Chapter 31
Chapter 31
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: Star and Saintess (2)
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Ariana's halo, glowing golden above her head, spun at a maddeningly rapid speed.
"Ugh... grrr...! I-Is!"
She felt a brain-melting agony from the overwhelming surge of holy power she could barely contain.
But even amid that torment, she clung to her consciousness with everything she had.
'I have to save Is...!'
To save Is, she couldn't afford to pass out.
Tears of gold streamed from her eyes as she forced a strained smile.
"Is... You probably can't hear me, but I... I..."
That instant.
"B-Believe... in the goddess..."
Words escaped her lips that contradicted her thoughts.
Her mouth moved on its own, beyond her control.
"Believe in the goddessbelieve in the goddessbelieve in the goddessbelieve in the goddess!"
'No... It's because the holy power is too much...'
This was the backlash of trying to wield an unbearable amount of holy power.
In game terms, she was slowly succumbing to the status ailment "Fervor."
'No... I have to endure...!'
The thought that what she was doing defied the goddess's will kept swirling through her mind, as if urging her to stop right now.
'My strength is fading...'
Regardless of the sheer volume of holy power, it didn't take long for Fervor to dominate her.
Strength drained from her arms bit by bit, and her vision began tinting gold from the edges inward.
'B-Believe... in the goddess...'
She could no longer even think straight.
"...Defy not the goddess."
Finally overtaken by Fervor, she began to withdraw her hand—
—but halted abruptly.
"The goddess! Is! Defy— I have to save him! Mother!"
Blood trickled from her mouth.
She had bitten her tongue to snap back to her senses.
"Mother! Please grant me the grace to save Is!"
Ariana squeezed out every last ounce of strength for one final shout, and the heavens answered.
-Kkiiikik-grrrk!
Like ancient gears grinding into motion, a scraping sound accompanied the halo's frenzied spin.
The once-simple circle sprouted vicious spikes, turning menacing, and the holy power swirling around her head was shredded by the halo, raining down onto Is.
That instant.
"...Cough!"
A ragged cough rose from below her.
"Is!"
In the hopeful turn of events, she smiled brightly without realizing it, and the halo above her head spun even faster.
-Giiiing!
The faster the halo pulverized the holy power, the more Is's condition improved, the aura of death clinging to him vanishing in a flash.
And finally.
-Twitch.
His finger stirred.
"Is!"
-Wooong...
As if declaring its task complete, the halo ceased spinning.
Ariana grasped Is's hand with trembling fingers.
His eyes remained closed, but she felt a pulse from his gripped hand.
"Thank goodness... you're okay..."
Confirming Is was alive and well, Ariana closed her eyes in relief.
-Thud.
Her body collapsed atop his, the halo discreetly shifting to the back of her head.
"Sir Is!!"
"Ah, you've tempered the Fervor..."
With Adel rushing over in alarm and Perantia sounding pleased, Ariana lost consciousness.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"...Cough cough! Gasp, where am I?"
I'd expected to awaken in that pure white space facing the goddess again, but instead, my vision filled with an unfamiliar ceiling and white curtains draped on either side.
Sitting up, I felt bandages wrapped all over my body.
"What the hell happened..."
I'd clearly burned myself up with the holy power from praying to the goddess...
Wait, what about Mocking Deception?
I'd blocked his self-explosion with everything I had, but passed out before confirming if it worked.
-Clatter!
I bolted upright in bed.
That moment, the left curtain flung open sharply.
"Is! You're awake!"
"Saintess?"
Ariana, dressed comfortably, lay in the bed to my left.
Her face looked ready to burst into tears.
"Y-You're really Is, right...? For real?"
"Yes, but..."
"Is!"
"Ack!"
Ariana suddenly lunged into my arms.
I tumbled back onto the bed.
"I'm so glad! Really... so glad!"
She nuzzled her face against me in my embrace.
She must have been through hell...
'Dangerdangerdanger...!'
The problem was our outfits—hers and mine—were both perilously thin.
The sensations were all too vivid.
Ignoring the massive weights pressing down on me as best I could, I asked her,
"Saintess, what on earth happened? Why am I..."
"Alive? You think that's something to ask right now?"
Her mood shifted abruptly, her teary eyes glaring at me.
From my angle looking down, it was an overwhelmingly spectacular sight, but showing it would spell disaster, so I turned my head away.
