What Is a Saintess?
What is a saintess?
A sacred woman chosen by God. A woman of pure, innocent, and noble character. One who shows an iron will against any tempting touch. One who keeps a benevolent smile no matter how flustering the situation that crashes down upon her. One who knows how to rejoice in others’ joy and grieve in their sorrow. A saint who willingly sacrifices herself for the sake of others.
It might have been a stereotype, but that was the kind of being Lowen knew a saintess to be.
Even recalling the Second Saintess, with whom he had crossed paths a few times, it held true. Though her divine power was lacking, her character most suited the title of saintess among the Seven Saintesses. If anyone asked who would become the next Grand Saintess, he could declare with certainty that it would be the Second Saintess.
By contrast, what of the Seventh Saintess, Ariel?
He had yet to see every side of her, but he was certain at least that she was no woman befitting a saintess. Words like purity, innocence, and nobility were hard to find in her. She would startle and hide at the mere meeting of eyes, as if she had committed some crime. She was truly weak to the allure of desire.
When he set her to sweeping, she would snore away napping in the chapel under the warm spring sunlight. When he pulled a smoking-cessation caramel from his pocket, she would stare fixedly as if longing to eat it. Even right after a meal, her stomach would rumble and she would frequently peek into the kitchen.
And above all, she was absurdly weak to sexual desire. She was no adolescent boy, yet she had masturbated four times in the course of a single day. Once upon waking in the morning, buried in her blankets; once after lunch, slipping into the confessional; once hiding in the storeroom before evening prayers. And now she was at her fourth.
“Haa… Ahn… I shouldn’t… My p-pussy, rubbing it… I said I wouldn’t… Hnngh… Haaaahn…”
The whimpering moans of a female in heat. The squelching sounds of fingers thrusting into a vagina slick with love juices. The cries she let out as she twisted her own nipples to stoke her excitement. Embarrassing noises that crossed the wall at his back and reached Lowen in full.
After finishing evening prayers and preparing for bed, Ariel’s masturbation had begun. Though her words claimed “I shouldn’t,” “I was going to stop,” “I resolved not to anymore,” the Seventh Saintess Ariel was the one who had lost to lust and was plunging her fingers into her pussy.
“Haa……”
Lowen pressed hard on his furrowed brow. He had intended to sleep quietly, but Ariel’s whimpering made it impossible. It was not because his lower half was being sexually stimulated. It was for the truly simple reason that the noise kept him from sleeping.
“Ahn… Haa… Ahn, ahn… My pussy’s flapping open… Hic… It’s so happy… Hnngh…”
Ariel murmuring lines that might have come straight out of an erotic novel. Unaware that the walls had no soundproofing, her vulgar moans grew even more intense. Her fingers must have sped up, for the slow squelching turned into rapid, wet slapping sounds.
He wanted to move his bedroom elsewhere. But the only rooms with beds that could properly serve as bedrooms were Ariel’s and this one right next to it. The other rooms already had their purposes set—kitchen, parlor, and so on—with furniture arranged accordingly, making conversion to bedrooms difficult.
Should he tell her that masturbating was fine, but to please do it quietly?
Being direct was out of the question. Speaking bluntly to Ariel would only drive her down the path of despair. Just like last time, she would surely get those dead-fish eyes, sniffle, and mutter “I want to die…”
It wasn’t particularly bothersome, but it was an unsightly sight.
“I ought to give her a warning, at least…”
Lowen groped for the table by the head of the bed.
“Damn…”
He kept reaching for a cigarette out of habit. What could he do? Whenever he had something to think about, the habit made him seek one out.
“It would be best to draw up some house rules.”
Judging by the look of things, Ariel’s nighttime activities were no one-off, but a daily routine. Even if only for a month, he had no desire to go to bed every night listening to a woman’s coquettish sounds. If they established living rules together, he could naturally tip her off that the walls weren’t soundproof.
“Hnnngh… Ahn… Water’s gushing out of my pussy… Haaah…!”
Listening to the saintess’s climaxing cries that sounded like a whore’s wails, Lowen squeezed his eyes shut.
The sound of bedsheets rustling. The patter of liquid splattering onto the floor. The ragged breathing as she fumbled at her pussy, sticky with love juices. It seemed to be over at last.
