I went around to many stores with my kids like this, but in the end, none of the stores would let me pay.
Every time, there was a repeated back and forth in front of the store with people saying, "I'll pay" and "Please spare me," but in the end, the surrounding residents were persuaded, saying, "Please consider the store owner's feelings."
While thinking that this was an amazing teamwork, I suffered another defeat. The children who had been eating from the store with me seemed to be full, and said, "Great Saint, it was delicious," and left rubbing their eyes. Apparently, it's nap time.
Luckily, I managed to escape the circle of residents that had surrounded me, and walked deeper into the alley in search of a new shop. The local residents passing by look at my red hair curiously, but the next moment they looked away without saying anything.
…It seems that the story that I am the reincarnation of the Great Saint hasn't spread around here yet. Okay, okay, then I'll go shopping around here and pay for it this time.
As I was thinking that and looking around, my eyes met with a middle-aged man. The man came over as if startled, and pointed further down the alley, saying, "There's some delicious food over there." From the outside, it didn't look like there was a restaurant, and for some reason, the teachings of Captain Cyril suddenly came back to my mind, "Never follow someone who offers to give you something delicious."
Oh, maybe this is one I shouldn't follow? Thinking that, I gently shook my head and declined.
"Thank you. But I was just thinking about taking a quick break, so it's okay." (Fia)
Then the man grabbed my arm in frustration.
"There's a sick person! Please help!"
A sick person! That's a different story!! I frantically ran with the man into the back alley, where we found several men waiting for us around the corner. They looked healthy, but I was wondering if they might be sick, when a hand reached out from the side and grabbed the lower half of my face. Shocked, I looked at my mouth and saw a cloth pressed against it, and wondering what it was, I stared at the man pressing the cloth against my mouth.
Like that, one second, two seconds, three seconds...
"W-why aren't you losing consciousness?! Isn't this supposed to have an immediate anesthetic effect?!"
The man holding me down looked away from me as if he could no longer bear it, and shouted angrily at his companions.
…Because I was a saint. Such a weak abnormal status would be automatically removed.
I grabbed the arm that was covering my mouth and removed the cloth and arm from my mouth. Then, looking at each of the five men present, I asked.
"So where are the sick people? If you're mistaken and there aren't any sick people, I'm going back to shopping." (Fia)
"Ah... I do need that... but..."
"……that…………"
For some reason, the men were at a loss for words.
I tilted my head and asked them.
"Well, you tried to knock me unconscious and carry me to where the sick were, right? Now, if you show me around, I can walk there on my own. Well, I'm not that heavy, so maybe it's not that much of a big deal, but it's still a little thing, you know?" (Fia)
The impression of the amber candy from earlier still remained, and even though no one asked, I couldn't help but emphasize how light I was.
"That's true, but...w-why are you being so kind? We were trying to kidnap you, weren't we? Normally, wouldn't you have run away at this point?"
As I listened to the man continue to argue, I thought, "I thought so."
…It seemed that these five people had not yet heard that I was the reincarnation of the Great Saint.
As I could see from the attitude of the residents earlier, if they had heard that I was the reincarnation of the Great Saint, they would have treated me more carefully. And since they must have heard that I currently did not have the powers of a saint, they probably wouldn't try to kidnap me to treat illness in the first place. In other words, their actions must have been impulsive and spontaneous, based on the color of my hair. Since I had the same hair color as the legendary Great Saint, they probably thought that I might have the powers of a saint, and so it was an impulsive action based on a slim chance like that.
Still, are these five people really careless, asking for help just because they saw red hair, without even checking to see if she was a saint? Or maybe they're in a really desperate situation?
With that in mind, I answered honestly.
"I heard there was a sick person, so I thought I'd help if I could. Um, or are you planning to kidnap me and do something bad? In that case, I'll run away." (Fia)
As I spoke, I glanced at the swords the men had on their waists.
…Indeed, even though he was not a knight, he did carry a fine sword.
"I won't do it! I would never do anything bad!" (x3)
The men waved their hands in denial in a panic, then all looked at one man in confusion.
The man, who was being stared at by everyone, hesitated for a moment, then walked up to me and bowed politely.
"I apologize for being so rough with you. I am the chief's grandson, Erial. The sick person is my daughter, and I would be grateful if you could examine her."
The man, who introduced himself as Erial, was in his mid-twenties. With brown skin and azure hair, he had the distinctive features of the remote island resident, and he held his chin with bony fingers as if nervous.
...If you're nervous, it means you're aware that you're doing something wrong, right? Thinking that, I introduced myself in return.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Fia Ruud. Yes, I'll join you. Next time, please explain things to me in words first." (Fia)
With that said, the five men bowed deeply and looked apologetic.
——The men led us to a cave along the coast.
The entrance was narrow, but the further inside the more spacious it became. As we went deeper and deeper, we came out into a large space. When I looked closely, I saw that about half of the space was occupied by about 50 people.
Even from a distance, it was clear that everyone was sick and they were all breathing heavily and in difficulty. I instinctively approached it, and saw a clearly visible yellow pattern on its weakly thrown out limbs.
"This is……" (Fia)
I was so surprised that I cried out loud.
Yellow markings on the patient's hands and feet, heavy breathing, and fever. These symptoms are...
