Chapter 317
Chapter 317
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: EP.67 – Parting Doesn't Mean Farewell (2)
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"...Huh?"
While being crushed under two elephants for quite some time, Lee Han tilted his head at the familiar presence he sensed.
This wasn't a presence he expected to feel here, so why was it showing up now?
As he blinked and turned his gaze toward the source, sure enough.
"What are you all doing here?"
Familiar faces came into view.
"Sir Santa!!"
"......"
...That guy's pretty sharp too.
It had been ages since he dropped the Santa persona, yet here he was, calling out the alias and rushing over without knowing the full situation?
"Sir Santa! It's been exactly 6 hours, 19 minutes, and 57 seconds!"
"...Someone might think I'm your guardian."
Lee Han greeted the exaggerated enthusiasm and gleaned two facts from it.
One was the astonishing reality that even though he'd been here for about two days, only barely 6 hours had passed outside. And the other...
"You ran into the Margrave, huh?"
"Yes, yes! Right before coming here, I caught sight of his return from afar. The territory's in a huge uproar right now. Their lord has come back after five years."
The Margrave had safely announced his return.
This guy's presence in this dangerous place was probably because he realized the Margrave's return meant Lee Han's victory.
But...
"If I won, I won. So why'd you bother coming here?"
"It's partly to celebrate your victory, but mostly to stop you from vanishing right away, Sir Santa."
"......"
"Do you think I don't know you? Once things are neatly wrapped up, you'd slip away like the wind. Then I'd be left alone to clean up everything you stirred up in Wales, right?"
"...You're too perceptive for your own good."
"Thank you for the compliment."
That's why people who are quick on the uptake and sharp-minded are no good.
He couldn't even run away now.
"Simon? Guild Union Master Simon, right?"
"H-His Excellency the Marquis."
"Finally getting to meet the man I've heard so much about by reputation."
"Thank you for your interest in a mere back-alley rat like me..."
"Haha! Who would dare call the youngest Guild Union Master 'mere'? Word is your resourcefulness is exceptional. Didn't you expand the Guild Union's scale by five times shortly after becoming Union Master?"
"...Just a small trick from an insignificant man."
"Is that so?"
"......"
Curious gazes gathered at Marquis Jenimia's remarks.
For those who knew of the Guild Union's existence but paid little attention to the capabilities of its leader, this was fresh information.
Even dukes and grand dukes turned their eyes to him, and as Simon broke out in a cold sweat like a waterfall...
"So why is the maid ma'am here?"
"Y-Yes?"
Simon whipped his head around at Lee Han's remark, which felt like a saving grace, and answered urgently.
"Ah, w-well, when I said I was coming to meet you, Sir Santa, she insisted on coming along. Seems like she has business with you..."
"Huh? Did she come in person to get her items back? No need for that; I was going to return them anyway..."
Whish!
...Or so he was saying when his head snapped back suddenly.
"Oh? You noticed me this time."
"...I'm a bit on edge right now. If it weren't for that, I might've missed you again."
"Hehe, sorry. I didn't mean to tease; I was just so glad to see you."
"Whatever. But why come to this dangerous place? I would've made sure the holy relic got back to you safely."
"That's not why I came. And I have no intention of taking the holy relic back. It's already chosen its owner. What would I do with it?"
"No, something that precious isn't like some used goods trade... ...Huh?"
...What?
Lee Han felt a sudden sense of dissonance.
[[[...]]]]
The boisterous camp had fallen eerily silent in an instant.
'What's up with those guys now?'
Even the elephants had grown strangely docile.
Lee Han wondered what was going on, but soon...
"Uh, ma'am. You look a bit younger than last time I saw you?"
"Ohoho, you shouldn't say that to an old lady. Say it to a young one."
"No, really, you look younger. And also..."
—Why were her eyes glowing with light, and why were flowers and trees sprouting along the path she'd walked?
...Mysterious.
Historians claim that about a thousand years ago, the southern continent endured the most barbaric era among all continents.
The most chaotic and immoral land of them all.
An insulting assessment, but with so much historical evidence proving it, the southerners had no choice but to grudgingly accept it.
However, amid that dark age, a figure emerged who first taught morality and order to its people: a female healer.
In an era of endless war, devoid of morality or order, she healed countless people regardless of gender.
She nearly faced calamity from those she helped and encountered death countless times,
yet the healer overcame all dangers, never hesitating to side with the weak throughout her life.
It's said that on the day she died in old age, crowds gathered to mourn and build her a tomb, but her body was suddenly enveloped in light and ascended to the heavens, witnessed by a million people, as recorded in history.
