Chapter 9
Chapter 9
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: Is This a Saintess? (4)
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Patrick was a man who knew no fear.
From childhood, he'd loved throwing punches, going in and out of jail a few times until he learned what real crime was all about.
And in the process, he realized something. People think cities are all glittering and bright, but because it's a city, the darkness there is far thicker and deeper.
After getting out, Patrick put the know-how he'd picked up in prison to use and set about building his own kingdom.
"Got it? We're not just some organization. We're a family. Family!"
Under the pretext of helping outcast beastkin, he gradually expanded his influence, starting in the gray areas and moving into full-blown illegal operations.
As a result, he'd grown to the point where he was now locked in turf wars with other groups over slices of the capital's crime market.
The organization's biggest moneymaker was loan sharking.
Through killer interest rates and aggressive collections backed by brutal beastkin, they were raking in big money.
To take the next step, they'd need to start human trafficking under the cover of debt, but the organization wasn't quite at that level yet.
But it wouldn't be long now.
Just a little more, and he'd be the king of the capital's underworld.
Then one night, the reaper came calling.
"Hah, what a pigsty."
A human man holding a long pole.
At first, Patrick thought he was just some guy who'd come to borrow money. There were always people needing cash in the dead of night.
"Any of you managed to steer clear of the real nasty stuff all this time?"
Until the human spouted that nonsense.
"Haha, what're you on about, buddy?"
Quens, the family's fist man and a lionkin known as Iron Fist, stepped up to intimidate him.
Snap!
With a crisp snap, the pole in the human's hand cracked Quens right between the eyes.
"…."
Quens's arms trembled.
Blood poured from his nose.
Slowly, his knees hit the ground, and just as slowly, he toppled over with a thud.
"One more chance. Anyone here who's tried to live decently so far? Thinks they could go straight if given the opportunity?"
The human sighed as beastkin charged at him.
"None, huh."
And then, the one-sided beatdown began.
It was just a pole under 2 meters long, made of ordinary wood—like a laundry drying rod you could find in any home.
Yet that wooden pole deflected the family's swords and axes, smashing helmets and shields to bits.
His movements were so nonchalant they bordered on sleepy. With the bare minimum dodges and lazy swings, he neutralized the family members—knocking them out or snapping bones.
Patrick had never witnessed anything like it in all his years.
"K-Knight!? Why would a knight come to a slum like this!!"
The human muttered casually.
"Knight? I've turned down a few offers of knighthood, but never accepted."
In an instant, everyone else was down, leaving only the two pigkin: Patrick and Yanson.
Patrick tried to negotiate.
"W-What do you want! Money? We can give you as much as—"
"Your ruin."
The human approached, spinning the pole effortlessly.
Terrified, Yanson shouted.
"P-Prnung luim gluwu—"
"Hey, you idiot!"
The human's pole moved five times faster than anything he'd shown so far.
Watching it, Patrick realized.
He hadn't even used a fraction of his real power until now.
A sound came from Yanson's head that no head should make.
Yanson crumpled.
"Tch… Surely the living flame didn't actually descend…."
The human's gaze turned to Patrick.
"You're gonna spill everything you know. How did this bastard learn an Outer God summoning chant? Any guesses?"
That's when Patrick learned what fear was.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The next morning.
"Did you hear, sir? Last night, that crime organization that was trying to set up in the slums got wiped out."
"Is that so. Good news."
Isabelle the maid flashed a meaningful smile and headed back to the kitchen.
'Well then, time to wake her up.'
Breakfast was at 8 a.m.
So the young lady's wake-up time was 7:30. She wouldn't eat until she'd washed up and done her vertical rolls.
-(Her -sawayo speech seems purely stylistic, but the vertical rolls feel like there's some backstory there too.
I've seen her -sawayo style break down a few times, but never a day without those rolls.
I headed upstairs and knocked on the door.
"Young Lady, may I come in?"
Ever since that incident, I made a point not to enter without permission unless it was urgent.
But.
"…Young Lady?"
