The Saintess and the Heiress
"……Hey, fortune teller bastard. What the hell are you doing?"
"Oh, um. Liu Yen."
Why did it feel like I'd done something wrong? Strictly speaking, I was the victim(?) here. I'd just been walking down the street when some stranger suddenly started sexually harassing(?) me. That was the truth!
"…No, wait, that's not right."
"Huh? Liu Yen?"
"My background check didn't turn up any female family members or a girlfriend."
……The misunderstanding had cleared up, but the fact that it came from a background check was unsettling. Or maybe not? Maybe it was fine?
"Besides, you're not grinning like an idiot, so this isn't your usual thing. Your right eyebrow twitches when you're flustered, and it's doing that now. When you're scheming, your left mouth corner lifts, but it's not doing that now."
Uh, I wasn't sure why, but it felt like Liu Yen knew an awful lot about me. Probably thanks to that background check…… It was a strange feeling.
Anyway, Liu Yen, having apparently reached a conclusion, approached the female student who was still forcibly(?) hugging me.
"Hey, you. Do you even know whose lackey you're clinging to right now? If you know what's good for you, let go right—"
Clank.
"Huh?"
What was that sound? Suddenly there was the noise of chains──
"Unbeliever."
"What? What did you just say?"
"Die."
CRASH!!!
──A flail slammed into the spot where Liu Yen had been standing. She dodged by a hair's breadth, and the flail smashed through the sidewalk blocks, burying itself deep into the ground. The female student who had suddenly swung it—the one still holding me—stared at Liu Yen with an expression utterly devoid of guilt.
"What the—? Hey. You actually tried to kill me just now, didn't you?"
"Die."
"You're actually insane. That vicious bitch was the same. Why do all these crazy women keep swarming around my lackey?"
Well, if we were being precise, the craziest one here was probably Liu Yen herself. But I wasn't about to point that out, so I stayed quiet. More importantly, the girl in my arms who had just swung a flail was terrifying. Her arm strength was insane—she was holding me with just one arm and I couldn't break free at all……!
Liu Yen! Save me!
"But hey, did you think I'd be scared just because of that?"
Even though she'd nearly been impaled by the flail moments ago, Liu Yen just smirked as if it didn't bother her at all.
Vwoooom──
Rings, necklaces, bracelets, earrings, gems embedded in her clothes, her belt. All the jewelry and ornaments dangling from Liu Yen's entire body began to glow and emit an ominous sound.
'All of that……are Artifacts.'
Ten rings on her fingers, three necklaces around her neck, four bracelets on each arm, plus countless other gems scattered across her outfit. Every single one was an Artifact, on a completely different level from the Observation necklace I'd obtained through treasure hunting. In the game, these were all endgame-tier Artifacts. In this reality, each one was worth tens of billions of won, but for the Great Wealthy, that wasn't even a significant expense. It was also the reason Liu Yen could act so confident.
'Artifacts are an exception to Liu Yen's paranoia, so she must have a collector's streak.'
The female student gripping her flail glared at Liu Yen, while Liu Yen looked ready to unleash her Artifacts at any moment. I didn't particularly want to get involved, but……
"Um……"
"Don't worry, lackey. I'll smash that crazy bitch's head in and save you."
"Namgung Min-nim, don't worry. I'll purify the unbeliever right away."
"No, that's not it."
Fighting each other was one thing, but……
"You haven't forgotten that we're standing in the middle of the street, have you……?"
"……Ah."
"………Ah."
In the heart of Romance Academy, during the time when students and staff without classes would be passing through. Setting aside the details of what had led to this, from an outsider's perspective, it just looked like two female students were confronting each other over some fortune teller. People began murmuring—it was prime entertainment.
Click.
Ah, someone even took a photo? Damn it.
"For now……shall we go to my base?"
"……Fine."
"As you wish, Namgung Min-nim."
*
A small building on the outskirts of Romance Academy. Using the two hundred million won Liu Yen had given me as an academy student discount, I'd purchased this building. The basement served as my base. It was only mine while I attended the academy, but since it was a three-story building, I could rent out the upper floors or open a shop. It was a nice place!
"It's small, but please bear with it."
"Ah, no. It's not that small, actually."
"Any place where Namgung Min-nim resides is no different from heaven."
After thoroughly locking up the base, I made some instant coffee and served it to the two girls. Liu Yen was glancing around the base with interest, while the unidentified female student was stroking my bed for some reason. This base wasn't meant for entertaining guests, so the hospitality was lacking, but please just endure it. And please don't swing any flails or activate any Artifacts! If this place gets destroyed, I'll actually cry tears of blood.
"Well, I'll ask just one thing first."
