In truth, the God takes delight in people's reaction to His doing, and the possibility of returning is extremely low. So let's look for the dwelling of those who rebelled against the gods in the old times and look for a way to return ourselves! No one would believe it if those words were said all of a sudden. After Kouki and the others heard what she told them, whether they would see it as nonsense and continued to fight like before, or believed her and looked for another way... That was not something Aiko could predict. However, she must nail it to them not to blindly believing the Church. Aiko convinced herself to do that now.
"Yaegashi-san. Nagumo-kun knows his information is an unbelievable one and will be antagonized by Amanokawa and the others, so he said this only to me."
"Information... is it?"
"Yes. It is about the God worshipped by the church and the objective of Nagumo and the girls' travel. He didn't give any proof about it... but it is a truly important information, so tonight... no, this evening, I want to tell this to everyone."
"That's... no, I understand. Then, should I call everyone now?"
"No, it is an information I don't want to be known by the church's side, so I want to tell it at a time when everyone has gathered naturally; at dinner. And we should be able to talk among ourselves if I said I want to spend time with the students I haven't seen for a long time without any outsiders."
"Indeed... I understood. Then, at dinner it is."
Afterwards, a good amount of time had passed while Shizuku and Aiko chatted. However, they couldn't have known that the promise for the dinner could not come to pass...
* * *
The time was evening.
While the sun was setting, it gave a parting gift of vivid orange color, and Aiko was walking along the empty corridor. The evening sunlight entered the corridor from the windows and drew an obvious contrast on the wall and floor at the other sides.
Aiko went towards the dining room while her gaze was captivated by the evening sun, but she immediately stopped after she felt someone's presence. When she looked forward, she saw a woman-like figure inside the shadow. The woman walked in the middle of the corridor, and gracefully stopped her feet with a straight stature. Her clothing was the nun's habit of Church of the Saints.
The woman was beautiful, however she spoke to Aiko with a somewhat mechanical and cold voice.
"Nice to meet you, Hatayama Aiko. I've come for you."
Aiko felt a chill ran down her spine when she heard her voice, but she feigned her calmness as to not become impolite to someone she met for the first time.
"Umm, nice to meet you, too. Coming for me... you mean the dinner with the students?"
"No, your destination is the main church."
"Eh?"
The sentence which didn't give her a chance to answer, made Aiko inadvertently ask her again. At that time, the woman moved out from the shadow into a place lighted by the evening sun. Seeing the woman, Aiko held her breath. Even Aiko, who was the same gender as her, was instinctively charmed by the woman's beauty.
Her silver hair was sparkling while it was being reflected by the evening sunlight. With big, long and narrow blue eyes, and her mysterious and wonderful features that seemed to be both of an adult woman and a young girl; all of her parts were perfectly positioned. Her height was tall for a woman, around 170 centimeters, which forced Aiko to look up at her. Her white skin was as smooth as a white porcelain, her hands and feets were slender. Her breasts neither big nor small, it was a truly exquisite size if one was thinking about the balance of her entirety.
However, she was regrettably had no expression. Rather than expressionless, it was as if she wore a Noh mask. No one would doubt if it was said she was a statue — the best masterpiece by a famous sculptor. The woman possessed an inhumanely artistic beauty.
Towards Aiko, who held her breath, the woman smiled and indifferently continued her words.
"We feel the thing you are going to tell them will inconvenient us. After all, what your students will be doing now looks "interesting" to us. That's why, until the time come, you will temporarily leave the stage."
"Wh-What are you..."
The beautiful nun slowly approached Aiko without even making a footstep, and Aiko instinctively backed. Then, Aiko saw the nun's blue eyes shone. Aiko felt her mind grow hazy. Immediately, she concentrated as though she was going to invoke magic, and her haziness dispersed in a snap.
"... I see. As expected, I can only disregard that you are calling yourself a "God." For you are capable of resisting my "charm". There's no other way. I will just take you by force."
"D-Don't come! Wh-What I want—... ugh!?"
The pressure from the woman's true character made Aiko immediately tried to activate her magic. However, faster than her finishing the chant, the nun momentarily shortened their distance and drove her fist into Aiko's stomach. Aiko collapsed, and at the time she felt her consciousness about to be swallowed by darkness, she heard the nun's mutter.
"Don't worry. I won't kill you. You are an excellent piece, and you might be useful against that irregular."
The white-haired, eye-patched boy floated inside Aiko's mind. Following that, while knowing it wouldn't reach him, she shouted his name in her mind right before her consciousness completely disappeared.
———— Nagumo-kun!