Chapter 135: The Saintess
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 135: The Saintess
The time goes back to long before Kim Min-su and the Saintess ever met.
The Saintess was in bed, reading the scripture.
『 As Gates and Dungeons began to overflow across the world, religion lost most of its reason for existence.
Disasters that were never mentioned in any scripture and could not be predicted even an inch ahead completely shattered traditional 'faith.'
It was an era when there were no clear criteria for Awakening.
In those days, those who believed in God died while representing Him, and those who had no faith claimed to be God themselves.
People relied on each other.
They became each other's fences, leaning on one another and creating a faith together... 』
Thud.
Who would believe this crap...
The Saintess closed the scripture and furrowed her brow.
With even a bit of common sense, it was obvious this couldn't possibly make sense, yet people believed it as if it were the absolute truth.
She didn't mean to look down on them, but she believed that at the very least, one should constantly reflect on oneself when following a creed.
What could be more dangerous than blind faith?
She almost wished the contents of the scripture were entirely false.
Ssh— ssh—
The Saintess ran her hand through her snow-white hair.
Pure white hair.
It was one of the primary things people pointed to as proof of her being the Saintess, a sign that a god dwelt within her.
In reality, her hair color had changed after her Awakening, so it wasn't entirely a lie.
The Holy Kingdom of Rubenia had expanded its influence by dressing everything up in that exact manner.
They decorated every characteristic trait that appeared during Awakening as a 'miracle,' advertising that a 'God' truly existed in Rubenia.
It’s not even funny.
If a god truly existed, there would be no need for proof or advertisements.
The Saintess believed all of this was simply a series of 'coincidences.'
It just so happened that the timing of their Awakenings overlapped, and people with similar skills 'luckily' ended up together.
That said, she had no intention of flatly denying it or thinking ill of it.
As the Holy Kingdom grew at a terrifying pace, it was indeed saving people by pouring out money.
Of course, that included countless lobbies and a certain filthy material greed.
Well.
If such things didn't exist, how could a religion less than two hundred years old grow into an independent nation?
I just want to live a bit more comfortably...
While the Saintess sat alone on her bed, wallowing in her lonely lamentations.
Knock, knock.
Someone knocked on the door.
"Who is it?"
"It is I."
"...Come in."
The only person who could enter the Saintess's room without properly identifying himself.
Pope Perkus.
He was a man who weighed the boundary between ideals and reality more precisely than anyone else.
A man who placed the interests of the Holy Kingdom and world peace on a scale, and then added just two or three more weights to the side of peace.
That was Perkus.
Perkus opened the door wide, looked at the Saintess, knelt to offer a brief prayer, and then entered the room.
"You are wearing a hanbok again today... and that... gat?... that scholar's hat."
"Haha, is this not the country where the Hero resides? One never knows when or where a camera might snap a photo, so I am preparing in advance."
"Perkus, you sound so materialistic."
"It cannot be helped. People only see what is visible, after all."
He took all of the Saintess's remarks with a good-natured air and continued.
"I hear the Hero has finally finished his character education and is entering Victory Academy."
"I know what you want to say, but do you really believe what that young child said?"
"That is how we began, after all."
As if he had expected this reaction, Perkus recited that revelation once again.
"The Hero and the Saintess shall save all and defeat the Demon King... Isn't it wonderful? To think a story that sounds like it's from a fairy tale is actually happening."
"The problem is that it really is at the level of a fairy tale. It's too vague. What is the standard for salvation... and does the Demon King even exist in the first place?"
"Haha... as I have told you many times, that is merely my summary... if you read our scripture in detail..."
As soon as the scripture was mentioned, the Saintess could no longer look at Perkus's face and lowered her head.
Knowing exactly what that gesture meant, Perkus let out a sigh and picked up the scripture lying haphazardly on the bed.
"You've been reading this for two years and haven't even passed page fifty... It took five years to create this... Saintess, please, could you read the scripture through just once?"
"Books make my eyes hurt. It's hard to adjust the letter spacing..."
"...That is why we proceeded with the e-book version as well..."
"I don't like e-books because they don't have that book smell."
Then what do you want me to do?
Perkus felt his lats naturally tensing up, even though he hadn't done a back workout yesterday.
It was a good thing the hanbok was a garment that covered the entire body, or he might have been caught with his muscles twitching all over.
Why on earth did God make such a person the Saintess and give me such a profound trial...
There was a time when he thought he wouldn't mind turning into a handful of ash if it were for the growth of Rubenia.
The moment an Awakener with skills worthy of being called a 'Saintess' appeared, and a revelation came from the mouth of a young child.
He felt he had lived for that moment, that everything had been rewarded.
Therefore, Perkus had put all his strength into growing the Holy Kingdom and treated the Saintess with the utmost devotion.
Yes.
That 'utmost devotion' was the problem.
I spoiled her, and now there's no end to it... no end!