I looked at the female student—the root cause of all this—who was gazing around the base with what could only be described as reverent eyes. Sensing my gaze, she smiled brightly and met my eyes. She really was beautiful, but……
"Who……are you?"
If there had been a character like this in the game, I wouldn't have forgotten her. Who on earth was she?
"……You're right. My apologies, Namgung Min-nim. I was so overwhelmed meeting you that I forgot to introduce myself."
"Ah, no, it's fine."
"My name is Aileen Teddybear."
……What? Aileen Teddybear? Charles Teddybear's daughter? Seriously?
"I am your devoted follower……here to serve Namgung Min-nim."
"Ah……"
Only now did I notice the necklace around her neck. The one with the teddy bear drawn on it. That was the item Charles Teddybear always carried when he couldn't cure Aileen Teddybear's illness. It had been a kind of……memento. Since she had it, she must be Aileen Teddybear. That much I understood.
"……Hey. You're saying you're Instructor Charles Teddybear's daughter?"
"That's right, unbeliever."
"What the hell? Why are you only using casual speech with me?"
"Don't misunderstand. To me, all beings except my father and Namgung Min-nim are equal. I'm not using casual speech only with you."
"What kind of logic is that……"
Had she always been like this? In the game, there hadn't been any proper opportunities to talk with Aileen Teddybear. It had basically been an event for Charles Teddybear. Naturally, all you could see was her lying in bed, and after that, she was gone, so I didn't know much about her.
But something was strange?
"Um, Aileen?"
"You can just call me Aileen with affection!"
"Aileen?"
"Aileen."
"……Aileen."
"Yes! Please say whatever you like!"
"When I saw you last time, you seemed a bit smaller."
Right. I didn't remember clearly, but according to the setting, Aileen had been eighteen or nineteen. She was young, and since she'd been confined to her house and bed, her body had been small and petite like Liu Yen's……? She definitely hadn't had this kind of dangerously curvaceous figure with prominent assets and a slim waist.
"That……you're right. I'm truly sorry to Namgung Min-nim, but I can't explain while an unbeliever is present……"
"Hey, are you talking about me right now?"
"Then who else would the unbeliever be? If you have any sense, you should scram right now."
"Are you insane?"
……Right, this was probably related to the Saintess. After class, the Saint had contacted me separately. He'd said the Saintess issue had been handled confidentially. So the only ones who knew Aileen was the Saintess were Charles Teddybear, the Saint, and me. Unfortunately, this was clearly something I couldn't tell Liu Yen.
"Let's talk about that later."
"Yes!"
"……Hey, Namgung Min. You're planning to meet this crazy bitch alone?"
"Huh? Uh, yeah, I have to?"
"Absolutely not."
"Liu Yen?"
Liu Yen, Liu Yen, what are you saying? Suddenly declaring absolute opposition, Liu Yen crossed her legs and glared at Aileen with burning eyes.
"Didn't you see earlier? This bitch is a total psycho who could swing that flail at any moment. Meeting her alone would be asking for trouble—you'd need at least three heads to survive."
"……Unbeliever, your words are going too far. Do you really think I'd do that to Namgung Min-nim?"
"You've been going on about 'unbeliever' this and 'unbeliever' that since earlier. Do you have middle school syndrome? You're not some religious fanatic, so what's with the 'unbeliever' crap?"
Uh, I'd been wondering about that too. The way she called me "Namgung Min-nim," and suddenly calling Liu Yen an unbeliever…… Was that also related to the Saintess class? Among the playable classes, there had been no Saintess or Saint, and I hadn't done the hidden event related to the Saint, so honestly, I didn't know anything. I just knew you had to pass a trial called the Pilgrimage to gain the church's recognition, and that passing it granted more power than even the Pope?
"An unbeliever is an unbeliever. That's all there is to it."
"Hey, Namgung Min. I'm telling you again—don't even think about meeting this middle school syndrome patient. If you do, you'll have to pay back every last bit of that debt from last time."
"Didn't you say I didn't have to repay that?"
"That was until just now. Not anymore."
No matter how I looked at it, the 'real' crazy one seemed to be Liu Yen. Ignoring my dumbfounded expression, Liu Yen continued her fiery staring contest with Aileen.
A staring contest between the Great Wealthy and the Saintess? My heart was pounding…… Wait, don't take out the flail. Liu Yen, stop fiddling with your rings. This is my house, you two!
"Alright, alright. I understand completely. Aileen, then I'll ask one more thing."
"Anything!"
"Since you were inside Romance Academy, you're a student, right?"
"Of course!"
Then at the very least, the vice principal and principal would know Aileen was the Saintess. Since those two were neutral figures, word about Aileen wouldn't leak outside. It was safer for her to attend the academy than to be out in the open. The Saint and Charles Teddybear had probably used all their influence to get her enrolled somehow.
