Chapter 276: Saint Guwon
Chapter 276: Saint Guwon
“S-So… that’s… right! I have to go with you, too!”
“What? Why you, all of a sudden?!”
“I told you before, didn’t I? I won’t acknowledge you as the Goddess’s messenger until I see her descend with my own two eyes.”
“And what does that have to do with you following me?”
“No one knows when the Goddess might descend again, right? So…”
“No. You don’t get it. I’m telling you, we’ve figured out how to make the Goddess descend. Leia can accept the Goddess into her body at will. It’s just that after one descent, she needs time before she can do it again, which is why we can’t do it right now. When she’s able to, I’ll bring Leia over and show you. That should be enough, right?”
“No! You’re the one who doesn’t get it. Did you think a former Saintess candidate like myself wouldn’t know that? The Goddess’s descent can happen even when the Saintess doesn’t intend it to. It happens when the Goddess has something to tell us.”
I see. Come to think of it, the Goddess descended the very moment I picked the skill. Does that mean it wasn’t Leia who activated it, but the Goddess herself who chose to descend into Leia’s body?
“But that’s only possible when the vessel is able to receive the Goddess, right? If that weren’t the case, the Goddess, who still had things to discuss with me, would have descended again right now. There’s still a whole year left on the cooldown, so you don’t need to follow me.”
“B-But…”
At my words, Matilda grew restless, a look of desperation on her face as if this wasn’t how things were supposed to go.
Why is she trying so damn hard to follow me? Did she actually fall for me?
“…Hey. You haven’t actually fallen for me, have you?”
“O-Of course not!”
…Extremely suspicious.
I stared intently into Matilda’s eyes.
“…Hk!”
She couldn’t even meet my gaze for a full second before whipping her head away.
What’s with this anxious reaction?
Just in case, I tried using Revived Pride once more.
Strange. It’s definitely getting hard.
“Wh-Wh-Why is it getting bigger just from looking at me?!”
“It’s not because of you! Your reaction was so suspicious I was just checking if it was working properly!”
What is she spouting that nonsense for? What if my Leia misunderstands?
I hastily refuted her and glanced over at Leia.
Thank goodness. She wasn’t making that face.
No, that time was just a momentary anomaly. This is her normal reaction, of course. She’s my angel, after all.
“Anyway! I’ll call for you again in a year when the cooldown is about to end. Got it?”
“W-Wait! That’s… right! According to the records, the cycle for receiving the Goddess was different for every Saintess in history! And it was common for the cycle to shorten as they gained more experience as a Saintess! As she grows, isn’t it possible for that period to decrease?!”
…She’s right, there are a few factors that could reduce the cooldown.
Leia’s level and stat growth. The skill level of Goddess Descent. And the skill level of Faith, the priest’s basic passive.
“Still, a one-year period isn’t going to suddenly become one day. So just go back and wait quietly.”
“Ughhhhh!”
Matilda stomped her foot in frustration, as if things weren’t going her way at all.
If she hasn’t fallen for me, then why on earth does she want to come with us so badly?
“Fine! I’ll give up on following you! Instead! You have to come here and report to me regularly! About how much time is left! I will stay here and wait until the Goddess’s next descent!”
With the corners of her eyes welling up with tears, Matilda glared at me and declared her defeat.
She was imposing conditions on her own, but it wasn’t something I couldn’t agree to.
Besides, Leia would be visiting the temple regularly anyway, and I’d also be stopping by from time to time to see High Priestess Sophia.
“Pardon? Cardinal Matilda, you will be staying here?”
But this time, for some reason, it was High Priestess Sophia who looked troubled.
“Yes. It takes time to travel here from the Holy See. I cannot bear the thought of missing my chance to meet the Goddess because of that.”
“I-I see. …Sir Guwon. May I have a word with you?”
“Please, stop calling me Sir Guwon. Just treat me comfortably like you did before. It’s not like I’ve been officially recognized as the Goddess’s messenger yet, right?”
“But I saw with my own two eyes… Hehe. I understand. I will do as you ask. So, may I have a word?”
Reading my uncomfortable expression, the High Priestess agreed with a look one might give a cute child. She then gestured for me to follow her outside, indicating she wanted to speak with me alone.
What is this about all of a sudden?
As I followed High Priestess Sophia out the door, she turned to me with an apologetic look.
“I’ll be blunt. Would it be possible for you to take Cardinal Matilda to your mansion?”
“What? Why would I…”
“As Leia explained earlier, it is very dangerous for Cardinal Matilda to be around men right now. But this is the temple of a dungeon city. As you know, adventurers are always coming and going, and even besides them, a great number of male believers visit every day. It is a bit problematic for the Cardinal to be in a place so crowded with people. But your mansion… aside from you, it’s entirely populated by women, correct?”
“But the most important person, me, is a man.”
“That’s true, but… for some reason, I feel like it would be alright if it’s you. And if you’re truly worried, you could try to avoid seeing her at the mansion as much as possible and have Leia deal with her… but now that I say it, that sounds incredibly selfish of me. I’m sorry. Please forget I said anything. We will find a way to ensure Cardinal Matilda does not encounter any men on our end.”
High Priestess Sophia spoke with a resolute expression and turned to go back into the room.
“…Wait a moment.”
I grabbed her arm.
“I’ll take Matilda with me.”
