Chapter 92
A few days ago.
“Nice to meet you. Sorceress of Crimson Lotus, Scarlet Craft, the Great Sorcerer of Flame. And now, I must refer to you as the Sage leading the Hero.”
“You really know everything.”
“I did my research. It’s a pleasure to see you again. I am Saintess Yan Diere.”
Saintess Yan Diere.
I found myself in a private meeting with Saintess Yan Diere in the reception hall of Ligret Castle, in Count Odrone’s Territory.
“I thought it was strange back then. I had a feeling, and it turned out to be true.”
“True?”
“The Hero of the Holy Sword and their companions. I never suspected that the Sage who awakened the Holy Sword was someone from 500 years ago.”
That was certainly impossible to guess.
But most other details were pretty clear.
Hero Lucius.
And Sorceress Bel.
The clue that made me realize was undoubtedly ‘Liriez’.
“Well, Liriez being the Hero of the Holy Sword meant you knew they could carry the Holy Sword in a different form.”
“Yes. It was odd how Lucius kept fiddling with a ring, while you don’t wear one. That seemed strange to me.”
“Hm?”
Why is that strange?
“Hehe. There are men and women together, but only the man is wearing a ring? There are two possibilities. Either the woman is upset and not wearing a ring, or there’s something she needs to hide from the Order of the Goddess regarding the ring. Since you happened to be close to Hero’s Village, it wasn’t hard to make that deduction.”
“Oh.”
Smart and observant.
There was absolutely nothing romantic between Lucius and me, so it made sense for it to seem odd for only the man to wear a ring.
“If it were me, I’d think differently.”
A man with a wife.
And the mistress trying to seduce him.
There were certainly many adventurers who engaged in such affairs.
Many adventurers would gather money by forming parties while leaving a wife back home, only to end up falling for their party member.
“I’ve personally seen such adventurers’ parties brought to ruin.”
In that adventurer party, the woman had a husband back home.
—I can’t stand this anymore. Krrrr….
—No! Think of your husband back home!
—What am I supposed to do if I like you more than my husband!!
—That’s crazy! I’ll tell your husband everything and leave this party! Get lost!
—S-stop! If that happens, I’ll be abandoned by both sides, aaah…!! What have I done!!
Of course, I wasn’t the one who seduced—rather, I simply used the woman’s attempts to destroy the party, but while that wasn’t my case, the opposite happened quite a lot back then.
“Back in the day, everyone really was reckless.”
Maybe it’s because I’m from 500 years ago that such things come to mind first, yet when I think of connecting it to the Hero, it really affirms that she is indeed a Saintess.
“Let’s see, setting aside the research on us, how did you end up here? Did you come after us?”
“No. It was so vague that I honestly half-gave up; I came searching for the survivor of Hero’s Village—Droniel Odrone.”
Is that a coincidence?
It’s somewhat shocking, but if coincidences pile up, that’s fate.
Perhaps it was our destiny to meet Saintess Yan here.
“It truly was a coincidence that I came here. Why did the Sage come here?”
Is she testing me?
If that’s the case, then I can just tell her the truth.
“…I followed the traces of the Demon King’s Army Asydia. I was tracing back a portal from the Demon King’s Army.”
“That’s amazing. But maybe it would have been good to notify at least one person of your destination…”
Why did you leave without telling anyone and drive people crazy?
Her eyes were throwing unwanted accusations at me.
It felt quite different from how Rosmas and Droniel looked at me.
“I didn’t want to be tracked. Normans has a lot of people looking for us, so I hoped to move quietly. I’m not really fond of being praised and such.”
“Hmm… If that’s your thinking, then you made the right choice. If you had stayed there, you wouldn’t have been able to come here or save anyone.”
“Yeah?”
“Normans is preparing a festival called the ‘Crimson Lotus Festival’ to celebrate the heroes who saved them.”
Huh.
“What did you say?”
“Hero of Flame Bearnes, who saved Normans, Hero Arthur Lucius, who sliced a Sand Worm in one blow, and Sorceress of Crimson Lotus Bel, who flew across the battlefield blasting Sand Worms and finally unleashed flames on the Behemoth.”
“What about Rosmas?”
“If you’re talking about the Elf…”
Saintess Yan shook her head with a bitter smile.
“I’m sorry, but others have managed to perform as well as that.”
“Ah…”
What a shame.
“That’s how Hero Parties are.”
If our party is remembered as a tale in the future, it would make sense for my party members to receive less recognition than the Heroes.
Because of the Hero.
In Normans, it’ll be Bearnes.
In Count Odrone’s Territory, it’ll be Liriez.
Naturally, nonsuperstar people like Rosmas or Droniel would be treated as supporting roles who amplified the brilliance of the shining Heroes.
“Indeed, I used that to break apart a Hero Party.”
In a certain Hero Party, there was a Wizard in charge of healing who worked really hard, but I created an opinion that he was useless and drove him away.