……Now that I thought about it, Liu Yen was the same. Was this some kind of admission corruption club?
"Then, just in case."
"Yes!"
"Do you have many friends?"
"Uh……yes?"
Right. Aileen was the Saintess, she spoke to me formally, all that. But the most important thing was that I now had one more 'acquaintance.'
"I think I have quite a few…… There are people I usually hang out with."
"Why? Don't they get called unbelievers too?"
"They do. But they just laugh it off."
"………"
They probably thought it was just a concept. On the surface, she was a perfect beauty, and being Charles Teddybear's daughter probably helped it go over reasonably well. If she really did have friends, that was more than enough. More than enough……!
"Aileen, could you help me with something?"
"Of course! As long as I'm with Namgung Min-nim, anywhere is……!"
"Ha, Namgung Min. You're really ignoring what I said and teaming up with this bitch──"
"Liu Yen, you too! Please help me!"
"………Uh, uh. Fine. Yeah."
Ah, I'd gotten excited and grabbed her hand without thinking. It was lucky my hand hadn't been twisted off immediately. When I let go of Liu Yen's hand for survival's sake, she had a strange expression as she rubbed it. From her reaction, if I'd held on any longer, my neck would've been snapped. Lucky me.
"Hehe……"
An infinitely loanable human bank, plus an acquaintance who had friends? I never thought the problems I'd been worrying about would all be solved in less than a day.
'My luck is good.'
For once, I couldn't hold back the smile that slipped out.
"………"
"…………"
For some reason, it felt like Liu Yen and Aileen were looking at me with strange eyes. Must've been my imagination.
*
It had already been five minutes since leaving Namgung Min's base.
Thud.
"…………"
Step.
"……………"
The two female students, even their footsteps different, walked in the same direction without looking at each other. The street was quite far out, so there were almost no passersby. Liu Yen, who had been walking ahead, suddenly stopped.
"Hey."
"…………"
"Hey, middle school syndrome psycho."
"……Your tongue is loose, unbeliever."
Whether Liu Yen stopped or not, Aileen had been trying to pass by, but now she stopped as well.
Clank.
From within her embrace, a flail emerged with a metallic sound, as if from nowhere.
"You want to die?"
"Can you kill me?"
"Of course."
Aileen's eyes, looking at Liu Yen, were filled with nothing but killing intent, no trace of doubt. But Liu Yen's eyes, glaring back at Aileen, were filled with thick suspicion.
"I find you suspicious."
"Why?"
"Are you seriously asking that? How could I not suspect some useless lump of flesh who's been rubbing herself all over my lackey like a whore?"
"………"
Whore, she said whore. In response to that crude provocation, Aileen replied.
"I don't want to hear that from a mental patient who remembers every single action and word Namgung Min-nim makes."
"………What?"
"You thought I wouldn't know? Unbeliever, I can see everything."
The Saintess's class skill, Eye That Sees the Heart. That skill allowed the Saintess to peer into another's mind, even if only in fragments. That was how Aileen could read the inner thoughts of Liu Yen, the Great Wealthy. Thanks to that, she also knew that Liu Yen remembered and recorded every action, every word, every reaction Namgung Min made.
"Ha, fine. Let's say that's true."
But even after having all that exposed, Liu Yen's inner thoughts remained calm. As if it didn't matter at all that Aileen had found out.
"You. Do you like Namgung Min?"
"………"
"That bastard either has no clue or is convinced no one would like him, so he probably doesn't know."
The fact that Aileen Teddybear felt more than mere goodwill toward Namgung Min. Anyone who looked at this female student for even a moment would know that. Namgung Min himself, for some reason, had no idea.
"You love that fortune teller, don't you?"
"Love, you say love."
"Isn't that right?"
"Can this really be called love?"
"……What?"
At Aileen's unexpected answer, Liu Yen was questioning it when Aileen looked up at the sky.
"This isn't a simple emotion like love. This is reverence toward a god."
"Reverence?"
"Like a sunflower following the sun, like a moth throwing itself into flames, like submitting to the great things that rise in the sky."
Her eyes were filled with an emotion that couldn't be defined. Emotions so thick they seemed ready to overflow and cover the ground.
"I simply follow Namgung Min-nim."
"You really are insane."
"You are too."
Only now did the two female students understand each other's true nature, at least a little. The Great Wealthy who suspected people to the point of memorizing everything about them, and the Saintess who followed him with an emotion thicker than love, as if serving a god. Because they knew their hearts resembled each other somewhere, even as they despised one another, Liu Yen and Aileen had no choice but to deny each other.
"………"
"…………"
Thus, the two female students who couldn't acknowledge each other stood facing each other for a long time.
To be continued.