!”

Finia grasped my hand tightly and insisted on it. The voice seemed to have reached the inside, and the door opened with force, with a dressed Fina rushing out from inside.

“Big sis Nicole, welcome!”
“Ohh, Fina, did you grow up?”

I caught her in the rush and almost fell on my back. But as if she was expecting it, she supported my back and stopped my fall.

“Yup. I have grown. Thiiiis much.”

She spread her hands wide while I held her close.

“Ahaha, that is a little too much.”
“Welcome too, Fwinia.”
“It’s not Fwinia, it’s Finia. And, welcome back, huh…”

Fina spoke that phrase casually, but ‘welcome back’ was something you used when one returned to their own house. That was proof that Fina considered her part of the family.

“Yeah, ‘welcome back’ is not a mistake, Finia. This is already a place for you to return to.”
“Lady Nicole… I see.”

The corners of Finia’s eyes became wet at my words. Being an orphan, she never had her own home even after she started working for Lyell in the mansion. Those words of welcome held a special meaning in her heart.

“Oh, Nicole, you just came back and you’re already making Finia cry?”
“That’s a bad way of putting it. She’s just easily moved to tears.”

Following Fina from the inside were Maria, who was unusually dressed in a habit, and Ashella.

“Huh, even Lady Ashella is here?”
“Yes. I said I would baptize Fina, but Maria never contacted me. So I went and came here by force.”
“Uhh, what about the temple…?”
“No problem! I left a note.”
“It sounds like a big problem to me!”

So in other words, this Pope slipped out again. The cardinals would be extremely troubled by this. I couldn’t even imagine their feelings.

“That’s how it is. So I really have to return soon, but you kept us waiting.”
“Ugh, sorry.”

Yes, our reason for visiting today was Fina’s baptism ceremony. Dressed-up Fina looked adorable, and I could now understand why Maria and Finia were excited during my baptism.

Also, it wasn’t just the possession of a Gift, the baptism itself held a special meaning too. By receiving the baptism of the world’s largest faction, which was the World Tree religion, she would finally blend in with the society of the village.

I guess you could call it becoming one of them. A sense of unity of people belonging to the same faction.

Of course, it was up to her if she wished to convert to another religion in the future. The World Tree that was rooted in this world and governed the cycle of the souls could also be said to govern life and death.

It wasn’t so intolerant to order you to follow everything down to the line. That said, half-demons were excluded from that for some reason.

“Listen to this, Lady Nicole drank Lord Maxwell’s alcohol and got knocked out.”
“Eh, hey Finia! It’s so awful of you to tell them on me!”
“Oho? So you can enjoy alcohol now, Nicole? The two of us should hit it off sometime.”
“Nope, I’m not drinking with you, dad.”

I sunk Lyell down the moment he showed up from the entrance, but I’d definitely get wrecked if we went to drink together.

“Well then, the drunkard Nicole is here too, so we should start the baptism.”
“That was a bad way of putting it!”

Pope Ashella clapped her hands to get us back on track. This year, there were no other three-year-olds other than Fina, so we planned to casually finish it at the village’s church.

I held Fina with one hand, while holding Finia’s hand with the other, and we headed to the church.