After that, he thought he wasn’t a true ally and left, leading to the Hero Party being slaughtered by the Demon King due to not having a healer.
“The true victor in life was that guy.”
He went to a place where no one knew him, opened an apothecary, married an Elf lady he met there, and lived happily ever after after the fall of the Demon King’s Army.
A presence that wouldn’t even make it into a small advertisement on a magazine.
That was the position and stance of those who were not Heroes.
But there are some who can’t even be secondary characters in a Hero Party…
“The Saintess has never been relegated to a supporting role, not once.”
The Saintess.
If the Hero of the Holy Sword has a partner, naturally, it would be the Saintess.
To some extent, it could be said that Hero Liriez walking with Saintess Yan is also a Hero Party.
Anyway.
“…Huh.”
Although we had met once before, I never imagined I’d encounter her in Count Odrone’s Territory as well.
With golden hair and blue eyes, a smiling beauty.
If someone were to ask me who the Saintess is, I would undoubtedly point to this woman.
“But has she gotten even bigger since we last met?”
Not in height.
Not size, but I want to comment on the attitude she holds as a Saintess.
She might not be as endgame as Elf Rosmas or Droniel, but indeed, Yan had grown significantly.
“We’ll save the sour stories for later; it seems I’ve noticed something… um…”
Ah.
Since I’m talking to a woman, maybe I don’t have to beat around the bush?
“I feel like your bust may have gotten a bit bigger since we last met.”
“Back then, I was wearing an inner armor similar to a corset. The higher-ups didn’t like my body much.”
What?
A corset?
Why would she wear that?
“Why?”
“Because they said it doesn’t suit the image of a Saintess.”
“Is that so…? I think it suited her just fine.”
Back 500 years ago, it was a doctrine that a Saintess must be big, but it seems that today’s Saintess prefers smaller and cuter shapes.
“It’s strange that they’re trying to suppress and confine natural things. A corset, huh.”
“It’s not like that. It was the Pope’s special directive, and I agreed, so I kept that hidden.”
“Yeah?”
“The weapon of a woman shines best when hidden. When revealed at the most important moment, it’s the most beautiful.”
“…What does that mean?”
“The moment I take off the corset and my body becomes natural, that’s when the blessing of the Goddess peaks, and I was instructed to hide for that moment. Of course, aside from the Pope, anyone else is too vulgar to show…”
The Pope, huh.
“To gain full favor from the Moon Goddess, the moment I remove the corset, my beauty as both a Saintess and a woman will double.”
She seems to understand me pretty well.
“At first, I didn’t understand what it meant. But once I experienced it, I realized. After that…”
“I think I roughly get what you mean. Since I don’t like to beat around the bush, let’s get to the point.”
The exploratory phase was over.
“…Weren’t we just having a conversation?”
“I can see a purpose in your eyes.”
“Hmm. That’s true, but I just enjoy conversing with the Sage.”
Saintess Yan smiled brightly and pointed at me.
“You took Liriez away from me. Liriez has stars in her eyes when she looks at you, you know?”
“Well, that’s only natural. I’m the one who awakened her Spirit Device.”
“I don’t think it’s just that, but fine. Since you seem to be on guard against me, I’ll speak sincerely.”
Finally.
After all the rounds, I had reached my destination.
“Please let me join the party.”
“…What did you say?”
“I’ll hide my identity as much as possible. I won’t let anyone recognize me, so please take me along with the party.”
“…Why?”
Objectively speaking, there’s no reason for the Saintess to join our party.
But.
“As for the reason…”
Sometimes, the most absurd logic can hold some weight.
“Hero Arthur Lucius. …I fell for him at first sight.”
“Accepted.”
A Saintess in a Hero Harem Party is a given.
There’s no need to ask Lucius’ permission, nor to argue further here.
“But what is it that you fell for?”
“His face.”
“Welcome, Yan. I look forward to working with you.”
No matter what anyone thought.
At least, I felt sincerity from her.
This woman.
So-called.
“Did you fall for him since that time, when you first met Lucius in the cave?”
“Yes.”
Ah.
So that’s why she noticed.
Calling a guy she fell for by his first name must’ve seemed strange to her.
“Alright. Yan, please be the Saintess of our party. But remember, you’re not the only one aiming for Lucius.”
“Hehe.”
Yan Diere simply smiled quietly.
“Is there anything wrong with the Hero making a harem? That’s a doctrine that even the Goddess acknowledges.”
“…….”
“It’s not going against the Goddess, and since I fell for Mr. Lucius, you don’t have to worry too much, Sage. Hehe.”
A comrade with suspiciously perfect motives had appeared.
“…….”
Yan Diere.
Yan…Diere.
“…….No way.”
Yan Diere bore an uncanny resemblance to the Saintess I knew from 500 years ago.
—Hmph! This isn’t helping you! It’s to help the humans you’re suppressing!!
It seems like…
…she might be related to Tsun Diere.
