episode_0022

Even while climbing the mountain…

Baron Fletcher continued to ponder.

‘Chris made the wrong choice.’

As expected.

Perhaps it was as Baron Fletcher had intended.

Baron Fletcher has seen his son try to run without stopping, without a day off. I was so worried about my son.

So much so that I even dreamed of Chris dying from overwork.

So, instead of running, I tried to teach him how to walk…

however-.

‘… ‘Something is strange.’

Is it close to instinct? It was ominous.

The constant feeling of nausea may be a sign of that. It could just be that the rice I ate before went bad, but…

It was so ominous.

first-.

Leave this ominousness behind. I wanted to let Chris know.

It is good to hurry, but you must save your life.

Hiking at night like this is never a good choice. If you happen to encounter bandits or a strange group, you could be in big trouble. The chances of meeting again are slim, but if you meet a monster, a disaster could occur.

I tried to tell this to Chris.

But for a moment-.

Jack, the mercenary hired for this trip.

Jack came to visit Baron Fletcher.

“Hmm? Why did you come to see me?”

“Baron… Something is strange.”

Jack speaks with a serious expression. He also felt ominous.

“What do you mean?”

“There is no sound of the animal at all.”

Baron Fletcher perked up his ears at Jack’s words.

In a quiet forest -.

It wasn’t that the animal’s cries were not heard at all. Sounds from far away were clearly audible.

but-.

There was no sound of any animal nearby.

It was silence itself.

‘It’s just as Jack said.’

This phenomenon was certainly strange.

A strangely quiet place -.

Maybe this was the reason for the ominous feeling I felt earlier.

Jack said to Baron Fletcher:

“I think I should stop here and look around.”

Baron Fletcher’s thoughts were just as Jack had said. I felt the need to stop and check my surroundings.

but-.

Instead of nodding, Baron Fletcher said something else.

“Jack, isn’t there someone you should tell more about than me?”

His role in this commercial trip was closer to that of a supervisor rather than a person in charge. A proctor testing his son. Therefore, his son’s choice was more important than his own choice.

And Baron Fletcher wanted his son to learn a lot from this incident.

For that reason, I passed the choice over to Chris.

“Are you talking to someone I should tell more about than the Baron…? ? ah! Dear Chris?”

“Yes. I am not the one responsible for this matter.”

At Baron Fletcher’s words, Jack turned to Chris, who was in the lead.

***

Captain of the escort mercenaries, Jack.

He came to see me.

“Well, Chris, I have something to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“It seems strange. I think it would be a good idea to stop and look around.”

hmm-.

I thought about it for a moment.

To be honest, I didn’t want to delay even a little bit of time. If you continue like this, there is a high possibility that you will be late for your target time.

but-.

There must be a reason why Jack says this.

It was a bit much to ignore the words of Jack, who had a lot of experience. Still, if I stop, it will be late… .

My mind became a mess.

We have to hurry… It has to be that way… I had to stop-.

In the end, I had no choice but to do as Jack said.

“Then, let’s camp here.”

I reached the halfway point of the mountain…

I sighed without realizing it.

This test failed -.

It was also my wrong choice.

but… .

‘Then, even if I went back, it was a failure, and even if I didn’t climb the mountain, it was a failure.’

I felt unfair for no reason.

Should I say that fate is tormenting me?

anyway-.

I chose to camp -.

At that moment, my father came to see me.

And he told me.

“In times like this, camping is important, but it is better to come down the mountain as quickly as possible.”

“Why?”

Jack said it was strange…

You can’t ignore the words of the mercenary leader, who must have a lot of experience.

“It is better to come down the mountain slowly and camp there.”

“Yes?”

“Mountains are dangerous places. Especially in the mountains at night… Take a look around.”

Even though there were torches, it was dark.

It feels like a torch only lights up the surroundings.

Eventually, I realized the reason.

Shadows created by torches. The shadows were making the surroundings darker.

“In the mountains, torches only brighten our surroundings. However, if we go down to an open space, it brightens up not only our surroundings but also a fairly wide area.”

“That’s right.”

This is my mistake.

My head naturally nodded.

“But for now, as Jack said, it would be a good idea to stop for a moment and check the surroundings.”

“Yes, father. Well then, please do me a favor. Jack!”

I asked Jack.

Is there anything wrong with the surroundings?

***

“Saint, you must be sincere.”

“I’m serious… . Honestly, I don’t know.”

