I Can Hear the Saint’s True Feelings

Chapter 6



“…Is she asleep?”

On a summer night, with the sound of crickets chirping in the background, I waited until Victoria had fallen asleep before rising from my seat.

Now that I couldn’t hear her thoughts anymore, it must mean she was truly asleep.

Watching her, who always harbored sinister thoughts even when we simply held hands, made me question if she was truly a saint.

“Ignition.”

I quietly sat down in a chair and lit a cigarette made from magic leaves. The acrid smoke billowed upward, and the fiery sensation wrapped around me.

“I’m never allowed to smoke this normally.”

As I puffed on the cigarette, I glanced at the letter that had arrived for me. I had written to my mentor, describing Victoria’s symptoms in hopes of receiving a response to remove the flower that had bloomed on her body.

[Dear my disciple, Astal.]

[How’s our little crybaby doing? Is the demon king subjugation going well?]

The letter was sealed with the mark of my mentor, Charlotte Snowrain, who had taken me in after I lost my parents as a child and guided me to a life of magic. I opened the letter and saw the familiar handwriting.

[You wanted to remove the flower blooming on Saint Victoria’s body, right?]

[The idea of connecting the phenomenon of her body turning into a flower with the causality of this world through the use of miracles was brilliant. Thanks to you, I was able to find some clues in ancient texts.]

The words appeared on the page as if snowflakes were gently falling, forming sentences. It was a spell my mentor, an expert in snow-related magic, often used.

[Apparently, there were a few saints like Victoria in the past.]

“However, the more detailed records are in the Holy Kingdom of Aurelium…”

Tap, tap.

As the cigarette slowly burned down, my impatience grew. The message that there was no immediate way to save Victoria weighed heavily on me.

[I can’t believe our little crybaby, who’s known as the ‘Harmless Magician,’ is asking for help because there’s someone she can’t save. This teacher is quite surprised.]

Harmless Magician, Astal Kaisaros.

Flame Warrior, Kyle Dragonyka.

Noble Spirit Mage, Anima Silverbroom.

Forest Bowman, Tarion Gladewood.

And finally, Saint Victoria Everhart, the “Flower Saint.”

Our hero party, each with their own alias, had been wandering the demon realm for a year, aiming to defeat the demon king.

Among them, my alias was the Harmless Magician. It meant that no one could be harmed in my presence.

My specialty—reading an opponent’s magic in advance and countering it by clashing the same spell to dispel it—was something only I, with my special eyes, could do.

[Did your magic not work? You’ve always relied on combining existing magic to create new, higher-level magic.]

“…If that had worked, I wouldn’t have needed to ask for your help, would I?”

I sighed deeply as I looked at the list of spells below. They were all things I had already tried on Victoria, all of them having no effect, and I regretted fumbling through my words.

[If none of this works, maybe you can change the miracle using the power of love?]

“…?”

[You know, those old ballads that say miracles happen through the love between a hero and a saint. It’s a traditional but extraordinary story.]

“…Those are just nonsensical tales spun by money-driven fools. You know I don’t believe in love or any such illusions as gods.”

I muttered to myself softly as I read the letter. If miracles could be sparked by love, then what was the point of magic or divine power in the world?

In fact, the relationship between this generation’s hero and saint wasn’t exactly ideal. The saint, with dragon blood, and the human hero from the Dragon Slayer family were almost polar opposites.

The main reason I had been assigned to protect Victoria was because of this, so the likelihood of a miracle happening from a love between the hero and the saint seemed extremely low.

[Actually, I was just joking. I saw you send me a letter, and I thought, “Our little crybaby must be experiencing love after all!”]

If it were anyone else, I might have believed it, but with Victoria, there was no way. Just a little while ago, she was throwing harsh words at me, saying she hated me.

[You never really paid attention to the people around you at the Mage Tower, did you? My female disciples begged me to let them meet you, even though they were all clamoring about it.]

“Rather than worrying about things like that, it was more important to research magic that could save even one more person.”

It wasn’t my true nature, but it was more important than dealing with superficial humans who focused on appearance, fame, or status.

