EP.153 Lost Little Lamb (01)
Time sure flies.
It’s already been two weeks since that day.
To cut to the chase, as per the Vatican’s request, the matter concerning the Saintess was resolved by having her join the Hero Party.
There were some complications due to the Hero’s fierce opposition, but thanks to Bigtim’s desperate intervention and my own sacrifice of dignity, we managed to settle things without shedding a drop of blood.
Though it was a painful sacrifice to hand over a Wish Granting Ticket to the Hero as a cost of this peaceful resolution, it was unavoidable.
Since the Hero’s blessing that should have been granted to him came to me, I had to accompany the Saintess until I figured out a way to return that blessing to him.
Fortunately, the upper echelons of the Vatican seemed completely unaware that I held the Hero’s blessing.
Their reasoning was that the reason the blessing wasn’t properly granted to the Hero was solely due to the Saintess’s immature handling of Holy Power.
“Welna knows nothing.”
This time, it seemed even she had a little guilt, as the Saintess averted her gaze and kept acting nonchalant.
Having spent time with her, I could clearly read her emotional state just from these subtle expressions.
This is merely a guess, but perhaps the time when the Saintess slammed the Hero’s blessing on me was not too recent, but rather, quite some time ago?
For example, when she first knocked me out with that blessing.
“Regis, Saintess seems to be reflecting enough, so maybe less scolding…”
The Sister intervened as I ended up having a random staring contest with the Saintess while she was sitting on my lap.
Though I hadn’t even started scolding her, the worried look on the Sister’s face as she glances back and forth between us was evident.
Her concern for her only blood relative is commendable, but indiscriminately shielding a child like that isn’t good for their emotional health; even I, who grew up as an orphan, understood that.
“Sister… if we keep brushing things under the rug like this, the Saintess will develop bad habits. Sometimes a solid scolding is…”
“I see your point, but maybe the Saintess has her own thoughts on this…”
Every time we had this back-and-forth, it felt a bit tiring, but even now, I think it was an excellent decision to bring the Sister along to take care of the Saintess.
In the midst of our arduous journey, there wasn’t anyone in our party capable of properly supporting the Saintess, who had just entered her teenage years mentally.
Given that the Sister had previously been accused of trying to erase the Saintess’s Holy Power, I couldn’t just leave her alone at the monastery.
Now that the Sister, who had been in charge of the monastery’s affairs, was absent, I couldn’t help but worry about the state of the monastery, which had suddenly lost its sail.
“If someone saw this, they’d think you were having a lovechild.”
“W-What are you talking about, Apis!?”
“Apis…”
Apis’s annoying remark caused the Sister to gasp and raise her voice.
Despite her outwardly abrasive demeanor, Apis was largely responsible for the Saintess and Sister safely joining our party.
The truth behind the baptism. The relationship between the Sister and the Saintess. The reason the Sister tried to set the Saintess and me together.
I could confidently declare that Apis’s declaration, in which she raged about sticking arrows into the heads of the Vatican’s upper echelons for believing such absurd tales, was entirely free of lies.
That outrage continued until the Sister revealed that everyone indirectly or directly involved in the baptism had met untimely deaths, whether accidental or natural.
I had a hunch as to why Apis reacted so vehemently.
Perhaps due to her past of being exiled from her hometown and wandering aimlessly for decades, Apis often showed a surprisingly vulnerable side when it came to feeling a sense of belonging like family or comrades.
This was easily evident from her attitude towards the Hero.
An overly meticulous big sister taking care of her troublesome younger sibling while grumbling.
The vivid memory of getting punched in the guts by a blushing Apis after she openly voiced her thoughts in front of me remained fresh.
“Hey, stop goofing around and get dressed. The Hero will be here soon.”
“W-What do you mean, goofing around!?”
“Apis, please choose your words carefully…”
I hurriedly covered the Saintess’s ears, fearing she might overhear this.
Excluding that crude speech habit, she seemed to have a perfect look and, surprisingly, a domestic side too; it was frustrating to see one significant flaw overshadow everything else.
“Apis, please, for the sake of my sanity, don’t say things that can be misinterpreted like that… if someone heard that, they’d think we were having an affair…”
“Ah, Sister! As I explained before, there’s a reason the Saintess needs to stay close to Regis for more than a certain amount of time each day…”
“If those kids are rubbing against each other when they come out or go in, they’s just having a good time!”
