Chapter 33.1

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Chapter 33 – Part 1

“Are you alright?”

“Yes. Thank you.”

I tried to break free from his embrace, however, his firm hold on my waist refused to let me go.

Frey grabbed my hand and helped me get up then kissed the back of my hand.

He softly whispered as he smiled while his lips were buried in the back of my hand.

“It’s good that you were careless, Noona.”

“…….”

“What are you doing to Noonim!”

I was mesmerized as Frey seductively lowered his gaze and whispered softly, when suddenly Lisandro squealed.

Lisandro harshly pulled Frey’s shoulders and gently cut between us.

“Hey, stop it.”

“You assumed I did something, Lisandro.”

Lisandro clenched his teeth and whispered in a low growl.

“Do you think I’m blind?”

“Of course not.”

“…….”

Lisandro was again involved with Frey, who smiled and flatly denied it.

While watching the two from behind Lisandro’s reliable back, Millie clicked his tongue at my younger brother.

I brought the focus back casually.

“You two, don’t be so hot-headed. It’s not true.”

“Even if Noonim isn’t like that, they will believe it. You know very well what that means. It’s only in a moment that a lie becomes the truth.”

“…evil spirits.”

It was so low that I burst into laughter.

“Aside from taking extreme measures, I can think of ways to clear it up.”

I crossed my legs and rested my arm on the armrest of the sofa with my chin propped on my hand.

Lisandro faltered at the sight of me smiling suspiciously.

Frey was staring intently at me.

“…what. Don’t even think of getting into trouble.”

“Me?”

“Why not? They’re twins.”

That’s right. My little brother, your speaking skills have been getting better lately.

“What’s that method?”

“It’s simple. I’ll just show up and wave my wand. That alone will prove the rumors are false. They will be looking forward to what kind of performance it will be instead.”

My voice was out of the ordinary.

I had no plan to reveal everything, but if I gave them less, they would start talking nonsense about my weaknesses and of the evil spirits.

In order to calm the rumors without conflict, I must show them more concrete evidence.

But this wasn’t what I wanted.

I had been hiding because I didn’t want to be hailed as a Saint. However, if I do it, the opinion of the masses will clear up, but I’m just really, exhausted.

On the other hand, I knew that ‘then, please bless us with your powers in the future so that such rumors do not come out!’ would arise.

After becoming a Saint, and as a result of being passive, there were some people who still remained.

I might be forced to really commit and throw my life to the floor.

I don’t like it. I’d rather walk around like a madman because I’m possessed by an evil spirit.

…Oh? Wait. I think that’s a good idea?

And, Mother.

If I was Mother, I wouldn’t be able to come up with the same plan as I have now.

Even so, knowing that Mother was trying to solve this issue on her own without asking me anything, it was clear that she was trying to help me and respecting my wishes not to be a saint.

“What are you planning to do? Forget it. I’ll take care of it, so you just have to stay still. Mother said she will announce her position soon. I’m afraid she’s talking to the temple.”

He held my hand tightly, maybe terrified that I might really look like another saint.

“Noonim. Do you understand? Take that plan out of your head.”

“Who do you think I am? Do you think I am worthy to be a Saint?”

“What’s worthy to be a saint? What does a saint have?”

Trying to speak casually, he muttered a curse at people.

As he said, what does a saint possess anyway? A person becomes one because God has chosen them.

I wonder if he knows that the oracle given to a saint is freedom and liberation.

As I smiled, he held my hand more tightly.

“You’re acting strangely, Noonim. Have you taken something bad?”

“You’re the one who tasted it.”

I patted the back of his hand with a delighted expression on my face, and Frey narrowed his eyes as he looked at us with his chin in his hand.

“No matter what Noona thinks, the most important thing is you.”

His gentle tone was as sweet as putting my mind at ease.

“No matter what happens, it will never harm Noona. Yes?”

…Is he saying that I should never go outside, not seeing the sun, or does he believe in me that I can take care of it?

I couldn’t discern his meaning. Frey would sometimes express himself ambiguously, yet I’ve never asked him what he truly meant.

Even if I did, he wouldn’t answer.

And I added what I hadn’t said before.

