Chapter 12
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: Saintess
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A black wooden coffin.
How long had it been there?
I hadn't noticed it when I came in, but I was certain it was what I knew it to be.
- Thud.
The coffin's lid opened with a dull sound.
"Who... are you?"
"Ah, you're awake? Put this on for me, will you?"
A golden-haired beauty emerged from the coffin.
And the Hero prodded the girl's cheek with her severed arm.
The girl's cheek jiggled without resistance under the Hero's arm.
Everyone at the supply base froze at the somewhat creepy sight.
"Uwaaah... I was sleeping sooo gooood... Hm? What? When did you get here...?"
"I got here a bit ago. I went for a short walk, and this happened."
You go for a walk and come back with your arm cut off?
The girl let out a big yawn and roughly handed over the bandages dangling from her arm to the Hero.
"Here. That should do it...? I'm going back to sleep now... "
The Hero took the bandages, and the girl closed the coffin's lid again.
- Thud.
The coffin shut with another dull sound.
"......"
There was nothing to say.
Neither to the Hero poking the girl's cheek with her severed arm,
nor to the girl casually handing over the bandages.
The two acted as if it were the most natural routine in the world.
There was only one golden-haired beauty in this game who slept in a coffin.
The Saintess, Carmilla de Saint Croix.
And that coffin was her cradle, "Thorn Vine."
'So that's why the Saintess doesn't appear early on.'
The Saintess was a character who only showed her face after the game progressed a bit.
I never imagined she'd be hiding in a place like this.
The Hero pressed the bandages the Saintess had given her against the stump of her severed arm.
A moment later, the bandages melted away like smoke, and her arm reattached perfectly.
"It stuck back on nicely."
The Hero started swinging her arm around to check the joint's movement.
"...Hm? What? We meet again?"
All eyes that had been on the Hero shifted to follow her gaze.
And the problem was that her gaze ended on me.
"Yes... Hero. We meet again."
Why now, of all times...!
My body was still trembling slightly from what happened earlier.
It hadn't even been that long since then.
And now all eyes were on me, making it worse.
"You didn't forget our promise from earlier... 'friend'."
Why does she have to phrase it like that?
The Hero emphasized "friend" as if she wanted everyone to hear.
She was probably referring to the contract we made earlier with the word "promise."
"Yes... Of course not... "
"See you later then, friend."
Don't do this for real.
The Hero calling me her friend was way too much pressure.
I glanced sideways.
Sure enough... Hans's mouth was hanging wide open.
Ha. What was I supposed to do about this now?
"Mr. Anderson... no, Lord Anderson. Are you... with the Hero too...?"
"Ah... It's just a one-time acquaintance."
His eyes sparkled with excitement.
I wondered what he was thinking.
I just hoped it had nothing to do with me.
Please let it be that...
Hans and I went back up to the second floor.
Hans led me to a small room next to the supply officer's office.
The room was neatly lined with various snacks and cigarettes.
Though supplies had been cut off for a long time, so it wasn't fully stocked.
"Please have a seat here for a moment. I'll go brew some tea."
Hans's tone had changed.
He'd been polite earlier out of courtesy, but now he was treating me with full deference.
This wasn't what I'd wanted.
He even placed a basket of dried chestnuts, peanuts, and almonds in front of me.
Hans closed the door and left to brew the tea.
"What the hell was that earlier?"
The Hero's behavior... well.
From her perspective, I could see it.
In her eyes, I was someone who'd lived her whole life as a slave.
She probably thought it might cause issues with my reputation, so she acted accordingly.
Now my info would be buzzing around people's mouths.
My connection to the Hero, my letter of recommendation, and so on.
It probably wouldn't point toward "slave" anymore.
Even so, the situation wasn't bad.
No, it was better than the standard Western route.
From the Hero's perspective, this was tremendous consideration.
The Hero I'd seen in the game wasn't like that.
As I always said, a brutal psychopath. That's exactly what the Hero I'd known was.
I hadn't thought she had even that much consideration.
And here she was, chatting peacefully with the Saintess.
The Hero and Saintess I knew weren't on good terms.
Far beyond not getting along—they hated each other.
The Saintess in the game... had fallen.
By the time she appeared, she was already on the Demon King's side, not the Empire's.
