Chapter 9
Chapter 9
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: Return - 8
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Whether what kind of ceremony should be performed for the Saintess was one of the main topics of debate among all the priests.
In the Holy Kingdom, they insisted that even a Saintess was merely "a woman who had received God's love."
The logic was that all believers in the church receive God's love—she just received more of it than others. She was nothing but a layperson.
However, some believers, especially the common folk, argued that the Saintess deserved greater honors than even the Pope.
They claimed that priests' positions and ranks were mere human-made hierarchies. A believer's worth was determined by how much God loved them and how much devotion they had shown to God and the faithful.
But this generation's Saintess had become one at too young an age to grasp such power struggles, and she had no faction to support her.
And the Pope had granted her a sufficiently exalted position. She was formally beneath the Pope, but to ordinary eyes, it was an impossibly lofty status.
For whatever reason, the believers had no choice but to submit to her.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The Saintess toddled up to the front of the grand cathedral. A young nun sweeping there, her eyes brimming with exhaustion, dropped her broom the instant she spotted the Saintess and cried out.
"Welcome back!"
"Nice to see you!"
The Saintess waved her hand high in the air. The nuns she had grown up with since childhood were like family to her, someone who didn't even know her own parents.
"Girls, come here! Hurry! Saintess Celia is back!"
The cathedral's serene atmosphere shattered. The nuns spread word of the Saintess's return from mouth to mouth, and soon the young ones had crowded around Celia, pelting her with questions.
"How was the adventure?"
"Wasn't it tough? What do monsters even look like?"
"Did you meet any handsome guys on the trip?"
For a cathedral near the city center, it was a surprisingly cloistered space. They were naturally parched for new stories.
Besides, the woman before them was one of the Hero's party who had successfully vanquished the Demon King after centuries. Even without her being the Saintess, everyone would be dying to hear their tales.
"Uh, where do I even start..."
After hesitating a moment, the Saintess began recounting everything she had seen and felt, one bit at a time.
She wasn't much of a storyteller, so the timeline jumped around, situations were exaggerated or downplayed, but even in that rough form, their adventure was plenty thrilling and worthwhile.
Opening up about the hardships now behind her with people she could relax around, the Saintess felt herself unwinding.
"The adventure was great! Everyone was good at heart. They did some bad stuff sometimes, though... Monsters look super weird, but I didn't get too close. I'd just back away praying, and the Goddess would drive them off."
The Saintess giggled as she spilled out the tales she'd held back.
She'd had chances to talk to people at the banquet hall too, but those folks all eyed each other with strange looks.
They even seemed aware that they were all giving each other those odd stares, responding with equally peculiar words.
When she'd vented to Elenor about it, all she'd gotten was a curt "Just don't talk to anyone."
Silent meditation was familiar, but silence in a banquet hall instead of a prayer room had been dull and stifling.
"Didn't meet any handsome guys on the trip. Hardly ran into anyone."
But these nuns were the ones she'd shared her childhood with. Even if she'd gained the Goddess's power and risen to a status they couldn't touch, those early years together weren't erased.
She had simply received the Goddess's love and served more devoutly.
"Wow, must've been brutal. You okay?"
"It got tougher as we went, but they all took good care of me! Elenor, Nerwen, um, Pashier, and the Porter too..."
The Saintess's face stiffened briefly before relaxing, but no one caught the subtle shift.
Still, she genuinely loved these chats. Meeting others was as exhausting and draining as it was exciting and fun.
You could never be sure how they'd react to your words. What seemed obvious behavior and values to her were sometimes dismissed as worthless.
But these people said what she wanted to hear and asked what she wanted to share. They were her closest allies, her greatest treasure.
"How were the elves?"
"Uh... totally gorgeous, super tall. Amazing with a bow, quick hands too, but she said a ton of mean stuff."
"What'd she say?"
"Dunno exactly, but she kept calling our Porter stinky and yelling why a useless human like him was even there..."