Having survived alone in a village that had been burned to the ground, I had first worked as a janitor in the Mage Tower to sustain my life.

Back then, the magicians who looked down on me with disgust had later changed their attitudes, which was repulsive.

[You don’t still believe that becoming a grand magician at 30 means anything, do you? If it’s the Flower Saint, I would welcome her! After all, she is someone with inner beauty.]

“…Inner beauty?”

I let out a hollow laugh as I thought about Victoria’s crude thoughts that had been spilling out. I suppressed the urge to write a rebuttal letter and send it.

I wasn’t even sure if that was her true heart, because her inner thoughts were both devious and brutally honest at the same time.

[Anyway, if you happen to visit the Holy Kingdom, you should ask the newly ascended pope for a favor. Information about past saints can only be accessed with his permission.]

The letter ended with my mentor’s advice. After that, the writing melted away as if snow was melting, becoming unreadable.

It was likely to avoid any possible tracking or eavesdropping. After reading the letter, I leaned back in my chair and stared at the ceiling.

“…The Holy Kingdom, huh. I’ve heard bad rumors about the newly ascended pope.”

The previous pope had been a harsh critic, much like Victoria, but his devotion had been unquestionable.

However,

“They say he’s obsessed with money and women, even trying to seduce the clergy or sell knightly titles.”

It was no surprise that the number of men applying to become knights had skyrocketed because of the current pope, and Victoria was finding it troublesome.

“Maybe I should just drink and go to sleep.”

My head was throbbing, and I couldn’t sleep. No matter how much I tried to convince myself that I had no romantic feelings for Victoria, there were still things that kept bothering me.

I found it unsettling how Victoria, despite suffering intense pain from the side effects of the miracle, acted like it didn’t bother her at all.

Ah… Aaaaah… Mmm…

I remembered the time when we were camping outside, and I had heard muffled sobs from Victoria’s tent while I was on watch.

Victoria, are you okay?!

I startled and opened Victoria’s tent, and inside, there was a girl suffering in agony, blood spilling from a flower that had bloomed on her body. She had bitten down on the fabric, trying to endure the pain, but it had seeped out.

“How did such an idiot become a saint…? It’s like asking some innocent girl who doesn’t know anything to save the world.”

I made a bitter face as I drank the beer I had hidden with an invisibility spell. The warmth had evaporated, leaving a dull, flat taste on my tongue.

From the beginning, I had suspected that the chances of anyone chosen by the gods—whether a hero or a saint—truly being a person of worth were extremely rare.

They were the kind of people who didn’t realize how dangerous it was to follow others’ words without question.

“…This is why I don’t believe in gods.”

Kyle, the hero, didn’t hesitate to throw his life away fighting demons and monsters. Even though he had a childhood friend in his hometown who cared for him, he was willing to sacrifice his life to save the world.

Victoria, the saint, was no different. Despite knowing how much pain she was in, she recklessly used miracles to heal others, abusing her power.

It was honestly stupid. If they died, how would the ones left behind live?

‘If someone here were supposed to die, it should be me.’

I drained my beer and squeezed my eyes shut. My hands, which had been trembling earlier, had calmed down a bit, and my breathing started to stabilize.

In my case, I didn’t have a family to return to, no hometown, no friends, no lover. I was on a journey to find my death in the first place.

“Uuuu… Astal niiim…”

“Yeah, yeah.”

As I heard Victoria calling me in her sleep, I couldn’t help but chuckle before returning to my bed. How did she notice that I was gone so quickly?

I had instructed her not to use miracles, so now that she could sleep more comfortably, she no longer had to endure the pain.

Just when I was about to hold her hand again and go back to sleep.

“Bear…”

“……”

Guuuuuk.

Victoria was hugging me tightly, not letting go. The soft sensation against my back was awakening all my senses.

‘This woman has the worst sleeping habits…!’

I tried to resist, focusing on my lips to avoid being aware of the sensation on my back. I didn’t want to end up on the guillotine for having groped the saint.

Come to think of it, I had heard from Anima that Victoria had a habit of sleeping while hugging a huge teddy bear. Perhaps she was holding me as a substitute for that.

