Chapter 40
Chapter 40
Saint, You’re So Vulgar! – Chapter 40
Mission: Pirate extermination and heretic purge in the Serpent Archipelago.
A brief but far from easy assignment had come down.
The moment she heard it, Versia's expression darkened.
Dangerous.
The coast was even riskier than the land.
In other words, protecting Asher or escaping with him might prove impossible.
Those thoughts flashed through her mind, and Versia immediately parted her lips.
To order its refusal.
But that effort went up in smoke in no time.
And not for any other reason.
"Has the Saintess ever seen the sea?"
"...Pardon?"
"The sea! I hear it's where emerald waves stretch to the ends of the world! Oh, and there's this thing called flying fish! Apparently, they soar right over the water's surface! Of course, it's probably nonsense...!"
Asher's face was far too bright for a knight heading into a mission.
His lightly flushed cheeks, wide eyes, and curved lips all screamed pure anticipation.
It was that fresh, vibrant smile only he could wear, blooming fully.
Versia lost every trace of her prior irritation and grim mood.
His unexpected reaction had left her stunned.
In that daze, she just listened blankly to his chatter.
"Going to the sea has been a dream since I was a kid! One of the mercenaries who raised me told such enchanting stories about it...!"
He'd been babbling on like that for a while.
Asher, who had been chuckling away, suddenly caught Versia's expression and froze, sobering up.
"...Ah, sorry. Too careless in the face of a dangerous mission."
"......"
"I-I'm taking the mission seriously! Of course I am!"
Asher cleared his throat loudly.
Embarrassed with himself, he averted his gaze, cheeks burning red.
"Not knightly at all...!"
he muttered, scolding himself.
Watching him like that... what was it?
A helpless chuckle escaped her lips.
He's something else. Really.
Could anyone get that excited just about going to the sea?
Forget the recent conflicts or the dangers aheadcould he really buzz with thrill like this?
Versia mulled over the smile he'd flashed while unfolding the orders and looking up at her.
The distance between them had closed.
Just like before their fights. No, even more so.
With his innocent soul, sharing joy was probably just genuine for him.
Self-loathing washed over her.
For feeling that thin wall had gone up after baring her emotions.
And for the relief at its sudden disappearance.
But emotions don't bend to logic.
Maybe the efforts he'd made these past few days had planted a tiny seed of comfort somewhere deep inside.
Just like that first moment she'd fallen for him and realized itperhaps she was melting into his stubborn, unyielding ways again.
Of course, the frustration and impatience hadn't vanished.
Her fierce possessiveness toward him had only grown, if anything.
Versia clenched her fist tight. Veins bulged on the back of her hand.
Not deciding how to handle him had been the right call.
Her certainty in her own answer was fading bit by bit.
"Saintess...?"
Asher edged closer, gauging her mood.
Versia let out a wry laugh, shoving aside the swirling thoughts.
Yeah, no thinking about it right now.
One thing Versia had realized these past days:
Asher was different from her.
So different that she still couldn't fully grasp him.
She'd decide once she knew him betteronce this feeling wouldn't leave regrets.
Then, and only then.
"Flying fish. They're real."
At her words, Asher blinked, then burst out laughing with a pfft!
"Come on, that's too much of a stretch! I may know zilch about sea life, but even I can tell that's a joke! That uncle... he was just trying to spark a kid's imagination!"
Asher waved it off like she was talking nonsense.
By then, Versia had another realization.
Come to think of it... I don't know.
How had Asher been born? How had he grown up?
What were those mercenaries who'd raised him like? Why had he left them to devote himself to the Church?
She didn't pryit would've been tactless.
His past wasn't a happy one; his occasional reactions made that clear enough.
But someday, if they grew close enough to share those stories...
Then...
...Me too.
Should she open up?
Versia's worries deepened.
* * *
Asher's childhood dream had been to become a "sea man."
Well, more like for about a month.
It stemmed from one man in the mercenary band that raised him.
