The Saintess
The Saintess
Venom had always believed that luck followed him. Or, to be more precise, he considered himself resilient against misfortune.
He had gotten into a drunken fight with the person next to him, killed him, and been on the verge of arrest while fleeing when he happened to fall in with the Abyss Cult and survive.
After joining the cult, he had somehow ended up in the sacrifice-hunting squad, one of the most dangerous roles there was.
And while carrying out those duties, he had even skimmed sacrifices to create Chaos Crystals.
A strange pattern where good fortune always followed bad.
So Venom had expectations that good luck would come after the misfortune he had just suffered.
'It's a shame I used up all my Chaos Crystals, but just managing to escape was lucky enough.'
The imperial knights and soldiers had appeared without warning.
It was an encirclement that someone of Venom's level could never have escaped, but he had barely broken through by expending his trump card—the tunnel snakes.
Thanks to that, he was now penniless, but being alive was what mattered.
'While scraping by in the cult, I still managed to pick up a few black magic secret arts here and there by watching from the sidelines.'
In Venom's assessment, the Abyss Cult had little chance of defeating the force that had raided them, even with the cult leader present.
When he thought about the Abyss Cult effectively disappearing, it actually struck him as a good opportunity.
As the saying went, when there are no ogres in the forest, the trolls play king. Venom's skills were shabby compared to the cult leader or the cult's other high-ranking dark wizards.
But now, even a dark wizard of his level would be hard to find anywhere on the continent.
If he founded a new black magic organization, he could live like that godlike cult leader.
After all, black magic was structured so that achievement depended on the quantity and quality of sacrifices offered rather than one's own talent or training.
As Venom imagined himself becoming far more powerful than he was now, the fatigue built up from fleeing seemed to melt away.
"I'd like to use the teleportation circle to the Goldpool Valley region."
"Your identification tag has been verified. This way, please."
Venom followed the Magic Tower guide toward the Teleportation Circle.
When he saw the crowd of people bustling around the circle bound for Goldpool Valley, he was inwardly startled.
'What the hell? Why are there so many people trying to go to that backwater?'
The reason Venom had chosen Goldpool Valley as his escape destination was partly because he had grown up there and knew the area well.
The fact that it was a quiet rural town had also played a part.
It had once been famous for gold dust panning, but these days it had no particular distinction, so outsiders rarely visited.
"In the capital, there are people lining up every single day, so I just can't get my hands on the figurines."
"Tell me about it. There's a purchase limit too, so even if you go at lunchtime, the stock's already gone."
Nobles who looked quite wealthy from their appearance were chatting among themselves as they waited their turn for the Teleportation Circle. Venom eavesdropped on them, but he couldn't make heads or tails of what they were talking about.
'Figurines? What's that? Some new product?'
Was it something you couldn't get in the capital but could get in Goldpool Valley?
Venom tried to reason it out as best he could, but it was beyond his comprehension.
And then there was a man wrapped in a thick robe who bothered him for some reason.
He couldn't make out the face clearly because the robe half-covered it, but from the lower half alone he could tell the man was handsome.
But it wasn't the man's appearance that bothered Venom. It was the man's aura, which unsettled him for reasons he couldn't explain.
Although his own skills were those of a shabby dark wizard, he could distinguish the strong from the weak like a wild beast.
Right now, Venom sensed that the suspicious robed man was an extremely dangerous opponent.
He wanted nothing more than to get out of there immediately.
But fearing that would only make him look more suspicious, he found himself unable to do anything either way. Before he knew it, Venom had boarded the Teleportation Circle bound for Goldpool Valley along with everyone else.
***
"Let's go, Rash!"
At his young owner's excited voice, Rash the dog made the face of a child who had just opened his eyes in bed and didn't want to go to school.
Rupert was learning anew through Rash that animals could have such remarkable emotional expressiveness.
Ada and Rash's walks around the territory had now become an established routine.
The sight of Rash pulling the cart carrying Ada at set times in the morning, afternoon, and evening was already a famous spectacle in the territory.
The combination of a child and a dog was adorable enough on its own. Some days the cart carried milk, other days candy and the like, which they handed out to the children they met, so children were always trailing along behind them.
Of course, since they couldn't send Ada alone, Rupert had secretly asked the soldiers to escort her, so nothing untoward had happened.
It was such a rural place that all the people were simple and good-natured.
"Master Rupert, it's almost time for the Saintess's visit. Are you sure you're all right?"
"Of course. I've gotten a lot better now."
Even at Rupert's answer, Alain wore a worried expression, as if still concerned.
But Rupert's answer wasn't a lie.
Ever since he had collapsed, he had been eating three proper meals a day and doing physical training at the training grounds with Sir Mullers every morning.
Of course, he had also ordered all the workshop employees to join in, so to an outsider it looked like he was training soldiers.
On top of that, he went to sleep at a set time and got plenty of rest, so Rupert could feel his head clearing.
'But the vitality potions—I just can't resist them! Seriously.'
Though separate from getting healthier, should he call it vitality potion withdrawal?
