The Saint Who Is Not Saint-like

The person who was looking at me with sparkling eyes while slightly bowing her head was, coincidentally, a face I already knew.

I could also figure out rather quickly what the appearance of such a familiar person meant.

Perhaps one of the events that could be called a main story was about to begin.

The problem was…

“…What did you just say?”

In front of someone who wouldn’t easily let go of even a light joke if it involved me, she boldly declared that she would take me as a pet cat.

Based on my memories from the first playthrough, the bigger problem was that the possibility of what I just heard being a joke converged to zero.

As I unconsciously began to step back a little.

“Asha, could you contact this cat’s owner for me?”

And simultaneously, click.

A black choker with something like a bell attached to it appeared out of nowhere and was fastened around my neck.

It happened so suddenly that I just blinked blankly for a moment, but I soon came back to my senses, albeit belatedly, at words even more shocking than what I had heard a few seconds ago.

“Tell them that Saint Daina has taken their cat. Oh, and also tell them not to feel too honored.”

Asha’s patience, which had already reached its limit, exploded less than a second later.

Sure enough, a murderous intent filled the surroundings, making my hair stand on end.

Immediately after, a red heat began to leak from Asha, making it difficult even to breathe.

However, the person who called herself a saint had no intention of standing still either.

–Swish.

“What do you think you’re doing right now?”

Daina’s hands, which had begun to glow softly, were briefly extended forward and instantly formed something like a transparent veil.

The people who had been murmuring around until recently had somehow retreated far away.

In the end, I alone remained in the middle of this sudden showdown, not knowing what to do.

I just wanted to have a short conversation with Asha, whom I hadn’t seen in a long time.

Really, nothing more, nothing less.

I had no other intentions whatsoever… why did things escalate this far?

“What are you doing to Lua?”

“Lua? Cute name. Wait, did you just speak informally to me?”

Her usually friendly voice was nowhere to be found.

Only anger that would make you immediately understand what it means to “have your eyes rolled back” remained, making me shudder.

Not long after, her long hair began to gradually turn red.

Then, the place where Asha was standing.

More precisely, all objects around Asha began to melt slowly.

“Remove the necklace you put on right now. If you don’t want to die.”

“Ha, now you’re even threatening me. I’m sorry I didn’t know it was your cat, but that doesn’t mean you should cross the line.”

However, unfortunately, the person who had no awareness of what she had done only further provoked Asha’s anger.

There was no sign of the situation calming down.

Finally, intense waves of magic began to be felt simultaneously from both sides.

My body instinctively shrank at these powerful forces that I was encountering almost for the first time.

I managed to squeeze out my voice to keep shouting at them to calm down, but neither Asha nor Daina seemed to hear me at all.

No, in fact, they might have heard me but were deliberately pretending not to.

Either way, neither of them seemed to care even a tiny bit about the gazes of those around them.

Seeing how their momentum didn’t subside even slightly but instead grew stronger, it seemed they were planning to have a proper fight.

“If you keep that up, it just makes me… want you more.”

“You should covet what’s worth coveting. Being revered as a saint has made you think the whole world is yours.”

And so, just as these two formidable forces, far from ordinary, were about to clash in the middle of the guild headquarters.

–Dash!

“Deck forced designation. [Royal Straight Flush].”

“Goddess of order and harmony. Grant me your power.”

Along with urgent footsteps, a familiar voice and a not-so-familiar voice were heard almost simultaneously.

Barriers with jester and angel wing patterns respectively stepped in front of Asha and Daina shortly after.

“As the Guild Master, do you intend to turn the guild headquarters into a battlefield?”

“Saint, please stop now. Why do you keep trying to waste your precious holy power?”

Nevertheless, judging by their still fierce gazes, it didn’t seem like this chilling confrontation would end so easily.

So I didn’t miss the momentary opening and ran straight out of the guild headquarters.

“L-Lua! Where are you going!”

As expected, the startled voices of Asha and Daina followed at my heels, but there seemed to be nothing good about returning to the guild headquarters.

