The Saintess Revealed
The female group let out a shallow sigh as they faced Baran. They had finally carved out some free time to spend alone with him, only for him to vanish without a trace from their lodging. In the end, the girls wandered off on their own to enjoy themselves.
“Huh?” Risa reacted with surprise.
Sherry turned to her with a question. “What is it, Risa? Something wrong?”
“No, it’s just… isn’t that Baran over there?”
At her words, the three of them whipped their heads around. There stood Baran, handing a bracelet to a woman while chatting with her. The sight left them utterly dumbfounded. None of them had ever imagined Baran would be giving something like a bracelet to another woman.
Eventually, the three of them strode straight toward him.
“Baran?”
“Baran?”
“What are you doing over there?”
They called out to him with smiles that could freeze blood. Baran’s head turned stiffly, like a malfunctioning robot. At the same time—
“Wow. Baran, you’re flirting again,” Risa said in a startled voice.
Kanya had drifted a little farther away, as if to avoid getting caught up in whatever was about to happen. Baran could only hide his inner turmoil as he looked at them.
Why are these girls showing up here of all places?
The world never went the way one wanted, but the timing was far too perfect. Faced with the unexpected situation, Baran’s mind raced. Just then—
“Baran, who are these people?” Aria asked, tilting her head curiously.
Baran scratched his cheek as he answered. “Ah, they’re classmates from my group.”
“I see. It looks like your friends have misunderstood.”
“Misunderstood?”
At that, Luden crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing sharply. In the next moment, Aria offered a gentle smile to clear things up.
“I simply made a mistake and asked Baran to show me around the city. Nothing more than that happened.”
“Then what about the bracelet? We saw him giving you a pretty one earlier.”
“This was just a token of thanks for guiding me.”
“……”
The three girls narrowed their eyes further at the explanation. Baran let out a quiet sigh in his mind as he watched them.
Haah. I wonder what would happen if they found out she’s the Saintess.
At least her robe hid most of her hair and face, so they hadn’t recognized her. If that robe came off, things would undoubtedly spiral into chaos. He needed to part ways with Aria before any more troublesome incidents occurred.
Just as Baran finished organizing his thoughts and was about to speak—
“So you were here.”
Gawen, one of the holy knights, appeared before them. Everyone except Baran and the Saintess tilted their heads in confusion at his arrival. Gawen addressed Aria directly.
“Saintess, the other holy knights are looking for you.”
“?!”
Everyone in the group except Baran froze in shock. They had never imagined that the person they had been interrogating was none other than the Holy Federation’s Saintess.
“Haah, must you say that in front of everyone?”
“My apologies. The Holy Church has been in an uproar ever since you escaped.”
“Ugh. Then I suppose it’s my fault.”
“……”
Aria let out a shallow sigh at Gawen’s lack of denial.
The only one I can trust is acting like this. I have nothing to say.
Unlike the other holy knights, Gawen never showed even a hint of desire toward her. He even thought of her as his niece.
“Understood. Then at least let me say goodbye before we go.”
“Yes, that should be fine.”
Aria slowly removed her robe. In the next instant, her snow-white hair was revealed, along with the beautiful face and figure that had been hidden beneath the fabric.
They really did nail the Saintess’s design.
Well, she was a heroine, so of course her design had to be exceptional. In a way, it would have been stranger if she didn’t look like this.
“Ah, now that I think about it, there’s no point in showing my face to Baran.”
“You were hiding your appearance?”
“Yes. Given my position.”
“That makes sense. Still, you look beautiful to me even so.”
“Pardon?”
Aria reacted with surprise at Baran’s words. Without missing a beat, he showered her with compliments as if he had prepared them in advance.
“Even if I can’t see ahead, I can perceive the mana of others. Aria’s mana is among the most beautiful I’ve ever encountered.”
“I-Is that so.”
Her ears had turned red, clearly embarrassed. She cleared her throat.
“Ahem. Anyway, thank you for today.”
“Not at all. I should be the one thanking you.”
“Then I hope we can meet again sometime.”
With those words, she gave a small bow and walked away with Gawen. The moment Aria disappeared, Sherry narrowed her eyes.
“Baran. You two seemed awfully close.”
