Social Service

Turning around, Olivia first met the cold, haunting gaze of Brittany Mason.

She didn't know why the woman's eyes made her so uncomfortable, as if all her little secrets were being seen through. It was a deeply unsettling feeling.

It was Brittany who had called out to her.

Olivia had no choice but to step forward obediently, her voice sweet as she asked, "Ms. Mason, what are your instructions?"

"Wait a moment," Brittany said, waving her hand. She then called out several more names. "Mirabelle, Bethany, Lena, Evel."

Hearing Brittany's voice, several others approached. Among them was Mirabelle, which caused Olivia’s expression to turn slightly subtle.

Once the five of them were standing before her, Brittany’s gaze swept over them. "Tomorrow, the five of you will complete a social service assignment. The location is an orphanage, where you will teach the children there how to recognize words. Choose the content from 'The Goddess's Revelations'. Evel, you have participated in similar social services before, so you will lead this team."

Such social service was a common occurrence within the church, and the nuns were the primary force responsible for these matters.

Brittany gave the five of them the specific location of the orphanage and told them they didn't need to come for morning prayers; they could go directly to the orphanage instead.

After entrusting them with a few more details, Brittany stood up and walked out of the cathedral, leaving the five of them looking at one another.

Evel, who had been appointed leader, looked the most at a loss. Although she had followed others on one social service assignment before, she didn't feel like an experienced person. She hadn't expected to be appointed as the team leader this time, and a look of dazed confusion clouded her face.

Olivia glanced at Evel.

This nun, with her deep brown hair and dark brown eyes, wore her helplessness far too clearly on her face. She didn't seem like the eloquent type at all; to become the backbone of a team, she was likely lacking.

So, did Brittany put Evel in charge of the others to take the opportunity to train her?

But as the leader, if she didn't say something now, wouldn't the atmosphere be a bit awkward?

Olivia then looked at Lena, whom she wasn't very familiar with. This nun seemed very silent, shrinking to the side like a little mouse. From the original owner's memories, Lena's presence had always been extremely low.

As for the other two...

Mirabelle had a special status and didn't seem like the type to put herself in a prominent position.

But why was the usually lively Bethany staying quiet too?

After a moment of silence, Olivia was the first to speak. "I am Olivia Melianne. I hope we can cooperate well together."

Since they were going to act together, they couldn't treat each other like strangers; at the very least, there should be normal communication.

Seeing her speak up, Bethany immediately relaxed and introduced herself with a smile. "I'm Bethany Moulding. You can all just call me Bethany."

Bethany's introduction caused Mirabelle to steal a few extra glances at her.

This was because the pronunciation of Bethany's surname, Moulding, was almost identical to the pronunciation of the Kingdom of Morden, where Mirabelle was from. It gave her an inevitably strange feeling.

'This person actually gives me a slight sense of familiarity...' Mirabelle thought to herself.

Afterward, she and the others took turns introducing themselves, and the originally stiff atmosphere gradually thawed.

Once they were talking, Evel also relaxed and began organizing tomorrow's actions.

Of course, there wasn't much that required special attention. She simply told everyone to remember to wake up early tomorrow, meet at the monastery entrance, and then head to their destination together.

"That's it then. Everyone, remember to wake up early."

Evel wasn't very good at this sort of thing, so after finishing her instructions, she hurried out of the cathedral.

Seeing this, Mirabelle and Lena also left one after another.

"Let's go too."

Olivia and Bethany also headed outside.

The crimson moonlight ensured the monastery at night wasn't too dark. At the very least, one didn't have to worry about tripping while walking and could step forward with confidence.

Bethany's slightly freckled face carried a hint of excitement, her large eyes shining. "Olivia, I didn't think we'd get to do social service together so soon, and even get to teach little children words. Those cute little angels... when they look up at you, it always makes your heart melt."

Olivia reminded her, "Don't be too careless. Ms. Mason said that Kaliron hasn't been very peaceful lately."

Bethany laughed. "I don't think our luck will be that bad, to run right into evil heretics. After all, this is Kaliron."

As the capital of the Holy Kelidos Empire, Kaliron naturally had the highest level of security in the empire. Criminal activity was rare on ordinary days, making it a city where people could feel at ease.

But Brittany had clearly stated that even in Kaliron, one had to maintain proper vigilance. Olivia felt it was still necessary to be mindful.

Mainly, she had just transmigrated here. Her entire environment felt both familiar and strange to her, causing her to instinctively feel guarded and afraid to be careless about anything.

