Chapter 11

Chapter 11

You Won't Do

The next day, I barely managed to force my heavy eyelids open and get out of bed.

I woke myself up with a shower in pleasantly cool water, chewed down some warm soup and a little soft bread Marie had brought me, then headed for the audience chamber.

The corridor leading there felt much longer than usual.

The aftereffects of visiting the divine realm still lingered, making my body feel heavy.

Grandpa Pope had told me I could rest if I wasn't feeling well, but there was no way I could miss a day like today.

Especially when the Hero candidate was Cassian, the bastard who destroyed our Order in the original story.

“Phew...”

Standing before the massive doors of the audience chamber, I took a deep breath. A faint current of divine power was flowing from inside.

It was probably because all of the temple's highest-ranking figures had gathered there. Once someone reached that level, traces of divine power naturally leaked out no matter how well they controlled it.

And they were probably deliberately not restraining it in order to put pressure on the Hero candidate when he arrived.

The people of our Order served Lady Eris, Goddess of Love as well as Battle, so they all had a somewhat combative streak by nature.

Simply put, they intended to crush the Hero's spirit from the start. Some Heroes became arrogant after getting drunk on their own talent, so this was a silent warning: ‘The Order is filled with people this strong. Don't get conceited.’

And if he had some kind of connection to demons, a room saturated with divine power might cause some unusual reaction, so it killed two birds with one stone.

“Saintess, are you really sure you're all right? You still look pale.”

“Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry.”

I smiled reassuringly at Marie, who was fidgeting anxiously beside me.

Truthfully, I wasn't fine.

The tension of standing at a crossroads of fate was making me nauseous, and spending an entire week bedridden had cost me a fair amount of muscle and dulled my senses.

A good night's sleep had left me better than yesterday, but even being generous, I was at about sixty percent of my normal condition. Not exactly ideal.

Still, it wasn't all bad. There was one variable left.

Grandpa Pope had said that once I recovered from being sick, the impurities accumulated inside my body would be expelled, making it easier than before to control divine power.

If controlling divine power had truly become easier, it should compensate for my current condition well enough.

“All right, time for a checkup. Ta-ra-ra-ra, ta-ra-ra-ra, ta-ra-ra-ra, dun, kung-jjak-jjak, kung-jjak-jjak, ta-ri-ra-ra-ri...”

“...Saintess?”

I hummed nonsense to loosen the tension. Marie stared at me like I'd lost my mind, but I ignored her and focused.

When I'd come out of the bathhouse, I'd injured myself trying to summon Astra.

If I handled divine power as roughly as before, I might start coughing blood in front of the doors, collapse, and end up bedridden again. Absolutely not.

Carefully. Delicately. I slowly moved my divine power as though handling a newborn baby.

“Ooh?”

The sound of admiration escaped me naturally. It really had become far easier to control than before.

If it used to feel like driving down an unpaved road, now it felt like cruising along freshly paved asphalt.

Hop, hop-

After spreading divine power throughout my entire body, I lightly bounced in place.

My body felt light. My physical condition was poor, but divine power was compensating for a large part of it.

‘Hmm, not bad.’

Like this, I was probably at around ninety percent of my usual condition. Once I recovered completely, I could probably operate at about one hundred and twenty percent of my former strength.

I suppose there had been some benefit to risking becoming a vegetable by visiting the divine realm, then spending a week sick in bed.

“Huaa...”

After exhaling deeply, I used divine power to equip the Sacred Vestments.

I still hated wearing them. But as the Goddess had said, I couldn't afford to let my guard down, so there was no choice.

If Cassian tried anything, the Sacred Vestments could serve as my final shield.

...And from now on, whenever I went into the Demon Realm, I'd have to wear them no matter what, so getting used to them in advance probably wasn't a bad idea either.

“All right, shall we go in?”

Adding one spoonful of self-justification, I pushed open the heavy doors of the audience chamber.

Inside, Captain Vargas, Archbishop Bartolomew, and the rest of the Eris Temple's highest-ranking officials had already gathered.

