I Can Hear the Saint’s Inner Thoughts

28 – The Continent’s Strongest vs. the Holy Kingdom’s Worst (4)

What exactly is the holy power that allows the use of high-level holy magic? This question has been debated a lot in the past.

Some scholars said that it depends on faith. They argued that this was why devout priests and saints were able to use high-level holy magic.

Others said it was a gift from the gods to humans. A loophole by the gods, also called constellations, who normally cannot influence this world.

– Huh? Are you curious why *I* can use high-level holy magic?

I was also curious about this, so I asked Victoria, the saint, about it one day. Why is it that only saints and high-ranking priests can use holy magic that ordinary people cannot?

– I, actually, don’t like the existence of the gods very much. To be more precise, it’s closer to hate.

I can never forget Victoria’s expression and tone at that time. She was giving off an unpleasant aura, the complete opposite of her usual reputation as a devout saint.

– Because I lived a pretty desperate life in the past. I was forced to sacrifice myself, to the point where I thought my life was worth nothing.

Victoria spoke about her past for the first time then. She doesn’t usually bring up that kind of topic, but I guess a sense of trust had developed between us over the time we’d spent together.

The numerous flowers blooming on her body showed directly just how many miracles she had used for others.

– But how can you say that I can use holy magic and be full of holy power? Huhu, you have quite a naive side to you.

Victoria covered her mouth and laughed, showing her wrist, as if she found it funny that I asked such a question.

– Astal-nim, I like this side of you. Unlike others, you’re not blinded by miracles, and you look at me, not as a saint, but purely as the woman that I am.

She even said words that could be misunderstood at first, then Victoria whispered to me the reason why she could use holy magic.

– My secret that others don’t know is that I live with the thought that I’m ready to die anytime. That’s why I can always maintain a sincere and pure appearance.

Victoria had introduced herself as a woman who was going to die one day, subtly revealing that she was terminally ill.

I should have noticed it then. It seems like no matter what I do, I just can’t get rid of my oblivious nature.

– But, if I had a choice other than being a saint…

Victoria put her fingers to her chin, looked up at the sky, and pondered deeply before saying these words.

– Wouldn’t this world be a bit more miserable and bleak? Therefore, I think that my sacrifice in this way had meaning for someone.

There was a mix of resignation and sadness in Victoria’s eyes, and I caught her expression of barely forcing a smile to brush it off.

– You said that someday, you’d get rid of all the flowers blooming on my body, and allow me to live an ordinary life?

I, then, made a reckless promise to Victoria.

Maybe it was just stubbornness, not wanting to see someone die or sacrifice themselves before my eyes.

– “That is truly welcome news. For the strongest mage on the continent to make such a heartfelt request… I am at a loss for words…”

Victoria, smoothing her platinum blonde hair, smiled bashfully. Perhaps she began to secretly like me from that moment on.

Victoria, who had always shown me only piety and a refined demeanor, began to tease and provoke me more and more after that day.

A distorted form of love from a saint, fearing that she might be abandoned.

– “…Flower Saint, Victoria Everhart. I will joyfully await the day you save me.”

If I couldn’t hear Victoria’s inner thoughts, I would have never known her true intentions, even if I lived my whole life.

* * *

In the forbidden library beneath the Holy Kingdom, encountering Victoria brought back a sudden memory.

To do something like this just to save one person…anyone who didn’t know would mistake it as me liking Victoria.

“Brother! Leave the small fry to me, and quickly take down that lich with your girlfriend!”

For example, there was the Holy Knight Wilhelm. He wore a satisfied smile, as if he had seen something good, and aimed his sword at the skeletons.

“Hehehe, they already see us as lovers. I have to admit, that boy does have a knack for reading the atmosphere.”

“…….”

I imagined how much Victoria would tease me about this, and my vision clouded over with dread.

“…What’s needed right now is a divine power strong enough to burn away even the lich’s life vessel.”

I didn’t even have the energy to argue, and just put a hand to my forehead as I told Victoria what was needed.

The natural enemy of a dark mage has always been a priest, so she could turn the tables on this disadvantageous situation.

“Then wouldn’t it be easiest to use a miracle? A single prayer to the Heavenly God would be enough for skeletons like those…”

“I told you not to use miracles.”

“…Understood. If it is my boyfriend’s order, I will gladly follow it. No matter how forceful the command.”

Victoria seemed happy as she said those words. I didn’t like the way her lips twitched oddly.

– Right now, I would follow even if you told me to wear a collar, get down on all fours and act like a b*tch, barking “woof.” …♡

Victoria’s inner thoughts were becoming increasingly heavy and intense, beyond what I could accept. Just how much of a rose-tinted vision did she have about this whole incident, I wonder.

