Descent (1)

It feels like she’s been coming to the garden every day lately, but actually, it didn’t matter. The garden was a place with cool breezes and the fragrant scent of flowers, so it wasn’t a bad place.

Without even having time to think about how it came to this, Yona was sitting side by side with Serade. In fact, Yona was the one who felt sorry. Having never had romantic feelings for anyone, neither as a man nor after becoming a woman, Yona needed advice on such matters.

And Serade looked quite pretty—she got extra points for having a strange resemblance to Yona, but anyway, Yona thought Serade was pretty and slender enough to be popular with men, so her claim to be an expert didn’t seem like a lie.

And so—it came to this.

“…So, it’s not about me, but about someone else.”

“Ah— So that’s your setup. I see.”

“It-it’s not a setup.”

“I got it, I got it. It’s not about you, Saintess, but about someone else, right?”

“Y-yes.”

Where should she start? Now that she was trying to speak, she didn’t know how to say it. Serade also seemed to be calmly waiting for her story without rushing her, so Yona took a small deep breath and organized her thoughts.

“So… um, someone I know… no, two people, they’ve been sticking together since their adventurer days…?”

It’s a common story.

Two adventurers, a male and female adventurer sticking together and developing feelings.

A story so common it couldn’t even be used in a children’s storybook, nothing special about it anywhere.

But that was where Yona and Alec’s story began.

Yona, who was like an unruly thunderbolt running around without any sense of the world, and Alec, who followed her around.

Alec’s one-sided courtship continued for years, and even through experiences that would have made normal people give up five or six times—even so, Alec stayed by Yona’s side.

Yona, who kept insisting she would return to being a man.

Yona, who recklessly said she would undergo the procedure.

Alec, who silently embraced Yona when she came down powerlessly after the procedure failed.

Alec, who embraced Yona when she was hurt in Lizard Den.

And as she traced each memory, Alec was there.

Alec was there wherever Yona’s memories reached.

When Yona laughed, Alec laughed with her,

When Yona cried, Alec embraced her.

When Yona was sad, Alec comforted her,

When Yona was happy, he rejoiced with her.

“…Ah.”

Why didn’t I realize this until now?

Why did I think it was natural?

Did I get used to it because he was always by my side?

Alec has been—has always been by my side, always protecting me like this.

“Um… Saintess?”

Yona, who had been slowly continuing her story, suddenly stopped speaking for a while.

Serade, who had been waiting for Yona to continue, carefully looked at her.

That’s when Yona suddenly started crying.

Tears flowed from Yona’s eyes as she stared blankly into the distance.

“Saintess…?”

“No, it’s nothing. It’s nothing. Sorry, suddenly…”

“Oh, no… Are you okay? Suddenly…”

“I’m fine, yes. I’m fine. It’s nothing. More importantly. I have something to ask.”

Serade nodded at Yona’s words.

She had been expecting something very interesting to happen, but seeing the current atmosphere, it didn’t seem likely, so she was a bit disappointed.

Yona wiped away the tears that had flowed from her eyes with the hem of her nun’s habit and asked Serade.

“How do you think men would interpret the words ‘Let’s stay together’?”

In Yona’s opinion—since she had been a man anyway, in Yona’s opinion, that was clearly a confession.

No matter how dense someone is, it would be normal to interpret such words as a confession.

But the subject was Alec, and as dense as Alec was, there was a high possibility he hadn’t understood.

“Well… Isn’t that an intense confession? Becoming lifelong companions… in other words, a proposal to marry?”

“Y-yes, right?”

But that wasn’t enough.

The emotion currently filling Yona’s heart was too enormous to express with such metaphorical expressions, and it was raging like a storm.

Her heart was swelling. Right now, she wanted to see Alec immediately. She wanted to tell Alec, who had always been by her side, with sincere gratitude, thank you for loving me so much—she wanted to say it once again.

She had to pour out this passion raging in her heart. She had to convey these feelings to Alec. If not, it felt like her swollen heart would burst soon, she couldn’t hold it in any longer, so Yona abruptly stood up from the bench.

“Thanks for the advice, Serade.”

“Oh… yes, it was nothing…”

Serade could only silently watch Yona’s retreating figure disappearing like a storm. She hadn’t really said much, just listened to a few words from Yona, but she understood the situation roughly.

“Isn’t this progressing too fast…?”

Only Serade, left alone, muttered while watching Yona’s figure already disappearing in the distance.

Alec.

Wait just a little.

I’m coming now.

To Alec, who had no sense of subtlety whatsoever, she had to convey her feelings more clearly—and accurately.

