episode_0217

“Huh?”

What is this person saying?

The first emotion that came to mind when the proposal to join the hero party came out of Gyetmajo Seyegiwat’s mouth was, of course, ‘bewilderment’.

Just a moment ago, I thought he understood my refusal to join the hero party, but I never expected him to suddenly come up with such an unreasonable condition.

“That, that’s ridiculous!”

“I said that’s the minimum condition I can agree to. If you can’t even accept this, then I won’t cooperate with your plans. In fact, I might even actively interfere.”

“No way…!! If I were really desperate, I would consider it, but this condition is just absurd! As the 25th player, I know better than anyone that once you join the hero party at the ‘Luminor Academy’, you’re stuck for at least a few years. Trying to drag someone in like a water ghost…!”

Even if I were to be hit on the head with a gun, no, an energy bolt, joining the hero party was out of the question.

I struggled to survive as Release, partly to avoid being overwhelmed by Ethan’s pig-like behavior, but also to prevent myself from getting involved in the main storyline of the academy and ending up in the hero party.

At that time, I thought there wouldn’t be much difference between being overwhelmed by Ethan or being hit by a hero, and getting involved with another man to avoid the future where I would be overwhelmed by a man was not even an option in my survival strategy.

But after going through all that trouble to avoid Ethan’s assault route and the hero party route, now being asked to join the hero party again? It was absolutely impossible.

“Are you using my body as your target?! Maybe you’re mistaken, but just because I join the hero party doesn’t mean I’ll let you do as you please like in the game…”

“Don’t misunderstand. I’m not particularly interested in your body, and I’m not trying to disrupt your future life plans. I just need you to join the hero party if I can’t awaken Cerista as a saint.”

“Even without me, Cerista is destined to awaken as a saint anyway, so why do you need to take me along just to clear the game…?”

“I’ve read the walkthrough, so I know that much. But that’s only the story when there’s no real saint like you.”

“…What?”

“For Cerista to awaken, it should be around the latter part of Part 4, which means it’s almost five years from now. Do you think it’s possible for you to be labeled as a fake saint because of you during those five years and still be able to participate in the hero party properly?”

I was momentarily speechless at Gyetmajo Seyegiwat’s words. I probably hadn’t thought that far ahead…

“And if during that process Cerista’s faith weakens or is influenced and she can’t awaken as a saint? Or even worse, if there’s a high possibility of that happening. If a ‘real saint’ exists from the beginning, there wouldn’t even be a belief that she has to become a saint.”

“That, that’s…”

“And even if Cerista’s faith remains unchanged until the end and she endures for five years, what about the shame of being called a fake saint all that time? Do you think a simple apology or two would be enough to handle it?”

“That, that’s obviously not enough…”

…Perhaps deep down, I had been denying it without even realizing it. Even though I vaguely sensed that Serista wouldn’t be able to become a Saint based solely on her beliefs if I were to become one, my subconscious might have intentionally avoided thinking about it because it was disadvantageous to me.

In the game, even after Serista awakened, she was able to do so because her conviction that she could become a Saint herself was already firm at that point.

On the other hand, in the current situation where she is not yet mentally mature, even if I were to witness her truly becoming a Saint, it would be almost impossible for her to become one on her own, no matter how closely I followed the original story.

“But, you see…”

“Hmm?”

“If I were to join your party after awakening, Serista’s status as a fake Saint would inevitably be revealed. It’s something that can’t be avoided even if I were to join the Hero’s party, so wouldn’t it be better to prevent the awakening altogether?”

“Actually, I would like to do that, but it’s better than you dying. It would be uncomfortable later on if I knew someone was dying and couldn’t prevent it.”

“Well, I guess that makes sense.”

“And even though I’m cooperating with you by not killing MacHeart right now because he might be useful for the story later, if your decision ends up hindering the game’s progress, I won’t be able to cooperate. Also, if you were to join the Hero’s party, there would be a way to protect Serista from disgrace.”

“…Huh?”

What does me joining the Hero’s party have to do with protecting Serista from disgrace?

As I momentarily pondered the story I couldn’t follow, an explanation followed as if it were obvious.

