Chapter 145
Chapter 145
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 145
Chapter Title: The Saint's Inner Thoughts
Victoria made an effort to accurately grasp the situation she now found herself in.
She had clearly jumped into Romulus's mouth, expecting to skip through time and become a skeleton or suffer near-fatal injuries.
Yet, contrary to that expectation, she had ended up in the past.
"So, you're saying this really is Mavilos Village? Truly?"
"...Has sister just been constantly deceived her whole life?"
And not just any past, but the past where a young Astal existed.
Unlike the present, this Astal couldn't meet Victoria's gaze well, blushing and acting shy.
Seeing the man whose height she usually had to look up at now shrunk, speaking with a cute voice, shook Victoria's reason.
'What kind of torment is this...! I shouldn't harbor improper feelings for a boy...'
If only this wasn't a situation where she was caught up in a battle with Romulus, she could have hugged the young Astal to her heart's content, kissed his cheeks, and done as she pleased.
After all, the unique brute strength of a dragon hybrid was something even the adult Astal, who had learned magic, struggled to handle.
Or, she even had the wicked thought of gently coaxing him to become hopelessly infatuated with her from a young age.
A black-hearted intention so unbefitting a Saint that Victoria clenched her hands into tight fists, enduring the urge.
"But Lord Astal, why have you been keeping your distance from me since earlier?"
The unusual sense of incongruity.
As she walked through the forest with the young Astal, Victoria suddenly felt something strange and couldn't help but ask him a question.
Originally, because Victoria had lost her right eye as a side effect of a miracle, Astal always walked while supporting her from the blind spot she couldn't see.
But now, the young Astal was walking while maintaining a distance of about a hand's span from her.
"Because I think you might be a weird pervert."
"Where on earth could you find a person as kind as me to say such a thing!"
And the answer that came from Astal was quite shocking. She could never have imagined the Saint of the Holy Kingdom of Aurelium being called a weird pervert.
She had stopped the future Astal from attempting suicide, and even pulled him out of Bellamora's Illusionary Dream.
For what reason could he have such a misunderstanding?
Victoria barely suppressed the desire to say she came from the future and was actually Astal's lover.
"To call you a kind person... there are too many exposed parts of skin on your clothes... At first, I thought you were a monster victim who had died."
"Ah."
Only then did Victoria understand why the young Astal had been avoiding eye contact since earlier, or why he had poked her with a branch to check if she was alive.
Victoria's current outfit, designed to seduce the future Astal, had a heart-shaped hole in the center of her chest and the bottom cut out to expose skin.
An outfit so shameless that even a child would think it was lewd.
Wiping the cold sweat beading on her forehead with her hand, Victoria prepared an excuse so the young Astal wouldn't misunderstand.
"My lover prefers outfits with this much exposure, so I had no choice but to wear it."
"...That's a bad person."
That bad person is the future you.
Hearing the childhood Astal speak, Victoria's lips twitched.
What if she told him she came from the future and said they become lovers after he accepts her confession?
No. It was highly likely she would be treated as a crazy person.
Appearing suddenly in a deserted grassy field and claiming to be the girlfriend of a boy much younger than herself would seem strange even to her own eyes.
'What should I do...'
Victoria hung her head low, hiding her sad expression as she trudged along.
If this place was truly the past, she had no idea what method she could use to return to her original place.
Victoria was angry at Astal.
Despite how much she had lectured him and told him not to sacrifice himself alone, he hadn't listened.
"But why are you speaking formally to me, sister? You don't need to add honorifics."
"It's a position where I'm not used to speaking casually."
Victoria didn't mention being the Saint of Aurelium. She knew things would get complicated if she brought it up.
A peaceful village showing no signs of the threat of a Demon King army invasion. That meant the Holy Kingdom hadn't yet selected a Saint.
"I see."
"......"
But the young Astal had an expression of not believing Victoria's words at all.
He just nodded as if going along with it, trying not to hurt Victoria's feelings.
