The Saintess Descends
The free chapters were over. From here on out, this was the main story.
Victory Day was one of the grandest celebrations held in the Empire.
For commoners and nobles alike, it was a day of equal joy. Young and old, men and women—everyone spent it reveling in the festival and soaking up the happiness.
It was only natural that countless couples would choose such a day for a date. And where there were couples, public displays of affection were bound to break out on every side.
Over there they’re linking arms, and behind us they’re hugging… Whoa. Are those two just straight-up kissing right here?
Tisha did not consider herself particularly conservative. Even so, the flood of affection pouring in from every direction left her with nowhere safe to rest her eyes.
Then a sudden thought struck her. Am I as pretty as those women over there?
Without meaning to, she checked herself over and examined the clothes she was wearing. She had put real care into dressing up for the day. She had even done her makeup—something she rarely bothered with. But looking at the other women, her outfit suddenly seemed a little rustic, her makeup unimpressive.
Kyle said I looked pretty, so it should be fine, she told herself. Yet the moment she remembered his personality—that he never said anything that might hurt someone’s feelings—the anxiety returned in full force.
What if Kyle was thinking the same thing? What if he was looking at the other women right now?
With that worry nestled in her heart, Tisha stole careful glances at him.
…Thank goodness.
A sigh of pure relief slipped out of her on its own. Kyle was not giving the surrounding women so much as a glance, as if they held zero interest for him. It was not even that he was holding back out of consideration for Tisha. Kyle genuinely had not the slightest interest in other women.
Not the flowing dresses that practically begged for attention, not the deliberately swaying figures—he did not spare them a single look. Instead, his gaze was fixed on something else entirely.
Whoa. That guy looks like he’d snap if you so much as touched him. Is he a pair of chopsticks?
That one over there might actually be able to lift something, though. Wonder what his big three numbers are.
Tsk tsk. Just bulked up for no reason. Looking at those legs, his core clearly can’t support it.
Doesn’t that guy need to hit the gym? If he fell over, could he even get back up?
Scenes that would never be seen in the John Nassen household were on full, chaotic display here. Stick-thin people, people proudly sporting soft, rounded physiques, people who were at least showing off some muscle but whose form was riddled with obvious flaws—there was no end to the worrying specimens of every variety.
This is normal. This is how it should be, he whispered to himself. And yet no matter how he looked at it, that just was not right. Can he even pick things up looking like that? the thought kept nagging at him.
“Hey. Tisha.”
“Yes?”
“Something seems to be going on over there, doesn’t it?”
In the direction Kyle pointed, toward the plaza, a genuine commotion was indeed brewing. Kyle gave the scene a casual once-over while Tisha grabbed a nearby person and asked. Naturally, Tisha got the information much faster.
“Kyle. They say a high-ranking official from the Church is going to deliver the Victory Day address in the plaza over there.”
“A high-ranking official? Did an archbishop show up or something?”
“I’m not sure either. They haven’t even started the address yet, and apparently no one’s been told exactly which high-ranking figure is coming.”
“Hmm…”
At that, Kyle rubbed his chin, lost in thought. A high-ranking Church official. High-ranking… Wait, could that woman I saw earlier actually be…?
No. That did not make sense. How could she be walking around without a single escort? If she really was who he thought, those guards of hers deserved to have their heads knocked together until they explained themselves.
“Kyle! They’re starting the address!”
At Tisha’s shout, Kyle’s head snapped up toward the platform set up in the center of the plaza. But there was no one on it. Just the empty dais standing alone.
“What the…?”
“Wasn’t there supposed to be someone coming from the Church?”
Apparently Kyle was not the only one finding it strange. People were murmuring on every side, looking around them, when—
“What a joyous day this is. The day when, in the midst of calamity, a miracle descended and finally extinguished every last flame.”
From somewhere, a clear, pure voice began to ring out. It was a voice so beautiful that those who heard it could not help but let out soft sighs of admiration.
“I was once asked a question. Where is the miracle? Does it even truly exist? Sadly, I could not answer that person’s question. Was it because I did not know the answer? No. It was because I felt such pity for them—because they seemed so terribly forlorn.”
Soft footsteps.
“Everyone. Miracles have always been right beside you. Every single moment has been a miracle. We simply failed to recognize them as such.”
A woman who looked like an Academy student passed by Kyle’s side. When she lowered the hood she had been wearing, a silver waterfall that held the sky and the lake within it cascaded down. Silver eyes that seemed to see through all things in the world sparkled.
“This very moment we are living is a miracle, and the person beside you is a miracle as well. So let us not search for miracles in distant places. Let us hold tight to the true miracles and never let them go.”
At last the woman reached the plaza and slowly stepped up onto the platform. The once-noisy plaza sank into silence. Even the sound of breathing faded as every gaze focused on her.
“Now, everyone. On this day so full of miracles, let us seek out yet another miracle. Let us pray earnestly and offer our blessings, that the warm light may be with us all.”
