## Chapter 1367 – Friends

“…”

Elise, in my arms, had fallen asleep.

“Right now, I…”

A thought flashed through my mind.

“Take the sleeping Elise back to the Order of the Radiant Cross?”

What would happen if I did?

“What kind of misunderstanding would it cause?”

It would undoubtedly lead to a very unfavorable misunderstanding. An angel… carrying a sleeping Elise. This transcends religious imagery. But leaving her here to stay up all night… No. It’s fine.

After all, it’s a festival.

Festivals usually last until dawn. It’s perfectly normal to enjoy the festival all night and come back. It would be stranger if she fell asleep halfway and had to be carried back.

ㅡSnore, snore.

Elise seemed to have completely let her guard down, snoring softly as she slept.

“Oh dear.”

Well, she had been up all night and tormented by all sorts of lunatics, so it’s no wonder she’s exhausted. She had been screaming all day. And in that tired state, being enveloped by my overflowing divine power would naturally put a cleric like Elise at ease, making her fall asleep.

“Elise. Are you asleep?”
“…”

I called out to her, but there was no response.

“Hmm.”

Come to think of it, this is the first time I’ve seen Elise so defenseless while sleeping. Right now, Elise had a peaceful expression, as if she wasn’t tense at all.

“To be so defenseless in front of a man…!”

I absolutely won’t allow it!

It’s okay to be defenseless in front of me, but the people of this world aren’t so kind. Elise needs to be more cautious…!

I’ll have to scold her for this when she wakes up.

Anyway, I can’t let Elise sleep in this cold place wearing only a dress. It would be terrible if she got cold while she’s already tired.

ㅡSwoosh.

I adjusted Elise in my arms, who was clinging to me, into a princess carry.

As I just thought, taking the sleeping Elise to the church could lead to all sorts of misunderstandings… I should just take her to a decent inn. Since it’s a festival anyway, staying out overnight wouldn’t be so bad.

“Alright.”

I need to ensure she has a comfortable place to sleep.

To avoid waking Elise with unnecessary commotion and flashes of light, I enveloped her in my power, kicked off the ground, and soared through the sky. I’ll infiltrate the city and find a suitable place to stay.

* * *

I arrived at the best hotel in Krasheim. Since I have a lot of money right now, I paid without hesitation and went into a double room.

After all, I have to explain the situation to her tomorrow morning, she doesn’t have anywhere to go, and I feel a bit bad about leaving her, so I just decided to get a double room and sleep together.

ㅡSwoosh.

I laid Elise down on the bed on the left and covered her with a blanket. Of course, I had taken off her shoes.

“Good.”

Elise was completely still and relaxed. She’s sleeping so soundly that it feels like someone could carry her away without her noticing. Even with the blanket covering her, she’s just breathing.

ㅡSnore, snore.

She’s really sleeping well.

I wonder how tired she must have been. I guess I teased her too much. I was just so happy to see her. Anyway, I quickly organized my luggage and went into the shower room attached to the room to take a light shower and dry my body by deploying my power.

ㅡThud.

Then, I lay down on the right bed with my clothes on and covered myself with the blanket. Of course, the beds weren’t attached. There was a space in the middle. With these conditions, Elise wouldn’t think too seriously about it.

We’ve slept close together when we were working, but a hotel feels different.

ㅡ…

Anyway, I closed my eyes. I don’t need to sleep, but it feels good to wake up after sleeping. It would be perfect to sleep until morning.

Sleep well, Elise.
I think I’ll have a lot to do tomorrow too.

With that, my consciousness drifted into darkness.

“Haa…!”

I woke up to Elise’s voice.

It felt like I had slept for about three hours.
My sensitive senses accurately capture the passage of time.

I wondered what was wrong, but the room was still dark.

“T, t, this can’t be…!”

Elise, looking very surprised, made that sound. I turned my head slightly and looked at Elise with half-closed eyes.

