novelraw Chapter 96 : Chapter 96
Chapter 96 : Chapter 96
Chapter 96. The Saintess (1)
A quiet reception room.
Iris was looking at Isabel across the table.
But instead of meeting her eyes, Isabel only gazed out the window.
Naturally, only a strange silence flowed between the two.
‘What’s with calling me here and then just staying quiet.’
Iris sighed inwardly.
She wasn't that close with Isabel.
She always wore a gentle smile, but it was hard to know what lay behind that smile.
A being who simply maintained an attitude as if she had transcended everything, under the name of Saintess.
Such an Isabel had suddenly called for her.
Without even stating a reason, and with a meaningful look in her eyes.
‘Just what is she trying to say?’
She was concerned, but it was awkward to ask outright.
Because Isabel was always a person who was sparing with her words.
Then, Isabel was the first to speak.
“By any chance, would you like to go to the hot spring together?”
An unexpected suggestion.
Iris was slightly flustered, but she soon nodded her head.
“Then, shall we talk inside?”
“Let’s do that.”
Iris had a hunch.
That Isabel was deliberately creating an opportunity for them to talk alone.
A short while later.
After undressing, the two entered the hot spring bath, which was filled with warm steam.
Isabel soaked her body in the hot water and leaned back comfortably.
On the other hand, Iris was staring at the ripples with a heavy expression.
It was Isabel who broke the silence.
“How is Frank these days?”
Iris slightly furrowed her brow.
“Why are you asking me that?”
“He became the representative of the Continental Alliance, didn't he? He must have a lot of work,so I was wondering if he’s overworking himself.”
“You can just ask him that yourself.”
But Isabel gave a strange answer.
“Adel thinks too much, and Noemi is wary of me.”
“Then, what about me?”
Iris asked back with a subtle expression.
Isabel gazed intently into Iris's eyes and parted her lips.
“You’re always straightforward, aren't you? That's why I'm asking.”
“Surely you didn't come all this way just to ask that, did you?”
But Isabel nodded with a serious face.
‘What is this?’
Something was strange.
As if she were a person who would quit the position of Saintess at any moment.
‘No way.’
Something occurring to her, Iris carefully opened her mouth.
“Surely you're not thinking of quitting as the Saintess, are you?”
“Oh my. How did you guess that?”
“What did you say?”
As if she couldn't believe it, Iris shot up from her spot.
“Don't joke around. Do you think that’s a position you can speak of leaving so easily?”
But Isabel smiled and replied with an attitude as if it had been decided a long time ago.
“I'm going to become a free person and wander the whole world.”
Iris thought she had misheard something.
For the Saintess, the person most revered by all, to say she would cast aside her position and leave.
“That's absurd! What about the Goddess Cult?”
“An oracle has descended.”
“An oracle?”
“The next Saintess has been decided.”
Isabel’s words continued.
“I will soon be a free person.”
Iris's eyes widened.
This was a development she had not expected at all.
Was there another person worthy of being the Saintess besides Isabel?
No matter how much she thought, no suitable person came to mind.
***
It happened a few days before Isabel came to the hot spring bath.
She was kneeling alone in the center of the grand cathedral, offering a prayer.
‘O great Goddess. Please grant me your guidance.’
As always, she requested a conversation with the Goddess.
Usually, it was just Isabel initiating the conversation, but that day was different.
Suddenly, a voice that seemed to echo inside her head was heard.
─Choose one of the three Children of God and make her the next Saintess.
Isabel's pupils wavered.
‘One of the three?’
This was a completely different method from the oracles that had descended until now.
Previous oracles were always simple and clear.
The oracle always designated a single name.
But this time, it was telling her to choose.
Not the Goddess, but she, the Saintess, herself.
Isabel couldn't hide her bewilderment.
There were three Children of God in total.
Fortunately, they were all in Rarc Village.
Adel, Iris, Noemi.
In other words, it meant that the candidates for Saintess designated by the Goddess were gathered in one place.
‘You want me to choose the next Saintess? O Goddess, why give me such a trial.’
But that was all there was to the Goddess’s oracle.
The voice of the Goddess did not continue any further.
Isabel fell into deep thought.
Was it truly right for her to appoint the next Saintess?
Of course, she could use this as an opportunity to cast off the heavy position of Saintess and become free, but the next Saintess would have to take on that position not because of the Goddess, but because of her.
But she could not refuse the oracle.
Isabel contemplated which of the three would be the right person.
The first one she thought of was the eldest daughter, Adel.
‘Adel is a pure child, and her will is strong.’
Her personality was more suited for a knight than a Saintess, but it was certain that she acted with good intentions.
‘But the position of Saintess is not something that can be handled with strong will alone.’
The Saintess must lead the people and stand at the center of the cult.
‘Still, if a child like Adel becomes the Saintess, it would be good for unifying the cult.’
Then what about the youngest, Noemi?
She was strong, too strong.
‘That child's magical power is so deep and profound that its end cannot be known.’
