EP.150 The End and the Beginning. Part 2 (完).
Currently, the Hero couldn’t easily suppress his boiling resentment.
A fiery cheer that seemed about to shake the very world. Gazes filled with admiration toward the hero’s launch.
Normally, she would respond to all that support with a bright smile, but now, she maintained a dull expression. This was all due to those unpleasant emotions.
The source of her thoughts was clear.
A pristine white woman casually looking down on her from the elegant staircase prepared for the ceremony.
Saint. Welna Angelas Ashes.
It felt utterly disgusting to the Hero, who could barely express it, that she seemed like the very embodiment of holiness.
Just this morning, he was wrapped up in Regis’s arms, feeling like he was soaring through the skies.
The feeling of plummeting from the gracious heavens to the cold ground was beyond unpleasant; it was devastating.
This woman. It’s all because of this woman.
Because of her, the Priest got angry at me.
A rage that twisted his insides manifested throughout the Hero’s body.
Regis, who rarely even raised his voice, had never scolded him until now.
Even when he carelessly donated the full amount of his reward for defeating monsters to reconstruct a destroyed nearby village, or when a wooden plank he shattered during training hit Regis squarely on the head.
He had always wrapped him tenderly without a single hint of displeasure.
Thus, the icy demeanor of Regis, reproaching him, was nothing short of a shock to the Hero.
‘If you don’t put that sword down right now, I won’t speak to you again, Hero.’
Just recalling that moment made his breathing quicken, consciousness blur, and a thick despair engulf his body.
To think he might never speak to him again. To think he might live a life unloved by him. It was too horrifying to even imagine.
If he hadn’t known how sweet Regis’s love was, if he had thought he didn’t even deserve it before, perhaps he would have been satisfied just watching him live happily from afar.
But now that he had savored his affection, warmth, and touch so deeply, he could no longer be satisfied with merely that.
If, for some reason, Regis had to cold-heartedly reject the Hero’s hand, she was sure she would end her own life without a moment’s hesitation.
The mission as a Hero. The fate of this world. None of it mattered to her.
A world without Regis to praise her, embrace her, and tenderly hold her had no value whatsoever in her eyes.
“Now, Saintess. Please bestow the Hero’s blessing on the Hero.”
Following the judge’s words, the Hero briefly focused her gaze straight ahead.
Suddenly, the Saintess, descending the stairs with light steps, came into view right before her eyes.
As a matter of custom, she should kneel and show her respect for the Saint’s Favor afterward.
But the Hero had no intention of doing so at all.
“I’m sorry, but can I receive the blessing while standing like this?”
“Yes? W-what? I’m sorry, but that’s against customs…”
“Please.”
“Hii! Y-yes!”
What an outrageous act, intimidating the worried judge to force out her desired answer!
If it were the usual her, this would have been unimaginable.
Even though the Hero felt a little sorry for the judge, she had no intention of backing down.
Even if it meant death, she didn’t want to bow her head to this woman.
That’s how the Hero felt at that moment.
‘It’s a good thing the Priest isn’t here. I can’t show this foolish side to him.’
With her eyes closed softly, the Hero momentarily sank into her thoughts.
The strange man who had suddenly been cozying up to Regis.
He threw his arm over her shoulder, patted her back, and even sneakily petted her head, an act she still deemed too presumptuous to do herself.
Initially, she thought he might be an acquaintance, but after seeing Regis’s displeased expression from a distance, she had already labeled him an evil to be eliminated from this world.
If Dawna hadn’t taken them all away just a bit later, it would have been entirely plausible for the Hero, at the height of his patience, to dash into the audience seat.
After the peculiar flash of light from Dawna’s staff and Regis had vanished, the Hero felt a moment of panic, but soon managed to collect himself.
Anyone else, maybe, but Dawna, a trustworthy comrade and longtime friend of Regis, wouldn’t do anything harmful to him.
He concluded that there was no need for concern with Dawna, deeply immersed in Magic Studies, having walls drawn up against worldly notions.
Certainly, he must have left to impose some proper punishment on that strange man.
Just as the Hero was shaking off errant thoughts, imagining those two wrapped up in each other’s arms, the Saintess silently extended her pure white hand.
Reluctantly, the Hero took it, wishing she could just crush it in an instant.
She had heard that for the blessing, their bodies needed to touch.
“…”
“…”
There were no words exchanged at all.
The only thing lingering between them was a peculiar silence.
The simple-minded audience was gasping dramatically at the moment, yet that uncomfortable atmosphere felt more like an ominous foreboding rather than a holy calm.
A small, skinny body, that was the Hero’s first impression when she held the Saintess’s hand.
Thin flesh, weak muscles, and an almost pathetic skeletal frame. It was the very definition of weakness.
In stark contrast to her perfectly honed body from her diligent training, it was indeed like heaven and earth.
She lost.
A gasp of superiority rang in the Hero’s heart.
She had heard many times that the majority of men preferred bodies robust like her own rather than small and frail ones.
The sensation and elasticity felt when she touched, the capacity to accept any rough desire, and the firmness and resilience.
Despite potentially lacking in appearances, in terms of physical conditions, she had an overwhelming advantage.
Moreover, she had even received compliments that she was built to easily give birth to at least ten children from the village ladies she occasionally met.
The Hero’s confidence in her physical beauty had now skyrocketed to new heights.
She could bear children anytime, but right in front of her was a woman who couldn’t even satisfyably embrace a man.
It was clear whom Regis would choose as a partner. The Hero truly believed that.
That’s why her anger escalated even more.
Despite not having the basic posture to accept a man, despite not even being worthy of it, she was foolishly flapping her filthy tail.
Had it not been for the contract with Regis, promising to grant any wish after completing the blessing ceremony, the Hero surely wouldn’t even want to be in the same space as the Saintess.
What to wish for, then?
Amidst feelings of resentment and annoyance, a wonderfully cheerful thought first bloomed.
Anything. The vast expectation contained within that endless word was significant enough.
Shall I ask to inspect how many moles are on her body?
Should I ask her to bite me all over until my entire body is covered with bite marks?
Should I ask her to lick the sweat pooled in my collarbone?
None of them were lacking, all enticing proposals.
Yes! If I wish for more wishes, I can achieve all of that!
Could it be, I’m a genius?
The Hero burst into sudden admiration and smiled broadly.
From this moment, it was clear who would be the victor and who would be the loser.
Once the blessing ceremony was safely concluded, unlike themselves who had unfinished missions, the Saintess, having fulfilled her role entirely, would remain here.
If that happens, while she enjoys a cozy time with Regis, the Saintess would surely be left sulking, desperately twiddling her thumbs.
What a delight.
As she looked down smugly at the sinner who dared to covet her things, the Hero felt triumph assured.
Immediately after, the Saintess, having completed the bestowal of Holy Power, slowly withdrew her hand, and the audience, facing the climax of the blessing ceremony, erupted in a cheer unparalleled to anything before.
“Thank you for bestowing the blessing, but please remember this: You and we will never meet again.”
“…”
In reality, what the Hero received at that time was not the Hero’s blessing, but rather an ordinary blessing of good health, which would later be revealed.
This tragic event led to the conclusion that the Saintess had to accompany the Hero Party, a decision made approximately a few hours after the blessing ceremony concluded.
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