Thus, people call her:
The first real great figure of the southern continent, the first user of holy law, the female healer who saved ten million lives.
The woman who planted "one hundred million trees" on land reduced to ashes by war.
And unofficially, the one who received the call of the light and ascended to heaven...
—The Great Saintess.
Her eyes always held the light of divinity, and flowers and grass bloomed wherever she passed, making her the south's first saintess.
No woman called a saintess after the Great Saintess ever wielded power as immense as hers, manifesting divine light in her eyes. The prevailing theory is that a special condition must be met to possess such light.
But one thing is certain: even a thousand years later, no one matches the Great Saintess's divine power.
Not just saintesses, but including saints, she was the pinnacle of holy figures. Thus, no one in the south is ignorant of her legend.
She saved their ancestors and enriched the south, after all.
Not reading [Great Saintess Myth] or [Introduction to Healing] disqualifies one from calling themselves educated.
And so.
"...Divine light."
"A saintess... The, the reincarnation of the Great Saintess."
"Light divine..."
Thud.
People knelt instinctively, clasping hands in prayer.
The legend reborn.
To not tremble at this would mean you're no southerner.
Even if the grand temple had fallen to corruption and burned, no devotee abandons faith in the light.
Thus, the knights bowed without shame.
For this was the moment the Great Saintess, child of light, returned to the land...!
"...Living long enough brings even this honor."
"The Great Saintess... I thought she was just a temple myth. Hah."
Even Galahad and the lords of Lionel, who scorned the empire's emperor, couldn't hide their bewilderment.
She was more mysterious than an Aura User, after all.
All eyes remained fixed on the woman whose mystery made vegetation thrive in this lightless world.
And...
"Great Saintess? What's that? No, more importantly, ma'am, you're a saintess?"
"When I left the temple for training, I was just a novice nun. How could someone like me be a grand figure like a saintess?"
"...But you look pretty grand right now?"
"Pardon?"
"Look behind you. Behind you."
"...Oh? Why are flowers suddenly...?"
"......"
Lee Han watched the ma'am genuinely surprise at the flowers and grass blooming behind her.
No, what...
"Why did you suddenly evolve?"
At this rate, ascension, like...
'She's not about to ascend to immortality, is she?'
Lee Han grew deeply worried she might shoot up to the heavens out of nowhere.
The camp buzzed with shock at the saintess's—no, the Great Saintess's—appearance, but the ma'am paid it little mind.
She wasn't even aware...
"I'm not that great a figure, so there's no need for you all to be formal with me."
She lacked any self-awareness as a saintess.
Instead, she bowed her head politely, startling them momentarily.
"P-Please don't do that. We're afraid of divine retribution..."
"Saintess, no need for honorifics with us. We're mere children of man."
"There is no one in this world worthy of your courtesy. You, the noblest woman."
Superhumans who wouldn't blink before a hundred thousand—no, a million—soldiers now fawned before her.
Even if she hadn't realized her identity yet, she was a saintess with the "eyes of divine light" after a thousand years.
No matter how noble or superhuman, they were mere mortals before God's child.
Unless a fairy or earth spirit, no one on this land could claim greater nobility.
Thus...
"...That's burdensome to hear. Still, thank you for your kindness. Noble ones."
The woman conveyed her gratitude with a benevolent smile, and in that instant...
"—She who receives the fairies' love, look around you for a moment. What you seek is already by your side."
"!!"
Duke Blake's eyes flashed.
"The master of eternal snow has many worries. But fret not and trust your bloodline. It will resolve your troubles."
"...Hah."
Grand Duke Magnus let out a hollow laugh.
Having given "gifts" of words to the two lords, she turned her gaze back to Lee Han.
"Might we speak alone for a bit?"
"...Whose words would I defy?"
"Hehe."
He had no intention of refusing anyway, but rejecting her now would make him the villain of heaven and earth, so Lee Han quickly bowed.
Grateful for his courtesy, she mounted him, and the next moment.
Whoosh!
They vanished like an arrow into a single point.
Watching this...
"...At this point, I'd even believe he's buddies with the fairies. Right, Your Highness?"
"Agreed."
The people murmured at the spot where Lee Han had disappeared, unable to hide their astonishment.
As if summoning such an overwhelming figure was utterly ridiculous...
And then,
"You're Simon, right?"
"......"
"I've got some questions. Care to chat?"
"......Yes."
With him gone, Simon was selected as the next target and responded inwardly grimacing.
'...Should've just handled things in Wales.'
That day, Simon realized he had a condition around high nobles.