Chapter 34 : The Saintess on the Corpse (6)

While Sersia and Ray were arguing, the wooden door opened, and the snake-like priest who brought me here entered the room.

“You’re awake.”

I was scared. I didn’t even realize I had coughed up blood and passed out. I didn’t know I had been unconscious for a whole week. And I was scared of this priest who had forcefully brought me here.

“Don’t be afraid. I won’t do anything to hurt you.”

He brought a thin, watery soup and set it down in front of me. Unlike the expression he had when I first saw him, he was smiling now.

That contrast made him even scarier to me.

“I’m sorry for dragging you here, but you’re a very important child to the Church.”

As the priest’s hand moved toward my head, I trembled, as if to say “don’t come closer.”

He saw that and pulled his hand back.

“You coughed up blood because your body resists magic. The healing spell entered through the wound, but because of your constitution, it caused internal damage instead.”

The priest scratched the back of his neck while explaining, but I didn’t really understand. All I knew was that coughing up blood for the first time in my life had been terrifying.

“That’s proof that you have the qualities of a Saint… supposedly…”

The snake-like priest sighed softly and then introduced himself.

“I’m Philip. Just Philip. Ten children have been chosen as Saint candidates, and my job is to guide and take care of all of you.”

“There’s nothing to learn anyway! This place is great! The room’s a little small, though!”

Sersia suddenly jumped in and started talking about how great the cathedral was.

“There’s meat! We can take baths every day! And the priests here are all kind!”

Philip patted Sersia’s head as if he was proud of her.

“Is that true, Ray…?”

“…I’m not sure about the priests being kind.”

If they were truly kind, they wouldn’t have dragged us here in the first place. That’s what I was thinking as I stared at Philip with distrustful eyes.

Now that I had calmed down a bit, I started thinking about Ariana. She was left alone at the orphanage. She must’ve cried when we suddenly disappeared.

“Ray… Did you say goodbye to Ariana…?”

“…I promised her we’d come back, so don’t worry.”

“…Good. That’s a relief…”

Poor Ariana. What if she thinks we abandoned her again? That would leave a wound she’d never heal from.

“…First, try to eat. You haven’t eaten in a week, so let’s go slow with proper meals.”

Philip left the watery white soup in front of me and left the room with Sersia.

“So… how was it for the past week?”

“…I don’t know. It seems like they’re being nice… but do kind people really drag you here against your will?”

She was right. I didn’t know what this “Saint candidate” thing was, but I just wanted to hurry back to the orphanage and see Ariana.

“Can we just give up on this whole ‘candidate’ thing?”

“…They forced us here. You think they’ll let us go just because we say we quit?”

“Yeah, you’re right…”

It was basically kidnapping and imprisonment. But maybe if we could find Grandpa—if he was here at the cathedral—he might help us go back to the orphanage.

“Let’s find Grandpa.”

“…I don’t think we’ll find him. I haven’t seen him once this past week. And we’re not allowed to leave the building.”

“…Oh…”

Had Ray already checked? Then where could Grandpa have gone?

— Gurgle

“Eat already.”

My stomach, empty for a week, growled at the faint smell of the soup.

I quickly started eating the watery soup. It wasn’t tasty, but I was just glad I could fill my stomach.

Once I was full, I started getting mad at Ray.

It would’ve been fine if only I had been brought here. I was angry that Ray had followed me, leaving little Ariana all alone.

“Ray… Why did you come? You shouldn’t have left Ariana by herself.”

“And it’s fine if you’re here all alone?”

I couldn’t respond to Ray’s direct stare. I knew Ray had only followed because she was worried about me.

I was just scared for Ariana, left all alone.

“I do feel sorry for Ariana… but she won’t starve there.”

“…Yeah, you’re right.”

Silence filled the small room. I gently leaned my head on Ray’s shoulder.

“…Thank you for following me.”

“Then don’t try to leave without me. Please.”

“…Okay.”

I could feel Ray’s shoulder shaking a little.

We couldn’t abandon each other.

We’d already been abandoned by adults once. To abandon each other now would just hurt too much.

So we promised never to leave each other.

‘I was the one who almost broke that promise, wasn’t I?’

When evening came, Philip came back again. This time he brought bread and the same thin soup.

“You can start having proper meals from tomorrow.”

“I won’t treat you badly. Please believe me.”

When Philip reached out his hand to me, Ray slapped it away. He shook his stinging hand and just smiled.

That smile… was so different from when he first brought me here. The contrast sent chills down my spine.

“…Saint candidates are really important, you know.”

So when I found you, I think I got too excited.”

Philip kneeled on the floor and looked me in the eyes.

“Will you forgive me just this once?”

I didn’t respond. I turned my head to avoid meeting his eyes. Philip let out a sigh and quietly stood up, leaving the room.

“How dare he ask for forgiveness after kidnapping us.”

“Exactly.”

At this point, Ray and I both saw Philip as trash.

Before forgiveness, the problem was that Philip didn’t seem to even view me as a person. There was no way I could trust him.

