episode_0104

Whether Aria’s words about not leaving her alone were too irritating or not at all frightening, Eli mocked Aria. Aria let out a deep sigh, then twirled her staff and spoke.

“….First, you’re listening through the ears of people enchanted by the Siren’s song, and speaking through echoes. And second, while I don’t know your exact location… I will definitely find you. Even your location.”

“….Go on. Try to take Mister away, even if it means killing all these people. Of course… you know you’ll have to bear the responsibility for that too, right?”

As soon as Eli challenged her, countless people rushed at Aria. Eli, hearing this from afar, trembled all over and then grinned, muttering.

“Yes…. That’s how you kill people, Saintess…. That’s your true nature. Cackling…. You’re dancing in the palm of my hand…. Hahaha…. Hahahahahaha!!”

“Muffled cries!! Stifled gasps!!”

“….Ah, Mister. Is that gag very uncomfortable for you? Well then, there’s no helping it. I’ll take it off for a moment~ I want to keep talking to you too~”

I kept trying to say something, but the gag prevented me from speaking, making me frustrated. Eli smiled brightly and pulled the gag from my mouth. I breathed raggedly, and Eli, seeing my appearance, grinned and said.

“Heheheh… Mister, you might not know this, but… the Saintess has started to act… and she’s going to kill people just as I wished…. How is it, Mister? Aren’t you happy that my plan is progressing smoothly? Heheheh….”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Eli… At this point in time… your plan has already failed.”

When I told her that her plan had effectively failed, Eli’s grinning expression changed dramatically. Eli lowered herself, looked at my face from below with a serious expression, and then sighed deeply, speaking.

“Haaa…. Are you still holding onto hope, Mister? That’s what typical people who still believe in hope say, you know? Give up. That Saintess won’t change….”

“You wouldn’t know at all…. Because you were only focused on trapping me…. Because you’ve remained stagnant, you couldn’t possibly know about us…. Do you think Aria hasn’t changed?”

“Of course not. Mister, you might not have heard what the Saintess just said, but… the Saintess is trying to kill me, who separated you from her, just like before….”

“Ha… Eli…. You don’t know Aria at all. Of course not… You weren’t there to witness all that time… You’re the one who hasn’t changed, Eli. It’s not Aria who hasn’t changed since we parted ways in Alteon, it’s you.”

“What…?”

Eli was dumbfounded by my words that she was the one who hadn’t changed. Well… if Eli had continued to harbor such feelings, my words would be true…. But even if Eli didn’t know, I knew about Aria. That’s why I could speak with a confident voice, and Eli, seeing my serious expression, seemed a little flustered and took a step back.

“H-haha… Mister, what are you talking about? I haven’t changed? Is that a bad thing? My love for you hasn’t changed….”

“Aria hasn’t changed either. She’s still my companion who loves me fiercely. But you know… Aria has been gradually changing her way of thinking.”

“Changing her way of thinking?”

“If you don’t believe me, listen to what Aria is doing right now.”

At my words that Aria was gradually changing her way of thinking, Eli felt puzzled and flustered, and began to listen. At that moment, as a sound reached Eli’s ears, she was startled and began to tremble from the shock.

‘W-what…?! The Saintess is supposed to kill people… She’s supposed to kill everyone who gets in the way of her reaching Mister… Why don’t I hear the sound of people dying?! C-could it be….’

Eli realized that Aria wasn’t killing people, as she couldn’t hear the sound of people dying from afar. Her ears weren’t mistaken; Aria was actually subduing people by punching them or striking their legs with her staff to prevent them from standing up.

“I will heal you later. I’m sure Zeke-nim would tell me to heal you. So please endure the pain for a bit.”

‘….!! Is that what the Saintess is saying?! She just… said she’d heal them later?! That Saintess said something like that….’

“Your expression darkened, Eli? Aria isn’t killing people, she’s just subduing them, just as I thought, right?”

“….!!”

When I asked what Aria was doing, Eli’s expression became greatly flustered. Yes… in the past, Aria might have killed those people. But the current Aria is gradually changing her way of thinking, just as she spared Veronica, who was practically an enemy in the Kriton region. Well… Veronica was spared for a reason.

“Whatever you did to prevent Aria from finding this place, Aria will eventually find it. Aria hasn’t been slacking off all this time. Do you really think you can defeat Aria, who has grown more than she did in Alteon?”

“….Fufufu…. Mister, perhaps… you’re relieved to see that the Saintess isn’t killing people? You’re not happy thinking my plan has completely gone awry, are you?”

