22 – Saintess Candidate – 3

 

“….Firstly, a thread of starlight. “

 

Priscilla began to explain with a sulky face. Every time she saw Rosario after explaining all the happenings with the Saintess candidate, she had that kind of gaze.

 

I had expected that kind of reaction. I thought there was no point hiding, especially if Rosario might hear it from someone else; it could complicate things further.

 

Even after hearing what happened with Rosario, Priscilla showed no particular reaction. She just seemed to be trying much harder than usual to understand my warmth.

 

We ended up sharing a blanket in the same bed because it seemed Priscilla’s anxiety hadn’t completely dissipated, but nothing much happened. My patience was just tested more than usual.

 

“Yes, a thread of starlight. And what else?”

 

Rosario didn’t feel upset, even while blatantly noticing Priscilla’s awkward reaction because she heard about Priscilla’s past.

 

It was quite amusing seeing her surprised reaction after hearing about the number of regressions.

 

“The eternal chalice that shines forever. These two items will do. Oh, and also lots of money.”

 

“An eternal chalice that shines forever? That might be difficult for me to get from the papacy… Of course, I’ll try, but just know that there’s a high chance of failure. Money will be the easiest of the three. You’ll just have to apply then they’ll fill up carriage after carriage, about 10 in total. And all in gold coins, of course.”

 

The two items Priscilla just mentioned were originally religious treasures of the Starlight Sect, that had been contaminated by the demon army’s assault and were essentially demonic relics.

 

The thread of starlight connected the senses of thousands of humans together – if one died, so would all the others. It was a vile weapon.

 

While the eternal chalice created a buff zone for demons.

 

Both were eventually purified by Aria once she’d become Saintess, but until then, they caused considerable harm to humans which is why they wanted to retrieve them beforehand.

 

With the plot thrown off by the 3rd division commander of the demon army entering the academy just two weeks after enrollment, there was a chance they could assault the papacy at any moment.

 

There was another item, but the Pope kept it with him at all times, so it was currently out of reach.

 

“That’s okay. They aren’t needed immediately, I just need to retrieve them before the demon king invades the papacy.”

 

“The thread of starlight should be easy to retrieve. They even tried to make a dress out of it and put it on me before. If you say you’ll give it a try, they’ll surely hand it over.”

 

“They tried to make a dress out of it? That thing? “

 

This time, Priscilla made an odd face. Rosario sighed and nodded her head.

 

“But why?”

 

“It’s a thin, semi-transparent thread. Based on the user’s will and holy power, it can continually grow. But the real key point is, if you don’t apply holy power, it merely stays a semi-transparent thread.”

 

“…and?”

 

“If they make a dress out of it, do you know what would happen? No cover whatsoever. I’d just appear as a madwoman with threads wrapped around my naked body. And they wanted me to put that on as a new holy dress? I was speechless. Why don’t they just tell me to wear nothing at all?”

 

Rosario ground her teeth with frustration as she explained.

 

“But then they brought in a nun to try it on, then decided it wasn’t time for me to wear it and canceled it. Ah, that nun was branded as a heretic and expelled for desecrating the holy object. Those lunatics, trying it themselves.”

 

I felt that just by hearing a few explanations, I was getting an idea of how rotten the Starlight Sect had become on the inside.

 

Even if it was set up in the original work to show Aria cleansing the sect and becoming the new Pope and Saintess, this was a bit too much.

 

“You’re sure you can destroy them without Aria? No kidding, they have serious wealth. Even considering only wealth, they’re on par with the Emperor.”

 

“If I wanted to, I could do it right now. But we need to suck them dry first.”

 

“Ah, really?! How?”

 

Upon hearing Priscilla’s comment, Rosario sat upright, startled. Seeing her, Priscilla curled up one corner of her lips. Rosario initially looked shocked, then her expression turned awkward.

 

“…Why are you looking at me like that?”

 

“You look suspicious. If Mira says she can do it, then she obviously can. There’s no need to ask if it’s true, or how she’ll do it. We just have to believe and follow Mira.”

 

“….”

 

Rosario just shut up, lost for words. I stopped talking, too. Priscilla’s eyes seemed eerily intense. Unable to find any further words, Rosario quietly sat back down.

 

Priscilla picked up my hand and brushed it against her cheek, looking pleased with herself – a smile of happiness spreading across her face again.

 

“I heard about it. You were attacked by the commander of the demon army, are you alright?”

 

The day after the holiday ended, Aria clasped my hand in hers with a worried look as soon as she saw me during the morning lecture. Her eyes welled up with tears.

 

“I tried to go see you yesterday, but they said the Saint candidate was having a conversation with you and I couldn’t come. I didn’t want to intrude unwarrantedly, I’m sorry. It’s not for naught that the Starlight Faith is known for their unwelcoming nature.”

 

Brynhildr reacted similarly. However, unlike Aria, who was filled with pure worry, Brynhildr was half worried and half angry.

 

“You are a hero. Yet, you have to adjust to their whims?”