“I forgot to tell you that Lord Verdo will escort me for a while.”

“What?”

“I wrote back to Sir Verdo to come whenever he wanted, except in the early morning.”

“Why, because you’re having breakfast? Tell him to come in the morning.”

“I can’t get up early.”

“So that’s why.”

This jerk…

First off, I have decided not to stop Mother. If I did, we would be the talk of the nobles.

I was left at home.

After roughly finishing the plan, I hurriedly let Frey and Lissandro out and prayed with all my might.

I needed to see Tino.

Whenever I wished to arrange a meeting, I reverently prayed, and Tino would show up, taking pity on me.

And when my earnest prayer ended, I would open my eyes and Tino would be right in front of me.

Tino would ask, even though I had not spoken. Because my prayer was a question.

[Why don’t you quit being a saint?]

“Yes. May I quit? With the current rumor circulating, even Tino knows about it, and it is part of the oracle, isn’t it?”

[I know. Does it trouble you? If you wish, I could appear in front of you in public and the rumors would dissipate.”

I shook my head at his suggestion. Tino was not just any animal, but a divine beast.

The moment I found out that I have a divine beast by my side, I knew that people targeting me as the saint would multiply.

There must be some reason for starting such useless rumors.

“I have no care for those rumors. I’d rather pretend to be possessed by an evil spirit.”

[…Pretend?]

I smiled softly as I wiped Tino’s chin while he followed me.

“But then, my family will be at risk too. I cannot let that happen. Which is why I let Mother take action.”

It is no lie that for me, my family is more important than the temple.

“By the way, Tino, since you came here from the new realm, would you like to go to the archery field with me? My skills have improved a lot.”

Rather than disturbing Lisandro and the others, who would be busy because of me, I wanted to shoot arrows with my improved skills to cool off.

Because I had nothing to do.

They wouldn’t refuse me, so I better not interrupt them.

Frey was involved in stopping the rumors, so if I sneaked out to meet Frey, Lisandro would follow me like a thread and a needle the moment he found out.

[I know your archery skills.]

“I’m doing my best, even if I can’t shoot as well as I did back then.”

We headed to the archery field as I carried Tino in my arms.

I still had the recollection from the modern day, but the memories before I reincarnated were frustratingly few.

Oddly enough, I can’t remember anything else since that day.

All I knew was that the reason he killed me and how this situation happened was because I was too ignorant of Lisandro.

As I gently frowned, Tino said,

[Whatever happened in the past, you are currently living in the now.]

I stroked his head, understanding that he was comforting me.

“That’s true. The future has already changed, unlike in the past where I had devoted myself to the temple, I will not miss the chance this time. Including my own life.”

[It’s a good change.]

When we arrived at the archery field, Tino jumped out of my arms.

Seri, the archery field manager, approached and gave me my own bow.

It was the bow that Mother gave me as a present when I first hit the target and was made from a fairly expensive magic stone that amplified its abilities even more if you infused it with holy energy.

The bow’s name was Blay, handcrafted from the talented Dwarf.

From top to bottom, its color was a spectrum of sky blue to dark blue.

The bow looked like it was made from ground jewels, and seemed to express the sky that engulfed the seas.

Calling it a work of art was an understatement.

Unaware when I first received Blay, but when its value was revealed to the Empire, the feedback from the people caused a stir.

I was wondering if I could ever possess something that expensive, but when I thought about it, I had had this bow before I regressed.

“…huh? Wait a minute.”

Thinking hard about it, I didn’t own Blay when I was killed by Lisandro.

The bow and arrows I had back then were those I had made from scratch.

I must have really been a skilled archer before the regression.

For bows and arrows made with holy power are difficult to manage with only an average ability.

Even if the information came into my mind during the biblical ceremony, I couldn’t materialize the skills I had once had at once.

It was not the memory of making them but rather a sense of shooting an arrow.

I sensed the feeling, but I didn’t know how to manifest it…

Perhaps it was because I was blessed with the holy power before regressing, and now I was bestowed with the power of Divine.

Tino said the power of Divine itself was so powerful that it’s incomparable with the power of a holy spirit.

Of course, it was just a guess.

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