Only the Party Members Returned, Not the Hero

24. The Unforgiving Saint (1)

24.

Darhan was taken away by the priests, and Raihandro looked at me for a long time with a hard face before disappearing somewhere.

You couldn’t have given me a disadvantage anyway.

Darhan was the first to cross the line in irregular sparring, and despite that, I fought Darhan with my bare fists without drawing my sword until the end.

On the contrary, some of the knights regarded me as a big man for waiting for Darhan to use his magic shield.

So, I want you to go beyond that.

After the sparring, EL called me aside, put a healing blessing on her hand that had been pierced by her sword, applied medicine, and even wrapped a bandage while looking at me with a slightly sad expression.

“… ….”

I felt uncomfortable with EL’s gaze, so I stayed still.

“Are you aware that it was a bit excessive?”

El’s first words.

I nodded.

Under the rule of irregular sparring, it was too much for Darhan to aim at my heart with a sword, but it wasn’t too much for me to hit him once more after breaking the swordsman’s hand like that.

“It is true that I asked, but I thought that Ellen would stop at the line of scolding Darhan. So, to put it bluntly, the final attack would not have been necessary.”

That’s right.

I nodded again.

“Just because the other person did something wrong doesn’t give Ellen a ticket to be wrong.”

“You only say the right things today, and you are nice.”

It’s a joke about my conversion, saying I’m kind to the saintess.

Lee was fiddling with my injured hand and then laughed at a stupid joke.

“Really, it’s not fun at all….”

As she said that, she lowered her gaze to my hand again.

“Looking at you like that won’t make you feel better right away.”

“You never know, even my gaze will be effective.”

“Isn’t that self-conscious?”

“Isn’t it possible for a saintess to be a little too self-conscious?”

“Are you saying you’re unlucky at a time like this?”

“Please tell me you love me, because I am a saint.”

Tak.

Ouch.

Eli lightly tapped the top of her bandage once with the palm of her hand and stood up from her seat.

My gaze follows her spontaneously.

“Honestly, I worried a lot. Should I be mad at you, or should I tell you that you did a good job?”

“If nothing else, Raihandro must have been scared.”

“Yes, that must be…” .”

Perhaps according to EL’s will.

Perhaps Raihandro was frightened more perfectly than EL’s plan.

I objectively judged Darhan’s skill after fighting himself, but it was comparable to that of a knight commander.

Of course, compared to the Magic Priest Corps Commander and Ergenuk Knight Commander, who had more experience in combat than Darhan, he might be far behind, but he wasn’t someone who didn’t fit the title of ‘Knight Commander’.

Even if I thought of such a Darhan, I smashed it a bit excessively.

Perhaps by now Raihandro is completely revising all plans.

According to EL’s wishes.

The last shot was a bit impulsive, but I thought it would be fine as long as the result was good.

“Now I wake up slowly. We have to eat dinner, and shouldn’t EL get a permit from the Pope?”

“We agreed to see you after dinner, so it will be soon.”

“Oh, I am hungry. Does the temple feed well?”

“Bob… Yes, but I tend to give people something to eat.”

“The clergy are not good at anything.”

“… Be sure to say it, but before that….”

I let out a long sigh and try to stand up.

As I tried to get up, EL gently pressed my shoulders and put me back in her chair.

Puffed up.

“… ….”

Her hands on my shoulders slide further in.

A slow series of motions. As if he wants to hold me in his arms.

I could feel her small moving fingers and her hesitant attitude, as if she really wanted to hug me.

I lifted her head and handed her gaze to her, who was about a hand inch closer to her.

Elle clenched her fists, bit her lower lip, and met her eyes.

I didn’t smile or say anything, just stared blankly at EL.

El’s movement suddenly stopped.

“…… Ellen.”

“El.”

I got up from my seat.

Her hand on my shoulder moves away. Taking a few steps back, Elle lowered her arm and cupped her own wrist with her other hand.

The trembling of her fingertips.

What did she read in my face, no.

What expression did I make the moment EL approached me?

“Saintess.”

“…… Yes.”

I’m sure he wasn’t laughing.

Because it was inconvenient.

I could have just joked about it, but when ELle stepped over and came in front of me, the uneasiness in her heart began to stride along her steps.