Struggling, I tried my best not to wake her up as I tried to escape, but there was no way I could overpower her with my magic, considering her dragon-born strength.

‘Yeah… I’ll just think of this as the karma of drinking and smoking without a word…’

After several minutes of realizing I had no way of escaping from Victoria, I closed my eyes and waited for the night to pass quickly.

This childish farce would end in a month anyway.

The next morning, when Victoria woke up, she found herself staring at Astal, who was soundly asleep right in front of her face. She screamed inwardly.

‘Ahhh! I must be crazy…!!’

She clearly remembered intending to just hold hands with Astal last night. At first, she was anxious, worried that he might cross a line, and spent the night awake, keeping watch.

‘I never thought he’d end up hugging me like this…!!’

At some point, she must have fallen asleep without realizing it. Now, she found herself wrapped up in Astal’s arms, hugging him like a doll.

‘If I had just brought my usual teddy bear… this wouldn’t have happened…!’

She had a habit of cuddling her bear while sleeping, and Anima often teased her about it. But now, because she hadn’t brought it with her, she was clinging to Astal.

With a sly smile, she suddenly thought of a plan.

‘Ah, that’s it…! While Astal is sleeping, I’ll sneak out of the bedroom and pretend nothing happened!’

A smirk spread across her face as she imagined the perfect plan. She would act casually, saying, “Good morning, how was sleeping with the saint? Did you enjoy it?” She could easily tease him and make his face turn as red as a tomato.

Just as she was about to lift the blanket and slip out of bed.

“…Victoria, your sleeping habits are really bad.”

Astal suddenly opened his eyes and spoke to her. He had been awake for some time, pretending to be asleep in order to tease her.

“Y-You were awake? Since when…?”

Victoria could only gape at him, as they were entangled together in a way that anyone could misunderstand.

“Since you hugged me and fell asleep in the middle of the night? I couldn’t sleep at all, it was so uncomfortable. How did a saint, known as the ‘Flower Saint,’ end up calling me ‘bear’ and hugging me like this…?”

“Ahhh…!!! I never did such a thing!!”

Victoria let out a cute scream, feeling embarrassed about the current situation.

“It’s a misunderstanding! It was Astal who hugged me! Yes, that’s it! You were the one who broke the promise of only holding hands and sleeping!”

Her breath was shallow, and her heartbeat was loud enough that it felt like he could hear it. The sensation of being so close to him made her ears turn red.

At that moment…

With a sudden movement, Astal hugged Victoria from behind.

“Who was it that hugged me like this and slept last night? You really don’t remember? Even after all this?”

Astal, holding Victoria, yawned casually as if he had been sleepily tossing and turning. This kind of playful interaction had become a regular part of their relationship.

“It, it was me…”

“I can’t hear you clearly. Who was it?”

“It was me! Me! The Flower Saint Victoria!”

“Good, that’s all I needed to hear.”

Astal wore a satisfied smile and released Victoria from his embrace. For her to experience this loss to him was a rare and precious moment for him.

“You… You’re going to tell everyone that you tried to violate the saint’s body last night, right?!”

Victoria, feeling embarrassed, blurted out words she didn’t mean. Her heart was pounding from the hug, and she couldn’t help but feel shy about it.

“Sure, you think I’d just sleep with you unprepared? I had a recording spell set up, you know.”

Astal responded confidently, as if daring her to do something about it. In case such an incident occurred, he had cleverly recorded the entire night’s events with magic.

“You… You’re the worst! How dare you invade a woman’s privacy…!”

“I specifically said we were just holding hands and sleeping. You’re the one who broke the promise, not me.”

“I don’t want to hear any excuses! You must have controlled me with magic! You evil sorcerer…!”

“There’s no magic that can control a person’s heart, Victoria. Didn’t you know? Love potions are all a lie.”

“I-I don’t know anything about that! Never show your face to me again!”

Victoria, in a fit of frustration, shouted and stormed out of the inn room, determined never to see him again.

Although, she would soon have to face him again, since they were heading to the village of liars.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

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