Not a Legitimate Saintess
The moment Saintess Caersi's face hardened, the party spoke to me in a panic.
"Shinwoo, you crazy bastard! Why the hell would you ask that!"
"Husband, have you lost your mind?"
"Young master! It's fine to ask anything, but that doesn't mean you should floor it like that!"
But my question was perfectly reasonable. I grabbed Jung Ayeon and asked her.
"Hey, Jung Ayeon. Think carefully. What's the current saintess meta on Novelpia these days?"
"....Ah... The TS saintess is the trend, so."
Exactly. In Novelpia, it was an age of chaos where TS saintesses far outnumbered proper ones. No, some even claimed this wasn't chaos at all—it was Novelpia's golden age.
Which meant a saintess was no longer a woman's domain. A true, legitimate saintess was male. Therefore, someone like Han Daeri could also be considered a saintess.
'Don't you know the Novelpia-style saintess classification? It's holy power affirmative but female negative.'
Neither body nor soul was female, yet they believed in God and could use divine power. If that wasn't a saintess, what was?
Anyway, verifying whether someone was a TS saintess or not was extremely important. Female saintesses had become so rare on Novelpia that they were practically called fakes at this point.
The instant she realized she was under suspicion of being a TS saintess, Caersi's expression cleared—then her tail puffed up like a real cat's and she hissed at me.
"Hiss!!!! You're insane nya!!!!! You fucking lunatic nya!!!!!"
"Geunimti? (So are you TS?)"
"You bastard!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Right on cue, one of the holy knights escorting her slammed his spear into the ground and roared at me.
"Our saintess is not a man!! She has never been a man!!"
"That's right nya! I have always been a woman nya!!!"
"No matter how much her slender build might cause misunderstandings, our saintess is absolutely not a man!!!"
"......"
Saintess Caersi's eyes began to freeze over. The holy knight, however, failed to notice the shift in her gaze and kept running his mouth.
"No! That slender figure is actually better! Those gentle, flowing body lines bring out the ultimate feminine charm—"
"Bring it out, nya."
"Yes!"
The holy knight who had been passionately testifying was dragged pathetically out of the classroom by the other knights. As he was hauled away he wailed desperately.
"Come out quick!!!"
"Saintess, forgive me!!! Just one more word!!!"
"...Speak, nya."
The holy knight's final chance. Kneeling with grave determination, he declared:
"I'm not a pedophile, but no matter how I look at it, slender is simply the best—"
"You may kill him, nya."
The holy knight was dragged away once again.
Once he was fully removed, Caersi sighed and looked at me.
"This body is female, nya. It seems these small breasts caused a misunderstanding, but I am truly a woman, nya."
"You're really not a TS saintess, right? If you slip up later I'll actually kill you."
"I said I'm not, you fucking bastard nya!!!!!!!"
It wasn't a perfect explanation, so I quietly tucked the suspicion away in my heart. I swore I would verify it someday without fail.
While Caersi was still fuming, a gloomy voice suddenly rang out from beside me.
"Hey, dick-nya."
It was Hye-ji.
The Hye-ji standing next to me suddenly glared at Caersi with murderous intent. The moment she was called dick-nya, Caersi glared back—only to shrink instantly upon sensing the killing aura rolling off her.
"W-what is it, nya..."
"That... small...... chest?"
"Y-yes, nya! It's only an A-cup..."
"No it's not!!!!"
At that moment another holy knight strode forward. Even with his helmet on, his breathing was so loud and ragged it seemed like steam would pour from the visor slits.
In a voice full of intimidation he declared proudly:
"Listen well!!! Our saintess is not a mere A-cup!!! She is a full, rich A-cup that merely appears to be a B-cup!!!"
"......Drag that one out too, nya."
Yet another holy knight was hauled from the classroom. Even amid the chaos, Hye-ji's murderous aura refused to subside. Instead it clung to Caersi, thick and sticky.
"Only an A-cup? Say that again, dick-nya."
"I'm sorry."
For a brief moment Saintess Caersi's concept completely broke. She dropped to her knees and pressed her forehead to the floor in apology. Only then did Hye-ji withdraw her killing intent and quietly sit back down.
Caersi let out a sigh of relief, then her expression shifted as if she'd realized something. She looked at me with a bewitching smile.
"Ah, perhaps you've fallen for me nya~? If that's the case I can understand nya~."
'Kyaru's brat? How dare she?'
I had been seriously debating whether to add a tag, but this sight was pissing me off. I thrust my hand forward and shook my head firmly.
"Furry. No."
