EVHE 31

Chapter 31

Olivia, once again, was endlessly enduring before the massive wall that was Saint.

She was energetically talking about the terms of their deal, but Saint didn’t so much as nod in response.

“Are you even listening?”

Olivia slammed the table with her hand, but nothing changed.

Was it that even answering was too much trouble when he wasn’t interested?

It was always Olivia who stood to lose in this deal. She should have been the one being flattered and cajoled.

“Excuse me?”

Saint still sat in his chair at an angle, eyes looking elsewhere.

She had no idea what he was thinking. The mounting frustration was pushing Olivia to her limit.

“How did you know Vistard would appear in Reuben?”

The first words out of his mouth in ten minutes had nothing to do with their conversation.

If he was planning to follow Edelline to Reuben, Olivia had asked him to take care of Vistard.

“You didn’t hear a word I said, did you?”

His look said, “Why even ask?” Olivia let out a deliberately loud sigh.

“Are you ignoring the intelligence I and Duke Granard worked to gather?”

“You probably just stuck your spoon in after the Duke served the dish.”

Olivia bristled at his dismissive remark but held herself back.

It was only because Saint had finally looked her directly in the eyes. She was full of complaints but couldn’t bring herself to voice them.

“Anyway, you do know, right? No more killing. No more violence, if you can help it. And cut ties with the underworld for good.”

Saint gave a slight nod in reply.

It would have been better if he’d confirmed it with words, but she had to settle for this.

“Do you know what worries me the most?”

Olivia stared at the man before her, still struggling to believe him, and continued.

“I went through all that trouble pestering both the Duke and my father to blow this up to this scale… But I’m afraid you’ll suddenly give up on becoming the High Priest.”

She finally voiced the fear that had been weighing on her for so long. If that happened, all her plans would come to nothing.

The High Priest seat was currently vacant. And the only official candidate nominated by the High Cleric was Saint.

He was the kind of man that made people wonder if the High Cleric had raised him as a living weapon to avoid suspicions of favoritism.

Madman, assassin, butcher—he had many nicknames. With such rumors surrounding him, the Imperial Family had long refused to approve his promotion.

Through their deal, Olivia had been helping him gain the support of the nobility.

“I won’t give up,” he said firmly.

“Really?”

“Why would I? I don’t even have a reason to.”

“You’re just afraid that a reason might come up.”

“That’s not going to happen.”

Annoyed by her repeated doubts, he frowned.

“There’s nothing more important to me than God.”

With that, Saint shut his mouth. Olivia didn’t press the issue further.

But that didn’t mean her anxiety had gone away completely.

True, Saint’s faith was stronger than any other priest’s.

That made it even more terrifying.

If something were to appear that could surpass even that faith—how blindly would he follow it?

…Like a certain person who was weighing on her mind right now.

Today was finally the day I was supposed to have my first magic lesson from Saint.

Excited at the thought of finally learning magic, I arrived at the library…

“…What is this?”

Those were the first rude words out of my mouth, without so much as a greeting.

Half the library was hidden behind curtains, and the floor looked like it had been abandoned for business long ago.

But what shocked me more was—

“…Excuse me?”

Saint raised his brows at my dumbfounded question.

I stammered for a while before I could say anything coherent.

“You’re dressed differently today.”

He wasn’t in black. Not even in his usual uniform.

He wore a simple white shirt under a plain coat—it made me question whether he’d actually dressed himself.

He wasn’t even wearing his sword, making him look like he could walk around the neighborhood without attracting attention.

“I said I’d correct my appearance, didn’t I?” Saint said as he pulled back the curtains covering half the library.

Was he referring to what he said during the Reuben festival? I’d meant it as a joke, but apparently, he took it seriously.

“Um… I think black suits you better, though.”

I said it seriously, and Saint’s brows furrowed.

“Just kidding. You look good.”

I saw the disapproving look in his eyes and couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Oh, teasing you is kind of fun.”

Feeling victorious, I skipped further into the library.

Behind the curtain was a large desk with two chairs. On it were books and a palm-sized box.

“What’s this?”

“A gift.”

“Can I open it?”

Even as I asked, I was already lifting the lid.

But I immediately slammed it shut with a bang!

‘This psycho!’

I nearly screamed but barely managed to keep my mouth shut.

‘A scorpion?! Are you kidding me?!’

And not just one, either. They looked dead but were still horrifying.

I glared at Saint with bulging eyes. He looked down at me, clearly amused.

I wanted to throw the box at him right then, but I held back. I forced myself to think rationally.

Option one: he was getting petty revenge for what happened in Reuben.

Option two: he remembered I ate scorpion skewers well that day and brought me a gift.

If it was the former, I had every right to be angry. But if it was the latter…

Saint was the type who responded closely to my words, so I couldn’t rule it out.

In that case, it’d be rude to disregard a heartfelt gift.

“Th-thank… you?”

I forced my lips into a twitchy smile. Saint snatched the box away from me and tossed it to the ground.

Before it hit, a flame flared up, and the box turned to ash in seconds.

Speechless, I stared at the remains until even those disappeared. When I looked back up, I thought I saw a hint of a smirk on his lips.

“…You brought that just to mess with me, didn’t you?! Ugh, you’re so annoying!”

I slumped into the chair with a huff, arms crossed, glaring at him with all my irritation.

His relaxed expression suggested he was enjoying my reaction.

“So, what now?”

Still pouting, I asked Saint.

He spread six books in front of me.

“Introduction to Magic Design,” “Fingerprints and 17th-World Environmental Theory, 5th Edition,” “Alchemy and Mana Loop Construction”…

A bad feeling crept down my spine. When I nervously flipped a cover, my eyes nearly popped out.

What was all this? Was this even the same language?

The pages were crammed with incomprehensible jargon, numbers, and equations—it made my head spin.

“You didn’t think magic would be easy, did you?”

His sharp comment took the wind out of me.

Right. Every field has theory. Magic would be no different.

I must’ve read too many novels where magic was easy. This was the real deal.

Saint immediately began the lesson.

Despite appearances, he explained things well. But I didn’t understand any of it.

“…Can we take a ten-minute break?”

It had only been thirty minutes, but my brain was about to explode. I slumped over the desk without asking permission.

I heard Saint sit down across from me, having stopped writing incomprehensible formulas on the chalkboard.

“That’s why we have academies.”

“Yeah…”

“They study there for over ten years, but really, four months would be enough.”

“Really?”

Now that was good news.

“There’s a big gap between theory and practice. Once you remove that, learning speeds up. Usually, they still teach everything for ethical reasons…”

His words gave me hope, and I looked up at him with sparkling eyes.

“Is that necessary? Ethics and all that.”

He shrugged, nonchalantly adding,

“Accuracy and success rate might drop, but I’ve never failed, so it’s fine.”

That was… a terribly irresponsible thing to say.

I stared blankly at him, then buried my face in my arms again.

“Cut everything unnecessary, please…”

I didn’t have time to waste ten years studying.

Right now, my goal was to quickly learn magic to protect myself. That was the only way to relieve my constant anxiety.

As I mumbled from my slumped position, Saint continued his theory lecture.

His teaching was excellent—except for one thing.

Maybe it was his job, or just his low voice—but the whole thing sounded like a priest reciting scripture.

I rubbed my face on my arms to stay awake, but eventually, I couldn’t fight it anymore and dozed off.

Saint set down the scripture he’d been reading when he sensed someone approaching from outside.

The library didn’t get visitors. Those who came out of curiosity always fled from his aura and never returned.

He pulled back the curtain separating the room from the entrance.

Through the gap, he saw a man walking up from the roadside