"The sea, see... she's a maddeningly alluring lass, fickle and capricious. Got a pull that drags any man right in."
"Huh?"
"Too soon for a squirt like you? Eh, think of it as a love worth throwing your life away for. Something you gotta claim, no matter what."
The guy had a colorful history with women.
His speech was soft and measured, but his word choice was crude, and he'd weave romance into it now and then.
Asher idolized that romantic streak.
Especially the line about a "love worth throwing your life away for." It hit him as peak romance.
"One look, and you're hooked. Nothing but that sea can stir your heart."
"Whoa...!"
"That's why we fall. Even I can't resist the pull."
He'd spin sea tales whenever he got drunk, singing of shining, beautiful things.
Stars over the night sea, crashing waves, love stories on little boats.
"I'm gonna be a sea man!"
Back then, little Asher would declare it to anyone who passed by.
So why did that dream end?
Blame the karma of the dream-planter.
"Asher~ Don't listen to that guy. He got wanted for piracy and fled to land."
"Wha...? But then sea men...?"
"All lies, kid. Think about itif he loved the sea that much, he'd have died there honorably. Why hack away on this muggy dirt otherwise?"
"You little brat!"
"Asher, ignore him. Wanna learn some fun assassinations instead?"
"Sea man..."
"Assassins are way cooler than sea men. And uncle, if you're gonna go ahh~ ahh~ every night, do it outside? Bad for the kid's education."
"Urk...!"
Looking back, disillusionment with the man killed his sea dreams too.
Still, those days were his warmest, most treasured memories.
His sea fantasies had become a wistful echo of that childhood warmth.
Once he struck out on his own, he'd vowed:
Someday, I'll see the sea. Float a little boat and sleep under the starry sky.
No chances till now.
Holy knight training kept him swamped, and his missions were all inland heretic hunts.
Now, finally, his dream was coming true.
He was thrilled, personally.
Of course, no slacking or neglecting duty.
Asher trained for potential battles.
He packed meticulously for sea needs.
But not everything was a lie, right?
The man's romantic tales were debunked as pirate glorification, but his sea survival tips rang true.
The other mercenaries vouched for itno need to argue there.
Packs ready, Versia smirked, one corner of her mouth lifting.
"So that's why you're hugging that rubber doll."
"Yes! The man who taught me about the sea said to always carry something wide, light, and hollow at the ready! Folks in sea villages scorn anyone not clutching one as landlubber outsiders!"
Asher proudly thrust out the rubber doll.
"For if we fall overboard! Here, this one's for you, Saintess!"
Word was Versia hadn't seen the real sea either.
Times like this, the "experienced informant" should lead, right?
He offered the words and doll with flushed cheeks.
But his confidence crumbled fast.
"That's a lie."
"Huh?"
"Total lie. Didn't you know Dalin hails from the coast?"
"Uh..."
"You said you'd pack alone, but you really didn't ask anyone, huh."
Asher's eyes quivered.
Lips pressed tight.
Facefrom ears to everywherecrimson.
Shoulders trembling.
Shame flooding in over his antics.
Versia drove the nail home.
With a utterly playful grin.
"Guess you don't know this either."
"...?"
"At the sea, everyone shows skin. Just scraps of underwear barely covering. Sir Knight, you have to take it off."
"L-Lie...!"
"It's true."
Versia smiled sweetly.
Asher was lost.
But if picking whose info was more reliable? Obviously Versia's.
Asher's came half-laced with adult teasing for kids; hers was straight from locals serving her.
Meaning: Rubber doll useless. Hit the beach, strip down.
He realized it right then.
"Uh-heh...?"
Asher despaired.
* * *
Judith Haraway perched on the carriage, eyeing the approaching pair.
Her face full of annoyance.
"Already bullshit central."
Versia trudging along in a daze, Asher beside her chuckling and steadying her shoulder.
These were her mission companions.
Weeks of this pickling aheadJudith sighed through gritted teeth.