“Isn’t it just a matter of putting on new clothes? Why do we have to do this?”
Yona glared at Ceres as she snatched the bundle from her.
If a look could kill, Ceres would have been dead not just six times, but fifty.
It was truly regrettable that Yona couldn’t actually carry out her death threat, as she unwrapped the bundle.
Inside was a nun’s habit.
It was the very same habit Yona usually wore.
While on her way to Albre, she had stopped in an unnamed village.
That village didn’t have any notable cathedral, but that didn’t mean Yona could just waltz around outside without a care.
In that place, Yona had commanded Ceres to get the outfit altered.
Now, neither adventurer Yona nor regent Ceres, but rather a bizarre partnership between a saint and a Celestial God elder in the demon realm, Ceres dutifully obeyed the order to alter the outfit without complaint.
“…Is this really altered?”
“It’s called an alteration, but how do you expect a small-town tailor to fix a nun’s habit? You’re really saying some strange things, Saint… There’s no way to do anything other than buy a new one at the cathedral.”
After cutting off a torn section of the left sleeve and patching it with similar cloth, the only other thing done was give it a good wash. It was hardly what you’d call an alteration—while Ceres wasn’t wrong, Yona kept silent.
“Okay. Got it.”
The nun’s habit.
As much as she could throw it away, she didn’t want to.
This one, she absolutely didn’t want to throw away.
For some reason, that was how she felt.
She’d tossed aside all the priestly pretenses and had no regrets or lingering feelings about what she’d done for Alex, but still, this nun’s habit…
A fragment of nostalgia was attached to it, making it impossible to simply discard.
*
The sun sets quickly in the mountains.
Around the time when darkness falls much faster than usual, the carriage came to a stop in a quiet clearing in the woods, just like it always did.
“Ugh…”
As soon as Yona stepped out of the carriage, she stretched her arms high above her head.
The carriage was large and comfortable, but being cooped up inside for so long made her feel lethargic.
As she stretched, her back cracked loudly.
“Oy, Saint! You’ll break your back at this rate!”
“What are you, a numbskull?”
Alex joked as he playfully tapped Yona’s back.
In response to his teasing, Yona smacked the back of his head.
– Thunk.
“…Huh?”
She hit the back of Alex’s head, but instead of the usual slap or thud sound, it made a thunk noise.
Feeling hair rather than the usual bald scalp under her palm, Yona frowned as she looked at her hand.
“What? Why? Why the face?”
“…Uh… nothing, just the texture is really…”
As soon as the magic was lifted, Alex had gone from bald to sporting a full head of luxurious hair.
Hitting the back of Alex’s head, the sensation and sound had always been nice and clear, but now it felt rather awkward.
It was great when a clean strike sound echoed, but now that it just sounds like a clank, it’s rather awkward.
“Hey, Alex.”
“What?”
Alex stared blankly at Yona, who was grinning from ear to ear.
Usually, from past experiences, when Yona had that expression, it meant she was cooking up something weird—
“Hmm. About you.”
Yona strolled around Alex, inspecting his face from all angles.
As Alex felt a strange discomfort under her intense gaze and took a step back, Yona stepped even closer.
Finally cornered against the carriage wall, Yona opened her mouth.
“You know, I always thought you were somewhat good-looking.”
Yona reached out, fiddling with his nose, eyes, and lips, muttering.
“I knew it, but seeing it up close really confirms it. You must have been popular with the girls, huh?”
Yona’s tone started to feel a bit more threatening.
Somehow, it felt like there was a hint of sincerity mixed in.
A cold sweat began to trickle down Alex’s back.
“Seriously, are you thinking of lifting the restrictions? Having hair makes it look really weird.”
Just as expected.
At Yona’s words, Alex couldn’t help but let out a long sigh.
“Come on, stop saying weird stuff.”
“Weird? What’s weird about it…”
Yona, pouting her lips, huffed and followed behind Kaiyak, who had gone ahead, claiming he’d catch some fish because he heard water nearby.
As Yona followed him to the riverside, Alex quietly watched her slowly fading silhouette.
To him, Yona was—no matter how he looked at it—acting out of character.
Though she pretended to be nonchalant, it was clear that she was not.
He knew.
After spending so much time hanging around Yona and enduring various hardships because of her, Alex might know Yona better than she knew herself.
No, he was undoubtedly sure of it.
Even behind that smiling face, a shadow lurked.
When she leaned against Alex in the carriage and tried to sleep, she no longer comfortably curled up like before but instead huddled tightly, trembling constantly and unable to sleep properly.
Could it really be that she was smiling genuinely?
Most likely not.
The Cathedral taught that the Demon World is a place filled with death, conspiracy, betrayal, and treachery.
It wasn’t a place that spoke kindly about the demons that ruled the Demon World either.
And Yona, raised in such a place, had become the Saint of the Demon World herself, leaving Alex no choice but to harden his expression.
How could Yona feel about that? Instead of comforting her, Alex found himself at a loss for words as he noticed Yona glancing his way, wishing she hadn’t turned into this.
Yet, Yona couldn’t bring herself to say that she would leave or tell Alex to abandon her.
