episode_0120

Chapter 120 – Face-to-Face

“Ruan! Are you awake?”

The first thing to greet me as I opened my eyes was Isis, her eyes red-rimmed.

“Sister-nim…”

“Yes! It’s me! Isis. Do you recognize me?”

“…I don’t have amnesia.”

“Still, you never know! Are you hurt anywhere?”

Anyone who saw her would think I was a critically ill patient about to kick the bucket.

I definitely had no injuries before I lost consciousness, so did they find something wrong along the way?

“What did the priests say?”

“They said there was nothing wrong. …Even the Saintess-nim came by yesterday and said you were fine.”

“Then there’s no problem. Ugh!”

“Stay still! Don’t overexert yourself!”

As I tried to exert force to raise my upper body, Isis quickly pressed down on my chest.

Thanks to that, our faces drew a little closer.

I chuckled, seeing her already flushed face turn even redder, then reached out and plucked a curly hair stuck to her mouth.

“What are you carrying around?”

“Huh? Oh, th-this is…”

She visibly flinched in embarrassment when I showed her the hair.

It was black and quite short. It was thick and curly, so it didn’t look like head hair.

Usually, this kind of hair is found in two places…

‘Well, it must be armpit hair.’

I couldn’t bring myself to think that Isis, who was worrying about me like this, had just come from sucking someone’s dick.

However, there was one strange thing.

Whether she shaved or had no hair, Isis’s armpits were always smooth and hairless.

I’d checked before, when she showed me her chest in the snowy mountains.

I felt a strange sense of unease.

As I stared at the hair with a serious expression, Isis quickly snatched it away.

“L-let’s talk instead of looking at that.”

“Talk?”

“Yes. The note you left for me.”

“Ah, that?”

I had called Isis, then written a memo and stuck it on my chest before falling asleep.

Only one thing was written there.

It was a request to make it seem like both I and the Saintess had been subdued by succubi in the common area, and that the student council intervened to rescue us.

It was a request to thoroughly hide my actions.

“Why did you make such a request?”

And Isis couldn’t understand my decision.

“There are circumstances.”

“So what are those circumstances? Can’t you even tell your sister?”

Isis, who would normally let things go, was quite persistent this time.

That meant it was serious.

But, unfortunately, I couldn’t tell her the truth.

“…I’m sorry.”

“Does the Saintess-nim know?”

“Huh? The Saintess-nim?”

“Yes. Does the Saintess-nim know?”

Why was the Saintess suddenly brought up?

Puzzled, I couldn’t help but let out an incredulous laugh.

“How could she? The Saintess-nim was unconscious just like me. I just woke up. There was no time to tell her.”

“Really? Then will you tell her when you meet her next?”

“…No. I can’t tell her. Especially not the Saintess-nim.”

‘I forcibly defiled you to save you.’

Anyone who could say that would be either trash or an idiot.

Of course, the kind Saintess would likely forgive me if I explained the full circumstances, but that would be like repaying a kindness with hostility.

I simply couldn’t bring myself to do it.

Perhaps my firm answer pleased her, as Isis’s lips twitched and she nodded.

“I see. Alright. If it’s that important, then it can’t be helped.”

“By the way, what happened after I fainted? Were all the Dark Cultists captured?”

Since I had confirmed that the cultists had infiltrated the academy, the cult and the academy must have taken action.

Isis’s expression hardened at my question.

“I don’t know if all of them were, but some were captured. However, when we tried to interrogate them, they suddenly had seizures and turned into monsters. Because of that, we couldn’t delve deeper.”

“There was a restriction on them.”

“That’s right. They didn’t even seem to know it themselves. They were all just pawns.”

That meant they were treated as disposable from the start, as they could be exposed at any time.

I had one question.

‘Why didn’t Meloni have a seizure?’

Though the method was quite different, I also attempted interrogation using pain.

She should have had a seizure, but she remained relatively normal until I personally intervened.

I wondered what the difference was.

‘Could it be because of the Flame of Purity?’

At the time, Meloni’s mana channels were entirely occupied by the Flame of Purity.

If that was why the restriction couldn’t activate, then it might be somewhat explainable.

‘The Saintess might know.’

I should ask her in a roundabout way.

“Sister-nim. Has the Saintess-nim woken up yet?”

“…Yes. Why, are you worried?”

“Of course I’m a little worried. Should I go meet her?”

