The Saintess's Gift
Squish, squish—.
“Mmh… hmm…”
Hm? What was that sound?
So squishy… hee hee…
I was still half-asleep, happily kneading away at the softness under my hand, when—
“S-stop that!”
The shout snapped my eyes open.
“Huh…?”
There I was, wrapped around Remia, my hand resting squarely on her stomach.
“I-I’m sorry.”
Remia puffed out her cheeks.
“Honestly… you keep making people get the wrong idea…”
I didn't quite catch it and asked her to say it again, but she just made a show of being sulky and marched off toward the kitchen.
Wait, what?
The kitchen—of all places. I scrambled out of bed in a panic to stop her, but by the time I got there, the apron was already on.
“I said I’d make you cereal, but today I’m feeling extra confident! I’m making you breakfast!”
I told her it was fine, really, but she pretended not to hear a word of it and kept right on cooking.
Haah…
And so breakfast arrived at the table.
“Today I tried making sandwiches!”
…This is a sandwich?
The bread was charred black, and the meat was so undercooked I could still see blood in it. The vegetables, to be fair, looked okay.
I took a bite anyway.
Salty. Bitter. Chewy beyond all reason. What flavor was this supposed to be?
But Remia was happily munching away at hers like it was gourmet.
Is something wrong with me…?
I looked at the sandwich again. No, the problem definitely wasn't me. I forced the rest down, and my stomach churned in protest.
But more importantly…
I figured it was time to make a decision—about how exactly I was going to use my ability.
Right now, all I could manage was collecting the small trickle of blood from my bloody nose and passing it to Yunseul in tiny potion doses.
But that couldn't scale. I was already anemic, and it was obvious I'd die if I kept bleeding myself dry.
“What is it, Benefactor?”
Wouldn't it be fine if I just got treated by a healer? The problem was the price.
Maybe the Association could hook me up with a healer?
Just in case, I contacted an Association employee.
“Miss Sea, your Mana Aptitude is F-grade, so ordinary healers won't be able to treat you.”
Nothing but bad news.
“So there's no way I can get treatment…”
Then what was I supposed to do if I got hurt? Drink my own blood…?
Hm?
Come to think of it, the house was awfully quiet. I couldn't find Remia anywhere, and when I finally did, she was curled up in a ball in the corner of her bed, knees hugged to her chest.
“Remia, is something wrong?”
At my words, she sounded genuinely upset.
“No matter how many times I called, you didn't answer…. You don't actually care about me, do you? That whole 'special bond' thing was just something you said, right? I'm just a murderer, after all. I was happy being with you, Benefactor…”
Something was seriously off with Remia. Why all of a sudden?
Is it because I didn't answer her earlier…?
After explaining myself, it took a while to calm her down. When I told her about my current situation, she said she could think of one person who might help—
but she hesitated to say who. Only after I pressed her over and over did she finally answer.
“…The Saintess.”
The Saintess? If we're talking about the Saintess, that was the S-rank hunter who led the Shinseong Guild. Remia knew someone like that…?
Do S-ranks all just know each other?
I'd heard the Saintess didn't use mana at all, but a power called divine power. It seemed like it could genuinely help.
We decided to pay a visit to the Shinseong Guild—but for some reason, Remia's expression stayed dark the whole way.
“Remia, what's wrong? If it's too hard for you, I could go by myself—”
She jolted like she'd been electrocuted.
“N-no! Absolutely not…! I will NOT let that fox steal you away, Benefactor!”
Remia kept muttering things I couldn't make sense of. We were in a taxi by then—
“We're really doing this?”
she kept asking me, clearly anxious.
Weren't the two of them friends?
…
When we arrived at the Shinseong Guild, people in nun's habits came streaming toward us.
“Haaah…”
I could feel my face going red… Every single guild member in a nun's habit…
Remia, meanwhile, flipped back into her haughty vampire mode now that there were people around.
“May I ask what business brings you here?”
When I said we'd come to see the Saintess, the woman—who looked like staff—told us that would be rather difficult and tried to send us away.
Do I look like a crazy fan or something?
Well, fair enough—we hadn't even sent word ahead, just showed up out of nowhere. Was I doomed to try again another day…?
BOOM—.
I whipped my head toward the sound.
“This way, Benefactor.”
Remia had punched straight through the guild's outer wall. And so, one way or another, we made it inside the Shinseong Guild.
But we didn't get ten steps before a whole crowd of people drew weapons and blocked our path.
The Valkyries…!
The Shinseong Guild was mostly healers, plus a small elite mercenary force called the Valkyrie.
If the Valkyrie had been mobilized, it meant we were being treated as serious hostiles.
Well, we did break in through a wall…
I tried to talk our way out of it—
“Get behind me, Benefactor!”
Remia planted herself in front of me and readied for combat. The tension stretched taut as a wire; it felt like the moment anyone moved, the fight would begin.
“My, my. What seems to be the problem?”
A woman who could only be the Saintess appeared. The Valkyries immediately lowered their weapons and saluted.
