About the time I was picked up and adopted by Tallulah

"Come with me, Tina! Dean, it's not safe here. Find a place to hide!"

Orson handed the shotgun to the dean, gave him some brief instructions, and immediately brought Ghost Shark to the lobby downstairs.

The lobby was crowded, as before, because the monastery was open for limited hours.

But the only difference is that this time these people were not sitting on the benches in an orderly manner to pray, but were panicking and running away like sheep who had discovered that there were wolves among them.

"Hiss..."

In the opposite direction of where those people were trying to escape, there was a drainpipe that had been broken by an external force. Next to the drainpipe was the twisted monster seen before, with what should be a woman's legs still remaining in its mouth.

“—You bastard! Go back to your lair, hahahaha!!”

Before Orson could summon the pause, the ghost shark had already jumped up and landed next to the monster. It picked up the dinner knife scattered on the ground and rushed towards the monster with a big laugh.

puff!

The ghost shark dodged the thing that looked like a 'vine' that was swinging towards it, and inserted the dinner knife into the center of the thing.

The knife itself wasn't sharp enough or long enough to be used as a weapon, but that wasn't a problem for Ghost Shark. She kept pulling the knife out of the monster's body, inserting it, and swinging it back out—in the end, it was more like she was simply using her palm to tear it apart.

"Hiss--!!"

The thing let out an extremely distorted roar, and was finally torn apart by the ghost shark, and liquid of unknown color splashed all over half of the church.

“Wuwaa ...

Although the ghost shark successfully killed the monster that accidentally sneaked in, the emotion called "panic" did not dissipate from the hearts of the people. After these people realized that the monster had been torn apart by "another monster", everyone was terrified and rushed towards the only exit.

Because of the commotion and destruction caused by the monster just now, the church door that could open smoothly was stuck at the hinges, so it only opened a gap that was barely big enough for one person to pass through.

“Wait, wait a minute——” “Don’t squeeze me——cough cough cough!!” “Let me pass, damn it, let me pass quickly!”

As expected, the people who were already nervous because of the sudden intrusion of monsters, completely panicked because several more flying infected creatures rushed in from the second floor. Everyone tried desperately to squeeze out from the gap, but the result was that they were completely stuck in front of the door like a swarm of swarms.

Although there were some nuns from the Pala Monastery who were desperately trying to maintain order in the crowd, those girls were completely unable to change the crowd trend caused by fear, no matter their voices or strength.

Even Ghost Shark was surrounded by a group of people. Judging from her anxious expression, she probably wanted to beat all those people away...

"Everyone, calm down. We can't get out like this. At least leave me some space to destroy the door—haah…"

Orson, who was still on the second floor, controlled Pause to cut down all the flying creatures that were rushing towards him. He looked anxiously at the still crowded lobby, and his shouts obviously had no effect.

Not only that, according to frequency detection, the large group of those distorted things will arrive here in about 3,4 or minutes.

Although I have just called Archangel and Skadi, I have no idea about the situation of the entire Paral. Moreover, due to the remote location of this broken church, I guess I can't rely on them in the current situation.

“Wait, wait a minute—I can’t breathe… Gurgh—” “Don’t push me—”

The situation became increasingly grim. A large number of infected creatures were rushing towards the church from the back, and the panicked crowd trapped inside the church due to the damaged gate was gradually moving towards a stampede.

——There’s no other way. Now that things have come to this… this is the only thing I can do.

Orson sighed, gently adjusted his virtual vocal cords, and then took a deep breath.

"Everyone! Although the current situation is extremely inappropriate, please remain calm!"

The girl's voice, amplified by the 'tuning', sounded quite energetic and spread throughout the church, with Orson as the center.

"—"

The effect was indeed outstanding. Originally, everyone was rushing towards the gap of the exit, but now they all stopped and turned back to look at the source of the familiar sound, which was the "nun" standing on the second floor.

The first step in attracting attention was successful. Orson immediately jumped onto the railing at the edge of the second floor and turned around gracefully and lively.

"Is that... Jeanne d'Arc?" "Eh? No... wait, why is she here!?" "It doesn't matter what, I don't care about this kind of thing right now - oh, oh, what a cute entrance...!"

Everyone who was originally only concerned with escaping was instantly drawn to her after seeing the handsome and cute appearance of 'Miss Jeanne d' and the fascinating Eastern Country style of Yan.

The crowd that was originally pushing forward to the outside stopped the impending stampede. At the same time, the atmosphere of panic was suppressed by the appearance of 'Sister Loves Shakeout'.

