Chapter 22
Chapter 22
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: The Saint's Inner Thoughts
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Victoria couldn’t hide her surprise at the scene unfolding before her.
“Why… why on earth would he go that far…?”
She clasped her trembling hands together and barely managed to steady her spinning eyes.
Victoria’s party was currently on an adventure to slay the Demon King. They were about to head to the territory ruled by the Succubus Queen to lay the groundwork for that great undertaking.
So why was he trying to go to the Holy Kingdom now, of all times?
- You crazy bastard… You’re probably the only psycho who’d risk his life for a girlfriend you’ve only been dating for a few days.
- I’m just trying to avoid future trouble.
Victoria had also overheard the conversation between Kyle and Astal earlier. It seemed like he was trying to open a spatial teleportation gate, even risking his life for her sake.
The rift in space that looked like a torn wound or a cracked fissure. Unlike ordinary spatial teleportation magic, its form wasn’t a vortex, but…
“There shouldn’t be any reason to go to the Holy Kingdom Aurelium now…?”
The rows of white buildings visible on the other side were unmistakably the sight of the Holy Kingdom Aurelium, where Victoria had stayed.
Seeing that sight, Victoria rolled her eyes and began pondering what reason Astal could possibly have for taking such action.
‘Sir Astal is someone who’s more passionate about slaying the Four Heavenly Kings or the Demon King than anything else…’
A vengeful spirit who cared about nothing else except killing the Demon King or matters involving someone’s death or injury.
From what she heard during the fight with the Phantom Dragon, it seemed his parents’ enemies were likely demons. Since Astal rarely talked about his past, she could only guess like this.
‘Don’t tell me… he found out I’m living on borrowed time…?’
Otherwise, there seemed to be no reason for him to do that. After all, Astal had just performed the feat of turning his own body into living lightning to shatter space.
“Ugh…”
Victoria felt something welling up greatly inside her chest. A warm, gentle, yet poignant emotion.
It was the complete opposite of the cold, sharp, knife-like feeling she had when she had a crush. It felt like their hearts were connected for the first time, making the throbbing in her chest beat rapidly.
‘Even so, he probably dislikes me…’
Victoria placed her hand over the center of her chest, trying to calm her pounding heart. She had often misunderstood things on her own, jumped to conclusions, and stumbled like this before.
Given Astal’s usual personality and actions, she thought that even if she were about to die, he’d probably think it was for the best. To him, the saint Victoria Everhart must have seemed like a vicious-tongued shrew who mainly spouted vulgarities.
‘…I need to ask the Heavenly God. What reason he could possibly have for going to the Holy Kingdom.’
To resolve her curiosity, Victoria clasped her hands together, closed her eyes, and offered a prayer. The Heavenly God Lumina, who had brought her here, would probably know the reason.
‘Heavenly God, why on earth did Sir Astal use such magic? We’re supposed to head to the territory ruled by the Succubus Queen now… This will disrupt our schedule.’
Victoria’s chain of questions grew longer and longer. Because deep down, she wished that Astal had done such a thing out of worry for her.
- [Are you really asking because you don’t know, my child?]
The Heavenly God let out a deep sigh and bestowed a revelation upon Victoria. Somehow, this frustrating man and woman had even entered a contract relationship but still couldn’t make proper progress.
- [He’s trying to save you, isn’t he? There’s only one reason that man would move like that, right?]
‘Th-that can’t be! Sir Astal didn’t see me as a woman! To save a worthless life like mine, how could he…’
Victoria shook her head in denial. No matter how she thought about it, something felt off.
She had done her utmost to hide the fact that she was living on borrowed time. Recently, she hadn’t used any Miracles, so she had hardly shown any signs of physical pain.
So how could that clueless man have found out and risked his life for her?
- [That crazy bastard has indeed taken action. Who on earth would use such a brute-force method just to head to the Holy Kingdom? Unless it’s to save the saint of a nation, it’s not worth the effort.]
The Heavenly God cursed Astal, who wasn’t here right now. There were parts that felt somewhat irksome.
The idea of piercing through space using immense mass and speed might sound easy in theory, but putting it into practice was difficult.
If he had enough feelings for Victoria to resort to such a method and knew she liked him, why didn’t he just accept her confession and date her for real?
‘…Is that… really true?’
Victoria asked, trying to act nonchalant while feeling her cheeks flush. She was the one with the contradictory wish that the man named Astal would like her and remember her as a woman he thought of from time to time.
“Ehehe… Sir Astal… me…”
Victoria let out a high, cute voice, savoring her current joy. The ticklish feeling even made her cover her face slightly with her own hair.
It was always Astal who worried the most whenever Victoria got hurt or was in pain, but recently she hadn’t shown any such signs.
- [Still, if you’re really worried, go after him. The newly inaugurated Pope seems shady even to me.]
The Heavenly God bestowed another revelation upon Victoria. She thought Victoria needed to see Astal heading to the Holy Kingdom’s forbidden archives herself for any real progress to happen.
Victoria’s current grumbling attitude and harsh words were all because she still lacked love.
