A Wager with the Goddess
The day after my game with the goddess, the procession pushed deeper into the forest. From here on, the density of magical beasts was noticeably different.
"Grrrrowl!"
"Ahead! A pack of trolls!"
Clang! Crunch! Combat raged nonstop from morning till noon. At first, Lucian tried to stay by the carriage. But as the endless waves of beasts overwhelmed the knights' defensive line, he was forced to choose.
"Captain! The left flank's breaking!"
"Damn...!"
Lucian bit his lip and glanced back at the carriage. It was tightly shut.
Inside was the woman he adored. The saintess must be trembling in fear. But if he didn't help the knights now, they'd be wiped out.
"Go on, Captain."
I chimed in from the side.
"I'll guard the carriage, so you need to lead your men. A commander hanging back in the rear kills morale."
"...Thank you, Sir Sigurd."
Lucian finally drew his sword and charged forward.
"Follow me! Hold the formation!"
"Waaah!"
With their captain at the front, the knights' spirits soared. Lucian was an excellent knight.
Every time his sword danced, a troll's head flew. The knights rallied around him and overcame the crisis.
I lounged on the carriage roof, leisurely watching the spectacle. While Lucian bonded with his men through sweat and blood, the air inside the carriage grew colder by the minute.
After the battle ended, it was time for a brief rest. Lucian, his armor soaked in sweat and blood, returned to the carriage gasping for breath.
"Saintess, are you alright? It was so noisy outside..."
Creak— The carriage door swung open.
But what greeted him wasn't concern or comfort.
"Where have you been?"
The saintess's face was twisted in a scowl.
"How could you leave my side?"
"I-I'm sorry. The situation was urgent..."
"No excuses! You're my escort knight! Knights dying or not, you should've stayed by my side!"
Her voice tore through the air like a scream. The knights resting nearby froze in place.
These were words no one should hurl at their captain, who'd just risked his life fighting, or at the comrades who'd fought for them.
"Saintess... that's too much. They shed blood for you..."
"That's their duty!"
Lumina shrieked hysterically, pounding Lucian's chest with her fists. Her pale knuckles slammed against his bloodstained armor. It probably didn't hurt, but Lucian's face looked as stung as if he'd been clubbed.
"...Rest for now."
Lucian replied weakly and stepped back. His shoulders slumped in defeat.
The knights watched him with pitying eyes, shooting contemptuous glares at the carriage.
I held back a laugh and approached the knights with a water jug.
"Good work, everyone. Here, drink up."
"Ah, Sir Sigurd. Thank you."
The knights welcomed me warmly. I hadn't fought alongside them, but at least I acknowledged their efforts and cared for them. Meanwhile, the saintess they risked their lives to protect was nothing but a selfish brat.
That attitude must come from being a goddess.
"The captain's so... pitiful."
"Must be exhausting catering to that saintess's whims."
In the knights' hearts, Lumina had already fallen from 'saintess to protect' to 'dead weight.'
**
As the march continued, things only worsened. Battles grew more frequent, and Lucian spent more and more time with the knights just to survive. He swung his sword at the forefront, helped build camps, and tended to the wounded. Naturally, he drifted further from the saintess.
"Sir Lucian! Help here!"
"On my way!"
Lucian laughing with his arm around a knight's shoulder. Patting each other's backs in encouragement. In that tight-knit camaraderie, there was no room for the saintess.
Peeking through the carriage curtain gap, the sight was priceless.
The goddess was jealous.
The man she loved was laughing and chatting with the filthy men she despised.
Jealousy must be gnawing at her insides right now. To her, the knights weren't comrades—they were obstacles stealing Lucian away.
Night fell. A bonfire crackled in the center of the camp, and the knights sat around swapping tales of battle.
Lucian was right there among them.
"Captain, that strike earlier was awesome!"
"Haha, you weren't bad yourself? Your back felt solid."
A warm atmosphere. But the peace didn't last.
"Lucian."
An icy voice. Lumina stood outside the carriage, glaring at the cheap cup in Lucian's hand.
"I called for you. Why didn't you come?"
"Ah, Saintess. I was having a quick meeting with the men..."
"A meeting? While drinking? I told you I was waiting. I said I needed you to wash me!"
She yelled. The air turned frigid.
Self-centered to the core. Was the knight captain just a servant to bathe the saintess?
Anger flared in the knights' eyes.
