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Translator: penny
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: Previous Life (3)
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"Ha."
Lete let out a hollow laugh, tousling her hair with one hand as she shot me a sharp glare.
Her first words were none other than:
"I heard it just now."
A phrase tough to grasp right away without context. It felt a bit out of left field, so I furrowed my brow and shot back.
"Heard what?"
"Eliya."
"..."
Her reply twisted my face into a sour grimace. Had the rumor spread already?
No, judging by the timing, Eliya might've run straight to her and spilled it.
Lete eyed my reaction with an ambiguous look, curling the corners of her mouth into a sly smile.
It was that face—the haughty, seductive one she always wore when picking a fight with me.
"Really, you're too much... Even if she came at you with that rude proposal first, calling a pretty girl a slut? A slut?"
Lete scolded me like a nagging teacher, and I fired back with my expression still all scrunched up.
"It's true, though."
From my angle, it was straight-up sincerity, no lies mixed in. The plain truth.
So what else do you call rolling around in bed with guys left and right if not slutty?
…I knew I'd hurt a twenty-year-old girl's feelings, sure, but there wasn't a shred of falsehood in my words.
Sorry was sorry, and slut was slut.
Who knows—by now, she'd probably tangled with close to a dozen guys.
For someone that young and baby-faced, racking up that much experience was impressive in its own right.
"…You serious? Evan Lane."
But this woman saw things differently. With a frown, Lete Heresia stared at me like I was some freak.
"Eliya isn't some brothel girl."
"…Haa."
"She doesn't take money or gifts for it. She spends those nights with men purely to train her divine power. Don't you think calling that slutty is a bit over the top?"
This wasn't nitpicking or pointless provocation. It was her honest-to-god belief.
Lete's face was all sincerity, like she meant every word 100% without a hint of pretense.
'Nights spent purely for training divine power…'
Even a female cleric in the Sun Church—one of the less than 10% still holding onto her virginity—talked like that.
-What's the harm in mixing it up with all sorts of guys? No money involved?
-Isn't slut-shaming that a little harsh?
In the end, Lete Heresia was just like everyone else born in this world.
Forced by circumstance to let cobwebs gather down there or not, her mindset was pure local.
A fresh-faced, innocent beauty with that kind of fiery open mind…
I felt my cheeks heat up just a touch and let out a deep sigh.
"Fine, fine. My bad. Ruben's no slut."
There was no wiggle room for me on this one. If it was contrived just to needle me, whatever—but this world's "common sense"? What could I do?
It chafed admitting my slip-up right in front of Lete, but I wasn't about to bicker over it.
In this world, clerics proved their power and worth by bedding as many opposites as possible, after all.
I knew that held true for Eliya Ruben too.
Twin purple pigtails framing a cute face, cool attitude about that, a petite build hiding killer curves.
I wasn't blind—she was the kind of girl tons of guys adored.
And personally? I didn't dislike her. Pretty girls are my jam.
Her damn cheeky offer just rubbed me wrong… She's a good girl, otherwise.
"Evan, I'm well aware of your weirdly rigid chastity hang-ups, but you should still apologize to Eliya next chance you get."
Lete zeroed right in on that point. Arms crossed, sleeve brushing fabric, she cocked her head at me.
"Experiencing all sorts of sexes with all sorts of opposites is one of a cleric's top virtues. That's how you touch those various 'divine traits,' right? You know."
"…Yeah."
Her tone reeked of lecturing—like blood rushed backward in my veins—but I let her talk.
Lete gave a soft pfft of laughter and flicked her eyes back for a second. The way Eliya had bolted.
"And Eliya's one of the saintess candidates nailing that virtue. Bet she's absorbed three or four top-match divine traits already."
"Probably…"
I nodded, and just like that, Lete twisted her lips like she'd hooked me.
"So even if you're the most pitiful guy in the whole Sun Church… don't ice her out too hard. Who knows? Your traits might click with hers perfect."
