Chapter 3
The Saint recalled the past.
The days when she traveled with everyone as the Saint of the hero's party.
Hiding in a cave to escape the rain in the mountains.
The hero eating poisonous mushrooms and being dazed all day.
Lying on a wide hill, gazing at the stars in the night sky.
Although hardships and adversities were present, there was a certain joy in those times.
Just remembering those days brought a faint smile to the Saint's lips.
But as she emerged from her memories, what greeted the Saint was an ugly reality.
"Saint, your rest time is almost over."
"Yes, I know."
The Saint felt anger rising at the attendant's words that woke her from her pleasant reverie, but as always, she endured and responded gently.
After all, this must be what people expect of a Saint.
One who must not harbor any impure emotions.
One who must embrace the people of the world with love.
One who sacrifices herself for the world.
There is no room for Yustia, the small girl, within that.
Only the representative of God who has appeared in the world exists.
The Saint was about to drink the water placed before her to quell her resentment, but realizing that even this had been prepared by an attendant, she stopped.
Regrettably, it seemed Franz's letter would have to wait a little longer.
As the attendant had said, her break time was almost over.
The Saint rose from her seat and left the room.
She then greeted the numerous devotees who served God.
A considerable amount of time passed like this.
Late at night, when the Saint was finally truly alone without even her attendants, she took out Franz's letter.
Now that there was no one to disturb her, she intended to read it slowly.
However, there was nothing to read.
『Well, are you doing alright?』
Ironically, all that was written on the large piece of paper was this brief sentence.
For a moment, the Saint was dumbfounded, staring blankly at the letter before turning it over, just in case.
But there was nothing written on the back either. It was truly a pristine blank state.
'No, it couldn't be.'
There was no way someone of the tower master's stature would send a letter written like this.
Especially since the recipient was the Saint, he should have been even more careful.
Asking about her well-being after a whole year, at least some form of greeting should have...
Thinking this, the Saint held the letter over the nearby candle.
She remembered Franz once mentioning a strange ink that becomes visible when exposed to fire.
But no matter how long she waited, the letter only blackened, with no letters appearing.
'This isn't it either?'
The Saint gently bit her lower lip.
Then, splash-, she poured water over the letter.
This too was something Franz had mentioned.
Something about ink that becomes visible when it comes into contact with water.
But the letter only became soaked, with no letters appearing.
Only then did the Saint realize.
That the letter sent after a whole year to ask about her well-being contained only that brief line.
Huh-.
A mirthless laugh escaped the Saint's lips involuntarily.
Her furrowed brow was an added bonus.
'Right, he was always like this.'
In fact, during the hero's party days, the relationship between the Saint and the mage wasn't very good.
Even though she was called a Saint, at that time, she was no different from a rural girl from the borderlands who could perform God's miracles.
She would often become scared and hide at the sight of monsters, and when faced with spilling entrails and spraying blood, she would vomit what was in her stomach.
The Saint, who was supposed to be responsible for the party's recovery, couldn't even take care of herself.
In the Saint's memory, Franz would always utter harsh words at such times.
So she returned them in kind.
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, isn't that how it goes?
It was right to repay harsh words with harsh words.
And she worked desperately hard.
Because she hated hearing Franz's harsh words so much.
In the end, it was as expected.
It was her fault for having even a little expectation.
The Saint sighed, wiped the water-soaked desk, and lay down on her bed.
There was no reason to reply to such a letter.
But even as time passed, sleep didn't come easily.
Although she had vowed in her anger not to reply, she still couldn't help but worry about it.
It was just a one-sentence letter, but...
Still, a letter was a letter.
Eventually, the Saint got up from her bed and began to write a reply.
She received one sentence, so writing one sentence in return seemed appropriate.
* * * * *
Approval for dispatching magic instructors to the academy.
Approval for the rural water supply proposal.
Request for use of the magic tower's second floor laboratory...?
"Arian, this request for the second floor use, it's from the necromancers, right?"
