The Saintess Who Cannot Transform

Yeah. They really were always like this.

Following the Earth Mother's words that the others were also heading toward the pillar of light, I walked for a long time with Ailin and the sleeping girl in my arms.

'So divine power can ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠be used like this too.'

During our journey, there had been quite a few times when we had to split into pairs. Whether it was for efficiency or because we had no choice but to complete some gimmick. Reuniting after being separated like that always took up a surprising amount of time.

Me and the hero. Selba and Elian. To let us know their location, Selba and Elian would use signal flares that Selba had crafted himself. On our end, I would usually cast fire-type magic into the sky.

The fact that we could skip that cumbersome process. The fact that I could simply let others know where I was. It felt both fascinating and surprisingly practical.

As I walked toward the pillar of light, I experimented with manipulating divine power at will, trying to shape it however I wanted. I tried several times. Each time, my power kept getting slowly sucked into the Pope's pillar of light, so it wouldn't obey me.

But when I moved my body to counter the sudden attacks of the demons. Whenever I focused on protecting Ailin or making sure the child on my back wouldn't fall, the divine power would squirm as if alive.

Little by little, I began to understand the method. I realized how to consciously control the divine power. Before long, I could move as if I had four hands.

'This is...'

Four hands might make one imagine something quite grotesque. But apparently it didn't look that way to others.

When Ailin said the yellow glow enveloping me looked just like wings, I felt a surge of confidence.

'I'm not a monster anymore. I just look like a mother with two children.'

A mother carrying two children, one in a baby sling on her front and one on her back. To anyone who couldn't clearly see divine power, that's probably exactly what I would look like.

――What does it matter anyway? As long as it's comfortable.

"Ailin. Stay still for a moment."

"No! All the nuns are nothing but muscle, so they're not this soft!"

Ailin rubbed her chubby cheeks, still full of baby fat, against my chest again. The first time I'd felt that soft sensation, I'd been so taken aback that I'd simply laughed. What could possibly be so wonderful that she'd rub her face against me until her cheeks turned bright red?

"You little... Haah."

I had no intention of scolding Ailin, who seemed to be treating me like a pillow. Or rather, it would be more accurate to say I didn't have the heart to scold her.

No matter how much she tried to speak and act like a little old lady, I could see it. The childish side she couldn't quite hide.

Every time I looked at Ailin, who filled me with this strange new feeling, I simply smiled.

'It seems that changing bodies changes a lot of other things too.'

I'd become more sensitive to subtle scents. Though my body was lighter, its balance was slightly different from what I was used to, so I sometimes nearly tripped while moving. I was taking care of a child to a degree that would have annoyed me in the past.

It was a more human emotion than mere pity. But it wasn't any of the emotions I'd known before either.

Every time the demons charged at us, Ailin would flinch and burrow deeper into my embrace. I patted her back soothingly. I stroked her trembling back as she shook like she was having convulsions.

Was she calling me mother? Or was she searching for her own mom? Or perhaps she was looking for the Earth Mother――.

My heart gradually leaned toward this child who behaved like any other child in my arms. Had I always been this affectionate?

Still, I couldn't look after her forever. I was just a passerby.

Would being a source of comfort for this child, even for a short while, truly be good for her?

"Kuhk!"

I must have killed about twenty of them by now.

'...They've definitely decreased a lot.'

From the grand chapel to the dining hall. The closer we got to the dining hall, the more noticeably fewer demons we encountered.

"We're almost there."

No matter how ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠much I supported the children with divine power, constantly having to pay attention to them was quite bothersome. Just how did mothers manage to raise children while doing this for years?

Well, it had nothing to do with me anyway. When would I ever have to raise a child? It's not like I'd be giving birth to one.

'I must be getting tired too.'

Maybe it was the exhaustion of adapting to this new body. Or ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠perhaps because a small crack had formed in my heart, old memories from long ago slipped in. When I came back to my senses, I realized I'd simply been staring.

Perhaps because I'd been concentrating while using divine power. Or maybe because of the growing weariness that made me want to lie down anywhere.

"Already?!"

Ailin's breath tickled my skin.

"What do you mean, already..."

It hadn't been a short time at all, since we'd fought battles in between.

"...I don't want to get down..."

'What an affectionate child.'

Maybe my own affectionate behavior had rubbed off on her. To a child, it could feel like a long time. But to me, it was nothing more than a fleeting moment.

When I someday met this child again, would I be able to remember her right away?

"Ailin. Listen carefully... The other party members have probably arrived by now. After I take you there and rejoin them, we might leave this place immediately."

