The Saint's Reunion with the Axe
Fate, it seemed, was something I had more or less come to terms with, yet it remained full of things I simply could not understand. Setting aside the matter of what I now looked like, how in the world was I even alive? The memory of my fading consciousness, of pouring every curse I could muster on the traitors who had stabbed me in the back, was still so vivid I could taste the blood in my mouth.
Second, who were these people surrounding me and shouting the title Saint? Judging by their ragged, refugee-like appearance, the situation was clearly dire.
And last, the changes to my own body. This was the most incomprehensible part of all. Why had my body become this frail, delicate thing? The powerful physique I had forged through countless battles on the front lines, the solid muscles my subordinates and comrades had envied, and even my… my precious siege ram… all of it had vanished in a single instant.
Godsdamned hell. I never even got to use it properly, always rolling around on the battlefield like a dog.
At least there was one small mercy. Despite how ill-suited it was to this body, my raw strength remained intact. It felt a little weaker than before, but still.
Crack.
If I could leave a dent in this stone box with my bare hands, that would be more than enough for now.
…Wait. Is this a coffin?
While I was busy having that particular realization, the old woman at the front of the apparent refugees stared at me with wide, bloodshot eyes and spoke cautiously.
“Saintess, you must still be disoriented after just waking up… but could you possibly say something, anything at all…?”
Hmm. Saintess, huh.
That word they kept using to address me. If this was my homeland, the Orphen Empire, and these were my citizens, then there was only one group who would be called “Saintess.” The first Saintess Beatrice, companion of the original hero who had sealed the Demon King five hundred years ago, and those of her bloodline. And after that bloodline ended, the girls selected across the empire by the Church for their exceptional holy power.
So this desperate-looking group must want something from the original owner of this body, the one they called Saintess.
“…What is it you desire?”
At my words the people burst into cheers, offered prayers of gratitude to the gods with moved expressions, and expressed their emotions in every way imaginable.
They had better be good citizens. If they’re heretics who disturbed the rest of the empire’s Saintess with some foul sorcery, my course is already decided.
“Please, save us from the grasp of that vicious and cruel evil!!”
The old woman, who had been acting so cautiously until now, suddenly cried out with manic fervor and pointed a finger somewhere. I praised myself for holding back the fist that had nearly flown at her on reflex and followed her gesture with my eyes.
There stood a young soldier.
“…What exactly did that fellow do wrong?”
The soldier whose eyes met mine jumped in fright and waved his hands so fast they blurred, frantically denying it.
“N-n-no, that’s not—!”
“Milos! Stop blocking the way and move aside!!”
At the old woman’s sharp command the soldier hurriedly stepped back, and only then did I see what she had truly been pointing at. A handful of soldiers were piling objects against the entrance, trying to maintain a desperate barricade.
“Hmm…”
The soldiers looked to be in terrible shape, as if they had fought multiple life-or-death battles. Moreover, the entrance they were holding shook violently, suggesting the enemy was already attacking from outside. The situation was more urgent than I had thought.
“Where do you belong? Give me a brief report on our current location, the enemy’s identity, and the state of the battle.”
“Uh… yes…? We’re not really sure about those kinds of things…”
The old woman, whose eyes had been blazing moments ago, faltered at my question and took several steps back.
“Tsk. As expected. In that case… hey, you!”
I pointed at the young soldier who had retreated into the corner after being scolded by the old woman.
“Y-yes?!”
“Your affiliation, our current location, and the enemy’s information. Report concisely, soldier.”
“Ah! I-I am Milos Pensler, ranger of the Zelewald village guard! These people are citizens of Zelewald, fleeing to a safe fortress city because of the demon race’s invasion. Our current location is—”
From some point onward, the soldier’s report grew faint and distant, like an echo from a faraway mountain. The word “demon race” that left his mouth had struck the dying embers of rage engraved in my bones and set them ablaze.
“The demon race… has crossed the empire’s border?”
BOOM——!!
Before the soldier named Milos could even answer, a tremendous noise tore through the conversation like something sealed tight had finally burst. A cloud of dust surged inward from the entrance. Soon after, a soldier collapsed to the floor with a pained groan and cried out, coughing up blood.
“Th-the entrance has been breached! Everyone, hurry—argh…!”
A sharp spear pierced through the crawling soldier’s calf.
“Eek, eheheheek!”
As the dust settled, hyena-headed demons with blood-caked spears and fur standing on end revealed themselves, letting out grotesque laughter.
“N-nolls!!”
“Kyaaaaah!!”
Despair spread through the citizens like a plague, and screams erupted everywhere.
“Guards! Check your spacing and form a battle line!!”
The soldiers who still had some will to fight drew their swords and prepared to resist, but even they were clearly wounded, merely in better condition than the rest. A perfect dead-end situation.