“What? But…”
“It’s fine. Thinking about it, it seems like the right thing to do. I just need to be a little careful. I’ve been talking to her this whole time without getting cursed, so I think I can be careful enough.”
The High Priestess tried to dissuade me several times with a sorry look on her face, but I didn’t yield and decided to take Matilda.
No matter how you look at it, it’s too dangerous for Matilda to stay here.
Honestly, despite her attitude, Matilda is beautiful enough that the title of Cardinal suits her perfectly.
With a girl like that walking around, even if they are priests inside a temple, could there really be not a single man who would hit on her? Of course there would be, and Matilda would fall for him just because she liked it.
Countless victims would be produced, and the reputation of this temple would plummet.
I’m not such a good guy that I’d sacrifice myself to prevent such a tragedy, but she was sent by the Goddess, after all.
A little corner of my mind thought, The Goddess sent me here to have a ton of sex, so would she really let me get hit by a curse like that?
And even if that wasn’t the case, she hadn’t fallen for me even after I made her climax. It was a subtle blow to my pride, but it meant I was fine so far. I was sure I’d manage somehow in the future, too.
“Leia. I’m thinking of taking Matilda to the mansion. Is that okay?”
“Yes. I think that would be for the best.”
Leia must have guessed what High Priestess Sophia and I had discussed.
She approached me, giving me a worried look, but still nodded her head.
Then, she linked her arm with mine, pressing her ample chest against me, and whispered so softly that Matilda couldn’t hear.
“But I’ll try to be the one to deal with Cardinal Matilda as much as possible. As for you, Guwon…”
“Yeah. I don’t want to end up in a rough spot either. I’m counting on you.”
I whispered back in response to Leia, then turned to Matilda.
“So, Matilda. You’ll have to come to the mansion with me. That’s more convenient for you too, right?”
“R-Really?!”
For a girl who claims she hasn’t fallen for me, Matilda’s face lit up with a joy I couldn’t comprehend.
“Hey. I’m only agreeing because I have to, not because I’m being nice. So don’t you dare fall for me.”
“I-I won’t! For a man like you! I’d rather not, thank you! If anything, the fact that I haven’t fallen for you after all this conversation should tell you something! You’re the first man like that! You really have no charm as a man!”
Are you bragging about that right now? Huh? You think it’s a flex that you fall for any guy after a short conversation? That’s not a flex!
Aargh! Is she really just acting? Every single word gets on my nerves.
I want to argue back. I’m dying to argue back.
To tell her that if I got even a little serious, I could make a girl like her fall for me in an instant.
To ask her if the Goddess would have sent me to this world as her messenger if I really had no charm as a man.
But if Matilda were to agree with my rebuttal, that would create a whole other problem.
I could end up becoming impotent.
Either way, she was one troublesome girl.
“Leia. Let’s go home.”
“Wait! Are you ignoring me? I see you have no room for rebuttal!”
When I ignored her and spoke to Leia, Matilda clung to me as if demanding I pay her proper attention.
Just stop clinging to me! You need to get a grip on your own situation!
To shut Matilda up and make her follow, I wrapped an arm around Leia’s waist and smashed my lips against hers.
Once again, cries of ‘Kyaaaaa!’ erupted from among the priestesses.
I’ve been thinking this for a while now, but you girls have great reactions.
“G-Guwon, you…”
“Wh-Wh-What are you—?!”
Leia, the actual recipient of the surprise kiss, merely blushed softly and gave my chest a light tap with the tip of her tail. But it was Matilda who turned beet red and screamed.
I shot Matilda a smug look.
See that? If I really had no charm, would someone like my angel fall for me?
Having silenced Matilda, I moved to hoist the still-unconscious Silvia onto my back.
“Nngh… Guwon…?”
Just then, Silvia’s eyes fluttered open as she regained consciousness.
Perfect timing. Shall I land a follow-up blow to silence Matilda for good?
“You’re awake? Up you go.”
I lifted Silvia into my arms and nuzzled my cheek against hers.
“……Eh?”
Having just woken up, Silvia’s movements froze once more.
“Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, uwaaahhhh…”
Then, making stuttering, broken sounds as if she’d short-circuited, she fainted once again.
“Hmph. See that? She fainted from sheer bliss. This is the fatal charm of that ‘charmless’ man. I’m not charmless! I just have no need to show my charm to you! Why would I ever bother with someone like you…” “Guwon, please don’t.”
Sensing I would say something even harsher if I continued, Leia gently clung to my arm and shook her head.
My angel is just too kind. Even after I was insulted like that… no, wait. Come to think of it, as angelic as Leia is, she does get angry when I’m insulted.
She definitely showed her dislike for that Pots fellow.
In that case, is she being this way with Matilda because she’s in a pitiful situation?
Right. When I think about it, she is in a sorry state. Maybe I was too harsh. Her attitude just provoked me without me realizing it.
As Leia suggested, I decided to stop provoking Matilda.
“……”
Though it seemed I was already too late.
Matilda wore an expression of such shock that, if this were a manga, you could almost see the word ‘CRACK’ shattering the space above her head.
Hey, there’s no need to be that shocked just because a guy you’re not interested in said he has no reason to impress you, is there?
Seeing that look on her face made me feel incredibly sorry, but if I were to honestly apologize, she might just fall for me.
“Alright, let’s go.”
Left with no other choice, I decided to head back to the mansion without an apology.