Chapter 103 – Who Is This Woman?
It was the moment she had been waiting for so long.
‘It’s finally nice to see you again!’
—Thump, pound!
Ophelia gently placed her hand on her chest, barely calming her pounding heart. Did she say that everyone has a fateful meeting at least once in their life?
The girl thought. She said that now is the right time for her.
She visited her beloved benefactor’s house and, expecting a reunion shortly afterwards, the girl quietly closed her eyes and immersed herself in her thoughts.
‘Yes, this is destiny.’
An ordinary girl from an orphan who had just become a low-ranking priest received a revelation from her heavenly god and was called a saint.
A sudden inflection point over the trajectory of life that is nothing special. It was just like fate.
She still can’t believe it, to the point of carefully pinching her cheeks every morning, wondering if she’s not waking up from sleep.
There was something else about her that surprised her even more.
‘Lady. You are Estella’s brightest star. There is a work for you to do to spread her grace to all the world.’
Because the first mission given to the newly reborn girl as a saint of the Celestial Church was to condemn the evil group that went against the will of the heavenly gods.
Of course, it was a burdensome task for Ophelia, who was still unfamiliar with everything.
‘School, His Holiness the Pope. I’m just a low-level priest… ‘
‘Don’t worry. A reliable helper will accompany the saintess on her journey.’
‘Aid… ? Who is that?’
‘I am the commander of the Black Lion Knights, Sir Wolfgang. That ability has already been proven. In addition, I made a public offering with the brothers of the church, so I’m sure it will be of great help to the saintess.’
However, when the name of a certain man mentioned in the mouth of the pope passed her ear.
‘Wait! Who did you just say? Sir Wolfgang?’
‘Hey, I guess you know that too. Actually, I heard that he is the most attention-seeking figure among the young nobles of the empire these days.’
The pressure that weighed down the girl’s heart turned into anticipation.
How can I forget
In the flames of war. The name of the man who held out her hand to her as she waited for her death in the depths of her despair.
‘Why did you save me? Just let them die.’
‘Gibberish. Is there a child in this world who can be left to die?’
The name of the person whom she was most grateful for, who thought she really had nothing left, gave her the strength to move forward again.
‘Wake up, little boy. This is not your place.’
‘I’m not a kid. Strange soldier man.’
‘Uncle… My name is Wolfgang. Well, does it look like that in the eyes of the little ones? Anyway, follow me.’
It was purely because of the grace he bestowed upon him that he was entrusted to the church rather than an orphanage.
Meeting good people and being called by the pretty name of Ophelia instead of swear words such as ‘trash’ and ‘cursed bitch’.
As time passed and he was able to heal his past wounds and regain his girlish appearance, all of this would have been impossible without him.
I have always thought that if one day I officially become a priest, I would like to meet him again and show him how I grew up.
‘Did you hear? Outside the fort… ‘
However, according to the news coming through the high fence of the convent, a man named Wolfgang had a great reputation.
In the middle of the day, I was just nervous, wondering if I had become someone I couldn’t meet even if I wanted to.
—Thump, pound!
“By any chance, do you remember me?”
I can only think of it as the guidance of the heavenly gods, or fate. In such an unexpected way, she was finally reunited with him.
His face, which he hadn’t seen in years, was full of scars, and he looked haggard with a hint of exhaustion, but none of that mattered.
The girl could clearly recognize him.
However, he couldn’t recognize the girl who had changed so much.
Even if he hinted at things from the past, or even if he called him by the title of uncle to show closeness, Wolfgang only tilted his head.
“Saintess. I’m presumptuous, but you keep calling me by a strange title. Do you know me by any chance?”
“…You look like you really don’t remember at all.”
In addition, she kept pushing herself away and seeing him openly erecting a wall and guarding her, Ophelia thought it was as if her past and present situation had been reversed.
‘Mister… ‘
My heart ached.
After all the hard times he had gone through, did that reassuring man change like that?
No matter how high his reputation may be, is there a lot of scars in his heart that he can’t bear to tell others?
Then it was her turn to tend to his wounds this time.
So, she deliberately tried to be as sweet and playful as possible, to help her benefactor regain her old self.
As a result.
“What, you kid?”
Finally, gradually she began to see the man she knew in him.
“Mister! You remember me, right!”
The saintess, Ophelia, held Wolfgang’s hand with her eyes shining.
* * *
The image of a girl staring at me with her face pressed against my eyes is extremely embarrassing.
Apart from the sudden interruption, it was because the distance between them was too close. Even the slightest movement would cause the nose to collide with a breathtaking sense of distance.
The soft smell of balm wafting from her wavy blonde hair brushed her nose, and her milky skin looked even whiter thanks to the halo that had begun to fill up before she knew it.
“Really, that’s too much. Why did you pretend not to know until now?”