"Don't look away!"
But Ariana grabbed my cheeks and forced my head back.
I ended up with that perilous view burned into my eyes.
"Is, why'd you throw yourself at a self-destructing black mage?! You nearly died—no, you did die!"
"Haha, well..."
At a loss for words, I averted my gaze again—and noticed the anomaly.
"Wait, I died?"
"..."
Ariana nodded silently.
"Then... how am I looking at you right now..."
The realization sent chills down my spine.
-Squeeze.
"Kyaa?!"
I pulled Ariana into a tight hug.
"I'm sorry... truly sorry, Saintess..."
"Y-Yes?"
If I'd died and Ariana was by my side...
"Because of my failure, even you, Saintess...!"
I hadn't protected her in the end—
"N-No! We're both fine! Alive and well!"
"Huh?"
Not that?
But then...
"Didn't you say I died?"
"You did! So I brought you back!"
"What? That's impossible..."
As I stared at her in shock, she replied with a mischievous smile.
"To save you, I prayed to the goddess—fervently, desperately. And she granted her unworthy daughter the power."
"That power was...?"
"An immense amount of holy power, enough to save you. More than my usual holy power by far."
"What?! But then you couldn't possibly be unscathed..."
"Look at this."
She pointed to the back of her head.
Turning my gaze there, I saw what looked like a halo—when had that appeared?
"A halo...?"
I muttered in surprise without thinking, and she explained proudly, like showing off a trophy.
"The goddess gave it to me along with the holy power. Thanks to this, I resisted the Fervor."
"A halo? What is..."
Ariana seemed to think I was shocked by a human having a halo, but that wasn't it.
'Why does she have it now...?'
The halo—you get it at Ariana's first job change.
"Impressive, right?"
"Y-Yes... very impressive."
It had to be.
'It's way too early for her first job change.'
We were barely past the game's start, and she'd already done her first job change.
Like advancing before even hitting level 2.
Plus, at first job change, you pick between paths—but the halo above her head was one I'd never seen.
Ariana's options were "Merciful Saintess" with a classic round halo or "Loving Saintess" with a heart-shaped one floating behind her head.
'But... why is this one so spiky?'
Probably a side effect of job-changing before she was ready.
"The goddess doesn't want us parted, so no more reckless stunts like that—ever!"
"B-But if not me, who? Perantia was blocking the dragon, the Hero was fighting it—"
"No way! Next time, I'll come with you!"
"But..."
Unlike me, a slum orphan transmigrator, she was the healer heroine and saintess—her life carried immense weight.
"Saintess, as your direct holy knight, my duty is to protect you. As a holy knight, it's to shield people and fight evil. Stopping me from—"
"I don't care! I'm not letting you go!"
Like a spoiled child, Ariana hugged me tighter.
"Saintess, for the sake of dignity, please don't..."
"No no! It's your fault I'm like this!"
"What?!"
"I... I like Is... lo—"
"Huh?"
The moment Ariana tried to speak.
-Rustle.
"Goddammit! Stop salting me with Ariana right next to you, you little shit! Some of us are getting treated by this ugly bastard hubby—why're you making a fuss over there?!"
"Kyaa!"
"Hero?"
Ruin parted the curtain, revealing himself.
From the right side.
"You were in the next bed?"
"Yeah, fuck! Woke up way earlier than you and got treated by this pepper bastard next to me."
"Haha, Hero. Can't you leave them be? They were enjoying their sweet little chat—"
"Shut it!"
-Boom!
Lib High Priest, who'd been watching us fondly, slammed into the wall.
I wondered if he was okay when Ruin suddenly softened into a smile and turned to Ariana.
"Ariana, I'm hurting a lo— a lot too. Mind healing me...?"
"No."
"I just slayed a dra—"
"Nope."
"B-But he's looking fine no—"
"Get lost."
"..."
"I was finally alone with Is, and you ruined it—I'm in a bad mood because of you, Hero."
"I only stayed for smooth treatment—"
"Whatever. Don't talk to me."
"Yeah... sorry..."
Ignoring the dejected Ruin, Ariana beamed innocently once more.
"Is! Let's rest up properly for treatment and recovery!"
"Uh, sure..."
And so began our bizarre patient life, with the direct holy knight sandwiched between the saintess and the hero.