Chapter 41
“Saint, it’s time for afternoon prayers.”
“Yes, I understand. You must have your hands full because of me too, Head Priest.”
“Not at all. We’re the ones honored to serve you, Saint.”
The Head Priest bowed politely as he spoke of the honor.
It was obvious there wasn't an ounce of falsehood in his attitude.
Perhaps every citizen of the Holy Nation wholeheartedly agreed with those words.
“I-Is that so? I really have received a blessing I don't deserve.”
The Saint ‘Prea’ gave a bashful little laugh. Her “Hehe” plainly showed just how humble she was.
Humility, love, virtue, compassion.
Those were all words used to describe this generation's Saint.
The Head Priest silently prayed, ‘As expected of the woman chosen by the Goddess. I shall serve her with all my loyalty,’ then finished his brief prayer.
Seeing the man known as the Iron-Blooded Head Priest following her so devotedly, the holy knights of old would probably have doubted their own eyes.
“Saint, all the people respect you, so please refrain from putting yourself down.”
“Ahaha…… Yes, I'm sorry.”
In fact, Prea's reputation among the people was so great that they called her the Goddess descended.
Even the clergy who served the Goddess didn't deny it; all of it could be credited to Prea's character.
Prea had been an orphan—not even a commoner—when she manifested the Goddess's divine power and became a Saint.
Deeply grateful to have become a Saint, she doubled and tripled her original workload to fulfill her duties.
It would be stranger if someone like her weren't revered.
That was why the people passionately supported Prea.
It would be strange not to adore a silver-haired, violet-eyed beauty, but……
Anyway, our Saint is the best!
There was just one thing the people didn't know about the Saint.
The image she presented, like that of the current Holy Mother, wasn't her true nature.
Saint Prea. Her true identity was……
‘Ueeng……. Why are so many people coming up to me…….’
A socially awkward loner who was terrified of people.
More precisely, she found it extremely difficult to make eye contact and converse with others.
Since childhood, her striking looks had subjected her to many unpleasant experiences, and unfortunately, that was what had made her this way.
The reason she'd packed her schedule with so many appointments was that, as the Saint, she had to meet people in her spare time, so she'd done it to avoid conversations.
The one saving grace was that she'd been with the Head Priest for so long that she'd grown a little more comfortable around him.
For the record, she had a habit of avoiding people's eyes while talking.
“Saint, the Hero has requested an audience again. I'll take care of refusing him—”
“N-No! He seems to be in such a hurry, so I suppose I should meet him……”
This was already the tenth request for a meeting.
The Saint found it burdensome that the Hero was a man, so she'd repeatedly used her schedule as an excuse to refuse his requests.
‘Aaaah……. It'll be fine as long as I don't make eye contact…….’
And so Prea, carrying a whole sackful of worries in her heart, trudged toward the temple where she lived.
A few hours later.
As soon as the Saint arrived at the temple, the Hero flung open the door and entered.
The Head Priest had stepped out after Prea asked him to fetch a cloth to cover her face.
‘I-I haven't even had time to prepare properly!’
Prea trembled, startled by the Hero's sudden appearance, but only for a moment. The Hero knelt before the Saint and pleaded with her desperately.
He asked her to ‘Please save my precious companion.’
Prea was terribly flustered.
The kneeling Hero pleaded so desperately…… like a man telling someone his wife was gravely ill.
Prea stared at the Hero, who couldn't raise his head, and spent a long while silently thinking, ‘What should I do…….’
Then, gathering her courage, she answered.
“All right……. I’ll treat your companion. So please calm down a little.”
Honestly, she wasn't confident.
Judging by the Hero's reaction, she thought the companion might be on the verge of death, or in a similar state.
‘I'm not the Goddess, someone who can bring the dead back to life…….’
So she felt guilty, too.
It would have been better if she'd had the courage to meet him sooner…….
She was lost in thought like that when—
“Th-Thank you so much!!”
“Hyeet……! Th-This is—”
The Hero took Prea's hands in both of his.
His grip was rough and strong, and she could feel the muscles in his hands.
At the same time, his eyes, filled with gratitude, were turned toward Prea.
Prea suddenly found herself in an up-close staring contest with a man she'd never met before.
With her weakness struck head-on, Prea froze on the spot.
Her mouth hung wide open and wouldn't close.
“Ah, I'm sorry! I was just so happy……”
“Haaah…… Heehi, n-no! I-I-I'm fine!”
“Then I'll come escort you tomorrow!”
-Tap tap.
The Hero left just like that.
Leaving Prea, frozen like a stone, behind.
“Haaah……”
Her legs trembled uncontrollably, and she sank to the floor with a thump.
But her legs weren't the only thing trembling.
“Haa, wh-what is this……? This feeling, like my heart's being squeezed……”
Pink paint had been laid over a pure white canvas.
That hot, vivid red paint was a sensation Prea had never experienced before.
Before she knew it, she had the face of a girl who'd fallen in love.
“Saint, is something the matter? Are you feeling unwell……?”
“Hyeet! N-No! I'm perfectly fine! Let's hurry and get going!”
“Yes, if you say so.”
Ever since meeting the Hero, the Saint had occasionally stumbled and struggled to keep her balance.
The Head Priest asked with concern.
Perhaps her schedule was too packed.
