Chapter 41: Does The Saintess Dream Of A Sacrificial Lamb?

***In the training room that the Lord Howe Academy prided itself on. Sёarch* The NôᴠelFirё.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.In the middle of that pure white room, with mana metal coating the walls and the floor, stood Seti with her eyes closed.Since it was still dawn, the training room was quiet, with no one coming in and no one else to disturb her.Seti liked this tranquility. She savored this long-awaited silence, then at some point, she opened her eyes and slowly raised her War Hammer.The War Hammer supplied by the academy was just a crude lump of metal, but Seti didn't mind.Unless it was made by a dwarf, all War Hammers were more or less the same to her, and if she had no expectations, there would be no disappointments. As long as it didn't break mid-swing, it was enough.In that sense, the equipment supplied by the academy was neither bad nor good... With such thoughts, she started swinging the War Hammer.She swung the hammer with proper form, using all the muscles in her body without exerting her mana.From her heels to her trapezius muscles, all her muscles endured the weight and recoil simultaneously.After just a few swings, beads of sweat started to form on her forehead, but Seti increased her speed— Faster, heavier, stronger.Finally, only once her muscles screamed that they could move no more did she unleash her mana.The War Hammer, which had been moving sluggishly, accelerated instantly. And wherever the hammerhead passed, the air split, creating a gust.Once, twice, thrice... The hammer accelerated with each swing. Starting at Seti's fingertips, it moved violently like a storm and unpredictably like lightning.While the storm raged on for some time, the training room door suddenly burst open."Unnie?"A red-haired girl peeked in through the open door. The moment Seti saw her amber-like sparkling yellow eyes, she stopped swinging the hammer.— The wind that filled the training room vanished in an instant. Pushing back her sweat-soaked hair, Seti looked at her young sister."Hey, Siri! What's going on?"Although she might have gotten annoyed at the sudden interruption, Seti greeted her younger sister as if it were nothing.Siri stared at her with a strange expression before taking out her smartphone and quickly approaching Seti."Unnie, look at this news!""Why? What is it?""Cheon Yeomyeong, that Oppa is on the news!""What? Really?"Seti tossed the War Hammer to the side and snatched the smartphone from Siri. A list of articles from well-known media outlets was displayed on the screen.

『North Manchuria Today - Three Figures among Casualties.』

『North Manchurian Base Falls. An Unidentified Terrorist Organization to Blame?』

『Another Incident in Manchuria? The National Assembly Calls for 'Additional Budget,' Ministry of Economy and Finance ‘Disapproved’.』

『Massive Amount of Monsters Heading South... Manchurians in Fear.』

Among the numerous articles, Seti saw a photo of Cheon Yeomyeong. And the headline was...

『Young Mercenary and The Saintess, A Miraculous Battle.』

Huh? The Saintess? Why was that bitch in Manchuria?

