Chapter 95

…!

Oh, boy.

I wondered why my vision felt so clear all of a sudden, and it turns out my veil was gone!

‘It would have been a miracle if it stayed on through that absolute chaos.’

When you’re in a situation where your throat is a split second away from being sliced open, you don’t exactly have the mental bandwidth to worry about a scrap of cloth.

‘What the hell am I supposed to say?’

I’ve lived a life so riddled with lies and bluffing that I couldn’t even get my story straight for this specific scenario.

‘…….’

But perhaps I didn’t need to overthink it.

‘It’s just the same situation as it was with Oscar.’

Was it a problem that Belita, a lowly maid, was actually the Saintess?

No. It’s already public knowledge that the Saintess came from a commoner background.

Would the Crown Prince’s affection level interfere with clearing the quest?

No. While a high affection level might have made him a useful tool to exploit, what does it matter now that everything has gone to hell?

“Are you the Saintess… or are you Lita?”

Ding!

…I mean, even if affection isn’t a priority, making a total enemy out of him seems like a bad move.

I chose the lesser of two evils.

“Is that what’s important right now? The Saintess has been attacked. And by the escort party that you, the Crown Prince, prepared.”

Watching the Crown Prince’s expression twist in real-time, I hurried to add more.

“I will hold you accountable later. For now, let’s get a handle on the situation first…”

“So… the Saintess really is Lita. It’s not an act or a body double. You’re truly her.”

You dare interrupt the Saintess?

I wanted to snap at him, but I swallowed the words when I saw him staring at me with eyes full of such desperate intensity.

It seemed the Crown Prince was still clinging to the last flickering ember of hope.

I shook my head firmly.

Is this thing mocking me?

While I felt a bit dejected by the unprecedentedly massive drop in affection, the Crown Prince—who looked even more demoralized than I did—reluctantly replied.

“I understand. As the Saintess wishes.”

“Good. Then first, please explain if there was anything unusual when we were attacked. My memory isn’t quite intact since I was injured.”

The Crown Prince tried to retrace his memories.

His thick, straight eyebrows furrowed in distress.

But he had to do it.

There might be a clue about the ambush hidden somewhere.

Besides, there was no better subject to pivot to right now than this.

The Crown Prince’s eyes widened as something occurred to him.

“Now that I think about it, I heard what sounded like an argument. I suspect there might have been some internal friction among the attackers.”

“An argument?”

“I don’t know the details because I was in a panic after the Saintess collapsed. I’m sorry.”

“I see.”

I hadn’t expected much.

He must have been losing his mind, too.

“Crown Prince, do you have any inkling as to who is behind this attack?”

“I’m sorry, but I have absolutely none. However, seeing as they targeted the Saintess, the objective was likely…”

The Crown Prince let his voice trail off, glancing at me sideways.

I closed my eyes, avoiding his gaze.

“Me, or perhaps both of us.”

“…True. Moreover, they seemed to be quite skilled. If they weren’t, I wouldn’t understand how we were so helpless. No matter how thick the fog was, the Imperial knights are by no means incompetent.”

I agreed.

The escort was a large-scale operation with over thirty personnel.

“What about you, Saintess?”

“…….”

I knew who the attacker was.

Cyril Jace, the knight who had been selected as my guard just yesterday through the Pope’s “goodwill.”

This made the Pope look suspicious.

However, if I told the Crown Prince this, it might escalate into a full-scale conflict between the Empire and the Holy State.

It would be troublesome for things to get out of hand right when I needed to negotiate with the Emperor.

…For now, I have to keep my mouth shut.

“Sigh, I don’t even know where they attacked from, and it’s giving me a headache. Let’s settle the aftermath once we get out of here. We’ll send a request for rescue once the rain stops.”

Since I was just lost in thought, the Crown Prince, assuming I knew nothing, made a suggestion.

“A request for rescue?”

