Chapter 126: I poisoned the Saint

I stared blankly at the scene before me, my mouth agape.

“Urk!”

With every step Miranda Grandma took, the ground trembled. With every swing of her fist, teeth rained down from the sky like a torrential downpour.

The moment the mercenaries’ swords—those foolish enough to charge at Miranda Grandma—touched that bizarre cross of hers, they shattered like thin toothpicks.

I knew Miranda Grandma wasn’t an ordinary person.

Just looking at the muscles plastered all over her body was enough to tell me that.

But I never imagined she was this strong. Even with a weapon so absurdly inefficient that it seemed more like a joke, the mercenaries couldn’t even get close to her.

I knew it was rude to think this, but if there was ever a time to call someone a ‘monster in human form,’ it would be now.

A memory flashed through my mind—of the time I had foolishly stood against Miranda Grandma without a second thought. Looking back now, I wanted to commend my past self for such reckless bravery.

This wasn’t even a fight. It was a massacre. And it was almost over.

The five women who had surrounded me were sprawled across the ground, barely clinging to life.

“Ugh…! You… monster…! Just kill me already…!”

“My relic does not take lives. It is the mercy of the Divine Lord.”

“Relic, my ass… It’s just a giant lump of iron, dammit….”

CRACK—!

Miranda Grandma’s fist slammed into her face. Silence followed.

“You’ll all be transported to the Empire’s detention center tomorrow. Just so you know.”

At her cold declaration, one of the mercenaries, drenched in cold sweat, lifted her head.

“W-Wait! Old hag, do you even know who you’re protecting?”

“What nonsense are you spouting?”

“That bitch is the criminal who poisoned the Empire’s Saintess!”

Her gaze turned to me. Miranda Grandma’s eyes slowly followed.

“You’re really running out of excuses now.”

“Ask her yourself! Ask her what she did!”

A sharp pain gripped my chest, as if my heart was being squeezed. I couldn’t bear to meet Miranda Grandma’s gaze. My head drooped.

“Is it true?”

Her voice was calm, but it felt like it could shatter me. I bit my lips, unable to answer.

“Why aren’t you answering, girl? Is what she said true?”

My fists trembled. Even I found myself pathetic.

I had always known this day would come. So why was I pretending to be so tormented now?

Had I been trying to run from my sins? But a sinner has nowhere to run—except to hell.

I bit down on my tongue with all my strength. The metallic taste of blood seeped down my throat, anchoring my crumbling resolve.

I am a sinner. I am someone who does not deserve happiness.

This is just the punishment I must accept.

By the time I opened my mouth again, my tongue had already healed.

“Yes. I poisoned the Saintess. And I tried to pin the blame on someone else.”

My voice was cold and detached.

This time, I met Miranda Grandma’s gaze head-on.

I wasn’t sure what kind of expression I had, but her face was clear as day.

She looked utterly indifferent.

“I see.”

Her reaction was so calm that I just blinked in disbelief.

“W-What?! Are you even listening? That bitch is a vicious criminal!”

The mercenary, still plastered to the ground, shouted in fury. But Miranda Grandma paid her no mind and continued to look at me.

“If that’s the case, then the Saintess must have deserved to die.”

Her words hit me like a bolt of lightning.

“…What?”

“Or, some bastard must have used you.”

Even after hearing the truth, her gaze remained unchanged. Beneath the seemingly cold surface, there was a quiet warmth.

“N-No… It was me. I did it.”

“I’ve lived for over seventy years, kid. After looking someone in the eyes and talking to them a few times, I can usually tell what kind of person they are.”

Her voice was firm—so unwavering that I couldn’t even protest.

“N-No, you’re wrong… I’m not a good person….”

Why? Why couldn’t I speak properly? My throat kept clogging up, and tears welled in my eyes.

I was disgusted with myself. I had no right to cry. What was I mourning? What was I grieving for?

“I… I did something terrible. That’s why I’m here…”

I barely managed to speak between the sobs, wiping away my tears. But my throat closed up again, and an ugly wail escaped my lips.

At that moment, Miranda Grandma set down her massive cross and walked toward me.

Her huge hand reached for my head.

Was she going to pat me?

Was she really going to show kindness to someone like me?

But what happened next was something I never expected.

SMACK—!

“UHEGKH?!”

Grandmother Miranda’s finger struck my forehead.

And not just any finger—it was a thick one, at least three times the size of mine.

“Hiik? H-Hiigk?”

I was so shocked that I couldn’t even form proper words. My head rang, and my vision flickered.

“W-What was that for?!”