Lenia could not understand Archbishop Porsipia’s words.

Divine power.

It becomes stronger when you put it sincerely.

Renia couldn’t understand those words.

What on earth is sincerity? To be honest, I don’t even believe in God…

In fact, Lenia could not even tell Archbishop Porsipia that she did not really believe in God. The saint doesn’t believe in God.

Isn’t this something to be respectful of?

but-.

Someday, really someday, there may come a day when I will truly believe in God.

I had hope.

“Umm… I’ll try my best!”

So, I finished training my sacred power.

Lenia had a short conversation with Archbishop Porsipia.

“But Master, I have two questions.”

Before we knew it, Archbishop Porsipia’s title had changed from ‘Archbishop’ to ‘Master’.

“What are you curious about?”

“That… No one calls me Renia. Why is that?”

Until now-.

Renia was only called ‘Saint’.

No one called Renia ‘Renia’. Renia suddenly became curious about that.

Archbishop Porsipia spoke with a slightly troubled expression.

“That… Did you know that those who belong to the religious order do not give their family names?”

“Yes!”

Among the clergy of the denomination -.

No one gave a separate family name. There is just a name.

“That is the act of entrusting one’s family name to God. But a saint is a bigger concept than that. This means that not only your family name but also your name is entrusted to God.”

“Yes… ? however… I… You’re not a saint yet.”

Looking at Renia, who was visibly depressed,

Porsipia couldn’t even bring herself to say those words.

‘Actually, it’s also to keep the saint in check in the church… .’

In any case, the saint may have other feelings.

So, not only the family name but also the name.

It was about hiding everything. As if she were a person who never existed and was born only as a ‘saint.’

“… Hehe, if you defeat the Demon King, your role as a saint will end! what… As long as it lasts, it’ll be okay! You will be called Renia a lot later!!!”

“Yes… ? yes… .”

“That’s right! I have another question, what kind of person are you?”

Renia recalled the hero she had glimpsed.

Cold eyes and short silver hair. Unlike Albert’s dull gray, it was a slightly brighter color. And he was short for a man.

A somewhat androgynous beauty.

This was the hero Renia saw.

“You seem like a very cold person on the outside… yes! You said Master brought you here! What kind of person were you?”

Archbishop Porsipia thought of a warrior.

“You’re a bit of a picky person, but… Everyone will do that.”

“Yes? Why?”

“That’s right, we took away someone who was living peacefully just like the saint.”

At that moment, Renia felt some kind of kinship with the hero.

“And despite his appearance, he seems to be a very delicate person. It looks like a woman… .”

Archbishop Porsipia brought his face closer to Lenia.

“Actually, this is a secret, but this time the hero is a woman.”

“Yes… !?”

“You were very surprised, right?”

“Yes!”

On the outside, he looked a little short and handsome for a man.

Renia thought of the hero once again. When I thought about it assuming that it was a woman, it definitely seemed like it was a woman.

Archbishop Porsipia prayed to Lenia.

“But you should never tell this to others. It’s not really a secret, but it’s what the warrior himself wants.”

“Yes! I will absolutely keep your secret!”

Renia thought.

‘if… ‘Do you think it’s possible to become friends with the warrior?’

If it were a man, he would have felt some reluctance for some reason.

Because she’s a woman…

Having said that, Renia wanted to become friends with the hero.

.

.

.

The saint’s residence.

Thanks to the preferential treatment given to her because she was a saint, it was a pretty nice room.

That plan-.

Renia wiped away tears alone.

“… It’s hard.”

Although I didn’t show it.

… It was hard.

What is especially difficult is-.

It was the fact that I couldn’t see the people I wanted to see.

For reasons that would interfere with the saint’s training, not only Chris but also Count Ruber could not meet Rhenia.

The only communication is letters.

Still, Renia decided to cheer up.

“Yes, it will only be a moment. It just takes a moment.”

If we compare human life… .

Defeating the Demon King is truly a momentary task.

If I can just hold on for this moment, a happy time with Chris awaits me. Renia braced herself like that.

and-.

“I’m serious… .”

suddenly-.

I thought of a way to express my sincerity. Just like Chris did.

Renia knelt down.

Then I clasped my hands, closed my eyes, and began to pray.

“Please bless Chris’ future.”

Let Renia pray-.

Around Renia.

A bright light leaked out from around it.

In this way, Renia was able to pray with sincerity for the first time.