Chapter 95
Chapter 95
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 95
Chapter Title: The First Saint's Revelation
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Victoria was replaying the events that had just occurred in her mind.
The lie she told about dating Astal to his parents, and the brief kiss he placed on her forehead.
Normally, she wouldn't have behaved that way.
She could have told the truth in front of his parents that they weren't actually dating yet, and he didn't need to kiss her forehead.
Why on earth had she done it?
Her mind wasn't working properly, distracted by the thumping of her heart and the tingling sensation rising from her fingertips.
'I can't even look him in the face...'
Victoria walked forward with her head bowed deeply.
She couldn't understand what the man beside her was thinking now, why he had lied to his parents and shown her affection.
Could it be... he's started to like me?
Holding onto that hope, she glanced sideways and immediately locked eyes with Astal, who had been watching her for a while.
"...!!!"
"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell somewhere? Your face has been a bit red for a while now..."
She couldn't immediately blurt out the words, "It bothers me that you say and do these things so casually."
Even though she had vowed not to run from her honest feelings anymore, the thought that the other person might also like her brought a wave of embarrassment.
Love is something embarrassing when put into words, and when conveyed through actions, it's a hot, tickling, indescribable emotion.
"You, don't tell me you've finally come to like me?"
Victoria forced a smile, trying her best to act nonchalant. If she provoked Astal like this, he would surely brush it off, saying nothing like that had ever happened.
But,
"I do like you. Quite a lot, actually."
"Ha, is that so? What a pity. Not recognizing the charm of someone as beautiful and noble as me, the most gorgeous woman in the world... Wait, what did you say?"
"Hmm, I wonder what I said? Could it mean I like you as a friend, or could it mean I like you as a member of the opposite sex?"
There was something different about Astal now.
The way he casually said he liked her and called her his precious lover felt unfamiliar somehow.
"Wait, hold on. This doesn't count. What I want is to hear an answer to a confession in a more romantic place, with a better atmosphere..."
Why am I acting like this?
Her heart raced as if broken, and the heat rising to her face wouldn't calm down even when she covered it with her hands.
"Alright, I'll do that. I want to properly reciprocate your feelings too."
"Yes, yes! I'll be looking forward to it..."
Astal squeezed Victoria's hand once, giving her the answer she most wanted to hear right now.
Was it because he had properly faced his past trauma? Or was it repayment for how she had continued to support him until now?
Astal now gazed at Victoria with a gentleness so palpable that anyone could see he liked her.
This was clearly something she had always wanted.
She must have hoped for this to happen someday.
So why did she feel so embarrassed she could barely look him in the face, and why did the tickling sensation make everything feel unreal?
"...Victoria, can I ask you one thing?"
"What is it?"
Even though their hands were sweaty and slippery, neither let go. Right now, the thought of not wanting to let go was stronger.
"Earlier, you didn't need to lie to my parents and say we were dating, right? The reason we had to pretend to be in a contract relationship is gone now."
"...And you didn't need to call me your precious lover in front of Clara either, did you?"
Astal and Victoria had now grown accustomed to acting like lovers, regardless of the contract relationship.
Neither could tell whether it came from their true feelings or was just habitual behavior.
So much had happened in over a month.
They had succeeded in defeating two of the Demon King's Four Heavenly Kings, whom they thought were absolutely invincible, and had formed a bond so deep, both emotionally and physically, that there was no turning back.
"I simply wished for your parents to pass on with slightly lighter hearts. If there was a woman you were seeing, they would naturally worry less."
Victoria also had a personal desire not to introduce herself to Astal's parents as just a comrade, but she didn't voice that.
Ten years is a long time, yet also a short time.
If she were to see her own deceased parents again, she thought telling them she had a boyfriend would have given them a little more peace of mind.
"I did it because I hate being misunderstood by you. You're the only woman I've ever felt romantically attracted to."
However, Astal, in direct contrast to Victoria, was honestly talking about his own desires.
Because Victoria, who had felt jealous of a girl from childhood who spread false rumors about marrying him just because she liked him, was just too adorable.
"So now you're not even hiding your ulterior motives. I can imagine how many women's eyes you've brought to tears."
"...I think I've only made you cry?"