My first impression of the Saintess: she was about my height, and her chest was huge.
A pocket of divine power… ohhh…
“Benefactor? Where exactly are you looking?!”
Remia yanked me away from the Saintess's chest and pressed my face into her own.
Urgh—hard as a rock.
While I was entertaining these deeply rude thoughts, the Saintess approached us.
“Remia, it's been a while, hasn't it?”
Remia didn't so much as acknowledge her, just kept glaring daggers. The Saintess looked at me standing behind her, gave a small smile, and waved.
“So it's you? The one they call EX-rank.”
…Huh?
She said the Association president had told her about me, and suggested we move somewhere more comfortable.
“Why would I?”
Remia refused flat out, but when I started to follow the Saintess, she scrambled after me in a panic.
Once we were seated in the room we'd been shown to—
“What would you like to drink?”
“I-I'm fine with water.”
“Fetch some blood.”
The Saintess said she'd have it brought in and stepped out. Unlike Remia, she seemed like a genuinely lovely person.
“Remia, don't be so rude.”
“Benefactor, shouldn't we run for it? Right now?”
Why was she reacting like this?
“You must never trust the Saintess. That's all a fake face she puts on!!”
Oh—so the Saintess had a true side hidden away, just like Remia? Remia kept insisting we flee, but I needed the Saintess's help, so I had no choice.
We were still going back and forth when the Saintess returned.
“Oh my. You two seem quite close, I see?”
She looked at the two of us, eyes narrowing into a knowing smile.
“I-I will never give her up…!”
Remia said something bizarre and squeezed me in a death grip. Whatever had gotten into her, there was no sign of letting go—if anything, she only squeezed harder.
“Remia—can't—breathe!”
I was gasping for air when a warm light bloomed from my body.
“Are you alright?”
So this is the Saintess's power…!
It went beyond merely feeling okay—energy came flooding back into me. With power like this…!
I asked the Saintess for help with my ability, but she shook her head with an apologetic look.
“I'm sorry, but I don't think I can. I'm the guild master of the Shinseong Guild, and I have to act for the sake of everyone here…”
I'd more or less expected the rejection, but being turned away even after she'd seen my ability stung more than I thought it would.
What now?
Watching my face fall, the Saintess led me off toward a storage room. Remia tried to follow, but the Saintess asked for me to come alone.
“Benefactor, don't abandon me!!”
Remia shouted after us and tried to chase, but a woman who looked like an executive secretary cut her off.
“Move, before I kill you…”
“Do try, if you can.”
At those words, Remia popped the blood pack she'd been drinking, condensed the blood running down her hand into a tiny sphere, and hurled it.
Fwiiiing… BOOM—!
The secretary dodged the laser-fast blood shot with almost lazy ease.
Remia didn't attack again. She crossed her arms and flopped back onto the sofa.
“Fetch more blood.”
Seeing that she'd given up fighting, I followed the Saintess in relief—and ended up in a dusty old storeroom. Then she locked the door behind us.
“I heard from the Association president. That you can't use mana, I mean?”
With that, the Saintess held out a small sphere.
Grade: A
“One day, a wyvern of uncommon curiosity took an interest in the magic wielded by humans. It spent its entire life studying human spellcraft, and in the end crafted a sphere in imitation of a human mana core.”
Description:Allows even those who cannot use mana to wield and manipulate it.
“Th-this is…?”
“Fufu. Consider it a gift for the EX-rank?”
An A-rank artifact could fetch hundreds of millions at auction—and she was just handing one to me…
Why?
“In exchange, there is a condition.”
Well, of course—nobody gives away something like this for free!
Resolved to grant whatever favor she asked, I steeled myself. And then—
“I heard you went from a man to a woman.”
She knows THAT much? So I really shouldn't have trusted the Association president?
The Saintess seemed to have something more she wanted to say; her face flushed red and she hung her head low.
“Um… tell me… have you had your, ah… first period yet?”
“Ex-excuse me?”
My brain stopped processing.
First period? Did she mean the one I think she means…?
“If you haven't, then once you do, I was hoping you'd let me have a little of—”
BOOM—!!
Before I could answer, dust erupted everywhere as the storeroom wall blew apart.
“I knew it! Benefactor, we have to run—!”
Skrrrt.
Remia scooped me up and tore open a dimensional rift.
“Thanks for the gift, really!—”
Zzt.
…
Haha…
“How utterly pathetic. Pfft.”
Click, click—heels echoed down the corridor.
“You actually went ahead and gave it to her, Saintess…”
“How many times have I told you? Call me Sua.”
Kim Chaerin, the Saintess's executive secretary, surveyed the wreckage of the storeroom and let out a long sigh.
“I genuinely thought I was going to die today.”
Sua laughed and said Remia was all bark—she'd never actually kill anyone.
“Do you have any idea how many walls have been destroyed today alone?”
“Well, now I've confirmed what sort of person she is, so it's fine. Hah ha.”
Saying she was looking forward to what came next, Sua walked out of the storeroom.