## Chapter 1364 – Friends

Anyway, inviting them to a meal was only natural.

And Sister Blaret and Archiola… both were key executives from the Krasheim branch of the Holy Light Cross, whom I’d met a few times. They seemed constantly busy, but they’d apparently returned after hearing my news.

“This might not be so quiet after all. Will I be able to see Elize’s room?”
“Well, um… certainly. It won’t be easy.”

It seemed difficult to quietly look around Elize’s room. Still, Elize said she wanted to show off her spoils, so I could see it somehow.

“So, can we go eat right now?”
“Not immediately. There’s still some time left.”

Elize said, smiling.

“Everyone has just gone in. I think it will be quiet for about an hour.”
“Ah. You came out an hour earlier than the usual wake-up time?”
“Yes. I thought this was the only quiet time. Let’s go. I’ll show you my spoils.”
“Hehehe, I’m looking forward to this.”
“Of course, you can look forward to it.”

She looked like she couldn’t contain her joy. So, I followed Elize through the dark interior of the Holy Light Cross building.

It wasn’t incredibly large, but it felt like a battalion. There was a parade ground in the center, and several buildings were built around it.

—Step, step.

Walking through the still-dark outside, we headed to the building where Elize’s room was.

“Am I allowed to go in here? Isn’t this where the nuns live?”
“Well… actually, it’s not allowed, but it should be fine for a Saint.”
“That’s true.”

There’s no place that can ban this Kim Kat. I can enter women’s bathhouses as I please. Of course, the only people using those bathhouses are my women.

We arrived in front of Elize’s door.

“This is the room I stay in.”
“Let’s go in.”
“Yes.”

—Creak.

Opening the door, a studio apartment unfolded before my eyes.

“Oh. Not bad.”

Elize’s room was quite neat. It was so neat that it was almost rustic, which gave it the feeling of a clergyman’s room. It seemed to reflect Elize’s personality well.

It was reasonably spacious. It had everything. Religious ornaments were placed here and there in the room, and the books on the bookshelf were all religious books and weapon encyclopedias.

Typical Elize.

“Almost all the books are religious.”
“That’s right. Reading is food for the soul.”
“Typical Elize. So… where are the spoils? Are they in there?”

I pointed to something like a wardrobe over there.
There was nowhere else they could be.

“Hehe, that’s right. Please look forward to it, Saint!”
“I’m already full of anticipation.”

Elize smiled with an expression as if she was eager to show off something, then approached the wardrobe and opened the door.

—Creak.

“Whoa.”

And out came the jawbones.

Jawbones with teeth embedded were displayed on each shelf like Gundam plastic models. The bizarreness emanating from them had already exceeded the limit, so I just felt like I was in a hospital. At this point, it wasn’t even bizarre.

There were quite a few.

Five were displayed on each shelf, and there were four such shelves. A total of twenty demon landing forces had met their deaths and had their jaws taken.

If these were the jawbones of ordinary people, this place would be the Congo under Leopold II, but since they were demons, they were just fun and pleasant decorations.

And, cruelly enough, small name tags were placed next to the jawbones.

“…!”

Elize clenched both fists and looked at me with shining eyes. She had the attitude of a good girl waiting for praise after doing something well. She was like a girl eagerly waiting only for me to say my impressions.

Even though Elize had become an inhuman beauty, this freshness hadn’t changed.

“What do you think, Saint!”
“Hmm…”

To meet her expectations, I stroked my chin while looking more closely at Elize’s spoils. I had to look properly and evaluate them.

“They’re all jawbones of demon landing forces! The ones our order annihilated!”
“You’ve collected a lot, Elize.”
“Yes. I’ve collected quite a lot.”
“Can I touch them?”
“Ah, yes! You can touch them as much as you want, Saint!”
“What? Can’t other people touch them?”
“Because they get fingerprints on them, I don’t let my brothers and sisters touch them carelessly.”

Special treatment just for me…!

—Slide.

I picked up the first jawbone.

It was just a demon’s jawbone.
Nothing special.

“Oh… I see. The preservation is good. Elize, you’re amazing? To collect all of these.”

Still, it was special that Elize had collected them herself like this.

“Heh, hehehe! Yes! I’m satisfied too!”
“The display is very pretty too. What are the name tags next to them? Did you name them?”
“I put them there to distinguish them.”
“Our Elize has such good sense. You recognize each one.”
“It’s only natural as a collector. Heh, hehe.”

Elize really seemed to be in a good mood.

I continued to touch the jawbones and praised Elize’s bizarre sense. Yeah. Seeing her collect, display, and name them so amusingly made her seem so pure.

I like it.

Should I collect something like this too?

“Anyway. You’ve collected them well. They look good like this.”
“That’s right, isn’t it? I feel at peace just looking at them. They were scary enemies, but in this state, they’re just decorations.”
“Yeah. It’s good to remember that history while collecting collectibles. Elize, how about writing a journal in addition to collecting these?”
“A journal…! That sounds good! From now on, I should keep a simple record in a journal every time I collect such spoils.”
“Yeah! How strong that bastard was. What kind of evil deeds he did. If you write it down in a book, it will all become memories later.”
“That’s a good idea!”

Thus, Elize expressed her enthusiasm to write a murder journal from now on. Just hearing it sounds like some vicious psychopath pleasure killer, but that’s just when you hear it.

Should I make such a journal too?

And exchange journals with Elize like exchanging diaries, and read them. That might be quite fun. Thinking of it as a murder journal… makes me really excited. Originally, exchanging diaries is exciting, so this would be the real exchange diary.

