Ch.21Saint Candidate – 2

After a while, Rosaria, who had been seething with uncontainable anger, finally managed to calm her excitement after quite some time. Now that her head was clear, she was fanning herself vigorously, seemingly embarrassed by her outburst.

“…Ahem, ahem. Sorry. I got too worked up on my own.”

“You had every reason to be angry, so what does it matter?”

It was completely understandable why Rosaria would grind her teeth at the Church like that.

Having to listen to the filthy whispers directed at her while wearing that ridiculous piece of cloth, all while being deprived of her physical freedom.

Perhaps if the regression had repeated just a few more times, she might have broken down much faster than Priscilla. At least Priscilla hadn’t been reduced to an animal in a zoo.

‘…Wait, isn’t this supposed to be a romance fantasy novel?’

What kind of romance fantasy would make a character wear such clothes?

“Anyway, you understand why I did what I did, right? I had my reasons.”

“I get that, but how do you know if someone has lost their virginity? It’s not like you can openly demand an examination.”

“There’s a way.”

Rosaria dismissed my question very simply.

“Rather than explaining it in words, it would be better to show you. Just a moment. I usually keep it hidden because it draws too much attention.”

Rosaria put her hands together in front of her chest and offered a brief prayer. A glowing white halo appeared above her head. A soft white light emanated from the halo, illuminating the surroundings.

True to her words about keeping it hidden because it drew too much attention, it was impossible not to stare at it once it appeared.

“What is that? A halo?”

“This is supposedly the symbol of a saint or something like that. This is why Rosaria was dragged to the Papal Office as a saint candidate. Later I… no, I can tell you, can’t I? How silly of me. In the future, I lose my position as a saint candidate to that woman Aria, right? After the goddess chooses Aria, the halo transfers to her.”

Indeed, with such clear evidence of sainthood, the Church couldn’t help but take her away.

“As for how this determines virginity, this thing pops out on its own regardless of my will when there are many people who handle divine power around me. So it was always on when I was at the Papal Office. But what happens if I go back to the Papal Office after being here and suddenly the halo doesn’t appear? And what if I claim it’s because I had sex with a man?”

When I nodded in understanding, Rosaria, sensing her opportunity, approached me with a desperate expression and clasped my hands.

“Please. I don’t want to live like this anymore. I hate wearing clothes that even a cheap prostitute wouldn’t wear while being praised as a saint, I hate being looked at with dirty eyes by those old geezers, and I hate being branded a heretic and treated like a slave until my organs melt and I die. So please…”

Her crimson eyes grew moist with tears.

“Can’t you just close your eyes and have sex with me once?”

Her body pressed closer. The scent of milk once again filled my nostrils.

“It’s not just good for me. It’s good for you too. Whatever preferences you have, I’ll accommodate them all. Even if it’s something a bit rough, as long as it doesn’t kill me, I can accept it. I can always heal afterward, so why not? I might be clumsy since it’s my first time, but I’ll really put my all into it. Okay?”

I quietly pulled her hand closer. Rosaria looked up at me with eyes filled with equal parts worry and anticipation.

“I could do it for you, but let me ask one more thing first.”

“…What is it this time?”

Perhaps remembering how she was rejected immediately after I said I wanted to ask one more thing, Rosaria asked back with an anxious voice.

“After you lose your status as a saint, then what? Have you thought about what you’ll do next?”

“…Huh?”

Her hand in mine trembled slightly.

“Think about it. Why were you living as a slave beside Aria in the original story after being branded? Why did Aria, who initially wanted to free you, change her mind? It’s because it was obvious what would happen to you if you left Aria’s side, given what you’ve done.”

“…”

“Let’s say you lose your status as a saint according to plan. Then what’s left for you? Do you have any money saved? Where will you live? Before that, have you thought about how to escape from the Papal Office after losing your position as a saint? Do you think those corrupt old men who gave you those looks will let you leave quietly, as you said?”

“…”

“They absolutely won’t. Especially now that they have the perfect excuse that you lost your position as a saint candidate because you’re no longer pure. I don’t know much about the Church, so I’m asking: do you think a nun like you, who just happens to have slightly stronger divine power, can escape from there alone? Through all those guards?”

Rosaria shook her head. It seemed she also thought it would be difficult. If she could use divine power in combat, it might be different, but in this world, divine power is limited to healing only.

Though its effectiveness in healing is so overwhelming that it commands such great prestige.

“I could protect you, of course. We share the common ground of being possessed. But my parents? Well, they would probably agree if I asked, but even for us, directly confronting the Church would mean accepting considerable losses.”

If the Starlight Church decided to go after us, even the Crate family would suffer significant losses. It might even be worse than just “considerable.”

I do have a final card for such a situation, but it’s truly a last resort. It’s that powerful. So I’d prefer to keep it until the very end if possible.

“You weren’t planning to just quit being a saint without thinking this through, were you?”

“…”

Rosaria couldn’t refute my words and let go of my hand. Her head drooped lifelessly.

“…I’m sorry. My thinking was shallow. You’re absolutely right.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for. All of this is the fault of those rotten Church bastards. So don’t blame yourself too much.”

