Chapter 02
The inside of the carriage was filled with silence.
Rattle. Rattle.
When I looked away, the Holy Knight sitting across from me seemed to misunderstand my reaction. Sweat formed on his forehead as he awkwardly held out a piece of candy.
He carries candy around?
I didn’t feel the need to refuse, so I put it in my mouth and rolled it around with my tongue. My chubby cheeks puffed out.
It was unexpectedly a refreshing lemon flavor.
The Holy Knight watched me slowly suck on the candy with a satisfied smile.
Honestly, it was a little embarrassing.
The best way to ease the atmosphere was small talk.
“What’s your name, mister?”
I thought he’d ignore me, but he answered immediately, as if he had been waiting for me to ask.
“I’m Liam.”
“I’m Diane. I’m five.”
I stretched out all five of my short, chubby fingers to show my age.
Liam broke into a wide grin.
Meanwhile, I was busy trying to remember where I had heard the name Liam before.
Ah! Liam Patrick. The Captain of the Holy Knights who died protecting the Saint until the very end.
I stared at the man who would one day die protecting me, then glanced at the woman sitting beside him.
I found it a little strange that she hadn’t introduced herself, but I wasn’t particularly curious, so I ignored it.
“I’m sorry we found you so late. The divine revelation only came down at dawn today…”
No, it’s really fine.
I only found out today myself.
To be honest, I had only managed to survive until now because I remembered my previous life.
I never thought I’d actually become someone important in this world.
I hadn’t exactly been loved in my previous life either, so enduring the orphanage director’s abuse wasn’t that difficult.
The hardest part was the hunger.
The orphanage barely had enough money for food. There were many days when I survived on a single ear of corn.
At least I won’t have to starve anymore.
In the Empire, God was treated as a truly supreme being.
Surely they wouldn’t let God’s daughter go hungry.
Honestly, even if they exploited me, I’d gladly let them as long as they fed me properly.
Life in the orphanage had been overwhelming, even for someone with an adult’s mind.
The candy I was eating for the first time in ages was sweet enough to make my tongue tingle.
“Everyone is waiting for you, Saint.”
“Why? Won’t they just be disappointed that I’m an ordinary little kid?”
“Not at all!”
The Holy Knight scratched his cheek awkwardly.
Liam firmly denied my cynical remark.
“Your very existence is a blessing, Saint.”
“Me?”
“Yes.”
As if trying to reassure me, Liam answered without hesitation.
“Everything in this world is made of mana. Mana is unevenly distributed, but simply by existing, you are able to stabilize it.”
Uneven distribution. Mana.
It wasn’t an explanation meant for a child, but I understood every word and nodded.
“Just showing yourself will bring comfort to people. Everyone has suffered for so long.”
Liam’s expression darkened as though recalling those difficult times.
He’s so easy to read.
Seeing every emotion plainly written across his face, I realized just how furious he must have been when he first found me.
“Normally, a revelation comes every hundred years, but this time the gap was far too long. The Empire nearly collapsed because of— Ah, I’m sorry.”
Perhaps realizing the conversation had become too gloomy, he stopped himself.
I shook my head and swung my feet, which couldn’t reach the floor, while looking out the carriage window.
The carriage hardly shook at all.
It was unbelievably peaceful.
The warm sunlight rested on my head as if welcoming my existence.
Leaves rustled gently in the breeze.
A stream flowed softly.
In the distance stood a magnificent castle, surrounded by clusters of houses.
Only then did it truly sink in that I was living in a fantasy world.
Ever since I was abandoned at birth and raised in the orphanage, I had only learned about the outside world from the old-fashioned clothes people wore and from the orphanage director’s stories.
In a way, this was the first time I had ever truly seen the outside world.
“…!”
A sharp pain welled up in my chest, and tears filled my eyes.
What’s wrong with me? I’m acting like a real child.
Was it only now that I realized I had finally escaped that hellish orphanage?
