Chapter 87

〈 Episode 87 〉 The Unblessed Wedding (3)

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While the Priest was struggling to assemble the human puzzle, Beltein, who had rushed off to buy bread after being charmed by the Saint’s sudden cuteness, faced an equally serious predicament.

“Oooh! Nice to meet you! Sister! I heard the Priest went out with you! But you’re not together!”

Breathless like a hiker who just ran into a bear in the woods, Beltein’s breath hitched for a moment.

It was easy to guess the identity of the suspicious figure, who wore an oversized helmet that didn’t fit her head and rattled with every word.

The Hero. Triana Abigail.

In principle, she shouldn’t exist in this System until noon tomorrow when the Blessing Ceremony begins, yet here she was, strolling confidently along the main street of the village.

It was their first encounter, and it brought back horrible traumatic memories.

She must’ve thought she was disguising herself, but her loud voice echoed even louder than usual thanks to the iron helmet acting like a megaphone.

Her clumsy little scheme did nothing to hide her identity; on the contrary, it caught the attention of passers-by who were eager to get on with their day.

“I specifically told her not to step even a foot out of the monastery!”

Beltein cursed silently, blaming the servants tasked with watching over her.

But knowing only one person in this System could truly restrain someone nicknamed the Wingless Dragon, he soon collected himself.

“C-Could it be that the Knight is here for some reason?”

“Hmm? Ah! Right! I’m a Knight now! Not a Hero! Thank you, Sister! Almost forgot! Hahaha!”

“····”

The commotion intensified among the passers-by at the mention of that Hero title, which was harder to ignore than a freight train barreling through.

However, thanks to her typical suspicious demeanor, no one seemed at risk of uncovering her true identity.

Few would guess that the loud ruckus was made by a suspicious Rascals calling themselves the Hero.

But then,

“I was just taking a brief walk because I was feeling cooped up! But don’t worry! I’m wearing an identification-inhibiting necklace! Just in case, I even put on the helmet! I’m perfectly prepared!”

The fact that she had no worries about being discovered and the fact that someone with the world’s fate on their shoulders acted so carelessly were completely unrelated.

Beltein felt he could finally understand why the Priest occasionally sighed while gazing off at the distant mountains when the Hero Party spoke of their past adventures.

“But! Where is the Priest now? I distinctly heard from the servants that you two went out together! Based on the smell, it seems you were together until just a moment ago! Is that right?”

“T-That’s····!”

It wasn’t like the trained hunting hounds were in on it, but here was the Hero, pinpointing the flow of events merely based on scent in the bustling streets.

Beltein was once again astonished.

The sensation of a magic-trained Adventurer’s senses deviating greatly from those of a regular person was something she had heard of before, but the Hero’s sense was clearly off the charts.

‘If the Regis Priest realizes that he’s with Welna right now····.’

A horrifying thought flickered through her mind. Beltein’s thoughts were quickly tainted with fear.

The Hero’s obsessive attachment to the Priest was not much different from that of the Saint.

She still couldn’t forget the moment when the Hero, upon being accused of hiding the Priest’s whereabouts, suddenly swung a sword with a serious expression, erasing any trace of her innocent smile.

Of course, they had come to an amicable agreement to not discuss what happened that day.

But having that terrifying face burned into her memory caused Beltein to tremble uncontrollably.

A poorly crafted lie could lead to a major mishap.

The Hero could pinpoint the Priest’s location anytime she wanted and swiftly get there.

It was only too obvious that if she showed even a hint of hesitation, that weirdo in the helmet would soon crash the meeting between the Priest and the Saint.

“Regis Priest had a little something come up and had to step away for a bit. He’ll be back soon, so how about you return with me to the monastery for now, Knight?”

“Ooooh! Is that so?!”

Unexpectedly parting ways with the Priest turned out to be a huge stroke of luck.

It was nothing short of divine intervention.

Just a slight timing mishap would have meant facing the dire threat they narrowly avoided, and just after Beltein let out a sigh of relief in private.

“No, thanks!”

“What?”

Beltein’s clear eyes faded into confusion as that sudden bright voice echoed.

“I’ll go fetch the Priest! Sister, you should go back to the monastery a step ahead of us! Helping a comrade in trouble is the duty of a Hero! No! It’s the duty of a Knight!”