If not, it felt like her heart would burst open, so Yona was heading towards Alec’s room with the momentum of a gale.

“—Saintess!”

A sudden voice calling her.

This was a voice Yona knew well, so she unconsciously frowned.

She wanted to pretend she hadn’t heard, but because she hesitated as soon as she heard it, she couldn’t even do that.

“Where are you going in such a hurry?”

“…I have something to see to.”

A tall stature with a well-proportioned body.

A handsome man with well-combed brown hair—Ludvig.

He was smiling as he looked at Yona.

“Are you in a hurry by any chance?”

“Rather than being in a hurry, why? Has the Celestial Deity descended or something? Unless it’s something of that level, I’m a bit in a hurry—”

“Oh.”

At Yona’s words, Ludvig’s eyes widened.

Yona also involuntarily stopped at Ludvig’s face, which clearly showed signs of great surprise without hiding it.

“…Surely not?”

“It’s not ‘surely not’. It’s true.”

Yona frowned, thinking this must be nonsense, and glared at Ludvig.

There are jokes you can make and jokes you shouldn’t, and joking about the Celestial Deity descending belongs to the category of jokes you shouldn’t make.

But Ludvig’s face was serious.

There was no sign of it being a joke, a lie, or having some other ulterior motive.

“…Really?”

“Yes. She said she would descend shortly… That’s what she said.”

“But why are you… Hero, telling me this? Shouldn’t Big come to tell me?”

“Wouldn’t I be faster than the Saintess? Moreover, the Saintess is already in the process of setting up her room as a sanctuary. It seemed more appropriate for me to move.”

That wasn’t wrong.

But wasn’t the timing off?

Yona couldn’t understand why it had to be now of all times.

But with Ludvig’s appearance and the news that the Celestial Deity would soon descend, the passion raging in Yona’s heart also subsided. In the place where the storm-like passion had subsided, only an empty void remained.

“…Come to think of it, what do you want me to do about it? It’s not like the Celestial Deity and I are close enough to sit down and have a friendly chat.”

“Ahaha—” Ludvig laughed out loud.

How can even his laughter be so annoying, a real man should laugh manly and heartily like our baldy, what’s this, anyway Big really has strange tastes, Yona was thinking at that moment.

“Well, the Celestial Deity also asked to make sure to bring the demon realm Saintess.”

“Why?”

“Who knows? It’s the Celestial Deity’s will, how could I know?”

“You should have at least asked if you didn’t know… No, never mind. So I just need to go to Big’s room, right?”

“Yes, that’s right. Then I’ll go call Alec.”

“Th— No, it’s fine. Then I’ll leave it to you.”

Yona was thinking of saying she would go call Alec herself.

But now that her head, which had been so hot, had cooled down, she was feeling more embarrassed. The emotion that had been boiling up so hotly was as fierce as an active volcano, but once it cooled down, it became just as cold and hardened.

‘The Celestial Deity or whatever is really not helpful at all.’

Yona turned around, grinding her teeth.

Ludvig, who had been watching her with a somewhat puzzled expression, set off to call Alec, and Yona headed towards Bigrind’s room.

“What, you’re already done?”

Yona, who entered Bigrind’s room without even knocking, looked around.

Golden radiance was already swirling in Bigrind’s room, and the rosary she always wore was floating in the air, imbued with radiance and spewing out holy power.

“You’re here? You came quickly.”

“Yeah, the Hero moved so fast. He’s so slow when he needs to move quickly, but he’s incredibly fast at times like this. Tsk.”

Although Yona was grumbling, she also slowly chanted.

The appearance of the nun’s habit disappeared, and the seal on her right arm also gradually faded, finally changing into the Saintess’s attire, revealing Yona’s appearance as the Saintess of the demon realm.

“So, when did they say she’s coming?”

“Soon.”

“When is ‘soon’?”

“I don’t know. When it’s time. So just wait quietly.”

What am I, a dog… Yona grumbled as she sat down on a chair. Anyway, the descent hadn’t even started yet, and besides, Alec and Ludvig hadn’t arrived yet, so Yona had nothing to do right now.

“Why did they say I should come too?”

“I don’t know. The fact that she’s descending here instead of in the church territory is a bit…”

“Well, that’s true.”

While Yona was waiting, scratching the bridge of her nose, Alec and Ludvig also gathered in Bigrind’s room.

It was a very shabby place for the descent of the Celestial Deity, but—the place wasn’t what mattered.

And finally, even more dazzling radiance began to pour out from the rosary.