Caersi's subsided anger instantly flared again. She stomped her feet and hissed furiously.
"Where do you see furry in this!!! These are nekomimi nya!!!"
"Saintess! I shall execute this man!"
One holy knight, unable to contain his rage, leveled his spear at me.
"Please do, nya!"
"Our saintess is not fluffy like some furry!"
"That's right nya!!!"
The holy knight glared at me fiercely through his helmet visor and muttered ominously.
"Because she shaved everything clean with depilatory cream, it must be perfectly smooth!!!"
"......Just kill that one, nya."
With Caersi's order her eyes went ice-cold. The holy knight wasn't even dragged outside anymore—he was simply stabbed repeatedly by the other knights right where he stood.
"Ack!!! I meant arms and legs! Not weird places!!!"
"Beating him here would make a mess, so drag him somewhere else and kill him, nya."
"Yes!"
While the holy knights were being hauled away, I looked at Caersi and said,
"Memo. Saintesses are fluffy."
"That's not true nya!!!!! I have never had fur nya!!!!!"
Saintess Caersi hissed like a cat once again. After raging for a long while she finally seemed exhausted. She let out a short sigh and muttered,
"It was better when I was in the Beastman Kingdom nya..."
"Beastman Kingdom?"
When I showed confusion at the unfamiliar term, Caersi's face suddenly brightened. True to her feline nature, her mood switched with terrifying speed. The familiar word must have done it.
With a confident expression she told me,
"That's right nya! It is paradise for all beastmen nya!"
"Really? First I've heard of it."
"If you can guess the name of our Beastman Kingdom, I'll overlook all the rudeness until now nya!"
"Oh, give me a second."
Beastman Kingdom. The ideal land and heaven for beastmen. In that case...
"Zootopia?"
"Shut up nya!!!! We'll get sued by Disney nya!!!!!"
"......Young master, that place is called Animalia."
"How the hell was I supposed to know that."
"If you don't know, just say you don't know nya!!!! At this rate we'll all die nya!!!!"
Caersi finally began clutching her head with both hands. No fur flew off, but the cat ears somehow created the illusion that it was scattering everywhere.
To comfort the anxious Caersi I told her something she didn't know.
"It's fine, Saintess."
"Really nya?"
"You already got wrecked in chapters 64 and 65."
"Goddammit nya."
At that moment one holy knight stepped forward. He struck a dramatic pose as if he had many things to say and slammed his spear into the ground.
But before he could speak, Caersi gave the order first.
"Drag him out, nya."
"Yes!"
"Saintess!!!! I haven't said anything yet!!!!!"
"Shut up nya. You lot are only useful when you stay silent nya."
Caersi no longer had any energy left to be angry. She simply looked fed up with everything.
The leader holy knight approached Saintess Caersi and asked,
"Saintess, what should we do now?"
"You lot talk, nya."
Caersi turned to the leader and the rest of the holy knights.
"Sigh... Everyone get out, nya."
"You heard her! Everyone out!"
"Yes!"
The leader holy knight flipped his helmet down and led the others out. Meanwhile Caersi let out one more huge sigh and muttered,
"I feel like I came to the Academy for nothing nya... I'm sure I passed through here before nya..."
As she said that and looked around the now-empty seats, the number above Caersi's head changed from 1 to 2 and a mirror shard formed.
Regression Count: 1 → 2
Mirror Shard Generated
At the same time the aura and emotions radiating from Caersi began to change completely.
Wariness. Fear. Sadness. Anger. Regret. Despair. And murderous intent.
A flood of negative emotions.
But it didn't stop there. Because every last one of those negative emotions was directed at me.
Caersi erased every trace of her previous flustered behavior. She pointed straight at me and ordered the holy knights who had been about to leave.
"It's this bastard nya!!"
"Everyone, surround him!!"
"Yes!"
I was quite shaken by Caersi's sudden attitude reversal. Whether they knew that or not, the holy knights silently formed a circle around me with mechanical precision.
I couldn't see their faces because of the helmets, but I could clearly feel their gazes locked onto me.
Before I could say anything, the leader holy knight issued the next command.
"Restrain his movement!"
"Yes!"
The holy knights raised their weapons and thrust them toward me. More precisely, they stabbed their spears into the ground around me—above both shoulders beside my head, both flanks, and between my legs—pinning me in place.
Meanwhile Caersi glared at me, grinding her teeth. Her eyes burned with the hatred one would show their parents' murderer.
'Sigh. This suddenly got awkward.'
To understand why, I looked at the mirror shard that had appeared from Caersi. As always, the light from the shard swallowed me whole.