## Chapter 519 – Quasi-Priest Kim Kat

I couldn’t exactly tell the Saintess to go fuck herself, so I just left. Only a demon would be in a position to do that anyway.

Still, how could something so absurd even happen? Seriously.

Of course, the Saintess’s beauty was beyond imagination, so it might be considered a reward. But not for me. I’d rather go home and play with my wives than hang around with the Saintess.

I need to hurry back and complete my daily quests of fondling Winia’s breasts and spanking Risha’s butt. The reward, of course, is their affection. I can’t skip a day.

Well, she’s a Saintess, after all, so even if she’s saying this, she’ll definitely take care of me.

I’m a little uneasy, but not worried. Even just that butchered Vigal platter would fetch a good price at the Alchemist’s Guild, so there’s no way a Saintess would stiff me on that.

“What is it? Am I not to your liking?”

As I was thinking that, the Saintess looked at me with an indifferent expression.

Standing next to her, she was about my height, maybe a little shorter. Maybe 5cm shorter than me? Something like that. She’s quite tall.

“Huh? Hehehe. Of course not. Then, allow me to guide you, Saintess. Is there anywhere in particular you’d like to visit?”
“Since arriving at the church, this is my first time going out. What are the famous attractions of this city?”

As if this city has any famous attractions.

“The arena, of course. Isvant is a fairly large territory as a duchy, so the arena is quite a sight to behold.”
“Ah, so it’s more active in the frontier.”

Active?

Judging by her tone, is the arena not so popular in the capital?

“Is the arena in the capital not as active?”
“It’s not that, but there are more human-versus-human matches than monster hunts. As a woman devoted to faith, I don’t find it very pleasant to watch. Tsk, it’s not good for people to shed blood against each other for no reason.”

Well, there’s no way monsters would be as abundant in the capital as they are in this frontier.

If there aren’t monster matches, then human matches would be the main attraction. That would be popular too, but it’s natural for a religious person to feel uncomfortable with it.

Elise said the same thing.

“Oh, oh! As expected of the Saintess! Your goodness reaches even the heavens! Of course, people shouldn’t fight each other! Yes! Listening to the Saintess’s words makes me feel like my status as a quasi-priest is rising a little higher!”
“You seem to be good at flattery, Quasi-Priest. Why not compliment my appearance instead?”

The Saintess, with no change in expression, reached into her cleavage again and pulled out a cigarette case. This woman seems a little strange too.

“Yes! Inhumanly, no! Extremely beautiful!”
“A bland assessment. Try a little harder.”
“No, do you like that kind of thing? I thought you’d be more ascetic, Saintess.”

Honestly, I imagined a Saintess to be a kind, warm person who embraces everything… something similar to Claudia. But Saintess Kadia just feels like a ruthless, pragmatic charity boss.

“Hehehe, it seems my image is shattered by your enjoyment of appearance compliments.”

The Saintess, with a cigarette in her mouth, replied as if it were nothing.

“Well, being fawned over by men is one of the pleasures. The men in the church don’t have that flavor. And a life devoted to faith is incredibly boring. I have to indulge myself a little to endure it. Sorry to shatter your image. But my appearance is still as you imagined, isn’t it?”

The life of a Saintess must be quite arduous. Perhaps that extreme environment had a great influence on shaping her personality.

“Yes, I suppose so. You are a rare beauty, Saintess. Wow, I bet you have suitors lining up.”
“Hmph, who would dare court the Saintess of the Brass Celestial Host?”

It’s true that she’s pretty.

But since she’s the Saintess of an already violent religion, there might not be any man brave enough to court her, as she said. Could this woman be a spinster?

“Hehehe, anyway, to come out and play when a Great Demon has appeared. As expected of the Saintess. Great Demons are just chumps… no. Just insignificant trash. Shall we go to the arena then?”
“The arena doesn’t appeal to me much.”
“There should be quite a few monsters there right now. There’s also the famous troll called Drax. Or do you not like violence?”