"Everyone, please calm down! My partner has come to you and has just killed the monster. No matter how many monsters are left, my partner will kill them all, so please calm down!"

Jeanne used her virtual vocal cords to create an amplified sound effect, attracting everyone's attention, while pointing at the ghost shark that had accidentally been mixed in with the crowd.

"That guy just now who was scarier than a monster...was he Jeanne's companion?"

"She clearly looks like a nun... No, after all, that kind of nun uniform is weird!"

"He's actually my comrade? I thought he was a monster... No, being able to kill a monster with such an absurd move, he's actually scarier than the monster itself...!"

After the people around noticed the ghost shark, they began to talk about it. At this time, the ghost shark's nun uniform was covered with the torn blood of the monster, but because the nun uniform itself was black, it slightly reduced the visual impact.

But even so, the visual impact of her tearing the sea monster apart with her bare hands still made many people avoid it.

"Please don't say that. Miss Tina is my great partner and she's also a very cute child. Please be more tolerant of her, okay?"

'Miss Jeanne' standing on the railing showed a troubled expression, and her action instantly made a large group of people let out an "ooh".

"Good, good, good!" "Look closely, this yandere girl is also very cute!" "That's right, Sister X Sister is the way to go!"

After being induced by Orson's atmosphere, the atmosphere of the chase in the secret room was instantly changed to a concert. The people who had been avoiding the Ghost Shark immediately began to imagine the CP business.

"Haha... you're such an easy target, I'll chop you all into pieces too—um... don't take pictures of me...!"

Ghost Shark, who was still making harsh remarks to everyone as usual, was interrupted by the selfies of people around him. Instead, Ghost Shark himself covered his cheek in a bit of trouble.

"Ahahaha... Anyway, everyone, please move aside from the gate. Miss Tina will help you fix the problem of the gate being stuck!"

'Joan of Arc', standing on the railing, wiped the sweat off his face. Now he finally understood why Ino's fan club was so enthusiastic.

The originally crowded crowd regained order under the guidance of Joan of Arc. Not only that, the several young nuns who were originally responsible for maintaining order took this opportunity to redirect and appease the crowd.

"You're so popular, Miss Jeanne, haha~"

Ghost Shark smiled evilly. Unlike the others, she could see the extremely shy and embarrassed heart of the 'nun idol' standing on the fence.

Ghost Shark has already made up his mind that when his relationship with Orson can go further, he can push this chimera onto the bed, repeat in his ear what the other party did today, and then admire his cheeks that are flushed with shyness from close range.

But for now, let's deal with the current situation.

The crowd around the ghost shark had returned to their original seats in the church in an orderly manner. Thanks to this, the ghost shark easily removed a heavy floor tile and violently forced it into the sewer of the sea monster that had crawled out.

After the place where the monster was leaking inside was physically blocked, Ghost Shark walked towards the gate, ready to open the stuck gate, and at this moment, a man who was next to him suddenly ran towards the door from Ghost Shark's side.

"Who would just sit here and wait to die? Idiots! This thick door won't be repaired in a short time. I'm running away first, you idiots!"

The man roared, then forced his way through the gap that was only one person wide.

"Hey, wait a minute—"

Ghost Shark reached out to the man, but did not stop him.

“Who would wait for you… Ugh!? Wait, wait a minute, why is there also—help, help me, ah!”

"—!!"

Not long after he ran out, the man's arm stretched back from the crack in the door, but the arm didn't even touch anything before being dragged out of the monastery again.

“…Close the door!!”

Orson at the far end widened his eyes and yelled at the ghost shark.

"Ah, I understand."

Ghost Shark didn't ask any questions. She simply put her hands against the door and closed the gap.

"Pfft!"

The moment the door was closed, half of the sea monster's tentacle stretched out from the outside, but was pinched off by the door before it touched the ghost shark.

"Miss Jeanne...? What's going on?!"

The crowd was thrown into confusion by Orson's order, and after a brief hesitation, Joan of Arc threw aside her solemn appearance and smiled at everyone again.

"Everyone, the situation has changed... There are already scattered monsters wandering around outside. We don't know how those creatures appeared in the interior of Parral, but I know for sure that if you go out now... the outcome will not be good."

"—"

Jeanne's words instantly quieted the lively atmosphere.

——What’s going on… A lot of scattered sea monsters suddenly appeared around the church. These were not the large forces that attacked from the wilderness, but more like… they emerged from the ground from the very beginning.

"Miss Jeanne" comforted everyone with her cheerful and sunny voice while thinking in her mind.