So I couldn't even imagine her healing humans.
At this point in the timeline, the Saintess hadn't fallen yet, and she didn't seem on bad terms with the Hero either.
And her ability was...
- Thud.
The door burst open roughly.
"Haa~awn."
The golden-haired girl kicked the door open with her foot while yawning hugely.
The Saintess...?
Her hair was a mess, like she was still half-asleep.
She rubbed her sleepy eyes with the back of her hand and headed to the cigarettes on display.
- Rustle...
"......Hm. You today."
She soon found one she liked and pulled a cigar from the shelf.
Then she turned around with it in her mouth.
"...Huh? Who's the big bro...? Never seen your face before."
She must have been so tired she hadn't noticed someone inside, but now she finally questioned me.
The Saintess looked around, then sat down in front of me upon realizing we were the only two in the room.
"Hm. Newbie?"
She eyed me up and down, then shifted her gaze back to the cigar.
She pricked her fingertip with her nail to draw a bit of blood, rubbed it on the cigar, and after a moment, it lit up.
"Phew... Finally sending newbies again...? The Empire bastards are really ruthless."
The Saintess exhaled and pointed at me with her cigar.
She looked less like a saintess and more like a rough, laid-back old man smoking.
Far from pure and noble—more vulgar.
"Sorry to disappoint, but I'm Anderson, newly enlisted this time."
Yeah, enlisted. I thought it'd never happen twice in my life.
The Saintess took another drag on her cigar, looking disappointed at my answer.
"What...? Not Imperial Army? Too bad... But big bro, didn't you see downstairs?"
"Doesn't matter to me."
"Hm... Wanna be my snack boy then? The work's easy."
The Saintess said with a sly grin.
Her "snack boy" probably wasn't about fetching nuts.
Literally becoming her snack.
Of course... since this bitch was a vampire.
Saintess, Carmilla de Saint Croix. Race: Vampire.
Her ability: overwhelming healing through blood, to a grotesque degree.
Vampires need to consume blood periodically.
Just like humans die without food, vampires die without it.
So that's why she was calling me "snack boy."
Also, as creatures of the night, vampires' bodies don't function properly during the day.
Their muscle strength drops by more than half.
In short, being the Saintess's snack boy meant night shifts!
No way in hell.
Oh, and by the way, it was daytime outside right now.
In other words, this bitch Saintess had woken up from sleep just to come upstairs for a smoke.
Was she really a saintess?
"It's no big deal~ Just let me take a little taste off your arm and I'll reattach it~ That's one serving."
"...Sorry. I've applied to be a Gatekeeper this time."
Oh right, I'd forgotten. She wasn't right in the head either.
Arms aren't electrical plugs you unplug and replug...
The Saintess's eyes went wide at my words about applying for Gatekeeper.
Like, what arrogant nonsense is that?
You couldn't just apply and get it.
I didn't even have my letter of recommendation to show her right now.
I'd handed the documents to Hans, so I could only show them when he came back.
No proof...
"Phew... If Hans is involved, he must've handled it... But big bro, can you really do it? Sorry to say, but you look kinda pathetic."
The Saintess narrowed her eyes suspiciously, exhaling smoke.
She trusted Hans but was curious if I was really capable.
Then she smirked.
"Then prove it..."
"Do a body search on me."
"Pardon?"
"Do the body search now."
The Saintess struck an arrogant pose, telling me to search her.
"No, I don't wanna tell you my age, so just do a quick body search. I can tell everything from that."
The Saintess took another puff, saying to skip the age check.
As far as I knew, she was about 3...0.
"What're you thinking, big bro? Hurry up."
She read my expression and grinned teasingly.
Scary. Why were all the women around me like this?
Calling me "big bro" at her age.
"Yes. Commencing body search now. Then, against the wall..."
"Nah, I'll do it sitting. Too tired."
Fine, totally selfish.
Body search sitting down was a first for me too.
Alright, let's do it properly.
I stuffed my gloves into my pocket.
Going by capital military regs.
The basic body search done with the back of the hand.
I moved behind the Saintess's back.
"Commencing."
The moment I placed my hand on her shoulder, a stinging sensation shot through my hand.
This was a new feeling.
"Uh... yeah, quick..."
- Bang!
There was a loud thud against the desk.