I didn’t want to be like a shrimp with its back broken in a fight between whales, you know?

The sound of the bell on my neck jingling was slightly annoying, but for now, escaping was the priority.

And so, after running really far for quite a while, I finally collapsed.

It was only after a long time that Tana’s message arrived saying that I could come back now.

Nevertheless, I couldn’t feel reassured and paced outside the guild headquarters for a long time, only reluctantly making my way back when I heard that Asha was looking for me.

Several weeks earlier.

“Then… I entrust the Saint to your care.”

The reason why the man [Iji], who had just shed his apprentice priest status, was selected as Saint Daina’s attendant was extremely simple.

Among the various figures in the Holy Country, he was almost the only one who was acquainted with Daina before she became a saint.

It wasn’t entirely unrelated to the fact that, contrary to his relatively young age, he was quite a strong talent, but the decisive reason was that the saint, who was far from gentle, “relatively” treated him well.

In truth, from Iji’s perspective, it was questionable that this stubborn girl had been chosen as a saint in the first place, but how could he, a mere priest, raise objections when she had been chosen by the goddess?

Anyway, having been chosen to accompany the saint’s “outing,” which happens once every 10 years, quite a lot of hardship was anticipated.

The saint, who had been confined to the Holy Country’s temple for quite a long time, would now be able to travel around the world. Would there really be not a single incident?

The reason for choosing the metropolis [Erda] as the saint’s first destination was because it was a place where order and peace were maintained relatively well compared to other places.

In addition, they thought that with the cooperation of the Lunatic Guild located in the center of Erda, the journey could be safer and quieter.

It wasn’t entirely unrelated to the fact that Erda was full of sights to see and food to eat… but anyway.

“Welcome to Erda, Saint.”

There was no problem when they met the Lunatic Guild personnel who had come to greet them in advance.

Whether fortunately or unfortunately, the saint’s gaze was also fixed on the tall buildings around the Lunatic Guild headquarters.

And so, while meeting with the Vice Guild Master of the Lunatic Guild and briefly discussing the upcoming schedule.

Really, just for a moment. For a very brief moment, he never dreamed that the saint would cause trouble as soon as he took his eyes off her.

He thought she would think at least somewhat before acting.

“Remove the necklace you put on right now. If you don’t want to die.”

“Ha, now you’re even threatening me. I’m sorry I didn’t know it was your cat, but that doesn’t mean you should cross the line.”

As soon as they entered the Lunatic Guild headquarters lobby, they heard voices that had become noticeably fierce.

It made Iji’s heart sink even more when he realized that the figure now confronting the saint was Asha, the Guild Master of the Lunatic Guild.

The Vice Guild Master beside him seemed to feel the same way, as they exchanged glances and reached the conclusion that they needed to stop those two immediately.

They hastily intervened in what was literally a scene on the brink of disaster right after.

Regardless of the reason, there was nothing good about being at odds with the Lunatic Guild, so for now, he needed to stop the saint.

How much time had passed since he began to scold the saint who was not behaving like a saint?

“How hard is it to act like a saint? Why are you so desperate to cause trouble even outside the Holy Country?”

“B-but… it was such a cute cat.”

“What are you talking about? What about a cat?”

“Well, you see, that white cat… Huh? Where did it go?”

As the saint urgently pointed somewhere, he unconsciously shifted his gaze.

What his green vision captured was the back of a young beast person running away in the distance.

Judging by how they disappeared somewhere despite the voice of what seemed to be their guardian, they appeared to be quite shocked.

In the end, he let out another deep sigh, and the saint’s head finally lowered slightly.

Her slender fingers were slowly extended forward and carefully grasped his waist right after.

“…I’m sorry…”

At her voice, which only showed vulnerability at times like this, he had no choice but to stop scolding the saint.

Still, he obtained a promise that she would behave as properly as possible from now on.

As well as a promise to definitely apologize to the young beast person who must have been very startled by the sudden clash between the saint and the Lunatic Guild Master.