Chapter 8. Saintess and Knight (3)

I'd come to accept that I had no choice but to take on the position of Saintess Candidate, but that didn't mean I was entirely happy about it.

Accepting a situation doesn't mean my brain gets swapped out for a new one.

"......."

So, with a blank look in my eyes, I was sitting inside a church like this.

Not the church where I lived. We were still in the Gnome kingdom, after all.

The achievement I'd racked up was too great. Honestly, even I thought I might have gone a bit overboard.

Since I'd thrown myself into ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠danger to the point of nearly dying, the church people who'd followed me and the Gnomes were all in a state of panic.

It was even more so because everyone had accepted ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it as established fact that I could see the future.

.......

Well, I actually did see it.

But I didn't think it was "really" Prophecy. I saw it more as the Being Above warning me by showing me something that would definitely happen in the next moment if I stayed still.

In the first place, if it truly were Prophecy, avoiding that Prophecy would be impossible.

If you can see a truck with broken brakes approaching from far away, and there happens to be someone crossing the crosswalk, the person who knows the truck is coming can warn the person crossing the crosswalk.

Well, to do that, you'd need both the ability to see the truck and the ability to warn the person crossing the crosswalk at the same time, so in a different sense, you could call it impressive.

"So then—Saintess?"

The Gnome Archbishop, who had been reading some kind of speech that was hard to tell whether it was a prayer, a letter of thanks, or an introduction, called out to me.

.......

Wait, me?

"Yes? Me?"

I'd been half dozing off, and I startled awake and asked.

I hadn't actually been sleeping, so there wasn't much of a problem on that front. That wasn't why I was startled.

"Uh......."

As if he couldn't quite figure out why I was staring at him with wide eyes, the archbishop hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"Th-that is correct, but... Saintess?"

"......."

I ran a hand over my face.

"I am not a Saintess."

At those words, murmuring broke out inside the church.

I don't know exactly what the Gnomes' religion is. Honestly, in Korea, they didn't teach much about the religions of other races.

But there was one thing I did know. The beings worshiped in these different races' religions were the same.

Rather than different religions that split off from one source, it was more like the opposite—they started in different places, but in the end, the god they believed in became the same. Convergent evolution, you could call it.

So it wasn't strange that the term "Saintess" was used here too, but......

The archbishop's expression became subtle. It was the kind of look that seemed to be gauging what political purpose my statement might have.

Naturally, my words had no particular political intent. If someone chose to use them for that purpose, there was nothing I could do, but at least for now, I had no intention of becoming a Saintess.

I rose from my seat. Ria, who had been sitting silently beside me, also rose from her seat.

She wasn't dressed in full armaments like when we'd gone out to fight, but the way she stood upright and silent with both hands neatly clasped brought to mind a steadfast knight.

......For some reason, the church knights mixed in among the audience were looking at Ria with something like envy, but I decided to just pretend I didn't see it.

"Is it my turn to speak?"

"Ah, yes."

The Gnome Archbishop, who had been lost in thought while looking at me, stepped aside from the spot.

"Then, the Saintess... Candidate will speak. Please welcome with applause the Hero who made a tremendous contribution in this incident and showed an example of self-sacrifice."

Self-sacrifice.

There's another word I don't like.

Light applause broke out. The eyes looking at me all had varying degrees of it, but the emotion itself was the same.

Curiosity.

The people who came from Earth with me had a bit less curiosity. Some of them knew about me, and even those who didn't know me well had seen my power.

The knights were mostly the same. The majority of them had seen my power at the oasis.

So they'd be curious. Why someone who, in their eyes, was no different from a Saintess, was refusing that title so adamantly.

As for the Gnomes, their eyes were filled with curiosity about my very existence from the start. To them, I must be a truly unknown entity.

The reason ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠they'd called me here in the first place was probably also because of that curiosity. Of course, the Gnomes also had practical reasons. Like global warming, they probably wanted to see if I could solve a problem that would definitely bring ruin someday if left alone.

How to repay that debt? They probably had thoughts like that too.