“First of all, just by being with Serista, she can continue to pretend to be the ‘real Saint.’ Anyway, to ordinary people, only the sacred aura of holiness will be felt, and in a group of people, they won’t be able to distinguish where it’s coming from.”

“Even if ordinary people are deceived like that, what about church-related events? Shouldn’t we visit the church a few times because of Serista?”

“…We should be careful with those events. Still, with the help of the high-ranking priests who crowned Serista as a Saint, hiding her won’t be impossible.”

“…”

“More importantly, the reason I want to put you in the Hero’s party is to protect you until the end, even if Serista’s status as a fake Saint is revealed.”

“How?”

“If you were to be active in the Hero’s party with me and at some point it’s revealed that you were the Saint, and that Serista was a fake, let’s assume.”

“…Okay.”

“In that case, Serista will naturally face criticism. They’ll say she pretended to be a Saint by selling the honor of the Saint when she wasn’t one.”

“Well, that makes sense.”

“If that situation were to arise, all you have to do is say one thing. ‘Serista was just someone who took on the role of a fake Saint to protect me from the threat of assassination by the demons.’ If you say that, Serista won’t receive unnecessary criticism, and instead, she’ll be treated as a brave girl who risked her life to protect you.”

“…Oh!”

After listening to the explanation up to this point, I could only now understand why Gyeommyeojoshegwi wanted to put me in the Hero’s party.

It wasn’t just a simple reason of needing a Saint, but rather, he was concerned not about the power of the Saint from the beginning, but about Serista herself as a priestess.

On the contrary, rather than the need for a saint in the final strategy, it was the thought of Cerista that made him suddenly look different. I thought he was just a warrior on the outside and a carefree guy on the inside, but surprisingly, he seemed particularly like a true warrior in his consciousness.

“And if you want to use the excuse that Cerista played your role, then of course you have to join the party with me and participate in activities together. Just setting up a stand-in and not having the saint herself do the work will obviously look like a rushed excuse.”

“Oh, um. I understood what you meant earlier. I was just a little surprised…”

“What were you surprised about?”

“I just thought I was only focusing on the game strategy with the intention of returning to my original world, but surprisingly, I was amazed that I was paying attention to people like Cerista.”

“…It can’t be helped. Cerista is someone who, despite knowing that she is a fake saint, still goes out of her way to help me, so I should do as much as I can for her. The same goes for Silena and Seraphine.

While I can protect the suspicion of being a fake saint as long as I’m around, I still have to create an environment where Cerista can feel at ease even after I return to my original world.”

…He’s so determined like this, so if I were to say, “I can’t do that after all,” it would be an irresponsible act.

I didn’t intend to become such a shameless person, no matter what. Anyway, what I’m about to do is to increase the possibility of Cerista being revealed as a fake saint, so it seemed morally right for me to take that responsibility.

It might just be a few years of hardship for me, but my choice could be a lifetime of suffering for Cerista. And if I make a mistake, it could lead to more than just a lifetime of humiliation, but also the possibility of facing the consequences of impersonating a saint.

With those thoughts in mind, I couldn’t help but make a firm decision.

“Alright, I’ll do that much so that I won’t feel sorry for Cerista.”

“Don’t say you have other things to do after everything is over.”

“Don’t say that. I’m also in a situation where I need help to survive, so I’m not the kind of person who would run away in such a situation, right?”

“It’s not ‘person,’ it’s ‘woman,’ right?”

“…Well, anyway.”

“Keep your promise. If it seems like Cerista won’t awaken as a saint, then Lelis, you will join the warrior party.”

“Got it. If it seems like Cerista won’t awaken as a saint, then I will join the warrior party…”

-Swish, thud!

“…Ah, no…!!”

“Going in… like this…?”

“…Cerista?”

“T-That, that, that’s not allowed!! No matter how much you’re Lelis, I-I can’t hand over someone as important as a warrior to you!!”

“….”

“….”

In the midst of a heated conversation, both the warrior and I were suddenly silenced by Cerista’s unexpected outburst.

…Wait, where did she overhear this from?