Chapter 13 – Episode 12 – Lilith Of The Apostle Church (1)

Episode 12 – Lilith of the Apostle Church (1)

I left in the morning and only arrived back at the city hall as evening approached, when it was almost dark. I wondered if they’d be worried since I hadn’t shown my face all day, but then I remembered I’d told them I was going to do some volunteer healing before I left.
Hmm. It was a very rewarding medical endeavor. If all healing was like this, I’d want to do it anytime. For beautiful women only, of course.

Anyway, I hope they won’t scold me for being gone too long? …Eh. I’m not a kid, and it’s not like I left without saying anything, so I’m mostly reassured. As I headed to my assigned room with light steps, a head with bright red hair suddenly popped out.

“I, Ian? You startled me. What is it?”
“Where have you been?”
“Volunteer healing. I reported it before I left. Didn’t you get the message?”
“Hmm.”

That’s a strange expression.
Irian then wrinkled his nose and said,

“The Saintess is looking for you. Go quickly.”
“Hey! You have to tell me where she is.”
“Find it yourself.”

He turned and walked away, looking as cold as ever. Ugh, that tsundere jerk. …Does he even have the ‘dere’ part? It seems like he’s all ‘tsun,’ which makes me a little sad.
I heard Diana was looking for me, and I couldn’t ignore that, so I changed my plans to rest in my room. I asked people along the way and finally arrived at the place where Diana was supposed to be.

“Saintess. It’s Priest Yurian.”

{I knocked carefully, not knowing who might be inside, and opened the door. Why is it so dark?
This is supposed to be the Saintess’s room, but why isn’t there a light on? I frowned as I stepped into the dark room, but there was no sign of anyone.
What’s going on? They said she was here. Did I get the wrong information?}

Having come from a bright place into a dark one, my vision hadn’t adjusted, and I could only grope around, unable to see anything clearly.
Is no one here? I should just leave.
Just as I was about to turn around, I felt a chilling sensation at the back of my neck.

“Sniff, sniff.”

I shuddered, my skin crawling with a creepy feeling, as if all my body hair was standing on end.
Wh-what was that?
It felt like something just sniffed the back of my neck? I looked around, but all I could see was darkness… a silhouette? There’s something there?

“Who’s there?”

I ignited a divine flame, and my vision brightened.
What was there was…

“Diana? What, you scared me… Diana?”

Why is she like this?
Her eyes have lost their light. Diana approached with a lifeless gaze, like some kind of zombie, and her face pressed against my neck.
In the darkness, a woman with a pale complexion and lifeless eyes burying her face in my neck… it was reminiscent of a vampire, sending a shiver down my spine.

“Sniff, sniff.”

Even in this situation, Diana sniffed me again, and I almost ran away on the spot. Seriously, what is this? It’s scary! I hate ghosts.

“Smell.”
“What? Smell? What smell?”

Do I smell like sweat? No way. I took a clean shower before leaving Taiga’s house. Even though I didn’t use soap or body wash, I scrubbed myself with water. What kind of smell could there be?

“Female smell. Semen smell.”
“…Cough. D, Diana. Where did you learn such words? You shouldn’t use such words.”
“You’re giving off this smell again, Yurian.”

Again? When… Ah. The first time in this body, the day I graduated from being a virgin.
It felt familiar, and it was like this back then too. But still, how can she tell by smell? For a Saintess, she has a dog’s nose.

“What are you talking about? I just came back from healing sick people. Diana, is something wrong?”

I asked gently, but she ignored me completely. Damn it. Where did my small, cute Diana go? Now there’s a scary Saintess here.

“Yurian. Did you go meet another woman again?”
“It’s another woman, but I just went to heal her.”

The atmosphere is strange.
When we were alone, Diana would act like a child and be spoiled, but now, Diana is giving off an atmosphere that’s scary enough to appear in my nightmares.
Diana took a few steps back and muttered as if casting a spell.