The air was tense as a bowstring drawn to its limit. The moment I stepped inside, every gaze turned toward me.

Most of them looked surprised when they saw me wearing the Sacred Vestments.

Leonid tilted his head, Captain Vargas cleared his throat and looked away, while old Bartolomew's eyebrows twitched up and down like caterpillars.

I exchanged brief nods of greeting with them, then slowly walked to my seat and sat down. My place was directly beside Grandpa Pope.

“Looks like I was the last one?”

“Yes, you were, Saintess.”

Grandpa Pope answered my question with a kindly smile.

“I hope I didn't keep everyone waiting.”

“Not at all. We still have a little time before the Hero candidate arrives. How are you feeling?”

“Not one hundred percent, but I'm fine.”

“That is good to hear.”

The Pope smiled at me, then turned his gaze forward again.

There was still some time before Cassian entered the chamber, so I closed my eyes and relaxed against the chair.

“We are ready. Bring in the Hero candidate.”

As I sat breathing slowly with my eyes closed, calming myself, Grandpa Pope's voice rang out.

I slowly opened my eyes.

At the same time, every sense sharpened. I straightened my back and studied the man walking through the open doors.

Black hair. Sharp eyes holding blood-red irises. He looked to be somewhere in the mid-180-centimeter range, with a large frame covered in the practical muscle of someone accustomed to real combat.

‘Hmm... Well, I guess his face really is handsome enough for Marie to make such a fuss about.’

But his attitude and overall air dragged those good looks down tremendously.

A swaggering walk, arrogant eyes sweeping around as though sightseeing through the audience chamber, a crooked smile hanging from his lips, and above all, dull red eyes devoid of any real sharpness.

He looked less like a Hero candidate and more like some third-rate mercenary from a back alley.

‘What the hell is with this punk-ass delinquent?’

The hazy image I retained of Cassian from the original wasn't like this.

He had been meticulous and arrogant, a snake of a bastard who knew how to hide his filthy intentions behind a mask and delighted in quietly worming his way into people's hearts before destroying them.

But the guy in front of me didn't look like a snake. He looked like some frivolous thug who'd shake people down in back alleys and drink himself stupid.

‘Still, this might all be an act to make people lower their guard. I shouldn't underestimate him.’

Besides, he didn't seem pressured in the slightest by the thick divine power filling the chamber.

I concentrated divine power into my eyes and examined Cassian more closely.

And what I saw made me frown instinctively.

‘That thing... is Cassian?’

This was the man who, in the original story, swallowed the entire Eris Order, one of the Seven Great Holy Orders.

Even if our Order had been weakened enough to rank last among the Seven, it had still housed countless Holy Knights and high-ranking priests.

At the very least, he should've possessed strength on Captain Vargas's level, along with enough composure to conceal a meticulous scheme.

But the man standing before me was... what?

“Aah, so this is the famous Eris Order? I was expecting more from the audience chamber. It's kind of plain, isn't it?”

Cassian stood crookedly and spoke in a rude tone. A thick vein bulged on old Bartolomew's forehead.

They were definitely about to start arguing. Fine. That'd buy me some time to think.

I interlaced my fingers, rested my chin on them, and watched Cassian while turning things over in my head.

“Hero candidate! This is a sacred audience chamber. Mind your manners!”

“Huuuh? Old man? Why are you yelling so loud? Hurts my ears. Once I become the Hero, you'll all be under me anyway, so why don't we just get introductions out of the way now?”

Cassian laughed, utterly dismissing the old man's words.

I let their argument wash in one ear and out the other while continuing to inspect him, and a faint sense of emptiness crept over me.

This guy.

He really was pathetic.

Maybe because he was technically a Hero candidate, he could probably beat an ordinary Holy Knight, but he wasn't anywhere near my level. He probably couldn't even lay a finger on Leonid.

And as for whether he possessed some intricate master plan... that was questionable too.

Picking a fight with the Archbishop and making everyone wary of him from the very beginning was idiotic. Unless his plan was to raise the old man's blood pressure until he collapsed clutching the back of his neck.

