I immediately grabbed Delton's mane.
“Ugh!”
Thanks to that, Delton, whose head was lifted up comically, screamed.
“What the hell are you doing! How dare you grab the hair of a body that will soon become a god! Can’t you let go of this hand right now?”
His face turned red and blue, perhaps because he was upset at losing face in front of a mere human.
But I didn't have the luxury of caring about his reputation.
“Zhuunghuh husseu, zuum. (Please be quiet.)”
As I gritted my teeth and growled, Delton's shoulders trembled reflexively.
And then, in an instant, it deflated like a deflated balloon.
Looking at the sight of it with its head buried in the tree, its mouth covered by its large forepaw, it was hard to tell if it was a lion or a dog.
I clicked my tongue and turned my gaze back to the maid.
“What did you just say? On the day the previous Saintess died, someone came into contact with her?”
“Yes, I saw it with my own eyes!”
The maid nodded absentmindedly. Her movements seemed desperate.
But I couldn't take that at face value.
“But when I asked you a few days ago, you said you didn’t know anything. Why are you confessing this now? Did you make it up to cover up your affair with the priest?”
When I asked with my eyes narrowed, the maid shook her head in fright.
“No, my lady! Of course, I cannot say that I do not wish to ask for Father Alex’s salvation, but I am by no means lying. Please believe me, my lady!”
“Hmm, well. I’m not so naive as to believe the words of a cornered person...”
When I spoke with a cold expression, the maid's face turned pale.
“I, I am not so bold as to lie about the daughter of a goddess, My Lady! Please believe me!”
Lying flat on the dirt floor, shivering and begging, it didn't seem like she was lying.
'But you never know.'
At that moment, I was quietly looking down at her and judging the truth.
“Martha’s testimony is not false, Saintess. I also saw Saintess Margaret having an encounter with someone on the day she died. It was in this forest!”
“...Here?”
"Yes."
The priest met my eyes and nodded. There was not a single trace of falsehood in his straight gaze.
“Yes, then let’s hear it.”
After roughly deciding, I nodded as if telling her to speak.
Then, Martha, who was about to speak, hesitated for a moment and then opened her mouth hesitantly.
“I, My Lady... if we tell you about it...”
Although I couldn't bring myself to say it out loud, it wasn't hard to guess what condition she wanted to put forth.
“If you tell me what you saw that day without a single lie, I’ll pretend I didn’t see today.”
“Thank you, Saintess!”
She expressed her gratitude by hitting her forehead on the dirt floor and immediately opened her mouth.
“We met in this forest at dawn on the day that Saintess Margaret passed away.”
“Have you been in love since then?”
“No, at the time, we were just talking buddies. The priest and I both entered the temple at a young age and had no friends our age. We were the only two people of similar age in the temple, so we just naturally became close.”
“But why did you meet in such a secluded place? If you were just friends, there would have been no need to meet in secret like this.”
“We were thirteen at the time. Although we were young, we were old enough to be aware of the opposite sex, so we couldn’t meet openly. We might have aroused suspicion from those around us.”
“That could be the case.”
I nodded slightly and lifted my chin again.
“So? Keep talking.”
“We were talking as usual. We talked about light-hearted things that you would talk about with friends, like what we did that day, the sadness we felt because of our strict boss, and the frustrations of temple life. We were talking like that without realizing how much time had passed, and then suddenly we heard a noise.”
“...”
“We hurriedly hid behind the bushes. It would certainly arouse suspicion if a priest and a maid were seen meeting in such a secluded place. So we tried to hide quietly until the sound disappeared... but then we heard another sound.”
“...”
“For a moment, I had that thought. Could it be that someone was having a secret meeting... Meeting in the forest in the middle of the night would be more than an ordinary relationship. So I couldn’t control my curiosity and took a peek...”
“The Saintess was meeting someone?”
"Yes, that's right."
Martha nodded quickly.
“Who was that?”
“He also... He was wearing white robes that reached down to his feet. We just witnessed the two of them talking.”
“Did you hear the conversation?”
“Oh, no, it’s too far for us to eavesdrop...”
As she was unable to answer every question, Martha's voice gradually became smaller and smaller, perhaps because she felt embarrassed.
The priest suddenly intervened, perhaps fearing that Martha might be reprimanded.
“But it didn’t seem like a good relationship. We were both so shocked by the momentum of the two of them.”
“...You lost consciousness?”
“Yes, I was watching from behind the bushes, when suddenly the mood between the two of them became tense. And after a while, we lost consciousness.”
“Hmm, it’s so powerful that it can make those far away lose their minds... Did he use holy power?”
