## Chapter 1356 – Friends

“Yeah! Just as I said, Elise has become an inhuman beauty!” Seeing her again, I feel it to the bone! Maybe it’s thanks to her efforts, but she’s become an even more radiant beauty!

From the start, she was quite cute, so it’s only natural she’d become a beauty as she got older!

“I absolutely cannot forgive such an Elise!!!!”
“S, Saintess?! What on earth are you—!”

KIEEEEEEEEK!!!

—Snatched!

“Ah!”

I immediately grabbed both of Elise’s wrists. My palms facing down, holding on tight. Elise, noticing something amiss, opened her mouth.

“S, Saint!”

—Kwaang!

I kicked off the ground and started spinning.

“Hahahahahahaha!”

—Whirling!

“Sainttttttt!”

Ah. How long has it been since I felt this sensation?

This familiar spin. Whenever I see Elise, I always do this. Spinning Elise around like this is common sense. It’s common sense, and it’s manners. It’s something I absolutely have to do.

“This utterly unpredictable behavior!!! Please stop!!! This isn’t important right now!!!”
“What could be more important than this!!!”
“Greeeeeeeeh!!”

—Whoosh!

It’s a giant swing, literally. Of course, I’m focusing all my abilities to make sure Elise doesn’t get hurt. As I was spinning like that…

—Flap!

I jumped straight up into the sky.

“Flying!!!”
“Saintttttt!”

—Whoosh!

I continue to swing and rise into the sky. For me now, flying is just an art akin to breathing. I enjoyed this leisurely flight, watching Elise scream with a bright red face.

“Put me down!”
“Hahahahahahaha!”
“I understand you’re happy to see me, but instead of just laughing, please listen to me!”
“Saintttttt!”

The blue sky.

There, I held Elise’s wrists and spun endlessly.

“Hoo.”

After doing that for about ten minutes, all the intense emotions inside me subsided. Elise seems to be getting quite dizzy, so I should probably stop now.

—Thwack.

Only then did I land and let go of Elise.

“Ugh, eugh…!”

—Stagger, stagger.

Elise staggered around unsteadily, complaining of dizziness.

“You’re still… quite eccentric, Saint!”
“Hehehe, well, I’m always like this. Anyway, Elise. It’s good to see you. I can finally greet you properly. My excitement has calmed down a bit.”
“You should have been normal from the start! And it’s not good to relieve your excitement in this way!”
“Elise… Do you not like that I’m happy to see you?”

I put on a seemingly sad expression and looked at Elise.

“Ugh…!”

Elise was momentarily at a loss for what to do.

“That’s not what I mean! I won’t be fooled even if you imitate sadness!”
“But I’m really sad.”
“Don’t lie! You’re just trying to tease me, aren’t you! Do you think I don’t know! I already know everything about you, Saint!”
“I’ve been found out!!!”

—Jump!

I grabbed my head and jumped vertically about 20 meters!

“Don’t pretend to be surprised! And no one jumps like that even if they are surprised!”
“Oh my. Seeing you after so long, our Elise, your nagging has really increased.”
“It’s all because of you, Saint!!!”

Elise, shouting loudly, always gave me pleasure.

“Be normal, be normal!”
“I don’t have that.”
“Such…!”

Me.

I do what I want to do.

“Anyway, let’s sit down for a bit, Elise.”

It’s about time I had a proper conversation. I’ve teased her enough. Now that I’ve had my fun, I should get to the main point.

—Cooong!

I lightly extended my fist towards the large rock in front of me, and as the round rock broke, a stone chair appeared.

—Rustle.

It’s not like a stone chair was hidden inside. With this technique of controlling my power and channeling my energy into the interior, it’s possible to turn a round rock into a chair with a single punch.

“No way! Such, such a technique!”

Elise was greatly surprised to see that.

“It’s only natural for me. I told you? I’ve become a god.”
“…”

The words that I had become a god. Elise still seemed to doubt those words. Actually, that’s only natural. Elise is like a younger sister to me, but she’s lived her whole life as a cleric.

“Those words.”
“Hmm?”
“The words that you’ve become a god… Is that a metaphor? Or…”
“It means I’ve really become a god.”

I answered, grabbing Elise’s hand and pulling her to sit next to me.

I can be called a god now. A god who has transcended humanity. I don’t care what other clerics define as a god. This me. I define myself, who possesses this much power and ability, as a god.

That’s all that matters.

“But I’m still a bit of a lacking god.”
“…”

However, I know my shortcomings very well.

“But more than that, I want to hear Elise’s story first.”
“My story…”
“The story of Elise, who has become an inhuman beauty.”
“I, inhuman…!”

Elise’s face, which had calmed down at the words that she had become a beauty, turned red again. Elise is now a woman of age. It’s an age where she can’t help but be embarrassed by such words.

“M, me!”
“Yeah. Elise.”
“H, have I become… that much of an inhuman beauty?”

Elise, turning her head towards me, asked as if trying to confirm it.

She’s being very cautious. Yeah, there’s no woman who hates the fact that she’s beautiful. Rather, they always want to be reassured.

Elise is a cleric. She hasn’t really had such opportunities, so she must be very happy to hear my words now.

I’m an expert in this kind of field.

“Yeah. Maybe it’s because you’ve grown up a bit compared to then. You’ve become a very striking beauty, Elise. I don’t lie about things like this, so you can believe me. You’ll be recognized as a beauty wherever you go.”
“…”

When I calmly told her the truth, Elise avoided my gaze and lowered her head. And then, she covered her face with her hands.

