Chapter 05
“What is that?”
Could there be some kind of restriction?
After all, since it was selected as a closed academy, perhaps there is a restriction that it cannot return to the transfer system.
‘Ah, that would be a problem.’
I waited nervously for the lion’s words, my whole body tense.
Soon, the lion’s mouth began to open slowly.
Yes, it did open, but……
“Well…… it’s because I’m so bored.”
“……”
I stared at the lion with cold, chilled eyes.
Perhaps feeling embarrassed himself, the lion hurriedly waved his front paw and made an excuse.
“Do you know how many years I’ve been stuck in this dark cave, living alone? A full fifteen hundred years, fifteen hundred years! Do you know how tedious and lonely it’s been? My mouth is practically degenerating from disuse!”
Then he looked at me with tearful eyes and begged.
“So, wouldn’t you stay here and keep me company?”
The drooping corners of his eyes were so pitiful that sympathy began to well up in me.
But I wasn’t foolish enough to ruin my life over such trivial emotions.
“No way.”
“Why not!”
“How could I possibly live in a cave like this where not even a single ray of sunlight enters! Besides, there’s no food here either!”
“What do you mean no food! Isn’t it right here!”
The lion urgently pointed with its paw at something, which turned out to be moss.
That very moss, supposedly the lion’s staple food.
“How can I live on this!”
When I shouted in exasperation, the lion hurriedly made an excuse.
“Of course, it doesn’t look very appetizing, but you’ll get used to it once you eat it. It’s not as bad as you think once you try it. Here, have a taste!”
He then tore off a clump of moss with his mouth and offered it to me.
I quickly stepped back to avoid the huge face thrust right before my nose.
“No thanks. You have the goal of becoming a divine beast, so you can endure eating things like this, but I can’t live that way. Well, I’ll be going now. May you find peace.”
Placing one hand on my chest and bowing my head politely, I immediately started walking briskly toward the entrance.
But the lion was a tenacious one who didn’t know how to give up.
“No! Please don’t leave me alone. Hmm?”
“Ah, don’t chase me!”
I ran desperately to escape the lion thundering behind me.
I had barely managed to save my life; I didn’t want to live on moss in a place like this.
But no matter how fast a human body runs, there’s no way it can outpace a lion.
“Got you!”
A body the size of a house pounced on me in an instant.
Seeing the lion looking at me with shining eyes as if I were his lifeline, I prayed earnestly.
‘Ah, Goddess Hedel. Please have pity on me and shake off this foolish lion who thinks I’m a tick!’
Was that prayer answered?
No sooner had the lion wrapped its heavy paws tightly around my waist than a brilliant light poured down upon me.
‘This is not the light of the Goddess……’
It was sunlight.
Which meant I had escaped the cave.
Fortunately and unfortunately……
“Ugh, it’s so bright!”
Along with the tick.
“……What? I thought you said you couldn’t get out?”
When I asked in bewilderment, the lion blinked in confusion.
“Indeed? How did this happen? I’ve tried so many times but could never get past that entrance……”
The lion kept tilting its head, saying it was truly strange.
‘What? Is he really a prospective divine beast?’
Just as I was shaking my head with a fed-up expression, I heard murmuring from somewhere.
Wondering what it was, I turned around to see countless people below the cliff looking up at me with astonished expressions.
“The, the shrine maiden has come out again.”
“How did she get out?”
“What’s that white fur ball next to her?”
“It looks like some kind of beast…… Wait. Could it be a lion?”
“Yes, it’s a lion! That very lion said to be the Goddess’s proxy!”
“Not only did the woman offered as a sacrifice return alive, but the Goddess’s proxy has appeared with her.”
“Could it be that the Goddess is looking after the shrine maiden?”
“If so, then perhaps……”
The crowd exchanged urgent glances.
‘What on earth are they so worked up about?’
As I watched them in bewilderment, I heard the word ‘saint’ and let out a hollow laugh.
‘What? Surely they don’t think I’m a saint now?’
There’s a limit to naivety—just because I got out of a cave, I’m a saint?
Just as I was letting out a frustrated laugh at the absurdity of it all.