He could have said something if she had at least neglected her duties.
The Saintess was cunningly perfect when it came to her public duties.
She only showed her ruined personality in her private spaces.
It wasn't that she was rude or caused harm to others, but...
It means I'm the only one who has to endure it.
As if she knew exactly what Perkus was thinking, the Saintess smiled brightly.
"Perkus, you have the exact same expression as a cartoon character I saw yesterday."
"Which character was that?"
"The one who's smiling, but has that 'pop' vein mark on his forehead...? Even the fact that he's bald is similar."
"...I have told you many times, my hair follicles are all alive. I am not bald, nor do I have hair loss; it is simply fashion."
Upon hearing those words, the Saintess quickly pulled the veil from the head of the bed over her face.
Perkus, accustomed to this treatment, wiped his face with his hands and sighed.
He couldn't see her face through the veil, but he was certain.
The Saintess was desperately holding back her laughter right now.
"...Saintess, I would appreciate it if you didn't use the veil to hide your expressions. It is one of the symbols of our order..."
"It's not like the veil has any special functions anyway..."
"Saintess, I can hear everything."
"Oh, did you? My apologies. I've been tired from work lately..."
I can't say anything because she's right.
Perkus nodded, thinking it was finally time to get to the main point.
He couldn't waste time trading jokes forever.
"Anyway, moving on... Now that the Hero has entered the academy, I expect he will begin his activities in earnest."
"And?"
"Should we not move in step with him? People go wild for a story. Two people far apart... yet growing diligently for each other's sake! And the bond that grows between them! Something like that. Besides, he will surely stand out from the beginning at Victory Academy, which is called the best in the world! Hehe, I want to meet the Hero as soon as possible. Coincidentally, didn't we 'happen' to obtain the Holy Sword from an S-Class Gate recently? We can stage it by sticking it in a rock and making it so no one can pull it out. And then... we invite him to the Holy Kingdom to pull the sword. The detail here is that instead of having him pull it immediately, the Saintess offers a prayer first, making it seem like a blessing... it would be good if... you aren't listening, are you."
"Ah, that... uh... wow... ooh..."
"It's no use giving me a delayed reaction..."
"I trust you, Perkus. Especially the part where I pull the sword was impressive. A Saintess wielding the Holy Sword, how cool is that?"
"..."
Perkus trembled, seriously contemplating where to vent this emotion.
Should I put on white gloves and conduct a cleaning inspection of the order's music boxes...? Or should I line up the rosaries on the lawn and find the owners of the unmaintained ones that don't reflect light to punish them...
While he was seriously considering stress-relief methods.
The Saintess was fiddling with her phone, starting to surf the internet.
Because her status as the Saintess made her interactions with people extremely limited, she inevitably had to rely on the internet.
Since she could act anonymously online, the Saintess felt a sense of liberation and freedom more than anyone else.
Hmm... nothing posted today.
The posts she checked every morning after waking up hadn't been uploaded lately.
She was even starting to worry if something had happened.
Watching those was the joy of her life these days.
Her shoulders slumped in disappointment.
"Ah... Saintess, I am not angry."
"Pardon?"
"Pardon...?"
"Yes?"
"Uh... well... since I didn't say anything, the atmosphere seemed a bit heavy..."
"No, it's just that there's nothing interesting on the internet lately."
"...Ah, I see... Well, for now... please think more deeply about the story of the Hero and the Saintess I mentioned... I shall take my leave now. It will be mealtime soon, so please make sure to come down on time this time."
Perkus left the room with his shoulders slumped just like the Saintess.
I feel like I age ten years every time I enter that room.
Would it have been like this if he had a daughter?
Perkus shook his head.
His only wish was to drop the Saintess off in Korea as soon as possible.
+++++++++++++++++++++
Meanwhile.
Is he gone?
After Perkus left.
The Saintess took off her veil.
The Hero... fine, it's fine.
The Hero and the Saintess.
Perkus's story.
She could understand and accept it all.
It wasn't like he was telling her to have an arranged marriage or to actually fall in love.
It was more like, 'Just get along with him~', but even that was difficult for the Saintess.
Because she had known about the Hero long before Perkus had started droning on about him.
Because...
Ding!
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Notification!
A question has been posted by [Sweet Cadet].
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There it is.
When the notification bell, which hadn't rung no matter how long she waited, finally sounded.
The Saintess wore the brightest expression in the world as her eyes and fingers moved busily.
Funny today, too.
Could there be any other joy like this in the world?
After reading 'Sweet Cadet's' question, she kindly left a comment.
This is the admission fee.
A secret she could never tell even the Pope.
Her true identity was.
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ㄴAnon:: Look at the way he talks, lol. If he were next to me, I’d seriously beat him up whenever I was bored.
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She was the sniper-troll 'Anon' who targeted Kim Min-su and Chubby Ahn.