Chapter 29
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: The Golden Saintess
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"Restraint complete. Good work!"
The commotion finally came to an end, and the shapeshifter's arms and legs were tightly bound.
One of the cavalrymen approached and saluted me.
"That was a truly effective takedown, Inspector!"
His rough face lit up with sparkling eyes that didn't quite suit him.
"Establishing a encirclement as top priority, then capturing the criminal alive with minimal personnel and no casualties!"
He looked at me like I was some general.
"So that's why the Margrave entrusted us entirely to you, Inspector!"
"Ah, ahaha... No, it was just luck."
Feeling burdened by his gaze, I turned my head slightly and asked,
"...What happens to the prisoner now?"
The shapeshifter was being dragged off somewhere, limp and unconscious.
On the surface, a terrorist. In truth, a saintess kidnapper.
But this wasn't something the Immigration Control Office had handled alone.
We'd received help from various sides and requested cooperation, so the lines of responsibility had gotten complicated.
The soldier caught my meaning and replied,
"Don't worry. Since he caused a disturbance in the margrave's territory, we'll handle the initial interrogation."
Fair enough.
The margrave held full authority over roadblocks and the encirclement.
Preliminary interrogation rights belonged to him.
"We'll contact the Immigration Control Office as soon as possible. It won't take long."
I nodded at the firm assurance they'd hand him over soon.
"By the way, what's the punishment for someone who causes this much chaos?"
I asked out of sudden curiosity.
The Immigration Control Office usually blacklists and deports people for disturbances like this.
I wondered how local laws in the margrave's territory handled it.
The soldier glanced at me for a moment before answering meaningfully,
"...Execution."
"Oof."
I shuddered involuntarily.
Why did that word feel so familiar?
"Especially since he assaulted a national official, no chance of pardon. And with the Margrave taking interest, he'll be thrown into the underground dungeon."
"A most fitting punishment."
I silently wished for the shapeshifter's soul to rest in peace.
You're in the same boat as me soon enough.
I won't pity you.
You committed a capital crime.
"Then we'll be off. I'll dismiss the remaining soldiers after cleanup."
With that, the soldier saluted, led his horse away, and departed.
The atmosphere was finally winding down.
Onlookers who had gathered started drifting back to their places one by one.
But we still had work to do.
I turned to the werewolf stretching in the sunset glow.
"Good work, Olfactory Officer. Thanks to you, it all worked out."
Without him, a lot of soldiers' blood would have been spilled.
Plus, despite his excitement, the Olfactory Officer hadn't killed the enemy.
Impressive restraint and mission execution. Worthy of praise.
At my words, the Olfactory Officer finally relaxed his expression with relief.
"Ughhhh! Feels like a month's worth of stress just melted away, hehe."
"I see..."
I narrowed my eyes.
Yeah. Praise was praise.
But he'd overlooked one crucial thing.
"Woof woof, grrr growl bark? (=So where's the saintess?)"
Sudden werewolf speech rang out, and the Olfactory Officer blinked blankly before frowning.
"...I am the Olfactory Officer, Central Officer. That stings a bit."
"Bark bark bark. (=Answer me.)"
I repeated in their language, gesturing for him to look around.
'Too many ears listening.'
Even in this wrap-up phase, soldiers were still around.
Openly mentioning the saintess here would likely reach the margrave's ears.
There was only one reason we'd run this Pig Hunt operation.
The saintess. And she wasn't here right now.
Where's our pig?
Finally getting it, the Olfactory Officer hurriedly switched languages.
"W-whoa, woof woof. Grrr bark grrr, bark. (=Ah, that piglet in the bag. It was in the inner room on the second floor.)"
"Bark huff huff woof woof? (=Why didn't you bring it?)"
"..."
No response.
His "oh crap" face.
He averted his eyes slyly.
Obvious.
He got high on bloodlust, fought like crazy, and totally forgot.
He always nailed the job but fumbled the finish.
"Sh-should I go get it?"
"No need. I'll go."
Saying that, I headed into the half-destroyed building.
Convincing the saintess was my job anyway.
"..."
Erzena was trapped inside the bag.
She'd lost track of time.
Exhausted from struggling and resisting, she now lay still like she was dead.
'I just want it to end now...'