“Hehehe, Elise. Are you embarrassed? Are you embarrassed now? You are embarrassed!”
“…!”

I’ve realized something recently.

I’m someone who really likes seeing women embarrassed. Anyway, seeing this kind of sight is very enjoyable.

“You’re embarrassed, Elise! At the words that you’ve become a beauty! Your back is getting hot! Your face is flushed! The temperature of your ears is rising! You feel a great embarrassment!”

As I started teasing her like that.

“P, please be quiet!!!”

Elise shouted with a bright red face…!

“Okay. Okay. I’ll be quiet.”
“Really…! You’re always teasing me like that! Saint!”

Her tone, as if she was angry at me, was a bit sharp. It would be troublesome if she really got angry, but… it can’t be helped.

“Yeah! I’m always teasing you!”
“Why!”
“Because it’s fun!”
“Such a ridiculous reason…!”
“But it’s true that you’ve become an inhuman beauty.”
“…”
“You must have worked hard during that time. Elise.”
“N, not that much…”

Perhaps her anger had subsided, Elise became docile again. For Kim Kat, the master of women’s hearts, this level of skill is as simple as breathing.

“Just because you have a beautiful base doesn’t mean anyone can become a beauty. Elise. Effort is important in everything. And character is also important. There’s nothing you lack now, Elise.”
“…”

Elise couldn’t say anything to my words. She just blushed and covered her face with her hands.

—Tremble, tremble.

Her shoulders were even shaking.

“Th, that’s.”

Finally, Elise opened her mouth.

“That, that’s the same for you, Saint… You seem to have become even bigger and more reliable than before.”

A compliment exchange. Elise, glancing at me, praised my physique. Actually, it’s been a while since I got this big. My physique and height have gradually increased in proportion to my strength.

But the part to pay attention to isn’t that.

“You even have wings.”
“I’m really. That’s extremely surprising to me. What on earth happened?”
“That’s a long story. I just said it, didn’t I? I want to hear Elise’s story first.”
“Ah…”
“What happened? During that time?”
“Yes. I’ll tell you.”

Elise nodded.

“You probably know that the demons have recently invaded…”
“I know more than that.”
“Saint. Did you defeat them as the rumors say?”
“Yeah. I killed their demon king.”
“As expected…!”

Elise’s eyes shine.
Like stars.

“It’s Saint! The true hero of this era! A warrior!”
“What. Weren’t you not believing it?”
“Of course, I believed that! That Saint had resolved the situation! I thought of it as soon as I heard the rumors! The only part I questioned was just the words that you had become a god.”

I see.

“Anyway. The demons have half-destroyed Isvant, and many refugees have been generated. We focused on gathering our strength to protect them. As we were doing that… we encountered the demons’ landing force.”
“Landing force, huh.”
“Yes. They were quite powerful enemies, but we were eventually able to repel them.”

After that, Elise talked about running around the surrounding villages. Very diligently. She rolled up her sleeves to save people.

And finally, when she heard the rumors that the demons had been defeated, she returned to Krasheim.

“We were lucky, it seems. Krasheim.”
“Yeah. I heard that half of the major cities in the kingdom were destroyed.”
“…That much.”

Elise seemed surprised.

“It’s a very big tragedy. At the same time… there’s no more evil thing than this. How many people have died…!”

Elise, saying that, was showing extreme aggression while biting her lip.

—Buzz, buzz.

Blood flowed between Elise’s tightly clenched fists. Her eyes had already transformed like those of a beast. This is… yeah. It’s Elise. Elise, who shows outrageous aggression towards evil beings.

It seemed that Elise had gained even greater hatred and anger because the demons had massacred people.

“Many people died. A large number of people lost their homes and families.”
“I can’t stand it! These demon bastards dare to do such a thing!!!”
“Yeah. The demon bastards are all scumbags who deserve to be killed!”
“Those words are a hundred times correct, Saint! As expected! You have the right insight! Saint!”

Even insight is coming out.

“It was an unforgivable thing… But in the end. You saved them all, Saint. With that powerful strength.”

Elise, who had calmed down her anger in an instant, put her hand on the back of my hand and said.

“Yeah.”
“That power must be. The heavenly gods must have gathered their strength in one place and bestowed it upon you.”

Elise, raising her fist, said as if trying to get confirmation.

“Hmm.”

How should I correct Elise’s thoughts?

“Elise. Do you think my power was given by the heavenly gods?”
“Yes. When I saw the magnitude of that sacredness, it was clear. The large wings and the burning flames. I felt an outrageous heavenly power there!”

Elise, standing up, shouted as if giving a speech.

“Even the heavenly gods were impressed by Saint’s righteous and faithful heart! And his achievements, and must have given him a blessing! Just like the warriors of the past!”

Eyes twinkling like stars.

She sang about Elise’s sacredness.

“Therefore, Saint is now… someone who has received the power of the gods in one body. In other words, a demigod-like being.”

That’s a completely wrong guess, Elise.

And she’s sending infinite trust to the gods. Elise doesn’t know that those heavenly gods are just outer gods residing in the gaps between dimensions. They are terrifying beings who crave human souls. Likewise… she doesn’t know that they’re fragmented either. She’s thinking of me as a Wi-Fi warrior right now.

I don’t need to tell Elise this right away.

But I should tell her what happened during that time.

“Hehehe, Elise. It’s an interesting guess, but there are quite a few wrong parts.”
“Yes?”
“Well, Elise has been talking until just now. From now on, I’ll tell you my story.”

Let me tell you my story.