Perhaps she could become a great wizard to the extent that even Rude the Sage might have to concede a step.
‘If she becomes the Saintess, she could perhaps become the strongest Saintess in terms of martial power.’
But she was an inscrutable being.
‘Would Noemi's power and personality be a good match for the cult?’
Furthermore, her excessive obsession with Frank was also a concern.
She might become a private entity rather than a public one and use her power recklessly.
The last one she thought of was the second daughter, Iris.
‘Iris…….’
Iris is the master of the Unseen Ones.
If Frank, the Goddess Cult, and the Unseen Ones were the three pillars that Cardinal Daniel had spoken of to stand against Primus, then making Iris the Saintess could unify the Goddess Cult and the Unseen Ones.
Of course, Iris was not the type to have deep faith either.
Nor was her personality submissive.
‘But this is an era of chaos.’
Since she would not be a Saintess of a peaceful era, a Saintess with strong leadership might be necessary.
After long deliberation, Isabel slowly exhaled.
‘I must decide.’
She cannot go against the will of the Goddess.
She herself had to choose.
After much thought, she made her decision.
Isabel headed to Rarc Village to convey her will in person.
***
Back to the present.
Amidst the thick spreading steam, Iris looked at Isabel with a puzzled expression.
‘What’s wrong with her?’
Isabel's attitude was somewhat strange.
After talking about quitting as the Saintess and becoming free, her face suddenly hardened.
‘I feel like I shouldn't be here any longer.’
But she couldn't just leave as she pleased.
Because their relationship was an awkward one.
In the end, Iris's concerns hit the mark.
Isabel closed her eyes, then slowly opened them, and brought up a story that was beyond imagination.
“The Goddess said that you are the next Saintess.”
For a moment, Iris froze like a stone.
It was a long while before her mouth fell open.
“I'm the Saintess?”
In the midst of her bewilderment, Isabel nodded and repeatedly emphasized that this was not a misstatement.
“The Goddess said so herself.”
“That can't be true!”
“No. This is an undeniable fact.”
A slight falsehood was mixed in Isabel's statement, but Iris couldn't know this fact.
‘Me, a Saintess? Does that even make sense?’
She, who had thought she had no connection to the Goddess Cult.
She, who had been disliked and considered the least trustworthy of the three Children of God.
Moreover, for the leader of the Unseen Ones to be the Saintess.
Isabel's gaze quietly watched her wavering form.
“A strong Saintess is needed in this era. And you, if it’s you……”
Isabel added with a smile.
“I believe you will do well.”
Iris was silent.
Her mind was a complicated mess.
A new destiny she had never imagined was about to unfold.
***
The steam of the hot spring slowly dispersed, and gentle ripples formed on the water.
The spot where Isabel and Iris had been staying just a moment ago.
Now, only silence remained.
But at that moment.
“……Iris is the Saintess?”
A low, trembling voice echoed through the quiet hot spring bath.
From behind a rock, a naked Adel slowly revealed herself.
Golden hair, damp and reflecting the light.
The sound of water droplets brushing past her hair and falling below was the only thing that filled the surroundings.
She stood there blankly, stroking the rock with an awkward expression.
‘How did it come to this?’
In fact, Adel had been using the hot spring before the two of them.
But thinking no one was there, she was leisurely soaking her body when, suddenly, Iris and Isabel entered.
‘Should I get out now?’
A momentary dilemma.
But because she was in an awkward position, she ended up hiding her body without realizing it.
And while hiding like that, she unintentionally overheard the two's conversation.
“It's so absurd, I don't know what to say.”
At first, she doubted her ears.
Iris is the Saintess?
Had she ever once shown a Saintess-like demeanor?
But she soon realized.
‘This isn't simply that kind of problem.’
Becoming the Saintess meant leaving this place and going to the grand cathedral.
It meant ending her life here and walking the path of a cleric.
‘She just barely came back home…….’
Adel bit her lower lip firmly.
Iris had wandered for a long time.
How long had it taken for her to truly accept this place as ‘home’?
‘And now she's leaving again?’
Her heart began to pound fiercely.
She had finally come back home and could be with her family.
But all of this was going to crumble again?
How happy her father was when she returned.
‘This isn't right. I can't lose Iris so easily again.’
Adel placed a hand on the rock and quietly raised her body.
The hot spring water splashed, enveloping her body and quietly flowing down.
What should she do?
She had to do something.
But how?
In the end, there was only one method she could think of.
Father.
The only person she could trust and rely on right now.
Adel clenched her teeth and immediately got out of the hot spring.
After hastily drying her body and putting on a robe, she hurried her steps toward the mansion.
To discuss this matter.
To protect Iris.
Soon, Adel was knocking strongly on her father's door.
But what was this?
Her father's expression looked incredibly sad.
Had he ever shown such an expression to his daughters even once?
‘Could it be that he already knew about this?’
Adel hesitated, wondering what to say, and couldn't easily bring herself to speak.