CH 209

Chapter 209 – A Night With The Saint

After that, Lime didn’t show up, but Beth showed up, but since she said “I’ve called a maid,” with a clear face, I couldn’t punish her. When Beth showed up, Poizo, who I had trampled, had already counterattacked me and restrained me all over.

After being freed from Poizo by Beth, I returned to the room assigned to me, leaving Seraphita-san under control. It was the room that Ellen had used when she met with me, a bedroom at the end of a large office and reception room. It is said that the room was originally used by the man who ruled Merinesburg. He was not a man of good reputation.

The saint was in a very bad mood to be in such a room.

After leaving Seraphita-san with Beth, I went straight back to the room. And when I entered the room, Ellen was waiting there alone. As soon as I appeared in the room, she approached me with an expressionless face and hugged me tightly. Then she said,

“I smell another woman’s scent.”

She raised her head and looked at me with a dusky glow coming out of her crimson eyes. I thought I was going to burst, too.

“There’s a reason for this, a reason deeper than the ocean.”

I explained that Seraphita-san had consulted me while patting the back of the saint who pressed her head against my chest and launched a high-speed gripping attack and that I patted and rubbed her back the same way Ellen does now to quiet her when she started to cry.

“How dare you make me, a precious saint, wait and treat another woman so nicely? Have some shame.”

“But if I left my mother-in-law, Seraphita-san, without comforting her in such a situation, that would have been wrong… That pensive look on her face could have been enough to make her commit suicide if things had gone badly.”

I recall Seraphita-san’s face, with dark circles under her eyes and vacant eyes as if she had lost the will to live. However, it is surprising that she was able to maintain her mental state for several days when she could not even get a good night’s sleep.

“That… may be so if you say so.”

I kissed the forehead of the saint, who looked up at me with a discontented expression, and then embraced her.　

“…I think it’s disgusting to fool around with this kind of approach. It’s a very ripe way to do it. It is filthy.”

Even as she said this, Ellen strengthened her arms around me and rubbed her face against my chest. Is she trying to overwrite Seraphita-san’s scent with her own?

“I will deal with the queen from tomorrow onward. It is my duty as a clergyman to guide the lost lamb.”

“…Are you okay with that?”

When I think of Ellen as a clergyman, I somehow have the image of her exposing the injustice of a bad priest with eyes that see the truth rather than guiding a lost believer.

“You are making fun of me, aren’t you? I am a precious saint who sees the truth, you know? In front of the eyes given to me by God, a lost lamb is as good as shorn naked. I can see through the troubles that they themselves cannot honestly express.”

Isn’t that not guiding the lost lamb but frightening it and putting it on the path of quick solutions…? I wondered about that but decided not to say it. If that is the final solution to the problem, then so be it. Seraphita-san has a group of daughters she can rely on, and even if it doesn’t work out with Ellen, there should still be plenty of ways to solve the problem.

“Now, the service time is over. In other words, we are done talking about other women.”

“The other woman? She’s my mother-in-law…?”

“She’s a widow, not related by blood, and who is an elf who is long past her marriageable age. I don’t know what will happen to her. And since you were kind to her in her weakened state, she may have already fallen in love with you.”

“You’re joking again… aren’t you?”

Ellen’s forefinger closed my mouth with a snap.　

“We’re done talking about other women. Okay?”

I nodded silently, my mouth covered.

☆★☆

The next morning. Ellen and I were walking to the dining room of the royal castle. I woke up feeling fine. My body did not feel weak at all, and Ellen’s face was somewhat glowing.

Eh? I’m more energetic than you expected, you say? That’s because, despite the fact that she is a saint, Ellen is still an ordinary human girl. Her physical strength is also adequate, and she can’t be compared to Sylphy, who has evolved into a fighting type with superior physical abilities among elves, or to Melty, who is a demon species, or Grande, who is an incarnation of a grand dragon. Neither is she a physical fighter like the Harpies nor does she drive herself to the limit with questionable drugs like Isla.

Although she did not use her power as a saint at all, it was a night that was very kind to my body.

“…I’m kind of frustrated, though.”

“I guess it’s the difference in experience.”

“…Mmm.”

The saint who was playing around with me so much last night punches me in my side as we walk by. If this is Sylphy or Melty, it could be a body blow to the core of my body, but Ellen’s punch is a cute one. I can bounce it off with my abs, which I’ve developed since I came here.

The two of us walked together, and when we entered the dining hall, the gazes of the people who had entered the dining hall before us all came together. Specifically, there were Sylphy, Isla, Melty, Grande, and Sylphy’s sisters, including Driada-san and also Seraphita-san. Also present were Archbishop Deckard and High Priestess Katerina. The group members were almost the same as at the dinner last night.

“Hmm…”

Sylphy gives Ellen a somewhat reproachful look. It is genuinely aptly described as a head-to-toe stare.

