04

Isn’t the transmigrator supposed to be a guy???

Why didn’t Triste ever mention the transmigrator was a girl?

As things stand, my first meeting with the transmigrator is a total disaster.

I’m the Saintess of the Church of Holy Light.

She’s the Brave summoned from another dimension.

And the way we meet… is me walking in on her while she’s bathing. What kind of degenerate have I fallen to?

I quickly stepped away from the doorway and stood off to the side, watching nervously. After a short while, the bathroom door opened. She came out, already dressed in some strange outfit from her world—blue and white, loose and baggy.

Eh—? On the left side of the zipper, near her chest, there was a little emblem and four tiny characters embroidered—

Zhen… Guang… Fu… Zhong?

Some kind of code name for an organization in her dimension?

I looked at her again. Because of her short hair, she looked really similar to a handsome, delicate boy. Plus her clothes were unisex, so no wonder Triste had gotten it wrong.

Triste couldn’t even tell I’m a boy in a dress. Of course she wouldn’t be able to tell this is a girl in “boy’s clothing” either!

And right now—she and I were just staring at each other, the awkwardness almost painful.

“Sorry… I barged in without knocking,” I said.

“Come with me,” she replied calmly.

I followed her back to the living room in silence. The first-meeting scene I’d imagined had apparently turned into a courtroom drama?

She plopped down on the sofa. I stayed standing.

“You already know,” she said.

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep your secret!”

I rushed to assure her.

Very, very sincerely.

“Eh? You…”

She looked surprised, and I struck while the iron was hot. “I don’t know why you’re pretending to be a boy, but it’s fine. I totally get you.”

“Wh-what? What could you possibly ‘get’…”

My verbal barrage left her a bit dazed.

“I really do get you,” I said earnestly.

Just like I understand myself cross-dressing as a girl.

“You don’t have to tell me the reason. I’ll keep it secret for you…!”

“Aren’t you one of that Queen’s people?” she questioned me.

Obviously she wasn’t going to trust me that easily.

“Since I was chosen to be your maid, of course I should serve you. Besides, you’re the one mentioned in the Holy Light’s prophecy. I’m counting on you to defeat the Demon King. Of course I should stand on your side, right?”

To be honest, finding out she’s a girl doesn’t bother me at all. Since the Saintess in the Holy Light’s prophecy—me—is actually a boy, what’s so strange about the Brave destined to defeat that person being a girl disguised as a boy in private?

Let’s just call it the Holy Light’s little joke…

Seeing her still hesitating, I placed a hand over my chest and gave her a gentle smile. “Please trust me. I have faith in the Holy Light. I would never lie.”

“Holy Light…? Figures. Other worlds are bound to have weird religions,” she muttered.

“It’s not a weird religion. The Holy Light really exists.” I answered with a straight face. As the Saintess, of course I had to stand up for my own faith here.

“Alright, my bad. Actually, there are lots of religions in my world too, but the strongest one is this—”

I watched as she took a flat, rectangular object out of her pants pocket.

“But the battery’s dead. In this world it’s nothing but a piece of scrap metal.”

I stared at her in silence.

Does she trust me or not? At least give me some kind of signal… She was impossible to read.

Then her gaze met mine.

“You said the Holy Light is real. Does your world have magic?”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

“For real?”

I thought I saw her eyes light up for a moment.

“Uh-huh. Magic and mages are everywhere.”

“Then… can you use magic?”

I gave her an apologetic smile. “Sorry, I only know a few miracles of the Holy Light.”

“Miracles of the Holy Light are fine too. Can you show me one?”

Satisfying the Brave’s curiosity is probably part of my job description, right? I agreed without hesitation.

“Could you lend me the thing in your hand?” I asked politely.

“You want my phone?”

She looked confused, but still passed it to me.

I took the little rectangle, tapped it lightly, and channeled the Holy Light into it.

With a pleasant chime of music, its dark mirror-like surface turned white, and a half-eaten apple appeared on it.

“It turned on???”

She shot up from the sofa in shock. I handed the thing back to her.

“You can charge it?” She stared at it in disbelief, then looked at me. “What’s your name?”

“Kefir.”

I had actually thought about using a fake name, in case she found out someday that I wasn’t some maid but the Saintess. But I was too honest. It just slipped out.

“Then… Kefir, could you come a little closer?”

“Hm?”

Before I could react, she had already scooted over and pressed up beside me. She raised the thing in her hand at a forty-five degree angle.

“Let’s take a selfie as a memento!”

She tapped it. On the screen, my white hair and maid outfit, and her short black hair, were captured together by this device.

“It’s so clear.”

“Eh? That’s not how you’re supposed to react. Aren’t you a little too calm?”

She dropped her arm and frowned at me.

I guess she was a bit disappointed that I wasn’t amazed by this gadget that could record images. For a first meeting, she probably wanted to wow me with something I’d never seen.

I smiled at her. “I’ve seen something similar once before.”