Chapter 17 – The Saintess’s Chest is Like Marshmallow…

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Linda approached me, stared at me intently, and then asked with sparkling eyes:

“But, sister… that means you were really a man before, right?” She hesitated for a moment, then suddenly glanced at my chest and added, “But here… it’s really, really big, huh? So, you were really a man and then became like this?”

My face instantly turned red. I panicked and stepped back, but Linda didn’t care at all and reached out her hand.

“Hey, Linda! Where do you think you’re putting that hand?!” I shouted, but her hand had already poked my chest.

“Wow~ It’s so soft like a marshmallow!” she exclaimed with a small gasp of admiration. “Is this… real?”

“Linda!!!” I yelled, my face bright red, and swatted her hand away.

Claire, who was standing nearby, burst into laughter. “Hahaha! Linda, are you crazy?! You can’t just touch someone like that!”

“No, I was just curious!” Linda defended herself with an innocent look, waving her hands. “But seriously, it’s amazing! Is this what happens when you’re a saintess, sister?”

I swallowed my anger and glared at her. “Stop it, Linda. This isn’t a joke!”

But Linda still couldn’t hold back her laughter and moved closer to me. 

Then, Claire quietly approached me from the side, tilted her head, and muttered something before starting to grope my chest.

“Hmm… So now only the hero can touch this… I guess we have another reason to save Eli.”

“Claire!!!” I couldn’t take it anymore and flicked her forehead. “You damn brats, seriously!”

Linda also grabbed her head, yelling, “Ouch! Why did you hit me too? I was just curious!”

I crossed my arms and glared at both of them. “You two need to get a grip! You can’t just talk about this stuff so casually!”

But the two of them still couldn’t hold back their laughter, snickering. Linda stroked her head and said, “But sister, you’re really cool. It’s hard to believe you were a man… you’re so pretty now…”

I sighed inwardly and shook my head. “Seriously, you damn brats…” Still, their lighthearted attitude softened my anger a little.

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Sion, holding his nose, looked at us. “Everyone, calm down. Let’s talk about the plan again. We don’t know when the monsters might show up again.”

I nodded and was about to respond, but I felt something strange. Behind me, Claire and Linda were hiding, exchanging suspicious glances.

“Hey, Claire.” Linda whispered. “Right? It’s like that, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it seems like it…” Claire tilted her head and replied.

I turned my head and glared at them. “What are you two doing?”

“Oh, nothing!” Claire and Linda both shook their heads with innocent expressions. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that they were up to something.

Then, suddenly, cold water poured down my back. “Ah! What the hell!” I screamed, shivering.

“Oops~ I accidentally spilled some water~” Linda said with an innocent smile, holding a water bottle.

“Linda!” I shouted, glaring at her. But… something felt off. The cold water had completely soaked my chest area, and the thin fabric of the saintess’s uniform became see-through, revealing my skin.

“…”

The room fell silent for a moment. Claire and Linda held their breath, and Sion stared at me with wide eyes.

“Hey, Sion? What are you doing?” I asked nervously. But Sion’s face turned bright red, and suddenly, blood started gushing from his nose.

“Pfft—splat!”

Sion’s nosebleed shot up like a fountain. He covered his face, staggered, and then collapsed backward.

“Sion!” I rushed to him in panic. “Hey, are you okay?! Are you hurt?!”

But Sion was still bleeding from his nose, gasping for air. “I’m sorry, comrade… You’re definitely a woman… You’re not a man at all…”

“You… you… damn bastard!” I grabbed him by the collar and shook him. “You damn idiot, I’m a man!!! A man!!”

“…”

The room fell silent again. Claire and Linda both inhaled sharply, covering their mouths.

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Sion regained consciousness after a while. He wiped the blood from his nose and shook his head, looking dizzy. I crossed my arms and glared at him. Claire and Linda were snickering in the background, trying to hold back their laughter.

“Hmm…” Sion blinked and slowly got up. “Why did I… faint?”

I sighed deeply and replied, “You should know better than anyone why you fainted. Maybe clean up those dirty thoughts in your head.”

Hearing that, Sion’s face turned bright red. He coughed awkwardly and looked away. “That was… a mistake. The situation was a bit… uh, how should I say…”

“No need for useless excuses.” I said firmly. “If you pull something like that again, you’ll be crying tears of blood, not just a nosebleed.”

Linda clapped her hands and laughed. “That’s so funny! Sister, I’ve never seen Sion so flustered before!”

“Linda, you better watch it too.” I warned, glaring at her. “If you pull another water prank, I’ll pour that bottle over your head.”

“Eek… got it!” Linda raised her hands and backed away.

Then, we heard loud noises from outside. It sounded like drunk men arguing and causing a commotion.

“What’s going on?” Claire asked, looking out the window.

“There are some drunk men fighting outside.” she said, holding her forehead. “They’re completely wasted, and it doesn’t look good.”

“Of all times…” I sighed and stood up. “I guess we have to go break it up.”

Sion also got up and said, “I’ll handle it. I’m better at dealing with this kind of thing.”

