Chapter 132. Apologies, I Might Have Overdone It

At first, Clotilde thought that if she steeled her heart, she could make Noah lose face as well.

But soon, Clotilde realized something was amiss.

“Hmm, about fifty-nine points, I suppose.”

Noah, however, did not appear as embarrassed as she had imagined; there was no flushed face, no drooling like a dog, no pitiful pleas for mercy—none of it.

It seemed even his initial surprise was merely an act.

The evidence lay in his demeanor; he looked perfectly fine, effortlessly assigning her a failing grade.

In response, she maintained her stance while glaring fiercely at Noah.

This was utterly dreadful, truly dreadful.

For she found herself unable to stop; she couldn’t even pause to retort at him before continuing.

Originally, she had intended to humiliate Noah, but it seemed she was the one who ended up with her face in the mud.

Not only had she displayed such disgrace in the sacred church, but she had also attempted to retaliate and suffered a crushing defeat.

An unusual sense of satisfaction kept her from halting; merely maintaining her remaining rationality to glare at Noah was already her limit.

Yet Noah remained at ease, even observing her with an air of keen interest.

Why was this man so adept?

Her mind was nearly paralyzed with thought, yet Noah appeared so relaxed, watching her with that calm demeanor!

In this mix of unwillingness and humiliation, accompanied by an overwhelming sense of satisfaction she could not resist, the young nun ultimately ceased her actions.

But it was not due to reason; rather, it was precisely because her reason had fled that she stopped.

“Hmm, my apologies, dear nun, but this has become too dull, so I must conclude early. It seems you’ve ended up with fifty-nine points after all. But don’t take it too much to heart; it’s of no use anyway. This time, it’s my complete victory. Perhaps you should lament your own incompetence, Nun Clotilde!”

—

“——！？——！！！”

As Noah ceased to indulge her, he effortlessly unleashed his lethal attack.

The nun, indeed, found herself utterly stripped of all reason, nearly succumbing to unconsciousness.

Yet Noah paid no mind to the humiliated nun.

He was like one who had no interest in the defeated, casually employing the cleansing magic he had pilfered from her, nonchalantly beginning to tidy his own attire.

To be honest, Noah felt his injuries were little more than a mere scraping, the nun lacking both emotion and finesse, relying solely on brute force.

She might have thought herself quite impressive, but alas, Noah found it rather mediocre.

By the time Noah had composed himself, the nun was just beginning to reclaim her scattered consciousness from the distant horizon.

Her face, which had been a portrait of dazed ecstasy, slowly regained the will of the nun.

In simple terms, it was a mix of humiliation and disgust.

“Truly, truly filthy… Ha… Ha, such a thing is utterly rife with sin… It must be eradicated at once…”

As she spoke, the nun attempted to restore her appearance.

However, despite her words, she hesitated when preparing to use cleansing magic on herself.

And the reason? Well, it was the allure of that rich, sweet scent, far more intoxicating than the coffee she had previously sipped.

She knew it was the curse that had twisted her senses, but she couldn’t deny that it was indeed delicious.

That clash between what she knew to be wrong and the starkly opposite experience left her in turmoil, unsure of what was truly right.

“…Oh, nun, why have your hands stopped? Could it be that while you speak of filth and sin, you actually find it rather enjoyable?”

At that moment, Noah had discerned her hesitation and the faint glimmer of ‘greed’ in her eyes, so he decisively employed a provocation to halt her from further disgrace under the curse’s influence.

“Not at all… Ha… Is that so!”

Upon hearing Noah’s words, the nun gritted her teeth and stomped her foot, immediately casting the cleansing magic upon herself.

She ruthlessly purified the scent that had stirred her heart.

Though a wave of intense loss surged within her, the nun desperately reminded herself that this feeling was wrong, suppressing the regret that threatened to surface on her face.

“Hmm, that’s good. While I must admit, your indulgence in desire is quite amusing, I prefer this version of you, the one resisting temptation.”

Noah couldn’t see any expression of reluctance on the nun’s face, but her actions clearly conveyed it.

He understood her thoughts perfectly.

To master the curse, she must first not be governed by it; if she couldn’t endure this, she would inevitably become a mere plaything of the villain, just as in the original tale.

Since the nun’s performance was passable, Noah didn’t hesitate to offer her praise.

“…What a pathetic confession! Even if you like me, it brings me no joy, you wretched priest!”

Unfortunately, the nun merely regarded him with disdain, then lowered her head to adjust her attire, ungrateful for his words.

She simply concealed the now-quiet curse markings beneath her nun’s garb once more, slowly rising from the ground, unwilling to engage Noah in further conversation.

As the curse was satiated, Clothilde’s consciousness gradually became clearer.

It was as if she had been drunk and suddenly sobered up, with all the events that had just transpired flashing through her mind.

Of course, this included her actions in the sacred church, where she had thrown herself at Noah.

In an instant, a sense of guilt washed over her, equal in intensity to the desire she had felt for Noah’s body earlier.

Just as she had passionately desired Noah, both physically and spiritually, she now felt uneasy about her actions as a nun in the church.

“!?”

She quickly turned to her right, towards the direction of the goddess statue, and began to pray anxiously.

“Oh, merciful and great goddess, I, your servant, am deeply sinful for desiring a man. But this is not my personal sin alone; the evil demon and this perverted priest are also guilty. I swear to exact holy retribution upon them, so please forgive us, sinful children of humanity…”

Clothilde knew that Noah, standing beside her, would not apologize to the great goddess, so she included his share in her confession as well.

After all, Noah, despite his unpleasant nature, was a helper she could not abandon at present.

If the goddess were to become angry and take him away, Clothilde would be greatly troubled.

Thus, for Noah’s sake and her own guilt, Clothilde prayed with even greater devotion than before.

Unfortunately, from Noah’s perspective, her actions seemed comical, as if she were trying to explain herself to the victim after accidentally committing a wrongdoing with a yellow-haired man.

Noah had not taken the initiative, after all.

It was the nun who had thrown herself at him, and if one were to say that Noah was simply a kind person helping the nun to alleviate her desires, then that would be a more accurate description.

Noah would not apologize to the goddess.

Besides, as an evil god, it was only natural that he would not apologize to a goddess.

Noah even considered slapping Clothilde’s buttocks while she prayed, just to provoke the goddess.

Slap!

“?!!!!!!”

Oh no, he had actually done it.