The Saintess Pays the Friendship Fee
Even after the whole Saintess affair, Cruze kept examining my eyes with extra care, determined to prove she wasn’t some quack. She found nothing, of course. If anything, the longer it dragged on, the fiercer Lady Iolet’s glare toward her became.
In Lady Iolet’s eyes, she had tolerated the annoyance of dragging a Saintess around because she figured the girl might actually be useful. Instead of providing any treatment, however, Cruze was practically shoving her massive chest in my face. That alone was enough to piss her off.
But that wasn’t the only thing making my lady angry.
…Dia likes that girl way too much!
What really set Lady Iolet off was the way I seemed to be strangely fond of Cruze. After three years together, she was confident she understood me better than anyone else. And sure enough, she could read the subtle shifts in my expression that most people missed.
To her, my current face apparently looked like a kid who had just met the protagonist of a fairy tale she’d adored for years. Well… considering I was internally fan-girling over meeting the main character of my favorite game, she wasn’t exactly wrong.
But since she had no way of knowing that, she could only assume the worst.
Is it the chest? Did that vulgar lump of fat seduce Dia?
With that thought, Lady Iolet quietly looked down at her own chest. It wasn’t small by any means, but compared to Cruze’s overwhelming assets, it was like a firefly next to the sun or a backyard hill in front of Everest.
Ugh…!
A strange sense of defeat washed over her, making her fingers twitch. Her shadow writhed in sync with the motion.
Should I just separate them by force?
It looked like the maid, blinded by jealousy (though she was already blind), was about to draw her sword. Truly, the master resembles the servant… or perhaps it’s the servant who resembles the master.
But someone noticed the change in Lady Iolet faster than anyone else. That someone was me—Gladia—currently on the receiving end of Cruze’s examination.
I had been momentarily enchanted by Cruze’s overwhelming maternal aura and had forgotten about my lady. The instant Lady Iolet’s mana began to writhe, however, I snapped back to my senses. My Mind’s Eye detected her emotions on the verge of exploding and sent constant warnings.
Air raid alert! Air raid alert!
My body moved on pure reflex.
“Um… Lady Gladia? The examination isn’t finished yet…?”
I gently but firmly pushed Cruze away from me. Distance successfully created. Just that small action caused Lady Iolet’s violently fluctuating mana to subside, if only by a tiny margin.
I didn’t waste the opportunity. Like water flowing downhill, I slipped behind Lady Iolet, wrapped my arms around her waist, and pulled her down onto the bed with me in one smooth motion.
The so-called Iolet Sealing Formation!
With one hand locked firmly around her waist, I used the other to gently stroke her head. Then I unleashed a torrent of praise directly into her ear.
“My lady is truly the best for bringing the Saintess here for my sake. Your heart is as beautiful and refined as the finest silk. Sniff sniff… my lady’s scent… huff huff…”
There were a few weird bits mixed in, but the relentless barrage of compliments I’d scraped together from the depths of my soul worked. Before long, Lady Iolet’s earlier anger vanished. She lifted her nose proudly, looking thoroughly pleased with herself.
The sight of her burrowed deep in my arms, purring as I stroked her hair, made it hard to believe she was the same terrifying witch who had been radiating murderous mana moments ago.
Cruze simply stared at us with an utterly dumbfounded expression.
Anyway.
After a little while, Lady Iolet had completely calmed down. She still didn’t leave my embrace, though. Instead, she sat on my lap, crossed her legs, and looked at Cruze.
The pose radiated the dignity and charisma expected of the infamous Witch of Dranice… except for the part where she remained snugly nestled against her maid’s chest with her head resting comfortably on it. That detail kind of ruined the whole effect.
The two of us whispered to each other as if the Saintess blankly watching us didn’t exist.
“…Can’t we just kick her out? She’s clearly a quack.”
“…She did come to help. Shouldn’t we at least hear her out?”
“…It’s such a hassle.”
Cruze, who had been listening to every word, finally couldn’t take it anymore.
“…I can hear you, you know?”
