novelraw Chapter 97 : Chapter 97
Chapter 97 : Chapter 97
Chapter 97. The Saintess (2)
It happened shortly before Adel came looking for me.
I was holding a glass of blood in one hand.
In the other, a notebook and a pen, humming a light tune as I walked down the corridor.
"Hmm~ hmm~ Another fun experiment time today."
Had it become a complete habit now?
I greatly looked forward to checking on Noctavira's condition in the morning, personally handing her the blood, and recording her changes.
"What kind of changes await today? Hehe."
My steps naturally became lighter.
Just then.
"You've been all smiles lately, haven't you?"
An unexpected, yet familiar voice.
"Huh?"
I stopped and turned my head to see Anonymous leaning against one side of the corridor, arms crossed, looking at me.
Her eyes were narrowed and one corner of her mouth was raised in a suspicious expression.
That expression was so frightening that it gave me goosebumps.
"W-What is it?"
I tried my best to feign composure as I replied.
However, Anonymous smirked and took a step closer.
"You seem to be in a good mood every time you go down to the basement. I wonder why that is?"
"A misunderstanding? Not at all."
Her tone was strangely sharp.
I cleared my throat 괜히 (gwaenhi - for no reason) and gripped the glass in my hand tighter.
"Ahem. It's just that the experiment is going well, there's no other meaning to it."
However, Anonymous didn't seem to believe my words.
In the blink of an eye, she snatched the glass from my hand.
"I'll be taking over this from now on."
"What?"
Startled, I glared at her with wide eyes.
But her expression didn't seem like a joke.
Anonymous looked down at the glass of blood for a moment, then glared back at me.
"From now on, I'll be in charge of giving blood to Noctavira."
"What? I'm not just giving her blood, I'm meticulously recording her changes."
I raised my voice, pointing to the report and pen in my hand.
However, Anonymous smiled slyly and quietly extended her hand.
"Then give me the report too."
"What?"
"I can just write it instead, can't I?"
"Th-that's."
An unexpected counterattack.
I tried to make some excuse, but Anonymous had already snatched the report from my hand.
She skillfully took the pen as well and calmly avoided my gaze.
"Well then, keep up the good work."
"W-wait!"
Before I could finish my sentence, Anonymous leisurely descended into the basement.
I could only stare blankly at her retreating figure.
"My one and only hobby..."
Just what had happened?
Unfortunately, it wasn't a dream.
That was the reason I was looking downcast after returning to my room.
***
'This is the first time I've seen Father with such an expression.'
Sad eyes, as if carrying all the worries of the world.
No, an expression like he had lost his country.
Adel clenched her fists and approached her father.
Then, she silently held his hand tightly.
"You already knew everything, didn't you?"
"Huh?"
Her father tilted his head and asked back.
"Knew what?"
"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it. But I don't think this is a problem you can solve by worrying alone."
"Uh-huh?"
"I'll go and get my sisters. If the four of us talk together, we might come up with a good solution. Please wait here for a moment."
Her father blinked his eyes as if he didn't understand what was going on, but Adel went to call Iris and Noemi without delay.
She looked at Iris and slowly opened her mouth.
"I didn't mean to, but I ended up hearing everything."
"What?"
"The fact that you were designated as the Saintess."
Cough.
As if he had heard something he really didn't want to hear, her father coughed severely.
'His throat must be parched.'
Adel silently apologized to her father in her heart and continued what she was about to say.
"Even if it's an oracle from the Goddess, I don't think this is right."
"Hoo. Since you heard everything, I won't beat around the bush either. So, do you have any brilliant ideas? The Goddess herself designated me, you know?"
"We have to postpone it as much as possible! You haven't been here for long, have you?"
Iris smiled bitterly and shook her head.
"Is that even possible? Our opponent is the Goddess. Our mother."
"That's all the more reason to resist! You even left home because you didn't like Father's discipline! Why can't you do the same to Mother?"
"Ha? Are those two the same?"
"What's so different? To me, Father is just as important as the Goddess."
At those words, Noemi nodded her head rapidly with a face of fervent agreement.
But Iris waved her hand dismissively.
"I've sorted out my feelings now. It might even be for the better."
"This is for the better?"
"Yes. I'm the leader of the Unseen Ones, right? If I can also serve as the head of the Goddess Cult, I'll be able to find Primus's whereabouts more easily."
"Are you being serious?"
"Of course."
"Liar! Then why do you have such sad eyes?"
"Would you mind not judging me as you please? I'm fine."
While Adel and Iris were arguing.
Noemi looked at Frank with a pitiful expression.
His expression had gone beyond bewilderment to sheer horror.
"Don't worry too much, Dad. Everything will work out. Okay? So please don't make that face. It's making me sad too. Sob."
Noemi's eyes welled up as she gently patted Frank's back.
