The Black Knight Swore to the Blind Saintess

Ttok. Ttok.

Rhea stepped up beside me.

"You did well, Ian."

At the light flick of her finger, a screen materialized before my eyes.

Like watching a film, Rose's figure played across it.

"Let's go, Father."

The female knights who had come ashore from the vessel guided Rose toward the boat.

"W-Wait, just a moment."

Rose couldn't bring herself to move, turning back to look at the deserted island one last time.

"Is something the matter?"

"Oh— no, it's nothing."

She looked back over her shoulder again and again, and in the end, reluctantly climbed aboard.

Uselessly, I reached out and pressed my hand against the video screen.

"Rose."

Beside me, Rhea turned her gaze on me.

"My, my. Won't Seolha and Jiyoon be sad if they saw this?"

I changed the subject, scratching my temple for no particular reason.

"Ahem. I did another good deed, didn't I? Don't I get a reward?"

Rhea smiled.

Ttok, ttok.

Shifting her position, she said, "Ian, you succeeded in winning Rose's heart, but the flow of the story hasn't completely changed yet."

"Well then, what about an interim reward at least? Like letting you have a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠taste of me."

Rhea touched her forehead. "You had me moved not a moment ago, and now you're back to being vulgar."

Apparently she had been touched by how genuinely I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠loved Rose.

I did some rough math on the dates, then spoke up.

"Skip ahead about a month and drop me off in the capital. By then Rose should be there, right?"

"She'll have arrived long before that. Let's see... yes, I'll send you to the front of the shop you run according to your setting."

"Ah. The toy shop?"

Rhea nodded.

"Yes. The shop your father, Pedro Castollini, cherished dearly. Keep it running well so the setting doesn't fall apart."

"Is this some kind of sub-quest?"

"Hmm... not quite a sub-quest. How should I put it?"

"What have you cooked up this time, that the corners of your mouth are curling up like that?"

"Me? Have they?"

I nodded. "Anyway, the way I see it, even if you don't lift a finger, it'll run itself just fine."

"Well, if you say so."

A fantasy-world toy shop, huh. I felt a vague curiosity about it, but honestly, I had no idea how I was supposed to run the thing.

"Ready. Send me off."

Rhea began to snap her fingers—then paused.

"Ian?"

"Yeah?"

She smiled at me.

"You did well again this time. Thank you for saving Rose."

I broke into a bright grin.

"If you're grateful, then how about letting me have a ta—"

Snap.

Whoosh.

The world before my eyes flashed blinding white.

One month later.

Pisark, capital of the Loreline Empire.

Emilia Rosebloom stared blankly out the window.

The white priestess robes made exclusively for her were embroidered with mysterious golden ornamentation, filling all who saw them with a sense of the sacred.

Knock, knock.

Emilia drew her gaze away from the view of the cathedral gardens.

"Come in."

A young altar boy entered and bowed his head deeply.

"Your Holiness, the mass will begin shortly."

"Yes. Understood."

The boy quietly withdrew, closing the door behind him.

Emilia Rosebloom, who had survived the deserted island, had come to be venerated as a Saintess.

The wooden shelter that so frail a girl could never have built.

The countless crabs and fish she could never ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠have caught.

With Ian's existence carefully edited out of the telling, it had all become a miracle.

"So a tree fell, and then such a shelter simply appeared?"

"The fire lit itself?!"

"The fish and crabs gathered of their own accord to serve you?"

"...Yes."

"Good heavens. This is a miracle!"

She hadn't even performed the miracle of preserving corpses from decay, yet before she knew it, she had become a Saintess.

The truth was, neither the Empire nor the Curia cared whether the miracle was real or not.

What the war against the demons demanded was the spreading of a belief across the Empire—that the Gods were watching over them.

And if a miracle had descended upon the Empire's already famous, SSS-Rank, peerlessly beautiful idol priestess?

There was no reason on earth not to make her a Saintess.

"Ian... are you satisfied?"

With a bitter expression, Emilia murmured quietly to herself.

She had investigated every toy shop in the capital and its neighboring cities, but she could find no owner bearing the name Castollini.

There wasn't a single shop with the name Castollini in it to begin with.

And what was the deal with him vanishing into thin air at the very end, there on the island?

Every last piece of evidence denied Ian's existence.

Did I really just go mad? Was it all a hallucination?

Moments of such doubt did come creeping in now and then.

But Emilia Rosebloom believed in Ian.

The happiness of when he had whispered his love into her ear.

The feeling of him loving her body—sometimes roughly, sometimes tenderly.

That feeling had been carved into her very flesh.

Knock, knock.

"Yes?"

The door opened.

The errand-running altar boy stepped inside.

"Your Holiness, the ship that went to the deserted island has returned."

"Truly?"

Emilia shot ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠up from her seat.

"The captain has come to see you. Shall I show her in?"

"Yes. Quickly, please."

Before long, a burly, muscular woman entered the mass-preparation room.

"Your Holiness."

The captain respectfully removed her hat and bowed to the Saintess.

