Chapter 88: Beautiful
“You mean to tell me you’re going to ask Cadet Zetto to show me around the Academy! I thought an instructor was supposed to guide us?”
Ecline’s voice had been rumbling since morning. Well, maybe there was a time when she wasn’t.
“Didn’t Ecline tell me that men like it when a woman takes the initiative?”
Her eyes widened, and I replied in a bland voice.
Inés, who was crossing her arms, glared at Ecline and growled.
“Ecline, what the hell were you talking about with the saint…”
“No… it’s just that… The saint kept asking me questions, so… so I answered her as best I could.”
“That’s too bad Ines, you didn’t tell me anything after I told you that I was curious.”
I ruffled her hair, cutting off their conversation.
“It’s not that, it’s just that I’ve never really been into boys… But I do realize that what Ecline is saying is ridiculous.”
“Forget it… In any case, the bottom line is that Ines doesn’t know how to do it either… I have no choice but to go along with what the deputy-leader says.”
I flashed a bright smile at Inés, whose eyes narrowed as I said that.
Inés frowns and Ecline’s head is down and she’s fiddling with her fingers, but then her head snaps up as if she’s remembered something.
“But how is Cadet Zetto supposed to show us the Academy? Isn’t he… uncomfortable with his eyes…?”
“…Yes, he is. To say the least, I think we’re asking Cadet Zetto to do a difficult job.”
Ecline was followed by Ines, who chimed in with her opinion.
I wonder if everyone is doing this because they hate Zetto? Or was the whole ‘bullying’ thing really a big mistake?
“Cadet Zetto seems to have gotten around the Academy without too much trouble, so Inés has a point.”
My answer echoes around the room, and Inés and Ecline breathe a sigh of relief.
“I guess I’ll just have to ask him myself.”
“”You?””
They exclaim in unison at my response.
It’s not that I’m curious about the Academy, or that I want to see anything in particular. I just wanted to walk around with Zetto.
That shouldn’t be too much to ask of him.
It would hurt a little to be rejected, but I thought it wouldn’t hurt to be brave.
Above all…Last night, while I was praying to the Lord, he gave me a ‘revelation’.
‘Finish chasing what you’ve been chasing. If you miss it, it will be too late.’
It was an unusually short revelation but sometimes, the Lord would point out the way beforehand.
My first thought after the revelation was to ask if there was something I was chasing.
Then my thoughts reached Zetto and I’ve been thinking about it ever since.
I wondered why the Lord was telling me not to lose sight of Zetto.
I thought…The answer was simple.
Zetto had captured a demon so I was going to recruit him into my Knight Order.
If Zetto joined my Knight Order, it would mean that he was powerful in the eyes of the Lord.
‘He would be at least as influential as Ines…’
So far, Ines had been the only recruit that the Lord had brought in through his revelations.
She was a very good paladin and I couldn’t imagine the Silver Winged Knights without her, her influence was so strong.
Furthermore, she had helped me establish myself as a saint.
“…Then let’s go find Cadet Zetto.”
Ines and Ecline did not stop me as I stood up from my seat.
***
Zetto granted the saint’s request.
He smiled and said something confident like, “A tour is not an issue.”
Inés and Ecline looked at the bandages around his eyes and wondered if this was a good idea, but the Saint said it was so they had no choice.
Afterward, the saint, Bernice, said she wanted to take a walk with Zetto alone, and suggested that Ecline and Inés take a day’s rest.
‘Saint!’
Inés immediately interrupted Bernice.
‘That’s a great idea!’
Ecline exclaimed, raising her hand in excitement at the mere mention of a break.
In the end, Ecline got her break but Inés didn’t follow suit.
Inés and Ecline were sitting in a café and across from them were Bernice and Zetto, touring the academy.
‘Inés… We’re inside the Academy, so there’s no danger, and even if something were to happen, Cadet Zetto is right next to the saint, right?’
Bernice’s persuasion was too strong for her to argue. It was an order, after all.
Nevertheless, as the leader of the Silver Winged Knights, she couldn’t refuse the saint’s order, which was why she had come to this point of sneaking around.
“Leader… Are you sure it’s okay for us to do this? If the saint finds out about this later…”
Ecline, who was sipping coffee beside her, asked Inés, who was slapping her bruises.
“This is…escorting.”
Ecline nodded at the seriousness in Inés’ voice.