“…”
I had to reluctantly admit it. It is said that the appearance alone is truly sacred.
However, contrary to the plausible appearance, the fact that the contents were completely selfish really seemed to fit the kid at the time. That guy didn’t even listen to what he said.
I cautiously turned her head away from the girl, but she steadfastly met my eyes and continued to push me.
“I’m sure you said I was a kid, right? You’re the only one who calls me that. An orphan you saved from the battlefield. Ah! I can’t believe I’m too pretty to recognize…”
“Little boy. No… Saint Ophelia, please calm down for now.”
Meanwhile, her sudden behavior seemed to bewilder everyone in the room.
Even the Paladins and Priests, who had been silently keeping their seats until now, stood up in awe and screamed.
“Sir, saintess, what the hell are you doing right now!”
“No! Estella’s daughter behaves so lightly!”
“Get off now!”
Then, the girl, who had been shaking her shoulders for a while and rolling her eyes, finally got away from me and quietly returned to her place.
Judging by the slight redness on her face, she seems to know what I just did.
In response, Priest Scarlet shook her head as if she was in pain, and let out a long sigh.
“Ha, Sister Ophelia… No, saintess. I think you’ll come to your senses if you recite the precepts of chastity a hundred times tonight. Don’t even think about going to bed until you’re done.”
“You are too much!”
“No, you’re the saintess. Didn’t you commit the same mistake even though I warned you once? And Sir Wolfgang? I’ll apologize for the rudeness just now.”
“Ah, it’s okay. You don’t even need to apologize. Then, as for the official request for cooperation…”
After the turmoil subsided, the meeting continued, and the saintess began to glance at her side with her uneasy eyes.
The bold look from a while ago is nowhere to be found, and now the drooping figure, like a rabbit in the rain, feels very funny and cute.
Seeing that he looked so energetic, it was fortunate that the gloomy little boy seemed to have grown up without wrinkles after entrusting himself to the Heavenly Church.
“…So, to sum up the story, the church requests Lord Wolfgang’s cooperation in the mission to hunt down cultists and clean up contaminated areas.”
“Yes, that shouldn’t be too difficult… But after hearing it, it’s a little surprising. Why did they say they’ve been a little quiet these days, to think they’d use the realm of monsters as their base?”
On the other hand, Priest Scarlett’s statement, which revealed the church’s position on behalf of the saintess, was more shocking than expected.
The imperial government was showing off its strength to the fullest through various external events, including the Knights Battle. The Eclipse guys were digging more and more into the shadows and exerting influence.
Well, there is no way that a rebellious force that has enough power to swallow an entire county will collapse just because it gets hit by one blow.
“It’s only this much because it’s near the islands, but things are going more unusually than expected when you expand to the provinces. They say there are moves to spread the system of the puppet government.”
“Oh my God, they look really crazy. Devil worship still ends at the stake, but guilt by association doesn’t apply to conspiracies.”
“Historically, 100 out of 100 cultists have been insane. This is nothing new.”
Contrary to her stern-looking appearance, Priest Scarlett was a person with whom she could communicate well.
Something similar to Sir Vias, the administrator of the Black Lion Knights. Even the atmosphere was subtly similar, so it seemed like you could believe that they were sisters.
Anyway, as she happily chewed her eclipse bastards with her, her story flowed along and reached its conclusion.
“I understand. As for the specific schedule and how far the troops will be mobilized…”
“The church side has given a word to the unified command, so an official order will be issued soon.”
“Okay. Perfect.”
It wasn’t until full night came that I was able to let go of the uninvited guests who had barged into my house.
“Then see you next time, mister!”
“Yes, saintess.”
Seeing the girl waving her hand eagerly to me and leaving, I naturally sigh and laugh.
— Shake
Seeing not only her hands raised high, but her body swaying wildly here and there, her body seems to be all grown up, but her actions are completely childlike.
A little boy like that is a saint. I thought I didn’t know what the real world was like.
Still, since she seems to be more tired than before, her divine power seems to be certain, so at least she won’t become a burden during the mission.
Thinking so, I went to bed.
* * *
A few days after Ophelia came to visit.
Early moning.
—Palac
[Holy Lady, are you referring to the leader of the Knights of the Black Lion?]
[A precious relationship from the past, someone I personally think is very special]
I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw an unnecessarily significant article published in a periodical delivered between various documents once a week.
“What is this…”
I thought it was nothing more than an entertainment that draws attention unnecessarily, and I usually throw it away as it is, but today I couldn’t help but look at it.
The moment I spit out to myself, wondering what the hell is going on.
—Food Duck!
Alicia’s familiar, which she hadn’t seen in the unit since she had been warned not to come to her during business hours, flew through the crack in the open window.
[Master, look at me for a second]