Beside me, as I remained silent, Erial glanced at me with a worried expression, then suddenly, startled, turned back to face the cave entrance. Then, Erial narrowed his eyes and cried out loud.
"Who are you?!"
Surprised by Erial's threatening voice, I turned around and saw a black figure about 15 meters away, in the direction of the entrance. It was hard to tell who it was in the dim cave, but in the light of the torches, his shoulders glittered, and he looked like he was wearing knight's uniform. I instinctively leaned forward to take a look, and saw the figure slowly emerge from behind the rock. Although his features were obscured by the shadows, his shoulder-length light blue hair looked familiar, and I instinctively called out his name.
"Captain Curtis!?" (Fia)
...Huh? W-why are you here? M-Maybe he saw me somewhere with Erial's group and was worried about me so he followed me?
As I stared in shock, Captain Curtis drew his sword with a tense look on his face and walked forward in silence.
"Huh? C-Captain Curtis, calm down! Put your sword away!" (Fia)
I frantically called out to him to stop, but Captain Curtis continued to advance with powerful steps, still clutching his sword as if he hadn't heard me.
Feeling uneasy about his unusually aggressive attitude, I couldn't help but stared at Captain Curtis closely.
Then, Captain Curtis glanced my way, looking a bit impatient, with a determined look on his face.
...Come to think of it, Captain Curtis was the Captain of this land's knight. In other words, he was the person in charge of this land, but if the residents were to gather together and do something without the Captain's knowledge, it would seem a bit ominous.
I tried to reassure Captain Curtis that there was nothing to worry about, but before I could say anything, the residents, having heard Erial's voice calling out to them, began to gather around in droves.
In addition to the five people who had been guiding me, several of the men who had been guarding the cave had also joined. They approached quickly and reached for the swords at their waists.
"What can a single knight do?! Our ranks are all vigilantes with years of combat experience!"
The men shouted with combative looks on their faces and began to close the distance themselves.
"Huh? Ah, what, where did the vow of non-aggression go?" (Fia)
I frantically turned to ask the residents, but they just stared straight at me as if they hadn't heard me.
...Well, that's bad. It seemed that for the residents, who were responsible for the large number of sick people, protecting these sick people had become their primary goal. And their desire to protect the sick was so strong that they seemed to have even forgotten their vow not to fight anyone.
I hastily took steps towards Captain Curtis, but before I could even take a few steps, Erial grabbed me by the arm.
"Erial, let me go!" (Fia)
While looking into Erial's eyes, I spoke firmly.
I didn't think we should let Captain Curtis and Erial's group fought like this. Whatever the outcome, both of them would be left with scars.
While I was thinking this and trying to persuade Erial, several residents ran towards Captain Curtis. The residents quickly surrounded Captain Curtis and began to draw their swords in silence. On the other hand, Captain Curtis silently readied his sword. In an instant, a tense silence fell over the cave.
As if to break the deafening silence, the first to move were the residents located behind Captain Curtis. Without a word, he closed the distance in one swift motion and swung his sword down from above.
As he turned around, Captain Curtis shook off the enemy's sword with a sweeping motion from the side, but as if they had been waiting for that exact moment, two residents on his right and left simultaneously thrust their swords at him.
Clang, clang, the sound of swords clashing echoed throughout the cave.
As if aiming at Captain Curtis's blind spot, swords were thrust out or swung down from the front, side, and back.
When it came to many against one, there's nothing you could do unless there's an overwhelming difference in ability. And although Captain Curtis was a knight captain, he did not seem to have overwhelming sword skills like the other captains.
As expected, Captain Curtis was unable to avoid all of the attacks from the residents, and after blocking several slashes, the captain's left arm was cut, causing fresh blood to splatter.
"Captain Curtis!!" (Fia)
I instinctively yelled out loud, and, shaking off Erial's arms, I ran towards Captain Curtis.
Even as I ran, swords were thrust towards Captain Curtis, and one of them pierced the Captain's back. He was then slashed on the shoulder and neck, sending fresh blood flying into the air.
"Captain Curtis!!" (Fia)
When I rushed to Captain Curtis, the Captain's body was already pierced by several swords and he was slowly collapsing to the ground, blood spurting out of him.
His eyes turned a cloudy color, as if they were on the verge of becoming cloudy.
"Captain Curtis!!" (Fia)
I shouted again, the Captain regained his balance by thrusting his sword into the ground.
However, perhaps his consciousness was already beginning to become clouded, as the eyes of Captain Curtis staring at me seemed unable to form a clear image.
"...Lady... Fee... please... step back..." (Curtis)
Captain Curtis muttered in broken words, and as if he could no longer hold on, he slid down from his feet and collapsed.
"Captain Curtis!!" (Fia)
My scream and the sound of Captain Curtis falling to the ground echoed simultaneously.
Captain Curtis collapsed, his whole body covered in fresh blood, and new blood gushed out, staining the ground around him bright red.
I called out his name once more, facing the pale, closed eyes of the Captain Curtis.
"Captain Curtis!!" (Fia)
My screams echoed throughout the cave, but no one answered.
Author's Note
Thank you for reading!
The cover of the second book is posted at the bottom of the page (↓). Thank you for your support.