“No, you stay here.” I stopped him. “You just had a nosebleed.”

But Sion shook his head and stepped forward. “No, I should go. I’m better at handling these situations.”

In the end, we decided to go out together. Claire and Linda followed us, their faces filled with curiosity.

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Outside, the drunk men were grabbing each other by the collars and shouting.

“I was here first! Who do you think you are, cutting in like that?!”

“What? You think you own this spot? This is a shared space!”

Sion stepped forward. “Everyone, you can’t fight here. It’s late, and you’re disturbing others.”

But the men didn’t even listen to Sion. One of them laughed drunkenly and said, “What’s this kid doing, lecturing us? Who do you think you are?!”

Another joined in, “Yeah, kid, stay out of this! This is between adults!”

I shook my head and sighed at the scene. “They’re completely drunk. Sion, don’t take it too seriously.”

But Sion replied with a serious expression, “We still need to stop this.”

He approached the men firmly and said, “If you want to fight, take it somewhere else. You’re causing trouble for others here.”

“What are you gonna do about it?” one of the men staggered toward Sion. “You think you can stop me?”

Instead of answering, Sion pulled out his shield. His shield gleamed with a silvery light, firmly held in place. “Don’t make me force you to choose. It’d be best for you to back down quietly now.”

At his words, the other men began to tense up. One of them muttered as he stepped back, “That guy… looks like he knows how to fight.”

“Alright, alright. We give up.” One of the men raised his hands and staggered. “Let’s stop fighting.”

Once the fight stopped, I tapped Sion’s shoulder and said, “Good job. But you could’ve been a bit gentler with your words.”

“Sometimes you have to be firm when necessary.” Sion replied with a smile.

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The fight ended, and the drunk men began to disperse one by one. We were about to head back to the inn when one of the men hesitantly stepped in front of Sion.

He shuffled closer and stared intently at Sion’s shield. Then, in a voice still tinged with drunkenness, he said, “You… that shield, are you by any chance from the kingdom’s knight order?”

Sion looked down at his shield and nodded. “Yes, this shield bears the emblem of the kingdom’s knight order. Is there a problem…?”

Hearing that, the man suddenly slumped down as if overcome with emotion. “Ha… that’s a relief. So, someone from the hero’s party is still active…”

“Wait a minute.” I stepped forward and asked, “What do you mean by the hero’s party?”

The man looked up at us. His eyes were filled with exhaustion and despair. “Then… maybe there’s still hope. If you’re truly the hero’s companions, could you hear me out?”

“A request?” Claire narrowed her eyes and asked, “If this is just drunken rambling, we can just walk away.”

“No!” The man waved his hands urgently. “That’s not it. There’s a reason I’ve been searching for the hero’s companions like this. Our village is in danger. Something terrible is happening in our village…”

“Please explain in detail.” Sion said in a firm voice.

The man paused for a moment, then sighed heavily and began his story. 

“We’re from Kalind Village, north of the kingdom. It’s a small village, but we’ve always been peaceful, with little contact with monsters. 

However, a few months ago, monsters started appearing around the village. At first, it was minor… but now, the monsters are growing stronger, and villagers have started going missing.”

“Missing?” I asked with a shocked expression. “That doesn’t sound like a simple monster invasion.”

“Exactly!” The man nodded and continued, “And most importantly… we’ve seen traces of the ancient hero near where the monsters appear.”

“Traces of the ancient hero?” Claire asked with interest. “What do you mean?”

With trembling hands, the man pulled out a worn piece of paper from his pocket. It was an old map, and in the center of it was a noticeable mark.

“This is…” Sion narrowed his eyes as he examined the map. “This area isn’t recorded in the kingdom’s archives. Why is this place marked?”

“The elders of the village said this is the site of the first hero’s ruins.” the man continued in a shaky voice. “They say there are traces of a battle fought long ago by the hero and the saintess. But now… we’ve heard that place has become the monsters’ stronghold.”

I froze at his words. “Ruins of the hero and the saintess… But why are monsters appearing there?”

“I don’t know.” he said, bowing his head. “But after the monsters appeared, villagers started disappearing one by one. Those ruins might be the cause of all this.”

“Then we’ll have to go.” Sion said decisively.

“Wait a minute.” Claire raised her hand and interjected. “This isn’t just a simple monster extermination mission, is it? There might be some secret in those ruins. We might need more preparation.”

“But if the villagers are in danger, we can’t wait.” Sion countered.

Linda tilted her head and said, “But, isn’t this related to us too? When they talk about the ancient saintess and hero… it feels kinda heavy, you know?”

I fell into thought after hearing Linda’s words. 

‘Ruins of the ancient saintess and hero… This wasn’t in the game’s setting… And now monsters are involved… This can’t be a coincidence.’

“Alright.” I nodded and said, “Let’s go. We need to see for ourselves what’s happening at those ruins.”

Author Note

A/N (Author’s note):
Happy new year~~

Translator Note

(T/N (Translator’s note):
Happy new year to you too, author…

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