If I hadn’t secretly looked after the other children, someone would have surely died.
So I endured it.
I thought that was the responsibility of being the only one with an adult’s mind.
Being hated was never something anyone could truly get used to.
My vision blurred until I could no longer see.
How was Liam looking at me now?
Nobody likes a crying child.
I was already filthy because I hadn’t even been able to wash properly, and now I was crying on top of that.
I must have looked absolutely awful.
Someone like me, who isn’t even worthy of being a Saint… how could I possibly save the world?
My chest ached.
Then—
“…!”
“Please forgive my rudeness.”
Liam suddenly lifted me into the air and placed me on his lap.
Startled, I looked up at him with wide eyes.
His ears had turned bright red as he gently patted my head.
“I’m not used to children, so I don’t know how to comfort them.”
“…”
“But I thought… you’ve probably suffered a great deal until now.”
“So I wanted to hold you.”
The hard feel of his armor wasn’t unpleasant.
Before I knew it, my tears had stopped, and Liam’s smile had somehow spread to me.
Seeing my tear-stained smile, Liam looked surprised for a moment before breaking into a bright smile himself and gently patting my back.
Children from orphanages can recognize genuine kindness better than anyone.
He kept telling me everything was okay.
He was the first person in this world to show me real kindness.
I don’t want to die.
For the first time, I wanted to live well in this world.
I don’t want to disappoint him.
As the Saint.
As this person’s hope.
“Weren’t you frightened? I brought plenty of knights with me just in case…”
“I was… a little surprised.”
Just a little.
I pinched my fingers close together to show how little.
Liam laughed.
“They’re all devoted knights, so they’re following behind us. I was worried too many people might frighten you, so I was the only one who got into the carriage.”
I stopped crying and tilted my head in confusion.
“Only you got in?”
“Yes. Why do you ask?”
Then who is that woman?
A chill ran down my spine.
I looked once more at the woman who had been staring at Liam the entire time from beside him.
Only after I noticed that her gaze had shifted toward me did I realize the truth.
She wasn’t human.
[Emergency Mission!]
Help the restless spirit find peace.
Reward: Good Deeds Gauge +3
Failure: You will move one step closer to death.
“…!”
The corners of the woman’s lips curled upward.
They kept rising.
Her mouth stretched wider and wider until it reached her ears.
Wait a second.
This wasn’t in the novel.
W-What is that…?
I froze without even managing to scream.
At first glance, the woman had looked perfectly ordinary.
She had healthy-looking skin and wore a beautiful dress that only a noblewoman would wear.
At first, I had assumed she was traveling with Liam.
But now that I thought about it…
He had never looked at her even once.
As if she’d never existed in the first place.
The woman smiled.
Her slightly raised lips and shy-looking eyes made her seem lovely.
But her smile kept widening.
Only then did I realize something was terribly wrong.
Rip… Craack.
The sound of flesh tearing echoed through the carriage as the corners of her mouth split past her cheekbones and all the way to her ears.
T-This is insane… It’s horrifying!
To be honest, if it had been an insect, I could have just crushed it with my fingers.
A murderer?
Blood?
As long as it had nothing to do with me, I didn’t care much.
But ghosts…
“Hehehehehe!”
I stared at the woman as she stretched her neck unnaturally long and shook it back and forth.
Then I squeezed my eyes shut.
I didn’t see anything. I saw absolutely nothing!
Other than the woman’s crazed laughter, the carriage was silent.
Seeing me with my eyes tightly closed, Liam seemed to think he shouldn’t disturb me.
He simply rested a hand on the hilt of his sword.
If he’s a Holy Knight, couldn’t he cut her down?
No…
He can’t even see her.
How could he kill her?
I clenched my teeth.
The system window in front of me kept flashing as if it were mocking me.
[Would you like to decline?]
No / No
What kind of choices are these?!
Inside my head, I screamed “Yes!” thousands of times while sniffling.
If you decline, your death ending will accelerate.
