CH 191

“Saintess!” Three people dressed in pure white were crying out in unison with tears in their eyes. They were men dressed in the priest robes of the holy kingdom.

Seeing them clinging to the hem of her skirt, the saintess suddenly remembered an important fact that she’d long forgotten. ‘Oh right, this is the saintess’s body.’

“Hmm? Saintess?”

“Huh? Aren’t those people from the holy kingdom? What are they doing here?”

Having quickly lost interest in the couple’s argument over a chess match, the pub’s customers were quickly turning their attention to the saintess and the three men clinging to her. It would only be a matter of time before rumors would begin to spread, so the saintess quickly tugged at the priests and hissed, “Let’s get out of here first before we talk.”

* * *

‘Although we did make it out of there… What should I do about this?’ The saintess had managed to take the three priests and escape into an alleyway. As she pressed a finger between her brows, the three priests were weeping bitterly and lamenting.

“You wouldn’t know how long we’ve been looking for you, Saintess!”

“It’s the first time in history that the barrier of the holy kingdom broke like that. It’s said to be capable of even blocking the attack of a dragon from the outside. It’s a wonder how it shattered…”

‘Well, that’s because I put all my might into a punch from the inside,’ she thought. Looking down at her fist, the saintess pondered how she should deal with the matter. For now, she decided to play dumb.

“I’m sorry, but who are you people? You seem to have mistaken me for this Saintess,” the saintess said brazenly. She was second to none when it came to being shameless, but she underestimated the priests’s tenacity.

“What are you saying, Saintess!”

“We have served you since childhood. You might be able to fool everyone else in the world, but not us!”

Seeing that her plan wouldn’t work, she knew she’d have to switch tactics. In this case, there was only one way forward. Putting on a grave expression, she admonished, “Shush, will you all be quiet?”

“S-Saintess!” The priests wept even more, joyous at being addressed in the familiar tone used by the saintess. “How in the world did you end up like this? Your hair color? Its length? And what’s with those glasses? Why, we almost ended up just passing by. More than anything, how could the saintess be in such a corrupt and worldly place…?”

The saintess felt a tinge of regret when she listened to the priests’s wailing. Since she was changing her appearance, she’d thought she might as well do it with a bit more flair. Clearing her throat, she lied, “I’m not here without reason. Everything is according to the will of God.”

“What? What do you mean, Saintess.” The priests all sobered up at the mention of God’s will.

“Do you all remember when I fainted for a brief time?”

“Of course!”

“You changed so much after your recovery. We were so worried! I still can’t forget the shock from when you declared, ‘Is this a dining table or a lawn? A home for a snake, I say,’ after being served the meal you usually enjoyed.”

‘Well, that’s because you guys served me nothing but greens, despite only giving me one meal a day! I wouldn’t have hightailed it out of there if I’d been fed well!’ Instead of screaming out her inner thoughts, the saintess fixed her expression and continued, “Ahem. In any case, to tell you the truth, I received an oracle while I was unconscious.”

“What? An oracle?”

What was an oracle? It was none other than a divine message sought from God in times of disaster, obtained only after the saintess spent a hundred days in a state of ritual purification and offering earnest prayer. Yet, the saintess was claiming she’d received an oracle while she had fainted?

“The reason for my change after waking… was because the divine message I received at the time was far too shocking.”