Though after years of dealing with me, that probably wouldn't be enough to take him down anymore.

Could even this behavior be part of some plan? Or was he simply that confident an Archbishop couldn't do anything to him?

My head was getting complicated.

Why?

How in the world had the entire Order been destroyed by such a pathetic bastard in the original story?

Did he have some hidden ability? Was he concealing his strength? Was there a traitor inside our Order?

Or, in the worst case, he could have reached such a high realm that I couldn't even perceive it. When the gap was too vast, you couldn't accurately measure the distance between yourself and the other person.

It sounded absurd, but considering he was acting perfectly fine in a room flooded with divine power, it wasn't completely impossible.

‘Damn it, my head's going to explode.’

If there were no possibilities, there were none. If there were possibilities, there were far too many.

Damn prophetic dreams. If they were going to show me anything, couldn't they show me this bastard's true nature instead of some useless future where I cling to a man and act cute?

“Haaa...”

I let out a long sigh and shook my head.

‘...Right. Thinking this hard isn't like me. At times like this, I should just do things the way I always do.’

Part of the Hero candidate evaluation involved testing combat ability. They had to determine whether he possessed the minimum strength or talent required to become a Hero.

I could use that as an excuse to poke at him.

If I pushed him right to the edge of death—hell, if I pushed hard enough to actually kill him—he'd have no choice but to reveal whatever hidden card he had.

And if someone inside the Order was working with him, they'd react somehow to keep him alive.

The audience chamber was noisy with bickering. Taking advantage of the commotion, I looked at Grandpa Pope.

He was watching Cassian with his chin propped on one hand and his eyes narrowed slightly.

‘That's a strange expression.’

He looked suspicious. Had Grandpa Pope sensed something from him too?

I kept watching Grandpa. As though feeling my gaze, he looked away from Cassian and met my eyes. Perhaps reading what I intended from my expression, he gave a slight, silent nod.

Do as you wish.

That was probably what he meant.

“Everyone, please be quiet.”

After reaching my decision, I spoke softly while infusing divine power into my voice.

The audience chamber fell silent in an instant, every gaze focusing on me.

And among those eyes, Cassian's red ones turned toward me.

Sticky and lascivious. A look that instinctively filled me with disgust.

“Oh, are you the famous Saintess? The Silver Holy Spear?”

Before I could say anything, Cassian spoke first.

Without permission, he started striding toward me. Leonid and Captain Vargas, standing near the front, moved their hands toward the hilts of their swords, but I lightly raised one hand to stop them.

Cassian came right up to me and openly swept his gaze over my body. Then he slowly licked his lips and gave a greasy smile.

“Damn, you're way prettier than the rumors. And that outfit's incredible too. Guess waiting two whole weeks wasn't a waste after all, huh?”

...This crazy bastard? Picking a fight with the old man wasn't enough, so now he wanted to start with me too?

“You've been staring at me pretty hard this whole time. Did you fall for me or something?”

“...”

Where the hell was this bastard getting his confidence?

A disbelieving laugh escaped me.

“First of all, personality: failed. I doubt anyone here will object to that.”

I slowly rose from my seat and faced him.

I wasn't short for a woman, but the bastard was so ridiculously tall that I still had to look up at him, which irritated me tremendously.

He kept looking down at me with that mocking smile.

And where exactly were his eyes looking...?

Ah, fuck.

That's enough.

“You won't do.”

The instant the words left my mouth, I reached for his face.

“Huh?”

Cassian tried to pull back in surprise, but I was faster. My palm roughly clamped around his smug, glossy face.

Then, gripping his head, I exploded divine power through my body and charged forward.

KWA-KWA-KWA-BOOM-!

I crossed the chamber in a single rush, dragging him all the way to the wide open space in the center. Dozens of meters vanished in an instant as shattered fragments of flooring flew through the air.

When I released his face, Cassian staggered several steps backward.

“Personality: failed. Which means it's time to move straight on to the combat evaluation, you rude little Hero candidate.”

All right.

Time to see what cards you're hiding.

I raised the corners of my mouth in a grin.