Even if she did say it, he certainly wouldn’t accept it.
Thus, Yona’s retreating figure felt even more pitiful to Alex.
My back looked even more pitiful.
I vowed again and again that I would protect her, yet I ended up making Yona suffer once more.
A huge lump remained in Alex’s heart.
*
“Hey, aren’t freshwater fish supposed to have a lot of bones?”
Starting with Kaiyak, Yona, Alex, and finally Rubina, we were gathered around for a meal. It had been a while since we dined together like this.
Ceres usually didn’t join us for meals, but tonight, for some reason, she decided to sit with us.
“Dealing with fish bones is nothing for a Lizardman.”
Kaiyak grinned as he picked up a fish that was hanging over the campfire.
Having already cleaned out the guts and bones, the fish was now perfectly roasted, its flesh looking brown and appetizing.
“Here you go, Yona. Or should I say, Saint? Please take it!”
Kaiyak chuckled loudly.
“Hey, lizard! Want to say something useless?”
After giving Kaiyak a pointed look, Yona accepted the fish.
Indeed, as Kaiyak said, freshwater fish usually had a ton of tiny bones, but those had been completely stripped away, leaving just the meat.
She delicately tore off a piece with her fingers and—
“Here, Rubina.”
Rubina’s black eyes rolled around and fixed on Yona. After glancing at the piece of fish in Yona’s hand, she cautiously opened her mouth.
“It’s hot, so be careful.”
As Yona popped the meat into Rubina’s mouth, she immediately blew out puffs of heated breath.
When would she finally speak?
The shock must have been too great.
Yona quietly looked down at the fish in her hands.
Though she had committed a crime that deserved death, it was her first time killing a person.
The fact that she hadn’t directly killed that man was just an excuse.
The truth remained that, by her will, she had brutally slain that Holy Knight.
Additionally, since Vervaria descended, countless people had died and been wounded—
Moreover, if Yona were to carry out her goal of utterly dismantling the Church of the Celestial God, she would have to kill countless people with these very hands.
Was that right—
‘…It’s the right thing. It’s the correct path.’
Yona decided to let go of her lingering feelings for the Church of the Celestial God.
If she had to kill, then she would.
No, there was no need to even think about killing people.
Those who blindly thrust their spears just because someone became an apostate.
They didn’t bother to listen to a single reason, no matter what had led them to this point.
They were scum who never cared what devotion to the Celestial God looked like or what good deeds they had performed.
Furthermore—in addition, they were beasts who threatened a ten-year-old child with a sword.
At that point, the Church of the Celestial God was practically dead already.
Even now, despite all this, their God was not showing up, staying hidden, making them accomplices in this madness.
“Sure, I’ll do whatever. It’s only natural for the wrongdoers to suffer. I don’t need to suffer myself.”
You have to communicate to be human. You have to listen to words to be human. Those who don’t are not human. Just because they look human doesn’t mean they are.
“…What would my teacher think…?”
Yona, mechanically separating fish flesh and feeding it to Rubina, suddenly pondered. The person who had, until now, played a significant role in her life after Alex, a sensei of sorts—
“What would Sister Aege say to me now?”
With that thought, Yona lifted her gaze to look at Ceres. Ceres, skillfully using a fork to eat the fish placed on the plate, widened her eyes and stared back at Yona.
“Do you have something to say?”
“…I want to change the destination.”
“The destination?”
“Yeah. Not that Alberin place, but to Evian.”
“Evian… you mean? If we go there, you’ll encounter the Alebians again.”
“…That trash isn’t my concern. The problem is that damned girl, not me. If she’s unhappy, she can dodge me. Anyway, there’s someone I need to meet in Evian. So let’s go to Evian.”
“Evian… hmm, Evian, you say.”
Ceres placed her fork down on the plate with a clink and used a napkin to wipe her mouth. There was an oddly overflowing elegance in every little action of hers, making Yona feel a bit nauseous. How could that trash maintain such grace?
“Well then, this deviates significantly from the plan I suggested. It’s going to delay our schedule quite a bit.”
“I don’t care.”
In reality, Yona didn’t care. Ceres proposed the plan, and both Yona and Alex accepted it, but they would still reach their destination eventually, even if they took a longer route. Besides, Yona wasn’t exactly thrilled to fully cooperate with Ceres’ circumstances.
“There might be issues absorbing the demons, you know?”
“I don’t care about that either. Right now, there’s something more important.”
The reason why she had to absorb demons. Yona was well aware of that reason.
“Is that so… Hmm. Well, as long as the Saint hasn’t forgotten our journey’s goal, it’s all good with me.”
“I haven’t forgotten, absolutely not. It’s the god I need to serve.”
“Right. Exactly. The one the Saint must serve. For the sake of bringing that person back to this world, we need the Saint’s help.”
“Don’t worry, I’m not forgetting.”
“Sure, when that figure known as the lowly divine returns—”
Ceres looked at Yona with a sweet smile.
An unclear smile. It was a grin brimming with fabricated charm.
“The Church of the Celestial God will, disappear.”
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