If so, that might have been the reason why there was no holy power left in the Saintess's body.
She may have exhausted all her holy powers while fighting the one wearing that robe, which may have led to her death.
I was quietly guessing to myself, then turned my gaze back to the man and woman.
“So? What happened after that?”
“The backstory is nothing special. I came to my senses before dawn, and the Saintess and the man had already disappeared. We hurried back to the temple, relieved that we hadn’t been caught meeting secretly. But...”
“The Saintess is dead.”
"Yes."
After listening to the priest's words, I became deep in thought with a serious expression on my face.
'As expected, the Saintess did not die of natural causes.'
From their story, it seems likely that the Saintess was murdered.
'But is it possible for a human to kill a Saintess protected by a goddess?'
After thinking about it for a moment, I asked them again.
“Have you never seen his face before? Even something as trivial as hair color or eye color. If you can think of anything, tell me.”
“That was... I couldn’t see her face because she was wearing a robe, but one thing was certain: she was a woman with purple hair.”
“...A woman?”
“Yes, she was wearing a robe, but she had long hair and a slender figure, so she was clearly a woman.”
“And? Is there anything else you remember?”
I asked urgently, but the priest just shook his head.
“I don’t remember anything more than that. I’m sorry, Saintess.”
Ha.
I scratched my head nervously.
'Purple hair isn't as common as blonde, but it's not that unusual either.'
Even if we limit it to women, there would be hundreds of thousands of them in this empire, and it would be impossible to search through them all.
It was at that time that I was rubbing my forehead, feeling lost and helpless.
“I, Saintess...”
Martha opened her mouth cautiously.
“Actually, I think I saw the color of her eyes.”
“What color are her eyes?”
“Yes, the wind just blew and her robe blew back a little. Of course, I can’t be sure because it was just a fleeting glimpse before I lost consciousness...”
“It’s okay. In a situation as uncertain as this, every bit of information is valuable. Even if you’re not sure, just tell me.”
I tried to coax her with a kind expression, but she still couldn't open her mouth.
“But that’s so ridiculous...”
“I told you it’s okay. Don’t hesitate and just tell me.”
I encouraged her several times, and she seemed to have gained courage and finally opened her mouth after a long time.
But the words that came out of her mouth were exactly as she had said, nonsense.
“That was... I, it was a red eye. A red... eye.”
Previous Next
“Ugh!”
Thanks to that, Delton, whose head was lifted up comically, screamed.
“What the hell are you doing! How dare you grab the hair of a body that will soon become a god! Can’t you let go of this hand right now?”
His face turned red and blue, perhaps because he was upset at losing face in front of a mere human.
But I didn't have the luxury of caring about his reputation.
“Zhuunghuh husseu, zuum. (Please be quiet.)”
As I gritted my teeth and growled, Delton's shoulders trembled reflexively.
And then, in an instant, it deflated like a deflated balloon.
Looking at the sight of it with its head buried in the tree, its mouth covered by its large forepaw, it was hard to tell if it was a lion or a dog.
I clicked my tongue and turned my gaze back to the maid.
“What did you just say? On the day the previous Saintess died, someone came into contact with her?”
“Yes, I saw it with my own eyes!”
The maid nodded absentmindedly. Her movements seemed desperate.
But I couldn't take that at face value.
“But when I asked you a few days ago, you said you didn’t know anything. Why are you confessing this now? Did you make it up to cover up your affair with the priest?”
When I asked with my eyes narrowed, the maid shook her head in fright.
“No, my lady! Of course, I cannot say that I do not wish to ask for Father Alex’s salvation, but I am by no means lying. Please believe me, my lady!”
“Hmm, well. I’m not so naive as to believe the words of a cornered person...”
When I spoke with a cold expression, the maid's face turned pale.
“I, I am not so bold as to lie about the daughter of a goddess, My Lady! Please believe me!”
Lying flat on the dirt floor, shivering and begging, it didn't seem like she was lying.
'But you never know.'
At that moment, I was quietly looking down at her and judging the truth.
“Martha’s testimony is not false, Saintess. I also saw Saintess Margaret having an encounter with someone on the day she died. It was in this forest!”
“...Here?”
"Yes."
The priest met my eyes and nodded. There was not a single trace of falsehood in his straight gaze.
“Yes, then let’s hear it.”
After roughly deciding, I nodded as if telling her to speak.
Then, Martha, who was about to speak, hesitated for a moment and then opened her mouth hesitantly.
“I, My Lady... if we tell you about it...”
Although I couldn't bring myself to say it out loud, it wasn't hard to guess what condition she wanted to put forth.