Seti clicked on the article almost reflexively.And after reading a few lines, her face twisted into a terrifying expression."Uh, Unnie?"Seti quickly looked up another article. With each article she read, her grip on the smartphone tightened."Unnie, that's my phone..."Siri glanced at the smartphone and Seti's face alternately, her eyes filled with a mix of anticipation and anxiety.However, her voice no longer reached Seti.Staring at the smartphone with laser-like intensity, Seti kept reading the news articles about Cheon Yeomyeong and the Saintess.The contents of all those articles were similar.For some reason, the Saintess personally headed to save North Manchuria, and two mercenaries helped her fight against the Dragon(?).While the details were censored for military reasons, the problem was the tabloid articles.The manner in which they wrote it made it look like the Saintess and the young mercenary had met for some 'fateful' reason.Among them was a sensational article featuring on the main portal that was so delusional, that it would leave the religious community pale with astonishment.As soon as she read the article, Seti knew it was false.The Saintess was a fucking voyeur, parading around in an Invisibility Cloak and would never expose her face to reporters.However, knowing and tolerating were two completely different matters.The moment Seti read something along the lines of ‘holding hands secretly,’ she could no longer hold back..The smartphone she was holding was crushed like an aluminum can. Seeing her fears become a reality, Siri screamed."Unnie!""Oh, that’s..."Returning to her senses belatedly, Seti tried to make an excuse.However, as a good sister, Siri simply patted Seti's shoulder and grinned.“It's okay, it's okay. You’re just worried that the Saintess might steal something of yours again, right?”"...Siri, what do you mean by 'steal'?"Hearing Seti's question, Siri continued with a smirk."What else? Of course I mean, that guy. You're worried that the Saintess might snatch him away, right? Aw, are you really that afraid?""...Hey.""Even if you try to pretend that you’re serious, your expression gives it away, you know? And Unnie, please think logically. Do you really think that person would mooch off the Saintess?”"Mooch off? What are you even talking about!"Siri's words hit the bullseye, causing Seti's eyes to blaze with anger. But instead of getting scared, Siri simply waved her hand dismissively."Stop it, stop it. You see, that’s your problem, Unnie. You lose your cool whenever the Saintess is mentioned.""...Not really?""Oh, really?"Siri raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms, a mischievous light glinting from her yellow eyes."How about we make a bet? Let's see if you manage to get through the entire day without contacting him.""...""If you are able to hold out for just one day, I'll admit that you were right and forgive you for breaking my smartphone. Deal?"As she said this, Siri slyly pulled out another phone. It was the burner phone Seti had particularly prepared to contact Yeomyeong."Hey! That...!"Seti reached out instinctively, but Siri, with a cunning smile, moved out of her reach, waving the phone around."So, what’s your decision?"Judging by Siri's sly expression, she had clearly anticipated this before she even came to the training room.Seti glared at her younger sister, feeling like she'd been outmaneuvered."So, are you going to accept the bet or not?"Siri asked, but instead of replying, Seti snatched the phone."What bet!"Leaving her giggling sister behind, Seti began typing furiously.[Hello, Yeomyeong-ssi? It's Seti. The reason I'm texting you is...]

* * *When he opened his eyes, Yeomyeong realized that he was in a recovery room, surrounded by white walls.