I should go see Coolcoolie again sometime.

When I saw Coolcoolie again, having shed his name and reborn as Drax, I felt like the world was collapsing.

“I detest using violence in unnecessary places. Violence only has value when used in the right place. Reckless violence is no different from an object of eradication.”
“Ooh.”

She was surprisingly thoughtful.

As Saintess Kadia said, violence can only establish justice when used correctly. That is the core ideology of Fusion Confucianism.

Wasn’t Vigal just torn to shreds based on that ideology?

Vigal was a heinous piece of shit who deserved to be tortured and humiliated to his very soul. Guys like that should be ground up alive.

“I’ve always thought the same thing. Violence should only be used on assholes. I’ve always lived that way. For example, demons, monsters, and criminals should be beaten to death as soon as you see them, of course.”
“Hmm… indeed, your thoughts are properly grounded enough to receive recognition from the main church. A pleasing ideology. Truly righteous. You seem to have flexibility as well, so very good.”

She blew out smoke and said with a cold smile.

“Hehehe, what’s with the compliments. Then let’s walk for now. The city scenery is nice.”
“It doesn’t seem very nice.”
“I was just saying.”

Even though this place is somewhat nice, there’s no way a frontier duchy is nicer than the capital.

Anyway, I walked with Saintess Kadia and talked about various things.

Since I don’t know the city well either, I couldn’t really guide her or drag her around.

But isn’t that where my gift of gab comes in handy?

Being with a high-ranking person can be extremely nerve-wracking, but one advantage is that words flow out smoothly.

That’s all thanks to the skills I was taught in the military.
If you can’t talk your way out of it at the night armory, you’re dead.

In that way, I dramatically reconstructed the story of Kim Kat establishing justice and told it to the Saintess. Most of it was about the righteous violence she had just mentioned.

“Hmph, a pleasing tale of valor. The Quasi-Priest seems to know what righteous violence is.”
“Actually, don’t you just like violence?”

She seemed to like the story about killing bandits.
She seemed quite pleased.

“Only when it’s righteous.”
“You know your stuff.”

The experience of being summoned by the Isvant Young Lady was helpful. It’s easier to think of it as telling a story like I did then.

But one question arises.

“But Saintess, aren’t you supposed to be really good at fighting? Shouldn’t you be able to grind ordinary paladins alive to be appointed as a Saintess?”
“You seem to have a lot of prejudices, Quasi-Priest.”
“No, it’s not prejudice, it’s just that I have a nun friend from the Order of the Radiant Cross who’s really scary. She’s a nun who’s only satisfied when she grinds up monsters and eats them as raw meat.”

The way I see it, being a Saintess is a position given to Elise when she’s been around long enough and reaches a high position.

I’m sure Saintess Kadia is also obsessed with seeing the blood of the wicked.

“Do you have connections in the Order of the Radiant Cross?”

She blew out smoke and looked at my face.

“When you catch monsters, beat up criminals, and catch heretics, you naturally make connections. You know about the Ezath incident, right? I also participated in that holy war.”
“Now that I see it, you could be called a war hero.”
“You could say I’m a guardian of the park, no, a champion of justice.”

When I put it that way, Saintess Kadia began to explain the position of Saintess.

“Rather than fighting on the front lines, this Saintess focuses on receiving reports from the rear and then devising solutions and giving instructions.”
“Ah, like a commander? That’s hard in its own way.”

So that’s why she was so picky about the reports.

Being in a position to give instructions means that you have to take responsibility for everything. Since your instructions could lead to great losses, it’s natural to demand more accurate information.

“Yes, it’s very difficult. The manpower is limited, but the problems to be solved are mountainous… If I try to solve this problem, there are casualties over there, and if I send them there, problems erupt elsewhere. The world is so chaotic that this Saintess has no days to rest.”

As she sighed and spoke, I chimed in appropriately and comforted her.