Suddenly, the moment my hand touched her, the Saintess slammed her head on the desk and collapsed forward.
"...What the?"
No, even without gloves, no one had ever collapsed like that.
Wait. Was this another test?
Was there a manual in the game for when someone collapsed?
But she's a vampire.
As I looked at the Saintess slumped over the desk, wondering if I should call Hans,
a strange sound reached my ears.
"Mmm... grrr..."
A whiny sound like a tantrum, mixed with a low cat-like purring.
Huh? No way...
I turned to check the Saintess's other side of her face.
"She's asleep? Drooling and all..."
The Saintess was sleeping. Drooling profusely.
I looked at my hand, but it looked normal.
Since when could I induce sleep therapy?
I hadn't even rubbed it anywhere.
Just touched her, and this? Did that make sense?
I quickly came to a conclusion.
What? She's a total pushover.
"......"
This pretty much ended the inspection, right?
Just in case, I placed my hand on her shoulder again.
The soft feel of her skin came through my hand.
Maybe because she didn't work out... Unlike Selena or the Hero, even the Saintess's shoulders were soft.
No reaction this time, so the inspection was probably done.
Now what to do with her.
"Grrrng, grrrng..."
Her expression looked blissful to anyone watching.
Setting the mood like that before starting... then drooling and purring. Ridiculous.
I'd have to move her, right?
Couldn't ask Hans for this.
As far as I knew, the Saintess could only recover in her cradle.
Leaving her like this could cause issues for others.
Fine, I'd move her myself.
I grabbed her shoulders and propped her against the chair.
Her hidden figure was now exposed defenselessly.
Looking at her like this...
The Saintess had a very petite build.
Her proportions were good, so I hadn't noticed from afar, but she was small.
If Selena and the Hero had lean, toned bodies with subtle muscles,
the Saintess was a bit shorter than average adult height, with almost no visible muscle.
Instead, soft padding stood out all over her body, as if meant to protect her.
I took a deep breath and lifted her into a princess carry.
My hands under her butt and waist.
My arms supporting her calves.
Naturally, she wrapped her arms around my neck.
Then buried her face deep into my neck.
The classic... that kind of position.
My quads weren't up for a proper princess carry.
This was the best I could do.
Wait, was it okay to touch her butt...?
The thought suddenly crossed my mind.
The sensations I'd been ignoring started raging.
Despite many body searches before, they were all localized sensations.
Small surface area.
But this close, intense contact... except for that brief moment with the Hero hugging me, never.
And even that was a split second.
From my chest, I felt the presence I'd been ignoring.
Soft resilience... like a big marshmallow tucked there.
The Saintess's breasts asserted themselves with every movement of my body.
And as I gripped her butt and waist, her soft flesh yielded between my fingers.
As if begging for attention.
Even her muscles felt chewy rather than firm.
Probably a vampire racial trait.
Vampires' muscles barely worked in the morning.
Ah. Better not think more.
She was just as unhinged as the Hero and Selena.
I suppressed the dark urges stirring in my chest.
For now, I walked to the door feeling like I was carrying a giant pudding.
Her body had zero firmness; it felt like she might slip right out.
Phew... now what? How to open this.
My hands were both supporting her.
The Saintess had her face buried in my neck, purring away.
Cigarette smell...
Her body smelled of flesh mixed with cigarettes.
A bit of iron too...
No way to open the door came to mind.
Was she always like this? I'd only seen her leading monsters to invade the Empire.
- Creak.
Then the door opened.
Hans.
Here to save me.
Carrying the Saintess like this might be seen as blasphemy,
but if I explained, it'd work out.
I hadn't wanted it, but Hans had become my solid backup.
"Lord Anderson, I heard a loud noise..."
Hans opened the door, saw me, and couldn't hide his shock.
Eyes can get that big?
Hans froze, hands trembling.
The tea in his hand was about to spill.
I didn't know he'd worry about me that much.
Please, just take her away.
"Hans, save m—"
"Lord Anderson... sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt your time. I'll bring the tea later."
Huh? Wait.
Hold on, Hans.
Don't go...
- Creak.
But against my wishes, Hans hurriedly shut the door and left.
"Grrrng...!"
The Saintess growled irritably at the noise of the conversation and door.
What kind of growling is that? Someone take her away, please.