Chapter 120
Chapter 120
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 120
Chapter Title: The Saintess's Inner Thoughts Are Audible
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Victoria couldn't understand why she had to help other people's love affairs right now.
To begin with, wasn't she Astal's lover? She hated the very idea of acting together with that loathsome impostor under the pretext of joining forces.
"I object. Wouldn't it be best to create an avatar in Astal's likeness and lure Memoria into revealing herself?"
Moreover, they had been chosen for the holy purpose of defeating the Demon King, not to gather for some trivial love games.
Was the emotion called love really that important? Of course, she couldn't say she had never yearned for it.
"Besides, this is a battlefield, no matter how you look at it. Are you all not even considering the possibility of being attacked or ambushed by the enemy?"
She didn't want to see her companions in love right now, in this situation. Because she herself had lost her memories and knew nothing.
"...Astal's Perception Hindrance Magic is incredible. In this demon realm, beings who know we are the Hero's party are even rarer."
Hero Kyle shook his head at Victoria's words. In fact, he thought this very point could be used to distinguish Memoria.
"It's highly likely Memoria will approach us again by mimicking a human form. If we approach without any countermeasures, a big mess will occur."
Memoria, who seemed to have no limits in mimicking other beings. Last time, she had transformed into a form so massive it covered the entire territory, so recklessly going to find her could be even more dangerous.
"And since my Perception Hindrance Magic doesn't work on Memoria due to a difference in realm... It would actually be convenient to filter out beings who recognize us."
"Then wouldn't that impostor right in front of us be the most suspicious! She immediately recognized our identities despite the Perception Hindrance Magic!"
Victoria pointed at the impostor who looked exactly like her, responding to Astal's words.
The fact that she had found the Hero's party, who were using Perception Hindrance Magic and were far from the place where Memoria had struck, was suspicious in itself.
"I simply followed the scent I had left on Astal. No matter how much you hide your appearance, how could I mistake my own beloved?"
However, the impostor in front of Victoria wore a relaxed smile.
As she said, Astal's body was currently densely covered with Victoria's own pheromones.
Originally, that was a method used by dragonkind, a species with an obsessive attachment to their possessions, when guarding treasures.
If that were true, then even with Perception Hindrance Magic, someone who had left a scent could have detected it.
"If only my heart had its way, I'd want to hole up in some cave, have children with Astal, and live peacefully together..."
"Are you planning to create a dragon's lair in my name right now?!"
"What's so strange about that? Astal and I are a couple who will defeat the Demon King and get married."
Victoria couldn't stop being bothered by that impostor. What on earth had happened during the year she had lost her memories to make a person change like that?
"Do you really not care at all about losing your divine power and becoming an ordinary woman? If you cease to be the Saintess, how do you plan to live from now on?"
"I'd like to ask you the same thing. Even if I were to become an ordinary woman instead of the Saintess, do you think Astal would change?"
"That's..."
Victoria couldn't rashly answer the impostor's question.
In the life she had lived so far, she had only seen humans who flattered or tried to please the Saintess that was her.
Even though the previous Pope had taken care of Victoria and treated her like a normal human.
Because she couldn't shake the thought of what it would have been like if she had been an ordinary girl from the start.
"...I know that anxiety better than anyone. If you weren't the Saintess, the Papal Court wouldn't have even come to rescue you."
Victoria couldn't understand how the impostor knew that fact. She should only have the memories of the past year.
"How on earth do you know that...!"
Why did she seem to know herself so well?
"I once searched the forbidden archives of the Holy Kingdom Aurelium to try to cure your terminal condition, Victoria. She probably knows from the memories of that time."
The mage named Astal was also taking the impostor's side. Even though there should only be a year's worth of memory difference between her and him.
"But, Astal would have come to save me even if I were an ordinary girl, right? It was that foolish side of him that I fell for."
"......"
"What kind of fool would look at someone with the epithet 'Flower Saint' and think, 'Ah, I should fix her'?"