“Haa… Haaah… O-one more time, just one last…”
Just as Lowen was about to rest his head on the pillow, thinking he could finally sleep in peace, a crescent moon’s chill settled in his eyes, gleaming coldly in the dark.
“……”
He checked the clock. Midnight had long passed, and the hour hand was racing deep into the dawn. Fatigue from repairing the old cathedral weighed on his entire body. There was still finishing work left for tomorrow. It wasn’t difficult work, but he still wanted to rest and recover.
Whether she knew it or not, the wet squelching sounds started up again from beyond the wall. He had planned to give her a natural hint out of consideration for Ariel.
“Ahem! Ahem!”
Lowen, who until now had been muttering quietly to himself, let out a cough loud enough to carry to the next room.
“Hic…!”
A short scream from Ariel came through the wall. The squelching of her pussy cut off abruptly. Even without seeing, he could vividly picture Ariel frozen mid-spread, legs awkwardly open.
Sudden silence. The night that had been filled with the coquettish sounds of a female in heat grew as still as if time itself had stopped.
Lowen pulled the blanket up over his head and closed his eyes.
In the pale light of dawn.
“Mmm… Ugh…”
Waking to the chirping of birds, Lowen tossed a few times before sitting up.
“Haa…”
He had thought that once it quieted down he would be able to sleep properly. But he had not. Ariel, sunk into a foul mood, had muttered all night long like someone cursing another, “Should I just die…?”
Somehow he had fallen asleep, but he had nightmares. Dreams of a sticky abyss clinging to his skin and invading his body. He never had nightmares even right after assassination missions. Perhaps Ariel’s gloom had reached even into his dreams.
“At any rate… it’s quiet now.”
Rubbing eyes that had grown fiercer than usual, he put on his glasses.
“I should make her a cup of hot chocolate later.”
Having learned the walls weren’t soundproof, Ariel would surely be huddled up with a face full of dark clouds.
“Come to think of it, I need to buy groceries too.”
There was a village a short distance from the cathedral. He needed to greet them that the cathedral had opened, and buy necessities including food, so he ought to visit the village today or tomorrow.
Organizing the to-do list in his head, Lowen went down to the chapel. He held no particular faith, but to live as a clergyman going forward, he was faithfully practicing the role of bishop. Rising early to pray in the morning, praying again before bed at night. Though he forgot a few times, he also kept the habit of praying before meals.
“Hm?”
Ariel was praying in the chapel. Lowen approached her wearing the kindest, most good-natured smile he could manage.
“Ah…”
Sensing his presence, Ariel slowly opened her eyes and looked at him.
“Bishop Lowen, good morning.”
Ariel offered a morning greeting with a peaceful smile. The soft morning sunlight formed a halo behind her, creating an air of sanctity. Even her usually slouching lazy posture was straightened into proper form. The air around her had grown warm with the power of her divine energy.
A saintess. A true saintess.
Dazzled by her sparkling appearance, Lowen was taken aback.
“The weather is truly lovely today. Shall we take a light stroll at lunch?”
Who was this? Had someone put on Ariel’s skin?
“Bishop Lowen?”
With her hands clasped before her chest as if in prayer, Ariel blinked blankly up at Lowen, who was staring at her. The two of them locked eyes in silence.
“……If you stare so intently, it makes me shy.”
Ariel’s cheeks colored with a rosy flush. Pure. Her cute looks seemed even cuter. It was enough to make him doubt she was the same woman who had been moaning and masturbating so enthusiastically last night.
“Saintess, your atmosphere has changed a great deal.”
It felt as if the person herself had changed. This was the appearance of Saintess Ariel when she was at the Grand Cathedral. Since she had shown her true self from their first meeting, he had never expected her to put on the saintess act. Had their first meeting been ordinary, Ariel would have faced Lowen looking like this.
“Fufu, is that so? Perhaps it’s because I spent the night in prayer, confessing my honest heart to God?”
Looking closely, there were shadows under Ariel’s eyes. She really had prayed all night. She looked quite tired, yet she maintained a benevolent smile like the textbook saintess he had described earlier.
“I’m sorry for only showing such pathetic sides of myself until now.”