You pull the horn while the iron is hot [a proverb about striking while the iron is hot], so I immediately sat up, threw off the blanket, and put my feet down off the bed.

Then Isis, with a sulky expression again, put my feet back on the bed, covered me with the blanket, and gently laid me down.

“Don’t overexert yourself. Just stay still.”

“No, I’m really fine, though?”

“Still, no. …Instead, we can just call the Saintess-nim. She even came by yesterday and asked us to call her when you woke up.”

“Oh, really? Then please do.”

She should have said something earlier if that was the case.

When I smiled and made the request, happy at the news, Isis made a small additional demand.

“…That’s not enough. Do it with aegyo.”

“Excuse me?”

“Quickly. Do it.”

Am I perhaps the type that gets along well with older women?

Both Meloni and Isis seemed to want to hear my aegyo.

What’s so good about a grown man acting cute… I decided to fulfill my personal desires under the guise of aegyo.

I pulled Isis closer.

I held her small female body fully in my arms and inhaled her fragrant scent.

“Ah! Ru-Ruan?”

I whispered into Isis’s startled ear.

“Sister-nim.”

“Uh, huh?”

“Please. I only have you, Sister-nim. You know that, right?”

“Uh, *eugh*…!”

It seemed my aegyo had successfully worked. Not only Isis’s ears but also her neck were turning bright red. The skin I touched felt hot.

After enjoying the sensation of the female body for a moment, I let go, and Isis hurriedly scrambled away from the bed.

“I-I’ll go call the Saintess-nim. Wait here. Alright?”

“Yes. Take your time.”

I waved goodbye.

And about five minutes later, the door opened and the Saintess appeared.

“Young Master Ruan! You’ve woken up!”

“Yes. It’s good to see you. How are you, Saintess-nim? Is your body alright?”

“I’m perfectly fine! There was a *slight* problem, but it’s nothing serious!”

Now that I think about it, I remember that the womb tattoo on the Saintess’s lower abdomen hadn’t disappeared.

‘She must be going through a lot.’

In my case, I knew what had happened to the Saintess, so I didn’t care, but for a normal man, seeing a womb tattoo would immediately bring promiscuous thoughts to mind.

Only women who had truly hit rock bottom usually had womb tattoos.

I smiled bitterly.

“Well, if that’s the case, then it’s a relief.”

“More importantly, Young Master Ruan! About that promise we made earlier?”

“Promise?”

“Yes. Your ch– *Mmph! Mmmphph?*”

Was this woman trying to kill someone?!

I quickly clapped my hand over the Saintess’s mouth, who was about to mention ‘chest’.

“Shh! Quiet!”

My eyes were directed behind the Saintess.

Isis was there, observing us with sharp eyes.

Her mouth opened.

“Ruan? What promise?”

“Ah, actually, when she helped with this matter, I asked her to grant me one wish! Who knows, I might need the Saintess-nim’s help someday!”

“Is that so? But I thought I heard ‘chest’ just now?”

“Not at all? Chest? She must have been talking about a promise made in front of a humidifier. Right? Saintess-nim?”

When I gave her a fierce look, the Saintess finally understood the situation and nodded submissively.

But Isis’s gaze was still sharp.

“Really? It’s not something like, if you help with this, I’ll let you touch my chest, is it?”

“Of course not. How could I possibly touch the Saintess-nim’s chest? I don’t want to be caught by the Inquisitor.”

“…Really? Alright. If you say so, it must have been my imagination. Continue your conversation.”

If she was going to tell us to continue our conversation, couldn’t she just leave first?

My mouth was itching to retort, but I swallowed it, fearing that the suspicion I had barely managed to quell would resurface. I obediently complied.

The Saintess and I changed the subject and began to make small talk.

*

“Thank you! Thank you, Saintess-nim!”

Another person left, and silence descended upon the confessional.

The Saintess got up and stretched.

“Ugh…! My body feels stiff lately. Am I lacking exercise?”

But even so, she hadn’t gained any weight. Besides, her lack of exercise only amounted to a few days of missing her daily martial arts training.

Tilting her head, she sat back down in the chair.

Then she took out a martial arts book from the drawer behind her and began to read it again.

“Hmm… Is this the feeling?”

She moved only her hands while seated, imitating the movements described in the book. She analyzed the hidden secrets within them and made them her own.

It was a talent that would make Ruan speechless if he saw it.

With her beautiful appearance, large breasts, and being a Saintess while also possessing top-tier martial arts talent, it was no exaggeration to say she had received all the blessings in the world.