From the highest position of saintess,
to the lowest of pig.
Her fall in an instant left her with only two emotions.
The hope that someone would surely come to save her, and the despair that no salvation existed, that she didn't know what would happen next.
She had hope.
Erzena still remembered that one man's voice from when she'd nearly given up everything.
- S-Saintess?
A man who recognized her, unseen by anyone else, with just a single touch.
The divine power she'd felt the moment they connected made her think she'd finally escape this hell.
That God would save her through him.
But,
- Thwack!
That hope shattered mercilessly under brutal kicks.
- If you want this man to live, come quietly.
Instead, it became shackles, tightening around her like chains.
"Ugh..."
Her forehead throbbed.
To stop them from killing the Central Officer, she'd thrown her whole body against the wall.
No regrets.
He'd done nothing wrong.
'Just doing his job, following principles. An upright man.'
She couldn't let someone like that die.
She had to prevent him from dying unjustly, swept up in the Church's blind faith.
'That's my atonement.'
But even that resolve dulled as time passed and hope faded.
The Central Officer, her last salvation, was gone.
God didn't answer.
The shapeshifter's whisper of "too late" stabbed like a dagger.
With her will eroded, all that remained for Erzena was darkness and silence.
Things she'd never experienced since becoming a saintess.
Unable to get used to them, she just curled up and trembled repeatedly.
But despair didn't end there.
- Awooooooo!!
A wolf's howl that shook heaven and earth assaulted her ears.
'Scary, scary!'
Terror she'd felt for the first time.
The beast's roar carried the weight of a death sentence to a powerless animal.
Having become a pig, she felt it vividly.
In the darkness, amid the beast's roars and clashing steel, she cried out for salvation from her bag-like prison.
A salvation with no response.
And so, Erzena gave up.
A saintess abandoned by God.
Thinking that was her pathetic end, the moment she surrendered fully to despair,
"Cough! Ugh, how much destruction did they cause to kick up this much dust..."
"...!!!"
A familiar voice came from somewhere.
- Step, step.
Human footsteps approached steadily.
"First, curtains open. Can't find anything without light."
- Swish.
This was a voice she knew.
The one man she'd worried so much about.
But she couldn't open her mouth rashly.
'A hallucination?'
Had she finally gone mad, conjuring sounds to escape this crushing silence?
Desperate for rescue, had she invented a phantom Central Officer?
"The bag... where was it? Definitely here."
No.
This was real.
No hallucination.
The saintess's eyes snapped open as she cried out.
"Here! I'm here!"
"Huh?"
An immediate response.
Footsteps hurried toward her,
- Click.
and the bag opened.
"Eek...!"
Sudden light split the darkness in two, golden sunset flooding her face.
So bright she couldn't bear to look.
"There you are."
The voice grew clearer.
Erzena blinked slowly.
A man with black eyes looked down at her.
The Central Officer's face she'd longed to see.
Weary with fatigue yet never looking defeated.
"Hello, Saintess."
The golden sunset illuminated him brilliantly.
A relieved smile greeted her.
"I've come to save you."
Ah.
Aah.
You.
Why do you come to me as salvation like this?
"You're safe now."
Not a hallucination.
He really came to save me.
The only man who recognized me as a pig.
Without giving up.
Never bending to despair.
"Glad you're unharmed. Truly."
Her chest burned hot.
Her body trembled.
Embracing the overwhelming surge, the piglet leaped into Nathan's arms.
Human warmth was gentle.
Like the golden sunset enveloping her now.
Something she'd taken for granted and forgotten.
Something she'd craved and desperately needed.
Nathan Kell gave it all to Erzena fully.
And so, Erzena wept loudly.
Pouring out regrets, guilt, and relief she'd suppressed, unable to voice.
"Waaaaaah!"
And at that moment,
- Whoosh.
the transformation potion's effect wore off.
- Thud.
"Whoa."
Unable to bear the sudden weight, I toppled backward.
Naturally, the saintess straddling me wailed as if the world was ending.
"It's my fault! All my fault!"
"W-wait, Saintess?"
"Sniff, it's all because of me! I accused you of heresy, it was all me... Waaaaaah!"
Her piercing cries filled the room.
But I was just as flustered.
What the hell was this situation?
