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“Lily~ could you help me with this?”

“Yes.”

I followed my mother’s request to move the harvested wheat in one go to the granary.

The wheat was piled up quite well in the granary.

Apart from the wheat, the granary was filled with various fruits, grains, and ingredients.

Even if I slap on all I could sell, we should have enough to get by until next year.

“Thank you. Everyone’s busy with work, so I’ve been a bit overwhelmed. I can’t tell you how reassuring it is that you came, Lily.”

“Well, it’s what I always do.”

Since it’s a small enough village, all the fruits and plants grown in the area are harvested together and moved to the communal granary.

Then the village chief and the elders take them to sell in the big market, using the money to feed the villagers well or to further develop the village.

At first glance, it may seem like the power structure is concentrated solely in the village chief and a few others, but in fact, it’s not the case at all.

‘Everyone is nice.’

The village chief was just a chief by title, never indulging in luxuries.

He always cared for the villagers and thought only of how to develop the village, especially as I would become a saintess.

Since that was the village chief’s intention, the elders felt the same way.

‘Of course…’

“Alright, this should be enough. Right, daughter?”

“…Yeah.”

It’s only a few measly orcs to invade the village at most, making them pretty weak opponents overall.

■

The village I stayed in was quite far on the outskirts of the kingdom’s territory.

It was a place where neither people nor monsters came around much.

Because of that, it was extremely peaceful, but there were still incidents from time to time.

Deng deng deng~!

“Orcs have invaded!”

“Everyone out!”

“Come out! Grab the weapons prepared by the village chief!”

Orcs.

They are low-intelligence green-skinned beings that invade the village, raiding meat and various supplies.

…That’s what everyone claims, but in truth, they’re not exactly monsters.

They’re just beasts with the intelligence of a young child.

The orcs invading the village amounted to only about three at most.

Their strength and number barely make them a threat to topple the village.

To me, before becoming a saintess, they were indeed very, very threatening foes…

Krrr krrr…

“Saintess!”

“Lily?”

“Lily!”

“It’s dangerous, Saintess! Get back!”

Carrying spears and farming tools, residents with various appearances were shouting at me with worried looks.

I smiled at them as I walked toward the orcs.

“Don’t worry. The name saintess doesn’t come with any fluff. I’ll take care of it.”

“Are you sure? You were really scared before.”

“That was when I was younger…”

“Angel?”

“……”

I was about to clobber the orc’s head for babbling nonsense but instead opened my fist and simply tapped it.

In an instant, the orc’s eyes rolled back as it fainted.

I took out the other two orcs the same way.

It was a clean cleanup with just a flick of my hand three times.

“Wow… Lily has gotten so strong.”

“Indeed, it’s the saintess!”

“Saintess! We believed in you!”

“Lily! Lily! Lily!”

“……”

It’s honestly amusing.

You’d think they won the lottery from the way they’re celebrating over just three fainted orcs.

The only one who seems somewhat calm is my mother.

She’s looking at me proudly, but it’s like she doesn’t quite feel that way.

“…?”

“Well done, our daughter.”

“…Yes.”

I felt a peculiar mix of emotions as I tossed the orcs as far away as I could.

I hope they won’t invade the village again.

When I returned to the village, a meal was already being prepared in the village square.

‘Already?’

It wasn’t even dark yet for a meal.

Besides, usually, meals are taken at home; it’s not common to have it in a festive format like this.

As I looked at them curiously, the oldest elder in the village, aside from the village chief, raised a cup.

“Now that I think about it, we haven’t celebrated our saintess! Shouldn’t we all do it?”

“That’s right!”

“Absolutely. We should. It’s been a while since we saw Lily.”

“Lily! Sit here!”

“……”

“Hey, you! You should call her saintess!”

“What? I’ve been friends with Lily since we were seven; this is fine.”

“I’ve been friends since I was six, and I call her saintess!”

“That’s because you weren’t as close to Lily.”

“What? You little…”

Bang bang!

Two kids around my age started bickering, and the village elders watched with smiles.

Hahaha~

Laughter echoed through the village.

I stared blankly at it and chuckled lightly as I sat down in the prepared spot.