“Liar, liar, liar. Yurian, are you lying to me? Lying. Are you lying to me?”
“N-no, it’s not a lie. Listen carefully, Diana. To me, other women are nothing special except for you. Everyone else is… yeah. They all just look the same. Do you know what I mean?”
“Except for me?”
“Of course! I don’t pay any attention to anyone but our Diana, so I don’t even remember who’s who.”

What’s going on?
Why is she like this? Her yandere vibes are so loud that my ears are ringing. The game setting book said she was jealous, but it didn’t say she was a yandere!
I did see a bit of yandere-ness last time, but it wasn’t this bad. What the heck is going on? Where did things go wrong? I never raised our Diana to be a jealous fiend.

“…Is that so?”
“Of course! It’s obvious. Our Diana is the best.”
“Diana is the best?”
“That’s a given. Come here, give me a kiss.”

It was very heartwarming when she came running and kissed my cheek as I opened my arms. Is this how it’s going to end? …Ugh, it’s like this now, what will it be like later? I need to build a harem, but Diana is already a roadblock.
Such worries were sprouting in a corner of my mind, but they were quickly forgotten by the soft, squishy feeling of Diana’s two plump puddings pressing against my chest and the warm sensation of her cheek against mine.

Eh, whatever. Even so, there’s no way Diana would harm me, right?
I smiled contentedly and stroked Diana’s hair, but then Diana, who had been staring blankly up at me, rose slightly.

As if standing on tiptoes, the tall Diana suddenly became eye-level with me and lightly brushed her lips against mine.

I’ve kissed Diana quite often, so it wasn’t awkward. It was just a bit unexpected that she was being so proactive.
We lightly touched lips and then separated, but then Diana’s lips slightly opened and she even sucked on my lower lip.

I’m the one who usually does that, so I guess she learned by being on the receiving end. It feels good… or so I thought, until I felt a sharp pain in my lip.

“Ugh! Wh-what was that?”

Diana, who had obediently stepped back, smiled brightly and then walked out the door with quick steps.

I stared blankly at her retreating figure, then brought my hand to my still-tingling lip, feeling a sharp pain.

“Blood?”

{I looked down at the blood on my hand. Did she bite my lip? Is she an animal or something?
I recalled her smile from just now.
Her bright eyes curved nicely, and she had a satisfied expression as she smiled brightly and disappeared with light steps.}

‘Territory marking?’

Eh, no way….
But somehow, the thought that it was a territory marking wouldn’t go away.

* * *

The rest of the day was normal.
That is to say, I took care of Diana as usual. I helped her put on her pajamas, fixed her hair, laid her in bed, covered her with a blanket, stroked her head, and when I gave her a goodnight kiss on the lips, I flinched, wondering if she would bite me again, but this time she just lightly touched her lips to mine and didn’t do anything else.

As I extinguished the flame of the now-short candle, I looked back at the dark room one last time. I could feel Diana’s blue eyes looking at me from where she was buried deep in the bed, with the blanket pulled up to her nose.
I felt her jewel-like eyes, which seemed to glow blue in the faint light of the lantern I was holding, and as I closed the door and came out, I saw Irian leaning against the wall.

“Good luck.”
“……Yeah.”

Irian, who saw my bruised lip, wrinkled his nose but didn’t say anything else.
I could heal it immediately with divine power, but somehow, it felt like Diana had left a territory mark, so I just left it. I was afraid she’d bite me again if I healed it. I don’t like pain.
I took Karsilla, who had been waiting quietly in the room, and we took a bath together. Karsilla’s small head, with her black hair wet and drooping, tilted.

“Lip. Hurt.”
“Ah, this? I got a little hurt.”
“Why?”
“Diana was being mean.”
“…Hmm. Wrong.”
“Right? Karsilla, scold Diana.”

She shook her head.
This kid, she was secretly afraid of Diana, and now she’s completely cowed. Is she that scary?

“Wrong.”

Then she poked my chest. Does she mean I did something wrong?
I stared blankly at her, and she nodded as if to say that’s right. This little one, what does she know, saying it’s my fault? I can’t let this go. How dare she take Diana’s side, it’s tickle time.

