Chapter 126
Chapter: 126
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>Translator: penny
>Chapter: 126
>Chapter Title: Saintess's Trial (6)
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Hello? My name is Seo Iseo.
I'm just an ordinary employee at a game company who absolutely loves romance novels.
One day, while alpha-testing the personal space [My Home] implemented with the [Homunculus Integration Engine], I met a man.
He introduced himself as a storyteller who travels through dimensions, destined one day to become a grand rule encompassing all tales, the king of stories. At first, I thought he was totally insane.
Then he told me an unbelievable story.
He said that this intricate integration engine developed by my company had become one of the great rules constituting multiple dimensions. The first MMORPG created with this engine, [Pangea Chronicle], had become the most splendid and vast dimension among the many canonical worlds.
After that, I traveled through various dimensions with the storyteller, swept up in swarms of blue butterflies.
He showed me numerous canonical worlds like Pangea Chronicle, countless imaginary worlds, and even a few small imaginary dimensions born from his own tales.
After witnessing those vivid scenes, I had no choice but to believe him. If his words weren't true, I'd already be a severe schizophrenic lost in perfect hallucinations.
The dimension's storyteller said:
He hoped that the stories he created would gather and coalesce, eventually becoming a grand rule that constitutes dimensions, just like this [Homunculus Integration Engine].
But one of the most important stories he was painstakingly crafting was falling apart.
So he asked for my help. He wanted me to become the new saintess in that world where the protagonist had vanished and the black curtain was rampaging out of control—to please save the world inside the book.
There was no reason to refuse. He guaranteed my safety, and above all, what romance fantasy fan hasn't dreamed of entering a novel's story at least once?
But I had forgotten one crucial fact.
That many protagonists struggle desperately to return to reality. And in most cases, they gradually assimilate into that world, ultimately meeting some kind of ending alongside the novel.
* * *
Time flew by incredibly fast.
Seo Iseo was suddenly released from the torture chamber and dragged to a massive church. There, kind priestesses led her by the hand and treated her with utmost care.
She was thoroughly cleaned, dressed in pure white, luxurious garments, and fed neat, delicious meals. Every day, she attended mass in the prayer hall with the priests and memorized thick scriptures whose meanings she couldn't grasp.
In the midst of this whirlwind, before she knew it, she found herself sitting demurely in the grand church, wearing a white veil, waiting for some kind of ceremony.
From the vibes, it seemed to be her own saintess inauguration rite.
The magnificently decorated church was packed with crowds of people. Around her, nobles in fine clothes and dignified high priests continuously approached to offer congratulations.
'What the heck is all this...'
So many things had happened in such rapid succession that her head was spinning. Seo Iseo couldn't even guess how her future would unfold.
Staring blankly into space with a dazed expression, a man slyly approached and spoke to her.
"What happened? This is way off from our plan, isn't it? Why did you suddenly become the saintess?"
Seo Iseo's eyes widened hugely.
The man was covered head to toe in a flashy robe, with only his smooth lower jaw peeking out. But she clearly remembered his voice.
The young man who had guided her to Salon de Mers when she first arrived in this world. The storyteller's other avatar.
"...Writer!"
Tears welled up in Seo Iseo's eyes.
"Why, why show up only now? Writer!"
"Shh!"
The man glanced around before whispering lowly.
"There are lots of eyes watching. I'll read your thoughts, so don't speak— just think your replies."
Seo Iseo swallowed dryly and nodded.
"I had no choice but to stay out of contact until now. You were imprisoned in the imperial palace, so there was no way to reach you separately. The imperial palace is the Holy Emperor's absolute domain. Even I can't enter or interfere."
She had experienced the Holy Emperor's terrifying power firsthand, so Seo Iseo understood that the storyteller probably had no other options.
"Anyway, our plan has gone badly astray. Why were you suddenly dragged to the imperial palace? Weren't we supposed to lie low until the grand mass on the birthday festival?"
I don't know. Suddenly Prince Mores came to my dressing room. He said he had something to ask about the butterfly pattern.
"Prince Mores... So he's the variable after all!"
Yes. He brought a bunch of knights and tried to drag me straight to the palace. I had no choice but to say right there that I'd undergo the saintess's trial.
"But why didn't you go through the saintess's trial? How did you end up as saintess without doing anything?"
I don't know either, Writer.
Suddenly this world's black curtain showed up and made me like this.
More importantly, listen to this. Do you know what the Holy Emperor did to me?
He completely wrecked my inventory and arbitrarily messed with my pain sensitivity. I really thought I was dying from the pain that day!
"......!"
The man swallowed a groan.
"...To think he could even tamper with the canonical world's rules at will. My predictions were a bit off. It might be too risky to proceed like this."
Huh? Then what do we do?
What should I do now?
"For now, follow the original plan: have an audience with the Holy Emperor's crown and become the saintess. The [Minor Divine Utterance] I placed on you seems intact, so if you use it properly, the people around you won't treat you too harshly."
Huh? Writer! What does that mean?
You're not going to rescue me from here right now?
"If you stay put in the church like this, another opportunity will come soon enough. I'll visit you again when I can spare the time. Then..."
"W-Wait!"
"Good luck!"
