CH 79.1

79.1 Monologue of A Certain Capture Target－Blue－

TN: Check out my new project too! The Replacement for Suicidal Undead catches up with the raw.

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“Oh my, how adorable,” Sonia gushed as she brushed the back of a white kitten that was sleeping on the desk. “They’re such an adorable and obedient child, don’t you think so, Simeon-sama?”

“Yeah, yeah. Aren’t they cute?” I replied offhandedly, having no choice but to brush the body of the fatty cat sleeping in front of me for some reason. Yet, the fat cat moved his body around as if he was dissatisfied with my touch and told me the part where it was nice to brush him. This really got on my nerves since it felt like he was saying I was so bad at this.

Currently, we were in the cat cafe that Theodore managed. I had invited Sonia here to rejoice over the fact that Sonia, after one month of confinement after that incident, was finally permitted to go out.

Alas, when I thought I could finally feel at ease after entering the store that was literally filled with cats loitering around, I found that I couldn’t feel like that at all. Especially not when I saw other guests petting the cats with a smile on their faces.

Fortunately, soon, both of us were guided to the terrace seat on the second floor. It was an area dedicated to noble guests, where we could overlook the 1st floor due to the atrium style of the store, but at the same time, we wouldn’t be able to see other guests on the same floor thanks to the partitioning screen.

Anyway, the moment I sat on the chair, a fat white cat immediately jumped on the table and purred. When asked, the waitress said that it was the way the fat cat welcomed the guests, which… seriously? A cat could do that?!

Still, that wasn’t my business. A cat was a cat anyhow. I doubt he came here to welcome a guest. That was impossible.

“Come to think of it… have you heard about that matter? The miracle that happened during Theodore-sama’s engagement ceremony?” Sonia asked to break the ice after she had enjoyed the tea we had ordered.

Hearing her words, I frowned for an instant. Sure, it was the current hot topic, but I really didn’t want to talk about it. So, please stop talking about that matter in front of me.

“That seems to be the case.”

“It’s so dreamy and romantic,” Sonia muttered with an enraptured expression on her face. Truly, she was the type of girl who especially loved such dramatic scenes. It was no wonder that she felt envious. Heck, this girl literally jumped in joy when she was chosen as Katrina’s friend. And she did that because she was chosen to accompany Saint-sama herself.

“I’m so jealous of Muriel-sama. I mean, she’s accompanying Saint-sama, loved by Six Gods-sama… and even witnessed a miracle on top of that!”

“And she almost lost her life before the so-called miracle happened,” I droned. Surely, from Miss Muriel’s perspective, what happened was more like a disaster than a blessing. After all, if that miracle didn’t happen, then she might have already died by now. So, I truly didn’t get what this girl was on about.

“Well, at least don’t say that in front of her. Though, I’m sure that Muriel-sama must be proud of being able to protect Katrina-sama. After all, if it means I could protect Saint-sama, then I’m more than willing to wear that misanga myself.”

“Stop it, you fool. I will never forgive that kind of foolish self-sacrifice, even if it’s done for Saint-sama. You’re only going to die in vain if you proceed on that path.”

How on earth did that incident turn into a story of Miss Muriel willingly protecting the saint from disaster in Sonia’s head again?! She should have known that at that time, Miss Muriel only wore that misanga to compensate for her lack of magical power. Nothing more! Moreover, the saint herself had said that it was purely by chance that such an incident happened, though thanks to that, the demon race had exposed themselves early.

“That’s not true. And even if it’s true, I’m willing to trade my life to protect Saint-sama. I’m sure that is what Muriel-sama feels too.”

“Stop interpreting what other people feel at your own convenience! It will become big trouble later on if you keep doing that!”

Geez, instead of feeling at ease, I’m getting increasingly irritated now.

“Let me tell you this. Self-sacrifice is just your own self-satisfaction. It is the most worthless thing. That self-sacrifice will only make the people around you feel sad. So, stop thinking about such a stupid thing and think of doing more fruitful deeds instead.”

“I’m thinking properly. I’m thinking about how to be useful for Saint-sama.”

“And that’s what I mean by the most worthless thing.”

“It’s not worthless. I’m sure that there’s a life that I saved with my life!”

So stubborn, not yielding at all. Sonia, Sonia… doesn’t she understand the simple fact that such legend-like dramatic development like that won’t happen in reality?

“Don’t get so full of yourself. Your life is of the same value as everyone else, including the commoners and slaves. It isn’t even that much different from the cats in this place. That’s the reality of life!”

Everyone will be the same once they die, be they humans or animals or even demons, they will become a corpse. Why couldn’t she understand something as simple as that?!

