A Weakling's Faint
A Weakling's Faint
When the witch took my hand.
The world seemed to stop.
Why was she grabbing my hand in the first place?
And why was she asking for my name.
I had no intention of staying close to you.
Not one bit.
Not in the slightest.
I didn't have a hobby of hugging a bomb close to me.
So I tried to slip away and run, but...
Suddenly, claiming something about divine influx or whatever, she dragged me to a nearby temple of the Sun Order.
"Divine influx, you say!"
"After performing such impossible miracles back to back, it was only to be expected! O Lopers! Watch over him!"
There, I was treated with the utmost care.
All sorts of priests rushed over and poured holy power into my body, and I was provided with freshly cooked delicious food and a soft bed.
I ate the food and lay down on the bed to rest.
Shouldn't I have been running away right then?
That was truly the correct answer.
That was right.
I needed to run right then.
I'd healed the witch, after all.
There wasn't a single reason left to keep pretending to be a saint here, so why was I eating food and lying in bed resting?
"Are you feeling alright?"
It was because of the witch, who sat beside me holding my hand and gazing at me with sparkling eyes.
"Don't be afraid. I am here. I will make sure you never collapse. Saint."
The voice of this woman carefully holding my hand sounded like someone greeting a cult leader.
It seemed this bomb had made up her mind to stick by my side.
That couldn't be allowed!
Who knew when she might explode again!
"Lady Witch."
"Erpa. It's Erpa, Saint."
"Erpa. Please go back now. I am completely fine."
I really was fine.
I didn't have any divine influx or anything.
I was just sweating and trembling like a terrified dog because you were beside me.
"No. Please let me stay by your side until you recover. Saint."
"I am truly fine."
"But because of me..."
It didn't seem like she'd listen to nice words.
I needed to speak more firmly.
"Erpa. You have now become beautiful. No one will discriminate against you for your appearance anymore. But what is more important than that is your inner self."
"Inner... self."
"If you lack peace of mind, what use is a decent appearance? I was merely one who healed the lowly. I can heal the exterior, but that is all. I cannot heal your heart. Only you yourself can lift up your own heart."
"What must I do? Please show me the way."
Could you please just disappear without making me keep talking?
I was running out of things to say!!
Lines from all the self-help books I'd read and Sunday school I'd attended!
Help me!!
"Have a conversation with yourself. Strive to find what you truly desire. There are no shackles binding you anymore. From the freest position, contemplate how you will live your life."
"........"
"I was merely a cane. The sick need a cane, but after recovering, it is natural for that cane to be discarded. Leave me and soar to your heart's content. Realize what you truly wanted to do, what you truly desired, and head in that direction. That is what I wish for you."
In short: please just get lost.
As I said these words with a benevolent smile, Erpa began to shed tears again.
"How can I repay you? This grace... How should I repay you?"
You don't have to repay me.
I was going to run now.
"I did not do this expecting repayment. If you wish to repay me, repay with your life. Live a great and wonderful life. I hope you will cast aside hatred and resentment and become someone who loves yourself."
And I hoped she wouldn't explode again.
Did she understand?
I wouldn't see her again.
I wouldn't see her again; I'd quietly run and live my life, so we could each go our own way.
As I watched Erpa with an anxious heart, she slowly rose from her seat.
"I swear it. On my entire life."
She smiled brightly.
She was damn pretty, but no matter how pretty, a bomb was still a bomb.
"I will live a dignified life for you. I will live a wonderful life."
"I believe you will. Erpa. Because you are more than deserving of it."
"Thank you. I will never forget this for the rest of my life."
You could forget.
No.
I wanted her to forget.
Erpa carefully bowed to me and then left the room.
Only after she left and the door closed was I able to slump onto the bed.
I seriously thought I was going to die.
Why was every single day such a roller coaster, seriously.
Now it was fine.
The witch who had been closely watching me was gone now, so I just needed to quietly disappear.
Most of the Arkal Empire's saint legends ended that way.
Now that I have bestowed upon you, do not sin again and live by ethics and morals, something something, poof.
And disappear.
Then some people from the Order of Grace would come and say, "This bastard isn't even a god?"
You're a heretic.
Whoosh, up in flames.
I'd rather avoid that kind of ending, fuck.
I got up from the bed, opened the door, and went outside.
"Saint! If you get up already!..."
"The time has come."
I looked at everyone and smiled.
"I must leave now. May we meet again if grace leads us."
"What? But Saint! The people from the Lilia Order arrived earlier than scheduled and are on their way!..."
They'd arrived early?
Fuck!!
I had to run!!
Right then!
I swiftly used Time Stop.
The entire world stopped.
In that state, groaning, I began advancing forward by repeatedly releasing and reactivating Time Stop in a limited space.
Every time I did it, the mental energy consumption was truly enormous.
No, fuck.
Why the hell did they design the skill like this?
In the game, it was just a single click, but did it get complicated when it transferred to reality?
Anyway.
Bearing the mental energy drain, I slowly.
Began moving forward through the frozen time.
Far away, an express train departing from the capital, Mars City, came into view.
I could just ride that!!
I could just board that and run from here!
I'd go into a bathroom or something, release Time Stop, and then use Body Modification on myself.
Since this face had already been seen by too many people to use anymore.
I'd knead my face into a different shape, buy a train ticket, and leisurely leave the capital...
And leave...
