A Date with the Saint♥
Abel and I were walking toward Café Siro, looking for hints to awaken the Saint’s true self, but we were both dragging our feet like we’d just run a marathon under the blazing sun.
“...It’s so hot.”
Even the oppressive heat made me feel uncomfortable. Lady Solaria, please show some mercy. Your cherished people are all suffering here too.
“Haaaa....”
Not a joke. The Saint was really struggling. Anyone who saw her would feel sorry. She was utterly worn out.
“...Ugh.”
I glanced around, searching for a shady spot. But something like flowing water caught my ear.
“...What’s that?”
...Why can’t I hear it? Maybe I’m just imagining things, so I listened again.
The sound of a stream trickling filled my ears.
“...Why are you like this...?”
Celine asked me, her voice tired from the heat.
I glanced at her for a moment, then looked back at the Saint.
“Saint, let’s take a break for a bit.”
“...Hah, no.”
“Why not?”
“I-I don’t have any time to slack off....”
I was fine, but you look exhausted, right?
“It’s not that I want to rest. I was worried because you seemed so tired, Saint.”
“...Ugh.”
The Saint’s cheeks were flushed red from the heat. She turned to me slightly and muttered.
“...Don’t keep doing that.”
“Eh?”
“...I’m barely holding on.”
...So what? You’re hot, why are you holding back?
“You don’t have to hold back. Just rest a little. It won’t cause any problems.”
“...You really are an idiot, Hero. That’s not what I meant... you virgin♡”
“...Sigh.”
If she kept insisting, I’d have no choice but to drag her forcibly. I grabbed the Saint’s wrist.
“Hiiie!?”
“Come on over there.”
“Y-Yes? Where...?”
“There.”
I pointed to the mountain.
#
“Ah...!”
Abel grabbed Estelle’s wrist and pulled her toward the mountain I’d seen beside us. Celine, who’d been trailing behind, saw him suddenly veer off course and quickly caught up.
The mountain, covered in dense trees, was pleasantly cool thanks to its shade. Compared to the blazing sun outside, it was like paradise. The mountain breeze, blowing from the high ground, cooled our sweat-soaked bodies nicely.
Abel walked straight ahead without hesitation. Estelle, who’d been pulled along by her wrist, spoke in a panicked voice.
“W-Wait a second. Hero, you’re not planning to train me, are you?”
“What training? We’re not here to hunt monsters.”
“...Eh?”
“We came to rest.”
After Abel’s answer, Estelle’s doubts grew even stronger. But since Abel was gripping her wrist tightly, Estelle could only blush and couldn’t resist much.
As we went deeper inside, the sound of water became clearer. Estelle and Celine both widened their eyes in surprise at the noise.
Celine asked Abel.
“There’s a stream here? How did you know?”
“I heard the sound of flowing water.”
“Eh?”
Flowing water? Estelle and Celine exchanged a quick glance. They had only noticed it after arriving here, yet Abel was saying he’d heard it all along, as if from the roadside.
Abel, walking without hesitation, suddenly stopped. Because of that, Estelle’s steps halted too, and Celine also paused and looked at Abel.
“Wait here a moment.”
There was already a guest at the stream. A Horn Tiger in the form of a large white tiger. The one Abel had defeated once.
The Horn Tiger was drinking from the stream, unaware of our presence yet. Or perhaps it was simply too hot and its mind was clouded.
Seeing his chance, Abel silently drew the Holy Sword of Order from his back and swung it in an instant.
Slash!
With a clean, decisive cut, the Horn Tiger’s body split open. It happened so fast.
“...Saint, what happened to the Hero?”
“...It’s... scary...”
Estelle was stunned too. It was an unexpected speed. She hadn’t even placed any blessings on him.
Estelle began to suspect.
“...Could it be the effect of the protection I gave him last time?”
“What do you mean?”
After Celine’s question, Estelle explained.
“There are people like that sometimes. They absorb the divine power into their bodies. They weren’t born with it, but there are those whose bodies can naturally take in divine power.”
“Ah... I see. So, according to you, Saint, the Hero has such a constitution, and the protection still remains?”
“...Otherwise, how can his abnormal hearing and speed be explained?”
“That makes sense.”
Perhaps the reason Abel had grown so much faster was because of that influence. The divine power left in his body should have disappeared soon, but since he kept receiving treatment and blessings from divine power, it remained.
‘If the Hero has such a constitution....’
He could become a much stronger hero than the others, and faster. Thinking this, Abel approached Estelle.
“Saint, now it’s safe. Come on, pour some water on me too.”
“...Eh?”
“I mean, wash your face. Your face is already bright red. What if you get heatstroke?”
Estelle’s face was indeed as red as described by Abel. But that wasn’t the cause of the heat.
She was a bit bewildered. The heat was real, but not to that extent. Still, she felt good. The fact that Abel was worried about her made her happy.
‘Hero...♥’
Of course, the heat was real. She wanted to dive straight into that stream right now.
“...Okay.”
Estelle walked to the stream as Abel said and dipped her hand in. The cool water touching her skin felt refreshing.
“Hah.”
“It’s cool.”
Before she knew it, Celine was next to Estelle, splashing water on her face. Estelle also cupped the clear water with both hands and poured it over her face.
“Haa....”
It felt like she was truly alive. How could the representative of the Goddess of the Sun not endure the heat? Smiling self-deprecatingly, Estelle washed the sweat away with the water.
‘Where is the Hero?’
Estelle brushed back her slightly damp bangs and looked around. While Estelle and Celine washed, Abel was on alert, watching their surroundings.
