The Saintess (3)
"Pick up the pace! Faster!"
"I can't—I can't go any faster! If we keep this up, the horses will collapse from exhaustion!"
At my urgent shout, the coachman shook his head, panic plain across his face.
I bit down hard on my lip and looked back.
"Holy Knights! Increase your speed!"
"Priests, bless the horses!"
These people were completely out of their minds.
What the hell had I even done to them that they were chasing me down with buffs slapped onto their mounts?
No matter how I turned it over, I couldn't make sense of it—but then again, that was how temple types always operated.
Logic and common sense never applied. Pure brute-force stubbornness, start to finish.
This was exactly why I'd tried so hard not to get tangled up with them. And now it looked like I'd been thoroughly marked.
Goddamn fanatics.
I was still swallowing curses under my breath when, to make matters worse, the sun began to sink and darkness rolled in.
"I'm sorry, but this is as far as we go!"
In the end, the coachman brought the carriage to a halt.
Game over. Completely.
"Haaah."
I stepped down from the carriage and let out a long, heavy sigh.
The coachman hovered nearby, glancing at my face and clearly not knowing what to do with himself—but none of this was his fault.
Driving a carriage through these layered mountain roads at night was a fine way to go straight to the side of that goddess those unlucky fanatics kept screaming about.
"You've done well. Let's make camp."
I gave the fidgeting coachman's shoulder a pat, then turned my gaze back toward the temple crowd.
Sure enough, they had stopped their horses and carriages a short distance from us and were already pitching tents.
"T-Tax Collector, sir? Wh-who are those people— uwek!!"
Rhea, already queasy from racing over the rough mountain roads at that speed, asked me between dry heaves.
"People from the temple. Looks like they're heading north with the Saintess—though I have no idea why they keep chasing us."
"Th-the Saintess?!"
"That's right. I turned down their offer to travel together. And now this. What exactly are they trying to pull?"
"Huh? What?! You refused the Saintess's proposal?"
Rhea was so stunned she could barely form words.
Even the coachman, who'd been setting up a tent and starting a fire behind us, toppled over backward in shock.
"M-might I ask… why you did that, sir?"
"Secretariat Rhea. We are currently en route to carry out official duties. What further reason do we need?"
"But traveling together, at least…"
"You're a civil servant, and yet you're saying the exact same thing they are. The journey to perform official duties is itself part of performing those duties."
"……"
Even after my irritated explanation, Rhea still sat there with her eyes wide, looking like she simply could not process it.
Somehow her gaze seemed oddly vacant. Was that just my imagination?
She was perfectly fine before. Why is she suddenly like this? Wait a second—don't tell me…
Looking into those unfocused eyes—dull as a dead fish's—I felt a chill run down my spine.
No. It couldn't be.
"You don't happen to attend the temple, do you…?"
But just in case, I asked. And of course—Rhea nodded vigorously.
Not only her. The coachman poking at the campfire nodded too.
I didn't ask you!
Damn it! I'd heard the temple's influence ran deep among commoners, but I never imagined it was this bad.
Fanatics in every direction.
The coachman I could accept—but even Rhea, whom I'd trusted, was a believer?
I was going to lose my mind.
And right then, as if they'd been waiting for the cue, the Saintess and her holy knights came walking toward us.
"Oh! O Goddess!"
The coachman rolled his eyes back, scrambled over in a frenzy, and dropped to his knees before her.
Rhea glanced at me first, then carefully lowered herself as well.
My insides crumbled.
"You who, even amid endless hardship, have not lost your faith, and who live each day looking up to the heavens without a single shameful mark upon your heart—may the protection of Lady Eris always be with you. Before long, She shall answer your faith."
The Saintess took the coachman's calloused hands in hers and shed tears.
At the same time, a brilliant light that drove back the darkness poured out around her and wrapped around the man.
She had used holy power to bestow a blessing.
"Ooooooh! Oh! Lady Eris! Lady Eriiiis!!"
The coachman pressed his forehead to the ground and cried out the goddess's name.
It was a scene of pure madness.
The Saintess rose again, her face flipping in an instant as if nothing had happened, and beamed a bright smile at me.
Then, making a show of it for all to see, she walked over to Rhea and recited a blessing prayer for her as well.