"Still, be careful. Don't just interact with strangers."

"Of course I won't interact much with strangers. I'm only interested in those little angels in the orphanage. They haven't had the love of a family since they were young; I think this is exactly when they need our care." Bethany's eyes were sparkling now.

She clearly liked children very much.

Olivia smiled. "Don't think too much, Bethany. If you get too excited, you won't be able to sleep tonight. Be careful not to miss your wake-up call tomorrow."

Bethany sheepishly smoothed her hair.

Soon after, the two returned to the dormitory, passing through the slightly dim corridor lit only by the crimson moonlight, and returned to their respective rooms.

Closing the door, Olivia let out a sigh.

Thinking about the various events of the day, she felt that the person who wouldn't be able to sleep was herself, not Bethany.

No matter who it was, suddenly transmigrating to another world made it difficult to quickly calm the waves in one's heart. Her level of acceptance was already fast enough, yet she still felt her emotions surging like the tide.

"Regardless, I have to accept the current situation."

Olivia whispered to herself. By the light of the moon, she slowly removed her nun's habit and then lay down on the bed in the bedroom.

Just as she lay down, she realized one thing: she hadn't eaten dinner yet. That was something she should have done before going to the cathedral for prayer, but she had completely forgotten because she was meditating.

It was too late to go to the cafeteria now; it had closed long ago at this hour.

Great. Now she really wouldn't be able to sleep.

...

The capital, Kaliron, was roughly divided into four districts—East, South, West, and North—as well as the Main District. Each district had several blocks, and the blocks were neatly divided into streets where citizens lived in their respective households.

The monastery was located in the South District, and the orphanage where Olivia and the other four were to perform social service today was also in the South District, about a thirty-minute walk away.

At this moment, the autumn sun was shining down on the city, making every area of the vast metropolis bright and clear.

"It's so hot! It's clearly autumn, so why is it still this hot? Normally, the weather should be turning cool in autumn, right? So why don't I feel even a hint of coolness?" The one complaining was Bethany.

Currently, the five nuns responsible for social service were walking along the streets of the South District.

"You should be glad it's not summer," Olivia replied.

In fact, she was the one who should be glad. She also felt the big sun overhead was uncomfortably hot. The tightly covered nun's habit and hood prevented one from feeling even a trace of a breeze.

If she had transmigrated during the summer, she probably wouldn't even be able to walk.

She wondered if, after becoming a more powerful transcendent, she would be able to resist the climate changes of the natural environment... It should be possible, right? Otherwise, the prestige of a transcendent would be a bit low.

"Endure it a little longer; we're almost at the orphanage," Evel said in a low voice.

The five of them walked at a steady pace, maintaining the composure and decorum expected of nuns.

Passersby didn't disturb them much, though occasionally someone would stop upon seeing them, trace a pentagram pattern over their chest, and praise, "Praise the Radiant Goddess!"

Facing such believers, the five nuns naturally had to respond.

They also stopped simultaneously and traced a pentagram over their chests. "Praise the Radiant Goddess!"

People came and went on the street, with a carriage passing by every now and then. Most people wore clearly cheap clothing, but some wore formal attire of better quality, evidently coming from respectable backgrounds.

There were many shops on both sides of the street with no vacant areas to be seen. Along the way, one could see bookstores, grocery stores, clothing stores, flower shops, restaurants, taverns... everything that should be there was visible.

Looking into the distance in different directions, one could see large shopping malls, fountain squares where white pigeons fluttered, opera houses from which music drifted, as well as horse racing tracks, ball fields, and so on.

As the capital, Kaliron was prosperous enough to be a place many people from other towns yearned for and wanted to settle in.

From this perspective, the people currently living in Kaliron were living a much happier life in comparison.

"It's so hot."

Bethany was still complaining. Since walking out of the monastery, she hadn't stopped talking. Besides complaining about the hot weather, she would also talk to different people, a total chatterbox.

As the person most familiar with Bethany, Olivia was also the easiest target for her.

After finishing her latest complaint, Bethany moved next to Olivia, who had deliberately fallen a few steps behind, and asked, "Olivia, do you think the sun is so big that it will tan our skin?"

"Don't worry, the nun's habit covers us strictly enough. There won't be that kind of problem," Olivia replied.

She answered with a smile on her face, but in her heart, she felt a bit of a headache.

Because Bethany kept casting her gaze on her from time to time, it made one thing she wanted to do rather inconvenient.