Act 4, Misaligned

The Saintess, Narea of Holy Acrede.

She, the reincarnation of Narea, had appeared as an uninvited guest.

‘Is she quite right in the head?’

Just recently, there had been an assassination attempt on the Saintess.

And yet, without a shred of fear, she ventures outside the Holy Kingdom? She must have lost her senses.

But what’s done is done.

I hastened my steps towards the room where Iris and the Saintess were.

A private drawing room in the women’s dormitory, intended for guests.

There would be no issue, even if a male guest were to enter.

The exclusive maid, always tight-lipped, opened the door, and soon a familiar face came into view.

The moment I entered, a startled reaction rippled through the room.

There, sitting in a thoroughly diminished posture, was Acrede.

As ever, adept at concealing her formidable weapons, she resembled a small, frightened animal.

Her gaze met mine.

Then, a strained, awkward smile bloomed on her face.

“Oh, waah, oh, it’s been, quite some time.”

And then, as if she’d encountered her savior, emerald eyes glittered with relief.

I understood the situation, more or less.

‘The body is currently under Acrede’s command.’

Acrede possesses two distinct souls.

One is Acrede.

The other, the previous incarnation of the Saintess, Nareada.

The one currently occupying the body was none other than Akrede.

And that very fact was what plagued me with such unease.

‘Never did I imagine things would unfold this way.’

I gazed at Akrede in silence.

Akrede was, by nature, a passive soul.

She had, until now, entrusted all duties associated with being lauded as a Saintess to Nareada.

Uncomfortable with attracting attention or being revered, she was.

And so, Nareada had shouldered the weight of the Saintess’s responsibilities.

As a result, Akrede had become even more withdrawn.

Particularly, conversing with strangers was an ordeal for her.

Currently, Akrede stood before one of the preeminent figures of the Highsirion Empire.

The Third Imperial Princess, Iris Highsirion.

Perhaps unnerved by the Princess’s unwavering gaze, Akrede’s frame visibly shrunk.

In that moment, the slightest acquaintance, myself, had appeared, and she had inadvertently revealed her relief.

Normally, Nareada would have handled such a situation.

But now, there was no sign of Nareada emerging.

I was not ignorant of the underlying issue.

However, there were two problems at hand.

‘Firstly, the timing of events is, on the whole, a bit premature.’

The incident involving rescuing Mushika from Gwejon.

The Autumn Mana Chamber event occurring sooner than anticipated.

A series of happenings had begun to deviate from the original course.

Frankly, it wasn’t a favorable turn of events.

‘My strength lies in knowing the scenario, after all.’

I was progressing through a world guided by the scenario I knew.

There was a risk of losing track of that scenario’s flow and spiraling out of control.

‘Secondly, Akrede herself.’

With a troubled expression, I stared intently at Akrede.

She, oblivious to the meaning behind my gaze, tilted her head, a picture of befuddlement.

It was done.

In the end, it was always my lot to run the scenarios.

‘Don’t overcomplicate things.’

In any case, this problem wouldn’t arise until around the end of the Winter Demon Palace quest.

And that was also why I was trying to obtain new, condensed equipment.

But first, confirming the facts.

“Acrede-nim, has something happened to Narea-nim?”

I asked, pulling out a chair and sitting down.

Sure enough, Acrede’s eyes widened.

“Oh, how did you know?”

So, it has come to that.

It was indeed an event that should have brought her from the Holy Kingdom all the way to the Jerion Academy.

Meanwhile, Iris leisurely took a sip of her tea.

She was endlessly unruffled, even in this situation.

“Iris-nim, how did you come to be with the Saintess?”

“Who do you think the contact network White Wood Artisan spoke of is?”

So it was Iris.

It seemed White Wood Artisan had seen the connection between Iris and me and opened a path in this direction.

Perhaps White Wood Artisan was intending to make the Empire indebted to the Saintess on this occasion.

White Wood Artisan, though a hero, is also a noble of the Empire.

One who wishes for the Empire’s prosperity.

So he must have designed things in a way that would benefit the Empire.

“I see. I wasn’t aware.”

“It’s thanks to Hanon. If it were just me, I wouldn’t have a personal contact line with the Saintess.”

Iris said, offering a bewitching smile.

