Chapter 76
Chapter 76
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: The Saint's Inner Thoughts
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Victoria, seeing me drinking, clicked her tongue and made a "tsk" sound. It seemed she was dissatisfied with me breaking my promise to her.
A sharp spark flickered in Victoria's gaze as she deliberately made noise while sitting down next to me.
"Victoria, how did you get here...?"
"The sun was about to set, and you still hadn't returned to the inn."
Seeing her deliberately linking arms with me and pressing her chest against me, I couldn't help but flinch. Victoria was jealous even of a man I was just being friendly with.
- I followed you just in case, and it's a good thing I did. I almost lost Astal-sama... I won't let you slip away again.
Listening to her inner thoughts, it seemed Victoria had been tailing me from the start. Her obsession was growing increasingly intense, and I had no idea how to handle it.
"Am I perhaps intruding by being here?"
"Not at all! We were just talking about you!"
Grak'tar let out a hearty laugh as he faced Victoria. His ability to remain calm and composed in front of her, who could be terrifying when angered, was almost admirable.
"My, what were you talking about that seemed so amusing...?"
- Judging from what I overheard earlier and how he seems friendly toward Astal-sama, he doesn't appear to be a bad monster... Well, protecting my husband's external reputation is also a wife's duty.
Victoria covered her mouth with her hand, laughing as if feigning shyness. Seeing her act so formally, which she never did when alone with me, felt awkward.
"I was just advising him to act more like a man, since he said he was pushing you away like a coward!"
"......"
I was left speechless by Grak'tar's remark. After all, I had been worried that Victoria might get hurt after I rejected her confession.
Thinking of myself as overly timid and passive to a degree that would baffle anyone, I couldn't lift my head.
"I actually like that kindness of yours, Astal-sama. It's because you're afraid I might lose my life that you won't accept my feelings."
Victoria smiled slyly, leaving a light kiss on my cheek. She didn't seem the least bit intimidated by the muscular Ogre Barbarian in front of her.
Right, this was the kind of person Victoria Aberhart originally was.
"...Even if you say you dislike me, my ardent affection for you will never change. I will simply wait endlessly."
In a negative light, she was self-righteous; in a positive light, she was a noble saint.
Even if a misfortune she couldn't withstand struck her life, she was the kind of person who would steadfastly walk her own path.
"Ha ha ha! You two are a perfect match! I don't even understand why you came to me for advice!"
Grak'tar, seemingly pleased with Victoria's answer, downed his drink in one gulp and let out a refreshing sigh.
"Might I ask your name?"
"My name is Grak'tar! An Ogre Barbarian who just became friends with this guy!"
He extended a massive hand toward Victoria, offering a handshake, but she shook her head regretfully.
"I am the Flower Saint, Victoria Aberhart. I apologize, but my body is not permitted to have physical contact with other men..."
"Is it because of the Heavenly God? Well, with that goddess, I can see why!"
Seeing Victoria, who normally couldn't get close to men due to Heavenly God Lumina's precepts, Grak'tar scratched his chin with a finger, speaking as if he knew something.
"Do you know something about the Heavenly God?"
"Of course! This is the Demon Realm! The Demon God Serana is actually sisters with that goddess!"
Grak'tar then let out a hearty laugh and began recounting what he knew. Unlike the continent, here in the Demon Realm, the stories were about the Demon God Serana and the Monster God Aviserus, who were worshipped.
"Wait, is that true? The Heavenly God and the Demon God are sisters? I've never heard such a thing in my life."
My eyes widened instantly. I felt like I was beginning to grasp why, in the mural I saw in the Holy Kingdom's forbidden archives, all the other gods were hostile to a single entity.
"Of course it wouldn't be known on the continent. Just as there is light, there is shadow; they are two opposing yet inseparable beings, so they say..."
"...The good and evil of life cannot be distinguished; we must shoulder the shadow and advance toward the light."
It was a verse from the scriptures that Victoria often recited. Recalling that passage again, I finally sensed the connection with Serana, known as the Goddess of Darkness and Night.
