Chapter 194: Second Saintess (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 194: Second Saintess (2)
Daisy — Even someone as gentle as me gets angry.
To be honest, she hadn't really felt jealous.
That had been Daisy’s stance until now, and it wasn't a lie.
After all, her relationship with Adam Smith was strictly contractual.
Daisy understood the nature of their bond perfectly, and she had always shown her sincerity by paying him his due compensation without fail.
Because of that, she had every right to make demands with confidence.
She had consistently upheld her end of the bargain.
Therefore, she had the right to demand that Adam Smith fulfill his duties as her fake lover according to their contract.
But she hadn't.
For one, they were both usually busy with various matters. Furthermore, the other members of the Dessert Club hadn't been acting as obvious as they had last year.
However, the biggest reason was simply that it was embarrassing.
‘If I keep asking for his attention, it’ll look like I actually like him.’
She was already under constant scrutiny from her friends.
Moreover, she was a woman who frequently received confessions—or was on the verge of receiving them—from people she barely knew.
Of course, the majority of them weren't sincere. Most were just people testing the waters because of her status as the Saintess or the high social standing of those close to her.
She had started this fake relationship specifically to block those kinds of people.
That was why, even if Adam Smith didn't do his job properly, Daisy didn't step forward to demand more.
That way, when she truly needed him, she could call on him with a lighter heart, free from the burden of feeling like she owed him.
Consequently, she hadn't been particularly shocked when Adam Smith got a new (fake) lover.
She just thought he could have mentioned it beforehand. She felt it was a matter of basic courtesy toward his first client.
It was the same after that.
Even when new women appeared around him.
Even when those women seemed to change at regular intervals.
She might have suspected, 'Is this man actually a massive lecher?' but she never felt particularly jealous.
Was that all?
After confirming that the way he treated those women wasn't all that different from how he treated her, she realized that Adam Smith was simply a consistent human being.
‘I certainly chose my contract partner well.’ ‘I wonder if a man like that can ever get married?’ ‘Maybe he actually likes men instead of women?’
She indulged in such trivial thoughts, but the emotion of jealousy was never among them.
However, as time passed, she began to notice something strange.
"Wait, excuse me?!"
It started when she happened to see Adam Smith and Violet bickering.
"..."
To others, it might have looked like a normal interaction.
But Daisy, who had spent almost her entire life with Violet, could tell.
"They look incredibly close."
That was the genuine side of Violet that she only showed to Daisy—a side reserved for someone she could reveal everything to.
"...What is this?"
She already felt like Violet had been hiding something from her lately.
And now, Violet was showing that genuine side—the one she hadn't even shown Daisy recently—to a fake lover who was an acquaintance, but not exactly a close friend.
Feeling something was off, Daisy intended to keep an eye on the two of them.
However, those plans were cut short when the school break began.
...Or so she thought.
"No, goddammit! I'm seriously going to kill them all!"
While caught up in various affairs during the sudden civil war, Daisy felt a strange sensation upon hearing Violet’s tearful, raging outburst.
"That’s a phrase Adam Smith uses a lot. Is it a trend in Leon?"
At Marie’s offhand comment, Daisy’s eyes narrowed into slits as she glared at her.
"E-Eh?"
Marie jumped, startled by the sudden fierce gaze of her (self-proclaimed) romantic rival.
"Is that true?"
"Uh, um. Y-Yes? Why?"
Marie tried to pass the baton to Aeryun as usual, but then she remembered he had already returned to the Empire. She was forced to endure Daisy’s piercing glare all by herself, breaking into a cold sweat.
Time passed, and after returning to the Academy, Daisy watched the two of them like a hawk stalking its prey.
They acted as if they were nothing to each other... like hell they were.
She witnessed several actions that turned her suspicion into certainty.
"What? Violet did what?"
Despite everything, she had tried to trust her friend and her (fake) lover, but then an incident occurred that forced her to face the undeniable truth.
The two of them had gone down to the Academy library's underground dungeon alone (well, there was one other person, but she was also a woman) and discovered a member of the Demon Tribe.
There, Violet had supposedly awakened and summoned a pillar of light, drawing out the power of the Goddess.
"Goddess! What is the meaning of this?!"
Daisy prayed to the Goddess. No, she protested.
—No, it’s not like that...
The Goddess replied in a rare, flustered voice.
"They’re cheating, aren't they?!"
—Ah, was that it...?
The Goddess of Light, who had assumed Daisy was protesting because she had granted power to Violet, realized she had been mistaken.
Right. Of course. Daisy wasn't the type of person to get angry just because someone else used a power she usually held exclusively.
"Goddess!"
—......
This only made the Goddess more flustered.
To think that Daisy was this angry.
Breaking into a cold sweat for the first time in thousands of years, the Goddess analyzed the history of the relationship between the humans named Adam and Violet.
—Uh, well. P-Probably?
Judging that this level of intimacy usually qualified as cheating, the Goddess gave her answer.
Having received a definitive "cheating" verdict from the Goddess herself, Daisy received a request to meet from Adam Smith.
As always, he only called her when he needed something.
Daisy went to find him, fully prepared.
"What, are you jealous or something?"
When Adam Smith tried to brush it off with his usual nonchalance...
