Chapter 74
Chapter 74
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 73
Chapter Title: Nursing (1)
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A being from another world who had finally emerged onto the surface after 200 years.
She was locked away in cell block 6 with a dazed expression on her face.
"Is that really a vampire progenitor?"
"Amazing. It's something you only read about in scriptures."
Fred and Nix peered at the progenitor through the small window in the door.
They weren't the only ones.
"In my sixty years of life, this is my first time seeing a progenitor."
"A vampire? Like a blood ghost or something? She's tinier than I expected."
The Grand Elder roamed freely around the prison for the first time in ages while Damas was off at his trial.
Even the Sword Sage of the East stood on tiptoes beside him to get a look.
"Ugh... Who are you treating like some zoo bat?!"
"Oh, she's mad now."
Everyone gawked curiously at the vampire queen, a sight none had ever beheld in their lives.
Ah, though in her current state, she looked more like a princess than a queen.
To the old man who had always wanted a granddaughter and to Myoran, who had once had a little sister, she just seemed utterly adorable.
"Your yapping is annoying. Should I just command you to bite your own tongue off?"
"I'm pretty pissed that you hurt the Warden too. I've got a mountain of backlog work as it is."
Anje spoke coldly, clearly displeased that the progenitor had returned cradled in the warden's arms.
Vice Warden Clea felt the same way.
Pierced by their icy glares, Franca flinched for a moment.
She had felt the same aura back when she tried to sink her fangs into the warden's neck.
'What kind of prison has monsters like these?! Just what is this place...'
Only then did the progenitor purse her lips tightly.
She told herself she wasn't scared at all, but somehow she had turned to face the wall.
Her expression was one of utter indignation at this unprecedented treatment.
"I can't forgive this. How dare you humiliate a progenitor like this. I'll have my revenge..."
Vowing vengeance, she yanked the blanket over herself.
However, there was no need—the warden was already groaning in considerable pain.
'It hurts more than I thought. Probably because I held back and fought anyway.'
I lay on the sofa in the warden's office, a piercing wound in my side.
I wanted nothing more than to head straight to a capital hospital.
But if I did, the Holy See and Prince Ivan would catch on immediately.
Who knows what weird schemes they'd cook up upon hearing I was injured.
The northern martial tournament was right around the corner anyway.
'Annoying as it is, better to recover on my own...'
As I brooded in solitude, the door to the office cracked open ever so slightly.
And then.
Red, green, and blue eyes gleefully peered through the gap.
The six eyes met one another's gazes, flashing with mutual displeasure.
Soon, the door slammed shut with a thud...
A few minutes later, someone entered the office as if nothing had happened.
"You look like you're in pain."
She said it in a utterly indifferent tone.
Back in her red dress, she plopped down on the sofa opposite where I lay.
"Seeing even you—who's gotten somewhat stronger—struggle against her, that progenitor must be pretty formidable, huh?"
"Yeah. Definitely strong. If she'd regained her full power, I wouldn't have stood a chance."
She grew stronger the more human blood she consumed.
If she'd recovered in a tank filled with the blood of a hundred humans, I didn't even want to imagine it.
"Can't go to a hospital because of the Holy See and the prince, so you're just gonna lie here suffering?"
Propping her chin on her hand, she stared at me expressionlessly.
"What can I do? Too many enemies around."
"..."
The first calamity, the Red Saintess, who had always considered herself the center of the world.
For the first time, a faint flicker of guilt crossed her face.
One could argue it was because of her that the warden was suffering like this.
Emboldened by that sentiment, Anje tossed out a single line.
"...Take off your shirt for a bit."
'Huh?'
I looked up at her in a daze, forgetting my throbbing pain for a moment.
Anje shot me a pathetic look, as if wondering what I was thinking.
"Why are you staring like that?"
"Well, you suddenly told me to strip."
"Obviously to use healing magic on you."
"Didn't know you could do that. Figured you'd just brainwash a doctor or something, given your personality."
This time, I chuckled back at her.
Anje immediately dropped the cute downward gaze she'd been giving me.
No matter how much intimidating aura she projected, I always slipped away like a sly fox.
"I can use basic healing magic too, you know? Don't get cocky."
Anje glared at me with wounded pride.
She abruptly stood, positioning herself haughtily before me.
"Now, take it off."
Well, healing magic? I welcomed it.
The Holy See might be shady with everything else, but their healing magic was top-notch.
Understanding her good intentions, I obediently unbuttoned my dress shirt.
Meanwhile, Anje crossed her arms and pointedly turned her head away.
'She does have a human side after all.'
After countless regressions, I'd long lost any sense of shame between men and women.
But even the Red Saintess, at just 22, would feel awkward.
I planned to focus silently on the treatment.
"..."
Anje quietly faced the wall of the warden's office.
Except there was a full-length mirror there.
Reflected in a sea of blood-red like an abyss was a man's bare torso.
A sight of the opposite sex she'd never witnessed before.
Clearly, in his uniform, he had a lean build.
But now, sculpted like a statue from diligent training.
The saintess felt like a devout prayer-goer stumbling upon an adult magazine in a believer's belongings for the first time.
"The wound's deeper than I thought."
Does she have eyes in the back of her head?
As expected of a divine saintess—she spotted it immediately even with her head turned.
"Then let me take a closer look."
Anje slowly turned to face me and approached.
She knelt down on both knees, quietly examining the gash in my side.
"Not just a simple pierce. It feels like it twisted its way in or something?"
"Yeah. Vampire technique."
Anje's fingers touched the staunched wound.
And then.
A light shimmered from her porcelain-white hand.
A warm glow poured into me, like a mother's embrace.
My chilled body, numbed by the ice potion to stop the bleeding, began to thaw gently.
"Amazing. Didn't know you could do this."
