Saintess (1)
Hehehe! I nodded vigorously. How on earth could anyone look this beautiful? I stood there savoring every detail of my reflection in the full-length mirror. Where once my body had been flat, generous curves now bloomed. A narrow waist flowed into the soft, sweeping line of my hips. When I turned, my plump backside sat high and round like a perfect peach. Below my slender, fragile-looking shoulders that seemed to beg for protection rested a pair of heavy breasts. They overflowed any attempt to contain them. Even using both hands at once left some untouched. When I cupped them from beneath, their weight sank my fingers deep into the soft flesh.
A beautiful female form. Simply standing still, it radiated seductive allure. This was a body in which feminine charm had been developed to its absolute limit.
I had turned nineteen. The days of my flat-chested girlhood were long behind me. I had grown into a woman so lovely that even I could fall in love with her. But it wasn’t all wonderful.
Being beautiful was fine. The problem was that this body was ridiculously inconvenient for a swordsman. Lower my head and the view below vanished. Every movement sent my breasts bouncing. And why in the world did my hips have to be so massive? Even compared to other girls my age, my development was absurd. It had to be the fault of that Growth Elixir I drank so long ago. I had hoped for a surge in mana or muscle strength. Instead, the only things that had grown explosively were my chest and rear. The swelling had begun at fourteen. By nineteen, this was the result.
The one saving grace was that I had trained for years to grow accustomed to a woman’s body. Thanks to that preparation, I could still wield a sword with perfect freedom even in this outrageously maternal figure.
After my shower, I stood naked before the mirror for a moment longer before slipping into the nun’s habit. The garment felt completely natural now. It would have been stranger not to wear it. I combed my radiant golden hair until it caught the light like polished sunlight, then settled the veil over my head.
This thought might border on blasphemy, but… with breasts this large, hips this wide, and a face this lovely, I truly looked like a saintess standing before me.
I made my way to the chapel.
“Good morning, sisters.” I offered the other nuns a gentle smile as I greeted them. Taking my usual seat at the very front, I settled in. I had no intention of becoming a full member of the clergy, yet I diligently cultivated my faith. More precisely, I was training my Holy Power. I was not foolish enough to ignore the strength I had been given. If I could use it, I would. Thanks to that effort, I could now perform simple healing without even needing to pray.
I was walking the path of a berserker with steady steps. I looked forward to it. The image of myself rampaging across the battlefield, healing every wound while carving through the Demon King’s forces, made my heart race.
It would not be long now. Two more months. When spring arrived, I would come of age. And once I was an adult, I could enlist in the Imperial Army.
The Empire was currently in a ceasefire. The truce had already been in effect before I awakened as Elia. The front lines had been pushed all the way to the gates of the Demon Realm, and the enemy was said to be guarding only that entrance with fanatical care. The moment that delicate balance shattered, the war would begin again.
From what I had heard, they were planning to send out a separate hero party. An elite few, assembled to hunt down the Demon King himself. Honestly, I thought it was reckless… but the current hero was no longer the snot-nosed brat I remembered. The heroic tales that occasionally reached even this quiet convent told me the boy had grown strong. Stories of him resolving incidents involving demonic beasts and fiends kept surfacing.
Now that I thought about it, they had chosen a new hero candidate as well. How time flew. It felt like only yesterday that Louis had become a candidate and begun learning the sword from me. Before I knew it, he had grown into a man with his own successor beneath him.
Just wait a little longer. I will come see for myself exactly how much you have grown.
Morning prayers ended. I was walking toward the nuns’ lesson with the scripture held to my chest when a voice called out.
“Elia.”
It was Sister Bertina.
“Yes, Sister?”
“Would you run an errand in the village for me?”
“Of course.”
I did not bother asking what the errand was. I had grown used to this. It was surely the old man from the potato farm who had thrown out his back again. Still, I decided to confirm.
“Is it the potato farm elder again?”
Sister Bertina let out a long, weary sigh and nodded. This was already the third time this week.
“That old man is definitely doing it on purpose. You heal him and he strains it again. You heal him and he strains it again.”