“Hehehe, but isn’t the world relatively stable because you work day and night, Saintess? Still, the church is going too far. Sending a Saintess who’s working so hard to the frontier. Isn’t it better to send subordinates on dispatch missions?”
“Exactly. I really don’t like it… When I get back, I’ll have a mountain of things to deal with again. That’s why this Saintess is thinking of resting a little here.”
“Truly a just right! Perhaps even God will guarantee it!”

Somehow, I ended up listening to Saintess Kadia’s grievances. We stopped walking around the city and sat on a bench to talk.

“Hmph, as if Verde’s will matters. When this Saintess is having a hard time.”
“Even God can’t do anything about overwork, it seems. Still, you have to rest properly when you rest to overcome your work.”
“Is that so? You’re right.”
“I hope a peaceful world will come someday. Then you’ll be guaranteed weekends too, Saintess.”
“I don’t know if that day will ever come… Haa.”

The Saintess smoked cigarettes one after another. But there’s not really any smell. When I asked, she said it’s not bad for her health, just a luxury item that’s quite expensive.

There are various types of cigarettes in this neighborhood too.

The cigarettes that adventurers smoke are too harsh to smoke. I originally started smoking when I was in the military, but I automatically quit when I came to this world.

If I smoked cigarettes and my lung capacity dropped, my chances of dying would increase. In the world of Calbap, every breath is important, so I just endured it and lived.

Surviving was the most important thing to me.

But looking at it makes me think about it.

“Would you like a cigarette, Quasi-Priest?”
“No. I’m trying to quit.”
“Is that so? Ascetic.”

Anyway, the Saintess and I sat on the bench, looking at the fountain, and continued to talk about various things. Since we had a common interest in eradicating evil beings, there wasn’t really a shortage of things to talk about.

“You seem to be a good talker, Quasi-Priest. I’m glad I dragged you out. If it weren’t for this reason, I would have had to sit in the church without being able to move. I thank you.”

Did she ask me to go out just as an excuse to catch her breath?

“Are you busy with the Andromalius case?”
“There’s also a lot to do with the Demon Gate. The demons that have infiltrated are also giving me a headache.”

She must be busy with various things.

After a moment of silence, she looked at me and said.

“The main purpose of this Saintess allowing you a date was to check your character.”
“Yes?”
“I like that you’re serving the world and justice despite having a background from the land of Mirkesha. Of course, you seem to have some materialistic aspects, but that’s basic human nature, so it doesn’t matter much. This Saintess likes you quite a bit.”

It’s sudden, but I’m glad she likes me.
But saying this means she has a purpose.

“How about becoming a paladin?”
“So that was your purpose?”

I had a feeling.

“While I’m dispatched to the frontier, it would be good to scout out talent. Didn’t you say you were short on manpower? It’s beneficial to secure it when you can. You seem like you’d be good, Quasi-Priest.”

All she thinks about is work, down to the bone.

“Hehehe, unfortunately, I have a folk religion. I wouldn’t be able to convert.”
“Is that so? Well, it doesn’t matter, though it’s a shame.”

As long as Fusion Confucianism exists, believing in other gods is not allowed.
The Saintess put the cigarette case back between her breasts and continued.

“Then I’ll ask again. I want to give you a job, are you interested?”
“Yes? A job?”

No, was that it after all.

She took me around, asked me various things, and did it all to figure out if I had the qualities to be given a job.

“It’s better to use manpower when you can. Paladins are too rigid to use. And these church guys here aren’t my direct subordinates, so I’m a little hesitant to give them orders.”

You’re a Saintess, why would you be hesitant?

“Then what about me?”
“Aren’t you an outsider? It’s easier to give instructions to someone who moves for compensation rather than faith.”
“…You seem to have mastered the art of living in the world surprisingly well?”

The Saintess’s ideology had parts that resonated with mine.

“Hmph, of course I have to master it. The Saintess position isn’t something I won by gambling. Anyway, back to the job story, there have been many things I’ve been reported on since I came to Isvant. But manpower is limited. So, I’d like our Quasi-Priest to take on a job.”
“Can I hear about it before deciding?”