The Saintess's Unfair Grievances
Yeah. This is exactly how they always were.
The Pope showed a rather 'papal' side to the other party members. It was incredibly unfair that he treated them with such kindness, but I couldn't exactly voice my complaints to him. After all, was there even anyone in our party who had actually contributed in the last battle?
Still, the three newcomers had been a huge help, so when he thanked them and offered lodging for the night along with dinner to fill our empty stomachs, how could I possibly grumble? Those three had looked like absolute beggars before, and thanks to the Pope, they were now somewhat presentable and had a roof over their heads for the night. In that ambiguous situation, I couldn't really say anything to him.
'He wasn't aiming for this, was he?'
"It's about time to wake them up."
"...Time to wake them."
I had no idea how many times our party would end up entangled with others, but that didn't mean I could slack off on training. Besides, I now had one more goal.
To bring back as many women as possible and attach them to the Hero.
Wasn't this the perfect opportunity to repay the debt I owed him in full?
'It might even give me some vicarious satisfaction.'
As I left the Saintess's room and headed toward the lodging where the three were staying, last night's events suddenly came to mind and I stopped in my tracks.
The nuns who had been horrified and tried to stop me from sleeping with the boys like always were one thing, but the way all three of them had frantically waved their hands and pushed me away suddenly resurfaced.
Those unconscious actions wouldn't cause any problems between me and the others, but there were bound to be people who wouldn't look kindly on a Saintess of the Holy Order casually hanging around with multiple men. It would damage the Order's reputation. So they were probably asking me to endure it for that reason.
'Still, I can't help feeling wronged.'
It wasn't exactly the emotion of being wronged, but it also didn't feel like the positive image of joy. Something in between.
"You're here?"
"Yeah."
The lodging where the boys were staying was originally meant for the orphanage children and apprentice nuns. Yujin, who had been reading a book while sitting on a swing that the kids might play on, waved at me.
"Is the sun rising in the west? What are you doing up so early?"
"We're traveling again starting today, so I was checking the route."
"Did you sleep? You look tired."
"Uh... a little? I couldn't fall asleep, so I kind of tossed and turned."
"That won't do..."
"If it's really bad, you could at least heal me."
"...Just endure it."
I didn't want to have a conversation with the Earth Mother first thing in the morning.
"Our healer is so stingy."
"Just deal with it."
"Yeah. They say if a person changes too suddenly, they die."
If someone heard that, they'd think he was cursing me.
Lavish farewell ceremonies or departure rites didn't suit us. Just a few nuns, including the Head Nun, cast blessings on the three, and the Pope stubbornly handed me a small bible. That was all.
Our journey began much more quietly than the one we'd undertaken before.
"Saintess! When you come back next time, I'll have become someone amazing!"
If anything had changed, it was that the number of children who now looked at us with respect had increased dramatically. Selba, who had somehow grown close to the kids in that short time, completely shattered their stereotypes about elves. Though he might have shattered them a bit too thoroughly.
"...Yeah. Do your best."
When I stroked Ailin's head, she closed her eyes and beamed with a huge smile. I'd been prepared for her to throw a tantrum, crying and begging to come with us, so my rehearsed response turned out to be unnecessary. Instead, I felt relieved.
She really didn't seem like a child her age. I wondered just how remarkable she would become.
'It wouldn't be bad to come back and check on her later.'
Somehow, I'd gained yet another thing to do.
"Let's depart."
A dwarf acting all serious. It really looked strange.
"Yeah. We need to move diligently from now on."
We left the cathedral and crossed the fields where the demons had been lying before their invasion. After passing through the fields and reaching the village walls, I felt oddly emotional.
It hadn't even been that long. We were only leaving a place we'd stayed for a few days, yet why did it feel like departing from my hometown?
Was this new body of mine that sentimental?
"Please stop the Demon King! Saintess, please take care of your health!"
"Yeah—... I will."
For a village struck by a red lightning bolt, it was surprisingly intact. The only damage came from the demons that had attacked the cathedral, and even then, only a few buildings were destroyed. Perhaps it was because all the intruders had been dealt with within the Holy Order's territory.
The faces of the wall guards who saw us off last carried quite a bit of hope. After all, anyone would be happy when their workload decreased.
Having decided to find the holy relics first, we set our initial destination as a small elven village in the forest that safeguarded a World Tree sapling—the closest one.
Selba, who had woken up early and was holding the notebook where I'd meticulously written down our route, lifted it up, shook it, and muttered.