Elise was currently kneeling on the bed, looking flustered. She looked around busily and then looked at me on the bed next to her. She also felt her body as if trying to check her clothing.

I closed my eyes so she wouldn’t notice.

She must be feeling very embarrassed about the situation of sleeping here, so there’s no need to make her even more embarrassed. I should refrain from teasing someone who fell asleep because they were tired. Let’s just pretend to sleep.

“U, ugh…”

I can roughly see what she’s thinking. Anyway, Elise, who had been moving so busily, soon stopped moving.

And then.

“…Saint?”

She called me.

“Are you asleep…?”

No.

I’m awake.

But I’m pretending to sleep.

“…He’s asleep.”
“…”
“Haa… oh dear.”

ㅡSwoosh.

Then Elise moved.

Elise, who came down to the space between the beds, paused there for a moment… What is it? Because I was pretending to sleep with my eyes closed, I couldn’t tell exactly what expression Elise was looking at me with.

“…”

But I could tell that Elise’s heartbeat was quite fast. The pounding heartbeat could be heard all the way over here.

Oh crap.

If I had known this would happen, should I have taken her to the church? She seemed to be more embarrassed than I imagined. Her heartbeat sounds like a drum.

That time passed.

Soon.

ㅡPitter-patter.

Elise started walking somewhere. It seemed like she was going into the shower room, and indeed she was. I could hear the sound of water. Elise was showering.

Does she need to cleanse her body before sleeping?

Anyway, I lay still, listening to the sound of water. After a while, the sound of water stopped, as if she had finished showering. After some time, Elise came out.

“…”

Elise, who came out, carefully moved her feet and returned to her bed. She lay down. Still, Elise’s heart was pounding. Well… even if it’s me, it would be a bit strange to come to a hotel and sleep with a strange man.

Let’s think comfortably, comfortably.

I lost my mind again.

* * *

“Saint. It’s time to wake up. Please get up.”
“…Uh.”

When I opened my eyes, Elise, who had already changed into her nun’s habit, was holding my arm and shaking it. It was still early in the morning. There was still some time before sunrise.

“You woke up early, Elise.”
“Unless there’s something special, I must keep to the waking hours. But… Saint. About, about yesterday…”

Elise, who was embarrassed, took a breath and said.

“I think I just fell asleep because I was too tired. I’m sorry.”
“No, there’s nothing to be sorry about. What’s there to be sorry about? It can happen. But you did look very tired. So I moved you here.”
“Ah…”

She did look very tired.

“But… instead of moving me to the church, you moved me to a place like this… The reason is…”

ㅡSwoosh.

I raised my upper body.

“Kyaa!”

Then Elise screamed.

“Elise?”
“Yes? Yes?”
“What’s wrong?”
“Ah, no. It’s nothing!”
“Okay. Anyway, the reason I moved you here is that it seemed like it would cause a strange misunderstanding if I carried you, who was slightly asleep, to the church. So I just came here, pretending that we enjoyed the festival until dawn.”
“…”

Elise looked at my face for a moment at my explanation.

“A misunderstanding, you say.”
“Yeah.”

It could cause a slightly big misunderstanding. If I took Elise, who was sleeping, it would seem as if I had done something with Elise, who is still a young nun. I couldn’t allow such a misunderstanding to target Elise, who is like my cute younger sister.

“It would be a bit weird to go to the church carrying a sleeping Elise, right? But since it’s a festival anyway. Wouldn’t it be better to explain that we enjoyed the festival and stayed out overnight?”
“…That’s true.”

Elise nodded.

“Anyway, thank you.”
“Hehehe, no need to thank me. Then shall we eat something before we go? Places like this provide breakfast.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. Let’s go down.”

I got up from my seat and immediately seared my body once with my flames. Then all kinds of waste are burned away. It was a kind of bonus that the clothes I was wearing were ironed.

After finishing my preparations, I went down to the dining floor with Elise and ate the buffet-style food.