“Umu, you can call me anee-sama from now on. Or you can just call me onee-chan.”

“I refuse. But Sylphiel is too long, so I’ll call you Sylphy instead.”

“Well, that’s fine too. It is too much of a stranger for me to call you saint or Eleonora. So I will call you Ellen from now on.”

“Yes, Sylphy.”

Ellen nodded her head with a blank expression, and Sylphy smiled a fearless smile that could be described as ferocious after a long time. I haven’t seen that kind of smile for a long time. I wish she would smile in a more cute and smiling way like she always does. It seems we haven’t quite gotten to know each other yet.

“I’m Isla. Pleased to know you, Ellen.”

“I’m Melty. I look forward to spending time with you.”

“Grande. Hello, newcomer.”

“Newcomer…”

Ellen glares at me. And there was someone else who was giving me the same look.

“That’s filthy!”

“…..”

The red jersey… even though she’s not wearing it anymore, it’s inappropriate to call me that. She is a noisy one with a red face and hair and also the High Priestess Katerina. Aside from the red one, High Priestess Katerina’s gaze is as sharp as a razor blade and a little scary.

“Ara ara, isn’t it good that you are so resourceful?”

“Hohoho, that’s dependable.”

In contrast, Driada-san and Archbishop Deckard are smiling cheerfully. I mean, both of you, meat in the morning? And a pile of steamed potatoes and butter… that’s powerful, isn’t it?

“…..”

And Seraphita-san is kind of giving me a feverish look in the morning. Aquawill-san, who is sitting next to her, is waving her hand in front of Seraphita-san’s face, but she doesn’t notice it at all. Let’s see, let’s pretend I didn’t see that one. Yeah.

“Well, things have come full circle, but… there are still a lot of problems.”

“Yeah, I guess so. The issue includes the defeat of the subjugation forces coming toward here, the post-war handling after the defeat, the taking over of the territory of the Merinard Kingdom and the subsequent governance issues, the friction between humans and subhumans, the treatment of the Adol religion, and diplomacy with other countries. And the list is endless when it comes to other internal political issues.”

Melty counted off the list of problems. Fortunately, the Liberation Army is rather understaffed due to the weapons and supplies it uses, or perhaps simply due to its size. The size of the Liberation Army is not so large that it will cause problems in governing the country, so I am a little relieved on that point.

“First of all, we have to fight off the invading army. Well, to be honest, I’m not too worried about it…”

“Not too worried…? You’re dealing with an army of more than 20,000 men, don’t you know?”

High Priestess Katerina raised her voice in surprise.

Well, yes. If you think about it, it is a statement of doubtful sanity to say that you are not worried about the presence of only about 500 men in the royal capital and the guards of Merinesburg, who do not even know how much they will work in the face of a large army of 20,000 men. No matter how strong the fortified walls of Merinesburg are, the opponent is indeed 40 times larger. It is not a matter of the law of three times the size of the attackers but a difference in strength. Well, in a siege, the number of people who can attack at the same time is limited only by the size of the city walls, so unlike in a field battle, the more people, the greater the advantage.

“No problem.”

“No problem, right?”

“I’m sure it’s no problem.”

Isla shook her head, Melty nodded her head, and Grande, shrugging, reached for the next piece of meat on the bone. Wait a minute, what kind of bone-in meat is that?　What part of the animal is it? It’s the kind of mystery meat like you see in manga and anime. I want some of that.

“Where do you get your confidence from…?”

“We only put 20 men into the field to destroy about 2,000 defending troops in Merinesburg. Well, you’ll see… that’s all Kosuke’s doing, after all.”

“Hmm.”

Sylphy shrugged her shoulders, and Isla nodded her head. Well, yes. I plan to have the Harpies bomb the place to hell and have the gunners use airboards for maneuver warfare. In addition, I’m going to put golem ballistas on the ramparts and have elite soldiers operate them, and I’m going to fire a lot of multipurpose grenades from the ramparts with my automatic grenade launcher. [T/n: Changed riflemen to gunners from now on.]

I intend to overrun the 20,000 troops of the subjugation army one-sidedly and leave us unharmed. I love to set up an excessive amount of defenses and unilaterally reap the benefits of an onrushing enemy.

Unfortunately, due to time constraints, I can’t say that I’m fully prepared for this fight back, but I still have enough supplies and firepower to overrun those armed with swords, spears, bows, and magic. We also have trump cards. There is absolutely no element of defeat.

“Hohoho, let’s see how you do it, shall we?”

High Priestess Katerina looked at Archbishop Deckard, who was beaming with laughter, and then let out a sigh as if she had given up. High Priestess Katerina, who probably has a lot of common sense, was probably worried about the situation.

Don’t worry, don’t worry, just watch. I’ll overwhelm them! HAHAHA!