“Yes. I always carry signal flares in case of an attack. Oh, they aren’t dangerous—just a bit of colored smoke, really.”

“And what if the attackers see it and come for us?”

“We have to hope they don’t. We’re going to be stranded here for a while anyway, and I don’t think the attackers will loiter around this area until then. Besides, this forest has a high monster risk, so there are no private houses to ask for help. The terrain is treacherous and complex; we can’t find our way down the mountain on our own.”

He was right. Well, since I knew the attacker’s name, I could just check their location with a Character Location Tracker. Getting down the mountain was possible through similar means, but it was probably better to wait quietly for a rescue team.

“Where are the flares?”

“…In the carriage.”

So we have to go back to the carriage after all…

Just as I was clutching my head at the thought of seeing that pile of corpses again—

Grrrrrrrrr—

A sudden, bone-chilling growl echoed through the cave.

Thump, thump!

Heavy footsteps drew closer until the source revealed itself.

A beast easily twice our size. Its massive body was covered in coarse, reddish-brown fur. Small, glowing red eyes. Claws that looked like they could tear a human apart with ease.

“It’s a bear.”

That’s right. A massive bear was entering the cave!

Could it be that this cave wasn’t the grace of Ralphican, but simply the den of that bear?

The bear spotted us and gave a low growl before sniffing the air. Its jaw hung open slightly, and translucent drool began to spill out.

“…It seems it’s quite hungry.”

The way it twitched the corners of its mouth in a smirk made it look as if it were delighted by the prey that had delivered itself right to its doorstep.

“We must look quite delicious to it.”

That would explain why it was licking its chops.

“At least it’s a relief that it’s not a magic beast.”

A relief? One way or another, getting torn to pieces feels the same, doesn’t it?

No, wait—if it had been a magic beast, it wouldn’t have attacked us in the first place.
Because I have the Holy Artifact!

“Crown Prince. Are you carrying a weapon?”

“…? No?”

Figures.

The Crown Prince didn’t even have a common longsword strapped to his waist.

And yet, how can this man be so nonchalant!

“The Saintess is right here; how could a mere beast dare to attack?”

“…….”

Grrrrrrrrr!

“I-Is it attacking?”

Obviously. The Holy Artifact doesn’t have a feature for slaying bears…

With the bear blocking the entrance, escaping seemed out of the question.

I asked with a sliver of hope.

“Do you know how to fight?”

“Not at all…”

“How can the Crown Prince of an Empire not know such a thing!”

The Crown Prince took offense and raised his voice.

“What am I supposed to do if I wasn’t born with the talent? Besides, once you reach the rank of Crown Prince, you’re assigned the second-best escort in the Empire, so I don’t need to be good at it!”

“And did that escort prove helpful just now?”

The Crown Prince bit his lower lip and refused to answer.

Anyway, I understood loud and clear: the Crown Prince’s combat power converged toward zero.

Which meant he wouldn’t be of any help against a hungry bear.

‘Is Belita—no, is me—the only one I can trust?’

But up until now, I hadn’t been much different from the Crown Prince. I had always lived in comfort under the protection of the protagonist and Ilian.

What good were Belita’s physical abilities?

The person controlling her was still a clumsy amateur with zero real combat experience.

Instead of gambling, the right move was to avoid it if possible.

If the bear was starving, there was a high chance it would target the Crown Prince—who had a better yield than me—first.

If I slipped away while the Crown Prince was being attacked, I might be able to escape.

“Graaaaaawr!”

Agitated by our voices, the massive bear suddenly swung a heavy paw.

But the direction was…

‘That’s clearly aimed at me!’

Contrary to my expectations, the bear targeted me first!

‘Are you kidding me!’

Just as I was about to kick off the ground to retreat—

“Ugh!”

I felt a dull pressure on my shoulder, and I was shoved out of the bear’s trajectory. It was because the Crown Prince had pushed me! In my place, the Crown Prince was now standing there.

Just as he was about to take the bear’s blow.

