Chapter 66 - Mid-Grade Expert (3)

"Myeeeeeng."

I looked at Daisy with an expression full of bewilderment, not expecting her to cry so profusely.

What should I do...?

If she had always been like this, I would have been prepared, but an animal that had never done this before suddenly bursting into tears, I didn't know what to do.

Feeling my mind becoming confused, I was conflicted for a moment when suddenly Siren started pressing and releasing Daisy's cheeks.

"Myubebupbebebe."

Because of that, the crying sound turned into a strange noise.

Smiling slightly at the strangely funny situation, Siren said to me in a somewhat gloomy voice, "I'll take care of Daisy, so go ahead."

"Thank you."

"Yeah. I'll be waiting too."

I patted Siren's head and then conveyed one fact I had momentarily forgotten.

"Can you tell Sister Lilia that I went in here on my behalf?"

"Okay."

Now I should be able to go in.

I patted Daisy's head to mean don't cry, then immediately went inside.

***

As I entered, as I had confirmed earlier, a sensation like a huge stone pressing down on me came over me.

Feeling my stamina draining quickly even while standing still, I was taking deep breaths when numerous soldiers, knights, and mages with red eyes started approaching me.

I guess I'm supposed to fight them.

Thinking that the single phrase, "You'll revive even if you die," gave me some comfort, I gripped my mace tightly.

Normally, I would have started by setting fires using Daisy, but...']

Here, I couldn't rely on Daisy's power, so I had no choice but to endure here with just my individual abilities and shadow abilities.

Feeling the pressure coming from the loss of Daisy, my strongest ally, I walked forward and took a deep breath.

And that's not the only problem.

The gravity pressing down from above was stealing my physical abilities, so in my current physical state, it was impossible to move quickly or overwhelm opponents with overwhelming strength like before.

Thinking I had to fight taking this into account, I ran forward.

As I ran, the characteristic metallic sounds of armor and weapons echoed loudly around me as they started gathering towards me.

I tried to deal with those in front of me by swinging my mace at them, but…

I've slowed down...!

Not only did my attacks not land properly because my movements had slowed down too much, but I was even bounced back.

Confirming this, I couldn't help but frown, realizing that normal attacks were impossible with just the mace.

Should I give up on the mace? Or should I use a different method?

It was too early to decide everything based on just the first hit, but I still needed to keep it in mind, so I frowned and pondered.

Anyway, I don't have a weapon right now, so I have no choice but to fight.

With that thought, I was about to strike down the enemy again while gripping the mace tightly when…

Stab!

Unable to dodge the sword coming from behind in time, it pierced my lower abdomen.

The heat and pain that came instantly.

Reminding myself again of how powerless I was without Daisy, I gritted my teeth, then smiled and calmed my eyes.

This is good. I should fix all the bad habits here before I leave.

Thinking that my powerlessness was actually stirring up my fighting spirit, I headbutted the soldier in front of me with the sword still pierced in my lower abdomen and bit my lip.

***

A Saintess was a being that must be idolized.

For the church, the existence of a Saintess was the face representing the church, and furthermore, a promotional model indicating direction.

Therefore, the church claimed to people that the existence of a Saintess was a separate being “given by God” that was on a different level from ordinary people.

Yes... they were literally “claiming” it.

In reality, she was not only no different from others, but contrary to the public perception that the goddess chose them, she was just an ordinary person picked by the pope and cardinals.

To put it coldly, except for having more divine power than others, the existence of a “Saintess” was not much different from other people.

However, regardless of the truth, people believed what they wanted to believe.

And when something was different from what they believed, they tended to deny it.

So, to fulfill the wishes of the church and believers, she was sitting in her position, acting as an unfit Saintess.

And the position of a Saintess...

Being everyone's “idol” made it an unbearably lonely position.

Except for a few, it was a position where it was impossible to reveal one's true feelings.

So, while holding back the urge to whine, she was carrying out her duties as calmly as possible when,

"Saintess."

She saw Liana, who had rarely contacted her, waving her hand and greeting her.

"L-Liana? When did you arrive?"

"Just now."

Hearing this, she glanced around to check if anyone else was around.