The impostor with the exact same appearance as Victoria was laughing, even shedding a few tears as she said that.
How long had it been since she last laughed like that? As the Saintess, she had long forgotten what laughter was.
Always having to be a model for others, never allowed to show personal desires—that was the Victoria of the past.
But the impostor before her eyes had a freer, more joyful expression than anyone.
"He even tightly held my hand, cast a curse-breaking spell, and when it had no effect... Do you know what this clumsy human lied about?"
"That's enough, I think you've told that story hundreds of times already."
It almost felt like she was the real one, and Victoria herself was the fake.
"......"
Seeing Astal happily talking with the impostor who wasn't her, Victoria felt a stabbing sensation in her chest.
Why was she feeling this way?
She kept thinking she had to recover the memories she had lost.
"...I request that you refrain from having conversations I know nothing about from now on."
Victoria pulled Astal beside her by the arm and spoke. If she didn't do this, she felt like the person who had been her lover would be stolen by that impostor.
"My, are you jealous now? Well, I suppose I do have a rather greedy personality."
The impostor with Victoria's appearance smirked, giving her a look that said she'd expected this.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ I felt something was going wrong. Victoria, who had suddenly lost her memories, was becoming increasingly obsessive.
"Victoria, so you insist on being like this?"
"You have two arms, don't you? I think it's fine to yield one to me..."
Perhaps she thought I might be taken by the other Victoria before her eyes.
Victoria, who had lost her memories, kept trying to maintain a state where she was linking arms with me, spouting nonsense about how the fake and the real might have been swapped.
To be fair, Victoria's words weren't entirely without possibility. Over the past year, it was the two of us who had come to know each other more deeply than anyone.
If we really were swapped and imitated each other, we might not be able to tell.
"Astal's body parts are thick and firm, with prominent veins, which is very cool and beautiful... Ah, of course I'm talking about your arms."
"......"
I closed my eyes tightly as I looked at the other Victoria, who was highly likely to be the fake.
Since the ability to hear inner thoughts given to me by the Heavenly God wasn't working on her, the chances of her being fake were high.
"I told you not to make such vulgar remarks with my appearance!"
"My, I haven't uttered a single obscene word... What on earth were you thinking to say that?"
Somehow, this tendency to enjoy dirty jokes and play pranks seemed similar to the original Victoria.
Was the emotion called love really dependent on memories or recollections?
"Astal doesn't like linking arms like that. Please watch my demonstration carefully. Making sure to have the chest area touch as much as possible..."
The other Victoria, who had memories of being my lover, was trying her hardest to seduce me like this.
Feeling the warm, soft sensation brushing against me repeatedly, I gave the other Victoria a warning look.
"Why are you looking at me like that? As that other me said, you have two arms, don't you? Ah, perhaps there's a difference in chest size..."
The other Victoria grinned impishly while spouting nonsense.
That was absolutely impossible.
"Don't talk nonsense! The only difference between you and me is the presence of memories; there's no way you could compare in such useless fatty tissue either!"
"Then shall we actually measure? It would be better to ask my lover Astal to check, right?"
"No! No matter how much happened before I lost my memories, I don't know anything now!"
"......"
I was dumbfounded watching the other Victoria teasing her memory-less self and continuing the argument.
Was it all my fault?
To be honest, the fact that Victoria's personality had changed like this was largely my responsibility.
"So, have you planned out Anima and Taryon's date course? That's what we need to do next."
Looking at the two Victorias who were each linking arms with me as if I were a mirror, I let out a deep sigh.
Right now, we had decided to each offer our opinions to help our other companions' love affairs.
"Of course. My plan will be much better than that fake's...!"
"What would a hollow shell who doesn't know love possibly know? That one probably just learned it from some archive or book. Love is originally a battle where swords and magic clash."
The two Victorias each wore more confident smiles than anyone as they tried to cut each other down.