"I’m the saintess of The Radiant Church, it’s nice to meet you."
My whole body completely froze up the very instant I heard those words come out of her mouth, but even so— I managed to regain my outward calm almost immediately.
"My name is Verc, and I am just a wandering knight. It is nice to meet you as well."
I said that as I forced myself to put on my best poker face, acting as if this was just a completely normal conversation between strangers.
"Is there something I can help you with?"
Then I asked her that. Though, looking back on the moment, it seems like I might have acted way too casual for the high status of the person standing in front of me.
I caught a quick glimpse of Geremie and Albert standing on my sides, and they were both looking at me with wide eyes as if I were some kind of insane bastard for talking to her like that. And that is exactly when the weight of the situation finally registered in my mind;
’Ah... I am currently talking with the saintess of the strongest church in the world, who is also known as one of the most beautiful people to ever exist, and the tenth strongest hero in the world...’
I looked at the face of the saintess and saw that she was a bit taken aback by my informal response as well. I immediately opened my mouth to try and say something to fix the situation before it got worse—
"I am sorry if I have troubled you, but I just have a few questions that I would like to ask you."
But she spoke first and said that, completely dismissing my rude attitude as if it didn’t matter to her at all. I paused for a short while to process it, and in the end— I decided to just let it go and continued acting exactly like I already had been.
"Is it really that important? I have some company with me right now, after all."
I asked her, raising a single brow. I was desperately trying to find any kind of excuse I could use to get away from her.
"Don’t worry about us at all, we totally understand the situation and we don’t mind...!"
But Albert then suddenly leaned in and whispered that to me. My brows immediately furrowed into a deep scowl at his words.
’Please, just shut up!’
I exclaimed in my head.
"It looks like they don’t really mind the interruption, though."
The saintess stated that after briefly looking over at the two of them; Geremie and Albert both quickly nodded their heads in agreement and showed a great deal of respect to her.
"Also, it would be much better for you if you just complied with my request right now."
Then she added that part, looking directly at me with those piercing eyes of hers.
I took a very nervous gulp. Glancing back at Geremie and Albert, I saw they clearly had no idea what was actually happening to me or the pressure I was feeling, so in the end—
"Haaaa... fine."
I just let out a heavy, defeated sigh.
*****
The saintess, Elianna, and I moved away from Albert and Geremie so that we could have what she called a "Private Conversation" without others listening in.
We settled down at a small table with just two wooden seats tucked away in a quiet corner of the library. There were only a few other people here since it was still very early in the morning, so we didn’t have many eyes watching us.
Then, as soon as we both sat down—
"I’m just curious, but why is the saintess of the empire all alone in a local library like this?"
I asked that, trying my best to lighten the heavy atmosphere that was settled around us.
"..."
The saintess looked at me for a long moment, then she opened her mouth to speak—
"You can just call me Elianna, as it doesn’t seem like you care much about official titles anyway."
She said that, referring to earlier when I acted informal and casual with her.
"Don’t worry about it, I don’t really care about that kind of formal stuff either."
She added that with a calm expression.
"Is that so? In that case, I will just call you Elianna from now on."
"You switched to that name quite fast, huh."
"Well, you were the one who told me to do so in the first place."
Anyway, after our short bit of back-and-forth conversation, the saintess... I mean, Elianna told me that she was simply taking a short break from her duties.
"Ever since I arrived here in the city, countless visitors, especially young nobles, have come by and requested a formal meeting with me."
"If it bothers you that much, why don’t you just reject all of them?"
I said that as if it were the simplest thing in the world.
"Hah, you really are naive— I can’t just decline people like them so easily."
"Is it because of politics?"
"Exactly."
I really cannot understand her point of view. If I were known as one of the strongest people in this entire world, why would I ever let something as stupid and annoying as politics bind me?
Anyway—
"Let’s move on from this and get to the main topic of why I wanted to talk to you."
Elianna suddenly cut our conversation short and shifted the entire topic.
"Oh, right... What exactly do you want from me?"
I asked her. She stared back at me in total disbelief, looking like she wasn’t at all used to the kind of treatment she was getting from me.
I mean, I thought she didn’t care about that? I don’t know very much about proper etiquette, to be perfectly honest.
Elianna shook her head as if to clear her thoughts, then getting back to the actual topic—
"I saw you before, back at the entrance of the city when you were waiting in line."
She stated with a serious voice.
"What? Did you fall in love with me at first sight, so you decided to approach me as soon as you saw me again?"
I immediately shot that back at her. The look on her face was actually quite funny when she stopped and just stared at me in silence, so I smiled... though that smile immediately disappeared when I felt a heavy, terrifying pressure coming off of her.
"Just kidding, please go on."
I told her quickly.
Elianna shook her head again, then after bringing her full attention back to me—
"I will be straight with you... are you a vampire?"
She asked me that with a completely emotionless look in her eyes. She was staring right at me, watching my every movement for any kind of reaction.
"No, I’m not. Why would you even ask that?"
But I just answered her with that, staying completely calm and without changing my facial expression even a little bit.
Elianna’s brow frowned.
"You have very pale skin and blood-red eyes, and those are some of the main characteristics of vampires when it comes to their appearance."
She said that, clearly trying to fish for information to catch me in a lie.
I’m honestly surprised that she knows this specific detail when the other people I have met so far didn’t. But I guess since she is one of the key individuals in a church that exists to condemn vampires, it does make a lot of sense that she would know.
Anyway—
"I just happen to have the same physical characteristics as them, but that doesn’t mean I’m one of them."
I answered her with that, speaking as confidently as I could.
The only reason that I was able to keep my calm in this dangerous situation was actually very simple. After talking with Elianna for a bit, I noticed that she wasn’t actually sure if I really was a vampire or not.
She isn’t giving off any real killing intent, and right now— she’s just trying to fish for a reaction to see if I am one. Even my [Danger Sense] had calmed down a lot now.
’I figure that even though red eyes and pale skin are traits of a vampire, having them as a human doesn’t automatically mean you are a monster.’
And it seems like the conclusion that I arrived at is the right one for this situation.
"Haaaah... That is true. It is very rare, but some people are born with red eyes and pale skin, even though their parents don’t have those traits at all."
Elianna let out a long sigh and said that.
’She’s probably talking about albinos.’
I thought.
"If that’s all you have to ask me, then I will excuse myself and leave now."
Then I said that, starting to stand up from my seat.
"Though, I do actually have a sure way of knowing for certain if you are a vampire or not."
But before I could fully stand up, Elianna suddenly mumbled those words.
"Hmm?"
I looked down at her with a look of genuine curiosity. Then, while staring me directly in the eyes— PSSHK-!
SHE SUDDENLY BIT INTO HER OWN HAND AND MADE IT BLEED!
"Vampires cannot stop themselves from wanting to consume fresh blood. Once they see it right in front of them— they will go crazy because of the intense hunger they feel for it."
Elianna declared, and I saw a small, knowing smile appearing on her face. She was glaring at me intensely, just waiting to see what my next move would be.
It seems like she strongly feels that I am a vampire, and she was just finding a way to confirm it so she could eliminate me with a proper justification.
"..."
My full attention turned toward the fresh blood on her hand... I felt a strange attraction toward it, a sense of curiosity... and a sudden, sharp hunger.
My eyes shifted back away from the blood and up to Elianna, then looking her straight in the eyes with a deep frown on my face—
"Weirdo."
I just said that bluntly and then calmly walked away from the table.
Tap- Tap- Tap-
"..."
I left Elianna there alone, sitting at the table with her hand bleeding out and a smile on her face like a total idiot.