Chapter 97

In hindsight, it was a useless concern.

“Saintess!”

“My goodness, what on earth is…?”

The rescue team arrived before sunset, and the first faces to appear were Ilian and Beatrice. And behind them…

“Are you both alright?”

“Hereis!”

The protagonist was with them as well. The Crown Prince called out his name so desperately that someone might have mistaken him for the heroine. I couldn’t be outdone, so I gave the protagonist a massive, ear-to-ear grin to show how glad I was to see him.

“I know you’re busy, but thank you for coming, Sir Hereis.”

“Lady Beatrice and I were busy too, so why do you only single out Sir Hereis? That hurts.”

Ilian pouted and grumbled. Normally, I would have scolded him for being dramatic, but today, I just laughed along. Beatrice, saying it wasn’t the time for such talk, gave Ilian’s shoulder a hard thwack and approached me.

“Excuse me, Saintess. Is being ‘busy’ the issue right now? A rescue flare went up from the direction you left in—didn’t you consider that the Church would be in an absolute uproar? We just happened to get here first, but the Holy State’s main army is right behind us!”

Beatrice barked at me, fully prepared to be called out for her rudeness.

‘It’s been a while. She’s been quiet lately.’

Beatrice had always been a nagger, but she seemed to have been holding back since I was appointed Saintess. It appeared she couldn’t contain herself this time. Of course, no one tried to stop her. The protagonist was staring at a distant mountain, and Ilian was giving me a “good luck with that” look. It was a sign of silent agreement.

“Still, I am glad you appear to be unharmed.”

The protagonist spoke softly, trying to break the tension. Beatrice, looking exhausted as she barely swallowed a sigh rising from her gut, shouted back.

“Sir Hereis, what are you talking about? Does she look unharmed to you in that state? And ‘glad’? There are only two survivors!”

“I apologize. That was a slip of the tongue.”

The protagonist, having failed spectacularly at mood-making, apologized immediately. Then, as if finally processing my appearance, his eyes widened in horror.

“Were you injured?”

My dress, which had once been white, was stained with blood and riddled with holes—it was practically a rag.

“It’s not my blood.”

“You must see a doctor immediately…”

“Sir Hereis, have you forgotten? Wounds are meaningless to the Saintess.”

Ilian dismissed the concern, telling him not to make a fuss.

“Sir Ilian. We can’t be too sure. We should be cautious…”

“Phew, fine. I’ll look for a doctor nearby. But before that.”

Ilian’s eyes shifted as he stared at me and the Crown Prince.

“Let’s have a talk.”

Following his lead, Beatrice and the protagonist turned their gazes toward us as well.

“Exactly what happened here?”

We gave a brief explanation of the events.

How the carriage came to a sudden halt, and when we stepped out, we were attacked by a mysterious assailant. How we managed to escape safely thanks to an argument between two assailants—whether it was internal friction or not. We added that because of the fog, we couldn’t properly see the scale of the ambush or the faces of the culprits. We also mentioned encountering a bear while fleeing and dealing with it safely. I wasn’t going to mention that last part, but the Crown Prince, apparently impressed by my heroic feat, shared the story quite enthusiastically…

“Ah, I feel sorry for the bear. It hurts so much to be stabbed by the Saintess’s blade~.”

“You sound like someone who’s actually been stabbed.”

“Ayy, Lady Beatrice. There’s no way. Our Saintess isn’t some atrocious person who just goes around stabbing innocent people.”

“Atrocious? Sir Ilian, watch your mouth.”

“Yes, ma’am~.”

“And those attackers… How dare they wound the Saintess’s precious holy body? If they are caught, they shall face the divine mace!”

“……”

Beatrice looked like a vengeful demon as she bit her lip so hard that blood began to trickle. Ilian, who actually had a history of attacking me, instinctively shut his mouth tight… It was much more peaceful that way.

“Anyway, so you didn’t even see the culprit’s face.”

When the Crown Prince and I nodded, Beatrice squeezed her eyes shut, sensing the nightmarish difficulty of the search ahead.

“I see. They were quite meticulous.”

Beatrice scanned the number of slaughtered knights and added that she estimated at least five attackers. The protagonist immediately shook his head.

“To me, it looks like the work of a single person.”

“What? What do you mean by that, Sir Hereis?”

The protagonist pointed to a corpse at his feet and continued.

“You’ll see if you look closely at the wounds.”

Beatrice and Ilian hurriedly began to examine several nearby corpses. Then, both nodded with pale faces.

“…Indeed. They aimed precisely for the vitals. And with a single blow, at that.”

“Yes. The fact that they are all consistent and identical in shape suggests it was the same person.”

Ilian clicked his tongue, remarking that they weren’t dealing with an ordinary person.

“This is quite the problem… I am sorry to say this, but you two must return to the Holy State. We will keep you safely protected until the attacker is caught.”

That was out of the question. I didn’t have the luxury of any more delays.

“We’re going to the Empire as originally planned.”

