ABSCS 14

Chapter 14

Reunion (1)

The Saintess’s daily schedule is as follows:

• 5:00 – Wake up and dawn prayer

• 7:00 – Breakfast

• 7:30 – Study

• 12:00 – Noon prayer

• 14:00 – Lunch

• 15:00 – Study

• 18:00 – Evening prayer

• 20:00 – Dinner

• 21:00 – Sleep

Though it’s written out in detail, her life essentially consists of nothing but prayer and study.

There’s practically no time for rest or leisure.

It was a life of extreme discipline and asceticism—so much so that to a regular person, the schedule looked like outright abuse.

And to know that the Saintess had been living like this since she was twelve—ten whole years—made it all the more astonishing.

“I’ve brought your meal!”

Amy, who brought meals to the Saintess’s room, was one of those “ordinary people.”

“Thank you, Amy.”

“It’s nothing.”

Amy owed her life to the Saintess.

The memory was still vivid.

She had been on the brink of death, but when a tiny girl her own age took her hand, her world had changed.

From that moment, Amy decided to become a priest. Her father, Mars, had also become a citizen of the Holy Kingdom and was now a proper Holy Knight.

“Are you just going to stand there?”

“I need to take the dishes after you’re done eating.”

Snapping out of her memories, Amy looked again at Justinas.

‘Is that really all just… greens?’

The entire tray was filled with greens—lettuce, sprouts, herbs.

The only things not green were a red cherry tomato and a slice of apple.

Leaning on the desk with one arm, Amy asked with a weary expression,
“How do you even live like this?”

“What do you mean?”

“If I lived like you, I would’ve lost it already. No playing, just eating leaves, and six hours a day sitting alone praying!”

Justinas chuckled quietly at her exasperated tone.

“This is all part of what I must do. And calling it ‘just leaves’—you shouldn’t dismiss the effort of others so lightly. Growing vegetables takes time and care too.”

“…Ha.”

Amy had no comeback. She couldn’t deny anything Justinas said.

She was just… too perfect.

“There’s no one in the world who lives like you. Not even His Holiness the Pope.”

To Amy, Justinas was nearly superhuman.

And in truth, she was. The Saintess could revive people on the verge of death with just a touch.

‘Even so… I wouldn’t live that strictly.’

Justinas was astonishingly altruistic and self-sacrificing.

She was gentle to others and harsh to herself. Even when no one was watching, she would spend entire days praying to the divine.

And her knowledge?

Despite her blindness, she had learned to read by feeling the ink residue on paper.

At first, Amy had been appalled.

Reading by sensing the ink stains on regular books—not even braille? That didn’t even seem possible.

But Justinas had only smiled gently.

“It was thanks to the divine.”

She even made up problems herself and wrote what seemed to be theses. Once, Amy saw her scribbling symbols and asked, “Why even write stuff like this?”

“To cultivate knowledge,” she answered.

Amy had a million rebuttals, but she gave up. At this point, nothing Justinas did could surprise her anymore.

She assumed others must feel the same.

Even Pope Zephyros was often speechless at the Saintess’s competence and piety.

‘Is this why Aether loves her so dearly…?’

Reverence mixed into Amy’s gaze.

And at that very moment, Justinas—

[Amy feels deep respect for you.]
[Virtue Points +2]

—was secretly enjoying her growing Virtue Points.

Ten years had passed since she became a Saintess.

What had happened since then?

Surprisingly, not much.

‘Well, I have racked up a ton of Virtue Points.’

After becoming a Saintess, she realized something:
Virtue Points didn’t require helping others directly.

That’s right.

They were based on others’ positive feelings toward her. If someone thought, “She’s amazing,” she earned points.

Once she figured that out, she made a long-term plan:

“First, I’ll become a real saint.”

No matter how hard she tried now, she couldn’t save ten billion lives.

Eventually, she’d have to defeat the Demon King—but that only happened after the main plot began.

“Until then, I’ll train for ten years and gather points.”

And so, she lived each day intensely.

Three two-hour prayer sessions daily. Studying useful knowledge for the future. Eating a strict, healthy diet.

And with every action, her points steadily accumulated. It wasn’t so bad.

Human rights?

At 19, she entered S University’s Physics Department.
At 20, she began a double major in Chemical Engineering.
At 23, she entered an integrated master’s–PhD program and began working as a TA.
At 27, she lost her sight just before defending her dissertation.

Since elementary school, she hadn’t known such a thing as “human rights”…

…Damn it. When I get back, I will finish that PhD.

With a healthy body and a billion dollars, research funding wouldn’t be a problem.

[Neumann feels deep respect for you.]
[Virtue Points +1]
[Lake feels deep respect for you.]
[Virtue Points +1]
[Anna feels deep respect for you.]
[Virtue Points +1]

Even while praying alone in her cell, she gained 1 point on inhale, 1 point on exhale. All thanks to the priests.

‘Hmm… Did I eat too much lunch?’

She felt unusually drowsy today.

Maybe I’ll nap a little.

[‘Body Lock’ skill activated.]

She stiffened her body and fell asleep in that position.

Might seem like a disaster if she snored, but thanks to her [Maintain Dignity] skill, her image never faltered.

‘Mmm…’

Mom, just give me two hours.

And just as she slipped into peaceful sleep—

“Um, Saintess.”

Her solo prayer session hadn’t even ended when a priest entered.