Suddenly, Eli grinned slightly and asked if I thought her plan had failed, which in turn flustered me. What is this…? Does that mean… she has another plan? As I wore a flustered expression, Eli stretched and loosened her body, then spoke to me.

“Hmph…. You know, Mister… I’ve thought a lot. I’ve devised many strategies and countermeasures to get you. I’m not sure if the Saintess will be able to find this place… but before that, I’ve already prepared various methods to shake her resolve. I’ve worked hard for you, as this is all for you.”

“….What?”

“First of all… the Saintess will absolutely not find this place. Only we know this place, and this place is a bit special to begin with, so the Saintess won’t easily find it. And… among the people being controlled, there are also skilled individuals capable of participating in the Last Point Tournament! The Saintess will find it hard to subdue even those people!!”

“!!!”

I was greatly astonished to realize that there were skilled individuals among the people Eli was controlling. If Aria were facing ordinary people, it might be different, but if they were adventurers, the situation would change completely. Aria was currently subduing or incapacitating people, but to think there were skilled individuals like adventurers among them… As I became greatly flustered, Eli finally seemed satisfied and said with a sweet smile.

“Heheheh… Well… there are various methods, but… I’m going to be busy now, Mister.”

“What?”

“Hmm~ To put it simply~ From now on~ The real battle between the Saintess and me will begin~ So I’ll focus on the Saintess for a bit, so don’t get lonely, okay?”

“W-what are you talking about, Eli?! Eli!!!”

Eli smiled brightly and, saying she had another method, turned and walked towards the window, and I shouted. Another method?! Thinking about it, Eli mentioned earlier that she made a deal with some being…. Whatever that being is, if it gave Eli the power to subdue Aria….!! Damn it…. Did I underestimate Eli too much?!

‘Damn it… Aria…!!!’

Whatever Eli was going to do, I felt with my whole body that it would harm Aria, and I worried for her. Meanwhile, Aria was knocking people down with her staff or striking one of their legs to prevent them from standing up.

“Hmm… I can easily subdue those with kitchen knives and those with clubs… but this will be a bit difficult.”

Aria, who had been subduing all the villagers, began to feel slightly flustered upon seeing the adventurers who appeared before her. She had easily subdued ordinary people, but realizing it would be difficult when skilled fighters arrived, Aria gritted her teeth.

‘This is bad. Something might happen to Zeke-nim like this…. I think I’ve been too complacent….’

“Saintess…. How do you like the gifts I prepared? With how you are now, you can kill these people, can’t you?”

At the moment Aria was contemplating how to break through this situation, Eli’s voice echoed through. Aria sighed deeply and then spoke to Eli, who was trying to provoke her into killing people.

“Yes. I can kill them. In the past, I wouldn’t have killed them unless Zeke-nim told me not to… but now, it’s the opposite; I’ll only kill people if Zeke-nim tells me to, so I won’t kill these people. However… you are an exception. To do things Zeke-nim would hate so brazenly….”

“Hmmmm… You know what… doesn’t that mean your love for Mister is weaker than my love?”

“Stop spouting nonsense. How can you even say that?”

When Eli said her love was stronger than Aria’s, Aria frowned and told her to stop talking nonsense. Then Eli’s laughter began to echo from afar, and Aria, realizing Eli was mocking her, frowned even deeper and said.

“What is that ridicule? What makes you so confident?”

“I can be confident looking at this situation!! Conversely, how can you be confident that this isn’t nonsense?! Your love shown in Alteon was strong enough to be wary of… but now you just have a weakened love!! Knowing that, I feel somewhat hollow, don’t you?! To think I considered such a woman my rival…. Cackling…”

“….Are you out of your mind?”

“No… you’re the one out of your mind, Saintess. Cackling…. That obsession, attachment, and possessiveness for Mister all made me uneasy… but now you’ve gone soft!”

“Shut up. It’s disgusting.”

Eli continued to belittle her, and Aria, truly disgusted, said with a serious expression. Eli grinned slightly and said to Aria.

“Then tell me? All this time, when other women fell for Mister… what did you do? Why didn’t you kill them?”

“Then Zeke-nim would be sad….”

“So? Is that important? What would you do if you lost Mister to other women? If it were me, the moment I knew there were women in the world who would fall for Mister, I would have imprisoned him. And I’m doing that now, aren’t I? With such a lack of resolve, how dare you claim to love Mister?”

“Because I knew Zeke-nim would be sad. Zeke-nim wouldn’t be able to explore….”