On the other side, Bernice and Zetto seemed to have entered a restaurant and were waiting for their food.
Just then, Bernice, who was talking to Zetto, burst out laughing.
Ecline, who was watching, muttered.
“I wonder if this means we’ll be able to see the saint’s wedding…?”
“Wedding…?”
Inés narrows her eyes and glares at Ecline until finally, Ecline speaks up.
“Have you ever seen the saint smile like that before?”
“…Not exactly.”
“That’s because…! She’s suddenly asking me how to get along with men… There must be something to it.”
“Still, I don’t think marriage is a step too far.”
As apostles of the Lord, saints were free to marry.
In fact, the Holy Land actively encouraged it since their weddings were a kind of great festival in the Holy Land. And for good reason.
Saints were considered to be blessed and loved by the gods.
If their love came to fruition and a child was born, that child would also be blessed by God.
Each child of a saint or saintess was born with great divine power. Therefore, the Holy Land welcomes marriage. However, there was one condition that had to be met, true love.
This was known because in the past, the foolishness of using this trait of a saint to force her to bear children had occurred and something terrible was said to have happened afterward but the history books don’t go into detail.
‘The Lord was very angry.’
With that brief sentence, thirty years of records were lost to history.
Thus, it had long been taboo to meddle in the marriages of saints or in their love affairs.
“The last wedding was before I was born, do you remember it leader?”
“That’s probably close to when I was born. I was a child, so I don’t remember, but…”
The saint before Bernice had died in the war and never had the chance to marry, but the saint before him had.
“Saint…”
Inés clenched her jaw as she muttered.
There was something odd about that.
The saint Ecline had just mentioned had kept his post-marriage life a secret.
She didn’t know what happened then. Even now, as the head of the saint’s knights, she still had no access to that information.
As Ecline and Inés were discussing marriage a strange sound came from Ecline’s seat, it sounded like something hard was being shredded…
Turning her head, Ecline’s eyes caught sight of a platinum-haired girl.
‘Cadet Aizel…?’
Aizel, who, along with Zetto, was supposed to be the star of this open class, was sitting there and looking out the window.
On her table was a glass of ice cold water.
‘I thought I heard a noise, but it was ice chewing.’
Ecline dismissed it and turned her attention back to Zetto and Bernice.
She didn’t know Aizel, so she wasn’t sure if she should speak to her.
Aizel’s expression as she stared out the window seemed to indicate that she was uncomfortable.
Meanwhile, Bernice was eating with Zetto.
From a distance, Bernice looked quite happy.
Maybe it was Inés, but Ecline felt that Bernice’s smile at Zetto was out of character.
‘Maybe we can see…’
It had been one of Ecline’s smallest wishes since childhood, to witness the wedding of a saint.
***
Time passed without me realizing it.
The sun had long since set and the moon was already shining down, illuminating the Academy.
Despite the late hour, there were still quite a few people wandering around the Academy’s main building. Most of them seemed to be cadets and their families.
I asked Zetto about it. If he had a family, it was only right that he spend time with them.
He said in a low voice, “No.”
It was obvious, but it was the truth.
It was times like this that I felt a little overwhelmed by my ‘powers’.
Anyway…Zetto eagerly showed me around the Academy, as he so confidently said he would.
I followed him around and asked him how he remembered the way so well and he explained that it felt like he had a map of the entire city in his head.
I was intrigued but as I watched him, I realized that he had other senses besides sight.
He said he could even hear the heartbeats of passersby…
…I thought he was making a joke, but it turned out to be true.
“How was it?”
Zetto asked, walking beside me.
“It was really good.”
I replied, looking at the floor.
The truth was, I wasn’t really interested in the Academy. Still, I wasn’t lying.
I just loved being with him. Being around him made me feel things I hadn’t felt since becoming a saint.
Comfort, pleasure, exhilaration, and more. Oh, and a little bit of happiness.
“Kraken legs…? That was really good.”
“I’m glad, I thought you might like it.”
Well, this was a man who meant what he said. He was full of truth in a different sense than Inés.
I wondered, “Was actively ‘pushing’ the right way?”
I was able to get close to Zetto very quickly. He was so in tune with me that I felt like he had already figured out what I didn’t like and what I liked.
The closer I got to him, the closer the distance became. Eventually, I was able to identify a faint sense of foreboding.
It was just a location… but the location was the problem.