If she truly loved him, she’d throw away pride and dignity and pursue him passionately.
“…I was planning to follow him even without you saying that, Heavenly God.”
Victoria nodded firmly and looked at the fissure before her with a stern expression. The pure white landscape visible beyond was one of the places she never wanted to return to.
But,
“A mage who uses his body so recklessly… As the Saint, I must definitely scold him.”
It was the place where the man she loved had gone, grinding his own body to pieces.
Abandoning even his sense of mission to take revenge on demons and monsters, all for Victoria Everhart.
What woman in this world could refrain from following him there?
Once again, Victoria felt grateful for having fallen in love with the mage named Astal.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ “Well then, I guess I should do my part too.”
Right after Astal left, the Hero Kyle drew his flame-wreathed holy sword from its scabbard.
Since Perception Hindrance Magic wouldn’t work on the gate, it was certain that demons and monsters who noticed the anomaly would come.
Roooooooar!!
Immediately, the loud roar of a beast echoed, and the vibrations of numerous monsters approaching could be felt.
“…They’re already here. This couple really is a handful.”
Kyle stabbed his holy sword into the ground, twisted the hilt to summon his armor, and spoke. Roughly judging, there seemed to be over fifty monsters.
No truly dangerous ones were visible yet, but soon many enemies would flock here upon hearing the news.
Because using a spatial teleportation gate would allow them to invade the continent more easily than anything else.
At that moment, a shadowy figure passed by Kyle’s side.
“Excuse me for a moment, Hero.”
A different tone from when she called Astal—stiff and formal—and the woman scattering petals and platinum-blonde hair was none other than…
“…Victoria?”
The Flower Saint, Victoria Everhart.
“I can’t leave that fool alone.”
While the Hero Kyle was taken aback and failed to stop her, she threw herself into the spatial rift Astal had opened.
Victoria instantly transformed into a bolt of lightning and disappeared, leaving only Kyle alone in the empty clearing.
“How did she know to come here? Astal clearly said he checked and Victoria was asleep…”
Kyle clicked his tongue in disbelief. Wouldn’t this ruin Astal’s plan to come and go secretly?
“…They really do have similarities. How did two people who match so well end up meeting?”
Kyle voiced his extremely personal observation about the two and finished preparing to fight the approaching monsters.
It was the same during the previous battle with the Phantom Dragon.
Whenever Astal came up with an astonishing method, Victoria always took on the role of assisting or supporting him from the side.
From now on, only fate would guide their path forward.
“Alright, no one gets past this point from now on!”
Kyle looked at the swarming horde of monsters and smiled confidently. Even if he were in the same situation, his comrades would surely help him like this.
He had to act in a manner worthy of the title ‘Hero’.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The Holy Kingdom Aurelium was a space lined with pure white buildings, as if not a speck of impurity was allowed.
“No matter when I come, this place always gives me the creeps…”
Thud, thump.
Having already rolled on the ground once and successfully landed, I brushed the dust off my body and cloak and looked straight ahead.
The magic of first converting my body into living lightning through elemental transformation, then using that explosive force and speed to pierce through space.
The consecutive spells—Thunder Lord and Astrape—placed an immense shock on my body no matter what.
“…Look over there, someone just crashed into the wall out of nowhere!”
“Who is that? How did they suddenly appear? There was nothing there a moment ago…”
“Are they okay? They’re bleeding from the forehead…”
Murmur murmur.
Since I had just pierced through space and crashed into a building wall, a crowd had gathered around me.
‘Good thing I cast Perception Hindrance Magic just in case.’
I pulled my blue robe down firmly, repaired the collapsed building debris with magic, and began walking toward the Papal Court.
If it became known that I was now on the continent and not in the Demon Realm, the Demon King might naturally seize the opportunity.
My party comrades would recognize me, but there was no way Victoria or the others would be here.
‘…Then, should I go threaten the Pope into telling me how to save Victoria?’
Soon, I arrived without any hindrance at the Papal Court, the largest building in the Holy Kingdom, and came face-to-face with the paladins guarding its front.
“Greetings! I am Paladin Wilhelm! Please state your identity and name!”
One paladin wearing a white mask boldly blocked my path. It seemed like they were preventing any outsider of unclear identity from entering the Papal Court.
“…….”
I scratched my chin and pondered for a moment. The epithet ‘Harmless Mage’ and my status as the continent’s strongest mage briefly crossed my mind, but…
“…The lover of Saint Victoria.”
Seeing Victoria’s likeness carved right above my head, I couldn’t help but say that.
This would probably cause trouble for Victoria later. It was sufficient punishment for teasing and provoking people every day.
“……? Is that really true?”
Hearing those words, Paladin Wilhelm’s eyes widened and trembled, looking at me with a gaze filled with something like awe.
Huh, this reaction is a bit strange.
“Finally, our Saint has found a partner! And the other party is the famous Harmless… Ugh… Ugh!!”
I realized something had gone terribly wrong and immediately covered Wilhelm’s mouth.
This paladin… my Perception Hindrance Magic isn’t working on him.