Chapter 45

“Saintess…”

Pitying gazes turned toward me. They were likely making assumptions about Belita’s presumably tragic past.

‘I wasn’t trying to fish for sympathy, though.’

Well, as long as I blocked the event, that was enough. As long as I was stuck in this state, my shame and dignity might as well not exist. Though, of course, I’d prefer to keep as much of it intact as possible.

‘Come to think of it, what kind of past did the real Belita actually have?’

All I knew about Belita was her date and place of birth. I had no idea about her family relations or where she had lived before. Now that the possibility of her being a spy planted by the Countess had increased, even that information might be fabricated.

“You might have a schedule to visit the Academy someday! Occasionally, the Pope himself gives congratulatory speeches to encourage the students!”

It seemed he had misunderstood and thought I was sulking because I couldn’t attend the Academy. Kalat attempted a clumsy bit of consolation.

“Honestly, Priest Kalat. It’s been so long since you graduated that you must have forgotten. The Saintess is looking forward to a heart-fluttering, fun campus life at the Academy, not going there for some speech.”

…?

Arianne tilted her head in confusion.

“The Academy isn’t really that fun of a place, though.”

“That’s just because you did nothing but study, Sir Arianne…”

“Isn’t the Academy a place you go to study? To be frank, Vice-Commander, you just played around too much.”

“No, I was perfectly normal.”

What kind of conversation was this?

I cleared my throat and cut them off.

“By the way, when are we looking at the ledgers?”

“Ah…”

“Oh dear, I completely forgot!”

Only then did we sit around and begin flipping through the ledgers. The books contained detailed records of production over the last three years. When we cross-referenced them with the trade volume documents we’d brought, sure enough, there were omissions in the transaction records for the highest-grade diamonds.

“Those missing diamonds must have been secretly delivered to the Kingdom of Brishwin.”

“With this, the Countess has even fewer ways to wiggle out of this.”

“Just in case, we should check the Countess’s private safe as well. They might have circulated through unofficial auction houses or the black market, so we’ll need to cross-examine those as well.”

The evidence collection was completed without a hitch. And so, we waited for the reinforcements.

“You’re Sir Hereis, right? Whoa~! Sir Arianne and Sir Ilian, too! It’s truly an honor to meet such famous people!”

The special Inquiry Committee dispatched from the Imperial Palace finally arrived at the mansion. Since the matter involved high-ranking nobility and the Count of Garain, they said a separate committee had been established to lead the investigation.

There was an unnecessarily large number of people—nearly dozens of them—apparently to arrest the Countess and her accomplices while finishing the search of the premises.

We informed them of the basement’s existence and the location where the Countess was being held, deciding to leave the rest to them.

A man named Investigator Hamel—whose red hair and round glasses left a strong impression—was appointed as the lead for this case, and he eagerly offered us a handshake.

“You’ve all worked so hard. We’ll take responsibility and handle this thoroughly, so you investigators can rest easy now!”

After finishing his handshakes by bowing politely to each of us one by one, he acted quite fussy, which didn’t really match his intellectual image. In the protagonist’s monologue, this man was described as…

That was the evaluation, but in my eyes, he just looked bizarre. They must have seen the miserable state of the Garain residents on their way here; I couldn’t understand how he could be so cheerful.

‘I mean, even our group’s mood turned to absolute trash yesterday while searching for survivors.’

The usually flippant Kalat had a shadow of depression over his face, and even Arianne and the protagonist had lost their words.

“Ahem. Countess, please watch your step as you come down.”

…!

Just then, I saw the tips of the Countess’s shoes as she descended the stairs. I quickly hid my body behind the protagonist, who had the largest build. Contrary to my fears, the Countess didn’t even glance this way. With her head held high, she walked straight out of the mansion with elegant steps.

A fleeting glimpse of her profile showed her looking composed, though the slight darkness under her eyes suggested she was a bit tired, but she wasn’t much different from usual.

Furthermore, her appearance was quite noble for someone being taken into custody. There were no restraints, and the knights looked as though they were kindly escorting her.

Arianne seemed to have the same thought, as she spoke in a sarcastic tone.

“The treatment is quite generous for a heinous criminal.”

-FR, this is too much

-Does that even make sense?

-Can we even leave it to these guys? The Committee is suspicious.

“Ah… well, she is still a suspect! Since she is a high-ranking noble, an order was handed down from the Imperial Palace to treat her with courtesy to maintain her dignity.”

Truly a remark fitting for someone living in an era of aristocratic supremacy. Since I knew the Countess’s ultimate fate, I was at least a little less angry, but my companions didn’t seem to feel the same.

“With courtesy, you say?”

Arianne flared up. She looked ready to grab him by the collar at any moment. Ilian and the protagonist added their own remarks while pretending to hold her back.

“Sir Arianne, please calm down. The evidence is this clear; surely the investigator will do a proper job?”

“I sincerely hope that a fair investigation is carried out that brings no shame to the name of His Imperial Majesty.”

