Chapter 333: Bread and Dagger (31)
Chapter 333: Bread and Dagger (31)
The Saintess’s benevolent smile was mostly a facade.
To put it bluntly, it was nothing more than a long-worn mask. Most of the Holy City’s citizens desired a Saintess who was gentle and noble. This suited her well, as she was desperate to shed the label of being ‘lowborn.’
Even if one was an orphan, they could not be easily touched if they held the support of the masses.
That was the essential nature of religion.
No matter how powerful the Heavenly God Religion was, it could not exist without its believers.
This was why the Holy Kingdom was so uniquely obsessed with ‘symbols.’
The faithful want proof of a god’s existence. This was why, in addition to the miracles known as ‘divine power,’ countless symbols were mobilized in religious rituals.
It was an essential process to elicit voluntary faith and service from the people.
From this perspective, how magnificent a being was the ‘Saintess’?
First, her appearance was extraordinary.
Look at that pure silver hair that allowed for not a single blemish.
Her translucent skin, free of any imperfections, and her lovely features were closer to a work of art. If the emotion of ‘favoritism’ existed even for a god, the Saintess would be one of the most compelling pieces of evidence for it.
Then there were those pale pink eyes that captured the hearts of all who met them, and the curves of her feminine body, which were emphasized all the more by the contrast with her holy aura.
It was an unrealistic beauty.
She was a woman born to be worshipped. Furthermore, her innate divine power was immense, and her intuition for reading the psychology of others was excellent.
As a ‘Saintess,’ she was a flawless individual.
Her only flaw was that she was an orphan whose parents were unknown. Even this was a trivial matter compared to the strengths listed above.
This was thanks to the Saintess’s clever ability to exploit the stain of being an ‘orphan.’
While living a life so severed from her past that she had discarded her name from her orphan days, she would put forward the fact that she was ‘of low birth’ to garner sympathy whenever necessary.
She was a woman who had lived such a thoroughly calculated daily life.
In a way, it was a stifling existence.
There were countless people who attached meaning to her every gesture and movement. The position of the Saintess of the Heavenly God Religion was that heavy. Because of that, I occasionally felt pity for her.
Was the Saintess truly happy?
If she was, I wondered whose happiness it was.
Hers? Or that of the ‘Saintess,’ the manufactured shell?
Though she was annoying at first, the reason the Saintess eventually seeped into my heart was the same.
It was because the sincerity she showed only to me was precious.
Not just for the Saintess, but for me as well.
The Saintess had now become one of the few precious people in my life.
Since we were on such intimate terms, I occasionally witnessed a side of the Saintess that no one else saw.
Just like right now.
The Saintess was chugging from a wine bottle.
At least it was white wine, which was a relief. Its alcohol content was lower than whiskey or vodka.
Nevertheless, I couldn't shake a sliver of worry.
The Saintess’s face had long since turned a deep crimson.
I could tell just by looking at her unfocused, swaying eyes.
This woman was drunk.
And not just tipsy—she was wasted.
I was currently stuck listening to the ramblings of a drunkard.
“Ugh, hic… h-how could you do that…?”
The Saintess had been repeating those same words for several minutes now.
If I tried to ask her what she meant, she would tilt the bottle back first, then reset.
It was pitiful to see her dripping tears. However, my patience had its limits, and I eventually let out a somewhat irritated tone.
“No, I mean, what exactly did I do? If you keep blaming me like this…”
“Hic, ugh… you bad bastard…”
Of course, the Saintess just kept tilting the bottle regardless of what I said.
I let out a hot breath and rubbed my face with both hands.
It was getting hard to endure this sober.
I pulled out a bottle of liquor I had kept in my spatial expansion pouch. It was cheap whiskey I’d packed just in case, and it was an immediate remedy for those times when I felt skeptical about life.
A household medicine to treat the inflammation of existence, so to speak.
It seemed the Saintess had also run out of alcohol.
She tried to take a swig, but when only a few drops fell out, she stared intently into the bottle with a look that said, ‘Huh?’
And when a single drop of wine fell plop onto her eye, she even let out a piercing scream.
Her drinking habits were worse than I imagined.
I vowed never to drink with the Saintess again.
“Do you need more?”
The Saintess’s vacant gaze, as she rubbed her eyes with a tearful face, turned toward me.
It seemed a negotiation could finally take place.
I sloshed the bottle enticingly.
“Then let’s make a deal. If you explain yourself properly, I’ll give you a drink.”
Perhaps the word ‘deal’ touched her calculating nature.
The Saintess pouted her lips, appearing to snap out of her drunken stupor slightly. I resisted the urge to reach out and pull on her protruding lips.
“Are you really going to be that petty?”
“Yes, that’s exactly what I intend to be.”
To be criticized without even knowing the reason—it was far too unreasonable a condition. I intended to reclaim my rightful rights.
The Saintess let out a groaning sound, uuuuugh, as if agonizing over it.
But no matter how much she thought, there was no other way. The channels through which the Saintess of the Heavenly God Religion could obtain alcohol were limited.
A drunkard only needs one thing: more alcohol.
Eventually, the Saintess let out a heated sigh of surrender.
“Don’t you think I’m… too strange?”
“It’s not like that’s a new thing…”
I felt the Saintess glare at me.