“And your skill at giving compliments was no joke either.”
Lillia added with a smile, backing up Sherry’s words. Finally, Luden approached with her arms crossed and delivered the finishing blow.
“Baran. You really do talk to just anyone, don’t you.”
Unable to find any words to defend himself against their assault, Baran could only smile awkwardly.
—This is your own doing, my disciple.
Baran had no response to Miroel’s jab.
Life is hell.
***
Once free time ended, the students all returned to their lodging without being late. Normally, they would have visited the church to receive Aria’s blessing. However, due to her escapade, the schedule had been canceled. It seemed Aria was currently being scolded by the Pope.
Well, that’s how it went in the game too.
In the end, receiving the Saintess’s blessing was postponed until the next morning. As a result, the academy had unexpectedly gained another stretch of free time.
Not that we can leave the premises, though.
With that thought, Baran lay down on his bed. He took a moment to organize his thoughts.
In two days, the incident will definitely happen.
The Saintess assassination plot scheduled for two days later. The traitors, acting on Chris’s orders, would infiltrate the Holy Federation, assault the Saintess, and then kill her. From there, the route split into two possibilities: either capture Chris without saving the Saintess, or rescue the Saintess first and then capture Chris.
Right now, the former is obviously much easier.
All the traitors would focus on the Saintess to capture her. That meant almost none would be left guarding Chris. However, thinking ahead, the latter was the only correct choice. After all, the Saintess was practically essential when it came to dealing with the demon race.
And besides…
Naturally, he also wanted to save the Saintess. She had lived as an orphan since childhood, only to be dragged into the church. On top of that, she had been confined there without any freedom. Knowing her backstory, he couldn’t help but want to rescue her.
At least I’ve already gotten somewhat close to her and given her the bracelet.
If she ever found herself in danger, the tracker inside the subspace ring would react immediately. Even if a butterfly effect occurred, he could rest easy now. If things looked dangerous, he would simply move.
The Saintess wouldn’t die right away, at least.
Hmm. I should get some rest…
Just then, a single thought flashed through his mind. There were still two full days before the incident. That meant he had plenty of time to spare. But—
There’s no reason for me to just sit around.
He had been thinking too much like the original story. After all, his goal this time wasn’t to kill Chris. So there was no problem with moving right now and slowly eliminating the traitors one by one. In fact, if he removed them immediately, Chris’s state of mind would likely become quite complicated.
I’ll move now.
With that decision made, he got up. At the same time—
—Are you going to move, my disciple?
Miroel drifted leisurely around him as she asked. He answered her question.
“Yes. It seems I need to take action.”
—Hmm. I have many questions, but I won’t ask them for now.
“Yes. Thank you, Master.”
With those words, he slipped out of the building through the window.
***
Meanwhile, the holy knights gathered in the empty shop—or rather, the traitors disguised as holy knights—were deep in thought. After all, the Saintess had escaped the church today.
“Phew. Who would’ve thought that woman would leave the church.”
“You’re telling me. We almost had a disaster on our hands. I nearly had a heart attack thinking the target had escaped.”
“Hmm, by the way, when did Lord Chris say to kill her?”
“He said to do it in two days. It seems the Edin Academy group’s arrival played a part.”
“Tsk. What about Gawen?”
“We’ll keep having him handle the academy tour.”
“Phew. The academy is giving us quite the headache.”
Edin Academy had recently killed a Demon King Army executive. With them around, it was only natural to tread carefully. That was why killing the Saintess on the final day was the right call. Even if they succeeded that day, the news of her death wouldn’t spread until the next day at the earliest.
By then, the academy group will have already left.
Just as the traitors were discussing how they would assault the Saintess—
—Step. Step.
The sound of neat footsteps reached their ears. Startled by the unexpected noise, the traitors turned their heads. There stood a blind man with white bandages over his eyes.
“Who’s there?”
“Can’t see, so he must’ve taken a wrong turn?”
As the traitors voiced their doubts, Baran slipped the communication orb he had taken out back into his subspace ring.
“Looks like the recording went well.”
At his words, the traitors’ gazes sharpened. Paying no mind to their reaction, Baran spoke in a cold voice.
“Time to clean up the trash.”
The hunt for the traitors had begun.