Even now, they were on their way to the dawn confession session.
“N-No……. That can't be it…… Could it be? Uuugh! My head's all jumbled……”
She was muttering and suffering like that even now, so he should probably look into reducing her schedule.
Meanwhile, Prea was contemplating her current feelings.
She couldn't tell at all whether what she felt for the Hero was really love, or just a misunderstanding.
‘Come to think of it, I've read a novel about the love story between a Hero and a Saint……. Could I end up in that kind of relationship with the Hero too……?’
Fwoosh—
For some reason, her face felt hot.
The Hero's passionate gaze as he looked at her.
It suddenly came to mind.
‘H-He really is better-looking than I expected. But he took my hand so casually…….’
Trembling, Prea covered her face with her hands.
The Head Priest watched her sadly, then finally spoke.
“Saint, this is just a simple question, so please don't feel pressured. Is there anything you would like besides changing your schedule?”
“Yes? Something I want? What do you mean……?”
“You seem to be taking on far too many duties, so I thought you might want to take some time off and rest. If there's something you want, please tell me anything.”
Something she wanted.
At those words, Prea suddenly pictured the Hero's face.
So she answered without thinking.
“The Heeero…… No, I mean!! The Hero's party! I want to join the Hero's party too!”
“……The Hero's party, you say? Hmm, if that's what you want, I'll see what I can do.”
Sooner or later, the Saint was bound to join the Hero's party.
It was one of the reasons the Saint existed, so the Head Priest readily agreed.
After that, Prea went to the confession room without saying another word.
In her own eyes, what she'd just said was unbearably embarrassing.
So she scurried inside without meeting anyone's eyes and opened the confession room door, but—
“Oh. What's this note?”
Something like a cloth note was lying on the floor.
Without hesitation, she looked at what was written inside.
‘Sex slave? What on earth…….’
Surprisingly, Prea read the contents quite calmly.
She'd been used to this kind of verbal abuse ever since childhood.
But trouble arose elsewhere.
-Zing!
“Kyaa! W-What on earth is this!”
A terrible headache flashed through her mind.
Prea clutched her head.
‘Why am I seeing the future now……!’
Her power to see the future had activated.
It was a foresight ability that protected the Saint whenever something happened that could kill her.
It had been a blessing that protected her ever since she manifested divine power.
“H-How can this be……”
Prea glimpsed a horrifying future in which the Holy Nation was destroyed, for 0.2 seconds.
The Holy Nation was destroyed in an instant by a powerful wave of energy.
That future would unfold in just a few hours.
‘I-It can't be! This power, in the past, it was definitely……!’
Prea was familiar with this overwhelming wave of power.
It had to be the 「Ruin」 of Kardin, the Black Knight of the Four Heavenly Kings, which had destroyed her hometown.
Prea had lost her parents and hometown in that incident decades ago, becoming an orphan, so she could never forget it.
“Saint!? What is it!”
“L-Look at this!”
Prea answered the Head Priest, forgetting even that she was the only one who could see the future.
The ‘this’ Prea was referring to was a wave of demonic energy that would lay waste to the Holy Nation.
At the same time, she heard the screams of the people.
Horrifying final screams that made death feel imminent.
“Please help me, Hero……”
Prea unconsciously called out for the Hero, then lost consciousness.
***
[Well, this is troublesome.]
“Ugh, right? How long are these bastards gonna keep—ugh—doing this?”
I was so desperately lonely that I finally tore down the barrier I'd erected between myself and the parasite.
These holy knight bastards wouldn't listen to me, and whenever I tried to get up, they kept kicking me down.
Of course, I had listened to the parasite and tried using the mind magic I'd just learned on the holy knights a tiny bit, a very tiiiiny bit.
But it didn't work, so there's no problem, right? It was self-defense.
[Honestly, how can you be so oblivious? Can't you see the Hero over there? At this rate, the Holy Nation's going to be destroyed.]
“Huh? What kinda bullshit— Gah! Wh-what's happening? Why do I suddenly feel……!”
It felt fucking awful.
So awful I wanted to smash everything to pieces.
Ah, I wanna eat some smashy-smashy.
[Oh-ho, it seems you're feeling the same emotions because the Hero has become your thrall.]
Thrall? What newfangled bullshit is this?
“So, this feeling right now is—Ugh! No, stop it! ……Sigh, forget it. It's because of the Hero, right? Then how do I fix it?”
[Hmm, even if I tell you, will you be able to do it?]
“Quit yapping and tell me alrea—Kagh!”
Roll, roll.
After the holy knight kicked me one last time, I wound up rolling right in front of the Hero.
The Hero stared at me silently, then suddenly put his hand on his sword.
No, what is this……?
Is he trying to kill me?
Me, who warned the Saint that the Hero was dangerous.
And the Hero, looking at me with enough hatred to destroy the world.
‘I feel like I need to somehow resolve this.’
[Then I, in my benevolence, shall personally tell you how, you wretched fool.]
“J-Just tell me already! I'm gonna die at this rate!”
[Heh, the way to do it is……]
No, don't draw it out—
[The power of love♡]
Huh?
[As the saying goes, a wife has to soothe her husband's anger. Why don't you put that body of yours to work♡]
“……”
What the hell is this bullshit?.