Saint and Saint (3)

The foothills of the mountain in the dead of winter were undeniably cold.

But Yona, who had changed from her nun’s habit into a saint’s robe, didn’t feel the cold at all.

The saint’s robe, befitting the status of a saint, was a garment that didn’t allow even this cold to approach its wearer, the saint.

However, the reason for Yona’s hardened expression now was different.

They had parked the carriage higher up the mountainside, in a place where people’s eyes could never reach, and had come down to a small clearing below.

“Are you nervous?”

A kind voice.

Instead of answering, Yona raised her head to look up at the owner of the voice.

Alec was smiling at her with an affectionate smile.

“…Yeah, a little.”

Seeing Yona answer honestly, Alec smiled even more brightly.

“Can I sit down?”

“Why are you asking? Just sit.”

Alec sat down, keeping a proper distance from Yona.

Because Yona in her saint’s robe emitted even stronger demonic energy, if Alec sat too close, the repulsion would be so severe that sparks would fly, so he had no choice.

“Will she come?”

“Yeah. She’ll come. I know too. Big will definitely come.”

Yona answered with a voice full of conviction as she looked down the mountainside.

The mountain path, where no one could be seen yet, was a spectacular sight with snowflakes glittering in the bright moonlight.

It had been several hours since James entered Evian.

James had headed to Evian on behalf of Yona, who couldn’t dare to enter Evian herself.

The purpose was to deliver Yona’s request to Bigrind.

To deliver Yona’s request to meet to Bigrind.

And the answer to that — or, to bring Bigrind here.

“Will she really come?”

Alec asked again, but Yona answered with silence.

She’ll come.

If it’s Bigrind, she’ll come.

Bigrind, who had shouted at her to stop, to quit it now, will surely come.

Moreover, since she had told James to tell her that she would definitely come if he delivered this message, Bigrind would certainly come.

The moonlight was clear and the snow was white.

The snow, piled up softly, wasn’t deep enough to sink into, but it was enough to reflect the moonlight.

“…Yona, what are you planning to say?”

“Nothing in particular. I’ll first check if she knows about what’s happening now. If she doesn’t know…”

If she doesn’t know — what will I do?

Yona’s words didn’t continue from there.

Just as Alec, who had been waiting, was about to ask what she would do if Bigrind didn’t know, Yona let out a small sigh.

“…I’ll have to grab her hair and shake her hard. Or make her kneel behind the cathedral with her arms raised.”

“And if she knows?”

“It’s the same even if she knows. It means she just watched even though she knew.”

Black ashes left after the anger had disappeared.

If you turn over and sift through those ashes, there was still the feeling that Bigrind was a friend.

Whether Bigrind knew or didn’t know, if she didn’t know, that could be understandable, but even if she knew.

Given her personality, even if she knew, there must have been a reason why she couldn’t do anything about it.

“What’s wrong with the Saint’s personality? She’s incredibly gentle and kind. She gives the feeling of being exactly what a saint should be.”

As far as Alec could tell, that’s how it seemed.

She speaks calmly and gently, and her every action is soft.

“…Are you saying that for me to hear? That Bigrind is kind, but why am I like this?”

“Huh? Uh, uh? How, how did it turn into that?”

Alec was rather flustered by Yona’s fierce gaze as she glared at him with wide eyes.

“It’s true, isn’t it, you baldy.”

“Hey, hey. No, it’s not. You’re misunderstanding.”

Once again, black energy began to rise in billows around the shoulders of Yona’s saint’s robe.

The sight was quite threatening, so Alec couldn’t help but be flustered.

“Then what is it?”

“No, it’s not like that. I’m just saying that’s how the Saint is.”

“So the Saint is like that, but I’m a saint too. So why? Are you angry because my temper is like this? Huh? I didn’t say anything even when you brought that thing. Isn’t that extremely merciful and gentle? Huh?”

Yona pointed her finger towards where the carriage was parked.

There was a warhorse standing there, and next to the warhorse, a cathedral knight in silver armor and a healer named Serad were sitting, watching cautiously.

They had encountered them on their way to Lukasia, caused all that trouble, and still followed them all the way here.

Yona wanted to smash those two to pieces right away, but she was holding back because they were Alec’s past acquaintances.

But now Alec was praising Bigrind right to her face, so her temper was finally about to explode—

• • Rustle.

    “Oh, footsteps.”

It was a stunning coincidence.

Alec hadn’t meant those words in the way Yona was thinking, but still, he didn’t have confidence in his ability to smooth things over with his words.

“Why are there three? There should be two including Saint Bigrind.”

As Alec said, there were four shadows cast on the snowy forest path at night.

The bulky shadow with long fangs protruding from the head part must be James.

The short figure with long hair was Bigrind.

And the tall man—

“…Yona, come here.”

Alec reached out and wrapped his arm around Yona’s waist.

Yona naturally hid her body behind Alec’s shield.

There’s a tingling sensation, but conversely, the feeling of being protected isn’t entirely unpleasant.

“Stop there.”

Alec’s voice rang out, low but powerful.

With that voice, the shadows stopped.

Their figures were not yet clearly visible through the shadows of the trees filling the forest.

“Slowly, come forward slowly.”

At Alec’s words, the shadows slowly moved.