"First, I would like to express my gratitude for arranging this occasion."

Honestly, I wasn't particularly grateful. Standing in front of people was about as far from my hobbies as it gets.

"And before I begin my remarks, there is one thing I would like to make clearly understood first. I am not a Saintess."

At my words, question marks simultaneously appeared over everyone's heads.

......I suppose so. Honestly, I knew that at this point, insisting ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I wasn't a Saintess was laughable.

The Being Above clearly cherished me. When I said I would go in Ria's place, it had genuinely worried about me, but at the same time, it had also answered my prayer.

I still couldn't say I trusted it one hundred percent, but at least I felt I vaguely understood that what that being wanted was the continued existence of these worlds, including humans and Gnomes.

But, to say it again, it wasn't "one hundred percent."

And I still didn't want to completely give up on my dreams.

Someday, I wanted to throw off this nun's habit and go outside— and live however I wanted to live. If possible, meet someone I liked, and, well, get married, or do the things that come after that, anyway, I wanted to do all sorts of things. Obviously, that partner wouldn't be a man.

If I were a "Saintess," all sorts of problems would come with that.

"I am still only a candidate, and it is merely being verified whether I have the qualifications to rise to that position. Until the order I belong to acknowledges it, I am nothing more than a single nun. So I believe being addressed by such a title is far more than I deserve."

Everyone seemed to understand that a little.

Given that the power structure within the order wasn't simple, it was a statement they could roughly understand.

It meant "don't screw up my future."

"......."

I paused for a moment, then opened my mouth.

"And— I don't think you need to be so grateful for what I did."

The assembly fell silent.

"What I did was merely exercise, in that place, the power the Being Above displayed through me. If that is the case, then I believe that gratitude should rightly be directed not to me, but to the Being Above."

My vision turned slightly white.

Light was shining down on my face.

Seriously, what terrible taste.

"And if it weren't for the many people who made it possible for me to finish what I had to do there, the Holy Power that descended through me wouldn't have been able to exert its full strength at the necessary moment."

I glanced slightly toward Ria beside me.

Ria still had no expression at all. She was a complete professional at times like this.

I looked at the Knight Order, and I also looked at each of the Gnomes who had been introduced as having been there. Some lowered their eyes slightly to avoid my gaze, while others smiled as if pleased.

"So I believe the ones who truly accomplished something wonderful at that moment were not me, but everyone who helped me be there. The gratitude should rightly go to them."

I said that much and let out a small breath. Seeing that no one denied my words, I hadn't stepped on any landmines.

However, the light shining on my face kept getting brighter to the point of being a bit irritating.

I started to raise my hand slightly, but someone moved before me.

Ria's hand swished back and forth in front of my face. The bright light instantly turned to smoke and scattered.

"......."

I looked at Ria with a slightly dazed expression.

Ria, who had swept the light away from in front of my face, simply returned to her original posture and stood expressionless, as if nothing had happened.

What on earth.

Why has she been so kind since earlier?

No, that aside, what was that power?

Could it be that Ria had received so much Holy Power that she'd become able to touch divinity too? Though when I actually asked Ria about it, she answered that she didn't really know either.

......Well, it doesn't matter.

If I think of it as Ria finally understanding my feelings, well, it's not bad. It means I've gained a comrade.

Looking at the audience, who had fallen into even deeper silence perhaps because of Ria's action, I smiled slightly.

And then I continued the speech I had prepared.

My heart, which had been trembling at first, settled a little after seeing Ria's action.

Thanks to that, I was able to get through the situation without trembling any further.

After the speech was over, I returned to my seat.

I quietly looked at Ria's face and smiled slightly.

Ria turned her head slightly to avoid my gaze.

But in that moment of avoidance, I was able to see quite clearly the corner of her lips twitching upward slightly.

It was a little satisfying, and strangely, my heart felt a bit ticklish, so I had to put in some effort to keep the corners of my own lips from rising.

Probably, like Ria, the corners of my lips were also slightly twitching.