Chapter 54: The Daring Outfit and Lucia’s Resolve

“Their attire was rather… daring. Perhaps it’s because your style, Saintess, is too modest; that’s why we haven’t managed to draw out that bloodkin.”

“Oh? Is that truly the case?”

Lucia hurriedly scurried to the church’s stained-glass window, scrutinizing her attire in its reflection.

Lovelenica didn’t think Lucia’s clothing was particularly modest.

Her upper body was adorned with a tea-colored silk blouse, while a mid-length skirt covered her lower half. Her slender legs, encased in white stockings, met a pair of small leather boots.

While certainly not daring, her outfit perfectly aligned with Lovelenica’s aesthetic.

“Then… what sort of attire did they favor?”

“Ahem…”

The Priestess didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she gestured for Lucia to enter a nearby room.

“Saintess, please try on a similar outfit first.”

Lucia, perplexed, followed the Priestess into the room. Lovelenica felt equally bewildered.

Why wouldn’t the Priestess describe the clothes first, insisting Lucia change into them blindly?

Before long, the Priestess emerged from the room. However, only she appeared; Lucia was nowhere in sight.

“Saintess, please come out.”

The Priestess urged Lucia from within the room, but Lucia remained silent, showing no sign of movement.

“Lucia? What’s wrong? What kind of clothes did you change into?”

Lovelenica decided not to wait any longer. She strode quickly to the room’s entrance, pushed open the slightly ajar door, and then froze in place.

“Teacher! You just walked right in! I wasn’t prepared!”

“Lu-Lucia… this is quite something…”

Inside the room, Lucia stood awkwardly before a full-length mirror, examining herself. At the sound of the door opening, she flinched like a startled rabbit, casting a shy glance at Lovelenica by the doorway.

Her cheeks flushed crimson, and her gaze couldn’t even meet Lovelenica’s directly.

Lucia was clad in a pure white spaghetti-strap tank top, its hem ending just above her navel, exposing her slender, fair waist.

Below, she wore dark, tight-fitting hot pants that hugged her hips, paired with thick-soled leather boots.

Having shed her white stockings, the hot pants further accentuated the length of her already graceful legs.

Lucia already possessed a commendable figure, curvaceous and well-proportioned. However, having always studied under Lovelenica, both of their nun habits were of a rather conservative style, thus concealing Lucia’s physique until now.

“Ahem… It looks quite good, Lucia.”

“Teacher! Stop teasing me!”

Only then did Lovelenica snap back to reality, tearing her gaze away from Lucia’s fair skin. If she continued to stare, she would truly resemble a pervert.

Yet, Lovelenica genuinely wasn’t teasing Lucia.

If Lucia in her nun’s habit shone as a radiant Saintess, and Lucia in her casual clothes was the understanding girl next door, then the Lucia currently in this outfit resembled a well-behaved girl in her rebellious phase.

This awkward, shy demeanor only made her more adorable in Lovelenica’s eyes.

While Lovelenica quite liked Lucia’s current, slightly revealing attire, Lucia herself appeared somewhat distressed.

Lovelenica understood. After all, this outfit bore a resemblance to what some delinquents wore in nightclubs before she transmigrated.

To wear it out would indeed require a period of adjustment. For Lucia, it was a considerable challenge.

“Never mind, never mind. It’s too difficult to carry out a mission in clothes like these. Whether it draws out a vampire is one thing; if it attracts some riff-raff trying to pick you up, that would be problematic.”

Lovelenica waved her hand, intending to dismiss the suggestion of this new outfit.

If hooligans in the tavern harassed Lucia, intervening would be difficult, but so would refraining.

If they were to intervene, and the bloodkin was observing nearby, it would immediately recognize the situation as a trap.

But if they didn’t intervene, what would happen if those hooligans wouldn’t leave them alone?

Lovelenica didn’t believe someone like Lucia could handle such ruffians.

“…No.”

Hearing Lovelenica’s refusal, Lucia fell silent for a moment. Then, surprisingly, she steeled her resolve, determined to try this new approach.

“Teacher, please let me try! As long as I can kill those fantasy creatures, wearing even more revealing clothes wouldn’t matter!”

“Cariso City is such a vast place, yet a single bloodkin is allowed to wreak havoc here? I cannot accept this! I am unwilling!”

“Just let me try!”

Lucia’s voice grew increasingly resolute. Her parents had been slain by fantasy creatures, and the tragedy of Savini Village remained etched in her memory.

Now, facing the atrocities committed by this bloodkin within Cariso City, Lucia absolutely could not accept merely watching it vanish without a trace.

“…Are you sure you can handle the unpredictable elements in a tavern?”

“I can handle them!”

Lucia answered Lovelenica’s questioning without hesitation.

“…Sigh, alright then.”

Gazing at Lucia, whose eyes were firm and resolute as burning torches, Lovelenica ultimately let out a helpless sigh.

After agreeing to the new plan, she gave Lucia free rein, then gravely reminded her once more.

“Remember this: unless the bloodkin appears, no matter what happens, I will not intervene to help you.”

“Understood!”

Of course, Lovelenica was merely saying this. She had already decided that if anyone dared to attempt anything against Lucia, even if it meant failing the mission, Lovelenica would stop them.

The final plan was set. If there were no results today, the Priestess would send a sacred missive to the Royal City, initiating consideration for their next course of action.

As midnight approached, their choice for the night wasn’t even a teahouse, but a late-night tavern that would remain open well past midnight.

Lucia entered the tavern first. Lovelenica, meanwhile, pulled up her hood and concealed her presence.

Only after Lucia had been inside for a while did she follow, taking a seat in a secluded corner.

From her corner, Lovelenica observed Lucia out of the corner of her eye. Lucia appeared exactly as her attire suggested: a well-behaved girl in her rebellious phase, perhaps even experiencing such an outfit and a late-night tavern for the very first time.

She ordered a low-alcohol fruit wine at the bar, then settled into a seat that was neither central nor entirely peripheral.

Leaning back in her seat, Lucia tentatively sipped the fruit wine before her. Despite its low alcohol content, Lucia had lived her entire life within the church’s monastery, never having tasted alcohol before.

Thus, even the fruit wine struck her as rather potent, requiring slow acclimatization.

She glanced towards the tavern’s dance floor, where a bard was performing. Most patrons were clustered in small groups of two or three; only she was alone.

She then stole a glance at the tavern’s wall clock. It was almost one o’clock. According to their plan, she could return after staying until three.

Having been there for an hour already, and encountering none of the unexpected situations Lovelenica had warned about, Lucia felt a measure of relief.

However…

“Well, well, little miss, drinking all by yourself?”