What we need to do now is to calm everyone down...

Orson swallowed and shook his head slightly.

"Mina! The situation is a little out of control, but please leave it to Jeanne-chan! After all, as an idol, you have to protect your audience~!"

Jeanne followed the movements of Longmen idol Sora-chan in her memory, made a V sign, put one hand next to her eyes, and tapped her right leg at the same time, as if a five-pointed star was really flying out of her hand.

Such a high-sugar content action once again stabilized the panic of the crowd, but Orson knew very well that these few books were already the limit.

"Everyone, I'll get ready and be with you shortly. In the meantime, please cooperate with my companions, okay~?"

"Joan of Arc" nodded to several fangirl nuns, and without caring about their instant blushing and heartbeat, she quickly ran back to the dean's office.

"Hmm... As expected, it's closer than before. This isn't going to work... Is there any more useful, handy weapon—"

Orson frowned and whispered as he noticed that the waves of monsters at the border of the wasteland had become larger in number.

"Actually... there is indeed a weapon hidden here, but because it is too difficult to operate, it has always been..."

The dean panted from the side and said that it seemed that she did not take shelter as Orson said, but had been sniping.

"Do we have such weapons?! Now is not the time to worry about the control difficulty. We must defend this place before the regular troops arrive - the outside is already full of wandering monsters. So, anything will do, as long as it can make those people feel 'hope'!"

Orson responded anxiously. At this time, wandering white twisted flowers appeared not only in the distant wasteland, but also around the monastery.

"In that case... Haha, I understand. However, this weapon is truly impossible for ordinary people to control. It's more of a 'war machine' that requires the cooperation of multiple people than a weapon. And... that thing is completely incompatible with your status as an idol..."

The dean sighed softly, then she took out a key from her bosom and inserted it into the keyhole on the edge of the bookshelf.

"I'm not an idol to begin with. It was all a coincidence—uh…!"

Orson was halfway through his words with a wry smile when he was completely surprised by the scene in front of him.

In the secret compartment behind the bookshelf, the "war machine" mentioned by the abbot of the Pala Monastery lay there quietly.

Although that thing can also be classified as a 'Latlan gun', this classification seems a bit petty.

In a word -

There was a Gatling gun.

18. The people of Lateran are simple and honest, and everyone has a gun in the monastery.

"This thing..."

In the monastery that was about to be surrounded by monsters that suddenly appeared and originally belonged to the deep sea, Orson was shocked by what he saw before his eyes.

Although that thing can be summarized as "Latlan gun", it is obviously unfair to just call it that. After all, the firepower of that thing in Orson's memory is basically several times that of other Latlan guns.

"This is the most powerful weapon a single Lateran can carry—the [Revolver]. Its rate of fire is approximately 5 to 7 times that of a typical fully automatic rifle. Furthermore, because it uses armor-piercing belts for ammunition storage, it even possesses certain siege properties."

The dean looked at the revolver - the Gatling gun - and whispered as he opened the container next to him and dragged out a rectangular object that was almost as tall as Orson.

At first, Orson thought the dean was dragging out a holy cloth box, but later he noticed the content printed on the box and realized that this rectangular box, which was almost as high as his chest, was actually the "ammunition box" for the revolver.

"I'm certain those monsters will be ripped to shreds by the dense, high-speed rain of armor-piercing bullets. Even so... this weapon isn't something anyone can wield. Even in the entire Lateran, only religious knights who have undergone rigorous formal training and are equipped with external steam-powered armor can wield it!"

The dean looked at Orson and kept talking about how difficult it was to control this weapon.

As for Orson, he walked to Gatlin and took a deep breath.

"Well, how should I put it, Your Excellency, although I don't believe in the Lateran religion at all."

"Eh?"

The dean was stunned by the words of the nun idol in front of her, who was known as the "fastest-graduating nun in history."

"But I do have experience with Knights."

Orson smiled and reached out to pick up Gatling.

"No...you, what are you talking about, Miss Jeanne? But didn't you memorize all the Lateran laws and treaties in just one day? It's impossible for anyone who isn't extremely pious to do that!"

The dean asked in confusion, while Orson gave an embarrassed smile.

"Ahahaha, don't underestimate the test-takers in our involuted country. It's easy to memorize a creed that thick in one night of cramming."

Orson responded while checking how to use the Gatling and the location of the fire control trigger button.

"Let's put that aside... Are you sure it's okay, Miss Jeanne? If you use this thing carelessly, it could easily cause the barrel to explode or the bullet to jam."