I Am God (Saintess’s Point Of View) (2)

I trudged back toward my room.

I opened the door with a click.

“I have been waiting for you, Hero-sama.”

“……”

I closed the door.

“That’s strange. Did I get the wrong room?”

“This should be the correct one,”

“Right?”

Pulling myself together, I opened the door again.

Looking more carefully this time, there was no one there.

It really must have been my imagination.

I closed the door and sat down on the bed.

“Phew.”

“You look tired. Allow me to massage your shoulders.”

“Thanks. Ahh, that feels good—wait, no it doesn’t!”

I sprang up from the bed and instinctively protested with exaggerated timing.

A surprised Semirena tilted her head in confusion.

“Was my technique inadequate?”

“That’s not the issue!”

That wasn’t the problem at all!

This was my room.

So why—

“Why are you here, Semirena?”

“I was waiting for your return, Hero-sama.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

What I wanted to ask was how she had gotten into my room before I did.

This was an inn we had borrowed.

There was no lock on the door, and technically anyone could enter.

Fine, I could accept that she had come in first.

The real problem was why.

“…Do you need something? Couldn’t sleep either?”

“No.”

“Then what is it?”

“I was hoping you might allow me to speak with you.”

“Talk?”

“Yes.”

With a dreamy expression, she placed a hand over her chest as she spoke.

“Would you listen to my story?”

Semirena was serious.

She did not seem to be joking or teasing.

She had seen nightmares too.

I could not just brush her off, so I shook my head and muttered.

“Well, I’m not sleepy either.”

“Thank you. If you don’t mind, shall I massage your shoulders while we talk?”

“That would be too much trouble.”

“No, please grant me the honor of easing your fatigue, Hero-sama. Being of use to you is my greatest pride.”

She was being overly dramatic.

I refused several times, but Semirena persisted.

In the end, she took my hand and forcibly made me sit on the edge of the bed.

She began massaging my shoulders.

I felt a bit guilty, but it was not unpleasant, so I decided to listen.

“How is it?”

“It feels good, honestly.”

“Thank you. I am glad to be of service.”

“Listen, I’m not a god. I heard you told the children that, but I’m just a Hero.”

Even that title was fake, and in truth I was just an ordinary person who had wandered in…

Semirena shook her head.

“No. To me, you are the Lord I should believe in now.”

“Isn’t your Lord the Goddess? She’s the one protecting people in this world.”

“Yes. The benevolent Goddess is the one who bestowed the power dwelling within me.”

“Then the one you should worship is that Goddess. Not me.”

“It is no longer only the Goddess. I… was meant to die at the age of five.”

“Huh?”

Suddenly, Semirena began to speak of her past.

She had been born the only daughter of a simple village family.

Blessed with beauty from birth, she had been adored not only by her parents but by the villagers as well.

Her father died in an accident early on, leaving her in a single-mother household, but thanks to the villagers’ devoted support, she grew up healthy and loved.

“It was an epidemic. At the time, a terrible illness spread, and villagers began to die one after another.”

“Wasn’t there a doctor?”

“There wasn’t. It was a very small village.”

The nearest town with a doctor was said to be a three-day walk away.

In a village with many elderly people and children, even making that journey was a tremendous burden.

“During that time, I fell ill as well. Because I was a child, it progressed quickly, and I became bedridden with a high fever.”

She endured painful and agonizing days.

Her mother struggled desperately to save her only daughter.

She ran alone to the town three days away, begging a doctor to come.

In the end, even that town was overwhelmed by the epidemic, and they refused.

Semirena’s condition worsened day by day.

“It was unbearable… not just my own pain, but watching my mother run herself ragged, her face filled with anguish because of me.”

“…You loved her very much.”

“Yes. She was my only family. So I prayed. Goddess, please do not worry about me. I only wish for my mother to be happy. I want her to smile.”

That was when the miracle occurred.

A dazzling light enveloped her, spreading throughout the village.

When the light faded, the illness had vanished from the village.

Semirena became a Saintess.

Chosen by the Goddess, she became one who conveyed the Goddess’s will and guided the people.

“It truly was a miracle. Not only I, but the villagers were saved as well.”

“That’s good. I’m glad you survived.”

“Yes. I was saved by the Goddess. And then I realized—when one prays from the bottom of their heart in suffering and pain, the Goddess will answer.”

From that day onward, her mother began worshiping the Goddess.

Knowing the circumstances, it was only natural.

The one who saved her precious child was the Saintess, an agent of the Goddess.

Her mother, having become a fervent believer, formed a religious organization with the villagers.

That became the prototype of what would later be called the Vessels of God.

To them, Saintess Semirena herself became an object of worship.

“When I came of age, I succeeded my mother as the leader of the Vessels of God. It is my duty to convey the Goddess’s will and words to the people.”

“A duty… huh.”

“Yes. I am a Saintess. That is why I volunteered of my own will for the mission to defeat the Demon King.”

So that was it.

I had assumed she was chosen simply because she was a Saintess, but it had been her own decision.

It felt very much like her—and at the same time, deeply unsettling.

After hearing all of this, I understood.

Both she and her mother were bound by the existence of the Goddess.

They truly believed, from the bottom of their hearts, that those who believe are saved.

They had experiences—reasons—that made such faith possible.

“Even now, I worship the Goddess with all my heart.”

“That’s fine. As long as you don’t trouble others, you can believe in whatever you want.”

In my original world too, freedom of belief was recognized.

What one believed in and upheld was a personal choice.

As long as it wasn’t forced on others or caused harm, it was fine.

“But you should stop calling people without the Goddess’s blessing insects.”

“Yes. If that is what you say.”

“You’re surprisingly obedient…”

“Of course. You are my new Lord.”

Semirena pressed her hands together toward me.

“I told you that’s not—”

“No. In times of suffering and pain, prayers always reach their mark. The one who saved me then was not the Goddess, but you, Hero-sama. The one I should believe in is the one who saved me. This life, once saved by the Goddess… has now been saved by you as well. That is why I revere you too as my Lord.”

Semirena took my hand, enveloping it and pressing it against her chest.

A soft sensation transmitted through my palm.

“H-hey…”

“Hero-sama, I offer this body to you.”

“S-stop! Don’t say things like that.”

I tried to pull my hand away.

But her grip was firm, and it would not come loose.

For a Saintess, she sure had more grip strength than me!

“Please do not leave me. Tonight, I wish to feel you closer to me.”

“Feel—”

The way she phrased that made my heart skip a beat.

Her appearance was flawless.

If she stayed quiet, she looked gentle and refined, with a great figure.

Her chest was even more impressive than Erika’s, and frankly, she was my type.

Yes—if she stayed quiet.

“Ah, Hero-sama, my beloved Lord. From today on, this body is yours. Please use it as you wish. If it is your desire, I shall do anything.”

“A-anything…”

“I exist for you. Any fool who dares oppose you, I will eliminate without exception. Please be at ease.”

“Eek!”

She was genuinely terrifying.

She was smiling, but her eyes were completely unhinged.