The Unpredictable Saint, But I Couldn't Hear Her Words
But I couldn't hear a single word the Saint was saying. Because at that exact moment, her belly clock went off with a thunderous roar.
—Groooooooooowl─
“Sorry, but that rumbling completely drowned you out.”
“S-sorry! So, what I meant was….”
The Saint’s face flushed crimson as she moved her lips again.
—Groooooooooooooooooowl─
Unfortunately, her tiny voice was once again swallowed whole. On top of that, as if she had used up every last ounce of strength, the Saint crumpled to the floor.
“…Hungry.”
“S-Saint?”
“It’s been three days since I last ate potato peels, but… maybe it’s because I cried… I have no strength left….”
The Saint murmured feebly. I rushed to support her and asked, “Don’t tell me you haven’t eaten anything at all this whole time? And the only thing you had was potato peels?!”
“…Yeah. I have to make it last, so I only ate something the size of my pinky finger….”
With the hand not holding her up, I dragged it down my face. Why did this Saint have to be so pitiful?
I hurriedly pulled a chocolate bar from my subspace.
“Is it all right to eat something like this on an empty stomach? Would you like to try this first?”
“…F-food? Are you a god?!”
“Yes. A grim reaper is a god too.”
I peeled open the chocolate bar and placed it in the Saint’s mouth. She chewed with her small lips, then looked up at me with sparkling eyes.
“Marvelous—!”
“I’m glad it suits your taste.”
“…Ah.”
The Saint stared at me blankly, chocolate bar still between her lips. That gaze sent a wave of unease washing over me.
“Wh-why are you looking at me like that? Did the sudden sugar rush give you a blood-sugar spike?!”
“…Do you want some too?”
With trembling hands, the Saint held out the half-eaten chocolate bar. Tears glistened in her eyes, as though she had reached a monumental decision.
This must be what they mean by taking a flea’s liver.
I gently pushed the chocolate bar back toward her mouth.
“Uup─.”
“It’s perfectly fine. Eat as much as you want. I have more.”
Worried she might spit it out again, I quickly retrieved several more chocolate bars from my subspace. The Saint clasped her hands together and gazed at me.
“…God!”
“Yes. I’m a grim reaper.”
Nodding vigorously, the Saint began devouring the chocolate bar with renewed speed. I peeled another wrapper.
Ah, this felt exactly like feeding the rabbits at the zoo. I had always wanted to try it at least once, but the keeper kept talking to the visitors, so I never got the chance.
I never imagined I would finally do it now.
…And to a human, no less.
For some reason, the feeling was strangely complicated.
“…Um, can I have one more?”
“Feel free to eat as many as you like.”
Her eyes had been sparkling, but now the Saint shook her head dejectedly.
“…No. One is enough.”
“Are you really sure one is enough?”
“Yes.”
The moment the Saint nodded with her eyes squeezed shut—
—Groooooooooooooooooowl─
Her stomach’s roar, completely at odds with her words, once again filled the room. The Saint’s face turned scarlet, redder than the chocolate wrapper itself.
I sighed and offered her another bar.
“Is this because of pride or something?”
“…N-no! I have no pride!”
“……Oh. Is that so?”
I answered without thinking, but… wasn’t pride something everyone needed?
As I tilted my head in confusion, the Saint hesitated while staring at the chocolate bar, then spoke.
“…Because you’ll need food too from now on.”
“Pardon?”
“…Food is very scarce here.”
Seeing how carefully she saved those potato peels, I could believe it.
“If I eat everything, you’ll end up starving later.”
“…Saint.”
“I’m sorry. I ate too much, didn’t I? I can stop now. …I’m used to this kind of thing anyway.”
The Saint’s shoulders hunched inward. Used to starvation—what a wretched sort of familiarity.
…Ah, and there’s one more thing.
The way the people of this world wished for her death. Just a moment ago, the look in her eyes had seemed to accept all of it with quiet resignation.
Just what kind of life had this person lived until now?
From what I had seen so far, she was almost foolishly kind.
I bent down slightly so our eyes met.
“Saint.”
“…Yes?”
“Don’t worry. I don’t starve.”
Her eyes widened at my words.
“Huh?”
“Grim reapers don’t need to eat. So please eat as much as you like, with an easy mind.”
To humans, food was essential for survival, but to a grim reaper it was merely a form of entertainment. I had bought this chocolate bar because it was a collaboration with a favorite anime character; I hadn’t purchased it with any intention of eating it myself.
…Though, for the sake of a grim reaper’s dignity, I couldn’t possibly say that out loud.
I held the chocolate bar out to her.
“So eat comfortably.”
“…Really?”
“Yes. Really.”
“Th-that’s amazing—!”
Clutching the chocolate bar tightly, the Saint beamed and cried out.
“To not need to eat at all… I wish I were a grim reaper too.”
“No. If you’re going to wish for anything, aim for a different god. This line of work has an absolutely brutal workload.”
“Huh?”
“It’s so bad that the number of jeoseong-saja who quit each month exceeds the number of new hires… Wait, that’s not what I meant.”
Why was I blurting out the internal affairs of the Underworld? I still had things I needed to hear from the Saint.