"Yes, they begged that they would really behave this time, so I provisionally approved it."
Are these people really planning to turn the magic tower into a field of corpses?
Just recently, when we approved their lab use, we had quite a hard time because crazed ghouls were roaming all over the tower.
We even disciplined them, but it seems they still haven't learned their lesson.
"If they ask, tell them to experiment outside."
"Understood."
Franz wrote 'REJECTED' in large letters on the document and moved on to the next one.
Approval for dispatching mages for orphanage facility purification.
Approval for dispatching mages for cleaning the outer walls of the royal palace.
Haa-.
After processing documents for a long time, a sigh escaped Franz's lips.
It felt like he had been focusing solely on work without a single break, yet he hadn't even processed half of the documents.
Moreover, he had processed a similar amount yesterday, so it was truly frustrating.
Since becoming the tower master, he hadn't taken a single day off, so he might really collapse from overwork at this rate.
It was then.
"Take a short break. You look more tired than usual."
A teacup was placed on the desk.
Rarely, Arian was doing something befitting of a secretary.
As she said, Franz hadn't slept properly last night because he was writing a letter to the Saint, so her observational skills were impressive.
The only problem was that the tea Arian made tasted strangely bad.
Franz looked back and forth between Arian and the teacup before quietly picking up his pen.
It felt like a silent threat to get back to work.
Then Arian said,
"Surely you're not going to refuse the tea that your secretary took time out of her busy schedule to make for you?"
"Ah, I'll drink it. I'm drinking."
At this point, it seemed like she might have deliberately made the tea this way.
Anyway, since he said he would drink it, Franz picked up the teacup.
Soon, a blue magic circle appeared in his hand, and the steaming tea instantly cooled down.
And then, gulp-.
As the cool liquid went down his throat, it felt like his insides were clearing up.
Moreover, the subtle aftertaste of tea leaves rising up made him feel good.
However, Arian's expression twisted at the eccentricity of cooling down and drinking the tea she had taken the trouble to brew.
"I will never make tea for you again."
"No, your tea tastes better when it's cold."
Of course, he knew it wasn't polite, but isn't tea a matter of personal preference after all?
What's wrong with consuming a preference item according to one's preference?
Besides, drinking hot tea is something only time-rich people with leisure do.
He was a time-poor person who was busy even when moving quickly, so such leisure was a luxury.
In fact, Franz wasn't particularly worried because it was clear that Arian would make tea again despite what she said.
Well, it's true that his body was more tired than usual, so maybe he should do some stretching.
Thinking this, as Franz stretched his arms towards the ceiling, a thought suddenly occurred to him.
'If the Saint has received the letter by now...'
Could there have been a change in the guide window as well?
Franz skeptically brought up the guide window in mid-air.
『Save the world from the villainesses who will lead it to destruction!
Hero Yuna (0.00%)
Saint Yustia (1.00%)
Elf Archer Hera (0.00%)
If you fail, the world will be destroyed!』
Surprisingly, just sending a letter had increased the Saint's percentage.
Although he didn't know what criteria it was based on, he didn't feel bad about taking a step closer to saving the world.
But isn't a mere 1% increase a bit too harsh?
He was risking his life and trying his best, so couldn't it be a bit more generous?
Anyway, he could think about what to do next after receiving a reply from the Saint.
Thinking this, Franz turned the page and chuckled.
『Request for support in relief activities for a village damaged by monsters
Additional information - The Saint herself will be attending this event.』
There was no need to wait for a reply anymore.
If the Saint herself was attending, shouldn't he match her rank?
Franz moved his pen to add his own name to the list of supporting mages.
Arian would surely make a fuss if she knew, but saving the world takes precedence over the documents right in front of him.
* * * * *
The next day.
Franz arrived at St. Serphia Cathedral for the first time in a very long while.
And he faced the Saint.
"Long time no see."
"Huh...? Why are you here...?"
The Saint's eyes widened in surprise.