“If you tell me what you saw that day without a single lie, I’ll pretend I didn’t see today.”
“Thank you, Saintess!”
She expressed her gratitude by hitting her forehead on the dirt floor and immediately opened her mouth.
“We met in this forest at dawn on the day that Saintess Margaret passed away.”
“Have you been in love since then?”
“No, at the time, we were just talking buddies. The priest and I both entered the temple at a young age and had no friends our age. We were the only two people of similar age in the temple, so we just naturally became close.”
“But why did you meet in such a secluded place? If you were just friends, there would have been no need to meet in secret like this.”
“We were thirteen at the time. Although we were young, we were old enough to be aware of the opposite sex, so we couldn’t meet openly. We might have aroused suspicion from those around us.”
“That could be the case.”
I nodded slightly and lifted my chin again.
“So? Keep talking.”
“We were talking as usual. We talked about light-hearted things that you would talk about with friends, like what we did that day, the sadness we felt because of our strict boss, and the frustrations of temple life. We were talking like that without realizing how much time had passed, and then suddenly we heard a noise.”
“...”
“We hurriedly hid behind the bushes. It would certainly arouse suspicion if a priest and a maid were seen meeting in such a secluded place. So we tried to hide quietly until the sound disappeared... but then we heard another sound.”
“...”
“For a moment, I had that thought. Could it be that someone was having a secret meeting... Meeting in the forest in the middle of the night would be more than an ordinary relationship. So I couldn’t control my curiosity and took a peek...”
“The Saintess was meeting someone?”
"Yes, that's right."
Martha nodded quickly.
“Who was that?”
“He also... He was wearing white robes that reached down to his feet. We just witnessed the two of them talking.”
“Did you hear the conversation?”
“Oh, no, it’s too far for us to eavesdrop...”
As she was unable to answer every question, Martha's voice gradually became smaller and smaller, perhaps because she felt embarrassed.
The priest suddenly intervened, perhaps fearing that Martha might be reprimanded.
“But it didn’t seem like a good relationship. We were both so shocked by the momentum of the two of them.”
“...You lost consciousness?”
“Yes, I was watching from behind the bushes, when suddenly the mood between the two of them became tense. And after a while, we lost consciousness.”
“Hmm, it’s so powerful that it can make those far away lose their minds... Did he use holy power?”
If so, that might have been the reason why there was no holy power left in the Saintess's body.
She may have exhausted all her holy powers while fighting the one wearing that robe, which may have led to her death.
I was quietly guessing to myself, then turned my gaze back to the man and woman.
“So? What happened after that?”
“The backstory is nothing special. I came to my senses before dawn, and the Saintess and the man had already disappeared. We hurried back to the temple, relieved that we hadn’t been caught meeting secretly. But...”
“The Saintess is dead.”
"Yes."
After listening to the priest's words, I became deep in thought with a serious expression on my face.
'As expected, the Saintess did not die of natural causes.'
From their story, it seems likely that the Saintess was murdered.
'But is it possible for a human to kill a Saintess protected by a goddess?'
After thinking about it for a moment, I asked them again.
“Have you never seen his face before? Even something as trivial as hair color or eye color. If you can think of anything, tell me.”
“That was... I couldn’t see her face because she was wearing a robe, but one thing was certain: she was a woman with purple hair.”
“...A woman?”
“Yes, she was wearing a robe, but she had long hair and a slender figure, so she was clearly a woman.”
“And? Is there anything else you remember?”
I asked urgently, but the priest just shook his head.
“I don’t remember anything more than that. I’m sorry, Saintess.”
Ha.
I scratched my head nervously.
'Purple hair isn't as common as blonde, but it's not that unusual either.'
Even if we limit it to women, there would be hundreds of thousands of them in this empire, and it would be impossible to search through them all.
It was at that time that I was rubbing my forehead, feeling lost and helpless.
“I, Saintess...”
Martha opened her mouth cautiously.
“Actually, I think I saw the color of her eyes.”
“What color are her eyes?”
“Yes, the wind just blew and her robe blew back a little. Of course, I can’t be sure because it was just a fleeting glimpse before I lost consciousness...”
“It’s okay. In a situation as uncertain as this, every bit of information is valuable. Even if you’re not sure, just tell me.”
I tried to coax her with a kind expression, but she still couldn't open her mouth.
“But that’s so ridiculous...”
“I told you it’s okay. Don’t hesitate and just tell me.”
I encouraged her several times, and she seemed to have gained courage and finally opened her mouth after a long time.
But the words that came out of her mouth were exactly as she had said, nonsense.
“That was... I, it was a red eye. A red... eye.”
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