I'm Playing as a Nun.

Meanwhile, at that moment, the children were huddled together in front of the World Tree.

"That person is the Great Elder of this forest."

"...For someone like that, he sure can't move an inch in front of Sister Levi?"

"Looks like he's getting scolded."

The sight of Levi and the Great Elder in front of the World Tree resembled a scene of a kid being disciplined.

Levi stood tall with a fierce gaze, looking down at the Great Elder while he had his head bowed low, trembling like an aspen.

They were too far to hear what conversation they were having, but nevertheless, their hierarchy was clear.

"Even the Great Elder of the elves can't budge in front of Levi."

"Well, Sister Levi is an incredible person who was chosen by the World Tree after all."

"I sometimes wonder about Sister Levi's past. She said she retired early as an adventurer due to lack of skill... but that doesn't seem to be the case at all."

Around the time the children were engrossed in conversation about Levi,

Rune quietly approached the children standing in front of the World Tree, discreetly avoiding Levi and the Great Elder.

But she seemed to find it difficult to strike up a conversation, still maintaining an awkward relationship with the children.

"......"

Rune bit her lip for a moment as she looked at the children, then eventually began to quietly back away.

But before Rune could get far, Iris, the most perceptive, noticed her movement and turned her head indifferently.

"What are you doing there?"

At Iris's soft question, Rune immediately flinched and stopped.

She then darted her eyes here and there with a very flustered expression, but words still didn't come easily from her tightly closed lips.

"Are you uncomfortable with us?"

"Oh, no..."

"Then why are you standing there like that?"

"......"

Rune's gaze was already on the ground.

Since Rune had never had such conversations with children her age before, even Iris's trivial question made her feel immense pressure and psychological burden.

The children who had been intently watching Rune tilted their heads with puzzled expressions at first, but soon, one by one, their eyes began to sparkle as they grasped the situation.

"Ah! Is it because–Mmph!"

Unlike Ellie and Iris, who tactfully kept their mouths shut and glanced at each other,

Aizen, whose actions always preceded his words, opened his mouth first to make the situation even more awkward.

Without a moment's hesitation, Ellie reached out and forcibly twisted Aizen's mouth shut.

"Be quiet, you idiot...! If you suddenly say it like that, it'll just make her feel more burdened..."

"Aizen has no tact."

At the barrage of criticism that poured out in an instant, Aizen just blinked repeatedly with a puzzled look.

When he still failed to notice his mistake despite all this, Ellie immediately let out a big sigh and frowned deeply.

"Rune is very shy, so you can't talk to her like that. You have to approach her more delicately."

Saying that Ellie slowly removed her hand that had been twisting Aizen's mouth shut.

"Then, what, how should I say it?"

"Watch closely how I do it."

Ellie seemed brimming with confidence for some reason.

She then boldly approached Rune, who was still fidgeting like a pretzel, put on a warm smile that looked quite familiar, and spoke softly.

"You don't have to say anything. Just stay with us for now. Doing that might make you feel a bit better."

Ellie, who never spoke politely to anyone except Levi, suddenly started speaking very kindly to Rune.

Watching this from a distance, Aizen immediately frowned, and Iris also tilted her head in puzzlement at Ellie.

"Ah..."

Contrary to expectations, even Rune took a slight step back with a troubled expression.

Ellie seemed to shrink her shoulders in momentary bewilderment, but nevertheless, she tried to maintain a gentle smile and calmly opened her mouth again.

"It... it's okay... You don't have to force yourself..."

"Hey, Ellie!! You're imitating Levi's way of speaking right now, aren't you?! It doesn't suit you at all, so stop it!!"

Aizen's loud reprimand rang out from behind Ellie.

As soon as she heard those words, Ellie's head sank deeply towards the ground, and then she began to exude an eerie energy, gradually making the surrounding atmosphere terrifying.

"......"

"I... I'm sorry... I haven't experienced a situation like this much..."

"It's alright... I have no intention of forcing you, so when you feel comfortable..."

Leaving just those words, Ellie returned to her original spot.

Although disappointment and gloom were evident from her slumped posture, more than anything, resentment and anger towards Aizen seemed to be surging forth.

"Are you stupid? You think shyness will go away like that?"

"Sister Levi's way of speaking makes everyone feel warm. That's why I did that. Why are you criticizing me?"

"That's only possible because it's Levi. Would it suit a country bumpkin like you to talk like that?"

"What?! Country bumpkin?!!"

Ellie recalled how Rune let her guard down and easily talked to Levi and tried her best to imitate Levi's speech and behavior.

But even if 8-year-old Ellie tried to speak as maturely as possible, her way of speaking and behavior was still that of an 8-year-old girl.