“Not at all.”
“A saintess, of all people, was foolishly wandering lost in the maze of desire.”
Ariel let out a soft sigh.
“I must have caused you trouble, Bishop Lowen?”
Feeling awkward at Ariel’s smile, so affectionate it created distance, Lowen spoke.
“Not at all. I understand everything. I don’t even think of it as wrong. Even a saintess is human; of course she might masturbate. As I told you before, feeling sexual desire is nothing to be ashamed of—it’s only natural.”
The corners of Ariel’s mouth trembled.
“Th-thank you for understanding.”
Ariel gripped her rosary in both hands and declared,
“But from now on, I will no longer be captive to desire.”
A voice that felt sincere. He hoped it wouldn’t last only three days.
“That’s a relief.”
Lowen felt relieved at Ariel’s declaration.
“A relief?”
“I had been fretting over whether I would have to sleep every night listening to the Saintess masturbating.”
“Hic!”
Ariel’s shoulders heaved greatly.
“Saintess?”
Ariel’s peaceful face gradually turned tomato-red, and soon tears began to well in her eyes.
“S-so… you did hear…?”
The true saintess’s appearance melted away like cotton candy dropped in water, reverting to the original Ariel.
“Yes, the soundproofing is poor, so I heard everything.”
“Everything…?”
“Your moans, of course, and even the more sensitive sounds as well.”
As if he had become a devil, Lowen answered honestly about what he had heard the previous night, with a kindly smiling face. There was no malice. He was simply answering Ariel’s question with pure honesty.
“Uuuu… Uuu…”
Ariel clutched her skirt hem and trembled, shoulders shaking. She had been fretting over whether he had heard her masturbating last night or not, and now she knew that Lowen had heard it all.
“Sniff… Hic…”
Ariel clutched her head and curled up. Hearing just the masturbation sounds would have been one thing, but hearing her moan while reciting lines from erotic novels was a considerable critical hit to Ariel.
“I’m sorry… It’s a lie… I didn’t even confess to God… I’m disqualified… Saintess disqualified… I got caught in such a disgraceful act… I can’t live anymore… I want to die… I want to die… I want to die…”
Her despair was almost pathological.
“Saintess.”
Lowen took a caramel from his pocket, popped it into Ariel’s mouth, and patted her head the way he used to soothe his little sister long ago.
“As I’ve told you several times, this is nothing to be ashamed of. You may feel embarrassed, Saintess, but I think nothing of it. And shaking free of desire overnight is impossible. From today, you can simply reduce it little by little.”
“Uuung…”
“You’ve already shown it all to me, but from now on you can just be careful. I will also be as careful and considerate as I can.”
It felt quite ironic to be soothing a saintess.
“Um, even though I’m a lewd saintess… you don’t despise me…?”
Melting the caramel with her tongue, Ariel peeked her head up.
“Would you despise someone just because they have a strong sexual desire, Saintess?”
“No!”
Ariel shook her head rapidly side to side.
“I love all people. Having desires doesn’t make someone bad. If used properly, desire can become the driving force of life, the power to achieve dreams. The problem is being swayed by desire. But even if someone is swayed by desire, I will care for them with love and guide them onto the right path.”
An unexpectedly serious answer. Even though she was already captive to the desire of lust, her foundation itself was truly that of a saintess.
Lowen smiled gently and took Ariel’s hand.
“If that is the Saintess’s will, how could I dare despise you?”
Ariel’s violet eyes took on a golden tint.
“Ah……”
It was no thick flattery. No sweet talk to curry favor. Lowen’s emotions shone brightly with the pure white light of sincerity.
“So please don’t make such a sad face.”
Lowen wiped the moist corners of Ariel’s eyes with the back of his hand.
“I… I’ll try…”
Sniffling and curled up, Ariel sat up properly.
“Feeling sexual desire is natural, but even so, I’ll strive so I can completely free myself from it.”
A saintess must not be swayed by desire. She may have desires, but she must be able to press them down and hide them. As Lowen said, shaking free of her corrupted sexual desire overnight was impossible, but she resolved to start reducing it from today.
Clenching her small, fern-like hands tightly, Ariel made a firm vow.