Get Ahead of the Fallen Heroine and Make the Bull-Headed Man the Victim

Chapter 268. No need for explanations, just strip already!

“…Huh? Why are the cathedral doors closed?”

It’s around one in the afternoon.

Clothilde had just returned to the cathedral alone from other churches in the water city, only to be met with this strange sight.

The grandest and most sacred cathedral in the entire water city was shut, right in the middle of the day.

Usually, you could see straight into the cathedral’s interior from the courtyard entrance.

But now, all that greeted her were two imposing, milky-white doors, about three meters high.

They were engraved with delicate golden patterns, inspiring a sense of reverence.

Still, business is business. When Clothilde had left with Noah this morning, she hadn’t heard anything about an early closing.

Something must have happened.

The church had clear regulations; local cathedrals weren’t to be closed except under special circumstances.

And so, Clothilde could only assume some ‘special circumstance’ was at play.

The relaxed, gentle expression she wore instantly morphed into a serious, focused battle-ready look.

She was prepared for the worst; even if some monstrous race had taken over the cathedral, she wouldn’t back down.

Her only concern was that Noah wasn’t by her side at this crucial moment.

He had been with her earlier, but after lunch at eleven-thirty, he’d said he had other things to do and left.

Otherwise, she could have asked for his opinion.

And even if she was caught in some forced “arousal-inducing rune” situation, she wouldn’t be worried with Noah around.

After all, at this point, being watched by others while doing…*that*…in the cathedral wasn’t completely unacceptable, right?

Compared to becoming a low-level succubus, Clothilde would rather bear the weight of sin and remain a human nun.

But since Noah wasn’t here, there was nothing she could do.

She was originally used to traveling around the country alone, sometimes even going abroad, so being alone wasn’t an issue.

But as she braced herself, about to try and see if the main door would budge—if not, she’d try the side door or climb a window—

someone emerged from the corner of the courtyard, near the side of the cathedral.

It was none other than Belinda, the guide who would lead Clothilde to the collapse of her faith, the sadistic nun from the original story who would play with the young sister using whips, candles, and collars.

Belinda had only been told to play a role in this event, so she wasn’t a central figure.

However, her sharp intuition had made her sense something was wrong.

But what could she do?

Even if she warned Clothilde to be careful, it would only further ignite the greed of those involved.

So, all she could do was trust in Clothilde.

“…I see. So, nothing happened, the door is closed because the magic array protecting the church from monsters is broken, and they need to fix it.”

After Belinda uttered the lie Horace had instructed her to,

Clothilde indeed chose to believe it quite easily.

The Sister let out a soft sigh of relief, her hand resting lightly over her chest, the overly serious expression on her face easing somewhat.

“…Yes, that’s right, because His Grace the Bishop was worried that if any demonic creatures were to shapeshift and sneak into the church to attack the faithful, it would be disastrous, so he closed it temporarily.”

And Belinda, with her usual kind smile, continued to lower Clothilde’s already low guard.

“I see, then I’ll come in and help. This is exactly what I’m good at.”

Upon hearing about these evil, demonic species, Clothilde naturally couldn’t just turn around and leave; instead, she decided to step up.

Until the magic circle was repaired, she would remain inside the church to prevent any determined, evil demons from forcibly breaking into the church and slapping the face of the Goddess.

Seeing Clothilde take the bait as expected, Belinda could only silently sigh in her heart.

—*Clothilde, you’re still the same, trusting ‘humans’ too much. If the gods are truly merciful, I wish they would help change your gullible nature a little.*

With that thought, Belinda acted as Clothilde’s guide, leading her towards the main doors.

And so, the two stood, one on either side of the doors, both adopting a prayerful stance, activating Holy Light magic.

Then, the door, radiating holiness, swung open.

After smiling and nodding to Belinda beside her, Clothilde stepped into what was, in fact, a far from holy place, her black thigh-high heeled boots clicking softly.

Belinda, of course, followed behind.

But after she entered, she used Holy Light magic again to close the main doors of the cathedral, keeping a distance behind Clothilde.

She couldn’t reach out to help Clothilde, because she was a heretic herself.

At least let her witness Clothilde’s battle.

Even if Clothilde was likely to fail this time, she had to see it with her own eyes.

The Sister was, of course, unaware of Belinda’s feelings at this time.

Even if she sensed something was amiss, it was too late.

Because there, in the main hall of the Aqua City Cathedral, usually bustling, she saw someone she didn’t expect to see.

It was an older Sister, whose temperament was less kind than Belinda’s, and carried more severity.

The Sister was earnestly praying at the front of the hall, stopping only when she heard Clothilde’s footsteps, turning to face her.

But to call her severe was only because of Clothilde’s personal filter.

To most people, this older Sister, with her warm-feeling, orange hair, would still appear to be a kind and friendly woman.

It was merely her age that made her seem more composed.

This second figure to appear was none other than Sister (Succubus) Hilda.

“Sister Hilda?! What are you doing here?”

Staring at the senior Sister, who had fallen to become a succubus and was supposedly taken back to the Holy City to be investigated, now standing perfectly fine in the Aqua City Cathedral.

Clotilde was both startled and delighted.

She quickly took the initiative to greet Hilda.

“…I’m so sorry to trouble you, Sister Clotilde. I’ve undergone a special purification ritual and have returned to being human. I specifically came to the Water City to apologize to you all.”

Hilda, her face slightly sorrowful, once again placed her hands over her chest in prayer, bowing her head to the one she had practically raised as her half-disciple.

“Sister Hilda… no, you don’t need to worry. It’s what I should do. It was you who taught me, in the monastery, the virtues of a follower of the Goddess, the proper conduct of a nun. It’s wonderful that you’ve returned to normal; the merciful Goddess truly loves us.”

Because Hilda acted exactly as Clotilde remembered, she easily believed Hilda’s words once again.

She truly seemed to believe that Hilda had returned to being human.

This caused a triumphant smile to creep onto Hilda’s lips, though she was acting.

—See that, Bishop! I understand this child far better than you do. How unfortunate, it seems I can take down Clotilde by myself, without needing your help~

Because she was bowing her head deeply, the sinister smile on Hilda’s lips was impossible for Clotilde to notice.

However, just as Hilda was convinced that she could successfully feign normalcy, lure Clotilde closer, and then suddenly unleash a holy light magic attack to stimulate the sinful mark on Clotilde’s abdomen…

Clotilde abruptly posed a question Hilda had never anticipated, a fatal one.

“…I know this is very rude, but Sister Hilda, would you mind lifting your habit, so I can see your abdomen? Since you’ve returned from being a succubus to a human, surely the sinful mark on your abdomen wouldn’t remain.”

Clotilde certainly wanted to trust humans, especially those of the Church.

But sadly, in her current understanding, Hilda might still not be human, but a succubus.

And if she was a succubus, shouldn’t she be more cautious?

She simply wanted to check Sister Hilda’s abdomen to confirm whether or not the sinful mark was there. It shouldn’t be too difficult, right~?