“Hiiik!”
Explaining to the party why the Saintess and I needed to be in close contact for extended periods of time was extraordinarily taxing.
Especially since the opposition from Dawna, who harbored feelings for me, and the Hero was quite intense.
To be fair, it made sense.
The fact that I possess a unique power that allows me to absorb the Saintess’s Holy Power was indeed unbelievable.
If I were in their position, I’d treat it as insane talk.
Yet the Sister’s confident tone and my experiences being with the Saintess lent substantial credibility to this outrageous theory.
By merely being with me, the Saintess might recover her faded self from her overwhelming Holy Power.
That would be fine if I was just a distant person halfway across the world.
But with someone I could help and who had no one else to turn to right in front of me, pretending not to see was impossible for me.
Thus, after desperate persuasion, I secured about an hour of being close to the Saintess each day when in a place with other party members besides the Sister.
“Alright then, Saintess. I’ll be off for now. I’ll be back soon, so stay nice with the Sister here and don’t bother anyone, okay?”
“Yep. I understand. Welna will be good and won’t bother anyone and will listen to sister.”
“Well said.”
I affectionately patted her head.
Thanks to her noticeably improved attitude, which was much better than before, my concerns about her throwing tantrums were utterly unwarranted.
No, since that day, the Saintess hadn’t caused a single remarkable incident.
Even when she last quarreled with the Hero, it seemed she had taken to heart my advice about not hurting anyone, and she was preoccupied with only defensive actions.
Just yesterday she would throw a fit whenever her demands weren’t met.
That dramatic growth left me feeling both amazed and proud.
So this is how you raise a child.
“Then, I’ll just check on the Hero’s condition. Please take care of the Saintess for me, Sister.”
“Yes. Please come back safely, Regis. May the gods smile upon you. Now then, Saintess, you must say goodbye to the Priest.”
“Onii-chan. Bye bye.”
“Hehe, yes, Saintess is not…”
“What are you, a newlywed couple? Whatever you do, don’t greet each other like that in front of the Hero. It’ll lead to a fight.”
“….”
I pretended not to hear Apis’s sharp retort and calmly straightened my attire.
“By the way, Apis, how did today go? Any progress?”
“No, I rummaged through the whole city but came up empty again.”
“Haa….”
As I was about to descend the stairs, I had a brief chat with Apis.
Though I found myself in the body of someone else, we had at least succeeded in receiving the Saintess’s blessing. Our next task remained clear.
To find the Hero’s other divine weapon, the Holy Sword, which is essential for defeating the Demon King.
Along with the birth of the current generation’s Hero, the sword has reappeared and is somewhere within this system, the lazy artifact lying in wait.
However, after searching every nook and cranny of this system for the past two weeks, we still hadn’t made any significant breakthroughs.
According to legend, the blessing of the Saintess was said to naturally guide the Hero towards the location where the Holy Sword was hidden.
I had received no news from the Hero’s blessing, which had landed on my shoulder.
“How about the Hero…?”
“Same as ever. Chasing around the city under the guise of looking for clues about the Holy Sword.”
The response, as expected, ignited my anxiety once more.
The most important question was now to be asked.
“Uh… how does the Hero seem to be feeling?”
In response to my question filled with unease, Apis suddenly fell silent.
Since we onboarded the Saintess into our party, the Hero’s mood had become so erratic it bordered on extreme bipolarity.
My physical connection with the Saintess was for rescue efforts;
what I referred to as “artificial respiration” didn’t seem to convince him, and every time the Saintess tried to cling to me, the Hero’s fierce rampages turned into an annual event in our party.
With the embodiment of jealousy wielded over me one Waning day, it was impossible for my fragile heart to ever find peace.
Swallow.
I heard an audible gulp.
If the Hero were in a good mood right now, I could potentially get away with a hug or a lap pillow.
But if not, I’d surely be forced to endure some unspeakable acts again today.
Though the Hero had a bright smile, it had become genuinely frightening lately.
“Hoo…”
Just then, Apis let out a frustrating sigh and held up her index fingers to her head like a pair of animal horns.
Wiggle, wiggle.
As her adorable fingers bent a few times, I seized the chance to ask.
“Does that mean he’s calmed down like a frightened goat?”
“More like an angry bull.”
Just like that, my hopes were shattered like glass.
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