“Ahh…!”
“Saintess…!”
It was the moment the Saintess descended upon the Imperial Academy.
…
Gazing at the Saintess as she beamed a radiant smile and bestowed blessings one by one, Kyle closed his eyes and savored both relief and joy at once.
All those comments that ignored the protagonists completely and just praised the Saintess… I have not a single regret about that behavior…!
Why start gushing about the Saintess after only reading the free chapters? Because those free chapters were filled with Male Lead #1 and #2 who twisted your guts dozens of times, and Female Lead #1 and #2 who floundered without any direction. And one of the people who turned those characters into actual human beings was none other than the Saintess.
Honestly, getting spoiled while reading comments had not put him in the best mood. But after choking down nothing but dry sweet potatoes, there was someone who finally poured out the refreshing soda, was there not? Of course he had no choice but to passionately praise the Saintess character.
On top of that, even though she was a supporting character, she was so popular that they even made an illustration of her. If the illustration had been mediocre, public opinion might have tanked. Thankfully, the Saintess’s illustration was produced at an absolutely insane level of quality. Game over. Every reader, one after another, fell for her.
At last I get to behold the Saintess with my own eyes. Wow, she’s truly… blessed. Of course there’s a reason the gods chose her. Absolutely.
A comment floated up in his mind—someone claiming the gods had carved light itself with beauty as the theme. He had thought it was nonsense at the time, but seeing the Saintess in person, that reader must have been possessed for sure. There was no other way to praise her appearance so extravagantly!
Tisha was pretty, and Elga was beautiful. But Kyle considered the Saintess to be a step above them. Of course, this was purely Kyle’s subjective opinion. Objectively speaking, the three women’s beauty was about equal. They simply possessed different charms.
But from Kyle’s perspective, he had wanted to see the Saintess from the very beginning. And because she enjoyed protagonist-level popularity despite being a supporting character, he found her all the more impressive. So holding this absolute fondness for her right now was only natural.
That voice… Yes. It’s exactly the same as the one I heard earlier. I was right. My guess was correct. To think that woman I saw earlier was actually the Saintess…!
As the thought clicked into place, Kyle let out an extremely relieved sigh. If she had scolded him with something like “Can’t you even lift that?”, he would have smashed that dumbbell into his own skull.
There were endless novels where the “Saintess” was saintess in name only—just the shell, just the title. He had even worried that this Saintess might be the other kind of “saintess,” the one written with the character for sex. There were so many stories like that these days that a classic Saintess almost seemed abnormal.
But every single comment had been pure Saintess praise—a prayer circle of faith declaring this was the real deal. He felt relief once more that he had not done anything rude in front of that Saintess.
“In truth, I had a bit of trouble getting here. Like a lost little lamb, like a child who had let go of their parent’s hand, I wandered until I arrived in a place whose name I did not know. And there, I too encountered a miracle. Someone who did not treat a stranger carelessly, who kindly even showed me the way. Someone I am truly grateful to. I would like to call people like that miracles.”
She even called him a miracle! She said I was a miracle! Saintess! Saintess!!
“Kyle John Nassen.”
Just as he was about to once again fill his eyes with the Saintess’s figure in pure emotion, those black-clad men appeared out of nowhere again and blocked his path.
“Ah, wait. Just a moment, please. Not now. Not today.”
“Please come to the headmaster’s office at once.”
“Isn’t today a holiday? It’s Victory Day!”
“Indeed it is. Victory Day.”
“But even while everyone else rests, those who eat the Empire’s salt do not rest.”
“So please come with us at once. Everyone is waiting.”
“No…”
What had to come had finally come. The story had finally caught up. Yeah, it had been suspiciously quiet. A John Nassen freshman had caused a scene. He had fought a duel and shattered a sword with his bare fists there.
Sigh.
Letting out an internal sigh, Kyle looked at Tisha. Naturally, from her perspective, two black-clad men had suddenly appeared and were trying to take Kyle away—she looked thoroughly startled and flustered.
“I’ll be right back, Tisha.”
“What? Where?”
“Looks like I need to have a bit of a talk about what happened at the freshman welcome party.”
Who would it be this time? The Academy Headmaster? Or the Minister of Education? Whoever it was, he hoped they would wrap it up quickly. He wanted to finish soon and go back to watching the Saintess.
He already had his excuses prepared. He had not been the one who started it, and he had not been the one to propose the duel either. He had just been unlucky enough to get swept up in the incident—a kind of victim, really.
But…
The moment Kyle stepped into the headmaster’s office, he sensed something was off. An unusual atmosphere hung in the air. This was definitely the headmaster’s office, yet it felt like he had walked into an entirely different place.
The reason was probably the fact that the headmaster—whom he had seen a few times—and several people he was meeting for the first time were all on their knees, pressed flat to the floor in prostration.
…What the hell is this shit.
Completely unable to grasp the situation, he was about to look around when—
Something he had never imagined unfolded before him.