A rather strange answer. In some ways, you could even call it blasphemous.

It was completely at odds with Leticia’s original intention, and the thought terrified her. For some reason, just a moment ago, it had seemed as though her mouth hadn’t been moving according to her will.

“Why do you think that?”

Pastor Marshall’s tone had lost some of its humor and grown more serious, but conflicting emotions flickered in his eyes.

No, no, no. Stay calm. Calm down. It was just a word about air—there was still a chance to fix this!

Her thoughts raced. Leticia took a deep breath and explained, “Because I think the Lord is like the air that’s part of our lives. We can’t see Him, but He truly exists and is everywhere. And without the Lord, we couldn’t survive... That’s what I think.”

She held back from giving an example. In a remote inland village like this, bringing up a “fish out of water” would just seem strange, wouldn’t it?

The village had only one well for its water supply. Fish?

How could anyone here have seen one?

There was no helping it. To cover for the words her unruly mouth had blurted out, she had to force out a few more pretty ones. As things stood, her plan to keep a low profile had completely fallen apart.

If she wanted to know why, all she had to do was look at the expression in Pastor Marshall’s eyes.

“...All right. All right.”

Pastor Marshall nodded, keeping his expression calm. At first, he too had thought that comparing the Lord to air was undoubtedly blasphemous. For nearly a thousand years, the slight ambiguity in that phrase had kept anyone from daring to record it in the teachings of the Church. But this was Leticia—the child who had said, “God is in my heart”—and Pastor Marshall had thought she might have some surprising insight to share.

And sure enough, she didn’t disappoint.

“All right, you may go home now. In a couple of days, I’ll gather the children who’ve successfully entered the Path of Veneration once more.”

Pastor Marshall looked over the five children, his gaze pausing on Leticia for a moment. “You all did very well today.”

...

“What’s up with Leticia...?”

Layla watched the girl walk away on her own, looking a little dazed. Pouting, she said, “Why does she seem kind of strange all of a sudden...?”

“Let’s not worry about her.”

The one who spoke was the little boy who’d been spouting pretty words. His name was Diego. He looked ordinary enough, but he carried himself with a great deal of confidence, and seemed to have become the leader among the children. “What happened today is a big deal. I don’t think we should go telling people about it just yet. Why don’t we keep quiet until we get the results?”

“But what should we say if Mom and Dad ask?”

The one asking was the child who’d compared the Lord to an endless supply of bread. “If I lie, Mom and Dad will hit me...”

“It’s fine!”

Diego replied confidently, “Just tell them we’ll know in two days. That’s all!”

What a childish plan...

Still, for a kid pretending to be all grown-up, that was probably the best way to keep them waiting (and leave them in suspense) ╮(╯▽╰)╭

“Anyway, about that question from earlier—what do you think the pastor will decide in the end?”

Somehow, they’d circled right back to that question.

But the children all had a rough idea of what the answer might be.

So while they kept chatting, let’s turn our attention to Leticia.

Ever since that final stretch of time in the church, Leticia had sensed that something in her body was changing in a way she couldn’t control.

After she left the church, it seemed to be getting worse by the minute...

“Hey!”

Her left hand slapped her right hand away. While she wasn’t paying attention, the right hand had started acting up and gone straight for her chest!

There wasn’t much there—or, really, she hadn’t developed at all yet—but she still had to protect such a sensitive area. Leticia immediately slapped her right hand away and grabbed her wrist in a firm grip.

But the next moment, she realized her right hand was still under her control. There was nothing unusual about it.

Even when she dared to let go, her right hand behaved perfectly well. No gentlemanly mischief at all.

“What on earth is going on?”

Leticia hurried to an empty spot and leaned against the wall, panting heavily for a couple of breaths. She stared at the right hand that had just been acting up, fear slowly rising in her heart. “Is there something inside this hand?!”

Her nerves were about as frayed as they could possibly be.

But she didn’t feel the slightest discomfort, and she couldn’t sense any strange force she couldn’t explain through logic or science invading her body...

Wait. Wouldn’t it be strange if she could feel it...?

“Could I really have come into contact with some mysterious force without realizing it?”

While the girl let her imagination run wild, she didn’t notice her left hand, which had been resting on her chin, suddenly lift and give her lip a tug.

“Waaah!”

The sensation gave it away, and Leticia cried out. But she immediately clapped a hand over her mouth, muffling the rest of her scream in her throat.

“What was that? I thought I heard someone scream.”

Two villagers soon came over after hearing the sound. But all they saw was a child leaning against the wall, gently rubbing her ankle.

“Hmm, you’re... Leticia, right? What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

one of the villagers asked.

“Oh, I’m fine. I just twisted my ankle while walking. I’ll be all right after I rest a little...”

Leticia focused on rubbing her foot, doing her best to look pained. “Thank you, but I’m fine.”

As if to prove it, she raised her left hand and waved, as though to say, “I’m fine.”

The two villagers exchanged a glance. They clearly believed her.

“If you really can’t walk, I can go get John.”

They might not talk much in their day-to-day lives, but they were all residents of the same village, and people still looked out for one another.

Of course, it was also possible the two thought this little brat might be up to no good if she stayed there, and wanted someone to come take her away.

“All right. I’ll be leaving soon.”

Leticia answered gently and watched the two villagers leave. Only then did she notice that her left hand was still raised in the air, waving back and forth like a puppet on strings—swaying wildly and twitching like crazy...

“Ugh, my arm’s so sore...”

She forcibly pulled down her unruly right hand and restrained it. Her arm felt sore from being held up in the air for so long. “What on earth is happening to me?”

Could this be some incurable disease that only existed in this world?!

“No way... I’m still so young. I’m not even an adult yet...”

Leticia muttered to herself, looking forlorn. “I don’t want to die...”

If she died just like this, without ever learning why, how could she see what this world was like—and find a way back home?

“First my left hand, and then my right?”

Could it spread? And spread this fast?

“Should I go find the pastor? Or secretly cut off my own hand...”

As soon as she said that, Leticia realized her mouth had opened against her will—and it was speaking!

“You... are... who, what... person, are you?!”

The words her mouth uttered on its own got mixed up with what Leticia wanted to say, turning into something strange and bizarre—but also kind of fun.

It was as if two people’s wills had been crammed into one body, with no coordination between them, each fighting for control!

“Who are you? You’re... outrageous, you know... Shut up first! Let me... outrageous, how dare you...”

Leticia spent quite a while talking to herself like this before she finally reached an understanding with her increasingly unruly mouth.

First, find somewhere safe. Then they could talk it over properly!