Chapter 12 The Saint's Regret 3
Chapter 12: {The Saintess's Regret} 3
{The Saintess's Regret}
Mine sobbed for a long time, reminiscing about the memories she shared with Yu Ji-hu.
["Everyone you've healed will be grateful for your kindness, Mine."]
["Don't be too heartbroken. Instead of dwelling on those we couldn't save, let's focus on those we did."]
["I'm sorry. If I had been just a little stronger, I could've saved more lives..."]
["You like children too, just like Scarlet? Want to volunteer at the orphanage together?"]
The time they had spent together.
The comfort he had given her.
All those moments intertwined, flooding her with endless guilt.
Staggering away from the battlefield in a daze, she barely registered the cheers of the people celebrating the Demon King's defeat.
"The Demon King has fallen!"
"Long live the heroes!"
"May the gods bless them!"
Under normal circumstances, she would have stood beside Ji-hu, smiling as they accepted the crowd's adoration.
But Ji-hu was no longer with them.
Because they had betrayed him—tried to kill him.
"Please... leave me alone for a while."
She didn't know if her equally distraught companions heard her, but after uttering those words, she retreated to the room they had stayed in before the battle and shut herself inside.
As the Saintess, she would have normally offered prayers to the goddess Minerva. But now, nothing held meaning for her.
Ji-hu...
Only his face surfaced in her mind.
The image of him eagerly awaiting their journey to Earth clashed violently with the sight of him dying by their hands—a torment that gnawed at her soul.
"H-Hic...!"
Tears streamed down Mine's face as she repeated her apologies to the man who was no longer there.
"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry... Hic... I'm sorry."
As she whispered her remorse, Ji-hu's words echoed in her mind.
[You're really kind, Mine. A true Saintess.]
[To be honest, your warmth has been a great comfort to me. When I first fell into this unfamiliar world, struggling to adjust... I'll always be grateful for how much you cared.]
Back then, his words had made her blush, but she had also been happy—happy that he saw her in such a light. Now, the mere memory of it made her chest ache unbearably.
"You were wrong... I wasn't the kind woman you thought I was..."
As she quietly wept, she sensed someone opening the door and stepping inside.
"Saintess."
A beautiful woman with long crimson hair—Scarlet, the mage—had come to see her.
"...What is it?" Mine asked weakly.
"There's a way to see Ji-hu again."
At those words, Mine's head snapped up.
"Is... is that true?"
She had felt as though she had plunged into an endless abyss—a despair so deep she couldn't fathom escaping.
But with just one sentence, Scarlet had given her a glimpse of light.
Ji-hu!
The hope of seeing his face again made her bolt upright, her eyes burning with a fervor so intense it bordered on madness.
I can see him again!
Yu Ji-hu—she could meet him again!
Mine was consumed by the desperate desire to see him once more, no matter the cost. Even if it meant losing her title as the Saintess.
She wanted to apologize to him.
To hear his voice, even just once more.
To see his face, even if only for a moment.
Even if he demanded her death, she would accept it willingly.
"How? How can we see him?"
Her voice was frantic. Scarlet's own voice trembled in response, her guilt and longing no different from Mine's.
"It'll take a month."
"What?"
"In a month, we can reach the world he came from. Through the blood he left behind."
"Ah..."
Mine's expression darkened.
Ji-hu's blood...
Blood spilled not by the Demon King's hand, but by theirs.
The realization made her dizzy, nausea rising in her throat.
Disgust at herself surged like a tide, and her conscience screamed within her.
[Do you even deserve this?]
[What right do you have to see him?]
[He trusted you. And you betrayed him.]
[You're nothing but a filthy traitor—unworthy of facing him.]
"Hic—!"
Yet even under the weight of her conscience, Mine couldn't give up.
No matter what it took, she wanted to stand before him again, to look into his eyes and speak to him.
She wanted to convey just how sorry she was.
Ji-hu... I could never be the good woman you believed me to be.
She knew she had no right to face him—no right to beg for his forgiveness.
But she couldn't suppress this craving to meet him, to apologize.
If it's what you wish, I'll do anything.
Even if he wanted to trample her cruelly underfoot—even if he wanted her dead—she had already resolved to accept it all.
Haa... Ji-hu.
After her conversation with Scarlet, Mine recalled the memories she had shared with him before the battle against the Demon King.
"Why... why couldn't I trust you? Hic... We spent so much time together..."
Finding hope in the possibility of seeing him again should have been a joyous thing. But Mine only writhed in agony as her guilt grew heavier.
[Mine, once this war is over and we go to Earth, there's so much I want to show you.]
She remembered the days they had talked about Earth.
How it had a sun and moon just like this world, but how humans there had already studied them in great depth.
The fact that they had even set foot on the moon had fascinated her.
She had been equally intrigued by the cultural advancements of his world, and they had even made plans for what they would do together once they arrived.
Just imagining it had been such a happy time.
[Ji-hu, this is my true heart.]
And then she remembered—the moment she had kissed him first.
[I promise to stay by your side forever. My love will never change. I swear it with everything I am.]
What kind of expression had she worn back then?
Searching her memories, Mine imagined she must have been smiling brightly.
Back then, she had never dreamed she would betray him—never even considered the possibility.
But in the end, I didn't trust him. I betrayed him. I tried to kill him.
And now, she had committed an unforgivable sin.
When Iris had stabbed him with her sword, what had she said to him as he called out to her in confusion?
[I trusted you... I really did...]
Looking back, those were words she had no right to speak.
Ji-hu had trusted her until the very end—had never even imagined she would turn on him.
Yet she had been deceived, attacked him, tried to kill him.
She hadn't believed in him.
"Ah—"
Then, a sudden thought struck her—Ji-hu had returned to Earth gravely wounded.
A wave of dread crashed over her.
H-He's... he's okay, right?
What if his injuries hadn't been treated in time? What if something had gone wrong?
It was just a hypothetical, but the mere possibility made her anxiety spike.
She wouldn't be able to shake this fear until she saw him with her own eyes.
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry. Hic... Please, be safe. If you're unharmed, I'll do anything—anything at all."
Even if he wanted her dead.
Mine knew the next month would be spent in torment, agonizing over whether he was alive.
But compared to the suffering Ji-hu must have endured—betrayed by those he trusted—her pain was nothing. She hadn't even begun to atone.
"From now on, my life is yours to do with as you please. So please... be safe."
Whispering this, Mine slowly closed her eyes.
Even if it was just a nightmare, she wanted to see his face—even in a dream.
But the moment she fell asleep, the nightmares began.
"Hic! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Ji-hu, I... I was wrong! Hic...!"
The Saintess's lips trembled with sobs of regret, tears streaming down her face.
But in this world, there was no one left to answer her pleas for forgiveness.