“...Hero?”
“Let’s rest a little more and then move. Once the Saint feels better.”
Abel said that and went back to guarding the area.
“The Hero is fully recovered, right?”
Celine’s question made Estelle look back at Abel. Her lips, which had been pouting, parted, and a gentle voice flowed out.
“...That’s right~♥”
#
“This is Café Siro.”
Café (Caput) City. It’s a city named after the Lord family who governs the surrounding areas.
I thought it was some kind of Starbucks.
My impression of Café Siro was simple.
“It’s small.”
The city is small. It’s larger than the villages I’d stayed in often, but compared to the cities I’d seen before, it was much smaller. Much smaller than Habsburg City.
Celine added a reaction to my impression.
“Even this is still a pretty decent-sized city. There are many smaller ones than this among mid-sized cities in other countries.”
“Really?”
At that point, isn’t it a shame to call it a city?
“Hero, I’ll be gone for a bit.”
“Eh? What do you mean by that?”
Celine, don’t run away again.
“There’s a branch of the Ludria Church in Café Siro. I need to visit the branch and tell them that I left Levius the Hero and joined Abel the Hero.”
“Ah....”
Right, I need to report a change in affiliation to the higher-ups.
“But you’re going alone?”
“Yes, since I’ll just be telling them the story.”
“Will you be okay?”
I was a little worried. What if Celine clings to Levius’s side because she left him?
Celine answered with a reassuring tone, as if she knew what I was worried about.
“It’s fine. I’ll go to the church and head to the plaza around 7 PM. Meet me there.”
“...Okay.”
Celine nodded and entered the city first. I turned to the Saint.
The Saint didn’t turn her head, but she lowered her gaze. As if she didn’t want to meet my eyes.
...At this point, did she really drink alcohol and do something crazy? Otherwise, there’s no explanation.
“Saint.”
“...Yes?”
Her reply came in small, stuttering bursts while her eyes looked elsewhere.
...Does it matter? I just need her to answer. I asked the Saint.
“There’s still a lot of time until we meet Celine. What do you want to do to kill time?”
“...Eh?”
The Saint looked at me with the expression of ‘I’m panicking’ no matter who looked. Why was she so flustered?
Remembering when she was sulking because I played with Chloe alone before, and I’d promised to take her out separately to cheer her up, I said.
“Don’t you remember the promise? When you were sulking, I promised you we’d go out together later, just you and me.”
“Ah, I wasn’t sulking.”
“...Anyway, when I said that to the Saint, remember? You said we’d go out separately later. Now that I have some free time, how about it?”
The Saint said nothing.
To ease the awkward atmosphere, I proposed with a flimsy excuse. Honestly, I was embarrassed to say it myself.
Yet the Saint remained silent.
...Don’t you like it? If you don’t like it, just say so, you girl!
“If you don’t like it, just say—”
“...Okay.”
The Saint lifted her head slightly and looked up at me. Her amber eyes, sparkling in the sunlight, gazed at me, and her cheeks were flushed.
“We can...play together.”
...Why is she acting so cute again?
“...Ahem. Let’s do it. Where should we start first?”
“Do you know what’s in this city, Hero?”
“...No.”
Got it?
“...Then where should we go? The Hero really is an idiot, huh?”
“The Saint kept calling me an idiot, so I became one.”
With a teasing remark, the Saint laughed lightly. The corners of her eyes curved slightly, forming a crescent moon shape.
...Yeah, smile like usual. Don’t act distant.
Estelle felt heat rising all over her body. Her heart was beating far too fast.
‘A date...?’
The moment Celine left on her errand, Abel immediately asked her. Won’t you go out with me?
As soon as she heard that, Estelle’s heart started pounding hard. She was so nervous that she worried it might be heard by Abel.
Did her expression show the emotion? Abel explained that he had made a promise to her before. Estelle had remembered it too.
But she had been too embarrassed to say it herself, so she couldn’t speak. She hadn’t expected Abel to say it first.
‘...Okay. I’m really happy. Let’s play together.’
She needed to answer, but her courage failed, so her voice wouldn’t come out and only thoughts swirled in her head. Estelle bit her lip tightly.
‘...Idiot.’
While Estelle stayed silent, Abel misunderstood her heart. He thought she was refusing, so he spoke.
“If you don’t like it, just say—”
“...Okay.”
Estelle was surprised that she had answered. When she tried to say that if the Hero didn’t like it, it was fine, she panicked and answered directly.
It was the most embarrassing moment of Estelle’s life. Abel looked a little surprised at her answer.
‘...Gird up your courage, Estelle.’
Encouraging her own heart, Estelle looked up at Abel. When she met his face, the words he had slurred in drunkenness from before came back, and her cheeks heated up on their own.
But once she’d thrown it out, she couldn’t take it back. So she had to muster her courage.
“We can...play together.”
After Estelle said it while holding back her embarrassment, Abel turned his head slightly and cleared his throat.
“Ahem. Let’s do it. Where should we start first?”
Estelle tilted her head at Abel’s words. Did he know the geography of Café Siro? But that was unlikely. Most probably, this idiot Hero had said it without thinking.
“Do you know what’s in this city, Hero?”
Abel answered no to Estelle’s question. Estelle smiled inside at Abel’s foolish appearance.
‘...Idiot♡’
With her heart a little at ease, she teased Abel, and he countered with an appropriate joke. Grateful for his thoughtfulness, Estelle smiled with sparkling eyes.
Still remembering the words from before, she was embarrassed, but with a much lighter heart, Estelle said.
“Let’s go, Hero♥”