He had tried to hold out by drinking coffee or other beverages, but the more he did, the stronger his craving for vitality potions grew.
It was so bad that he had even considered trying cigarettes, which he hadn't smoked even back on Earth, so he felt a serious sense of crisis.
'Did those alchemist bastards seriously lace the potions with drugs?'
The silver lining was that even though his working hours had been drastically reduced, his speed hadn't slowed much.
Maybe because his head felt clearer, more natural developments and staging came to him automatically when storyboarding, so the work was already finished.
Moreover, Sena, whom he had been teaching at his side, absorbed drawing knowledge at a pace that seemed to boast of her talent.
She was already a huge help not only with storyboards but with the actual production work.
Of course, so far she only did backgrounds and base coloring, but Rupert was desperate for any extra pair of hands, so that alone was more than enough.
"According to Monk Manuel, the Saintess intends to request a sacred painting for the church currently under construction. I think it would be best to meet her in person and discuss it."
But even with Sena's help, taking on other projects was impossible.
Personally, Rupert did want to try religious artwork such as murals or sacred paintings.
But such works required a timeframe measured in years at minimum, so it was utterly out of the question.
His body could barely hold up with just the manga volume work he was doing now. If he took on such a long-term, large-scale project, he would probably collapse again.
So he decided to meet the Saintess in person and politely decline.
His father had offered to meet her in his place and explain the situation, but that could invite unnecessary nitpicking.
And since he was curious to see the Saintess, whom even a noble might see once in a lifetime at best, Rupert decided to do it himself.
"Master Rupert, the Goddess Church's carriage has arrived at the mansion."
"Got it. I'll come down right away."
Speak of the Saintess—no sooner had he mentioned her than she appeared.
Rupert checked his attire once more, went over the Goddess Church scripture passages he had been memorizing for days, and moved to greet her.
***
"It is an honor to meet Gaia's daughter face-to-face like this. I am Rupert Somerset, second son of House Somerset."
"Rupert, may the Mother's grace dwell within you as well."
The Saintess answered Rupert's courteous greeting with a gentle smile.
By tradition, the moment a Saintess was chosen through the goddess's oracle, she cast off her worldly name and lived solely under the title of Saintess, or Daughter of Gaia.
Among those, the title "Daughter of Gaia" was one that honored the Saintess. Rupert, who had learned this over the past few days through Monk Manuel's tutoring, felt a sense of success at the Saintess's favorable response.
The Saintess had soft platinum-blonde hair.
He only stole a quick glance at her face, worried that staring too intently would get him scolded for irreverence, but it was a face brimming with dignity.
Was this what the personification of holiness looked like?
The imperial princess and Amelia whom he had met had nobly elegant looks, but the Saintess was of a slightly different character.
She wasn't exactly dazzling or overwhelmingly beautiful, yet her mere presence put those around her at ease.
If he had the time and could observe her from a bit of a distance, she had an appearance memorable enough that he would want to sketch her.
"I'll show you to the drawing room."
The Saintess gave a slight nod at Rupert's words.
Following behind the Saintess came an elderly man who appeared to be a high-ranking church official, along with two holy knights.
'So the rumor that the only force comparable to them is the Royal Guard wasn't an exaggeration.'
Rupert thought as he glanced at the holy knights following the Saintess.
Of course, Rupert wasn't a knight himself and had no ability to gauge strength and weakness.
But their elite caliber was palpable from their outward bearing alone.
House Somerset had recently expanded its knights and soldiers, so he could feel the difference all the more keenly.
He had the miserable feeling that even if all of our family's forces attacked those two holy knights, we'd be the ones crushed.
"I heard you enjoy blue tea, so I prepared that. Will that be all right?"
"Yes, thank you."
The extravagance of imperial nobles truly had to be acknowledged. Especially when it came to tea and refreshments for entertaining guests, the prices were whatever the seller asked.
Fortunately, the blue tea the Saintess enjoyed—also known as clear tea—was a cheap, popular tea that commoners drank often as well.
If she'd had expensive tastes, it would have cost a fortune to procure what she wanted.
As they drank tea, the Saintess offered polite pleasantries, saying the territory looked peaceful and pleasing to see, and I responded by rattling off praises to the goddess as if rapping.
"Ah, now that I think of it, I heard you collapsed. Are you all right now?"
"Yes, perhaps thanks to the goddess's protection, I've improved a great deal."
"I believe it was the goddess's providence that brought me here as well. I would like to offer a prayer for you, Sir Rupert. Would that be all right?"
"For Gaia's daughter to offer a prayer for me... I couldn't trouble you over such a trifling matter. I'll gratefully accept the sentiment."
"Not at all. Sir Rupert is already doing noble work, conveying the will of the Mother Goddess to the world through picture books, so you are more than worthy of accepting it."
I glanced at the holy knights and the church official standing motionless behind the Saintess like stone statues.
Even at the Saintess's sudden mention of prayer, they simply remained still.
'Is it all right to accept?'
In the end, after the Saintess's repeated offers, I went before her, knelt, and bowed my head.