Startled, Seo Iseo reached out to grab him, but just as swiftly as he'd appeared, the man vanished into the crowd.
No, Writer! Wait! If you just leave like this, what am I supposed to do!
"......"
Dumbfounded, Seo Iseo stared endlessly at the church entrance where he'd disappeared.
"...You jerk..."
With those empty words to no one, tears came pouring down.
You rotten guy! How could you just dump me here and leave?
Who did I trust to come this far? Who did I suffer all that for!
"...You irresponsible bastard! You son of a...!"
Waaah! Sniff, sniff!
Seo Iseo sobbed pitifully, yanking off her veil to wipe her face. People flinched and murmured at the saintess's sudden undignified outburst, but what did she care!
Left alone in this unfamiliar world, a world lurking with terrifying black curtains!
It was then.
"Why are you crying like that? Does something hurt?"
At the voice asking, Seo Iseo instinctively turned and froze, mouth agape in shock.
"F-Fairy?"
There stood a girl as transparently white as could be.
Her porcelain-doll face was serene, her sparkling silver hair topped with a white lace veil much like Seo Iseo's, draped modestly.
Crystal-clear gray eyes gazed at her, filled with concern.
"The inauguration rite will start soon. Then there'll be a long grand mass. You won't get a break for a while, so if anything's wrong, tell me now."
Gasp! Even her voice was utterly transparent!
She was a girl shockingly hazardous to the heart.
"I-I..."
As Seo Iseo just opened and closed her mouth, the girl tilted her head and stepped closer.
A tiny hand grasped Seo Iseo's. At that fragile warmth, a strange feeling welled up—then white light burst from the girl's fingertips.
"Eh..."
In an instant, the stinging around her eyes from rubbing through the thin veil subsided, and her whole body's condition improved dramatically.
But more than that.
'...So warm.'
Wrapped in the gentle light, she felt somehow comforted.
'This is divine power...!'
She'd felt the exact same power in the torture chamber not long ago. But while the Holy Emperor's had felt like a merciless net tightening around her, the girl's power felt like boundless positivity and encouragement directed at her.
As her sniffles finally died down, the little girl examined Seo Iseo quietly before speaking.
"I don't really know why you're already the saintess, or why you're crying so sadly."
"......"
"But don't cry. Things are changing, so it'll probably all work out fine."
This is the fake saintess! Seo Iseo realized.
But why? Unlike what she'd heard or read in text, this little girl seemed to embody every kindness in the world, shining so radiantly.
This girl turns evil? Becomes the key to the Demon King's descent?
No way!
'I... I was going to fight this good kid without knowing anything...'
Sniff. Tears flowed again.
Immediately, white light glowed once more from the girl's hand, embracing Seo Iseo's body.
Puzzled, Seo Iseo sniffled and asked.
"There's nothing hurting now—why keep using divine power?"
The girl tilted her head.
"Hm. Someone said that when your heart hurts, your body recognizes the emotional wound and actually feels pain. So if I heal your body every time it hurts, maybe your heart will hurt a little less?"
"......"
"And warming your body might make your heart feel a little less cold?"
"Uh, uh..."
What is this? This ultimate healing queen of a soothing girl?
Is this what a saintess is?
Seo Iseo blinked.
Hey, Mr. Author. What if we've got the wrong idea?
Maybe this novel is actually that kind! You know!
Like, The Youngest Princess Likes Me Too Much! or
Thanks to the Youngest's Favor, Everyone's Obsessed With Me! That kind of cliché!
"Are you okay now?"
The girl tilted her head cutely at Seo Iseo, who had completely stopped crying.
Zing. Struck anew by that adorable sight, Seo Iseo steeled her resolve.
I'll protect this girl!
I'll take care of her and get close to her!
If the world inevitably revolves around the fake saintess, isn't clinging to her a way to survive to the end?
There's no other way to save this world. Just protect this girl from turning dark.
'Demon King, black curtain—bring it on! Now I'll protect this child! You think I can't?'
Seo Iseo clenched her fist toward the air.
Hey! Holy Emperor, black curtain of this otherworld—listen up!
If she comes to like me, can you still do the same things to me as before?
I'll protect her, she'll comfort me—think you can still mess with me then?
Hmph! Dream on!
* * *
Nate, peering into his teacup, suddenly jolted and looked up.
"Hm? Why the sudden reaction? Something happen?"
"No, nothing..."
An inexplicable chill ran through him.
Why? He'd preemptively dealt with anyone trying to harm Sisle, so why this nagging sense that something was going wrong.
"Did you do something again this time?"
"...Pardon?"
His troublemaker son blinked blankly for a moment before beaming innocently.
"Ah, yes. I just mentioned going on that trip, right? I'll head north after the birthday festival ends."
"North..."
"Yeah, the territory of Margrave Zigsmundt. Got some investigating to do for the monster suppression unit."
"......"
Swept by unease, Nate stared at his son.
The foolish boy added proudly.
"Oh! And don't worry about funds—I've secured them myself. Leave it to me!"
See? I did good, right?
Grinning smugly as he said it, the boy gulped down his tea and added,
"I'll bring back souvenirs too!"
"......"
Was this really okay...?
Nate slowly raised a hand to his forehead.