The first to reveal himself from among the trees was James.

Then Bigrind, and lastly Ludvic.

“…It’s been a while, Mr. Alec.”

Ludvic’s gaze was directed exactly where Alec was.

Due to the difference in elevation, Alec’s figure shouldn’t have been visible from where they were, but nevertheless, Ludvic was looking exactly at where Alec and Yona were, just by their voices.

“It’s been a while, won’t you show yourself? As you can see, I’m not holding any weapons.”

Ludvic raised both his hands.

Indeed, he was empty-handed now, not holding any weapons, but they couldn’t let their guard down.

“Yona, you stay here for a moment.”

“What about you?”

“I’m going to go down first.”

“Don’t do that, let’s go together.”

Yona grabbed the end of Alec’s sleeve.

Her voice was tinged with a slight tension.

Feeling like he understood what Yona was thinking, Alec couldn’t bring himself to say it was okay.

“I believe I asked only for Saint Bigrind to come.”

“As if we would send the Saint alone into enemy territory. You’re making an amusing misunderstanding, Mr. Alec.”

His smooth smile remained the same. But Alec knew well that there was a faint madness lurking in Ludvic’s eyes that occasionally turned towards Yona. Stepping slightly forward to block his gaze from Yona, Alec smiled again.

“It’s surprising that you recognize me right away even though my hair has grown like this.”

“Well, you haven’t changed much. Miss Yona behind you has changed a lot, so it’s not particularly surprising that you’ve changed too.”

“Is that so? There should be other things you feel have changed besides that.”

Alec was about to raise his holy power, but realizing again that Yona was standing behind him, he stopped. Raising holy power is a simple matter, but wouldn’t that hurt Yona? That shouldn’t happen.

“Anyway, I understand that you asked us to come because you couldn’t dare to enter Evian. But what is your business?”

A light spear appeared in Ludvic’s hand. Although he hadn’t raised his holy power, a spear is still a spear. Seeing its form that fully retained the shape of a spear as a weapon, Alec also drew out his hammer along with his shield.

“Please explain why you called our Saint to such a place at this hour.”

“Isn’t it a conversation between saints? As someone who serves my own Saint, I don’t need to know the deep thoughts behind it. I simply follow because that’s what she wishes. That’s all there is to it. I may not have the same grand cause as you, but aren’t we the same in that we serve?”

Alec’s words carried the meaning — how dare you question what your Saint wants to do?

Noticing this meaning, Ludvic fell silent.

“Yona.”

Bigrind stepped forward in front of Ludvic.

Generally, holy power takes on a gentle white color, so when holy power is raised, a whitish energy rises vigorously.

But Bigrind was different now. Around her shoulders, a golden energy was rising, which even Yona had never seen before. But since Bigrind had called out to her, Yona also had to respond.

“What.”

She too is a saint.

If Bigrind is the saint of the Celestial God, then Yona is the saint of the demon realm.

There’s nothing lacking, and there’s no problem in terms of status.

Reminding herself of this fact anew, Yona approached Bigrind.

Bigrind raising golden holy power.

Yona raising dark red demonic energy.

The two stood facing each other.

A moment of silence.

But in this moment where anything could happen at any time, Ludvic with his spear — and Alec with his hammer and shield were ready to clash at any moment.

“—Yona.”

“If you called, speak.”

“…I told you not to use that name.”

Bigrind’s face turned red, perhaps in anger.

She had thought she wouldn’t particularly make an issue of it until now, but facing Yona like this, it made her angry again.

“I did that because I thought you wouldn’t come otherwise.”

Yona responded nonchalantly.

It was a very effective method, and a versatile name that could even provoke.

“You mean calling me 【Dwarf Poop Sack】? That’s just the truth anyway.”

“I’ve told you thousands of times to stop calling me by that name.”

“I’m just stating the facts. Originally, I was the only one who called you by that name.”

“Regardless of whether it was just you or not, I told you to stop.”

“If you’re upset, you should have grown taller when I did. You’re just about as tall as a dwarf’s poop sack.”

“…I told you to stop.”

If Ludvic and Alec hadn’t separated Bigrind and Yona, it might have turned into quite a big fight.

Anyway, thanks to Ludvic and Alec’s good control just before the explosion, the atmosphere was refreshed again, and Yona and Bigrind sat facing each other across a table that had been prepared with difficulty near the carriage.

Alebian had somehow managed to conceal the carriage with magic, saying that Bigrind and Ludvic wouldn’t be able to see it, and indeed, even though the carriage was nearby, Bigrind and Ludvic showed no signs of noticing it.

“Anyway, what’s the reason you wanted to meet? If you want to list out in detail why you had to apostatize, forget it. I don’t want to know about that.”

It was a surprisingly unexpected answer.

She thought Bigrind would rush at her as soon as they met, talking about how she apostatized and whatnot, but the answer that she didn’t want to know the reason was certainly surprising.

“I have no intention of telling you about that. I just wanted to tell you to stop the madness that the Celestine Church is doing now.”

“…It certainly is madness.”

Bigrind knew too.

What Yona meant by that madness.

Now that Yona had brought up that part, Bigrind had nothing to say in response.

“This isn’t a conversation to have here. Let’s go inside.”

At Yona’s words, Bigrind also nodded slightly.