“You mustn’t speak that way.”
“I can understand frequent injuries at his age. What I cannot understand is why he only ever calls for me and never any of the other sisters.”
If another nun went instead, the old man would fly into a rage. That lecherous geezer. Every time I went to treat him, he would start talking about his son—how handsome the boy was, how talented, subtly trying to spark my interest.
Heh. Don’t make me laugh. Just because this body had become female did not mean my mind had followed suit.
“Understanding even such things is how one truly becomes a nun,” she said. “You will be taking the nun examination soon. It would be wonderful if you received a favorable evaluation and could move to the cathedral in the city, wouldn’t it?”
I really needed to tell her. That once I came of age, I intended to enlist in the Imperial Army. She would undoubtedly oppose it. The convent held great expectations for me because of my Holy Power.
When the other children began manifesting their Holy Power one by one, I had proudly begun using mine as well. That had been the start of the trouble. I had only offered basic treatment to adventurers injured while exploring a dungeon. I had used only the most elementary healing magic, yet it proved more effective than proper healing spells. Truly. I had never imagined my basic healing would outperform the convent head’s advanced healing magic. I had been trying to hold back, too…
That day, everyone had made an enormous fuss. They declared that a saintess had been born in our convent. As if just anyone could become a saintess. She was a woman chosen by God Himself. An oracle would descend upon the Papal Palace announcing the birth of a girl destined to become the saintess. If I had truly been such a person, the Papal Palace would never have remained silent for nineteen years.
Anyway. Ever since that incident, the expectations placed upon me had only grown heavier.
“Or perhaps the Academy? If you have any interest at all, we will gladly write a strong recommendation. What do you think?”
No. The Academy? I would rather die. Spending four years studying sacred theology there was out of the question. Even the swordsmanship department held no appeal. I could say it with absolute confidence: there was nothing left in this world’s sword arts for me to learn. Every sword technique that existed had been stuffed into my head. I had taken only the useful parts, refined and modified them, and made them my own. If a swordsman capable of defeating me ever appeared, I would gladly bow my head and learn from him. But who could possibly defeat me? Unless, perhaps, after I had died and nearly twenty years had passed? That, at least, would be entertaining in its own way.
“No, thank you. I wish to live an ordinary life.”
As an ordinary second-class private in the Imperial Army, of course.
Well then. Time to run the errand. I would have to endure several hours of boasting about that old man’s son again. I left the scripture in my room and headed toward the village.
“I wonder if any demonic beasts will show up?”
This region was far too peaceful. Even when demonic beasts did appear, they were barely enough to count as a warm-up. It would be nice if a giant monster like the old days appeared. Ah, but only if it didn’t harm anyone else.
…Was that too much to ask? Or perhaps it would be good to run into some bandits while walking through the forest. Preferably very strong ones. This body grew stiff in every joint if I didn’t move it regularly. It had been far too long since I last used a real sword. Sometimes I managed to get my hands on a wooden practice blade, but it would snap after only a few swings.
The only real combat experience available was the annual martial tournament. But I had been banned from participating. After winning three consecutive times, they forbade me from entering again. No matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t understand their logic. Instead of banning me for being too strong, shouldn’t they be recruiting stronger opponents to challenge me?
I was grumbling to myself as I walked through the forest when something suddenly caught my eye. A person lay collapsed on the forest path.
I hurried over immediately. A quick examination showed his shirt soaked in blood. The wound was on his back. Had he been attacked? Yet there were no signs of struggle nearby. As for mana… I could detect no traces of it, either. Whatever had happened, I decided to treat him first.
I placed my hand on the man’s back and summoned my Holy Power. A brilliant light like the sun sank into the wound. The injury closed rapidly. With the bleeding stopped, his life should no longer be in danger.
“Excuse me. Sir?”
I shook him gently. That was when multiple presences suddenly surrounded us, as if they had been waiting for this exact moment. Five… no, nine. Nine people formed a perfect circle around us, cutting off every direction of escape.
I rose to my feet. My heart pounded. After so long, the thought of finally moving my body made my blood sing.