“Ha… hahaha… hahahaha!”
I couldn’t stop the laughter from bursting out.
“S-Saintess…?”
I could feel the bewildered citizens and the soldier who had introduced himself as Milos staring at me with horrified eyes. Of course. If I had been in their position, I would have thought anyone laughing in this situation was insane. But I had no reason not to welcome this long-awaited reunion.
The noble backs that never let go of their weapons even when hopelessly outnumbered. The sight I had longed for all this time, of those who carried a mission they could never abandon, facing the oncoming enemy.
I had missed it dearly.
“Hey, rookie!”
I hopped over the coffin and approached the young soldier, calling out to him.
“Saintess, you only just woke up. Moving so vigorously might be—”
“Hmph, enough with the chatter. More importantly, as a soldier you must have at least one weapon you never let go of, yes?”
The soldier named Milos stood frozen like someone who had fainted for a moment, then finally nodded.
“Take it out.”
He very carefully drew the weapon he carried on his back and held it out with both hands.
“I-it’s a hand axe…?”
Ah. Truly.
Fate really was this exquisitely, ridiculously perfect.
Milos Pensler, who had lived by the principle of never fully believing anything he hadn’t seen with his own eyes, blinked at the impossible sight unfolding before him.
He had simply shown the resurrected Saintess the hand axe she requested. The moment a sudden gust of wind made him close his eyes, the axe vanished from his hands. When he turned around at the dull sound, the seemingly fragile Saintess—who looked like she might collapse at any moment—was splitting a gnoll’s skull clean in half with that very axe.
“Die, you bastard.”
…Is all of this a dream?
The sudden doubt made Milos pinch his own forearm hard, only to immediately regret it.
“It’s not… which means… this is all real…”
Even as Milos muttered to himself, the axe in Saintess Lucie’s hands did not rest. One of the startled gnolls reflexively swung its hammer at the unexpected newcomer.
Crunch——
And the gnoll’s head split vertically like firewood. The other gnolls snapped back to their senses, exchanged glances, formed up, and charged at her with a unified battle cry.
“Kiiiieek!!” Slash——
Three gnoll heads were severed cleanly from their necks.
“Uahahaha! This is it! This is that feeling! Even in this body, my skill hasn’t gone anywhere!”
A crude laugh that seemed impossible coming from such a small, delicate figure rang out loudly. The gnolls felt a chill run down their spines at the sight of Lucie. Eventually most of them, terrified, turned their desperate eyes toward the largest gnoll that appeared to be their leader. You can handle this, right? their gazes begged.
“Kihik?”
But where their gazes landed, all they saw was their leader’s corpse already gushing blood like a fountain from the top of its skull.
“If even the one who looked like the boss is this pathetic, this fight is going to leave me quite disappointed.”
Lucie muttered as she casually wiped the bloodied axe blade on her white robe, which was gradually turning red. At the same time, a powerful instinct screamed inside the gnolls’ minds.
Something is wrong.
The hunt has failed.
The hunter has become the prey.
We must… run from this place!
The gnolls’ actions were decisive and swift. They hurled away their cumbersome long weapons and began fleeing on all fours. Lucie let out a short, hollow sigh.
“Hah, you’re tucking your tails and running now?”
But the gnolls had overlooked two things. First, this was not their preferred battlefield of forest or field, but an underground chapel with only one exit. Second, in their greed to claim the first kill, they had rushed ahead as the vanguard.
“Kiiiik?!”
The only entrance and exit was now blocked by a massive hunk of flesh in the gnolls’ eyes. It was an ogre that had followed them late and gotten itself wedged in the far-too-small doorway, struggling pathetically.
“Kyaaaaah!!”
The gnolls shrieked at the ogre to move aside. It was the same sound herbivores make when they turn their backs on a predator and flee with all their might.
Slice——
Then, amid the gnolls’ cries, a single alien noise slipped in. It should have been drowned out by the surrounding clamor, but the gnolls’ keen hearing caught it perfectly and they immediately shut their mouths. It was a sound they knew well. It was the sound they often heard in the kitchens of their camps after a successful hunt.
The chilling sound of a razor-sharp blade delicately slicing into soft flesh.
Shhhk—
A single red line appeared across the ogre’s body, slowly widening until—
Splat—
The ogre’s thick hide split open and red chunks of meat began pouring out. And right beside that gruesome scene, standing in the one spot where not a drop of the ogre’s spurting blood would touch her, a small “Saintess” smiled mockingly at the gnolls.
“I will carve into your splintering, breaking bones exactly what happens when you dare touch the empire’s subjects.”
The sacred chapel floor was stained dark crimson with blood, making it hard to tell who had truly been the one desecrating the Saintess’s resting place.