Even so, Lady Iolet didn’t flinch. She simply stared at Cruze with an expression that practically screamed, What are you going to do about it?
Cruze felt the sincerity behind that gaze and realized the truth.
This person is planning to kick me out the second the job’s done and wash her hands of me!
It was incredibly scummy behavior—making the Saintess work for them and then planning to toss her aside—but what could she do? The side that needed something had to bow.
Lady Iolet had perfectly grasped that, in this situation, they held all the cards. Cruze barely managed to suppress the frustration boiling up inside her. Naturally, neither Lady Iolet nor I cared about her feelings.
“So what exactly do you want to talk about? We’re busy, so keep it short.”
“Huu…”
After a deep breath to steady herself, Cruze finally spoke.
“…All right. I won’t drag this out. I’ll get straight to the point. The truth is, I’m looking for someone here at the academy.”
“Looking for someone? Who?”
Lady Iolet asked while resting her chin on her hand in clear annoyance. The way she leaned against my chest and idly swung her legs made it blatantly obvious she had zero interest in the conversation.
Yet Cruze continued, her eyes burning with a sense of holy duty.
“…The Hero. The one destined to save the continent from the coming disaster.”
Until two years ago, Cruze had been nothing more than an ordinary girl living in a small rural village on the western edge of the Libertan Empire.
Of course, her overwhelming presence had been just as ridiculous back then.
Her life changed the day the other village girls, jealous of that very presence, began subtly ostracizing her. Seeking peace, she stepped into the village’s only chapel.
Inside the old, quiet building that rarely saw visitors, Cruze knelt alone before the statue of the goddess.
Before her stood the Goddess of Light, Leto, carved with a gentle smile.
With her hands clasped over her heart, Cruze began to pray. It was a simple, rural-girl wish: to escape the jealousy and harassment of the other children and find some peace of mind.
That was when the miracle happened.
Hear me. Before long, the King of Monstrosities sealed in this land shall resurrect, and the world will once again be dyed in blood and screams.
Yet even within despair, there is a single ray of light that will save the continent. The hero who shall bear the fate of the world will awaken. That hero shall awaken two years from now, in the place where the wisdom of the stars gathers….
Cruze. I bestow upon you the sacred authority of the Saintess. Go to the academy and become my eyes. There, find the hero, prevent the approaching calamity, and save the world.
And so Cruze became the Saintess.
“That’s how I became the Saintess, entered the church, received two years of education, and enrolled here at Stella Academy. All to find the Hero.”
Having finished her story, Cruze let out a deep sigh, seemingly moved by her own tale. After all that, they should understand how important this is, right?
This was a story about the Demon King and the Hero, after all. Even a thousand years later, tales of the Demon King’s army were still told. No one living on the continent could fail to grasp the gravity of it.
…Assuming they were normal people, anyway.
Neither Lady Iolet nor I showed the slightest reaction to her shocking confession. I already knew about the Demon King’s resurrection and the Hero’s birth from playing Saintess and Hero to death, and Lady Iolet simply didn’t care.
Our lack of response actually flustered Cruze more than anything.
“It’s the Demon King! The Demon King! The calamity that nearly destroyed the entire continent a thousand years ago!”
She passionately explained the scale of the threat, but Lady Iolet’s reply was ice-cold. She toyed with my hand where I held her and spoke without a hint of interest.
“So what do you want me to do about it?”
“Pardon?”
“What does the Demon King’s resurrection have to do with me?”
“If the Demon King revives, the entire continent is in danger. Of course it matters…?”
“There’s a Hero, isn’t there? He’ll handle it. Whatever.”
Cruze’s mouth opened and closed in shock at Lady Iolet’s casual attitude. “We have to find the Hero!!!”
“Which is why I’m asking why I should bother.”
In truth, Lady Iolet’s reaction wasn’t wrong. The Demon King and the Hero weren’t exactly our problem (my position was slightly different, of course), and it made no sense why Cruze was presenting this to us as if it were our responsibility.