“I don’t think I can be Ellen Porzesca.”

I forcibly lifted the corners of her mouth and smiled.

Maybe instinct, or at least my feelings for the three women that remain as imprinted memories.

The moment they crossed the line disguised as normal for the sake of minimal cooperation, beyond the pain in the head, they began to feel fear.

The fragments of my daily life that were shattered in that small hand.

I felt like screaming.

EL looked at my face for a long time, then she took a few steps back and forced a smile as well.

“… I’m glad you weren’t hurt, Ellen. I will go see the Pope now, so I hope you get some rest in the meantime.”

EL walks with her head down.

Sad eyes on a smiling face.

I had to get used to it.

***

As she left her empty treatment room, Ellen recalled.

Ellen and EL’s first meeting.

When Ellen was fourteen years old.

Saint El Porzesca meets Ellen, the child of her apostate, at the warrior school.

When ELLE first started her catechism class, she decided to spare a few minutes for her.

As he thought before, he must have been badly scolded by her goddess, so he thought it was his turn to give love.

She is a saint, and if she herself said so, Ellen, too, would not be comforted a little, and in her young heart she had thought that way.

“Good morning, everyone.”

Her clear and bright voice echoes through the classroom.

The children, who have seen the famous Saint of Erantera in person, have a bustle of time whispering to each other for a while.

“Today is the first catechesis day. My name is El Porzesca, and I have been chosen as a saint to serve the goddess.”

You are a true saint.

Your name is pretty too.

It’s the first time I’ve seen the saintess.

Is it thanks to an unconventional teacher named EL?

As most of the students are minors, it would have been difficult for them to show perfect concentration in the catechesis class, which could be boring if they were bored.

EL liked those students.

She thought that such innocent students would be of the same mind as her.

The point at which the first class is almost finished.

She looked at each of her students and spotted a familiar face.

She was warned several times by the elders that she had an apostate child.

His face did not look vicious and depraved as the elders said. He didn’t even look like he was going to apostatize. Rather than that, he seemed like he would look good wearing the armor of the Erantel Knights.

Isn’t he a bit handsome even at a rather young age, he thought.

Little Ellen is unfamiliar, but she is having a little bit of conversation with her student sitting next to her, with a little anticipation and excitement on her face.

It was a trivial thing, but that’s how human relationships originally began.

EL wanted to help him.

“Now, before we start class, I have something to say.”

The eyes of her somewhat distracted students return to her.

“Since humans are not perfect beings, we all make mistakes and make bad choices. It’s basic to take the responsibility that he deserves, but I don’t think he has to bear the stigma of a criminal forever.”

Ellen and EL’s eyes meet.

Ellen watched as Ellen moved her throat and swallowed her dry saliva.

You’re nervous.

I hope this helps.

“Especially if it’s not that you committed a crime, but if your family is involved. So, even if you’re the child of an apostate, I hope you’ll treat me as an ordinary friend as long as you’re accepted into the same academy for warriors.”

Each time ELLE spoke, Ellen’s face turned white in stages.

The saintess wanted to help Ellen, who seemed stiff.

So that everyone can live a normal school life without prejudice against him.

“Stand up, Ellen.”

The saintess’ beautiful voice calls him.

The eyes of the students are focused on him.

Contempt flashes in the eyes of the student she was talking to Ellen just a moment ago.

“I hope that you who have been chosen by the goddess are doing well at this school.”

Ellen got up awkwardly from her seat and looked around her, feeling the stinging stares that were instantly directed at her.

Enmity.

Contempt.

Away.

Ellen felt like she was back in her back alley.

The tendons stand out on his chin as he clenched his teeth.

Covering his trembling hand with the other hand to hide it, straightening his unsteady legs, he looked ahead.

It would have been better if he had run away, but because Ellen was an overly strong person, EL did not realize her fault until the end.

Is that him?

It looks fine.

First time seeing an apostate.

Because it’s a child.

That’s it.

So you’re a commoner?

A whispering voice sounds like an auditory hallucination.

The expression is erased from his face.

Ellen looked straight at EL, and she said so.

“It’s an honor.”

With eyes full of emptiness.

“Saint.”

That’s how 14-year-old Ellen entered the warrior school.