As I took my seat, the two kids next to me brought over a lavish spread of food.

They weren’t looking to gain favors by getting close to me.

They simply wanted to be ‘friends’ with me.

“That looks good.”

“Right? It’s super delicious!”

“Saintess! Try this too. It’s really good!”

“Just speak casually if you want to.”

“Geez! Do you want to spar later?”

“Sure! Charles, do you think I’ll lose?”

Now’s not a bad time to have a bit of fun.

■

After a modest but pretty decent banquet, in the early dawn with everyone asleep.

I quietly left the house and sat on a small hill where I could see the whole village.

The hill wasn’t very high.

It was barely about 10m tall, but the village was so small that everything was visible from here.

Tsutsutsutsu…

The sound of bugs filled the air, and two moons moved under the starlight in the sky.

I was blankly gazing at it when I thought.

“…Fulfill your wish.”

It all started from the quest to fulfill your wish at the sanctuary of light.

An odd cloud might have sent me into a dream, but the quest itself was still valid.

In other words, if I could fulfill my wish, I’d surely wake up immediately in this dream.

‘40 days.’

For almost 40 days, I’ve been running non-stop to achieve that ‘wish’.

It’s been 40 days in words, but the actual feeling may have been longer.

Though I’m somewhat clear-headed now, I still feel like I might’ve experienced a longer situation.

Thinking it’s been 40 days is also because I’ve been broadcasting.

Since I kept up communication, I likely was aware of absolute time.

“…What do I really want?”

There’s only one thing I want: the death of the Celestial Race and the Demon Race.

But that’s quite a challenge, and since it’s a quest from the ‘Celestial Race’, the chance of them accepting such conditions is low.

Perhaps…

Rustle.

“?”

I heard a sound from somewhere.

Thinking it was a wild animal, I tried to continue my trains of thought, but the energy accompanying that sound felt considerably strong.

‘Strong.’

Has there always been such a strong being around here?

Since the war hasn’t fully broken out yet, there shouldn’t be such a strong entity roaming around unless it’s an ancient boss.

Not to mention out here…

“……”

I took out my spear and quietly approached the source of the sound.

Whatever it is, if it’s near the village, it must be dealt with.

No matter how predetermined the future is, I won’t just sit back and do nothing.

So, if I can stop it, I’ll do my best to stop it…

“Hiss meow?!”

“???”

Thud!

A cat, or rather, a woman with cat ears and a tail, rolled over and lay down in the bushes.

I lowered my spear, which I had pulled out for defense, and helped her up.

She looked quite familiar…

“Miss Yena?”

“Ugh… I almost died the moment we met…”

“Why are you here, Miss Yena?”

It was Yena.

Why is she suddenly appearing from my past dream?

Moreover, she looked quite injured, with cuts all over her arms and legs.

I first healed her injuries with some holy light, and Yena sighed wearily as she sat down.

“That’s… um…”

Yena said she received some pieces from Uriel after I asked her, and crossed over to the angelic side.

However, during the encounter with the angels, she decided to run away since they were too strong, and threw the pieces into the water to escape.

“But the moment I got to this new place, this weird mist started pouring, and I fell asleep. The broadcast got cut off too.”

“Aha…”

“Anyway! I wanted to see Lily! How have you been? I went to your house, but you didn’t open the door!”

“It’s a long story… there’s a reason for it. I’m doing better now.”

“I’m glad to hear that. But where are we? It looks super dangerous.”

“It’s my past.”

“Lily’s past… meow?”

Yena’s eyes widened in shock.

“It’s my past, the place you’ve been so curious about.”

“Oooh meow…”

Yena jumped to her feet.

The place I’ve always struggled to tell her about, now that we’re here, it shouldn’t be a big issue.

‘If it’s Yena, I can trust her.’

“By the way, it seems the celestial beings you faced were really strong. If you got hurt that much…”

“Huh? No, that’s true, but this injury was from here, you know?”

“…Huh?”

Now that I think about it, this place is similar to a dream.

The body I gained here isn’t ‘real’.

Yena calmly pointed to a distant spot.

That place…

“There’s a really strong one over there, stronger than Terni.”

 

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