The Saintess's Examination
Gladia was currently very flustered.
In truth, Gladia had held one near-certainty. It was the firm belief that even if she sent Lady Iolet off alone, there was absolutely no way the girl would come back with a friend!
For the past three years, Gladia had stuck to Iolet like glue and personally experienced just how catastrophically bad her lady’s social skills were. That was exactly why she had come to pick her up after class, intending to comfort the girl who would surely return alone and forlorn….
Yet what Gladia witnessed was her mistress returning from the very first class already accompanied by another woman!
And one with ridiculously huge breasts at that!
The enormous curves transmitted through her Mind’s Eye were enough to throw Gladia’s heart into disarray.
But that wasn’t the only thing confusing her. What truly left Gladia stunned was….
“Ah! Seriously! Get off me!”
“Please, just once! Just one time!”
“I said I get it, so let go already!”
It was Iolet’s attitude.
The woman was currently clinging to Iolet’s arm, desperately begging her to listen for just a moment. And Iolet, for her part, wasn’t managing to shake her off with any real force.
Gladia, who prided herself on knowing Iolet better than anyone, understood just how bizarre this was.
Lady… this isn’t like you at all!
Supreme under heaven, unique and unmatched. Having watched Iolet—who seemed the very embodiment of the term “overlord”—for so long, Gladia could tell exactly how unusually gentle her lady was being simply by the fact that she wasn’t forcibly ripping the clinging woman away.
Seeing Iolet act so differently from normal caused a surge of jealousy to rise within Gladia.
I was the one who bid on her first…! Is it because of the breasts? The breasts?!
Oblivious to Gladia’s inner turmoil, Iolet approached while leading the woman along.
“Dia!”
“…My lady. I came out to greet you.”
“Your body isn’t well yet—why are you out here?! Let’s go back inside right now.”
Although Iolet was inwardly glad to see Gladia waiting for her, concern came spilling out first. She still hadn’t recovered from the shock of watching Gladia cough up blood.
At Iolet’s worried words, the jealousy that had stained Gladia’s heart quietly melted away.
But then Iolet turned her head toward the woman.
“Hey.”
“Ah, yes!”
“You come too. I’ll hear your story inside the room.”
“!”
At Iolet’s words, the woman’s tearful face bloomed like a flower as she broke into a bright smile.
“Yes! Thank you so much!”
And at the sight of Iolet naturally inviting another woman into her room, Gladia’s hand instinctively rose to her cane.
…Should I draw it?
Fortunately, Gladia did not have to draw her sword.
Because the moment they reached the room, Iolet immediately got to the point.
“Hey, you’re the Saintess, right?”
“Yes. Though I’m still lacking.”
“Then take a look at her. She seems to be sick right now.”
With those words, Iolet pointed at Gladia.
Only then did Gladia realize that Iolet had dragged the woman into the room specifically to treat her.
My lady…!
At Iolet’s thoughtful gesture, Gladia’s ugly jealousy seemed to be washed clean away.
I almost drew the Hell-Severing Demon Blade for nothing.
Only now did Gladia realize that the identity of the enormous-breasted woman clinging to Iolet was none other than Cruze—the Saintess and heroine of Saintess and Hero.
Her chest really is huge.
Feeling Cruze’s silhouette through her Mind’s Eye, Gladia unconsciously swallowed.
As expected of the Saintess…!
She truly possessed the demonic charm that had seduced the Crown Prince, the heir to the Margrave, and everyone else in the original story. There was even a legend that when her illustration was first revealed, every reader nodded and said, “Yeah, with breasts like that, I get it.” A body with that kind of legendary proportions!
Among all the people Gladia had met so far, Professor Elaheem had possessed the largest chest—yet Cruze’s seemed to be on an entirely different level.
Even in the brief moment Cruze approached at Iolet’s request, the way her chest swayed and disturbed the air was transmitted perfectly through Gladia’s Mind’s Eye.
There had never been a moment when Gladia regretted her blindness more than right now.
If only I could see, I could watch those breasts bounce up close!
To be clear, this wasn’t because Gladia was a pervert.
The protagonist she had only ever seen on a monitor was standing right in front of her. As a fan of Saintess and Hero, wasn’t it perfectly natural to want to see her?
Still, drawing her sword right then and there would have been a bit much given the situation.
What a shame. Such a shame.
At that moment, Cruze approached and took Gladia’s hand.
The moment Cruze’s soft hand enveloped hers, the Saintess spoke.
“Let me examine you for a moment. It doesn’t seem like you’re in pain, so please don’t be too nervous.”
A gentle, warm holy power flowed from Cruze’s hand.
The Saintess’s holy energy that swept through every corner of Gladia’s body felt quite pleasant. However, as the examination grew longer, Cruze’s brows began to furrow slightly.
Gladia could sense the way she tilted her head in confusion.
“Um…”
“What? Is something wrong? Is she badly hurt?! Tell me right now!”
When Iolet asked urgently with a fierce expression, Cruze waved both hands in a fluster.
“Ah, no! That’s not it… She’s incredibly healthy?”
“…What?”
“I mean, not only are there no wounds or illnesses, but her bones and muscles are exceptionally strong. Her organs are all in perfect condition too. Among everyone I’ve examined so far, she ranks among the healthiest I’ve ever seen?”
At Cruze’s clear diagnosis, a heavy silence fell over the room.
Soon after, Iolet’s face twisted in disbelief.
“Are you joking right now? A few days ago this girl coughed up a whole basin of blood and collapsed! I saw her covered in blood with my own eyes!”