‘That’s just a pervert…’

I was starting to dread telling Victoria that I could hear her thoughts. I might just grab a hammer and scream to erase her memories any moment now.

At that moment,

“So, this is the current Saint. I recall that the last one was a mute who couldn’t speak…”

Leozark looked at Victoria with disdain and once again waved his staff in the air. He was preparing to mix dark magic and holy magic.

Seeing you mention the former Saintess, it seems you’ve accessed information within the Forbidden Archives.

“Did you think I, a Lich, wouldn’t have prepared against holy power? Your underestimation is almost laughable.”

With that remark, Leozaak combined a dark, shadowy magic circle with a pure white one, birthing yet another new spell.

“…Sacred Hunger. That creature is a devourer that feeds on holy power. It was originally a magical beast modified to drain mana.”

And then, a zombie-like creature emerged. Its long tongue lolled on the ground, dragging as it went, drooling ravenously as if desperate to consume something.

“Even if you combine magic with holy magic, you cannot harm me as long as that thing exists.”

Leozaak spoke with a confident air, his jaw clicking, but watching him, one figure audibly cracked her neck in defiance.

“Thank you so much for revealing such a weakness.”

*Thwack!*

Victoria, wielding her hammer, leaped forward instantly. With every step she took, the ground trembled and the very foundations shifted.

“W-what is this…? Surely a Saintess is someone who can’t fight, who offers miracles or holy magic from the back lines…!”

“I’m different from other Saintesses, you see. I am the lover of the infamous harmless wizard, Astal Kaisaros… Wouldn’t I have to have something special?”

– The eyesores who get in the way of my love with Astal-nim must be eliminated as soon as possible, that’s the right answer.

Victoria thought, her tone laced with a sinister undertone aimed at her opponent.

Piercing through the storm of dust she created, she approached the devourer at a speed that didn’t give the other time to cast any other spells.

This battle was one where Victoria held the upper hand. Her draconic lineage gave her strength that was unparalleled and incredibly formidable.

This was the blind spot that Leozaak, still stuck in old-fashioned ways of thinking, hadn’t anticipated.

“Astal, didn’t you just say we needed a holy magic powerful enough to purify this area in one go?”

*Thud!* The devourer’s head was blown clean off, and Victoria signaled me in her usual way.

“Is it enough to just infuse that thing with holy power?”

“That’s right.”

While Victoria and Wilhelm had bought me time, I had been creating a massive chunk of ice in midair.

‘I’ll condense my mana with Meteor Strike, a simplified version of the Supernova I saw last time, creating mass…’

Then, I’ll overlay it with Victoria’s holy magic.

That would scour the area in a huge explosion of holy power, and only the resurrected corpse, the Lich, would be severely injured or destroyed.

And that includes the nameless demon that Leozaak had summoned, a creature that let out a low moan while glaring through the gap in the door with its giant eye.

No matter how I thought about it, that demon seemed dangerous if it entered the real world, and to get rid of it I had to go to these lengths.

“Hold my hand for a second. It might be better if our mana circuits are connected…”

“Ah, yes. Understood. Of course. I am, after all, your lover.”

Victoria’s hand was slick with sweat as soon as I took it, and it had also become a little hot. She hadn’t been like this earlier during the intense battle, I thought.

– “Kyaaa, now I can really act like lovers with Astal-nim however I want…! It doesn’t even feel like a week has passed, but if it’s already like this, won’t we really cross the line later…”

Victoria’s inner thoughts were whooping with joy, while I just wanted this time to pass as quickly as possible as I began chanting with her.

“Oh, our mother who brought forth the primordial light.”

Victoria was doing the crazy thing of matching our breathing, speaking at the exact same timing, to make it easier for me to control my mana and divine power.

“Now, your faithful servant begs you earnestly….”

Something that no one else could ever do, something that only Victoria and I, who had faced countless life-and-death situations together, could do.

“Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.”

*Click, clack—!*

“Bestow here upon this unholy one the hammer of light, the miracle of returning this aberrant being to its primordial form.”

Along with the crisp sounds of the magic circles meshing together, I even felt the illusion of my heartbeat and Victoria’s becoming one.

To combine different powers into a magic circle, our hearts had to be connected like this, a realization began to bloom deep within my chest.

“Amen.”

“Amen…!”

Victoria and I finished the prayer to the heavens, and the pre-created ice meteor began to gleam with light.

A magic combining Meteor Strike, the magic that condensed mana to create and drop a meteor, and Light Saber, a divine magic that emitted beams of light.

“…Light Fall.”

Light Fall engulfed the area where Leozaak stood, and an intense light erupted, turning our vision stark white.