“T-There’s really no need for that! The work that the Regis Priest has right now is so simple that it doesn’t require the Knight’s involvement! In fact! If you join in, there’s a high chance it could disrupt the smooth completion of the work!”

“Hmm! That’s true! I’m sorry! Still, no thanks! Excuse me then!”

“W-Wait! Just a moment! Knight!”

Desperately clinging to the Hero’s waist, Beltein tried to hold her back, but the Hero’s determination showed no signs of faltering.

“Knight! Just for a moment! Even a tiny bit! Please hear me out first!”

“Sniff sniff! Hmm! Right! The Priest is nearby here, isn’t he?!”

They were clearly speaking the same language, yet somehow their conversation was on parallel lines.

‘It’s wrong! As expected, when it comes to the Regis Priest, this person loses her rationality!’

Like a loyal hound distant from its master, moving towards them with no actual reason needed,

At that very moment, Beltein instinctively knew that the thought process driving the Hero was solely focused on finding the unseen Priest before her.

Desperately clinging to the Hero’s waist, Beltein was about to kneel down even further when suddenly,

“Is this where the suspicious figure appeared?”

“Yes! Right over here! Guard! Over here, a suspicious fellow wearing a helmet has been harassing the poor Sister!”

A Sister on her knees, desperately clinging to the suspicious, loud-mouthed figure in a helmet.

That scene, sure to be full of misunderstandings at a glance, inevitably drew the attention of passers-by, and by the time they regained their senses, massive armored guards swarmed around them.

“Wait! Everyone! It’s a misunderstanding! T-This person is—”

Beltein, who realized the situation too late, tried to explain to the onlookers, but her words never reached a complete conclusion.

“Oops!”

“Ahhh—!”

“What?!”

Boom!

With an explosion-like force, the Hero’s vigorous leap shattered the surrounding commotion in the blink of an eye.

“Hero charges—!”

“K-Knight! I’m still here! On your waist! I’m still hanging on to your waist! Aaaaah—!”

Beltein’s desperate plea reached the Hero’s ears precisely when she realized the patched-up figure clinging to her waist was no mere rag.

◈◈◈

“I’m sorry! Sister! I felt something weird around my waist halfway through! I thought it was just a branch and—!”

“Hugh! Huhugh!”

She thought she was going to die.

Face down on the ground, gasping for breath, Beltein’s mind was a swirl of thoughts.

Caught unexpectedly in the Hero’s lightning-quick charge, Beltein now felt a sense of relief as if all her strength had drained out and was hit with a wave of nausea that felt like someone was shaking her brain.

If the Hero had hesitated for just a moment, she knew her body would not have survived intact.

Gripped by such chilling suspicion, she couldn’t muster the strength to rise, only managing to steady her breath.

“The smell of the Priest just vanished here! The church! So that means the Priest is inside right now!”

“W-heph!”

Even the Hero’s booming voice was nearly drowned out by her severe nausea.

But then.

Shivers!

“Um!?”

“Hugh!”

A white and cold feather brushed against her, and that unsettling feeling was something she could distinctly sense, even if her consciousness was slipping.

‘Welna used Holy Power again! But why?’

Even Beltein, who was fully aware of that force, felt an overwhelming pressure that made her freeze.

However, it was the Hero who acted first, the one who was incomprehensibly oblivious to the abnormal power emanating from the place.

“Priest—!”

In a sudden motion, the Hero rushed toward the little church ahead.

The sinister Pangongseong cloaked the area right after.

Boom!

And there it was, Layin’s shocking scene that left Beltein speechless.

It wasn’t that the church was filled with strangers cackling like they were on something, nor was it about the Saint, who lovingly cradled the Priest’s face and looked as if she had just accomplished something significant.

“No way····?!”

With ends of her hair dyed with a brilliant sky blue color, the Saint stood there with a face Beltein had never seen before, glaring coldly at the rude intruders who had barged into the church uninvited.

Her eyes, devoid of emotion, were not the indifferent kind.

The thick, rich emotions clung to her face like stains, projecting it as both menacing and captivating.

“You’ve come?”

The Saint gently caressed the Priest’s sweat-covered face with her delicate fingers and suddenly parted her lips.

“····”

Swoosh.

The Hero, who had not budged from her gaze, unsheathed her sword from her waist right after.

*