I walked out of his office, carrying a copy of ‘The Rainman’s Meteorology Survey’ tucked under my armpit. Looking outside, I could see the setting sun. A chill had started to set into the building, necessitating the use of a fireplace to warm up.

It was midday when we went into the office. Even if it’s wintertime, I felt it was a bit too much time spent on what essentially amounted to idle chatter with only a smidge of legitimate discussion. Seeing the setting sun outside the hallway windows only made me more aware of how much time passed.

I took a look at the walls as I started making my way to the common room. Everywhere was covered in art, both classically poignant and beautiful pieces, and what could only be described as a child’s idea of art. I found myself appreciating both equally as I continued on.

As I went down the staircase, I could start to hear the chatter of others. I could see the scene in my head already; The saints of the Church of Verus gathered around the fireplace, gossiping about anything they may have heard in the village that day. Maybe they were playing a game, or… I guess the most likely topic would be me, huh.

I felt a sense of incongruity. For them, I was no one. A stranger that had just appeared in their chapel today. For me, I was seeing the people that I fought so hard to protect for years of my life. I didn’t have many interactions with them over the course of my life here, but every time I did, each of them never failed to radiate an aura of innocence and wonder around them.

I felt a sense of longing. The incongruity grew stronger. I had seen their ends. Miserable. Devoured by that dark abyss. Absorbed into the body of those creatures made of dark twine. No matter how I tried to help, there was nothing I could do. The ones I held in an attempt to protect them were gone the next moment. Their screams never stopped haunting me. Their faces, twisted in fear, made my throat lock up even now.

I was a failure. A paladin that failed to protect. I was never much in the first place, even as I rose through the ranks. What would be different?

Failure. Sorrow. Disgust.

As I passed by a window, I peered outside. In the glass’s reflection, I could see myself. Dull green eyes. Duller black hair. Expressionless, at most a slight frown. I wonder what I looked like at this time back then? In my despair, did I look brighter? When I screamed to go back home, did I seem full of life? Were my eyes filled with light still? Or had I lost all hope the moment I awoke in this far-off place? It was too far back to clearly remember.

I was at the end of a hall. If I turned the corner before me, I would see their bright faces. I would get to see them chatting happily about the lives they were living. About all the little things they experienced today. Blabbering about the successful ritual, or even random nonsense perhaps.

I felt a sense of longing. The incongruity grew stronger. I couldn’t face those innocent souls like this. So, just for a moment, I would stand here. Let me rest. Although I would still be weary, I needed to be able to talk without immediately worrying them. I grabbed the book from under my arm and looked at the cover. I just needed something, anything, to cheer me up. I didn’t care what.

‘The Rainman’s Meteorology Survey.’ The title was written in bright yellow letters. The cover art featured a small cartoon-y dog standing on its hind legs, wearing a raincoat while holding up an umbrella in its left hand. A smile could be seen on his face, simplistic. Above the title was an adorable little sun that looked as though it was drawn in with crayon. I wouldn’t have been surprised if it was something added in by hand, rather than being an actual part of the artwork. Around the sun, but without covering a bit of it up, were clouds. Dark gray in color, they served as a portent of a thunderstorm.

I felt a bit calmer after analyzing the cover. Anything would work, so long as it took my mind off of the past. Successfully placated, I turned the corner, walking into the common room.

Spread throughout the room, sitting both on the floor and on the couch across the room were the saints and several priests. As I walked into the room, they turned to look at me, as if they expected my presence. Seeing so many heads turn at once to face me was a little disconcerting, I’ll admit.

“””Ohhh!!!””” Shit— They almost scared me with how loud they were. As soon as they saw me, a few of the saints began to walk up to me. Although, in the case of one…

“Good afternoon,” I said quietly. I placed my finger against my lips as they all looked at me, then pointed to the couch. A boy with blonde hair was asleep, his head laid against the arm of the couch while sitting up. “It’s a pleasure to meet you all. My name is Rain.” I tried to take a calm demeanor to calm the excitable saints before they burst into questions and laughter.

“Woooooow!!” It was stupid of me to try that at all. I was already aware of their personalities.