Ding!

A clear notification sound rang out, and a blue window covered my vision.

In a life-or-death situation, I was grateful for the choice.

[ 3 ]

Because it bought me time to think.

‘If I abandon the Crown Prince and run, I’ll almost certainly survive.’

But at that moment, a possibility I hadn’t considered flashed through my mind. Specifically, what would happen if the Crown Prince died.

“I am truly sorry, Saintess. But I trust you will understand the heart of a father who has lost his son.”

“Theo… Your father is sorry! Huhu-huu…!”

The Emperor, having lost his only legitimate heir, would be devastated, and he might lose all interest in listening to my proposals or anything else for a while.

Then my escape from this other world would be…?

Delayed, obviously!

‘That cannot happen.’

I am sick and tired of this world.

Magic beasts, Saintess, dating sim choices—I need to get back to my home where none of that exists as soon as possible!

In that case, there was only one way.

‘I have to fight back!’

I clicked the option to save the Crown Prince and summoned my inventory!

‘To think this would actually come in handy.’

I gripped the summoned sword tightly and swung it without hesitation.

As the silver embroidery on the sword glowed brightly, the gruesome sound of a blade tearing through flesh filled the air.

Slaaaaash—!

Drip, drip, drip…

Graaaaaaaaawr!

The bear, its arm nearly torn off, howled in horrific pain.

Not missing the opening, I lunged at the bear and buried the blade into its chest.

The bear let out a pained groan, but it didn’t die instantly. It began to struggle violently and…

Thump! Rum-thump!

Rumble-rumble!

The impact made the cave shake as if it were about to collapse!

To make matters worse, the Crown Prince looked like he was about to be hit by the bear’s blind thrashing.

I put the sword back into my inventory, and dodging the falling rocks, I hooked my arm under the Crown Prince’s knees and lifted him.

“Uwaaaaah! Wait, j-just a moment!”

Then I sprinted out of the cave.

After putting a safe distance between us and the cave, I checked the situation. The vibrations echoing from the cave slowly subsided.

It didn’t look like it would collapse.

Unable to stay out in the pouring rain, I cautiously stepped back into the cave. Only the dead bear lay there pitifully.

“Th-thank you. You could have just left me and run away…”

The Crown Prince said, his voice trembling on the verge of tears.

A cold sweat broke out on me.

My conscience pricked me just a little.

“Um, but… I would be very grateful if you could put me down.”

Ah. The situation had been so urgent that I had forgotten I was still holding the Crown Prince in a bridal carry.

I put him down.

“Ugh. To show such an unsightly side to a lady…”

Embarrassed, he fanned his face repeatedly. He then approached me as I was making sure the bear was dead just in case.

“The S-Saintess is quite skilled with a sword as well.”

“I suppose I am.”

“The Church announced that the Saintess was just an ordinary commoner. But ordinary commoners cannot slay bears.”

I find Belita quite baffling myself.

Well, she’s not an ordinary commoner at all—she’s a spy for the final boss, which explains it.

The Crown Prince didn’t seem to expect an answer, as he didn’t say anything more.

Shaaaaaaaa—

The rain, which I thought had subsided a bit, began to pour down heavily again.

I sighed involuntarily at the sight of the thick rain that looked like it would pierce through the earth.

“I wonder if the flares will even be intact in this downpour?”

“They were stored deep inside the carriage, so they should be fine. And even if we can’t use them, we can’t go out to search in this rain. It may be unpleasant because of the bear’s carcass, but I think we’ll have to spend more time in this cave.”

Agreeing with the Crown Prince, I let out a small sigh and sat down on the stone floor.

“…Would you mind standing up for a second?”

I wondered why, and then watched as the Crown Prince brushed the dust off his outer coat, folded it neatly like a cushion, and laid it down at my feet.

I thought about how much of a difference it would make when I was already covered in dirt, rain, and blood, but as I sat down, the slight padding felt much better.