I opened the bag expecting pig squeals, and there was the saintess.
She saw me and jumped into my arms.
Then turned human and bawled.
Naked, at that.
Her pale skin glowed beautifully in the sunset.
Her sky-blue hair, despite all the ordeal, cascaded like a veil over my body.
"Sniff, sorry, I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."
Tears dropped from her repeatedly apologizing eyes, soaking my chest.
"Uh..."
Where her hands touched my body, faint golden haze shimmered.
A grown woman naked in a stranger's arms, crying.
Anyone seeing this would misunderstand big time.
"F-first, put some clothes on."
I quickly shrugged off my inspector coat and draped it over her.
Buttoning it up for her as emotions choked her words.
As her hands left my body, the haze faded.
"Saintess. It's okay now. Everything's resolved. So—"
The moment I tried to calm her,
- Bang!
"Central Officer, you okay!? Heard a loud noise and came up!"
The Olfactory Officer burst in urgently.
"...Huh?"
"Ah, Olfactory Officer. Perfect timing."
He stared blankly at the scene for a moment.
Sunset beautifully streaming into the room.
An abandoned building no one visits.
A young man and woman.
The woman with teary, moist eyes from crying, naked under just a coat in the man's arms.
The man holding her, smiling awkwardly in embarrassment.
The Olfactory Officer was quick on the uptake.
"My apologies. Enjoy your time."
"W-wait! Olfactory Officer! Hey!"
- Screech, slam.
The door shut.
Voices came from beyond the closed door.
"Huh? What's going on? Why not go in?"
"Dude, going in now would be bad. Circle the block with me first."
"What? What's that mean! Is the Central Officer really okay?"
"Yeah, yeah. He's fine. Too healthy, that's the problem."
Spewing easily misunderstood words without hesitation, the Olfactory Officer dragged the Gustatory Officer outside forcibly.
I watched blankly, then realized what I needed to do.
'The reason I went this far to save the saintess.'
Not the time for this.
I straightened up and sat facing her properly.
"Saintess."
"Y-yes...?"
"Sorry to say this, but I had a reason for saving you."
"A reason... sniff, a reason...?"
I hesitated briefly.
Could I tell this woman everything?
Erzena, armed with fanaticism and extreme black-and-white thinking.
But I needed her now.
Having rescued her from kidnapping, our debts were settled cleanly.
So.
"Actually..."
Alright.
Lay all cards on the table.
Honesty moves hearts, after all.
I spilled everything without holding back: my current predicament.
The queen raging for summary execution after entry denial,
blocked, so now the king's edict to pass through the Holy Legion.
And my impending trial.
Sniffling, the saintess listened intently to it all.
"Such... things happened..."
"I know it's an unreasonable request, Saintess. You're from the Holy Church after all. But—"
I started to negotiate—please save me since I saved you—when the saintess spoke first.
"I'll do it."
"Please think it over once more. Saving one—wait, what?"
Too quick a reply.
"I'll do it."
Erzena had already decided in her heart.
She gazed at her hands.
Back to human form, but her divine power hadn't returned.
No warm golden haze either.
Of course.
The pig transformation had no link to divine power.
Her divine power vanished the moment the Central Officer stamped entry denial.
It wouldn't return just because she was human again.
'But earlier... I definitely felt it at my fingertips.'
Yet she'd seen it.
When emotions overwhelmed her and she clung to Nathan, touching his body—the faint flicker of divine power.
The moment she saw it, Erzena understood.
This was revelation and trial.
A revelation that her fate intertwined with this man,
and a trial to move forward without clinging to the divine power she'd relied on lifelong.
This was the true trial.
Was she only revered because of divine power?
No.
To truly be called a saintess,
she must not be swayed by such things.
Believe in what she deemed right and advance steadfastly.
Like the Central Officer before her now.
Like Nathan Kell, who endured all pressures and trials to the end.
So Erzena wiped her tears and said,
"I, Erzena Selaph, will attend your trial as a witness."
She'd made her decision.
To correct her own wrongs.
To be reborn anew at this man's side.
As he saved her, now she would save him.
The pig lost in despair was gone.
Only the risen saintess remained.
"What testimony should I give?"
Her golden eyes, filled with resolve, sparkled in the sunset.