“That’s why you’ve become soft to that extent, Saintess. Just admit you got scared, why don’t you? Your resolve is truly remarkably lacking. Isn’t that right, Saintess!?”

“….”

Eli rebuked her, saying she was showing action while Aria was doing nothing, and Aria couldn’t answer. Indeed, she had merely watched Zeke from the side, without taking any action herself.

“All you can do is confess your feelings to Mister, but you can’t take any action. Do you think you’re worthy of loving Mister? That’s really funny… You want to monopolize Mister so badly, yet you can’t even take such action? And didn’t you do something else first before saving Mister earlier? Isn’t that proof your love for Mister has weakened?”

“….!!”

Eli, who already knew that Aria had saved Tiara on her way to save Zeke, mentioned that incident and said her love had weakened. Aria was startled and sealed her lips. Eli let out a chuckle and said.

“Ha! You’re really complacent, Saintess. To not think of Mister first. I feel like a fool for devising so many countermeasures to completely separate you. I never knew you’d become so incompetent! Were you just waiting all this time to receive Mister’s love? If Mister is taken by another woman before that, there’ll be no such thing! You, who can’t even realize that, aren’t worthy of loving Mister!!”

“Complacent…? I… became complacent…?”

Eli’s words held some truth, and Aria looked at her trembling hands and recalled everything that had happened so far. Then, as if acknowledging that Eli’s words were true, she was so shocked that her eyes trembled. Eli, seeing that Aria said nothing, grinned and said.

“Chuckling…. See? You have nothing to say, do you? That reason you’ve been denying all this time… it’s just because you were jealous of me, isn’t it? I show my love for Mister through action… but you only do it with words. I can make food or give gifts too. But you never even thought of going this far. How pathetic. Mister probably found you annoying deep down, too, right? Since you kept saying you loved him even though you didn’t really.”

“….Zeke-nim… might have found me… annoying…?”

Eli’s continuous verbal abuse seemed to affect her mind slightly. Aria kept her mouth shut tight, staring blankly at her trembling hands with a very flustered expression. At that moment, the people controlled by Eli began to approach Aria step by step, and Eli, judging the situation by sound, laughed and said.

“Being so complacent… you won’t gain anything, Saintess? Congratulations on your defeat in love. I hope you writhe in bitterness as you watch Mister and me live together in love from the afterlife~”

“Aria!!!”

As Eli spoke words that sounded like she was going to finish Aria, I urgently shouted. However, a large knight was already getting ready to strike down with his sword at Aria, who was absentmindedly staring at her hands, lost in thought. But Aria seemed too shocked to notice the knight’s presence. At that moment.

“Saintess-nim!!! Ignore Eli’s words!!!”

Riera’s urgent cry was heard from afar. But Aria seemed not to hear the voice, still staring blankly at her hands. Then Riera shouted again forcefully.

“You don’t even know Zeke-nim’s feelings, so you can’t give up already!!! Save Zeke-nim and confirm his feelings!! You can’t know before then!!”

“….!! Riera Unnie…. Don’t interfere…!!”

From afar, as Riera shouted with all her might to bring Aria back to her senses, Eli frowned and sent a villager holding a kitchen knife towards Riera. Riera was startled and instinctively closed her eyes.

“Aaaaaaah!!”

And at the moment she screamed, Riera felt something was amiss when nothing happened, and slowly opened her eyes. She saw Aria grab the arm of the person trying to attack her and throw them to the ground. Aria breathed raggedly, then turned her head towards her, and Riera called out to Aria in a trembling voice.

“Saintess-nim….”

“….I’m scared…. Of knowing Zeke-nim’s feelings…. When I think about it, at some point I stopped paying this much attention… but to suddenly care this much… it’s… scary… Was I really lacking…? Did Zeke-nim truly find me annoying…?”

As Aria became afraid to know Zeke’s feelings, Riera slowly approached Aria. She tightly grasped Aria’s hands, composed herself, and then spoke to Aria.

“….That’s how it is. I’m also curious… but also scared… of what others might feel. Others are probably the same… But, Saintess-nim, your faith can only become firm once you understand Zeke-nim’s heart, right? And… Zeke-nim is in an unfavorable situation right now. So please, go save him. That way, you can be said to be better than Eli.”

“….Yes.”

As Riera comforted her with an effort to smile, Aria closed her eyes tightly and replied. Riera then released Aria’s hands, and as Riera let go, Aria walked forward again. With both her fearful and devoted feelings for Zeke in her heart.