As the Saintess diligently studied the book, she suddenly thought of Ruan.

The day after he regained consciousness, she went to him again and, when they were alone, she tried to fulfill their promise. But he, who had been making all sorts of advances about ‘just a taste’ and so on, suddenly seemed to avoid it when the time came.

She had wondered if he was sick and checked him, but there was nothing wrong.

In the end, she agreed to grant him a wish, and the promise was considered null and void.

“It’s strange, you know?”

What could be the reason for his sudden change of mind?

The way he looked at her with a subtly guilty expression was also suspicious.

But no matter how much she pondered, no answer would come. She was originally weak at deduction, and the given clues were simply too few.

Just as she decided to give up and refocus on the book, a new visitor arrived.

*Clank!*

The door opened and closed.

And then silence.

The Saintess waited for the visitor to speak, then opened her mouth just in case.

“Brother or Sister? Are you there?”

“……”

“Hello?”

She called again and again, but there was no answer.

It seemed they had just opened the door and left. Sometimes there were such people. They would finally gather the courage to knock on the confessional door, only to get cold feet at the last minute and run away.

The Saintess pouted, assuming this was another such case.

“Tsk! How could they come all this way and do that? I don’t hear confessions every day, so they missed their chance!”

“…Saintess-nim.”

“They’ll regret it forever… Oh, oh?! You, you were here?”

The Saintess, muttering and complaining, was startled by the voice from across the room.

She let out a sheepish laugh and quickly changed the subject.

“W-what brings you here? If you have any sins, confess them all!”

“……I committed a great sin against my benefactor recently.”

“Against your benefactor?”

“Yes. I did something I should never have done.”

The voice was very serious.

He already understood how grave his sin was and was deeply remorseful.

This perfectly matched the image of the visitor she had hoped for when she first began hearing confessions.

The Saintess smiled warmly.

“Why did you sin against your benefactor?”

“…It was a situation where I had no choice.”

“You had no choice but to commit a sin?”

“Yes. My benefactor’s physical condition was precarious. For his sake, I had to commit the sin.”

The Saintess wore a puzzled expression.

The visitor was extremely reluctant to reveal the specific sin.

Since she couldn’t know the exact nature of the sin, she couldn’t deduce the situation, and in the end, she could only give a very common-sense answer.

“Then, how about telling your benefactor the truth? If you are truly remorseful, they will forgive you.”

“…Perhaps so. My benefactor is too kind. They would easily forgive me. But I cannot do that.”

“You cannot forgive yourself?”

“I haven’t thought about that. But… Yes. I cannot forgive myself. Because I will have to continue committing sins in the future.”

This was truly a difficult problem.

It was clear that he would be a criminal who would continue to commit sins in the future, so she wondered if it was right to immediately apprehend him.

While contemplating, the Saintess suddenly realized that the voice sounded familiar.

‘I’ve heard that voice before.’

However, since she couldn’t recall it immediately, it wasn’t frequent, but one encounter must have been quite impressive to stick in her memory.

Calmly sifting through her memories, the Saintess soon realized his identity.

“You!”

It was definitely the Thigh Villain’s voice!

The sexual harasser she hadn’t caught back then had come to the confessional again.

Quickly standing up and rushing out, the Saintess grabbed the doorknob on the visitor’s side but then flinched, feeling that he wasn’t moving at all.

“…Why aren’t you running away?”

“Should I run away?”

“Aren’t you the sexual harasser from that time?”

“……”

The other person was silent, but the Saintess knew it meant affirmation.

“I don’t understand your thoughts. Why did you come back?”

“…To confess my sins.”

“Is that all?”

“Yes. If I don’t unburden myself like this, I cannot move forward. I must not stop. I must keep running endlessly.”

His voice conveyed self-loathing and a strong hatred directed at someone.

Before him, the Saintess found herself unable to question his sins.

Weakly letting go of the doorknob, the Saintess returned to her original seat.

“I won’t catch you.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. You are living in endless torment. You are already paying for your sins. Therefore, there’s no need to catch you.”

“…Indeed, Saintess-nim, you are too kind.”

“Hmph! Praising me is useless. Now, hurry and leave. And don’t ever come back!”

“Understood. Thank you.”

With a word of thanks, the other person stood up and left.

Left alone, the Saintess gripped the rosary placed on her chest with both hands and offered a prayer for him.

“Oh, Goddess. Watch over this lamb.”

May he not despair.