“Hands up.”
“No.”
“Uh-huh. Hands up.”
“……”

I watched her hesitantly raise her arms, then quickly tickled her sides.
It was fun to see her, who was usually expressionless, flailing and squealing, so I kept tickling her, and now she was even kicking me.

“Oh? How dare you kick me?”
“Stop it! It tickles!”
“No, it’s not enough yet. Now, hands up!”
“No!”
“Then it’s forced hands up.”
“Eek!”

Ugh, what does this kid eat to be so strong?
She’s only up to my waist, but she’s surprisingly strong, and I had to struggle for a while. But in the end, she couldn’t overcome the strength of an adult man, and I sat her on my lap and tickled her until she couldn’t take it anymore and ran away, squealing.

Don’t mess with me, kid.

* * *

The next day.
The group, who had become paupers after giving everything away to the poor, were now smiling contentedly at the supply wagon, which was once again full to the brim.

To be precise, it wasn’t the whole group, but just me and Sir Jacob.
Among the dozens of people in the Saintess’s group, it seems like only Sir Jacob and I care about supplies. The white-clad knights, who are followers of Andre Kim, coolly don’t care about supplies. Of course, neither do Diana, Irian, or Karsilla.

It’s a relief that at least the assistant priests help out a little, ugh. I almost ended up as the supply officer… no, wait. I’m already a great supply officer? Oh, for fuck’s sake.

“This time, I browbeat and coaxed the city hall people to get the supplies, so next time it’s your turn.”

Sir Jacob, who had a somewhat sullen expression, said that, which really made it seem like I was being treated like a supply officer. Damn it.

“No, Sir Jacob. Why are you leaving that to me? I’m just a guardian who serves the Saintess.”
“That’s why I’m leaving it to you. Do you think the Saintess will only do relief work here?”
“……I guess she will.”
“Right. We’ll always be short on supplies. Right?”
“……That’s right.”
“So you’ll have to fill it up. Somehow.”
“No, why are you leaving that to me? There are other guardians.”
“Who? Ian?”

I followed Sir Jacob’s gaze and saw Irian with a blank expression.
He was sitting on his horse, basking in the sunlight with a languid expression, as if he was about to take a nap.

“……Other priests…”
“Uh-huh. Aren’t you the guardian?”
“……Understood.”

Diana. Please, let’s not give away too much.
Even if we’re the Saintess’s group, it’s hard to extort money from the rich everywhere we go. Still, the surrounding areas connected by the ‘Imperial Road’ are active transportation routes and commercial hubs, so there shouldn’t be many poor people.
I tried to think positively.
Of course, my positive thinking was quickly shattered.

If I were to compare the Irup Lowlands to the real world, they would be similar to the Netherlands region, a lowland country in medieval Europe. At the same time, it’s also mixed with medieval Italy, and I wonder if the game developer intentionally created this hybrid, or if they just made it like this because they didn’t know any better.

If I had to choose two words to describe the Irup Lowlands, it would be commerce and free cities. It’s a place where commerce thrives and free cities are rampant, a representative region of the so-called autonomy movement. It seems they’re quite skilled at maintaining their autonomy amidst the surrounding powerful forces.

It’s also quite active in trade with the Holy Nation of Hespote, where the Great Temple is located, as they’re connected by the Imperial Road. The problem is that the influence of the Church has been steadily declining in the lowlands recently. They haven’t shown any movements against the Church yet, but if their influence continues to decline, there’s no telling what might happen.

The reason for the Church’s steadily declining influence is simple. From the perspective of the lowlands, who are struggling to protect their autonomy, they don’t like that the Church maintains strong relationships with the powerful forces. Based on the information I’ve gathered over the past 16 years of living in this world, I’m worried that this might be the cause of a religious reformation in the future.

Well… there wasn’t really any mention of that in the game, but you never know. Fortunately, the Church in this world isn’t as corrupt as the Catholic Church during the Reformation, so it might not go that far.

Why am I suddenly rambling about this?
Why else? Because religious reformers suddenly appeared in front of me. What the hell is going on?