 

That was the reason why Rozaria had been tormenting Aria in the main story. She harbored ill-will towards Brynhildr, but as Brynhildr was a hero and couldn’t be provocated, Rozaria chose Aria instead.

 

“They can criticize me all they want. But not the ones below me. They so blindly devoted, they’d use their lives as a threat. If I had withdrawn a little later, one of them might have died. I saw the resolve in their eyes.”

 

“…”

 

It was such an extremist, threatening the hero with a suicide pledge if he didn’t withdraw immediately. There wasn’t an option for Brynhildr to suicide there, someone was definitely resorting to a desperate measure.

 

From noble mtl dot com

 

“So, how was the Saint?”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“You got to meet her personally. Was she like the rumors suggested? The one torturing nuns and bleeding them and then smearing or drinking the blood?”

 

I was starting to wonder what kind of rumors had been spreading. I responded with a bewildered expression.

 

“Who told you that? She was nothing like the rumors.”

 

“…Really? So the rumors were wrong?”

 

I had to mix in a bit of a lie here.

 

“The rumors must be wrong. She was incredibly kind, just a bit mischievous. You’ve never met the Saint before? You’re the hero.”

 

“Unfortunately. I thought I’d get to meet her when I went to receive some sort of starlight blessing at the Vatican, but it didn’t happen. I met with the Pope and went back.”

 

Brynhildr, while showing a skeptical expression, seemed to trust my words for now. Aria, listening to our conversation, managed a bright smile.

 

Not long after, the professor entered, changing the atmosphere and starting the lecture. At first, Brynhildr seemed to concentrate, but she was already dozing off within 15 minutes.

 

“…She’s at it again.”

 

Aria looked at Brynhildr with a troubled expression.

 

“Shouldn’t we wake her up?”

 

“Even if we wake her up to listen to the lecture, she’ll say it’s better if I take care of the complicated stuff and fall asleep again. Let’s leave her be.”

 

Brynhildr, being unrelated to theory, had always gotten the lowest score in written tests, and she still had no intention of listening. Conversely, Aria was the perfect model student, diligently taking notes and concentrating in class.

 

I also thought of note-taking as being important, so I left Brynhildr alone and focused on the lecture. Suddenly, an alert silently appeared on the magic tool screen.

 

I took a look at Aria’s and Brynhildr’s too out of curiosity, but there were no notifications on their screens. It seemed like an alert only for me, so I checked it right away.

 

“Can you see me for a moment when the lecture ends?”

 

“…?”

 

It was just that one sentence, there was no sender. As I was wondering who it was, another alert popped up.

 

“It’s the chairman. I have something to say to you concerning the incident in the dungeon, I’d appreciate it if you could spare me some time. It won’t take very long.”

 

‘The chairman?’

 

I had heard that he had been summoned to the royal palace due to the demonic incident in the Bellium Forest and had been aggressively questioned by opponents of the academy.

 

Actually, the opposition sounded nice, but they were people advocating for the abolition of the academy because their own children had failed to enter the academy due to their incompetence and they were embarrassed and resentful.

 

So far, the operations had been so successful that they had not been able to find a single thing to question, but with this incident, it was said they had a fiery rage.

 

“Where should I head to?”

 

Anyway, if the chairman was calling for me personally, it definitely meant something important was up, so I quickly sent a reply.

 

“Come to the chairman’s office. The door will be left open.”

 

The reply to my message came very quickly.

 

After the short conversation was over, I headed straight to the chairman’s office as soon as the lecture was over. Aria and Brynhildr sent me off with wide eyes when they heard the chairman had called for me.

 

The chairman’s office was on the very top floor of the main building. The entire floor was dedicated to the chairman’s office only. As he had said the door will be left open, as soon as I approached, the doors split open.

 

I awkwardly stepped inside. The chairman, who was sitting on a sofa with a table attached and sipping tea, caught my presence and greeted me with a smile.

 

“You’re here.”

 

His body, still at least a head taller than me, was crossed legged hence revealing his long slender legs. If I had been his enemy, his intimidating figure would have been enough to frighten me.

 

The chairman gestured towards the opposite table, making a cup of tea and inviting me to sit in front of it. I obediently complied with his order.

 

“I apologize for the late introduction. I go by Erestika, the chairman of Bellium Academy. To be precise, I have more names amounting to about 63 words in human letters. But you don’t have to memorize those, Erestika is enough.”

 

He had no intention of mentioning the name Meligor, which the Third Army Commander had brought up. I saw no need to mention it either, considering he had reacted savagely at the sound of it.

 

“My name is Mira Crete.”

 

“I know. Mira Crete. You’ve been quite audacious since the admission ceremony. I suppose your speech will be given next year? Given that you’ve held your position for three years now.”

 

A faint smile came to his face.

 

“There’s one reason I called you. Let me get straight to the point,”

 

The chairman placed his teacup down and made eye contact with me. His vertically long-slitted pupils seemed to be assessing me.

 

“How did you destroy the core of the Maker?”