If the Demon King was reviving and a Hero needed to be found, she should just focus on finding him. Why cling to us?
Right now, Lady Iolet was far more interested in what we should eat for dinner together.
But Cruze had her reasons too.
Her original plan had been to search for the Hero discreetly after enrolling, working with the church members who had entered alongside her. There was no need to stir up chaos by announcing the Demon King’s resurrection or the Hero search.
As time passed, the movements of the Demon King’s followers and the demon race had grown increasingly suspicious, requiring even greater caution.
That plan had fallen apart the day before enrollment.
The goddess, silent since delivering the revelation two years earlier, had spoken again.
The message was simple.
Ask the Dranice family for help.
After that single sentence, the goddess fell silent once more.
Following the hastily revised plan, Cruze had approached Lady Iolet.
…The plan hadn’t accounted for Lady Iolet being this uncooperative.
What kind of person is this?!
Lady Iolet, unaware of any of this, simply found Cruze’s behavior strange.
“The revelation was given to you, wasn’t it? Then handle it yourself.”
“I was going to, but the Goddess specifically told me to seek help from the Dranice family…”
“The Goddess did? Hmm…”
Lady Iolet fell into thought for a moment at the mention of the Goddess, but even that wasn’t enough to sway her. She seemed ready to chase Cruze out and go have dinner with me. That was when I tugged insistently on her sleeve and whispered secretly into her ear.
“…My lady, my lady!”
“…What?”
“…Why don’t we help her with this?”
“…What? Why would we get involved in something so annoying?”
Lady Iolet frowned, openly displeased. But a sly smile had already crept across my face.
“…From the examination I just received, her holy power is the genuine article. If you keep her around, she’ll be useful in all sorts of ways going forward.”
“…But getting tangled up with the church is the last thing I want.”
“…My lady, right now we’re the ones holding all the cards.”
I smiled and whispered into her ear. Truthfully, I had decided to help the moment I heard Cruze’s story.
I can’t miss the chance to ride the main storyline of Saintess and Hero!
But helping is one thing—receiving proper compensation is only natural!
“…A Saintess should have plenty of church support, right? Let’s take that for ourselves.”
At my suggestion to fleece the church, Lady Iolet’s ears perked up with clear interest. The discontent on her face melted away, replaced by a smile that looked suspiciously like my own.
Swoosh.
As if on cue, Lady Iolet and I turned our heads toward Cruze at the same time.
“Hik…?!”
Did she sense something? Cruze flinched and trembled. Her chest shook along with her, momentarily casting a charm on me, but I endured it with an iron will. We approached her from both sides and amicably draped our arms around her shoulders.
“Sure, why not? We’ll help.”
“Really!? Oh, thank you, Lady Gladia! Lady Iolet!”
Cruze’s face lit up instantly as she clasped her hands together. Seeing the Saintess on the verge of tears with joy, I subtly licked my lips.
“However, there’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world, is there? It feels a bit much for us to participate in such a dangerous task empty-handed, don’t you think?”
“…Pardon?”
The joy drained from Cruze’s face in an instant, leaving it stiff as a board.
I continued without mercy.
“Come now, Saintess. Why don’t we start by taking out your wallet? We should confirm the extent of your sincerity first. That’ll make the conversation go much faster~”
Her voice was sweet, but for some reason Cruze’s mind filled with memories of the delinquents who used to hang around the back alleys of her rural village.
Trapped between the pressure of two people gripping her shoulders, she had no choice but to tremble as she pulled out her wallet.
Some time later…
“Perfect. This seems like more than enough sincerity.”
“Indeed, indeed. We had no idea the Saintess wanted us this badly.”
“…Sob.”
The Saintess wiped away tears as she stared at her now-empty wallet while the two of us rejoiced.
Regardless, we left to enjoy a delicious dinner using the sincerity(?) we had received from the Saintess. The Saintess had become a friend of Dranice!
For the record, this friendship would continue forever as long as the Saintess never forgot to pay her friendship fees.
Good for you, Cruze. You’ve made a friend.