“Saint. I will only eat and return.”
“I’ll take you.”
“Ah… I appreciate the thought, but it’s okay. Don’t you have something to do today, Saint?”
“That’s true. Are you sure it’s okay? What if you get surrounded by people on the way, Elise?”
“Those rude beings…! Haa. It’s okay. I can get through it well enough.”
“Okay. Then let’s do that. Then when is it? I’ll come to see you before I go back next time. Don’t go far away.”
“I will do so.”

I talked with Elise about what to do in the future while eating.

“By the way… Thanks to you, Saint, I’m coming to a place like this. A hotel… It’s a place that I hardly have any connection with.”
“It’s a place you go to when you come from far away. Have you ever used an inn?”
“Yes. Ah, but the fee here…”
“It’s okay. How much is it? Consider it as a gift from me. I saw Elise wearing a dress yesterday. That’s enough as a price. It suited you well.”
“…Yes.”

ㅡPuff.

Elise’s face turned red again. Elise, who lowered her head like that, ate her rice little by little. After the meal was over, we came outside.

“See you in a few days, Elise.”
“Yes… Ah, Saint.”
“Hmm?”
“I feel really sad to part like this again… My heart… feels like it’s tightening.”
“Me too…! I feel like I’m shrinking!”

Saying that, I stroked Elise’s head.

“…”

Elise was quiet for a moment and then said.

“…I gained several new realizations from this meeting. Yes. I think this will be… a very important stepping stone in living in the future.”
“What stepping stone?”

When I asked that, Elise smiled.

“It’s a secret. Then, Saint. Have a good day.”
“Yeah. You too, Elise.”
“You must come to see me before you go back.”
“I’ll be waiting for that day.”

I parted with Elise on that road.

“Then.”

Shall I say hello to the people I haven’t seen?

* * *

“Once again!!!!!! I say!!!! This lady is very happy and overjoyed!!!!!”
“Hahahaha!!!”

My tension rises endlessly as I talk with Lady Isvant…! It wasn’t too difficult to meet the lady, who didn’t have any special plans.

Well, the lord of Krasheim also joined us, but he had already been carried away after fainting. He couldn’t withstand the lady’s voice.

“A barbarian warrior saves the world! That’s truly an epic! Like a legendary heroic tale!!!! But when this lady saw it, it didn’t seem like it could contain or express the achievements of the barbarian warrior!!!! But even gaining demigod-like power and ascending to an angel…! Isn’t this too much of a scam!!! O~hohohohohohoho!!”

The lady in front of me seemed extremely happy. I drank tea while talking to her in a little more detail about this matter.

“Ah, anyway. In the end, you became the ruler of the central region of the kingdom. That’s a great and even a great thing. I guess even King Karga felt that he had to give up the land.”

That’s right.

“So. What is the form of the country? A county? A duchy? Or…!!! Could it be a kingdom!!!!!!! A kingdom!!!! Yes! This must be the right answer, Barbarian Warrior!!! Is it a kingdom!!!!”

The lady, who opened her eyes wide, shouted and burst out her voice.

“Hehehe, that’s right. I’m thinking of building a new kingdom.”
“Then!!!!!!! Since it’s the central region!!!!! Trade!!!!! It would be a good trading partner!!!!!!”
“That’s right!!”
“I look forward to working with you, Barbarian King!!!!”

Am I a king now?

“Yes. I look forward to working with you, Lady. After all, we are comrades.”
“The time when we caught the Deathworm is vivid in my mind!!! That crazy monster!!! Ah, by the way, do you remember the Hylen baronet family?”
“How can I forget that?”
“Of course, you can’t forget those rude and stupid bastards. So, I’m telling you this because I heard this time that the Hylen bastards were completely ruined by the demon’s bombing!!! Hooray!!!!”

Lady Isvant smiled with a very pure and sincere expression and cheered.

“Honestly, it’s really hooray!!! I was secretly extremely angry that only we were ruined, but it’s nice to be ruined together!!!”