“Oh? Weren’t you just saying you did something wrong? Didn’t even brace yourself for a hit?”

“I-I mean, that’s true, but still…”

Even so, hitting me out of nowhere like that was just too much.

Oddly enough, though, the tears that had been flowing stopped.

“You little brat. You did mess up big time.”

Grandmother Miranda delivered the final blow to the last mercenary lying on the ground, knocking them unconscious. Then, she began to stack their bodies on top of each other, one by one.

“Even if you poisoned the Saintess, you should be begging for her forgiveness. Instead, you’re spreading your legs for these bitches?”

Her blunt words made my face flush with humiliation.

“S-Spreading my legs?! What kind of vulgar—”

“Oh, wasn’t that exactly what you were doing? Looked to me like you were eager to suck, spread, and serve them with all your devotion.”

“S-Stop using such filthy language!”

Miranda’s lack of dignity was so outrageous that my face burned to the point of feeling like it might explode.

“Pfft. Such a shameless little thing.”

She gave me a look of utter disappointment. I had so many things I wanted to say to defend myself, but frustratingly enough, I couldn’t bring myself to say anything.

Because, in the end… I really had been about to let them use me however they wanted.

“Let’s go.”

Miranda hoisted the five mercenaries, now lying neatly in a row, onto her shoulders as if they were mere sacks of grain.

Even carrying just one of them looked like it would be heavy, but she handled them effortlessly. Well, with that kind of strength, it made sense how she could wield that ridiculous blunt weapon.

“…What? Want me to carry you too?”

“I-I can walk just fine…!”

Her sarcastic remark made me jump to my feet immediately.

It was strange.

Just a moment ago, my heart had been frozen still. But now, as if nothing had happened, it was beating warmly once more.

***

“Unbelievable.”

A sharp voice rang through the alleyway—the very alley where Tina and the half-dead mercenaries had been just moments ago.

“What the hell is that monster?”

The owner of the voice was a young girl. At a glance, she didn’t look a day over ten, small and childlike in appearance.

But the crimson cross imprinted in her eyes made it clear that she was anything but an ordinary child.

Her name was Luella.

But the being that resided within her was something the world commonly referred to as a demon.

A pure embodiment of malice—one that thrived on human suffering and agony, treating souls as mere meals.

“Even after making you a woman, you still seduce other women? What the hell am I supposed to do with you?”

Luella’s face twisted in irritation. The soul she had so desperately longed for was slipping further and further out of her grasp.

She had deliberately lured only female mercenaries, yet every single one of them had developed a twisted sexual desire for Tina.

They had barely exchanged a few words, and yet, in that short time, Tina had somehow shattered the barrier of same-sex attraction and implanted a depraved lust in them.

“…I underestimated you, Tina.”

It was only natural for insects to be drawn to flowers.

In her past life, Luella had suffered immensely, dealing with all the humans who had been drawn to Tina.

So, to lessen her troubles in this life, she had made sure Tina was reincarnated in a female body.

Tina’s original soul had willingly accepted the contract, after all.

And on top of that, Tina’s physical beauty had taken a hit compared to her past self, so Luella had assumed fewer people would be captivated by her this time around.

However, the problem wasn’t appearance.

That damned soul seemed to have been born with a natural talent for drawing people in.

Just like back then, in my past life, when she seduced me.

“You keep cheating on me… so you’re not leaving me with much of a choice, are you?”

In this world, the person who knows Tina best is me.

Not Artasha, not Viviana, not Lillian—me.

If I had to define Tina in one word, well…

She’s a fool. A hopelessly naïve fool, so stupidly pure that she’d risk her life for a fake love.

Whisper even the most insincere ‘I love you,’ and she’ll blush, her entire body radiating pure joy.

How frustrating it was to watch.

I had finally shaped her into a passable villain, and yet, after just a short time apart, she was already reverting to her true self.

“But right now, that works to my advantage.”

Tina’s kindness.

That was both her greatest weapon and her most fatal weakness.

If I used it well, I could get her back in my grasp anytime.

“And that girl… Miranda, was it?”

I recalled the monster who had wiped out the mercenaries in an instant.

A saint? What a joke. That thing was no saint.

To call a being with not even the slightest trace of divine power a saint was absurd.

That damned monster had thrown my plans into chaos, but at the same time, she might have made things even easier for me.

A body without divine power, without even the slightest control over mana, the very foundation of this world.

A human just perfect for a demon to toy with.

“Heh.”

A shadowy alley.

A girl’s quiet laughter echoed through the darkness.