"And you just let that slide? Should've given her a piece of your mind!"
The Saintess clamped her mouth shut in surprise. She hadn't meant to badmouth Nerwen that much; the words had just tumbled out.
"N-No, Nerwen's nice too! Shoots arrows like whoosh, stands guard perfectly when the Porter's sleeping. Hunts and finds hidden meat when food runs low..."
"E-Eating that won't ruin your health? And unclean meat..."
"It's fine! I blessed it!"
But as she kept talking, the Saintess realized a gap had formed between her and her fellow nuns—one she could never bridge.
Among the nuns, the Saintess's authority was absolute. But out in the world, almost nothing protected her.
In the Hero's party, the Saintess had the least say. She was also the youngest. The elf and mage were worlds older, and the Hero—who seemed somewhat closer in age—was the party leader and the Emperor's daughter.
Excluding the Porter, who wasn't even treated as a full member, no one was easy enough for her to snap at or demand things from.
It wasn't just about deferring to elders, but when arguments dragged on, she had no idea how to persuade others.
Inside the church, simply raging "Why would this happen?!" was enough. If they still wouldn't listen, showing the relevant scripture passage overflowed with authority.
But in the Hero's party, that mindset was dismissed as childish nonsense.
Whenever that happened, it was the Porter who had her back. When the others tried something wrong, he'd take all the abuse and shout with her that it wasn't okay.
Luckier times, Elenor or Pashier would heed him. Nerwen consistently refused to engage him, though.
And that wasn't all. She could see him growing weary as time wore on, but he never skipped a single request from her.
"Ah!"
The Saintess realized she'd zoned out again, but the watching nuns just smiled patiently, as if it were routine.
"Anyway, I've got a question!"
"What? Something happen on the trip?"
"Like, there was this guy who was super nice to me for no reason. Why do you think?"
The Saintess hadn't thought about his kindness while receiving it.
She figured people being kind to each other was normal—the others were the weird ones. By the time bonds formed through shared perils, his "kindness" had become routine.
"Maybe a huge devotee of the Goddess?"
"Nah, he was a nonbeliever. Sad, but..."
"A nonbeliever? Must've been gross. Toppling the Demon King for the Goddess's will sounds grueling when you have to share life-and-death with heathens..."
The Saintess wanted to yell "He's not that bad!" but if they countered how a nonbeliever could be good, she'd have no comeback.
"Was it a guy, by chance?"
One playful nun put her on the spot.
"Y-Yeah..."
"Bet he likes Celia!"
She denied it vehemently, but the idea soon felt all too plausible.
The Saintess knew zilch about guy-girl stuff. Of age now, she'd never met a man or seen one with a woman.
At best, when nuns swapped whispered love tales, she'd snapped, "That stuff just interferes with prayer!"
"Don't say silly things. There were no men in the Hero's party."
"Oh, right. The Princess and that mage..."
"There was a man! No one talks about him, but the Porter traveled with us!"
"The Porter was a guy?"
"Uh... y-yeah!"
The Saintess's face flushed red.
"B-But really? I said hi to him at the imperial library recently, invited him to the celebration, but he said it made him uncomfortable and no thanks..."
"The imperial library? Nobody just waltzes in there... Must be someone huge. What now!"
"Saintess, is he cute? If you like him, snag him quick!"
"Hating the party 'cause he wants to see you alone, not with others?"
The nuns might be her elders, but they were just girls a year or two ahead, barely more worldly.
Having talked to him directly, the Saintess thought no way. But a sliver of "what if" lingered.
Respecting his "meetings make me uncomfortable" stance would just awkwardly end the Hero's party. That would crush her.
Time to see Elenor—soon Crown Princess—Nerwen returning to the World Tree, and research-mad Pashier was running out fast.
If he was just shy around the others, she'd regret forever not grabbing him and laughing together.
"Then, um, I'll head back!"
The Saintess beamed like a child.