Chapter 210: Am I the Saint?-3
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 210: Am I the Saint?-3
The man clung to the woman. His hands shook violently against her shoulders.
Using her as his only support, the man kept his head bowed.
Gasping for breath, Kang In-ho pressed Maria for an answer.
"Why... why am I the Saint...?"
The words crawled out of his throat, a twisted, ruptured sound like water being wrung from a dry rag.
"That is because..."
Maria tried to answer as if he were asking something obvious, but she faltered, as if tripping over a stone.
Why is the Saint the Saint?
Isn't the Saint the Saint simply because he is the Saint?
"Is it because the sword I drew glowed with light?"
Seeing Maria’s hesitation, the man provided his own options.
Sensing that the choice he offered was the wrong answer, Maria remained silent.
The trembling in the hands resting on her shoulders grew more intense.
"Is it because I look like a plausible Saint when I wear this uniform?"
The man looked up at Maria as if prodding her.
In his blue eyes, Maria saw a flickering blue flame.
"Or is it..."
His voice, once wounded and filled with resignation, shifted into one thick with simmering rage.
"Because that bastard the Pope... recognized me as the Saint?"
It was a fury she had never seen before.
"Tell me, Sister Maria."
The Saint brought his face close to hers.
Normally, such an action would have made her heart flutter, but now, Maria felt nothing but terror and a sense of profound alienation.
"I... I..."
Maria couldn't finish her sentence.
No matter how many times she asked herself, there was no clear answer.
The words of the Scripture—which were now engraved in her mind from the countless times she had read and transcribed them—offered nothing that could answer the man's question.
Thud.
The man, who had been gripping and shaking her shoulders, let go.
The momentum caused Maria to stumble back slightly.
"S-Saint..."
She cautiously reached out and took his hand. His heat seeped into her.
Was this burning temperature his rage? Or was it his sorrow?
Maria wondered.
"Please leave. I'm asking you."
The man pointed toward the door.
Only then did Maria feel as if her eyes had finally opened.
The fragmented glimpses she’d had of him finally coalesced into a complete picture.
He looked wounded, pained, and utterly exhausted.
Unconsciously, Maria let go of his hand.
"......"
Maria left the room, looking back at him several times even in that short distance.
With the soft click of the door closing, Maria was gone. In-ho stared at the door for a long time.
The realization that he had taken his frustration out on an innocent person out of sheer temper made his face burn with shame.
"...Fuck."
Picking up the cloth he had thrown at Maria, he wiped away the remaining moisture.
As always, casting reason aside for a torrent of emotion brought nothing but embarrassment and fresh regret.
Having finished a rough cleanup, he threw himself onto the bed as if collapsing.
A feverish heat began to circulate through his body.
*
The Saint had fallen ill with a fever.
The fact that the Saint, who hadn't suffered even a minor ailment since arriving at the Order, was now bedridden led most people to think that he had a human side after all.
Of course, a very small minority viewed this as an ominous omen, but no one dared to speak such thoughts aloud.
To doubt the Saint was evidence of a lack of faith.
His body burning like a fireball, the Saint lay on the bed as if dead.
There were no short groans of pain, nor even the slightest tossing and turning.
It was Maria who reported the Saint’s condition.
The next morning, she had arrived at his room feeling dejected, but as soon as she checked his state, she immediately summoned a doctor.
The doctor left after providing a simple prescription.
The Pope himself visited once to check on the Saint’s condition, but other than that single time, he did not return to the room.
"Saint..."
It was Maria who stayed by his side.
Excused from all her duties, she brought a cot into his room and nursed him day and night.
The Saint’s fever lasted for three days.
Maria, who had been nursing him all night and had fallen into a light doze, woke up with a start when she saw the empty bed.
"Saint?"
She had prepared everything he might need upon waking.
Water to soothe a parched throat, a change of clothes, and simple food to stave off hunger—everything was ready.
There should have been no reason for him to leave the room.
Terrified that the Saint had disappeared while still unwell, Maria rushed out of the room to call for help.
However, she didn't get very far.
"...Eh?"
The sound escaped Maria’s lips involuntarily.
"Then, I shall have it prepared."
"Yes, please do. ...And do not forget."
"How could I possibly?"
At the far end of the hallway, she saw the Saint and Lumen, the Chief Inquisitor, walking side by side.
"...Saint?"
The sight of them walking with indifferent expressions, matching each other's stride, felt utterly alien to Maria.