“Hey! Did you see? He’s trying to act all cool. He doesn’t even have enough muscle on his body to pull that off in the first place.” Yhan, who I had met earlier, was wearing a red knitted hat. At the age of sixteen, he was taller than everyone in the room besides me, though he only lagged behind by an inch. His muscular build showed how seriously he took his personal health. Or, maybe he just enjoyed working out a little too much.

“He acts like one of those city boys from Tuluva. You don’t think he’s the type to go around hitting on girls looking like that, do you?” A girl with brown hair and freckles looked me up and down, judgment being cast on my appearance as soon as I showed up. Was it because they were used to just reading? Just because I talk like this doesn’t make me a hooligan or playboy. It’s all learned behavior, look it up sometime. Not that I thought the books here would have information on that sort of thing.

“Hi, Rain! Why do you look like a skeleton that just got pulled outta the dirt?” What the hell? What do I even say to that? What am I supposed to think?

I tried to maintain an amicable smile as the saints began crowding around me. I thought they might be a bit wary of my presence, considering I had been here for less than a day, but it seemed like any possibility of fear jumped out the window when I looked like a ‘skeleton that just got pulled out of the dirt’, I guess? Their squawking started to overlap in my ears as they talked over each other, trying to catch my attention.

“Okay, okay, calm down please. Please? You’re all talking over each other, I can’t understand what any of you are saying.” With that, the room started to quiet down. Once things seemed a bit more settled, one of the younger Saints raised her hand.

She was the smallest of the group, barely reaching up to my stomach in height. Her teal hair flowed down her back to her waist. She wore a simple white silk robe, a piece given to all members of the Church of Verus. Saints were technically given something far more elaborate: a beautiful, pure white silk robe adorned with a depiction of Verus — a human with the head of an eagle — on both arms. I guess she preferred the simpler style that the priest’s robes gave off. Though, I belatedly realized that there shouldn’t be any priests at her size, so maybe it was custom-made? The status of a Saint is just that high, I suppose. Spare no expenses.

“Umm, hi! Hi, Rain!” She walked up to me and gave me a firm handshake, swiftly moving my hand up and down. Honestly, she was a bit stronger than I thought from her appearance. While I wasn’t putting any power in my hand, the speed that she moved my arm up and down was impressive. More than impressive, as it was starting to get tiring. “My name is Heira! It’s really nice to meet you!!”

Heira. Head troublemaker of the Saint unit. Not the one I wanted to be greeted by first, but I had to live with the hand I’m dealt I suppose. She was a kid that loved playing pranks on the others living in the Church, leaving not even High Father Teres out of her antics. The amount of trouble she caused in a month could rarely be quantified. I respected her dedication to her craft, but I wish she thought of how it affected others, at least for one second.

“Nice to meet you, Heira. Sorry for looking like a skeleton.” Her small face had a bright smile plastered on it. While I would have to watch out for her in the future, I highly doubted her interest in messing with someone she had just met. I swept my gaze across the other saints before deciding on what I should say next. “I’ll be working here cleaning up for the next month or so. I hope that you can accept my presence for the time being, despite the strange situation. I can’t really stay for introductions right now, so I hope to get to know you all soon.” I gave a slight bow to end my introduction. I turned away from them to walk over to Father Korrinn.

While I wasn’t against getting to know the Saints today, I figured it was better to try to take it slow. Most of them looked more wary than when I was first summoned, though that wasn’t saying much considering their current approach to me. I assumed Father Korrinn gave them a small lecture in the time I was talking to High Father Teres so they wouldn’t try to get too friendly with a strange man that just appeared, even if they did summon me with their own power.

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I just wasn’t sure if it stuck in any meaningful way.

The Saints had been brought up in a fairly sheltered environment. While they had met with regular people who weren’t priests of Verus, it was always in a controlled manner that allowed the priests to intervene if the meeting took a turn for the worse. Well, not that it was ever an issue. The Church of Prayer and Hope was located near a remote village situated in the country of R’am, near the border of it and Alvir. The people here were all kind, and peace was ever present. I’m pretty sure the last crime that was committed here was over a decade ago at this point.