“Oh come on, even if that’s the case, how could she be a saint?”
“Right, if Beloche Shrine Maiden were truly a saint, there should be some kind of sign.”
“Like a sign that this terrible calamity has stopped, for instance.”
Fortunately, not everyone was completely ignorant; people began to voice objections one by one.
“Now that I think about it, that’s true.”
“If she were a real saint, at the very least, the hail falling from this clear sky should stop.”
Yes, exactly.
I nodded my head vigorously as I watched the imperial citizens gradually coming to their senses.
But then.
“……?”
What an astounding coincidence.
At that moment, as if by magic, the hail stopped.
The hail that had been falling nonstop for seven full days, suddenly, just like that—stop!
‘No, why did it suddenly stop?’
I looked up at the sky with a blank expression, then was suddenly seized by anxiety.
‘Wait, if this happens……’
Sure enough.
At that moment, someone let out a thunderous roar.
“H-Hail has stopped! The calamity has stopped! It’s the, the saint’s second coming!”
As if that shout were a signal flare, the crowd bowed their heads with emotional expressions.
At the same time, cheers filled with reverence echoed through the air.
“Saints, save us!”
“Save Catalon!”
“Save us! Save us!”
Amidst those earnest cheers, I blinked vacantly and then opened my mouth wide.
‘What are you saying? I’m not a saint?’
—
‘Why is this happening?’
I’m nothing but a mere noble, not even possessing any holy power or anything particularly special. What business do I have being a saint?
I tried to deny it quickly, but the crowd wouldn’t give me the chance.
“Ah, now that the saint has appeared, surely this terrible calamity will stop as well.”
“The dead volcano won’t erupt, and hail won’t fall from the clear sky anymore! We won’t have to starve from crop shortages any longer!”
“Yes, Catalon will regain its former peace.”
“Of course, absolutely!”
“Our saint will surely make it happen!”
Without even verifying the truth, they indulged in their hopes as they pleased.
If this continued, I might really be elevated to sainthood against my will.
‘That would be truly problematic.’
Since I don’t have the power to stop the calamity, it would soon be revealed that I’m not the real saint, and the imperial citizens would be overcome with indescribable loss.
‘And that loss would soon turn into anger directed at me.’
Even if my becoming a saint was due to their misunderstanding, not my will.
‘After all, the crowd is selfish by nature.’
Just as those who had been rejoicing in my death just moments ago now revere me as a saint and plead for salvation.
I would be falsely accused, suffer the condemnation of the entire empire, and perhaps even end up being executed.
On the charge of impersonating a saint.
‘Oh shit, this is really bad.’
Panicking, I turned to the lion, one of the causes of this misunderstanding, and whispered urgently.
“Because of you, I’m being completely misunderstood! Do something before things get worse!”
At that, the lion, who had been swishing its tail and going “Hmm,” grinned and nodded.
As if to say, don’t worry.
The confident look on his face suggested he had some plan in mind.
‘But how does he plan to fix this? Is he going to explain things to the crowd? How?’
Although I could understand the lion’s words, wasn’t it said that it wasn’t his intention?
‘Was he lying? Or was it true that he used the lion’s language at the time, but he actually knows how to speak human?’
I was curious, but not particularly worried.
He might seem a bit lacking, but he’s a spiritual creature that has lived for over a thousand years.
Surely he had some way.
While I was basking in unwarranted faith, the lion had already approached the very edge of the cliff where I stood.
I looked at the lion with shining eyes, anticipating what was about to happen.
But then.
‘……Huh?’
The lion’s behavior was a bit strange.
The lion, who had been quietly looking up at me with his back to the crowd, sat down at my feet and bowed his head.
As if in submission.
“Um, what are you doing……?”
When I asked with a bewildered expression, the lion curled the corners of his mouth into a smirk.
“Wait, surely not……”
An instant wave of anxiety washed over me.
Sure enough, the crowd began to stir again.
“Look at that. The lion is kneeling at the saint’s feet!”
“The Goddess’s proxy is acknowledging that the shrine maiden is the saint!”
“It’s certain. It’s the true second coming of the saint!”
My mind reeled from the outrageous cheers of the fools directed at me.
