Chapter 26
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 26: Crushed by the Disaster I Brought Upon Myself (6)
“Will I be able to overcome them?”
The Saintess's gaze asking that was trembling with fear.
The moment I saw those eyes, I thought.
'Did I do something wrong?'
Last time, the advice I gave snowballed causing the Saintess to distance herself from the Male Lead Candidates, and this time the kid lost her confidence.
Although it wouldn't be strange for such a thing to happen, since there are things I did, I first started thinking if I did anything wrong.
"Why are you suddenly worrying about that?"
"There was that Flesh Giant we fought last time."
"Yes, it was very tricky because its regeneration was too strong.”
"What if Mr. Ethan hadn't asked me for holy water?”
“......”
“It probably would have kept swelling... and when it became big enough to cover the entire plaza, it wouldn't be able to withstand the black mana anymore and exploded.”
If there hadn't been holy water, it would have been so.
Being able to kill the flesh monster was possible because the three beats of the Saintess, me, and Kairin matched perfectly.
The commercial district of the academy was huge fitting the scale of the academy.
Although we evacuated people in the commercial district doing our best, saving everyone was realistically impossible.
Contrary to our wish, the flesh monster would have continued to grow, and eventually, we would have had no choice but to escape for safety.
After that, once the Flesh Giant exploded bang, the commercial district area would have been devastated, and all people who couldn't evacuate from there would have died.
“Mr. Ethan said it before, right? Warlocks appearing after hundreds of years and the Saintess appearing to match that. That warlocks would target the Saintess and people around her.”
“I did.”
Right. It was when I answered Asel's question asking why I dislike the Saintess so much after meeting the Saintess's group at the restaurant we visited before.
Since I kept getting involved with the Saintess, I said it as if for her to hear to draw a line openly.
It wasn't particularly a lie either, seeing as the attempted assassination of the Saintess actually happened right after.
“When I first heard those words, I felt very aggrieved. I was already annoyed because Mr. Ethan kept avoiding me, so I thought you were making a ridiculous excuse.”
From the Saintess's perspective, it could be so.
Originally, doesn't the protagonist not know the fact that they drive incidents around.
“But right after that, an assailant targeted me and terror occurred at the academy, so my thoughts changed.”
“How so?”
“Really, as Mr. Ethan said, if warlocks continue to threaten me and my surroundings, will I be able to protect everyone until the end? Like that.”
Winning in reality isn't something where victory and defeat are decided clearly like rock-paper-scissors.
Just as there are sayings like a pyrrhic victory or lost but fought well, the concept of victory was relative.
If the Saintess kills all warlocks, can that be called a victory?
It could be.
But if her friends and family die in that process, will the Saintess be happy?
She wouldn't be.
Ultimately, for the Saintess, a perfect victory is nothing but eliminating all enemies while protecting both myself and my people.
I didn't see this as entirely impossible.
In the first place, isn't the protagonist meeting a perfect happy ending quite a common thing.
But it seems the Saintess's thoughts were a bit different.
“I have rarely lost until now.”
“Didn't you lose to me every time?”
“I didn't use the Holy Sword then!”
“Don't make excuses.”
“A… Anyway! Holding the Holy Sword, the only person I lost to was about the Holy Kingdom's Knight Commander. Since he is the strongest person after the Pope, I thought it could be so at the time.”
If it's the Holy Kingdom's Knight Commander, he's a skilled person about the level of my master.
The strongest Holy Knight excluding the Pope who possesses the status of an Apostle (Master in terms of knights) solely in the Holy Kingdom.
Even as a Saintess holding the Holy Sword, he isn't an opponent she can win against in a state where she hasn't properly displayed her potential yet, so it's natural.
“But when terror actually occurred and I came to fight warlocks. I came to know that I am not as amazing as I thought.”
“For saying such things, you fought well though?”
“I held the Holy Sword. Since the Holy Sword is a Divine Artifact given by the Goddess to cut off evil, naturally I have no choice but to fight well. But throughout fighting the Flesh Giant, I was powerless.”
That couldn't be helped.
In the first place, wasn't the Flesh Giant a guy close to a forced defeat event.
Since it was a guy who appeared considering even Luciela coming, it was an opponent we could never beat with our specs at the time.
But even I, knowing that fact, was frustrated and ended up calling Master, so how would the Saintess who knows nothing be.
“When that monster screamed, my body stiffened, and it recovered from attacks I swung as if nothing happened, so I had this thought.”
“What is it?”
“What if someone other than me held the Holy Sword? If Asel held the Holy Sword, he would have become strong faster, and wouldn't he have cut off even the struggling Flesh Giant in a single stroke? Thoughts like that.”