In that regard, a stranger like me would only make things even more tense. Looking back, that was already a good enough reason for me to be carted off to the Paladin’s barracks for training. I guess my more respectable attitude this time around may have actually saved me from that fate. Although, I wouldn’t have entirely minded if it happened again.

“Hmm…?” From behind, I heard a quiet, contemplative voice. When I turned to see who it was, a girl was looking at my hand. Specifically, my right hand. “That…?”

I looked to my hand. ‘The Rainman’s Meteorology Survey’.

“Would you happen to be Marie? High Father Teres told me a bit about you. He gave me this book in commemoration of our meeting.” I tried to give a warm smile, but I had trouble actually moving my cheeks or lips. I settled for the dull look I usually had as I continued. “He actually named me after it, it seems.”

“Ah… Please take care of it then…” She barely spoke above a whisper. “But… You didn’t have a name, then…?”

I shrugged. “I seem to have forgotten it due to the summoning, I suppose. It’s nothing too important.”

“Oh… Sorry…” Ah, shit.

I watched her look down to the floor. I think I had inadvertently made her sad. I didn’t mean to, but the more troublesome aspect of this issue was that I had no idea how to soothe her dejected expression. From my memories, she should be around thirteen, so… What the hell do you say to someone who’s at such a delicate point in their life to cheer them up? I was at a loss for words, so in the end I just said what came to mind.

“It’s nothing to be sorry for. I don’t…” I trailed off. Saying I didn’t have an attachment to names felt like it might be demeaning, considering the circumstance. I tried to pivot. “Well, I’m happy to be called anything, really. The most important part is the association, right? While it might not be my original name, I will treasure it nonetheless,” Scratching my head at my awkward words, I continued, “So please don’t be sorry. Think of it as you having given me an opportunity to become someone new.”

“...?” Too wordy? Got it. Seems I tried too hard. I’ll put it in my notes later, I guess. Marie had short hair, colored a deep blue. Her face was blank, not showing much change at all throughout our conversation. Turning back to Father Korrinn, I walked up to him and extended my hand.

“A pleasure, Father Korrinn. High Father Teres asked me to come see you. He said you’d be able to show me to my room?”

“Ah, yes. Please, follow me.” He ignored my gesture for a handshake and immediately started to walk off. He stopped at the corner leading to the hallway, waiting for me to follow. Well, this was fine. Some people were just that serious. Maybe he just didn’t trust me. I could respect it either way. I followed a few steps behind him as we walked down the hallway. As we walked, I turned around to look at the Saints one last time for the day. They were watching us, although a few seemed like they may’ve been gossiping. In the back, I could see the only girl who hadn’t spoken, hiding behind Yhan’s ripped back. As ripped as it could look in a robe, at least.

When we turned another corner, out of sight of the saints’ eyes, Father Korrinn turned around to face me. He immediately bowed his head to me. “My apologies, sir Rain. I hope you can forgive me for treating you so coldly back there.” He was bent at a ninety-degree angle, his movements impressively fine. I felt that he might’ve done this quite a bit often. “And I deeply, deeply apologize for the rude statements made by the Saints. Please understand, they’re just sheltered children. They didn’t mean anything by what they said.”

Huh? I mean, it was fine. I raised my hand a bit to gesture for him to stop. It wasn’t such a big deal that he had to bow for it, after all. “Huh? No, don’t mind it. I didn’t pay much attention to what they said in the first place, it was more funny than anything. And, I mean, I just assumed you had to behave like that to keep up an image.” I assumed now, at least. I really thought he just didn’t like me initially.

“Ah, to have noticed so quickly. Thank you for your understanding, sir Rain. While it displeases me for us to have treated a guest of our humble Church so poorly on our first meeting, I must instill in the Saints a certain sense of values. Though, it appears they are still lacking in their mannerisms.”

“I get it. Even back in my world, it was important to teach kids not to trust strangers and all that. You can’t really control what they say usually, either. Kids speak their mind. Please don’t mind it, it doesn’t bother me at all.” Again, I tried to smile and failed. Was I really so far gone right now? It doesn’t help to be able to introspect while being unable to change, you know?

