Chapter 55: Mission and Talent

The woman could be described in a single word.

She looked terrifying.

Her ash-gray hair framed a face of striking beauty, and her blood-red eyes were as vivid as fresh-spilled crimson. Her features were exquisitely refined, the kind that would have turned heads anywhere she went. Yet the combination of her narrow, sharp eyes and the whites visible around her irises gave her an intimidating, almost predatory expression. It was the sort of face that made people instinctively avert their gaze.

She wore a priestess’s robe dominated by black.

Unlike Cardinal Larsa’s outfit, there was very little exposed skin…

But the fabric clung so tightly to her body that every curve of her figure was unmistakably outlined.

The instant the woman stepped into the shop, Raphiel’s face twisted into something that looked uncannily like The Scream.

“S-Saril… W-Why are you here…?”

“You refused your pilgrimage… and settled down in this village instead. Is that correct?”

“Y-Yes…”

Raphiel, who normally wore the same blank expression no matter what happened, was visibly trembling with fear for once.

“Raphiel, who’s this?”

“S-She’s Saril. The only woman I fear almost as much as thunder itself.”

Someone Raphiel feared as much as lightning?

Granted, she certainly had a frightening face…

Just then, Saril shifted her gaze away from Raphiel and fixed it on me.

“So… you’re Eight.”

“Y-Yes.”

“Raphiel has always been… in your care.”

“Eh? O-Oh, no, not at all!”

Saril bowed with flawless elegance.

The graceful motion was so refined that it was impossible to reconcile it with her fearsome appearance.

She was far more courteous than I’d expected.

“Larsa and Uranos may grumble endlessly, but in the end they spoil me rotten. Saril, however, has never indulged me even once.”

“That sounds like someone with admirable discipline.”

“No. She’s a demon. When I was little, she calmly completed training that had me crying my eyes out, and she never changed her expression once. She’s a monster.”

“I cried through that training… when I was young as well. Calling me a monster… is rather cruel.”

“Ghk!”

Apparently, Saril had heard every word.

Without warning, she reached out with one hand, grabbed Raphiel by the head, and effortlessly lifted her clean off the ground.

Good grief…

What ridiculous strength…

“S-Saril…! My skull is going to crack!”

“If it’s only your skull… you’ll heal it. Or have your abilities… grown dull?”

“W-Wait! Saril-san! Let’s all calm down first! Raphiel’s actually crying a little here!”

“…That is… true.”

As soon as Saril released her grip, Raphiel darted behind me with incredible speed.

Without the slightest hesitation, she’d turned me into a human shield.

“S-Saril… so what brings you here today?”

“I’ve come… to take you back.”

“…!?”

Raphiel’s eyes widened in utter shock.

“L-Larsa and Uranos already gave me permission to live in this village.”

“The opinions… of those optimistic old fools… are irrelevant. Raphiel… you’re a Saint. If you were born with that power… then fulfill the duty that comes with it.”

“I… refuse.”

“…What did you say?”

“I don’t want to suffer anymore. I don’t want any more pain or hardship. I just want to stay here… with Eight and everyone else… forever.”

Saril’s expression hardened.

She shoved me aside as though I weighed nothing and seized Raphiel by the front of her clothes.

Uh-oh.

This looked bad.

“Raphiel… you…”

“W-Wait! No violence! Please! Let’s all settle down first! Calmly! Let’s talk this through!”

“…”

After a long moment, Saril loosened her grip.

She took a slow, deep breath, inhaling before letting it out with measured restraint.

“Um… this may not be my place to say, but… forcing someone against their will isn’t the right answer, is it?”

“…It truly… is none of your concern.”

Saril turned her eyes toward me.

That was all she did.

She didn’t raise her voice. She didn’t threaten me.

And yet the oppressive aura surrounding her was so overwhelming that my entire body froze in place.

For the first time in my life, I understood exactly how a frog must feel when stared down by a snake.