As Philip left, I asked Ray about what had happened over the week.

“Tell me what happened while I was asleep.”

“Not much, really. Oh right—I met the Cardinal.”

“The Cardinal? What’s that?”

“Just some old guy.”

Ray told me everything that had happened during the week.

All ten of us were taken from orphanages run by the Arya Church in the Empire.

The Cardinal was just some big, old man.

And Sersia… apparently she’s a “kiss monster” who kisses people whenever she gets a chance, so you have to run from her.

There wasn’t much information about this place. Considering we were dragged here against our will, the adults weren’t treating us badly. In fact, they were too kind—it felt weird.

“Haa… I just want this to end soon so we can go see Ariana.”

“Yeah…”

Ariana was family now. Since the orphanage, the three of us had always been together.

We always slept together, ate together, bathed together. Ariana had changed—she laughed a lot more now.

But she had no one else close to her besides us, so I kept worrying about her being alone at the orphanage.

We talked late into the night. Even though Ray said not much happened, it sounded like she had fun with the others. She told me stories about the other kids.

I had no friends without Ray, but Ray made friends easily, even without me. I see. That’s how it is.

 I see~ I get it~

“…What? Why are you suddenly sulking?”

“Nothing~ Just~”

“Come on, why are you being like that?”

“Dunno~”

I turned away from Ray, faced the wall, and laid down on the bed.

Why was I feeling this way? Seeing Ray getting along with other people… why did it bother me? I should’ve been happy.

“Shaar~”

“Go to sleep already.”

“At least tell me why you’re upset~”

Ray, seeing that I was sulking, became anxious and lay beside me. I folded my hands and silently prayed that I’d wake up tomorrow with all this weird bitterness gone.

When I woke up, the first thing I saw was Ray, peacefully sleeping. Maybe those feelings last night really were just a momentary thing—seeing her sleeping face made me feel happy.

Maybe I was just grateful that Ray had come with me to this unknown place.

I woke Ray up and asked if she wanted to go eat breakfast.

“You’re not mad anymore?”

“I was never mad.”

“…Really?”

“Really. Now stop worrying and let’s go eat. I’m hungry.”

As we opened the door and stepped outside, Sersia was waiting for us.

“Morning kiss~!”

 Get away!!”

Ray ran off to escape Sersia.

So this is why people call her the ‘kiss monster’. Trying to kiss people first thing in the morning, seriously? Even if we’re both girls, doesn’t she feel embarrassed?

As Ray ran away, Sersia’s eyes turned toward me.

“Morning kiss!”

What is wrong with this girl…? Is something seriously off with her? I didn’t have the strength to dodge, so I just accepted it, but I already felt exhausted.

“The priest told me to take you to the dining hall.”

“Ah… thank you…”

“It’s fine, it’s fine! Let’s go! We even get meat in the morning here!”

At the mention of meat, my mouth watered. After a week of starvation, yesterday’s soup and bread weren’t nearly enough. My stomach started growling loudly again.

Sersia giggled and grabbed my hand, dragging me to the dining hall.

“You’re healthy! That’s good!”

” yeah…”

“Speak casually, it’s fine! We’re probably just a year or two apart!”

Where did this overly energetic girl even come from? How is she so cheerful? We’re all orphans—how can someone be this lively?

“Hey! Let go of Shaar!”

Ray, who had run off earlier, came back running toward us.

With me in the middle, the three of us walked side by side to the dining hall.

Sersia kept chattering the whole way, and though it was loud, I put up with it because we were about to eat meat.

“Priest! I brought them!”

When the door to the dining hall opened, I saw the rest of the children in white clothes sitting around the table.

These must be the rest of the Saint candidates. But at the center of the table sat a huge, old man.

His hair was completely white, and his gaze was so sharp it was scary. Maybe his size made him even more intimidating.

“Come on in.”

“Uh… Hello…?”

“That’s the Cardinal,” Ray whispered to me.

Just like she said, he was massive.

“Take a seat. Bring the food, please.”

Philip, who had been standing by, went out and returned with our food.

It was a potato soup full of meat. Just the smell made my mouth water uncontrollably.

“Now, eat while you listen. Since we have someone new, I’ll introduce myself again.”

As I was hurriedly eating, the Cardinal began his introduction.

“I am Cardinal Demian. I’ll be the one managing all of you. Priest Philip will handle your education, so you’ll mostly see him.”

The other kids paused their meals to clap. I didn’t care—I was more focused on the meat-filled soup in front of me.

As I lifted my spoon, I could feel the intense gaze of Cardinal Demian piercing through me.

Even without looking, I could feel it—it burned.

His eyes were just like Philip’s. Eyes that didn’t see people as people.

They were ice-cold.

‘What is this…?’

I felt like I was going to choke under that stare. But I kept eating, forcing every spoonful down. I couldn’t waste food.

“Until a new Saint is born, we will help raise and guide you. So please get along and listen to Philip.”

The Cardinal gave a warm smile to all the children.

The other Saint candidates ate their food eagerly.