Moving Preparations! The Unbearable Saintess (1)
The train station was quiet and peaceful. I’d been worried they might cause a scene, but the three girls were sitting obediently on a wooden bench.
Hare must have already been watching for me. She noticed my arrival before anyone else.
“Ah, Uncle’s here…! G-guys…! U-Uncle’s here…!!”
“…Say it once. I heard you.”
“My holy water’s here!? W-where?! Where is it?!”
“S-stay still…! Estia…!”
It looked like Hare was training a wild dog. Instead of a leash, she had her arms wrapped around Estia, holding her down. Just as I’d asked, she seemed to have kept Estia from causing any trouble.
“You did a good job watching Estia, Hare.”
“Y-yes…! I-I worked really hard…! D-did I do well…? Praise… please praise me…!”
Hare tilted her head forward like she was begging to be petted. In times like these, it was best to give her what she wanted. I reached out and stroked her hair.
“Hehe…”
That should be enough. If praise went on too long, it stopped feeling special, so I kept it short. Hare looked a little disappointed, but I pulled my hand away. There was no time to linger. We were in a hurry.
“I originally planned to rest a day in Aden Village… but that won’t be possible now. We’re heading straight to Henencia.”
“Why? What happened to the plan?” Sicilia asked, her tone clearly displeased. She hated when plans changed. Still, I couldn’t stick to a broken schedule just because she didn’t like it.
“I’ll explain later. For now, just follow me.”
I led the girls straight toward the train platform.
“Everyone, stay close. It’s not evening yet, so there should still be a train to Henencia.”
“Y-yes…!”
“Understood, Uncle.”
Tap. Tap. I walked with the girls toward the ticket seller. He was a slow-moving man wearing glasses. I got straight to the point.
“Five tickets to Henencia for today. Any seats left?”
“Y-yes… there are seats, but…”
Luckily, seats were still available. But the way the seller trailed off made me uneasy. He scratched his head.
“One of you will have to sit separately…”
“What? Aren’t there any seats together? Not even one set?”
“No… all the five- and six-person rooms are sold out… there are four-person rooms available, but the fifth person will need to sit elsewhere…”
“…Sigh.”
Only one person had to sit alone. “We’ll take them.”
“Understood…”
If I didn’t buy them now, we might end up completely split up. Better to secure what we could. I took the tickets and checked the seat numbers.
‘A-1, A-2, A-3, A-4.’
And then… ‘C-8.’
This is fucking ridiculous.
There was a B car between A and C, and once the train started moving, you couldn’t switch cars. Generally, the closer you were to A, the better the seats and the higher the price. It was probably to prevent fights or terrorism between nobles and commoners. Whoever made that law, I wanted to rip them apart.
“What a shitty rule. Having to sit separately in this situation…”
“U-Uncle… what do we do…? One person has to sit alone…? Who’s going to do it…? C-can’t you stay with me…?”
As Hare spoke, her gaze blatantly shifted toward Sicilia. I hadn’t asked for a vote, but it was obvious I was the only one who could sit alone.
I handed the A-car tickets to the girls.
“I’ll sit separately. You four stay together and try to be as quiet as possible.”
“Y-you’re sitting alone?! What about me?! I keep hearing weird voices! What about Estia?”
“…If you can say that after looking at her condition, I must have misjudged you.”
Estia was staring blankly at the floor with her golden eyes. It looked like she was watching an ant, but there was no living thing on the ground. She simply seemed to have shut her brain off.
“Sorry, I wasn’t thinking straight, haha…”
After seeing Estia’s state, Runa immediately realized her mistake.
At that moment, Sicilia raised her hand confidently.
“I’ll sit alone. It’d just be noisy if we stayed together. I’d actually prefer it.”
“…Are you really okay with that, Sicilia?”
“Yes. Being with them is more of a burden for me.”
Runa and Hare protested the “noisy” comment, but it wasn’t anything important. What worried me more was whether Sicilia would be fine by herself…
“Hmm…”
Could I trust Sicilia to handle it alone…? …No.
Honestly, I couldn’t. My seat was C-8. The person next to me would have C-7. If that ordinary citizen irritated Sicilia, what would happen?
I hadn’t used the Answer Sheet, but the future played out naturally in my head. Sicilia slapping a civilian across the face. Because of the strange education she’d received from her family, Sicilia tended to dislike commoners. It would be better if I sat alone.
I placed my hand on Runa’s shoulder—the one I was most worried about.
“Runa, it takes one hour to reach Henencia.”
“Huh?”
“Endure until then. Can you do it?”
“I’ve never tried, so I don’t know…?”
“Then this is a good chance to try. You can do it.”
“Ugh…”
Leaving behind a dazed Runa, the magic train bound for Henencia stopped to board passengers. The girls headed to Car A. I went to Car C. Whether we liked it or not, we had to sit separately.
Runa looked anxious, Hare disappointed, Sicilia expressionless, and Estia completely unhinged. What a varied bunch of expressions from the hero party.