In terms of sheer numbers, Priscilla, who must have regressed at least a hundred times, is overwhelmingly ahead, but Rosaria’s situation was far more extreme than Priscilla’s. In a bad way, of course.

It made sense that she would rush headlong into action without even forming a proper plan, thinking she had found a way out.

“…So what do I do now? Do I just go back? To that place with those perverts?”

“Do you really need to? You can just stay at the academy.”

“Stay here?”

Rosaria opened her eyes wide.

“Even if someone objects, what can they do if you insist on staying here? ‘Rosaria’ has been doing whatever she wants all this time. They should consider themselves lucky if they don’t get beaten up and kicked out by you.”

“That’s true, but…”

“There are plenty of excuses, so it’s fine. The demonic transformation in the Bellium Forest happened just hours ago, so you can use that as an excuse to stay here. With such a legitimate reason, who would stop you?”

Finding hope in my words, Rosaria’s eyes lit up.

“Okay. What’s next?”

“For now, stay at the academy and maintain your position until Aria is chosen as the saint. There will be many uses for it. You must have earned a lot of money, so we should tap into that.”

There’s a high chance she would have been twisted long ago, but according to the original story, the saint visits the academy next year, so there’s still more than a year left until the saint selection episode.

During that time, I planned to extract everything possible from the Starlight Church through Rosaria. It’s not that I’m short on money, but it’s always more fun to spend someone else’s money than your own.

Rosaria seemed to like the idea of exploiting the Church, nodding with a grin.

“I like the sound of that. What’s next?”

“We need to dilute the rumors about you. People have heard that the saint candidate is a crazy woman who tortures nuns, but when they meet you in person, they’ll see you’re nothing like the rumors. That way, even when you eventually lose your position, it won’t be as bad as in the original story.”

In the original story, Rosaria was a person without any goodness, so she made plenty of enemies at the academy too. That’s why as soon as Aria was confirmed as the saint, she was subjected to all kinds of insults and pointed fingers.

But from now on, that won’t be the case.

“Yes, yes. And then?”

“Later, when you lose your position as a saint candidate… I have something in mind for that, so don’t worry.”

My final card, and my strongest one.

Healing magic.

If I reveal this, it will be more than enough to protect someone like Rosaria. The entire upper echelon of the Empire and the mages, with their eyes rolling back in their heads, will become my allies.

Of course, I wasn’t planning to reveal it just to protect Rosaria alone. I had been thinking that I would have to reveal it someday anyway. I just thought that would be the best time to do it.

I need to use it as efficiently as possible.

“I understand. I’ll do as you say. No matter what.”

Rosaria nodded with a solemn face.

That concluded our conversation. Rosaria received simple advice from me about how to act going forward, and I was about to leave when we finished talking.

“Ah, wait a moment. Mira?”

“What—”

Before I could ask what she wanted, Rosaria pulled my face toward her and kissed me. The scent of milk wafted over me, and I felt a soft sensation on my lips.

Foreign saliva flowed into my mouth, and my vision was filled with Rosaria’s face. I felt something soft pressing against my chest.

Her tongue suddenly slipped between my lips, thoroughly exploring every corner and gathering saliva back into her own mouth. I heard a small gulping sound as her throat moved.

“Haaa…”

Rosaria finally separated her lips after what felt like more than 10 seconds. Then, breaking the silver thread connecting our lips with her finger, she grinned.

“I’ve marked your lips now, so you know you can’t abandon me, right?”

She might not be completely crazy, but she definitely wasn’t in her right mind.

The next day, when the incident during the dungeon practicum was officially announced, Bellium Academy was turned upside down.

Until then, the news had spread informally through students whose practice had been forcibly stopped, with rumors like “I heard something happened,” but now everyone was in an uproar.

The academy was closed for a day, and a two-week ban on entering the Bellium Forest was issued. News came that Professor Jeyna had been made to write a formal apology for failing to properly manage the dungeon.

It was a very unfortunate situation, but even that was actually much reduced from the original punishment of dismissal.

Apparently, the magical device had recorded the dungeon looking perfectly normal until five minutes before the practice began, and her efforts to rescue students by running around everywhere were taken into consideration.

News also came that the chairman had been summoned to the imperial palace to explain the current situation. The crown prince was grinding his teeth, saying that the opposition was having a field day with this.

However, the chaos subsided quite quickly.

This was because Rosaria Leone de Michaela, a prominent saint candidate of the Starlight Church, declared that she would stay at the academy for the time being to prevent such incidents from happening again.

The Church naturally objected vehemently, but within a few hours, news spread that three high priests who had come to persuade the saint were carried back half-paralyzed.

It seemed the persuasion had failed.

“I didn’t know beating people up could be so enjoyable. You should have seen the expressions on their faces when their teeth were smashed.”

When I met Rosaria after that incident, she was wearing a very cheerful expression. She waved her arms excitedly as she boasted about how she had knocked those guys down.

“I hope you haven’t developed a taste for it?”

“Come on, as if I would? It’s limited to those who looked at me filthily, so don’t worry.”

Rosaria, who licked her lips slightly saying she hoped more would come to persuade her, turned to the person sitting next to me.

“So, what should I demand from the Church?”

Priscilla was sitting beside me.