“Raphiel… is a genius. Her talent surpasses… even that of the First Saint. She has the power… to protect countless lives. While Raphiel wastes her time here… if the flames of lives she could have saved are extinguished… will you take responsibility for them?”

“I… that’s…”

“You can’t. Neither can I.” Her voice remained calm, but it carried a weight that made every word sink heavily into my chest. “Don’t misunderstand. I’m not incapable… of understanding your point of view. Happiness built upon… the sacrifice of even a few… should never be accepted. But… that’s an ideal. One should face… reality.”

“…”

Damn it.

She was making an argument so completely reasonable that I couldn’t think of a single way to refute it.

Yet Raphiel stubbornly refused to back down.

“Then you should simply work harder instead of me, Saril.”

“I can’t. Absolutely… can’t.”

“Anzai-sensei once said, ‘The moment you give up is the moment the game is over.'”

“…A fine saying.” Saril nodded thoughtfully. “I don’t know… who this Anzai is. But… I’m not speaking… from emotion.”

“What do you mean?”

Raphiel tilted her head in confusion.

Saril answered with a self-deprecating smile before lowering her gaze.

“I can overcome… the Second Trial. In fact… I already have. But the Third Trial… is impossible. I don’t possess… the sacred power necessary… to surpass it. I lack… the talent that you and Mikaela possess.”

“Raphiel… what’s sacred power?”

“It’s the energy required to perform miracles. Just as magic requires mana, miracles require sacred power. To put it in terms that are easiest for you to understand, Eight… it’s basically MP. Even someone who lacks the Goddess’s blessing can still be recognized as a Saint if they possess an exceptional amount of sacred power.”

That explanation was wonderfully easy to understand.

“Normally, every human is born with at least a small amount of sacred power. Saril, however, is an anomaly. She was born completely without any.”

“Huh? Then… how did she become a Saint?”

“Saril is the exception among exceptions. She earned recognition as a Saint by using weapons imbued with sacred power to slaughter monsters one after another.”

For some reason…

An image naturally formed in my head of Saril wearing that same terrifying smile while mercilessly cutting down hordes of monsters.

This was a difficult problem.

The more we talked, the more I realized just how powerful Saril’s sense of justice truly was.

If someone possessed the power to save others, then they had a duty to use it for the sake of those in need.

She was the embodiment of a hero’s philosophy.

From Saril’s perspective, Raphiel must have been endlessly frustrating.

Here was someone blessed with overwhelming power unlike anyone else’s…

…and yet she chose to prioritize her own happiness over using that power for the world.

This was difficult.

Painfully difficult.

Raphiel wished to pursue her own happiness.

Saril wished to secure the happiness of the greatest number of people.

Neither of them was wrong.

“My head’s starting to hurt just thinking about all this…”

And then—

The shop door suddenly swung open.

The bell above it jingled brightly, cutting through the heavy silence.

Someone walked inside.

It was the village chief.

“Eight, lad. Got a moment?”

“Chief? What’s wrong?”

“Well, you see— Ah… am I interrupting something?”

“Well… Raphiel’s senior Saint came to visit, so…”

Just as I was about to explain the situation…

Saril turned her back on Raphiel.

“Raphiel… think carefully. Never forget… that there are people… only your power can protect.”

“…”

Leaving those words behind, Saril quietly walked away.

Raphiel simply murmured, “I’m going to rest in my room for a while,” before leaving the shop herself.

An indescribably heavy atmosphere lingered behind, settling over the room like a suffocating fog.

“…Being a Saint seems far more difficult than I imagined.”

Tifana, who had quietly watched everything unfold without saying a word, let out a wry, sympathetic smile.

I couldn’t have agreed more.

“Oh, right. So, Chief, what was it you wanted?”

“Actually, our lord is coming to inspect Papel Village. I’d like you to prepare the meal we’ll be serving His Lordship.”

“Oh… I see. Got i—”

I stopped myself mid-sentence.

“…Wait a second! What the heck!?”

Seriously…

Why did troublesome situations keep piling up one after another without giving me a single moment to breathe?