"I was the top in divine power at the main church too. Who're you calling a heretic?"
After a few minutes with her hand extended over the wound.
She indifferently withdrew her touch.
"There. Better now? You owe me your life."
Good thing Anje had this warm side.
Maybe the maid outfit and reeducation program were finally paying off.
I closed my eyes contentedly.
But...
No matter how long I waited, I didn't hear Anje leave.
"What? Got something else to say?"
When I cracked my eyes open, the Red Saintess was still crouched before me.
Chin resting on the back of her hand.
"Yeah. Haven't prayed yet."
"Prayed?"
Was prayer needed for wound healing too?
"Of course. Praying together boosts the healing effect even more."
"Alright, fine. Just close my eyes and clasp hands?"
As I asked, Anje extended both hands slightly.
She pressed her palms to mine, then naturally laced our fingers together.
"Like this, and we pray together."
My large fingers enveloped her delicate ones.
Clear sweat beaded on her lily-white skin, making our palms slightly sticky.
"..."
Anje gently closed her eyes.
In response, I sank into meditation as well.
Not being religious, I silently waited for her prayer.
However, Anje—who had insisted on praying—secretly cracked her eyes open.
Her gaze narrowed like a thin crescent moon.
She silently mouthed a spell.
「Whisper of the Gods.」
A top-tier mental magic undetectable unless the target was Swordmaster level or higher.
Guilt and a thrill of taboo twisted the corners of her mouth.
「You gave that ring to the Princess recently. What did it mean...?」
Anje whispered into my mind with a trembling voice.
My innermost thoughts reflexively transmitted back to her.
「Yeah, as expected, it wasn't a token of affection?」
「I believed in you. You're not some black sheep chasing a superior soul.」
Anje pressed a hand to her chest upon hearing the answer she'd craved.
As if finally liberated from the nagging doubt that had tormented her.
「Well, that should be enough. I don't want to use magic on the Prophet's descendant anymore.」
The saintess tried to dispel the spell before I noticed.
But she hesitated for a moment.
「Still, since it's the last one, might as well ask one more thing I've been curious about...」
Like any ordinary early-twenties woman, she swallowed hard.
She glanced around furtively, then...
With an embarrassed expression she'd never show others, she whispered.
「What do you think of Anje Renault?」
「...」
「...」
Silence stretched on.
As the response beyond the ring delayed, she grew tense.
What if he disliked or hated her—negative thoughts bubbled up.
But when the answer finally seeped into her mind.
「...Really?」
Her face lit up more joyfully than when she'd first emerged from the Holy See's underground to see sunlight.
The response blooming from my deep obsession was...
「A being I must protect no matter what.」
Utterly satisfying.
Anje lightly bit her index finger.
The Prophet's descendant from scripture thought of her that way.
「So that's how it was... You didn't show it at all. Were you just shy?」
Her face flushed as if a dream had become reality.
「No, not satisfied yet.」
Anje cleared her throat and composed herself.
The Princess had received a ring from the warden, after all.
「Am I at the top of your priority list to protect?」
「...」
The longer the silence, the louder her heartbeat grew.
The moment the man before her finally spoke.
Her pulse stopped dead.
「Yeah. You're first.」
Upon hearing it, it felt like red roses bloomed behind Anje.
She smiled brightly, like a girl she'd never been in her life.
「Yeah, I knew it.」
Having glimpsed my heart, she hurriedly schooled her expression.
Resuming her haughty face, she unlaced our fingers.
As I slowly opened my eyes, Anje ceased her inner murmurs.
She reverted to the Saintess of Blood, coldly straightening her face.
"Done."
"Yeah? Prayer felt kinda weird."
I stretched my stiff shoulders and yawned.
Anje gazed at me intently, her eyes somehow softer than before.
"What did you pray about, by the way?"
"Me? Nothing specific."
I waved it off nonchalantly at Anje's question.
Though during the prayer, it felt like someone in my head was asking about my goals.
I'd simply stated the firm objective I'd solidified across countless lives.
「Stop the calamities.」
Protect the top priority, the first calamity Anje, from the Holy See.
Then Myoran, then the Princess.
Preventing their corruption was my priority.
"Good. Keep talking to me like that grumpy old man from now on."
Anje smiled sweetly upon hearing my response.
She left the office with lighter steps and a brighter expression.
Like a victor in a competition.
'What was that? She must've been exhausted from healing me.'
Her footsteps danced with mysterious satisfaction, as if she'd gotten exactly what she wanted.
As Anje exited the office, her eyes met Myoran's in the hallway.
The Red Saintess shrugged lightly and whispered.
"I'm his top priority. You're not~."
She sang it teasingly before sauntering away.
The 19-year-old girl and Sword Sage turned ice-cold.
"What the hell was that?"
Myoran had only come to comfort the warden leisurely.
But the white serpent-like woman's loaded words struck a nerve.
"Did that witch make another move on the warden? We agreed not to touch each other earlier."
When the three had crossed paths in the hall with the injured warden in mind.
They'd tacitly agreed to a truce.
As expected of a cunning viper—she'd snuck in and marked her territory.
"Can't let this slide."
The Sword Sage resolved not to play the innocent fool any longer.
With yin energy brimming in her emerald eyes, she flung open the warden's office door.
"Myoran? What's up?"
I asked from the sofa, feeling somewhat better.
The 19-year-old Sword Sage stared at me with lifeless eyes.
"..."
At her waist hung a famous eastern herbal oil.
The girl slowly parted her trembling lips.
"...Take off your shirt for a bit."
Why do they all keep telling me to strip?
I sat up as the yin-laden shadow approached.
"I-I'm going to give you a massage now."
Myoran said it with the most innocent eyes.
But peeking through her black hair, her ears were beet red.