What the gods maintained was the balance of this world, and an example of that was the value system of good and evil... Or if it was something else, it wasn't impossible.
"That's right! In the Demon Realm, there's a verse that's the opposite! 'We must shoulder the light and return to the darkness,' they say!"
Grak'tar nodded vigorously at my words, chiming in agreement. Indeed, as the first friendly being I'd met in the Demon Realm, the amount of information I could gain from him was overflowing.
"I have no interest in heretical doctrines. Aren't they ultimately beings who cruelly slaughter and ravage people?"
- He might be lying, you know? Aren't you trusting people too easily? The Saint of Heavenly God Lumina is right here...
Victoria bit her lower lip slightly as she spoke.
No matter how much Victoria prayed for her enemies and comforted the dead, as the Saint of the Heavenly God, she couldn't possibly be interested in an opposing evil god.
She was the one who most eagerly took the lead, smashing Serana's idols with a hammer or trying to kill succubi pretending to be clergy.
"...Even if it's heresy, I believe there's something to learn from it. I apologize if I came across as forceful."
"......!!!"
BANG!
Seeing Victoria's reaction, Grak'tar immediately slammed his head on the table in apology. A little blood was trickling from his forehead, but he didn't seem to care.
"No, there's no need to go that far..."
"You are the Saint of the Hero's party, representing humanity. You live a life opposite to the Dullahans here. If I misspoke, apologizing is the right thing to do!"
It was a truly simple, brutish Ogre-like action, but seeing Grak'tar's attitude actually lent credibility to his words.
In the Demon Realm, where everyone deceives and is deceived, beings this trustworthy are rare. He was showing a clear difference from all the monsters and demons I'd met so far.
"...Victoria, why don't you have a drink too? Conversations like this are hard to have sober."
"Are you trying to make me an accomplice after all? Have you completely forgotten that I usually tell you to abstain from drinking?"
Victoria tightened her grip on my arm even more, showing through her body language that she was upset I'd forgotten my promise to her.
"Well, I want to drink with you today, that's all."
"...What did you just say?"
"What, is it that strange to want to share a drink with your lover?"
I looked at Victoria, holding up my glass. If I didn't express my feelings to her like this, I felt I might someday regret it, just as Grak'tar had said.
"......"
- He said lover, he said lover, he said lover...
Victoria's eyes widened briefly, then she coughed a few times as if not flustered, trying to calm her startled heart.
"You know how to set the mood, unlike your usual self. Very well. I'll join you."
Gulp, gulp.
Victoria downed the glass I offered her in one go. Watching this, Grak'tar ordered more side dishes and drinks.
"Innkeeper! Bring us some well-cooked Metalbird meat and a bottle of aged fruit wine! It's on me!"
"I didn't want to owe you like this."
"What are you talking about! You've already shown me something good. I hope you two don't become an unfulfilled love story."
Grak'tar looked at me and Victoria with a parental, pleased gaze, wearing a gentle smile.
Knowing he could have been an enemy under different circumstances, yet seeing him cheer for my and her love,
I wanted to be just a little braver.
If I survive this arena, if that brings me closer to the possibility of killing the Demon King...
Wouldn't it be okay to tell Victoria my feelings directly? I was having a slightly selfish thought.
"Astal-sama, even so, shouldn't you always prioritize me, who's cuter than your friend...?"
Victoria deliberately rested her head on my shoulder, speaking in a slightly slurred tone as she voiced her accumulated grievances.
"...What?"
"I'm right here, Victoria, who's cuter than anyone."
Her face was flushed, perhaps from the alcohol, and unlike usual, she was even rubbing her face against my chest while acting coy.
"...Please always think of me first."
- I'll pretend to be drunk, convey all the words and feelings I haven't said to Astal-sama, then seduce him in bed later...! I can just say it was an accident that happened because I was drunk...
For me, who could hear Victoria's sinister inner thoughts, it was immediately obvious she wasn't actually drunk at all.