Though Sonia seemed to be really surprised upon seeing my outburst, perhaps there’s a chance to stop her from doing something so reckless. Either way, if THAT WOMAN was truly the saint, Sonia would eventually get involved with her in the future. Therefore, we should at the very least do something about this girl’s reckless tendency that took her life lightly.

“In the first place, why are you assuming you’re going to die? It’s as if you’re saying you’re so weak to the point that you can only die as a martyr. Such an act of braving against danger without a chance of being victorious is foolish in my opinion. In fact, if you do not even have the ‘Power’ to survive, you better forget about becoming a protector.”

Hearing my remark, Sonia got enraged and exclaimed, “I won’t forgive anyone who says thoughtless remarks, even if that person is Simeon-sama himself!”

Still, even if she was incensed with me, I really wanted her to stop and think of the matter from another angle. After all, right now, we were still too young to have enough power to be the protector.

“I should be the one saying those words. Just, why do you want to die so much? Why do you never think about doing your best to survive? Right now, you’re so weak. Too weak to the point that choosing you as a protector is akin to a joke. Besides, if you want to do something for the saint and stand by her side as her protector, then the least you need to have is the appropriate power to fulfill your job and survive the ordeal. After all, only those who survive can be called the winner.”

That’s right. There’s no meaning to victory if you die. Only those who survive have more value than those who don’t.

“Many people died during the saint war in ancient times. Even now, a girl has almost died, yet now you say you want to be in Miss Muriel’s position in that incident? Do you really want to die so much?”

This was not a rumor but something that came from a record left in the church. In the record, it was stated that in the confrontation between the saint and the demon race, there were many casualties. The scale of the war wasn’t considered that big in the present, but still, the church stated that those people died due to the demon race’s scheme.

The case was just like now. Truly, I had no idea when those so-called victims died, just like how I didn’t know about what happened after the confrontation. I could only make several assumptions based on the available recorded history, but still, even those recorded histories seemed incomplete. Thus, with all that considered, there was a possibility that the church was hiding some of the truth that happened back then.

It still didn’t help me with the current situation. Even now, there are reports about innocent girls found dead with dried-up corpses coming from all over the kingdom. There was a fair number of them, and that was only in this kingdom.

These deaths with unknown causes, which – according to Miss Katrina – might have been done for the purpose of resurrecting the Demon King himself, were now put under the banner of protecting the saint in the record as their cause of death. However, I couldn’t say that it was a bad move just because the truth was buried. After all, due to their unnatural death, some of them were neglected by their family and not given a proper burial. By doing this, at least it helped those girls who died unjustly regain their honor. Aside from that, it also helped to explain the reason behind those girls’ deaths to their families.

Of course, the kingdom also held a memorial and funeral service toward great gods to help those girls enter heaven without losing their ways in the moral world. Sonia should have participated in that ceremony as an apprentice priest as well, yet she said she was jealous of those girls?

“Naturally. It is my long-cherished ambition to die protecting Saint-sama.”

Don’t mess with me.

“Let me be the one to break your fantasy then. You’re mistaken in your point of view; they didn’t die to protect ‘Saint-sama’. Those incidents happened by coincidence and weren’t aimed to kill the Saint but to revive the Demon King. The demon race is just trying to avoid our detection and do it discreetly because they need a lot of magical power to revive the Demon King. So, if you died back then, you can forget your death would save the Saint’s life because you would literally help the resurrection of the Demon King with your magical power instead.”

The girls had no idea about this. They didn’t understand. That’s why this silly girl took the matter this time as dying to protect the saint, which she was sure wouldn’t be a meaningless death. And that really grated my nerves. For the kingdom of course.

Unfortunately for Sonia, I was aware of the truth. This matter was related to me, after all.

“Do you really want to die so much?! Then do as you wish since there won’t be any miracle from me! I mean … I … I have yet to show any awakening sign as the Six Gods …. If you really die one of these days … what are you expecting me to do …?”

I couldn’t create miracle. And there was no sign of me awakening something like that either.

“That can’t be true. If it’s you, Simeon-sama, you’ll definitely create a miracle for me.”

“You make it sounds like it’s so easy to create a miracle, eh. I know my own capabilities. I can’t do something that I can’t do. Cease that useless expectation of yours right away. I’m different from THAT guy. I can’t show my love like THAT guy.”

Sonia seemed to be really surprised when she heard my words. However, I was being honest when I told her the truth about me not wanting to show my love like THAT guy. It was impossible for me. Literally.

“It’s not like I hate you or something along that line. Honestly, I’ll be really happy if you believe me that way. However, I really hate that flower-field-filled head of yours. Take a closer look at reality, why don’t you? I understand you envy Miss Muriel, but just envying her means nothing since you’ve no abilities to support your claim. You’ve nothing special about you. The most you can do is to persevere.”

After saying those words to her, I left my seat. I didn’t want to hurt her heart more than this.

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