“And I get to know about the new women appearing around my little brother too, you see.”

Making me sound like some kind of charming man.

I’m sorry, but it’s just that the ones around me are peculiar.

It’s not really like that.

If I talked with Iris any more here, Acrede, already an outsider, would become even more withdrawn.

Slowly, I decided to steer the conversation towards her.

“So, Mister Acrede, please, elaborate on the situation.”

Suddenly, instead of Narea, the reason Acrede was active.

Acrede parted his lips, ready to speak on the matter.

“Well, um…”

Acrede glanced at Iris, quick as a dart.

A reaction that suggested he wasn’t sure if this was a conversation to have in her presence.

My gaze shifted to Iris.

She eventually rose from her seat, lowering her face slightly to my ear.

Then, a decadent voice flowed into my ear canal.

“It seems the Saintess possesses a rather heinous weapon. She’ll be quite cross if you take it.”

How did she know that?

The Empire’s information network, fearsome as ever.

“What exactly do you see me as, Iris?”

Iris tilted her head, pressing a finger to her chin.

As she did, her ink-black hair cascaded down her pale face.

“…Beast?”

More likely, a cherished doll.

When I raised an eyebrow sharply, Iris laughed as if it were a jest and left the room.

Iris was becoming more and more fond of jokes.

“Alright, please, make yourself comfortable.”

At that moment, Acrede tugged at his chest.

Immediately after, something flowed down with tremendous mass.

So that’s what it means for something to actually “flow down”.

For a moment I stared blankly, belatedly snapping back to attention.

Now I understood why Iris had said he possessed a heinous weapon.

“Hoo-yoo.”

Acrede wore an expression of barely catching his breath.

Then, our eyes met and he gave an embarrassed cough.

“I don’t know how Narea endures this every time. I genuinely feel like I’m suffocating to death.”

I have already seen Aclrede’s bosom with my own eyes.

So, I suppose she figured that since the cat was already out of the bag, there was no need to hide it in my presence.

‘The reason Iris was sent out…’

Was it simply because her chest felt too constricted?

If I were an ordinary man, I would have been thoroughly captivated by this.

But isn’t it best to be comfortable, whatever the case?

Aclrede flinched slightly under my gaze, a hint of apology in her expression.

“…Is it… unpleasant to look at? Grotesque, perhaps.”

There would be few in this world who would dare call it grotesque.

Most would simply, utterly lose themselves before its overwhelming mass.

Truly, I believe its sheer mass and shape are only maintained by her holy powers.

Had she been an ordinary woman, it would have surely succumbed to gravity and been ruined.

“No. You possess magnificent weapons.”

“Ma-magnificent… I’ve never heard them described that way before. It hardly seems appropriate for a Saintess.”

Aclrede brought her hands together slightly, as if trying to conceal her chest, and her face fell.

Don’t do that.

My vision keeps being drawn away.

If I, a man devoid of earthly lust, am reduced to this state, what must it be like for others?

“The Saintesses of the past were all so slender… I’m ashamed of being so different.”

Indeed, as she said, previous Saintesses were all slender, lithe figures.

But unlike them, Aclrede was not.

As a Saintess herself, that discrepancy must weigh on her mind.

“Aclrede, first, let’s start by straightening your chest.”

“Stra-straightening… is that even possible?”

“No. I meant, let us correct your posture.”

Because of her ample bosom, Aclrede tended to hunch over slightly.

Normally, Narea would correct her posture, but Narea was currently absent.

Left unchecked, the Saintess’s back could become permanently stooped.

“L-like this?”

As Aclrede straightened her back, her chest rose in tandem.

Thanks to that, the dress, which originally clung to her form just right, now hung loosely. But it didn’t matter.

Merely straightening her posture caused the innate grace within Akrede to flow forth.

The holy power that encompassed the Saintess’s entire being poured out naturally.

“Right now, in my eyes, Akrede-nim is more Saintess than anyone.

Regardless of how past Saintesses might have been, Akrede-nim is, unchangingly, the Saintess.”

Akrede’s self-esteem as the Saintess was low.

So, letting her pride swell a little, Akrede’s lips twitched ever so slightly.

She seemed pleased to be revered.