If I wasn't confident, it was better to push her away first. Even if it left a scar on this child. It would be better than leaving behind empty promises.

"You're going to seal the Demon King, right?"

Ailin's voice trembled faintly. Was she worried about me? Or was she afraid of being left behind? If I hesitated now, would I be giving this child false hope?

"Yes."

My answer, which I'd tried to deliver as curtly as possible, came out softened by my high voice. At my unintentionally bittersweet reply, Ailin simply nodded without a word. Still leaning against my chest. Blowing air between the lumps of flesh that would soon become useless again.

The result of hurrying my steps because of that ticklish feeling was that I nearly circled the entire vast cathedral.

Now I just had to turn one more corner to reach where the light was falling.

'Is it finally coming to an end?'

The sound of scraping metal and the clashing of hard objects that had been echoing from afar had stopped. Since I'd never seen the nuns use swords or knuckles, that metallic sound must have definitely come from them fighting the demons.

'Finally, we're meeting.'

[You know it's all thanks to me, right?]

'Yes.'

We'd only been apart for a little over a day. Why did it feel like so much longer? The day had felt unusually long. Now it was time to put a period on that day.

"Ailin. Hold on tight."

"Huh?"

The thought that I would see them soon made my body burn with excitement. Just like how Elian had moved through the forest, swinging from vines and flying through the air. I created a rope with divine power and leaped clear over an entire building.

"Kyaaaak!!"

The refreshing wind that I hadn't noticed when flying ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠through the air with magic now enveloped us. Ailin was busy screaming nonstop. The child on my back seemed to be slowly waking up; she kept looking around in every direction with her face resting on my shoulder.

'The most rigid and stubborn one among us was the one feeling this kind of freedom?'

"Hup!"

When I landed gracefully after soaring through the air, I felt quite a few gazes turn toward me.

"Saintess!"

The nuns rushed toward me all at once as if they'd met the Earth Mother herself upon seeing me suddenly appear. Some pulled down my skirt that had flipped up in the wind. Others helped Ailin and the child down from my back. They all looked at me with awkward smiles.

Let's see. Where are they――.

'You came back well.'

I couldn't help but smile at the familiar faces that had frozen solid with their eyes fixed on me.

'Was my entrance too flashy?'

Seeing them stare at me with dazed expressions made me feel a bit embarrassed.

Heh. Those guys. They still haven't realized it's me? Well, I suppose that's possible. It seems I unintentionally showed them something they shouldn't have seen.

'What's wrong with looking? It's not like it'll wear out.'

'Then why don't you make someone who actually acts like a saintess into the saintess――.'

Who does she think she is, talking to me like she's some goddess? I could understand the head nun doing it, but it was hard to accept the Earth Mother scolding me. If I act a little wild, so what? I was tired of the Earth Mother doing whatever she pleased. If even a goddess could behave so freely, then wasn't it fine for me, who was merely one of the humans she stepped on?

'Stop. There's nothing good that comes from us going at each other like this.'

Good grief. There really is no such thing as privacy.

'Who said I enjoyed it?'

What could I do when curiosity struck? I didn't know how many more years I'd live, but I'd have to live in this body for decades. Yesterday's actions were simply those of a scholar. It was merely an act of exploring the unknown. Yes. That's all it was.

"Hm. Ouch, my head... Saintess. Come over here for a moment."

The old woman standing in the middle of the light pouring down from the sky beckoned to me with a crooked finger. Her tone was similar to the head nun's, but she seemed several decades older. Among the wrinkle-free nuns, the sight of this hunched old woman was definitely new to me, yet somehow familiar.

"Who... are you?"

"Hehe. You're doing this again."

At the familiar laugh, I jumped in surprise.

'No way...'

As I stood there still unable to process the situation, the head nun quickly spoke to the old woman.

"Your Holiness. You've used too much divine power. Your Divine Transformation has come undone."

"Ah? Oh dear! Haah... When you get old, you should just die..."

"Ah, as expected of the Pope... Wait, what?!"

――She wasn't a man?

"This should feel more familiar, right? Saintess."

The divine power that had been pouring down like a waterfall from the sky gradually gathered toward the old woman. The old woman who slowly walked out from within the pillar of light――.

――No, the Pope was definitely the same person who had mercilessly baptized me with divine power.

'How does he do that?'

The fleeting hope that I might be able to coax the Pope somehow and learn how to live as a man passed through my mind. At that moment, the Earth Mother, just as she'd always done, gave me a little push off the edge of the cliff.

'Damn it.'

Why does she have to be so harsh only toward me?