I couldn't help but grimace. Hell, outright provocation.
What? Me and Eliya's divine traits miraculously meshing like soulmates?
Not impossible, but the slimmest of shots. Pure "maybe."
His Holiness the Pope himself vouched for my divine power's freakishly high purity.
Eliya's was solid, sure, but no match for mine. No way she didn't know.
Real heat surged through me now, piling onto what I'd bottled up.
"Goddamn it, seriously."
My words turning ugly was inevitable.
I fixed Lete with a venomous glare, chewing out curses under my breath.
"Still not sleeping with Ruben. You think I'm nuts to roll those dice? Quick bang and she siphons my power—what then?"
"Haha, that's why I'm saying try it. Unknown outcome. Could be killer results—"
"Then why you got cobwebs down south after four years?"
I sliced her words mid-sentence with a counterpunch. Lete froze stiff.
Eyelashes quivering—she looked properly rattled.
My blunter style hit different, yeah, but mostly 'cause I nailed her Achilles' heel.
Scoffing, I kept hammering.
"Right? By your logic, you should've grabbed any dude and heated up the night ages ago. Who knows—first one clicks perfect."
"…!"
Bouncing her own line back? She was dying inside.
Tsk-tsk, I pressed on.
"Dunno if you know what the other saint candidates call you. 'Cliffside flower.' Pretty as hell, dying to pluck—but won't break."
"Wh-what."
"That blush says you knew."
I shrugged. Lete went full crimson, mouth flapping soundlessly.
Glass cannon vibes—nukes offense, paper-thin defense?
Her flustered fidgeting felt so satisfying. Buzzing a bit, I dropped the mic.
"Same boat, so quit stacking karma. I graduate virginity, you still high and dry? You'll die of shame."
"What…! Th-think I'd stay virgin that long?!"
And Lete bellowed back at me.
Sounded desperate not to lose the spat…
'…Huh.'
Does she even grasp what she just said?
Throat dry as sand, I swallowed hard.
"…Whatever. Good luck, then."
I muttered, masking the weird heat flaring up.
Time to bail. More chat felt dicey.
But.
"Ha…! Now I see it."
Lete wasn't letting go. Her smug tone halted my half-turn dead.
Glancing back—confident grin plastered on.
Uneasy twinge hit me; I grumbled.
"…See what?"
"What else? Your game."
Snap answer. She jabbed a slim finger my way.
"Bottom line, we're both desperate—so you're dancing around wanting to bang me!"
"?"
Question mark central.
What the hell did I just hear?
"No playing coy. Your sleazy plot's transparent. Telling me snag any guy? Trash-talk while sneaking compliments on my looks…"
"…? What? Hold up, no."
"All roads lead there, right? 'Lete Heresia and Evan Lane's best bet is each other.' Heard the rumors."
She tossed her head with that infuriating shrug, eyeing me like pathetic trash.
"Tough luck, Evan Lane. I'd never—not ever, no matter what—bed a lowlife like you!"
"…"
I gaped, words failing.
Brain blue-screened on the sheer nonsense.
What burned worse? Her puffing up from my shock.
Playing it cool with a smirk, she twirled away.
"Anyway, best of luck to you. Like you said, same boat—I'll root for us scoring decent partners."
Ignoring me flat, Lete Heresia clip-clopped off.
I stared at her back like an idiot, then snapped out. Damn.
"…Crazy bitch?"
Too late—my curse bounced off empty air. She'd rounded the corner ages ago.
Landed some solid hits… but the wrap-up tasted sour.
Irked, I twitched my cheeks, biting my lip.
Rare W for Lete over me. And…
…Till then, like she clearly figured, I figured we'd never end up tangled like that.
That changed.
📜 ANNOUNCEMENT 📜2nd Quarter Saintess Candidate Evaluation Exam
The next day, after one such notice went up on the Sun Church headquarters' first-floor bulletin board.