Anyway, Elize started explaining excitedly.

“First, I cut off the jaw part of the severed head and boiled it to remove the flesh. And after doing some simple processing… yes. I decorated it like this.”
“What about the removed flesh?”
“I used it all as fertilizer.”
“Amazing.”

Actually, this was bizarre just by looking at it, but it was also like a religious ritual.

The Holy Light Cross has a ritual of taking parts of the bodies of such evil beings. Thus, this was a proud thing.

Well, to compare it to my sensibilities, it’s like collecting the bones left over from ordering chicken… no. Is that not it? It’s not much different from hunting deer and hanging its head on the wall.

“Anyway, you’ve worked really hard, Elize. There will be more living people than the number of demons who died.”
“That’s right. It was really… a rewarding thing.”
“Yeah.”

Feeling proud, I put my hand on Elize’s head and stroked it.

“Ah, ah…”

Whatever it was, killing the demons was a good thing.

But jawbones… If you want to display something like this, you definitely need a name tag and a species classification table. It doesn’t seem to be much different from a human’s.

Come to think of it, why do demons and elves look so similar to humans? What was humanity like before becoming the slave race of the Titans?

I suddenly had such thoughts.

Should I take a look around the unexplored zone on the way back? I might be able to find a lich.

“I’ve seen it well. It was a very good sight.”

I took my hand off Elize’s head to close the wardrobe door.

“…Ah.”
“Then shall we go eat now?”
“Meal time…”

I turned around to leave, thinking it was about time.

—Slide.

Elize grabbed my wrist.

“Hmm? Elize?”
“Saint…”

Elize hesitated for a moment and asked.

“…What do you think of me when you see me?”
“What do I think when I see Elize?”

Amidst the swirling thoughts, I felt an urge to burst out my inner voice.

“I feel like screaming on the spot.”
“No! Don’t threaten me!”
“Shh. Elize. Quiet.”
“Ah.”
“Yeah. When I see Elize.”

When I see Elize, I only think that she’s cute like a younger sister. An inhuman beauty. Yeah. I’m glad that Elize has grown up like this.

“Elize is cute.”
“Ah, ah…”
“And I’m glad you’ve become an inhuman beauty.”
“Is, is that so!”
“Hehehe, yeah. Well, as I said before, you’ve become very beautiful.”

Here, I imagined what Elize would look like when she was a little older. Could such an Elize… grow old and become jaded by the world? What if she had a feeling like Kadia?

No.

That’s not it.
It doesn’t suit Elize.

“Th, th, th, then…!”
“Then?”
“U, uh… Ah, no… I mean…”

Why are you so shy?

“What do you think when you see me, Elize?”
“Ar, are you talking about the Saint…”
“Yep.”
“Th, that is… you’re sublime… righteous… faithful…”

You’re seeing me very well, Elize.

“I think you’re really beautiful, Saint. Because you’re such a righteous person… just thinking about you makes me happy…”
“So touching!”

Aaaaaah!!!

“Aaaaaah!! So touching!!!!”
“Saint?!”

I can’t stand it anymore! —Pow! I grabbed Elize’s wrist, and! I used levitation to open the window, and then flew into the sky with Elize.

—Whoosh!

“Divine Frieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeend!!!!!”

No one can stop the bursting impulse!!!!!!!

“Saintttttttttt!!! Suddenly!! Are you doing this agaaaaaaain!!!!”

Elize shouted with joy!

“Hahahahahahahahaha”
“Meal time!!! It’s meal time, Saintttttttttt!!!!”

Ah, right.

That was scheduled.

But I didn’t land right away.

In Greek mythology, the goddess Eos was said to lift the veil of night that her sister had drawn every morning to announce the start of the day. She drove away the night and brought the morning.

“Ah.”

Just in time, the sun was rising from over there. Thus, I was Kim Kat, the god of the morning who drives away the night today.

“I’ll give you a blessing.”

—Splash!

I scattered the heart particles I had created all over Krasheim. Together with Elize.

* * *

The mealtime was delayed a bit due to the commotion in the morning, but no one said anything to me because of it. Everyone sitting in the dining hall just looked at me with shining eyes.

“It’s been a while, Hero. Ah, should I say it like this? Honestly, you’ve changed so much that I don’t know how to treat you.”

Serah Blaret Arce Rune, the Paladin I hadn’t seen in a while, greeted me with a smile.

“Hehehe, do as you please. Paladin Blaret. And it’s been a while, Archiola.”
“Oh! Nice to see you!”
“Yes. Nice to see you too.”

Blaret and Archiola greeted me and then praised me, saying that I had changed a lot, and that this was truly the Hero wrapped in the blessing of the All-God.

“Those born with extraordinary qualities become heroic beings like this.”
“Hehehe, that’s right.”

Praise like this always feels good.

“Elize. That’s what they say.”
“That’s right!”
“Really… for Elize and the Hero to be friends. I don’t know how blessed it is. Don’t you think so? Sister Elize?”
“That’s right!”

Elize seemed to regard me as a source of pride.

“Anyway… I have a lot of questions I want to ask. May I ask them? Hero?”
“Oh my. Ask me anything. Paladin.”
“Hahaha. As I saw back then, you seem to have a very good personality… Anyway. Is it okay to ask which gods you have received blessings from?”

At those words, everyone paid attention to this side.

They seemed to believe that I had received the blessings of God, but I hadn’t.

“Actually, I haven’t received any blessings.”
“Yes?”