“Ah, ehehe, it’s just that Narea always took care of everything for me. I usually just watch from behind, so this sort of thing is… quite nice.”

“Yes, so, let’s talk a bit about Narea-nim now.”

Something had happened to Narea.

I was about to hear the full story.

“…So, it was right after that, not long after returning to the Holy Kingdom.”

After the attack by Cardinal, Centriol.

Akrede had returned directly to the Holy Kingdom.

And some time later, on that day when she awoke, living as a Saintess as usual.

Akrede was alone.

“Narea had vanished from within me.”

Akrede felt her heart plummet.

Narea was another personality who had been with her since she was five years old.

Such a loss of Narea.

The fact felt to her like losing a dear, longtime friend.

More than anything, Narea had taken her place as the Saintess.

Narea had reluctantly stepped forward to act for the passive Akrede.

With Narea now gone.

Akrede simply didn’t know how to act as the Saintess.

More than that, she couldn’t confide this fact to anyone.

Because no one knew about her dual personality.

Then, there was one person. Just one.

A figure rose in her mind.

“I suppose it must be so.”

The only man who knows of Acrede’s dual nature.

Furthermore, a man who knows about the reincarnation of the Hero, and who has ties to Baekmokgong.

‘This time, Acrede even created a debt by saving me.’

Only then did I realize why Acrede had rushed down to the Demon Palace to heal me.

‘It must have been to ask for my help in finding Narea.’

But I was slow to regain consciousness, missing the chance to pass on the words.

So, it was clear he had come looking for me only this late.

‘What’s more, Acrede realized I was hiding my true identity.’

Hiding the Curtain’s bandages was purely Acrede’s own judgment.

This was tantamount to subtly revealing how much he was cooperating with me.

He must know that if he uses the fact that I’m concealing my identity as leverage, I’ll have no choice but to help.

‘…Does he know, though?’

My eyes met Acrede’s.

Acrede looked at me with innocent eyes.

Narea seems like she could be easily coerced, but Acrede… he’s a tougher nut to crack.

Perhaps he vaguely hid them, thinking that if I were in trouble, it would be difficult to help Narea.

For me, I’m simply grateful.

“I, I… I can’t do anything without Narea.”

Although Acrede has lived an ordinary life, she has never lived as a saintess.

Narea had done all the saintess’s work for her, so she was afraid she might make a mistake and be criticized.

This was all the more reason for her to flee the Holy Kingdom.

“B-but, I didn’t just come here impulsively!

I sent documents directly to the Jerion Academy under the pretense of tending to the injuries of the Heroes.

Of course, according to the documents, they won’t arrive until tomorrow, though.”

Acrede gave an embarrassed expression.

She must have come first in order to find a clue to resolve Narea’s situation, even if it was just for one day.

I understood her words.

“The reason Lady Narea disappeared is simple.”

Therefore, I decided to make her understand the situation as well.

“That day, do you remember being pierced by Cardinal Centriole’s sword?”

“Uh, uh.”

It was Narea, not Acrede, who was pierced by the sword.

“There must have been a mystique imbued within that sword Centriole wielded.”

As mentioned before, the scenario had become twisted.

Originally, this scenario was meant to occur near the end of the Winter Demon Palace War.

The occultist faction, having failed to abduct Acrede,

they dispatch a second assassin to eliminate her.

And Acrede is wounded by the assassin.

Yes, originally it wasn’t Narea who was supposed to be wounded.

It was Acrede.

Originally, it was Acrede’s soul that was supposed to vanish in this process, not Narea’s.

Afterward, Narea would seek Lucas’s aid at Jerion Academy in order to recover Acrede.

That was the original scenario.

Act 4, Scene 6, after the Winter Demon Palace War.

Act 4, Scene 7.

But due to my and White Arbor’s interference, Narea was attacked by Centriole.

Centriole’s sword must have been imbued with a similar mystique as the weapon meant to harm Acrede.

‘This scenario is thoroughly twisted.’

I stared at Acrede with a troubled expression.

When Acrede’s eyes met mine, she forced an awkward smile.

A smile that I found utterly unconvincing.

Narea, who should have been the most reliable figure in this scenario.

Instead, what had appeared was the timid, inexperienced saintess, Acrede.

I was already beginning to worry about whether we could navigate this scenario successfully.