"Saintess, please... this is outside."
"So what? You're mine. You should only listen to me!"
Lumina lost it. She stormed over and knocked the cup from Lucian's hand.
Clang—! Liquor spilled, the cup rolling into the dirt.
"......"
Lucian bowed his head. Despair. Exhaustion. He clenched his fist tight, then let it go limply.
"Understood... let's go inside."
He didn't resist. But the knights did.
"That's too far!"
The vice-captain shot to his feet.
"The captain fought monsters all day! As a saintess, is it right to deny him even a meal or a drink?"
"What...?"
"Are we dogs guarding you? Is the captain your servant? Enough already!"
The vice-captain's outburst drew agreement from the others. Pent-up resentment exploded.
Lumina staggered as if struck, unable to believe these lowly things dared defy her. She looked to Lucian, hoping he'd defend her.
But he stayed silent. That silence said it all.
He was tired too.
And he agreed with his men.
"Ha... haha..."
Lumina laughed hollowly.
"You're all... in cahoots. I'm the only... odd one out, right?"
She was utterly alone now.
"Out of my way."
She shoved Lucian aside and returned to the carriage.
Bang!
The door slammed shut, and Lumina vanished.
"Sorry, Captain. I got heated..."
"No. You were right... It's my failing."
Lucian patted the vice-captain's shoulder and trudged off into the woods. He wanted to be alone.
An awkward silence hung over the camp.
I quietly stood up.
Finally, the moment's here.
Lucian had fled, the knights had turned their backs. Inside that carriage sat the world's noblest yet most pathetic woman, all alone.
No one to stand by her side.
This was my chance.
Not to comfort—but to threaten and break her.
I approached the carriage and knocked.
"Go away! I don't want to see anyone!"
A prickly voice from inside. I opened the door without flinching.
"It's me, Saintess."
"You...!"
Lumina knelt on the chair, glaring at me. Her eyes still burned with disgust.
"Get out! You reek!"
"Reek, huh..."
I smirked and locked the door.
Click!
A sealed space. Tension flashed across her face.
"What are you doing?"
"Just talking. About you, me, and Lucian."
I approached slowly. She tried to back away, but in the cramped carriage, there was nowhere to go.
"Stay back! I'll scream!"
"Scream away. Think the knights outside will help?"
She shut her mouth. She knew I was right.
The knights wouldn't help—they might even laugh at her misfortune. With even Lucian gone...
She was perfectly isolated.
"What do you want? Money? Or..."
"No. I want your truth."
I gripped her chin and forced her eyes to meet mine. Golden irises. Vertically slit pupils.
"Drop the act, Goddess."
"...!"
Lumina's body stiffened. Her pupils shook like an earthquake.
"W-what are you..."
"Think I wouldn't notice? The divine power vibrating in that body. And that arrogance too haughty for a mere human."
I whispered in her ear.
"Lady Lumina, Goddess of Purity and Judgment. Why pretend to be human?"
"H-how do you...!"
She recoiled in shock, trying to shove me away. But with her true power sealed, she couldn't budge me.
"How rude. You know I'm a goddess, yet you act like this?"
Lumina's aura shifted. As if to display true divine dignity, she raised her grating. The flustered saintess was gone; before me stood the arrogant goddess.
"Whoa, calm down, Goddess. I don't want to fight you."
Even then, she kept raising her power.
"Want Lucian to learn the truth? That'd only push him further away, you know."
Even playing saintess created distance. If he learned she was a goddess? He'd see her not as a lover, but an object of worship.
Realizing this, Lumina began suppressing her power.
"What... do you want?"
"Simple. Play a game with me."
"A game?"
Her face filled with suspicion.
"Yes. You like Lucian because he's pure, right?"
"Indeed. He has the purest soul in this world."
Thinking of him lifted the corner of her mouth slightly.
"I'll corrupt Lucian. If the soul you chose can't withstand a little temptation, I'll tempt him three times. If he doesn't fall, I lose and vanish quietly."
Lumina pondered my proposal in silence. Time passed, but I wasn't anxious. Why? I knew she'd accept.
That arrogant goddess would never doubt her own choice.
Her lips parted.
"Fine. I accept your game."
As expected.
"Not that it'll matter, but I'll ask. What do you want as your prize?"
She asked what I'd demand if I won.
I curled my lips into a grin.
"Your body. I want your body, Goddess."