"You have a look of distrust on your face..."
Seeing him act too mature for a child, Victoria wondered if there was a way to tease him.
Ah, right. That was it.
The moment a good idea came to her, Victoria's lips twitched.
"Lord Astal, do you happen to know the person in this village who is best at using magic?"
"What? Of course it's me..."
"Of course there wouldn't be anyone in a rural village like this. I suppose I'll have to go to a Magic Tower to find someone else."
Victoria deliberately cut off the young Astal's words. She knew how to win over or manipulate children's hearts.
Under the name of Saint, she had taken care of children at an orphanage, and in the Holy Kingdom, she wore a mask to avoid being hated.
There were few people who could beat Victoria, who had gone through such twists and turns, in a psychological battle.
...Of course, this same confidence was also the reason her love affairs had ended in miserable failure.
The emotion called love wasn't something to judge so calculatively; it was the one who loved more who ended up at a disadvantage.
"What's it about?"
Good, he took the bait.
Looking at Astal, who now made eye contact with her and showed curiosity unlike before, she began her story as if it were nothing.
"I was attacked by some monster and got separated from my companions, ending up stranded here. I don't think I can return to how things were."
"...Really? Well, you were definitely unconscious at first."
"But it seems there's no one here I can ask for help. Unless there's someone proficient in space or time magic..."
Since Astal had lived thinking he was a genius since childhood, touching his pride like this would easily shake him.
"I can use magic well too!"
"Is that so? That's a very trustworthy story."
Victoria spoke while covering her mouth as if about to yawn. A tone that anyone would recognize as sarcastic.
"It's true! I'm the one who can use magic even with a tree branch instead of a staff!"
Then the young Astal shook the branch he had used to poke Victoria's side earlier, showing he could use magic.
Float, float.
Bubble-like spheres of water rose up, demonstrating his ability to use magic.
"How did you do that? Normally, mages need a staff to use magic, don't they?"
"I have an eye that can distinguish branches imbued with magical power! Ah, of course, I also don't have money for a staff..."
Could I secretly kidnap him and put him in my pocket?
Watching the childhood Astal brag with sparkling eyes, Victoria barely swallowed the thought of wanting to kidnap him somewhere.
"That's amazing. You taught yourself magic at that age? You probably didn't have a proper teacher..."
"Right! If you use magic all day long, you get a feel for it. What if I change the incantation like this..."
It was a purity and naivety she couldn't see in the usual Astal.
"Impressive. You've worked very hard. I think you could even be specially recruited by a Magic Tower later."
"Not that much! I've barely reached the level of an intermediate mage... Hehe."
With just a few compliments, the wary atmosphere completely reversed. Now he was sticking close to talk, looking utterly adorable.
Wondering if this was what it would feel like to have her own child, Victoria almost forgot her original purpose in her happy delusion.
"Do you happen to know what today's date is? I'm rather disoriented and don't know how long I was lying there."
Finding a way to return from the past to the present. And dealing with Romulus's ambush.
"Hmm, I live just doing farm work all day, so I'm not sure. Every day is the same..."
"Any information related to time, even indirect, would help. Like, your birthday, for instance."
Just in case, Victoria asked the young Astal about his birthday.
In the past she knew, on Astal's 10th birthday, the Demon King army led by Duran would invade the village.
Please let this bad feeling be wrong, Victoria wished in her heart, but...
"It's about a week before my 10th birthday. But something like this won't help you, sister..."
Unfortunately, such premonitions often came true.
"Oh dear."
In one week, this village would turn to ashes.
On what should have been the happiest birthday, he would gain the most horrific trauma.
Realizing this, Victoria fell into contemplation about what means she should use to persuade the villagers.
And at that moment,
"Oh my, Astal. Who is that person behind you?"
"...? I've never seen them in our village before."
Victoria came face to face with the people she had seen in the corrupted Holy Sword.
Astal's father and mother.
The people she could only meet as souls in the future were looking at her.