My mouth, which had been holding back a dry laugh, clamped shut instantly.
Only then did the Saintess continue her melancholy confession.
“It’s been especially strange lately. I’ll feel happy over the smallest things, but then I’ll find myself dripping tears every night. I wasn’t like this before… why am I like this?”
“And you’re saying the cause is me?”
“Yes.”
She was certain.
The Saintess’s eyes were still clouded with moisture.
“I heard… that you’ve been getting along well with the Yurdina sisters lately.”
That remark hit me right where it hurt.
I almost spat out the whiskey I was about to swallow, but I held it back with superhuman patience.
I looked at the Saintess with a surprised gaze.
How did she know that?
Was the Saintess the one who witnessed that night?
The suspicion crossed my mind for a moment, but I quickly erased the possibility.
If she had, she wouldn't have said she ‘heard’ it.
She would have said she ‘saw’ it.
The Saintess was now trembling all over.
“H-how could you?! I heard that when you’re alone with Sister Yurdina, the sound of skin slapping can be heard… how could you do something so enviable—I mean, so blasphemous! That’s sexual harassment!”
Once again, she hit the nail right on the head.
I almost had a reverse flow of alcohol again and ended up coughing fitfully.
The testimony was much more detailed than I expected.
I had indeed been hitting Senior Delphine’s buttocks for a while, but I thought that was a strict secret.
In a way, it was an issue that could shake her dignity as the future head of the Yurdina family.
I had no choice but to take the Saintess’s words seriously.
“Wait, that kind of rumor is spreading?”
“Yes! Otherwise, how would I know such a… such a rumor!”
The look the Saintess gave me was no joke.
Before I knew it, tears were welling up in her eyes as if she were indignant.
“Y-you weren't like that before! Are you sexually frustrated?!”
“No, well… I’ve always been like this.”
After all, didn't I have a history of bravely harassing the Saintess herself?
However, the Saintess seemed to have interpreted my past self in a slightly different way.
“Back then, you only touched me…”
The gaze she directed at me while saying that was sharp.
I cleared my throat with a ahem and looked away.
Come to think of it, I had no defense.
The Saintess was a pure virgin. As the Saintess of the Heavenly God Religion, that was a given.
And my hands had violated that untainted body.
To be honest, if the Saintess told me to take responsibility, I’d have to do it.
Yet, I had spent my first night with another woman, so I had no right to complain even if I were called trash.
I found myself shrinking back.
Of course, I had my excuses.
“But I can’t just touch the Saintess recklessly. I mean, I could be struck by divine punishment…”
“Does a man who fears divine punishment do such things?”
I raised both hands in surrender.
Then, I poured a glass of liquor and downed it.
It felt like my esophagus was on fire.
“So, what is it you finally want to say? Are you asking what my relationship with Senior Delphine is?”
“W-what relationship…?”
“It’s nothing.”
At the very least, I had to dodge the question like this for now.
If not, there were too many landmines, from Seria to Senior Elsie. Though, the Saintess seemed even more upset by my playful answer.
“How does that make sense?! I heard you two go around doing d-disgraceful things alone!”
“Isn't that just a rumor… and besides, if we’re going by that logic, the two of us have a special relationship as well.”
As the alcohol began to circulate, my tongue grew more fluid.
It was thanks to becoming shameless. If I didn't borrow the power of alcohol, I might have broken under the weight of my guilt.
“Then what kind of relationship do we have?”
“U-us?”
“Yes, us.”
The Saintess was immediately flustered by my directness.
She was already drunk, and my difficult questions only made it worse.
While the Saintess hesitated, I launched an even more vigorous attack.
“Aren't you the Saintess of the Heavenly God Religion? I was just too rude before. Now that you’ve become precious to me, I intend to treat you with the respect you deserve.”
The Saintess stammered, unable to speak properly.
Drunk people were usually like that.
The more they tried to think logically, the more things went awry. In the end, they would spout broken logic or sudden outbursts.
It was a theory based on my countless experiences of being drunk.
Since I had cross-verified this with Reto and my other friends, the Saintess would be no different.
My plan was to leave her dazed and then put her to sleep.
“So don’t worry too much, and once you sober up later, we can gradually talk about the source of those rumors…”
But then.
“……Why, why?”
Trembling, the Saintess began to sob.
Only then did I realize my mistake and shut my mouth.
I had pushed too hard.
One must treat a drunk person with caution. Especially a drunken woman; she was like the first snowflake of the year and had to be handled with even more care.
Otherwise, she would melt away like tears.
Anyone could see the Saintess was on the verge of an explosion.
To prevent the Saintess from creating a permanent embarrassing memory, I chose my words as carefully as possible.
“Um, Saintess? You seem agitated right now, so please just calm down a little…”
“Why, why don’t you harass me anymore?!”
I was screwed.
I squeezed my eyes shut and poured another drink. I could only hope that the Saintess would forget that line by the next morning.
The Saintess was now even emphasizing her presence by cradling her breasts with her arms.
“A-are you already tired of me?! Look! My breasts that you couldn't take your eyes off of every day! Touch them! Forcefully! As much as you want!”
With a sigh, another glass of liquor went down.
In the end, the words that escaped my mouth were these:
“……Fine, then.”
If that’s what she wanted.