"What, am I not allowed to be?"
She went for a direct hit.
Why?
Because unlike usual, she was being sincere.
She wasn't sure if this feeling was directed at Adam Smith or Violet.
But she had confirmed the emotion of jealousy in her heart.
And once confirmed, she would not hide her feelings behind a lie.
Daisy Parvan.
At first glance, she might seem like she was managing a harem of suitors.
But she was a woman prepared to kick anyone to the curb—be it an Imperial Prince or the Princes of the powerful kingdoms of Leon and Dale—the moment they confessed.
A determined Daisy was a force to be reckoned with.
The corrupt Cardinals of the Holy Kingdom and a certain Duke who had nearly succeeded in a civil war had proven this with their very lives.
"I don't care that you contracted with Senior Loreliya. It’s annoying that you didn't notify your first client, but there was no clause in the contract saying you had to. Honestly, I wouldn't care if you contracted with a few more people."
Of course, if he became too much of a libertine, the effectiveness might drop...
But surprisingly, when the rumors spread that he and Loreliya had become a couple, Adam Smith’s stock didn't fall; it actually rose.
The charm of a bad boy, perhaps? Daisy didn't quite understand it, but since everyone else seemed to think so, she let it slide for now.
"And the fact that the women around you keep changing, or that you even took someone to the Leon Kingdom... honestly, I don't really care about that either."
Adam Smith had become quite a celebrity recently due to his friction with the Magic Department.
Various rumors had spread through students with connections to Leon or those who were from there... but Daisy didn't pay much mind to those rumors either.
However.
"At the very least, the things you did with Violet... you have to do them with me too!"
If Violet did it, I have to do it too.
It might sound like stubborn nonsense, but this was Daisy’s absolute minimum requirement.
And so...
"...Do I really have to?"
If he wouldn't even do this much...
"Yes."
"Why?"
Even the great Adam Smith would have to be prepared for the consequences.
"If you don't..."
"If I don't...?"
"I'll go to Leon every single break."
Adam fell silent at the threat of a tactical nuke being dropped on Leon.
"..."
"I-I'll bring the Pope along, too!"
His pupils shook violently at the declaration that she wouldn't just drop one nuke, but two, given the Pope's history and tradition.
And.
"Every single year!"
At the declaration that she would drop nukes annually—something even the leader of the world in his past life hadn't dared to do—Adam had no choice.
"I surrender."
Even Adam Smith had to wave the white flag.
So, what exactly was I supposed to do?
At my question, Daisy stammered, looking flustered.
"Uh, um. A-A date, just the two of us?"
It seemed she had made the demand in a fit of rage without thinking it through.
"Where to?"
"Y-You should figure that out yourself! Who was the one who suggested going down to the dungeon first?!"
"The Princess."
"Oh..."
She seemed to have thought it was my idea, but she short-circuited when the Princess was mentioned.
"A-Anyway! Have a plan ready by next Friday, and we're going on the weekend!"
After stuttering for a while, Daisy said her piece and fled. Watching her retreating back, I remembered why I had come here in the first place.
"So what happens to Boradori..."
It seemed Boradori had been abandoned by Daisy.
That aside.
"What on earth am I supposed to prepare?"
Since I had never prepared anything like this before, I sent out a distress signal to the experts.
—So, you need a date course for the Saintess?
"Yes."
At my words, the Captain tilted his head as if wondering what the problem was.
—Don't you have plenty of those?
"Pardon?"
—The ones you prepared before to help those other guys. Did you ever actually use them properly?
"I didn't, did I?"
Now that I thought about it, I had prepared several plans for the Minor Sword Emperor and Esid.
A few of those plans had been canceled midway due to their idiocy.
—Just recycle those. the kids worked hard to prepare them. There shouldn't be any issues with the content.
"Yes, sir."
Date preparations were finished faster than expected.
Now, it was time to prepare for the real thing.
"There is an attack scheduled near the Academy."
It pained my heart to see Uncle Aeryun looking like he was aging years with every passing day, but as they say, it's better to get the painful stuff over with quickly.
"What kind of nonsense is it this time..."
The Academy was already the center of attention for every religion because an oil well—no, a Holy Land—had burst forth.
Every day, radical believers were caught by the defenses designed to stop dark mages while trying to climb over the Academy walls without permission.
Even a dark mage should have the sense to stay away right now, but...
"I have a date scheduled with Daisy."
"Why must I face such trials..."
The thing that blinded even that kind of common sense was a date with a RoFan heroine.
"First of all, I feel wronged."
"I'm sure you do."
"But I doubt that'll matter, will it?"
"Of course it won't, you brat!"
I felt a bit slighted, but I understood.
I would have reacted the same way.
"So, I'm asking for your cooperation."
"You certainly are shameless."
"That's because I've been subjected to just as many shameless requests."
Why else had I helped with all the Empire's shameless demands until now? It was all for this moment.
"I don't care either way."
I sighed at the indifferent expression of the Fire Spammer.
"Daisy says she's going on a date. Do you think your Prince is just going to sit still?"
"..."
At my words, the Fire Spammer’s eyes darted around.
It seemed she also realized that wasn't likely.
"Hmph, I believe in the Prince."
Judging by her words, she really was the quintessential losing heroine.