Wait.
I was running too low on mental energy; it was tough.
I'd probably have to release it for a bit, rest, and then walk again?
Seriously, what kind of skill was this.
But I couldn't just not use it either.
I needed to find a suitable place to release the skill.
Just as I was looking around.
A dark, filthy back alley in a corner of the train station caught my eye.
Perfect!!
No one would be there.
I mean, surely there couldn't be people in such a dirty and squalid place?
I'd rest there for just a moment, change my face right away, and get out of there.
Nice knowing you; we'd never meet again.
Capital Mars.
Thinking that, I released the skill.
And as soon as I released the skill.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Aaagh!!!"
A brutal sound of flesh striking flesh, unheard while time was frozen, began to reach my ears.
There were people even in this dark and filthy back alley.
I flinched and froze, and the sounds kept coming.
"Didn't I clearly tell you to sell everything? You rotten bitches!!"
"Aaagh!! I was wrong! Please! I'll sell everything! Please!!"
"Go and sell everything!! Or I'll burn the other side of your face too!!"
"I'll do it! I'll do it!!! Please don't burn me!"
A thick man's voice and the thin, quiet voice of a young girl echoed like that for some time.
The young girl was crying so sorrowfully that I couldn't help but look.
When I quietly turned my gaze to the corner of the alley, I saw a group of girls huddled against a wall and one large man.
What was striking was that the girls' faces were grotesquely disfigured.
Some girls had their upper lips and cheeks completely burned away, and many were missing teeth.
Children who couldn't have been more than seven or eight years old—an age when they should have still been clinging to their fathers at home—were crying with hideously melted faces and begging the man before them.
What kind of scene was this now.
As I stood there blankly, watching in shock.
The man spat and lit a cigarette.
"Fucking hell. You bitches thrown away from the match factory better be useful. If you come back without selling your quota, you're in trouble with me. Understand?"
"Yes! Yes! We will! Please don't abandon us!"
"You pathetic monster bitches. Whatever. Now get lost. If you don't pay your tribute properly, I won't give you matches to sell tomorrow, so keep that in..."
Spitting yellowish saliva, the man turned out of the alley, spotted me, and stopped dead in his tracks.
"You... You fuck, you..."
The emotions in the man's eyes shifted in sequence—bewilderment, surprise, and then...
Turned to greed.
"You're that bastard who was healing people in the slums, aren't you?"
The man chuckled and drew a dagger from his waist.
The moment I saw the dagger, my body froze solid.
This was real.
The look in those eyes was unmistakable.
He hadn't drawn it just to threaten.
That bastard had, one hundred percent.
No!! Two hundred percent, he had actually stabbed someone before!!
Should I have used Time Stop and run away?
No!
My mental energy was too drained; it'd be hard to use it again!
I needed to rest a bit, so why the hell were you here, you bastard.
"Saint. Overflowing with grace and benevolence, dear Saint. I've been really struggling lately, you see. Couldn't you share some of that grace with me too? Hm? Some shiny silver or gold coins would be nice. You must have received some payment for your treatments, right?"
The son of a bitch chuckled and approached me.
What was I supposed to do?
Time Stop was too draining on mental energy to use right then.
Body Modification?
Where was the time for Body Modification in this situation?!
Absolute Hypnosis?
Alright! If I hypnotized him and made him just leave!...
[Mental energy required to designate target!]
[Current mental energy too low; target designation impossible!]
Ah, fuck, what the hell!!
Then what was I supposed to do!!
Now all that was left...
"Stay still, Saint. I'll just quietly rummage through your pockets and be on my way, so just stay still."
The robber reached out his hand toward me, and seeing that I was completely frozen, he wore a confident expression as he tried to go through my pockets.
The moment his gaze turned to my pocket.
I reflexively touched his body and activated a skill.
[Activating skill: Sensitivity 3000x!]
"Shut up!!!!"
I threw a surprise punch at the robber's head and dodged backward.
It wasn't even a hard hit.
Just a pathetic, clumsy punch thrown wildly.
The robber, caught off guard by this laughable punch, grinned as if in disbelief, then suddenly began to tremble.
"Urgh... Grrrgh... Gaaaugh!! Auugh!!"
Sensitivity 3000x.
How about that! If it hurt that much, he wouldn't be able to...
Able to...
No, wait.
"Grgrrgh... Urgh... Gaugh."
Blood vessels burst in the robber's eyes.
He had clenched his teeth so hard that they shattered and burst out.
They said people can't even scream when the pain exceeds a certain threshold.
That seemed to be the case.
The robber dropped his dagger, trembled violently for a moment, and then slumped to the ground.
Blood streamed from his nose, and from eyes so bloodshot they had turned completely red, bloody tears flowed.
"...Excuse me?"
There was no answer.
Even an idiot could tell.
He was dead.
Probably died of shock.
It was my first kill.
Nausea rose up from inside me.
I... Had killed someone.
I'd only meant to hurt him badly enough to drive him off, but I'd killed him.
My head spun.
On top of already having spent enormous mental energy using Time Stop to get here, the shock of having committed murder seemed to be more than my brain could handle.
My vision spun and I collapsed, much like the robber.
Just before I fell.
The last thought that flickered through my mind was this:
He died of shock from a clumsy punch.
Those Great Demons who endure all kinds of things every day with Sensitivity 3000x really are beyond human.