“I-It’s true! My holy power doesn’t lie! She’s healthy enough to win a bare-handed fight against an orc right now?!”
Cruze protested with an aggrieved look, her chest bouncing with every gesture, while Iolet glared with fiery eyes, demanding if she was some quack. And then there was Gladia, calmly admiring the swaying motion of those breasts through her Mind’s Eye. It was a perfect farce.
Once the situation calmed down, Cruze attempted another examination.
This time, at Iolet’s request, it was a full-body check that included Gladia’s eyes. Light bloomed once more from Cruze’s hands and enveloped Gladia’s body. After several minutes of Gladia glowing like a living lantern….
Cruze, who had been examining with her eyes closed in concentration, finally opened them.
“No matter how I examine her, there’s nothing wrong.”
She spoke with strong conviction. Then she reached out, gently held Gladia’s face, and stared straight into her eyes.
Ever since being chosen as the Saintess, Cruze had traveled to countless places with the church’s clergy and treated numerous patients. Along the way, she had picked up various medical knowledge through observation, yet even she found Gladia’s eyes impossible to understand.
Through her holy power, Gladia’s eyes appeared utterly perfect. Could the eyes of the elves—who were famous for their keen sight and lived in the Misty Forest at the edge of the continent—be like this?
Eyes like these would surely be able to see even the wingbeats of a flying insect with perfect clarity.
But her eyes as a doctor were saying something completely different.
She gathered mana in her hand and created light.
Light attribute 1st Circle Magic — Light.
A simple spell that produced illumination.
She slowly brought the light right up to Gladia’s eyes. Yet even as the light approached, her pupils showed no contraction at all. They remained completely still.
What felt even more unsettling was her gaze. Even though Cruze was trying to meet her eyes from mere inches away, Gladia’s gaze pierced straight through her and into the empty space beyond. It was like staring at a meticulously crafted doll whose soul had departed.
No pupillary response. No threat reflex, no focus….
Cruze felt a surge of stubborn determination at this incomprehensible contradiction.
Why is this happening? When I look with holy power, there are clearly no defects at all.
This paradoxical phenomenon had ignited Cruze’s curiosity. Without realizing it, she leaned her upper body forward and drew extremely close to Gladia’s face.
“Just a little closer, let me examine more carefully….”
Cruze’s face suddenly approached until their noses were nearly touching. Along with her sweet body scent, the overwhelming mass that made Mind’s Eye tremble with every breath came right up to Gladia’s nose.
O-Ohhh…!
It was an overwhelming presence Gladia had never felt before. The sensation was like having a giant marshmallow pressed firmly against her body.
Although Gladia had been a man in her previous life, that didn’t mean she was looking at Cruze with any impure gaze. It was simply that the violently overwhelming volume she felt against her body possessed a wondrous power that could draw pure admiration from anyone, regardless of gender.
On the outside, Gladia maintained a calm expression, but inside she was continuously letting out gasps of awe.
Grab!
Suddenly, a hand shot out from somewhere and roughly seized the back of Cruze’s clerical robe.
“Kyaa?!”
“Hey. Back off.”
Cruze was yanked backward with a short scream, and between the two of them now stood Iolet, eyes glaring fiercely.
Iolet completely shielded Gladia behind her back and shot Cruze a sharp glare.
“I told you to examine her, so why are you clinging to my maid and rubbing your face all over her? Huh?”
“N-No! I wasn’t rubbing my face on her! Her pupillary response was strange, so I was just trying to look more closely…!”
“You can look from farther away! Why did you get so close your lips were practically touching?!”
It was Gladia who stopped the exchange—Cruze desperately waving her hands in explanation and Iolet growling with burning possessiveness and jealousy.
“Now, now. Please calm down, my lady. I’m sure the Saintess didn’t have any strange intentions.”
Gladia soothed Iolet with a gentle voice and quietly placed a hand on her shoulder.
Her mind had already returned to a calm state. Once those breasts had moved away from her body, the enchantment had broken. In other words, she had entered what could be called her sage time.
Gladia wore a benevolent smile like a Buddha who had transcended worldly desires and calmed Iolet down.
At Gladia’s soft touch and endlessly serene voice, Iolet’s explosive anger receded like the tide.
After taking a deep breath to steady herself, Iolet crossed her arms again and asked while shooting Cruze a sideways glare.
“Haa…. So what’s the conclusion? Why are her eyes like this?”
Cruze’s mouth opened and closed like a mute who had eaten honey. She averted her gaze slightly and answered in a tiny voice.
“W-Well…. I don’t know either.”
“…What?”
“When I look with holy power, everything is perfect, but there’s no pupillary response, and medically it makes no sense… I truly cannot find the cause….”
To be honest, Cruze felt wronged too. She had really performed a proper examination, yet no cause was visible. What was she supposed to do? The sight of Cruze with tears welling in her eyes from the injustice was so pitiful that anyone would feel sympathy.
But the person before her was Iolet—a monster of social ineptitude who had never once felt such sympathy.
At Cruze’s continued excuses, Iolet’s eyebrows shot upward. Letting out a hollow laugh as if she couldn’t believe it, Iolet pointed an accusing finger at her.
“What? So in the end you don’t know anything!”
“N-No! But I definitely confirmed that her body is extremely healthy…!”
“Shut up! You call yourself the Goddess’s representative, yet you can’t heal her or even find the cause! I asked you to examine her and all you did was rub your chest on her!”
“W-When did I ever do that…!”
It was the first time since being appointed Saintess that she had received such treatment. In the end, a single teardrop rolled down Cruze’s cheek.
It was summer.