His body felt stiff. As he tried to raise himself from the hard sickbed, the IV drip attached to his arm clattered.“Yo! You’re up.”On hearing the flippant voice, he turned his head and saw two familiar hands floating beside him.It was the Saintess hiding behind her Invisibility Cloak.She was peeling an apple with a fruit knife, although mutilating it would have been a more apt description.Averting his eyes away from the poor apple, Yeomyeong asked.“…Where are we?”“The National Military Hospital at the Manchurian base.”“…”“You collapsed in the middle of the interview, so they brought you here immediately.”As soon as he heard her explanation, the memories of the previous night came flooding back.Shortly after Kahal Maghdu fled, they were confronted by a massive support unit.However, the support unit didn’t treat the Saintess and Yeomyeong as survivors. Instead, they questioned them persistently, asking what exactly had happened in North Manchuria, almost as if interrogating them.They even threatened them, saying that if it turned out to be a fool's errand, not even the Saintess would be spared.However, the fall of North Manchuria was an undeniable reality. And after confirming the corpses of the pig-headed monstrous men and the soldiers, the commander released the Saintess and Yeomyeong.That should have been the end of it, but… what happened next was the problem.The journalists, whom the Saintess had warned about, swarmed in, and that’s when the real interrogation began.They were nothing like the respectable war correspondents Yeomyeong knew about. It seemed like the real war correspondents had moved north with the support unit.Regardless, the journalists surrounding Yeomyeong and the Saintess kept shoving microphones and cameras in their faces under the guise of the general public's right to know.- The questions ranged from inappropriate ones to somewhat reasonable.And the so-called interview, which felt more like an interrogation, continued until sunrise.It was so excruciating that Yeomyeong, considering that even a bad reputation was a type of fame, contemplated punching one of the journalists.However, he didn't actually hit any of them because before he could act on his impulses, he succumbed to exhaustion and passed out.Now, Yeomyeong looked at the apple mutilated by the Saintess, left with just its core, and opened his mouth.“…So, what brings the Saintess here?”“I’m worried about my battle buddy?”“Stop spouting nonsense.”“I’m serious.”The Saintess chuckled as she set the apple down. After a brief pause, she picked up her next victim from the fruit basket. This time, it was a rather expensive-looking pear.After hacking at the pear for a bit, the Saintess suddenly spoke up.“What’s your relationship with the Holy Sword?”“…The Holy Sword?”“Freya Cahn. The Great Usurper. The one who brought humiliation to the Holy Knights.”Yeomyeong narrowed his eyes without replying.Did she recognize the Comet Sword? No, for her to ask such a question, she must have definitely recognized it.He pondered over what he knew about the relationship between the Holy Sword and the Saintess. Though both of them were supposedly servants of the holy gods, in reality, they were practically enemies.The Holy Nation beyond the Dimensional Portal was unable to accept the fact that an unbeliever, especially an Earthian, was chosen by the Holy Sword.Since it was pointless for them to state that they doubted God's choice, they insisted that it wasn't God but the Holy Sword that chose Freya Cahn.That was what the Holy Nation demanded. Of course, the Australian government and Freya Cahn pretended not to hear them.The Holy Sword itself was a weapon equivalent to a nuclear bomb.So, to sum it up briefly, the Saintess recognized by the Holy Nation and the Holy Sword Freya Cahn were political enemies.So... her bringing up Freya Cahn couldn't be for a good reason.Having organized his thoughts, Yeomyeong spoke again.“Why do you want to know about my relationship with Freya Cahn?”“…Judging by how you're dodging the question, it really seems like there is something between you two.”The Saintess sighed deeply as the fruit knife slipped, slicing off a large chunk of the pear. What a waste of perfectly good fruit.Regardless of the poor pear’s fate, the Saintess continued speaking.“Are you perhaps her apprentice?”“No.”“Then a lover?”“...”“By the look on your face, it looks like it’s neither... Could it be… are you her son??”Yeomyeong furrowed his brows and glanced at the Saintess. Seemingly embarrassed by her own question, she cleared her throat awkwardly.“Oh, come on, look at your face. You can’t even handle a joke?”“If you make a joke like that one more time, I’ll kick you out of this room.”“Oh, you’re quite fierce. So, what is your actual relationship with Freya Cahn?”The Saintess’s hand moved closer. Although it wasn’t visible because of the Invisibility Cloak, she was likely leaning in to see his reaction.Yeomyeong sighed and answered.“It’s just a fleeting connection.”Upon hearing his blunt response, the Saintess spun the fruit knife around, which was quite an impressive trick considering her poor knife skills.“A fleeting connection... Well, then it won’t be a big deal.” After concluding her trick, the Saintess set down the fruit knife and added.“I’m sorry for the unpleasant question. It’s just that if you're close to Freya Cahn, those old folks might raise hell about it if we work together.”“...Work? Raise hell?”“Yes, work. We need to deal with the monsters heading south for humanitarian reasons. Also, there's something I need to find in Manchuria without the old folks knowing.”“...”As Yeomyeong tilted his head in confusion, the Saintess continued in a flippant tone.“It might be rather sudden, but after fighting Kahal Maghdu, a thought occurred to me, being the Saintess, shouldn’t I have at least one bodyguard? Well, it’s just a thought.”As soon as the Saintess finished speaking, Yeomyeong clicked his tongue in his mind. What was she talking about...“If you need a bodyguard, hire some other mercenaries. You can easily find someone more skilled than me in any mercenary group in Manchuria.”“How could you refuse me without even listening to the conditions?”“Of course, I will refuse. We didn't exactly meet under good circumstances. Hence, your sudden interest in making me your bodyguard seems suspicious.”“...Hey, don’t you think that’s a bit harsh?”“If you don’t like those mercenaries, then hire a holy knight. People will definitely be lining up to be your bodyguard. Anyway, I refuse.”Perhaps surprised by Yeomyeong’s blunt refusal, the Saintess's hands trembled, and she pressed her lips together tightly.After a moment, she pulled out a smartphone from beneath her Invisibility Cloak.“Hey, which mercenary group are you affiliated with again?”“...What?”“Ah, found it. The Sonjuk Mercenary Group, Team 3, Cheon Yeomyeong.”And before Yeomyeong could even respond, she suddenly stood up. The bowl of chopped apples and pears fell and clattered on the ground.“Well then, I’ll just buy the mercenary with money.”Yeomyeong felt as if he could see her grinning beneath the Invisibility Cloak.:"