The Crown Prince beside me looked shocked. And Beatrice immediately pushed back fiercely.

“You’re saying you’ll go to the Empire in this situation? The attacker clearly knows the Saintess’s destination is the Imperial Palace! It’s far too dangerous!”

“Saintess. Please, reconsider.”

“I knew you were reckless, but this time, it’s truly out of the question.”

“I want to return to the capital as well, but I’m not desperate enough to bet my life as collateral.”

Every single one of them is making a “ding” sound while trying to hold me back.
But Cyril isn’t here. This is all just unnecessary worrying.

“Ralphican says it is fine. We go.”

Now is the time to be stubborn.

As I spoke firmly, Beatrice raised her voice.

“You say that every single time things get inconvenient!”

“You all will be coming with me, so what is the problem? You can simply protect me, can you not?”

“Th-that is…”

“What, do you lack confidence?”

Seeing an opening, I was about to push harder when several familiar status windows popped up in succession.

‘Oh, perfect timing.’

Everyone except the Crown Prince was hit by the persuasion effect!

‘Good.’

It’s a bit off from the original plan, but regardless, we’re going.

To the Imperial Palace.

[ Subject: Inquiry and Meeting Proposal regarding ‘Please Survive’ ]

Hello, Mo Je-won.

This is the Double Busters PR team.

First and foremost, we sincerely thank you for playing and showing affection for our company’s product.

We are also thoroughly enjoying your videos.

However, there are a few points regarding your videos that have raised questions, and we would like to discuss them with you in detail.

This appears to be a problem arising entirely from our side, and is by no means an issue on your part…

“What’s this?”

If possible, would you be open to a brief meeting? Please let us know your preferred schedule or contact method, and we would be grate—

“Seriously, what? Is this for real?”

Mo Je-won, who was sipping on strawberry milk while checking his business emails, muttered in a suspicious tone.

“Hah, funny. What kind of ‘questions’ could they have about a game video? I didn’t even leave the VODs up; are they complaining about the live broadcast?”

Je-won grumbled, admitting he’d felt a brief flutter of excitement thinking it was an ad request.

“Ah, I don’t know. Is this legit? Asking to meet in person is a bit extra.”

Based on the formatting, it didn’t look fake.

However, the push for an in-person meeting meant he couldn’t rule out the possibility of a scam.

After a moment of thought, Je-won hit the back button.

Even if it was a real email from Double Busters, they said it wasn’t a violation of regulations but their own fault, right?

There was no reason for him to go out of his way to meet them.

“I’ll think about it later.”

Deciding to clear it from his mind for now, Je-won moved his cursor to the next item on the email list.

“Let’s see, this one is…”

[ Hello, Je-won. ]

I am your devoted viewer, ‘Gloomy Follower.’

You know my nickname, right? I’ve donated so much that there’s no way you’ve forgotten.

Since I’m that kind of fan, I have a request.

Please focus more on the Saintess route!

You seem to think it’s not obvious how you waver toward Edelina every time, but it’s not a good look.

Shouldn’t a man look only at one woman?

I’m saying this because I like you, Je-won.

If I didn’t care, would I really spend my time sending an email?

I’m saying this so the broadcast does well, so please listen closely…

“Agh, this guy again? Doesn’t he ever get tired? Stuff like this makes me lose affection for a game even when it’s fun~.”

Je-won let out a deflated sigh.

“Do this route, do that route.” Viewers who tried to puppet a streamer to their own tastes were everywhere.

“If you’re going to push, at least do it with a donation. Then I’d at least consider it.”

If it were a useful suggestion, he’d keep it in the back of his mind, but this wasn’t even worth that.

Je-won thought that if it was a simple matter of personal preference, he wished they’d show it through donations rather than a non-profitable email.

“Have I been playing this too long?”

Come to think of it, he had been stuck on ‘Please Survive’ for a week already.

‘I originally intended to just see one ending and be done with it.’

He kept telling himself ‘just one normal ending, just one’… and ended up in this state.

Who could have guessed he’d be seeing nothing but bad endings for an entire week straight?

“It feels wrong to move on without even seeing the end credits.”

The bad endings didn’t even have credits.

That part had strangely bruised his pride.

Of course, if the viewer count or donations weren’t hitting, he would have bailed halfway through, but ‘Please Survive’ was a surprisingly lucrative game.

Because of the nature of dating sims, donations would pour in every time a choice popped up.

“Well, still, it’s not a game worth dragging out any longer than this.”

Even if the prospect of being the first to clear a hidden ending was tempting.

“Ah, look at the time.”

After finishing up his remaining business emails, Je-won turned on his broadcasting computer.

Once he adjusted his settings and hit the ‘Go Live’ button, viewers began to trickle in one by one.

-Mo-ha (Mo-Hi)

-I’ve been waiting!~

-What are we doing today?

Mo Je-won grinned and opened his mouth, speaking in a bright voice a whole tone higher than usual.