"Rayna! I looked at the memo you wrote, and isn't the schedule way too tight?!"
The reason we had to move diligently was obvious: we had become far too weak.
"With just the four of us right now, there aren't many places we can go. I planned the most efficient leveling route possible, so it's better to follow what Rayna wrote, Selba."
It was fortunate that the biggest culprit at least understood my intentions.
Elian, who had moved under orders from the elven elders to support the Hero's party. Selba, who had been furious because demons kept raiding the mines, making even basic mining impossible. Yujin, who had been summoned to this world by the Earth Mother because of his potential as a Hero. And me, who had been roughly on par with ordinary mercenary mages.
Even back then, I'd been skeptical about how far a party like this could go. But somehow, we had managed. Because each of us had our own honed skills.
But now, none of us could use the abilities we once possessed. The situation was even worse than before, and it gave me a headache.
'We've gotten weaker. Way too weak.'
[Even so, if you bless them, they'll become stronger than you think, right?]
'That only really means something when fighting monsters or demons...'
Magic allows someone with 0 ability to produce 1. Divine power allows someone with 10 ability to produce 100. It can turn someone with 0 resistance against demons or monsters into someone who can exert up to 1000.
But that's it.
Even someone who can't use magic can use scrolls for assistance. However, no matter how much you bless someone with divine power, if their base abilities are poor, the effect is minimal. After testing it by blessing Ailin and seeing the results with my own eyes, my intuition was clearly correct.
The point was that each of us had to somehow make the effort to go from 0 to 1. And I also had to develop myself so that I could elevate the 1 they created to over 100. Those were the two quests our party now faced.
"Even if we can somehow handle monsters with the support of divine power, each of us needs to come up with some physical means to land a hit on them."
"Hey. Rayden."
He told me to call him Rayna— Ah.
"...Yeah. We need to think about it. Happy now?"
"That's better."
"Anyway, I'll handle things for a while, so each of you think about it."
I didn't add any unnecessary words to the boys who nodded and fell into their own thoughts. If I dragged it out, it would just turn into nagging.
"Four monsters ahead!"
Elian urgently shouted as he pulled out the hammer slung across his back.
"What? You can still scout?! Damn it! I can't sense anything?!"
"Idiot! The leaves are shaking!"
The monsters, startled by Elian's outburst at Selba, charged toward us. They were the common goblins that practically tripped over your feet, but since they'd been separated from their group and were tense, their rather ferocious charge made me instinctively move my divine power and slaughter one.
I nodded at the divine power that flowed as naturally as water, then glanced at how the others were doing. As expected, Elian was still Elian.
"Hup!"
With a short shout, Elian lightly swung a hammer as big as his own body and smashed down hard on a goblin's head. Then he threw a tree branch he was holding like an arrow, making the goblin charging at Selba flinch for a moment.
'Elian is definitely the most helpful in combat right now.'
The other two were fighting desperately, but Yujin was doing relatively better.
"I was trying to ride the bus this time! Hah!"
Despite the sloppy movements that didn't match his shout, Yujin fought the goblins with a wooden sword he'd found somewhere.
"You said you weren't using a sword..."
'Is the Hero allowed to lie?'
"I said I quit being the Hero, didn't I?"
Oh, right. That was true.
"Humans originally use tools!"
The guy who said he wasn't the Hero anymore—was that really him? With movements only a Hero could make, Yujin took down the goblins. He was in the best shape among them.
"Ugh!"
Selba, whose thigh had been torn open by a goblin's branch strike, staggered backward.
"Mother, grant healing."
"Yes~"
"Whoa!"
"Mother, grant him swift movement."
"He did look a bit frustrated, didn't he?"
"Hup! Was it always this strong?"
"You've just gotten weaker."
"No, but seriously! Since when do dwarves carve and throw branches?!"
"I just chose what I'm most familiar with. That stupidly strong body of yours means even a sloppy throw flies pretty well. I help you and you still complain?"
At Elian's provocation, Selba—unlike his usual self—said nothing. He simply glanced down at his dagger, sheathed it, and let out a sigh.
"Hey. Don't elves have anything?"
How often would one see an elf with such a gloomy expression? Selba, whose face was still full of varied emotions, spoke in a lamenting tone, unable to hide his despair.
"I do, but I have to perform the ritual first. That's why we're going to the World Tree sapling, you blockhead."
Elian was still harsh only toward Selba. He wasn't wrong, but his wording was far too aggressive.
'...They're going to fight again.'