The negative energy was emanating from the sword at his waist and near his chest.
The sword…yes, but why would such an aura lurk near his chest?
It could have been life-threatening but I couldn’t ask.
The longer I was with Zetto, the more strongly I felt that I wanted to have him.
I didn’t know what to expect, and I was afraid that if I asked too many questions and he didn’t like me, the whole thing would go down the drain.
He didn’t seem to be in any danger yet, he was in great shape. So for now… it might be better as it is.
“…I think it’s getting late, so I should probably get going.”
I paused and looked back at Zetto.
“I see.”
“Thanks, it’s been a pleasure.”
“No, I had a good time too.”
By the time I was smiling faintly at the ‘truth’ he’d spoken again.
[Kugung…!]
Suddenly, a booming sound came from the other side, and the lights that had been illuminating the surroundings disappeared in an instant.
My vision went black and I couldn’t see anything.
I looked around and saw that the entire city was plunged into darkness.
Zetto seemed to be tilting his head since he couldn’t tell if it was getting darker or brighter around him, and for good reason.
“What happened?”
“The lights went out, all of a sudden!”
“Honey, where are you?”
This was followed by a chorus of voices from the others inside the main building.
“…Apparently, the entire city’s power supply was cut off at once.”
“If you don’t mind, could you hold on to me, I’m fine.”
In response to his explanation, Zetto pats my hand.
I let him hold my hand. Then I hear a familiar voice calling to me from across the hall.
“Sister…? Where are you?”
It was Inés and from the sound of her running footsteps, I could tell she had Ecline with her.
I told her to rest, but she’s been secretly following me all this time.
“…Why don’t we hide for a while?”
Thinking about how closely they must have been watching me and Zetto, I felt a little uncomfortable, so I decided to play a little prank on them.
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea…?”
At Zetto’s shaky reply, I smiled and took his hand in mine, leading him to an obscure corner.
Zetto followed me without much resistance.
We moved a bit to the side, and there was a door, so I opened it and stepped inside.
“Whew…”
I closed the door quietly and breathed a sigh of relief. Then, Zetto, who was standing in front of me, spoke up.
“…Are you sure this is okay?”
“Umm… Well, we should probably get out of here before something big happens, right? Let’s just say it’s a small punishment for them for not listening to orders, hehe.”
“Well, if it’s only for a little while…”
Zetto seems to agree.
Maybe it’s because I’m a saint that he can’t say much so I leaned against the door and stared blankly at Zetto in front of me.
Even though the light was gone, I could still see him in the dimness as my eyes got used to the darkness.
“By the way… I feel like I’ve been seeing what I want to see all day… Does Cadet Zetto have any questions for me?”
It suddenly occurred to me that he had never been asked a question before.
Zetto’s head tilts at my question.
“Hmm… I was wondering…”
Was this really a question that required him to pause?
To think that there was nothing he was curious about that he had to worry about… I felt a little bit, just a little bit, sad.
‘Men like it when women are aggressive.’
The thought struck me and I immediately grabbed his hand then brought it to my face.
“For example… what did Bernice, the Saint of Innocence, look like…?”
“…”
“Maybe this way, Cadet Zetto can know what I look like…”
He trailed off as I took his hand and ran it across my face, explaining.
“This is… The nose. My nose looks like this.”
I paused, following my touch and tracing my face.
“And… Lips…”
I stared at his face, faintly visible in the darkness, trying to figure out what to describe on my face.
“Uhm… eyes… I can’t touch my eyes, so maybe my eyelids.”
From there, it was on to eyebrows, cheeks… I went through everything I could find on the face. Eventually, the sudden “groping” came to an end.
To be groped by a man… Maybe it was more embarrassing than I thought.
I was even more embarrassed because Zetto didn’t say anything.
How was it…? My face…”
I asked Zetto, my voice sounding unnecessarily cautious as I smiled casually and waited quietly for his answer.
I wasn’t expecting much, since I couldn’t tell the difference between sincere praise and lip service due to my ‘powers’.
It’s hard to say how he feels about it. That’s what I was thinking when a faint smile appeared on Zetto’s lips.
“The saint…is very beautiful.”
Zetto’s sweet voice seeps into my ears and in response to his words, an involuntary exclamation escapes my lips.
“…Ah.”
Zetto’s answer is a muffled whisper but it couldn’t have been clearer that he was telling the truth.