Fatigue

One who serves the Goddess of Order and Principle above, and looks down upon the Goddess’s followers below. The Saint.

She possesses the sole authority to perform miracles with holy power, referred to as blessed strength, and to freely handle various sacred artifacts.

This figure, the Saint, is positioned even above the Pope.

Of course, unlike the Pope who can control the Holy Kingdom with a single word, she stays only in the temple and doesn’t possess any particular power, but…

Perhaps because of this, she is a person difficult to meet even once in a lifetime.

The meeting with Rea herself, Iris, and Adrian was scheduled only because Rayner, the Academy president, had directly sent a letter to the Holy Kingdom.

However, the date set for the audience with the Saint was definitely tomorrow, not today, and.

Due to various positions and circumstances of the Holy Kingdom, they had drawn a line saying that the child, being a beastkin, could not meet the Saint — though the child herself didn’t seem to mind this discriminatory treatment at all.

How on earth.

“This isn’t a dream… right? It really is you, Lord Lua, in front of me…?”

“Where would there be a fake Lord Lua in this world? It’s really me.”

Is the Saint, Daina herself, directly coming to meet the child?

Moreover, after sending all the Holy Kingdom people except herself out of the room, she uses honorifics consistently toward a child who is at least ten years younger than the Saint, treating her as if she were a precious lover.

Seeing how the child, while slightly uncomfortable with such treatment from the Saint, deals with her familiarly, it seems they must have met once before.

In her heart, she wanted to ask the child right now how she came to be connected with someone as difficult to meet as a star in the sky.

What happened that she treats her with such devotion, but…

Since Rea herself, being merely a guest, couldn’t interrupt the Saint’s words.

For now, all she could do was wait for the heartfelt — there was no other word to describe it — conversation between the child and the Saint to end.

The problem was that no matter how much she waited, there seemed to be no sign of the conversation ending.

What’s more, as time passed, strange words that made her tilt her head flowed from the Saint’s mouth.

For example, asylum in the Holy Kingdom.

“I don’t know why Lord Lua has come all this way… but I’ll do my best to ensure you can stay in the Holy Kingdom continuously.”

“Um, Daina. The reason I came to the Holy Kingdom—”

“Lord Lua, please don’t worry about anything. I’ll make sure no one can expel you. Really, by any means necessary.”

When she glanced at the child just in case, the child was floundering in a somewhat negative way.

In other words, what the Saint is trying to do now is directly conflicting with the child’s will.

Moreover, watching the Saint almost monopolize the child, somewhere in her heart began to ache.

Coincidentally, this was the same ache she felt when watching Iris and the child talking together the other day.

Why has what she had previously brushed off as nothing now become an unpleasant sensation that she couldn’t ignore?

For some reason, she felt she could no longer just watch.

Right after that, she began to watch the Saint with a gaze that was initially surprised, then confused, and finally filled with wariness.

She carefully opened her mouth, which had been firmly closed until now, to convey her own opinion.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but Lua looks quite tired.”

“I’m not sure what kind of relationship you have with Lua, Saint… but I would appreciate if you let her rest for now.”

“It’s quite late, too. Wouldn’t it be better for Lua’s health to let her get to bed early rather than forcing her to overexert herself?”

Judging from the gaze that never once left the child and the tone full of affection, she could be certain that the Saint genuinely cared for the child.

Although the Saint might be displeased that she, a mere Academy student, had interjected in the conversation, even a Saint couldn’t ignore it if the child’s health was at stake.

Either way, it seemed like she needed to separate the child and the Saint somehow.

In reality, it was closer to wanting to separate the child and the Saint, but anyway.

“…Rea, was it?”

“Yes.”

“Right, Rea. Thank you for your sincere advice. I almost forgot the most important thing.”

Right after that, the Saint’s body, which had been almost sitting in front of the child until now, gradually rose.

At this, Rea herself, as well as Iris and Adrian, also rose to bid farewell to the Saint, but.

Grab

“Well, since I need to relieve Lord Lua’s fatigue. Would you mind leaving now?”

Because she so naturally grabbed the child’s hand and pulled her towards herself.

She was so surprised that she couldn’t understand what was happening.

However, just a few seconds later, when she made eye contact with the child.