No response.
Sensing something off, I opened the door to find an empty bed greeting me.
"Young Lady!?"
Damn, what happened? Serious situation? Kidnapping? Abduction? Night outing?
I summoned a spirit.
"Light!" 「Huh? What? What's up? What do you want?」
"「Where'd the girl who was sleeping here go!?」"
「Huh? Her? What's that? Why?」
"「I'll play with you later—」"
「That human girl? She's right nearby.」
"…?"
No way.
I stepped out and knocked on Cynthia's door directly across the hall.
"Miss Cynthia."
"Y-Yes?"
Her voice was trembling. More than usual.
"…Is Young Lady Tiona in there too?"
From inside, Cynthia's voice rousing someone.
"Young Lady! Wake up, Young Lady Tiona!"
"…I'm coming in."
I opened the door, and Cynthia's room—slightly different from how I'd last seen it last night—came into view.
The differences were mostly because Cynthia had unpacked her few belongings: a notebook and pencil case on the desk, a few personal trinkets, a single outfit hanging in the wardrobe, and so on.
And the rest? Because someone who definitely shouldn't be there was lying on the bed.
"Zzz…."
There was Tiona, peacefully fast asleep under the covers. And beside her, Cynthia in a total fluster.
"…Young Lady. Miss Cynthia."
I rubbed my brow and turned my head.
"The Heavenly God Church might say otherwise, but don't worry. These days, rationalist theology is all the rage—"
"No! That's not it—Young Lady! Wake up and explain!"
"Wh-Whatever it is, have sweet dreams. Weather's getting chilly these days."
"Young Laaaady!!!"
"Eek…?"
At the breakfast table, here's the full story from Cynthia.
Last night, as Cynthia was about to go to bed, she heard suspicious, eerie noises.
"That didn't happen-sawayo!"
"Young Lady, please don't interrupt Miss Cynthia."
Groans like "Uhh, uhhhh…" from the hallway, and shuffling footsteps. Cynthia got scared.
"Th-That was me-sawayo…?"
"I said, don't interrupt."
Finding it odd that it went on for a while, she went out—and there was Young Lady Tiona, pacing anxiously in the dark hallway.
Cynthia glanced around before saying,
"Sh-She was scared to go to the bathroom alone… B-But it's scary enough! Nights are dark, right?"
"…Even with candles?"
For the record, Young Lady Tiona sleeps with candles lit all night. You can tell from how they're all melted by morning.
Side note: vendors collect the melted wax to remold into new candles.
Something I didn't know from reading novels—learned it after falling into this world.
"Scary is scary-sawayo!"
So in the end,
Cynthia escorted her to the bathroom, stood guard while she did her business, but afterward the young lady kept whining about being scared, so Cynthia brought her to her own room….
"…And she just fell asleep there. In Miss Cynthia's bed."
"Yes…."
Cynthia looked a bit tired, like she hadn't slept properly.
Which made sense.
When I peeked in earlier, Tiona was smack in the middle of the bed. Trying to squeeze in without disturbing the duke's daughter? Bound to be exhausting.
And after hearing the whole thing, one thing stuck out.
"Young Lady. So last time too, you couldn't go to the bathroom at night and—"
"Sebas! Hush!!"
Tiona was genuinely mortified.
Push this, and I'd really cross the line.
"My apologies."
I apologized sincerely.
Thinking back, her reaction had been especially intense then too.
Even for our hothead lady, wetting the bed at her age must be mortifying.
Tiona mumbled in a tiny voice.
"This house feels so unfamiliar…."
"…."
"…."
The mood turned awkward.
Cynthia's eyes darted left and right, gauging me and Tiona.
'I was planning to take it slow, but looks like we dive straight into research.'
Replicating the invention that banished darkness, letting humanity live properly even after sunset.
And separately.
"Understood. Starting tonight, I'll stay by your side until you fall asleep."
"…Huh?"
Tiona made a weird noise.
"Huh?!"
Cynthia made a weird noise too. Why her?