Fortunately, there was no one around except Liana, so she could cling to Liana while whimpering.

"Lianaaaa."

"There, there. Saintess, here, have some of these snacks."

"Okay..."

Thinking that the hand patting her head was somewhat skilled, she was giggling when suddenly, she smelled Damian's scent from Liana's clothes.

It was natural if you thought about it, but somehow it felt strange, so she quietly asked Liana, "Is Damian doing well?"

"Yes. He's doing so well it's almost a problem."

If she could joke around, it seemed they had become even closer than expected.

That familiarity made her feel strangely envious, and without realizing it, a bit of grumbling rose up.

"It must have been fun..."

"Hehe. It was no fun without you, Saintess. How about you come along to visit Damian next time?"

"S-should I?"

Thinking that wouldn't be bad, she raised her body.

Liana looked at her chest and let out a small exclamation, saying, "By the way, Saintess, every time I see your chest, it fills me with faith."

"What?!"

"Hehe, there's something like that."

Then with a playful expression, she looked at her and continued, "Later, if there's someone you want to seduce, try approaching them with your hands clasped like this. There's a high chance they'll fall for you right away."

"L-Liana!"

"I'm just kidding."

Her face burned at the somewhat embarrassing words.

Feeling dazed, she was looking at Liana when she suddenly spoke in a calm voice, saying seriously, "Enough with the jokes... I came because I have something to tell you."

"Yes. What is it?"

"It's been confirmed that the black mages have planted more spies in the information guild than we expected."

It was quite negative news, so she hardened her expression along with Liana and calmly said, "...That means there's a high possibility that our information has been leaking?"

"Yes. Of course, I don't share all the information with the information guild, so crucial information wouldn't have leaked, but still, a considerable amount of information has been passed on."

The situation was more serious than expected.

Realizing that this was the reason why she felt like their numbers were being read every time her friendly forces acted, she closed her eyes.

Looking at her, Liana brought up even more shocking news.

"And... the Demon King's forces, which had been quiet for a while, have started to launch a full-scale offensive."

"The Demon King's forces...?"

"Yes. It seems the war will intensify greatly soon."

The war was already ongoing, causing numerous refugees and casualties, but her head started to hurt at the words that it would get even worse than this.

"Then it seems we should convey this information to the church..."

Having realized that the core figures of the church had already been turned over to the black mages, she concluded that it would be difficult to receive substantial support.

For them, war is not a situation where someone needs to be saved, but just a means to fill their own safety and greed.

So, judging that she would have to solve these problems alone rather than relying on the church's help, she buried her head on the desk.

If it were Damian, he might have solved this easily...

As the thought arose that if Damian were beside her, he would have solved this in a completely unexpected way, she suddenly became flustered and quickly shook her head.

I can't involve Damian in problems like this. It would be troublesome, and I don't want to pass on such a huge burden.

Asking for more favor than this would be beyond shameless and unconscionable.

Deciding to try to solve these problems alone, she took a deep breath.

"Liana, please identify and report on the areas with the most severe damage. Also, report on the personnel I can utilize."

Having lost many precious holy knights protecting the village last time, it was difficult to act proactively.

Nevertheless, she steeled her resolve to do what she could, step by step.

***

I looked at the dozens of fallen soldiers in front of me and breathed heavily.

Thinking it was truly laughable that I could only take down this many even while struggling desperately, I sat down on the ground.

Is the number of enemies infinite? No matter how many I kill, their numbers don't decrease.

Thinking this was actually good, I looked at my battered body, then got up again and tried to grab my mace to kill the enemies when,

...It's broken.

Perhaps because it had taken too many impacts, the mace was shattered into pieces.

Frowning, I was pondering about using a different weapon when suddenly an interesting thought occurred to me.

Come to think of it, the shadow was surprisingly solid, wasn't it?

Just like I made the shadow ball, I thought I might be able to create a weapon with considerable durability if I made it with shadow, and raised the corner of my mouth.

And if it breaks while using it,

I thought it would be fine since I could use it as a substitute for grenades like the shadow bombs.

The moment this judgment came to me, I immediately started creating a weapon using shadow.