Astal gave Victoria a strange look at her words. While he had made her cry when rejecting her confession, he had never made any other woman shed tears.
"That's exactly what I dislike. You oblivious Mage."
Victoria let out a small sigh, relieved that this man hadn't carelessly given his attention or heart to other women.
If Astal hadn't acted passively in love and romance due to his trauma, she thought a woman like her, who insults and belittles others, would never have had a chance to get close.
"You say you dislike it, yet you keep holding my hand."
"Th-that's... because you might get lost...!!"
His denseness and clumsiness regarding romantic feelings directed at him.
Astal now understood what part Victoria was talking about, so he smiled slightly and teased her.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ And so, I and Victoria continued walking through the pure white space, and at the point where it seemed to signal the end, where darkness began, we encountered a woman with white hair.
A woman sitting leisurely as if on a chair, using a Dullahan clad in pitch-black armor as her seat, wearing a relaxed expression and smiling.
"Oh my, how nice to meet you. Are you the Hero and Saint of this generation?"
The moment I saw that, I could tell this person was the First Saint. Because the Dullahan beneath her was trembling violently, letting out screams filled with agony.
"Please, please... Get me out of here. I don't want to experience having my head crushed or my limbs torn off alive anymore...! Erisiel, you can do it!"
"No. You must fall into hell with me. No matter how scary the Demon King was, you killed me and all my precious people, didn't you?"
Gulp.
I couldn't help but swallow dryly as I watched the First Saint speak so cynically.
She looked less like a Saint and more like a judge from hell. Seeing the vengeful spirits writhing behind her, tearing apart and devouring what seemed to be the Dullahan's core soul, sent shivers down my spine.
"...I'm not the Hero. Just an ordinary Mage. My name is Astal Caesaro."
"The Saint of this generation, Victoria Aberhart."
"How unexpected. I thought it was a fixed route for the Hero and Saint to be connected. This might also be proof that you two are special existences."
The First Saint, Erisiel, spoke to us, completely indifferent to the Dullahan's suffering.
Route? What did that word mean?
Feeling I was missing something important, I started moving a little closer to the First Saint, but...
"Ah, it would be better to stay right there. If you cross this point, there are many vengeful spirits even I cannot handle."
The First Saint Erisiel held out her palm, recommending I not come any closer than a certain distance.
As if to prove it, the child she held in her arms had turned black and seemed to have already lost its reason.
Having never seen the light of the world, brutally murdered by a being called its father, it had transformed like that.
"Did you, by any chance, Saint, also help the people of my hometown maintain their sanity and not fall into corruption?"
"Yes, that's right. My Miracle doesn't have side effects like yours. Is that why you came, curious about that part?"
Saying that, the First Saint gave a faint smile. While soothing the baby in her arms, she directed a soft, warm smile at us.
"Yes. I feel we must know to defeat the Demon King. Do you have any information you might know?"
"In that case, just call me Erisiel. That's more comfortable for me too."
The First Saint gestured toward the empty space and showed us a certain scene.
"Astal, Victoria. Have you ever actually faced the Demon King?"
The scene blooming from her fingertips showed countless people fighting against a certain being.
There were groups that looked like Hero parties like us, and the figure of a Black Knight in pitch-black armor fighting, but only one person was present in every single scene.
A man shedding tears of blood, offering prayers to the heavens.
Seeing a being that instantly inspired awe and set all her senses on edge, she opened her mouth.
"This being is the Demon King Ergothum. His goal is the destruction of the world... but something more important was hidden behind it."
"What is it?"
"The destruction of all parallel universes. To leave only one possibility as a result. 'The Grand Route'... He definitely called it that concept."
The First Saint Erisiel took a deep breath and spoke.
The Grand Route.
Why would that be related to the side effects of using Miracles? No matter how much I racked my brain, I couldn't understand.
"That must also be why the gods cannot properly intervene against the Demon King or us. They're hiding something using causality or side effects as an excuse."
The mural I saw in the Holy Kingdom of Aurelium flashed through my mind for a moment, and I could grasp what had been tormenting us all this time.
The being that all the gods in the mural had barely managed to drive away with their combined power had likely sided with the Demon King.
Otherwise, it wouldn't make sense.