"Hello. Please, have a seat."

The two sat facing each other, and the altar boy brought tea and poured it.

The captain spoke.

"Your revelation was correct."

"...?"

Emilia lifted her head.

Hoping to save Ian, she had used her standing as Saintess to send the Order's ship to the deserted island, claiming that a revelation had told her treasure lay hidden there.

And yet.

There was actually treasure?

"No treasure chest or the like emerged from the island itself, but our comprehensive survey of the island turned up numerous rare species of flora and fauna that had never been documented before. We also discovered minerals that have caught the mages' interest. Presumably what Your Holiness beheld in the revelation—"

"Tell me."

Emilia cut her off abruptly.

"Yes?"

"Was there— was there no person? Any person at all?"

"A person? Well..."

The captain tilted her head, dredging up her memories. Then she spoke carefully.

"There was no one... Do you mean a castaway? Could it be that you saw a person in the revelation as well?"

"Ah, it just came to me in a dream the other night, out of nowhere..."

The captain nodded.

"I see. Forgive me for overstepping, but if I may presume to say so—perhaps it was your own heart, worried that some other survivor might still be on that island, that shaped your dream."

"...I suppose so."

"In any case, Your Holiness's revelation proved true, and the expedition was of great benefit to the Empire and to our Goddess Church alike."

"That's a relief."

"Forgive the imposition when you are so busy. I must head to the Imperial Palace to deliver my report."

"Of course. Thank you for your hard work."

Emilia saw the captain out.

Returning to the mass-preparation room, she collapsed into her chair.

"Ian... you said you'd come see me."

Head bowed low, Emilia quietly sniffled.

I opened my eyes.

The edge of a grand boulevard stretching long along the river.

Left of the corner where the road bent into an L, the atmosphere was bright and lively—a true 'avenue' in every sense. But the street bending to the right turned gloomy at once.

I was standing at the very entrance of that gloomy back-alley street.

The clothes I wore were a fairly high-quality outfit.

Heh. Owner of a fantasy-world toy shop. Now that's what I call romance—

I looked up at the signboard of the shop before me.

'Ahaha. Did I see that wrong?'

I rubbed my eyes and looked again.

The smile drained from my face of its own accord.

"Father. This— this is not okay."

To think I'd end up cursing a father I'd never even met, assigned to me by setting alone.

I pressed a hand to my forehead and sighed.

Rhea's words came back to me—keep the shop running well.

Rhea. Were you just messing with me?

'Left to my own devices, it'd probably tank, right? I'd sooner end up broke and penniless... than ever tell Rose this was my shop.'

Well, look at that.

There it is.

A [Help Wanted] notice was even stuck to the glass window.

"Unbelievable."

It was so dead serious it was absurd, and a helpless laugh just came spilling out of me.

The lights inside were off and the door was locked.

I rummaged through my pockets and found a key.

Click.

The shop door swung open.

I stepped inside.

A surprisingly spacious interior.

Dildos, onaholes, vibrators, womanizers—an assortment of devices of every kind was arranged by category in display cabinets.

Lewd costumes, plus even a changing room—

The shop itself was large, spotless, and meticulously kept.

It seemed Ian Castollini had inherited the legacy of his father Pedro and run the shop well.

'Oh. No.'

A jolt of pain shot through my skull.

'Rose would have already looked into every toy shop in the capital by now.'

I was already worrying about what excuse I was going to give her.

'First things first... let's finish looking around.'

Up two steps sat what appeared to be my spot—a counter doubling as an office desk.

Where the space bent to the right was a break room, hidden from customers' view.

A wide room with a sofa and tables arranged at comfortable intervals.

Deeper in, I could see a studio apartment one employee could live in, along with a bathroom.

And at the very end, a staircase led up to a second floor with a fairly roomy residence.

'So I probably live up here.'

I went back down to the ground-floor shop and sank into the plush chair behind the counter.

'Still, having a place of my own in this far-flung world isn't half bad.'

It felt like stumbling upon a little sanctuary meant just for me, in the middle of a shipwrecked life.

Then.

The shop door opened, and the bell chimed.

What the—

A customer, this early in the morning?

Nothing's even set up yet.

I jolted upright.

"Um, excuse me."

A girl, breathing hard and ragged.

I stared, dumbfounded, at the girl who had burst so suddenly into the shop.

Having thrown off her shabby hood, the girl's face was achingly beautiful.

"Yes? Is there something you were looking for?"

She approached the counter.

"I saw the notice outside—you're hiring staff..."

"Huh?"

"I'd like to work here."

You? Why? I wanted to ask, but forced myself to hold it in.

I asked, roughly intending to turn her away.

"Have you ever done this kind of work before?"

"Yes. I worked at another shop for about two years."

"...I see."

I could tell at a glance that her words were a lie.

The sound of horseshoes echoed in from outside.

"Where did she go?"

"This way!"

Imperial Princess Evangeline, hailed as the Blue Jewel of the Empire.

The villainess of The Black Knight Swore to the Blind Saintess was standing right in front of me.