‘Now that I think about it.’
This was the first time the four of them had gathered in one place without me. I was a little curious.
‘What do the girls talk about when I’m not around?’
Lee Junwoo has left the group.
With Junwoo gone, the four members of the hero party gathered in one place. Runa and Hare sat on one side, while Estia and Sicilia sat across from them. An awkward atmosphere filled the hero party.
These were the four girls who would one day defeat the Demon King. Among them, the party leader, Hero Runa, spoke first.
“G-guys. This is the first time we’ve been together without Uncle! Right?!”
“…”
“…”
Silence.
W-why aren’t they answering? Did I say something weird…?
The party members didn’t respond to the hero’s words. While Runa was wondering why, the Holy Sword kept speaking into her ear.
‘W-what do you mean?! Die less?!’
I’ve gotten used to the Holy Sword’s creepy voice… but the screams that play in the background every time it speaks are hard to endure. Runa clenched her fists tightly and held back the sound.
Then, his face automatically appeared in her mind.
‘W-wait… why is Uncle popping into my head…!? Go away, Uncle!’
I don’t want to see you! I absolutely don’t like Uncle!
Even though she had always found him unpleasant, right now Runa wanted to see him more than anyone. She desperately denied that fact.
“No way. Me, missing Uncle? That can’t be…! This is hypnosis!”
“Runa…? Um, I have a question…”
At that moment, Hare timidly asked her a question. What on earth was Hare trying to ask? Runa nodded.
“A question? What is it?!”
“Where did you go with Uncle…?”
“Ah, we went to my house for a bit. Something big almost happened…”
“…What kind of big thing?”
“Huh? That’s a little hard to explain…”
Should I really tell them in detail that I saw a cruel future where my family died and then came back? No matter how I thought about it, there was no need! Runa decided to brush it off with Hare. She didn’t realize that choice would be a bad one.
“I just helped my family! They were in danger!”
“I see… danger… so Uncle helped you, Runa…?”
“Yeah, he helped me. But why do you look like that, Hare?”
Why is she looking at me so scary? Is it such a big deal that Uncle helped my family?
Hare looked utterly shocked, as if the loyal dog she trusted had bitten her hand hard. She seemed to feel a tremendous sense of betrayal.
‘He saved other kids… I-I don’t like that… I wish Uncle would only save me…’
What could Runa be thinking? Hare bit her lip hard. Then she asked to find out Runa’s true feelings.
“What do you think of Uncle, Runa…?”
“Uncle? He’s just a kidnapper.”
“That’s not what I mean… I’ll rephrase. Do you like Uncle, Runa…?”
“Eh…?”
Gulp.
I wish Uncle only liked me. I hate it when other people like him. I don’t want to lose him to anyone else.
Hare waited nervously for Runa’s answer. That way, when Uncle wasn’t around, she could decide whether to treat Runa as an enemy or an ally.
After thinking for a moment, Runa shouted as if it were ridiculous.
“W-what! Hare! Really! He’s a kidnapper, a total psycho, and super blunt! There’s no way I’d like someone like that!”
“Are you serious…?”
“O-of course I am! He has some okay sides sometimes, but… a-anyway, I don’t like him! Absolutely not! There’s no way I like Uncle?!”
Runa’s face turned as red as a tomato. From Sicilia’s perspective, Runa’s passionate denial about liking Uncle was hard to understand.
‘…In the books I’ve read, kids like that are secretly in love or haven’t realized their own feelings yet.’
Well, even if she does like him, it has nothing to do with me.
Not understanding her own emotions either, Sicilia watched them for a moment before turning her gaze back to her book. Since she didn’t understand her own heart, Uncle was simply Uncle to her.
“Runa, is that true? You said you hate Uncle…”
“Of course! I hate Uncle! I really, really hate him! He s-seems nice but I still h-hate him!”
“I see… so you hate Uncle, Runa…”
Happy— Hare broke into a bright smile. In the past, hearing someone say they hated Uncle would have made her angry. Now, hearing it made her feel relieved.
“Runa, you’re not my enemy…”
“Huh? What do you mean…”
“Let’s get along well from now on…?”
Squeeze— Hare linked arms with Runa as if they were best friends.
‘F-finally. Hare’s opening her heart to me!’
Runa smiled brightly and linked arms back. It felt like her hallucinations were disappearing. It was a ridiculous misunderstanding, of course.
‘Runa, let’s get along well. As long as you keep hating Uncle…’
We can be good friends. Even Estia, who loves holy water the most, can get along with us. Unlike that girl Sicilia. Because Sicilia is an ‘enemy.’
Hare instinctively knew that the expressionless Sicilia would eventually cling to Uncle. And then—
⊳ Passengers getting off, please use the right-side door.
While each of them hid their true feelings, the moving train finally reached its destination. It was a very important city that marked the beginning of the hero party’s journey.
They had arrived in Henencia. And…
‘P-please… holy water… give me holy water…’
Estia had reached her limit.