Shake shake

Once again, due to the child’s expression that she would somehow resolve this herself, Rea had no choice but to swallow the words that had risen to the tip of her tongue.

Soon after, with a somewhat awkward smile, the small mouth opened.

‘I’m. Fine.’

She conveyed the message with her mouth, silently mouthing that everything would be fine and there was no need to worry.

And so, the small shadow finally disappeared into the distance with the Saint.

Although Rea herself had to eventually turn away due to Adrian and Iris gesturing that they should go back now…

“…If anything happens to Lua, I’ll blow up the temple or whatever else.”

“S-Surely not… She probably just wants to spend time with a close younger sibling she hasn’t seen in a while.”

“That’s right, it’s the Saint of all people. How could anything happen?”

Because she couldn’t help but worry about the child.

She couldn’t be reassured by the somewhat comforting words of Iris and Adrian, who were surprised by her uncharacteristically rough mutterings. Not at all.

If even a single strand of the child’s hair was disturbed, she would drop huge meteors on this city.

“S-Senior, when someone who can actually do that says such things, it doesn’t sound like a joke…”

“It’s 100 percent serious.”

“…Ahaha…”

Twitch

“…Huh?”

It began when she noticed the energy of the sacred artifact she had given to the child long ago gradually getting closer.

At first, she concluded it was just a momentary illusion due to having missed the child terribly lately.

However, it seemed fine to at least check.

“Karl.”

“Yes, Saint.”

“There’s something I’d like you to check for me. Is that okay?”

She called one of the people who were always on standby at the temple to check whether her earlier illusion was truly an illusion.

Not long after that, the answer conveyed by Karl, who had returned, was coincidentally.

“The students from Itar Academy have just arrived, it seems. Along with one child.”

“…A child?”

“Yes. They were completely wrapped in a robe, so I couldn’t see clearly, but by any measure, it wasn’t the size of an adult.”

It meant that Daina’s illusion was actually not an illusion.

Right after that, her heart began to beat faster.

So, she sent someone to the guests who had just arrived in the Holy Kingdom to find out if there was anyone with the name Lua.

No, she strongly instructed them to somehow bring that person to the temple, certain they would be there.

On top of that, the energy of the sacred artifact that felt stronger as time passed.

The news that a total of four guests, including the child, had been brought to the temple was conveyed after about an hour had passed.

At this, it was only natural that her footsteps toward the room where the guests were waiting gradually quickened.

However, upon finally reuniting with someone she thought she would never meet again, she felt she might not be able to control her emotions.

“…Everyone out.”

She somehow hid her disheveled appearance, unbecoming of a Saint, by making everyone except the guests leave the room.

After that, she let flow what she had been forcibly holding back.

“I, I… missed you…”

“Ah… Yes, me too.”

What followed was a story about what had happened after she parted with the child long ago.

She added that she had been working hard to become an ideal Saint until this moment, trying to elicit praise from the child.

Sure enough, the sight of the child showing the same bright smile that Daina knew and saying it was amazing.

…Was that why?

Instead of asking why the child had come all this way, she simply concluded that the child had come wanting to be with her.

Along with her reason that had somehow completely stopped functioning, she also couldn’t bear the thought of parting again with the child she had reunited with after such difficulty.

However, before the conversation about the child’s asylum could fully conclude, it was interrupted by the interference of a woman named Rea.

“…Rea, was it?”

“Yes.”

“Right, Rea. Thank you for your sincere advice. I almost forgot the most important thing.”

She decided to continue the conversation in a more quiet and private place and stood up.

As expected, the child once again did not shake off the hand that held her.

And so, she took the child to a deeper part of the temple.

Rustle

She began preparations to relieve the child’s fatigue by loosening both her own and the child’s attire one layer at a time.

At this, the child, whose face had become flushed, was literally at a loss, but either way, there’s no more certain method to eliminate fatigue than soaking the body in warm water, so.

“You might not have known, but the temple’s bath is filled with hot spring water that has various benefits. And, since we’re both women anyway, you don’t need to be so embarrassed.”

“…………….”

If someone were to ask her if there truly were no other purposes… well.

The truth is known only to the Goddess, besides herself.

As always.