Half-asleep, she turned her head.

“What is it, brother?”

“Forgive me for disturbing your prayer. His Holiness urgently wishes to consult with you…”

At his words, a strange glint entered her eyes.

‘Zephyros?’

Prayer time at the temple was sacred and untouchable.

If he, who knew her schedule better than anyone, summoned her urgently—there could be only one reason.

The plot had begun.

The goddess’s prophecy.

“The sword blessed by the stars shall seek out a man, and I appoint him as the hero to save the world and my chosen representative.”

At last, that divine revelation had come.

She stood up.

“Understood. I’ll go to His Holiness right away.”

“What did you wish to speak about?”

Zephyros, who had been poring over papers with a grim expression, smiled as soon as he saw her.

“Ah, Saintess. Please, have a seat.”

She politely felt around and sat in the chair. Zephyros, seated across from her, hesitated and finally said—

“I would like to assign you a bodyguard.”

“…Pardon?”

His words caught her completely off guard.

‘This isn’t about the prophecy?’

And bodyguard? That didn’t make sense. She was going to stay inside the temple anyway.

“Is something wrong?”

He answered with a dark expression.

“The enemy’s movements have been suspicious. Just yesterday, someone attempted to assassinate you.”

…What?

Her jaw dropped at the news. Metaphorically, of course. A real jaw-drop would be undignified.

“A bodyguard… Are you assigning a few Holy Knights?”

“No, someone more discreet and powerful. An assassin with quite a reputation in the underworld.”

“…The underworld?”

Zephyros grinned wickedly.

“I’ve heard he’s the head of a vast information network—”

“Wait, hold on.”

She stopped him, reeling.

An assassin? An underworld boss?

That was way overkill for a saintess’s guard.

Wasn’t this job meant for a hero or Holy Knight? Why…?

“Are you serious?”

“Of course I’m serious.”

“You really brought such a man across the sea just to guard me?”

“……”

Zephyros averted his gaze, sweat beading on his brow.

“You’re sharp, as always. I can’t hide anything from you.”

Excuse me?

“…There’s something else going on, isn’t there?”

“Well, actually…”

Zephyros finally sighed and confessed.

“I had a strange prophecy about him a month ago.”

“…A divine prophecy?”

Her skin prickled.

What was this?

In the original story, there was only one prophecy—about the main character, Izumi.

A prophecy about someone from across the sea? She’d never heard of such a thing.

“Well, it’s… vague. Not quite a prophecy.”

“Please, tell me anyway.”

“It came to me in a dream.”

After some hesitation, Zephyros continued.

“In the dream, a man with black hair and black eyes stood beside you. Such a rare look—I couldn’t stop staring.”

Black hair and black eyes?

…A familiar combination.

She focused.

“After I woke, I couldn’t shake the feeling it was prophetic. I investigated and heard rumors of a man fitting that description beyond the continent. So, under the pretense of assigning you a bodyguard, I paid a fortune to bring him here.”

“…I see.”

It sounded absurd, but someone like Zephyros did sometimes receive revelations in dreams. So it wasn’t entirely unreasonable.

“If he seems unfit, feel free to send him away. You can assign him other duties.”

“Understood.”

She slowly stepped outside.

‘A black-haired man…’

Most people didn’t know this, but in this world, black was the color of demons. And the Saintess was their sworn enemy.

A prophetic dream of such a man standing by her side meant one of two things:

A death omen.

Or…

She bit her lip, recalling a vague face from her past.

‘Should I just buy an Extra Life?’

She’d saved about 300,000 points so far.

She’d planned to buy skills as needed when the plot started—but maybe it really was time for insurance.

‘First, let’s pray.’

There were 30 minutes left.

She entered the prayer room and knelt, but her thoughts were anything but calm.

‘Who wants me dead?’

An assassination by the Demon King’s forces wasn’t impossible—they once manipulated royalty.

And she had ruined Hochen’s “project” ten years ago.

It wouldn’t be strange for them to try and eliminate her now.

But the question was—who?

Creeeak.

The prayer room door opened.

A deep male voice followed.

“Is that her?”

A chill ran down her spine.

Her heart pounded.

“I’ve been assigned to guard you starting today. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“…Ah.”

She forced her expression to remain calm.

Should she not look? But her gaze was already drawn to him.

“Greetings, brother.”

Black hair. Black eyes.

A villain who looked like he found life itself meaningless in the original story.

And…

“My name is Justinas.”

The man she had once tried to change.

“I look forward to working with you.”

She wasn’t sure if he had changed, or if he hadn’t.

His appearance had come far earlier than expected, and it unsettled her. She wasn’t mentally prepared yet.

And when he moved—

“Y-Youst…”

He muttered her nickname and reached toward her face.

Of course, she didn’t react.

Justinas had to appear blind.

“Sir Cedric, the Saintess is unable to see.”

“…What?”

Cedric’s face froze.

She had no idea what he was thinking.

And in that expression—

“You trusted me? How unfortunate. You’ll have to die here.”

—the image of the original Cedric, plunging a dagger into the protagonist’s chest, overlapped.

“Cedric… become a good person.”

The seed she had once sown.

She fidgeted slightly, pretending to be flustered. To observe his reaction.

“Oh, I-I’m sorry. Did I do something inappropriate?”

“…No.”

A storm surged in Cedric’s eyes.

“No problem at all.”

And at that moment, she realized—

Her plan had worked.