"You—do not think that because your duties are small, their worth is small as well. Your hands shall become the pillars that uphold this land. Do not fear today's exhaustion. The heavens shall not let your sweat go to waste. May the protection of Lady Eris always be with you…"
Small duties, she said.
For all that she looked the part, Rhea was a newcomer who'd been rocketed up to 4th Grade Senior Secretariat—and this woman was spouting off without knowing a thing.
"Ah…! S-Saintess. I am honored. Today's meeting must surely be the guidance of Lady Eris."
"Every small thing we encounter in our daily lives is the will of Lady Eris, Her guidance, and Her design."
"Yes! I believe!"
What a load of crap. Absolute garbage.
Ugh. I was the idiot for picking her as my aide.
A sigh of pure frustration tore out of me.
Whether she knew how I felt or not, the Saintess looked me square in the face and lifted her chin with smug satisfaction.
It was as if she were showing off: Even after all this, you still ignore me? I'm the Saintess! The Saintess!
"We meet again. I am truly, endlessly delighted to see you once more, Brother."
"Yes. I'm delighted as well."
I wanted nothing more than to spit curses right then and there.
But the other party was the idol of every fanatic alive—the Saintess.
One wrong move and I'd be hounded by zealots for the rest of my life, so I forced my anger down and kept my manners.
"Brother, since things have turned out this way, why don't we travel together?"
"My answer is no different from before."
"It is dangerous. As a faithful servant of Lady Eris, I cannot simply look the other way while you all court danger of your own making. We shall keep you safe—so rest easy tonight."
"……"
So the answer was already decided, and I was just supposed to say yes?
The Saintess was being far more one-sided than before, and I found myself at a loss for words.
What am I supposed to do about this.
Rhea and the coachman had already been completely won over and were making a fuss, and it was far too late to relocate. We were essentially checkmated.
Even if I clenched my teeth and refused, it wouldn't mean a thing now that they'd already set up camp right next to us.
In the end, after some agonizing, I gave a reluctant nod.
"Very well."
"Really?"
"Yes. Then I'll be imposing on you."
"Oh my, thank you so much! Phai-ton? Quickly, move their luggage and carriage over to our side."
At her call, the aging holy knight I'd seen earlier stepped forward.
"A wise choice, Brother."
The holy knight called Phai-ton murmured it to me in passing, low and quiet, then headed straight for the coachman and Rhea.
What kind of holy knight was that? He was a thug.
"Phai-ton is the commander of the Radiant Judgment Holy Knights. His skill is counted among the very best even within the Order—so you can rest easy and sleep soundly."
"How very reassuring."
"Yes. Is there anything you need? A meal? Shall I have something light prepared for you? Or perhaps a blessing prayer…"
"I'm rather tired. I think I should get some sleep."
"Ah… I see. Priests? Please escort the Administrator to our finest tent so that he may rest comfortably."
The Saintess looked as though she wanted to keep talking with me.
But I used fatigue as an excuse and slipped away, putting as much distance between us as I could.
Surprisingly, she let me go without protest, wearing that same gentle smile.
A fish already on the hook—was that it?
Anyway, if I just put up with them for a few days, I'll never have to see these people again. Play along just enough, then part ways.
Ugh. I need to stop thinking.
What does it matter either way?
Since things had come to this, I'd treat it as a vow of silence and endure a few days.
And so, inside the tent I'd been shown to, I looked over the documents related to Count Richmond before turning in for the night.
But the next morning, I was struck speechless by news from Rhea that hit like a bolt from the blue.
"Tax Collector, sir! Did you know?! The Saintess is also heading for the Richmond Estate!"
What kind of nonsense was this first thing in the morning?
Was I dreaming?
"I can't believe I'm traveling with the Saintess! My family back home will be so shocked when they hear! Wow! Choosing the Ministry of Finance really was the best decision of my entire life! Hehehe!"
Ah. The stiff ache in the back of my neck and the dull throb at the base of my skull confirmed it—this was no dream.
The moment Rhea finished speaking, my eyes met those of the Saintess, who was watching me from afar with a sly little smile.
"For the love of—"
Damn it.
Without anyone needing to say a word, the demon and I spat out curses at the exact same time.