After clearing my throat, I asked, “More importantly, what were you trying to tell me earlier?”
“Ah, that’s right!”
The Saint paused mid-bite and answered.
“There is no way to leave this world.”
“…Pardon?”
“Well, I don’t know the details, but the mages said something about another dimensi—”
—Groooooooooooooooooowl─
…Again. It seemed chocolate bars alone weren’t going to solve this.
Tears spilled from the Saint’s eyes as she hung her head weakly.
“I’m trash…”
“No, no. It’s a perfectly natural physiological reaction.”
I frantically dug through my subspace. Because I had never bothered to organize it and simply tossed things inside, only the strangest items kept coming to hand.
I really should have cleaned it out sooner.
After rooting around vigorously, I finally grabbed a cup of instant noodles I had bought some time ago. What was this again? I think it was the extra-large eight-serving size. I had purchased it because it was trending on social media, and it looked like there would still be plenty left even after she ate her fill.
…But eating something like this inside the room feels a bit much, doesn’t it?
I glanced around. Unlike the Saint’s shabby appearance, the room itself was impeccably clean—though the excessive ribbons and lace were rather overwhelming.
“Um, is there a kitchen or something similar?”
“Yes. There is.”
“Perfect. Then shall we go to the kitchen and eat this?”
I took out the oversized cup of noodles from my subspace. The Saint’s small mouth fell open in a wide cheer.
“Wooooow—.”
“But in return, you have to tell me everything properly after you eat.”
“Yes, yes!”
I followed the Saint—whose excited footsteps she couldn’t quite hide—to the kitchen.
The kitchen was thick with dust. It was obvious at a glance that no one had maintained it at all. There were almost no footprints on the dusty floor, suggesting she rarely came here.
I followed the faint recent footprints. At their end lay a small table and a clean plate holding potato peels.
…I really cannot understand this Saint’s sense of hygiene.
She kept her room spotless, yet left both her own body and the kitchen in such a state. Strangely enough, the hallway leading here had also been clean.
She said she had no pride. Is she simply uninterested in herself? Or….
The moment I drew a breath, I coughed involuntarily.
“Kek! Cough!”
“…Ah? A-are you all right?”
“Yes. I’m fine.”
More than that, eating in a place like this seemed likely to create illnesses that hadn’t existed before. After steadying my breath, I pulled a table, chairs, and utensils from my subspace.
“Wow—! It’s not just food that comes out!”
“Indeed.”
“S-so grim reapers can do things like this too. How fascinating!”
…No. I believe that’s only me.
Very few grim reapers stockpiled human items within their own domains. In any case, eating in that kitchen was clearly out of the question. It would be far better to eat in the clean hallway. It was winter, so it would be cold, but warm food might make it bearable.
I finished setting up in the middle of the corridor. It was a relief that jeoseong-saja work consisted of endless waiting; these items had been prepared precisely because waiting for people to die grew so tedious.
Still, it might be chilly.
As I took out a portable heater and a blanket from my subspace, the Saint poked my back repeatedly.
“Um…”
“Yes?”
“…Is it really all right to eat in a place like this?”
For a second I felt as if I had run into a wall. I pressed a hand to my forehead.
…I really cannot understand this Saint’s common sense either.
Was I the strange one? Or was I simply failing to grasp cultural differences? Was this sort of thing normal in this world?
Clenching my teeth, I said, “I thought eating outdoors once in a while might feel refreshing.”
“Ah, I see.”
I couldn’t bring myself to tell her the truth. Even after I left this place, I would make certain to clean that kitchen thoroughly.
With a deep sigh, I opened the kettle lid. At that moment, a glugging sound filled the air as the empty kettle filled with water.
“Huh? Why did it—?”
“U-um… Don’t you need to add water?”
The Saint fidgeted, watching me anxiously. It seemed she could indeed use magic, just as she had mentioned mages earlier.
…Then why doesn’t she clean?
A subtle emotion stirred within me, but I answered with a smile.
“That’s correct. It does need water. Thank you.”
“Really? …That’s a relief.”
“Now I need to boil it…”
“Ah, I’ll do that too! It’s hot, so set the kettle on the table.”
I was only half convinced, yet steam soon rose in lazy curls from the kettle.
She has lived for over five hundred years. She’s surprisingly versatile.
I opened the cup noodles and tore open the soup packet. When the Saint poured in the boiling water, pure white steam billowed throughout the hallway.
“Waaaa…”
“Let’s see. Since this is extra-large, we’ll need to wait five minutes.”
“Yes!”
The Saint nodded, hands clasped tightly together. In more than a century as a grim reaper, I had seen all kinds of people, yet this was the first time I had encountered someone so utterly unpredictable.
Sometimes she seemed like a child who knew nothing at all. At other times she seemed like a mature being who had grasped the fundamental truths of the world.
…I really cannot figure her out at all.
Still, there was one thing I could say for certain: the way she stared intently at the cup noodles was rather cute. She was so absorbed in them that she hadn’t even noticed the blanket I had draped over her shoulders. Looking at her, I found myself smiling without realizing it.