I saw it as a worry she could sufficiently have.
What if it were someone other than me. Isn't such worry quite common.
Furthermore, the Holy Sword was the only Divine Artifact of the Goddess in the world and the symbol of the Saintess.
Its weight had no choice but to be extraordinary.
“Since becoming the Saintess at first, I had nothing to fear. Since I burned warlocks who tried to sacrifice me with the Holy Sword, I thought other villains would be the same. But the more I get to know the world, the wider it is.”
“That is correct. The world is truly wide.”
“Warlocks will continue to threaten my surroundings in the future and there will be more things like this, but I don't know if I can protect everyone every time.”
The Saintess trembled wrapping her own body.
“If an enemy I cannot beat appears again but luck like this time doesn't follow? Then I could really lose everything, and I am so scared of that.”
“..........”
‘What should I do about this.’
I fell into contemplation looking at the shrinking Saintess.
Should I comfort her? Should I encourage her?
Or reassure her?
Several options repeated rising and falling above my head in a fleeting time.
While agonizing because there was no particularly suitable option to choose, suddenly Mother's words came to mind.
[Ethan, since you have absolutely no delicacy, when dealing with women, just collide.]
I, a filial son, decided to listen to Mother's advice.
“Eut…!?”
I rose from my seat and hugged the Saintess.
She was a woman who always smiled brightly and lived boldly, but her build itself was average so she fit right into my embrace.
Perhaps she hadn't imagined I would hug her here, she was flustered.
But from ancient times, the act of hugging was incredibly helpful in stabilizing mind and body.
Knowing that fact, I had no intention of letting her go until she calmed down.
Since she was surprised at first, the Saintess reflexively tried to escape from my embrace, but after patting her a few times, her trembling subsided gradually.
“Saintess, you must have suffered a lot of mental distress all this while.”
“…Yees!?”
“To whom could you have confessed this heart. Haven't you been enduring it suppressing it for the reason of being a Saintess.”
“Y… Yes…!”
“You really suffered a lot.”
“Ah….”
Along with my last words, the Saintess's trembling shoulders calmed down noticeably.
Her mental suffering must have been severe.
Instead, my chest began to get wet little by little.
I didn't stop the hand patting her back.
“I understand the Saintess's heart. You lived ordinarily just a few months ago, but if suddenly told to take responsibility for the fate of this world, who wouldn't find it hard.”
“That's right…”
“But since there are many people around praising the Saintess and gaining hope again, you couldn't even confess the hardship anywhere and must have swallowed it inwardly.”
“Yes… Yes…”
Looking at the Saintess away from the Curse of Romance Fantasy, she was a truly pitiful person.
Although everyone around her praised her as a Saintess and she could overcome all trials thanks to the Holy Sword, there was an ordinary woman behind that.
A woman who lived as a noble young lady just a few months ago but suddenly had to live the life of a Saintess receiving the choice of the Holy Sword.
For the reason of being a Saintess, she got swept up in all sorts of political and diplomatic issues, and at banquets, she had to suffer because of those attaching meaning to every single action.
A young lady who had never held a sword had to train with the sword because she held the Holy Sword, and had to receive surrounding jealousy for the ridiculous growth speed.
Even coming to the academy, she was betrayed by bad-quality young ladies receiving unnecessary wounds, and even had her life threatened by warlocks…
Gathering it like this, she was extremely pitiful.
“It is okay now. There are many good people around the Saintess. Friends who stay by your side when it's hard and fight together when meeting strong enemies. Would those people despise and leave the Saintess because you show a weak appearance?”
“No…”
“Yes, that's right. They are good friends.”
I stroked the Saintess's head meaning she is praiseworthy.
The Saintess digging further into my embrace carefully.
I decided to wrap up slowly.
“So don't be too scared. The Saintess's friends will not leave the Saintess alone. Me too, Asel too, Kairin too, everyone is striving to move forward after experiencing the last incident.”
“Yes….”
“Since you have friends who will carry the burden together, don't try to shoulder it alone, Saintess.”
“E….Alicia..”
“Yes?”
“Not Saintess…. Please call me Alicia..”
The moment I heard those words, my mind which was immersed in this situation returned.
Simultaneously, the conversation I had with Mother began to come to mind concretely.
["If there is a good match, do not miss her. This mother is okay even with a daughter-in-law from another country."]
["Yes, well... if there is an opportunity."]
["Since you have absolutely no delicacy, when dealing with women, just collide."]
["Yes."]
“..........”
Mother....?