"Even though you're just a muscle-head with nothing in your brain...!!"

"Why don't I have anything?!! I lack tact, that's all. I'm unexpectedly smart, you know?!!"

"What smart kid gets a zero on the outdoor practical?!"

"So what?!!"

At that moment, while Aizen and Ellie were in a heated argument,

Iris and Rune were already sitting side by side on the ground, silently watching their fight.

Hugging their knees and slowly blinking, the two looked like people watching a play.

"......"

"......"

Perhaps because Iris wasn't very talkative, the silence between the two didn't feel very awkward.

Rather, a comfortable atmosphere slowly flowed, gradually calming Rune's anxious heart.

"They're not fighting for real right now, are they...?"

"They are fighting for real."

"Huh?"

"But it's okay. Even though they fight often, they make up quickly."

"It doesn't seem like a mood that will resolve quickly..."

"If it does, Sister Levi steps in, so it's fine. One time, it got so serious the sister made them hug each other for the whole day."

Since Iris had frequently seen such situations up close, she was able to maintain calm until the end, even as their voices gradually grew louder.

However, for Rune, for whom all of this was new, it was a situation she could not understand at all.

"They hug?"

"Yeah. Sister Levi makes them do a reconciliation hug."

"...And they really reconcile?"

"Even if they don't, they have to. Otherwise, they have to hug all night long while Sister Levi watches."

Rune seemed quite shocked by the bizarre reconciliation method she was hearing about for the first time.

The bewilderment clearly felt from her wide, sparkling eyes represented Rune's current state of mind.

"A-amazing... So that's how you reconcile..."

"Have you never reconciled with a friend?"

"...I don't have any friends to reconcile with."

"Why?"

"......"

It was a very direct question, but nevertheless, Rune didn't show any discomfort towards Iris.

"Because no one wants to be friends with me..."

"Did you do something wrong?"

"No. I didn't really do anything wrong, but I guess being an abandoned child seems really distasteful to other elves."

"Oh... You were abandoned."

"......"

Rune awkwardly smiled with a somewhat embarrassed feeling.

She scratched her head, pretending to be nonchalant, but even that action seemed to reveal Rune's embarrassment more.

Then Iris, who had been intently watching her from the side, added softly.

"It's okay. We don't have parents either."

Iris's indifferent words instantly made the embarrassed Rune dumbfounded.

"Huh, what...?"

"The village we originally lived in was attacked by monsters, and everyone died."

"R-really...?"

"Yeah. We barely escaped, but if it weren't for Sister Levi, we definitely would have been eaten by monsters or wild animals in the forest."

Rune was at a loss for words.

Because the children she had seen so far looked as happy and peaceful as could be.

"While running away from them, we happened to find a church in the forest, and Sister Levi happened to be living there."

"So you haven't been living together from the beginning..."

"Yeah. Sister Levi warmly welcomed and took care of us like that."

At Iris's words, Rune briefly made a contemplative expression, then carefully asked with a puzzled look.

"Then what kind of work do you do in return for that?"

"...Work?"

"Yes. I'm staying in this village doing all kinds of miscellaneous work. They said that's the price for taking me in."

This time, it was Iris's turn to look puzzled.

"We don't do anything, though?"

"...?"

"Sister Levi says us running around in the garden is helping."

"Why?"

"I don't know. We do clean once a day, but that doesn't really feel like work."

Rune was simply amazed by the children who were in quite similar circumstances to her but living completely different lives.

No matter how hard she tried to understand, the elder's words who took her in kept bothering her like an obstacle, making her mind confused.

"Then you eat meals for free without any payment...?"

"Yeah. But Sister Levi can only cook meat. All three meals are meat. So it's great."

"What?!"

In the village, Rune provided medicinal herbs and labor in exchange for gruel each time.

And that was only one bowl a day, not three meals.

Rune's daily life was to receive a bowl of food of unknown origin, not knowing what ingredients it was made of, and eat it without complaint.

It didn't taste good, nor did it taste particularly bad.

Rune just received the gruel from the elder and ate it without any complaints, thinking it would fill her hungry stomach.

As someone who was taken in, Rune thought that was only natural.

"Th-that's absurd... Is that really possible...?"

"Huh?"

"It's so different from me... I can't even imagine eating meat for three meals a day."

"That's true. In the village I used to live in, I only ate meat on special days too."

"......"

Rune's mouth wouldn't easily close.

At this moment, Rune's mind was filled with only one thought.

"I'm envious..."

Just as Rune was looking at the children with envious eyes,

An enormously loud and fierce voice rang out from Levi's direction, enough to shake the entire forest.

"Are you kidding me right now?!!"