“How wise, truly. Allow me to properly introduce myself to you, please. My name is Korrinn, a priest of the Church of Verus. While my standing is not such that you must pay respect to me in private, I ask that you please try to maintain a distance when we are around the Saints. I can’t have them see me pleasantly enjoying conversation, you see. They would start to think that I’m not as… Well…”

“Not as much of a hard-ass, I get it. Discipline is important after all.” He probably had some sort of image to maintain in front of the Saints, as their teacher. It reminded me of the way the Great Paladin in charge of my training would never show weakness in front of me. The bastard, he never let up on me even in my final days of training.

Father Korrinn wasn’t someone I ever got to know in the past. I had seen him a few times walking with High Father Teres, but I don’t think we ever actually spoke with each other back then. He always seemed like someone who was stuck in his ways. He showed respect to High Father Teres and the Saints. No one else could move him in the same way as them.

When he looked at me back then, it always seemed like there was nothing on his mind. A complete apathy to me and my struggles, expecting only the paladin that I would come to be after my training finished. I hated the gaze he showed me anytime he looked at me. Honestly, it was a bit hard to forget the antipathy I held back then. But today, he looked completely different.

His gaze was much softer, a caring display that I had only seen him take with the saints when he was lecturing them after a mistake or prank. I didn’t particularly understand why he looked at me, a complete stranger, like that. Maybe from guilt? He was complicit in my abduction after all, maybe he at least had some sort of conscious to him.

While he wasn’t as old as High Father Teres, his face showed signs of fatigue and wrinkles had begun to take their place above his brow. You could see strands of gray hair hidden within the otherwise black landscape of his neatly-combed-back hair. As a fellow man, I could safely say that he was pretty handsome for a middle-aged guy.

He wore simple, unadorned priest's robes, and neat wireframe glasses sat gently against the bridge of his nose. His appearance gave off an aloof air of intelligence, I could only respect the care put into his appearance. It felt like he was the opposite of me.

“I don’t mind how you treat me, so just do what you need to for those kids’ sake. Thank you for telling me about it though. I really thought I may have done something wrong when you ignored my handshake.”

“Oh, goodness… I deeply apologize once again, sir Rain. Please forgive me for my earlier behavior.”

“No, I mean, it’s fine. Let’s just put it in the past. Anyways… If possible, I’d like to rest in my room at this point. It’s been a bit of a long day for me, and I’d like time to organize my thoughts.” I stretched my arms, pulling at them from behind my back, trying to give off the impression of someone that was tired.

“Of course, but are you not hungry? You haven’t had anything to eat since you were summoned this morning. If you’d like, I can bring you a small meal to whet your appetite before you rest?” He sounded concerned for me. I almost felt touched that he would even think of it, cuz I sure as hell had forgotten. I didn’t really feel any pain in my stomach from hunger, so I just shook my head.

“It’s fine, I’ll just wait for breakfast tomorrow. I’d rather just rest for the night.”

“I understand. Then please, right this way. Your room is on the second floor, at the end of the hall on the left. It would be good to make note of it until we set up a nameplate for you.”

“Sure thing.” Following closely behind, we ascended the stairs to the second floor and headed left. After making a right at the end of the T-shaped hallway, we reached the end.. We stopped at the door at the very end, beside a window looking outside and a wooden storage table beneath it.

“The left side is where the employees and priests sleep. The right is where the Saints’ and the High Father’s rooms are, so it’d be best not to go that way unless you have a reason.” I nodded my head at his words. He gave me a brief smile as he unlocked and opened the door in front of us. He handed me the key before giving me a small bow.

“Have a good rest, sir Rain. In the morning, come to the common room. If I’m not there when you awaken, feel free to sit and relax while waiting. I will try to leave some snacks down there for you to enjoy once the Saints go to bed.”

“Sure thing. Thanks for the help, I really appreciate it. Sorry to trouble you so much, Father Korrinn.” With that, we gave a slight bow to each other before I went into the room. I shut the door and locked it behind me.