The boy laughed. “I go along with my parents enough for them not to get mad; and then, when I’m outside the house, I do what I want.”

He spent his time at school like a normal kid, I concluded, and while at home, he lived as a devout, religious person. He was living a double life.

“What I’m saying is, you guys should be sure not to make the mistake of joining up.” He sounded serious. “Everyone made a fuss over you today, right? Everyone seemed happy, right? You probably thought something dumb like, ‘maybe I could get along with nice people such as these’, right? You’re wrong. That’s their trick. They’re not acting out of any kind of selfless love. It’s a way to get you to convert.

“Once you’re on the inside, it’s just like any other normal society. Everyone wants to be the leader. Everyone wants to go to the holy land. My father is desperately trying to set things up for himself to advance—sending presents to the leaders, trying to raise his position, no matter what. It’s really idiotic. You saw what happened today, didn’t you? That girl who presented last was just a nondescript researcher until recently, but her family kept telling her to enter missionary school until, finally, she did. When she, a family member, presents at the missionary school, her aunt gains status.”

I fished for more information about Misaki.

“Eh?” The boy blinked. “Well, that girl just recently became a researcher. She’s a normal girl—an adopted child, or some kind of ward of that older woman. The uncle seems to have no interest in religion, which might prove to be a saving grace. No, I guess she’s torn between two things, which is even harder. She always seems troubled, for some reason.”

I was deeply grateful to the boy for this inside information.

When we parted, the boy admonished, “Like I said, don’t do it. You absolutely must not convert. Well, I don’t really care if you convert; if you do, though, don’t have kids.”

I nodded slightly and returned to my apartment.

Part Three

The next day, Misaki and I walked through the city streets. The sky was a cloudless blue. As it was Saturday, there were a lot of people near the station, and it was all a little dizzying for me.

As promised, I’d met her at the neighborhood park at one o’clock in the afternoon, and we’d gone straight to the station. About two hours had passed, and we were still walking. We just kept walking. Although Misaki walked in front of me, ostensibly in the lead, I got the feeling that we’d been walking around and around the same roads for a while.

Still, Misaki’s footsteps remained steady.

Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. “Um, where are we walking?”

Misaki turned around. “What?”