Hamel seemed a bit flustered by our group’s reaction. Fidgeting with his glasses, he hurried off, claiming he had work to do. Watching him go, Kalat muttered under his breath.

“I feel a bit uneasy for some reason…”

“It will be fine.”

The situation was already out of our hands. There was nothing more we could do. That was what I meant, but for some reason, I felt several betrayed gazes boring into me…

“I feel like I had a dream… a dream where everything worked out fine.”

“Oh, goodness! You should have told us that sooner!”

‘Give me a chance to actually say it first.’

Stepping outside the mansion, I noticed the sky had cleared up beautifully, the demonic energy completely vanished.

‘So this is what the view looked like.’

Because the air quality had been so murky, this was the first time I could see the scenery around the mansion so clearly. Though the land had turned into a wasteland due to the contamination, there wasn’t much to see.
Even so, the fresh air was enough to lift our spirits.

“Haaa! It’s different from yesterday. It’s recovering more and more every day!”

“Well, thanks to the Saintess resolving it so quickly, we didn’t miss the window of opportunity. Nature is just taking its course now.”

Don’t mention it. I only did it to survive.

“Clearing a Grade 10 contamination in less than a week… that is an unbelievable achievement.”

“And perfectly thwarting the Countess’s schemes on top of that! Saintess~ you were amazing!”

Ahaha. Stop, you’re flattering me too much.

Still, it didn’t feel bad to hear—

Screee! Screeeeee!

Hm? A white bird flew toward us, letting out a tremendously noisy cry!

“Piers.”

As Ilian reached out his arm, the bird landed lightly.

-So cute

-Cuuuute

‘So it was Ilian’s messenger pigeon.’

The little chirper—no, Ilian’s messenger pigeon—kept pecking and crying as if it wanted something. Ilian provided it with water and feed, explaining that it was protesting because it was exhausted from the long flight. Once it calmed down, he pulled a letter from its leg and read it.

“It’s a summons to the Holy City. They say the Pope is waiting… along with those old fogies—excuse me, the Cardinals and Archbishops.”

“Ugh… to think all those people whose faces I never want to see again will be in one place…”

Kalat shuddered in disgust. I didn’t know their personal history, but for me, this was a vital gateway I had to pass through to be officially recognized as the Saintess. Even if Ilian helped push for my recognition, there were still many variables. To clear this smoothly, I had to maintain a favorable stance and build a good relationship with the Church faction.

“Then I suppose we must part ways here.”

‘Right. The joint investigation team has achieved its goal cleanly.’

There was no longer any need for us to travel together. It was time for everyone to return and report back. Just as we were about to exchange pleasantries like “Good job” and “Thanks to you, it’s settled”—

“Saintess, may I speak with you privately for a moment?”

…!

Surprisingly, the protagonist spoke up first. Even though we had lived under the same roof, I had been worried because he seemed to be keeping a bit of a wall up. Hope bloomed that the romance between the protagonist and Belita was finally igniting, along with the expectation that Belita might finally be promoted from an extra to a lead character.

Since our companions knew the history between me and the protagonist, they willingly stepped aside, leaving the two of us alone. The protagonist, positioned behind the mansion, lingered for a moment before opening his mouth.

“Since my father passed away, so many things have happened without even giving me a moment to mourn.”

I felt bad for the protagonist who was trying to set the mood, but we had only just finished Chapter 2. The Saintess route had five chapters in total. Even harsher trials were waiting for him in the future. The events so far would eventually seem like nothing.

‘Well, I plan to shorten it significantly, so it might not actually take five chapters.’

That was just how the original story went.

“Looking back, you were always at the center of it, Saintess.”

“…”

“Coming to my house, following me on the expedition… I wonder if Ralphican guided all of it?”

Hmm. What answer would the protagonist like?

Should I say something romantic, like the reason we’re so inextricably linked is because Ralphican chose us as destiny?

‘No, that might be too direct.’

Maybe something a bit more indirect…

-???

-?????

-??

Countless question marks scrolled through the chat. The state of my brain wasn’t much different from the chat window. I could only gape like a goldfish as I continued reading the protagonist’s monologue.

Oh dear. Was he suffering from insomnia? But what did that have to do with me—

…Because he was with me, did it keep reminding him of that day?

Wait, I never said anything like that?

Mo Je-won let out a scream. However, the monologue, which contained all his pent-up resentment, showed no signs of stopping.

-Psh, why is he worrying about stuff like this?

…I finally understood. The reason the protagonist had been subtly keeping his distance. The reason he wasn’t being registered in the Affection System at a suspiciously high rate.

‘It’s because…’

The protagonist still hadn’t moved past the incident where Robert was murdered. And the words I said at the mansion… felt like a curse to him.

‘He did well to make it this far with me. Was it out of a sense of duty?’

No. Come to think of it, I was the one who stubbornly insisted on following the expedition.

‘I have to settle this now.’

If I didn’t resolve this, there would clearly be problems with the story’s progress later on.
I quickly put my brain to work.