Without even knowing what he was thinking inside.
***
'No way.'
Iris was designated as the next Saintess?
This never happened in the game.
There was an ending where you could raise a daughter to be a Saintess, but that was literally an ending.
It was an event that happened around the end of the game.
'There was no scenario where the Saintess changed at a time like this, when not even the mid-boss has appeared.'
Could it be that in the DLC, the timing for seeing the daughters' endings is different for each one?
For example, after one of the three becomes the Saintess, they defeat the final boss, Primus, or something like that.
But what was more shocking was Isabel's attitude.
I was feeling a great sense of betrayal from Isabel.
'Why wasn't this discussed with me first?'
She gave off an atmosphere as if she had something to say to Iris, but to think she would bring up something like this.
I couldn't accept this kind of one-sided notification.
'Something is going strangely. This is by no means a desirable direction.'
If Iris were to become the Saintess, she would have to leave this house immediately and go to Tournai where the grand cathedral is.
Could I really accept that?
Once one becomes a Saintess, depending on the circumstances, she might have to serve the Goddess for the rest of her life without ever getting married.
Having made up my mind, I immediately headed to the room where Isabel was staying.
My mood was already ruined because of Anonymous, but to think that such a ridiculous thing would happen in succession.
Whether the other party was the Saintess or not, what was wrong was wrong.
Agitated, I pounded on Isabel's door so hard it seemed like it would break.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Soon, Isabel's face appeared through the crack of the door.
***
Meanwhile, Isabel was agonizing over and over again in her room.
'Was what I did the right thing?'
Although an oracle from the Goddess had descended, the one who made the decision was she herself.
If Frank were to find out about this, he might hate her.
Why are you snatching away my precious daughter?
How could you decide something like this without a single word of discussion with me?
Iris just came back after leaving home, do you really have to take that child away?
But it couldn't be helped.
'I had to choose one of the three.'
If she had discussed this with Frank beforehand, he would have asked her to postpone the decision a little longer.
'Then what about me?'
How long did she, who liked Frank, have to continue doing this?
The words she had said about her skin looking bad when she first saw Frank were not just a joke.
Her skin was actually getting worse, and wrinkles were forming all over her face.
Leaving her firm and slim past self behind, the fat on her body was increasing day by day.
If this continued, she might become a stooped old woman.
'I don't want that.'
Now, she too wanted to break free from the heavy shackles of being the Saintess and become a free person.
And she wanted to return to the happy times of the past.
To the time when she spent enjoyable moments with Frank.
Just at that moment.
Someone pounded on the door mercilessly.
Frank was looking for her with an angry face.
That face was exactly like the expression he had when he met the Demon King.
***
"Iris is the Saintess? What does that mean?"
I asked bluntly.
Isabel looked at me with a slightly flustered face.
Then she uttered these words.
"It is a matter decided by the Goddess herself."
Her voice trembled, but her tone was firm.
An attitude as if no further discussion was needed.
My voice became rough without me realizing it.
"But isn't this too sudden?"
Isabel gave a subtle smile.
As if she had predicted my reaction.
"It is sudden for me as well."
She continued with a bleak face.
"Oracles are always like this. It was just as sudden when I became the Saintess."
For a moment, her gaze wavered.
It was an emotion close to resentment.
'Why is she making that face?'
I was flustered, but I had no time to worry about such things now.
"This is unacceptable!"
Isabel sighed and refuted my words.
"Then, there's nothing I can do either."
Turning her back, she walked towards the window.
Then, without even meeting my eyes, she continued.
"I have finished my role, so I will quit being the Saintess without any handover."
For a moment, my heart sank.
I shouted reflexively.
"Isabel!!"
But Isabel didn't say anything.
"What on earth is wrong with you? This isn't like you!"
At my shout, she turned her back again and looked at me.
An unbearable emotion was etched on her face as she slowly turned around.
"What is 'like me'?"
Her voice was low but sharp.
"I gave up everything after the oracle and became the Saintess."
Her fingertips were trembling slightly. No, they were trembling greatly.
"While even enduring the separation from you, whom I liked! Why didn't you stop me back then? It was different from now! Was I nothing to you?"
A tingling pain in my chest.
'Isabel liked me this much?'
She and I could have been lovers.
But that was, at best, a story within the game.
Was Isabel's emotion not just a setting, but a reality?
'Just what kind of existence was I to Isabel?'
My head was in chaos.
Iris was important too. But couldn't I make her stay by my side as well?
Nevertheless, I couldn't lose Iris again.
'A daughter I found after all this time.'
I took a deep breath.
"I understand the situation. I will think about it a little more and come back to you."
Isabel stared at me intently, then quietly nodded her head.
"I think I got a little too excited as well. I'm sorry. But I can't stay here forever. If you hesitate, I won't wait any longer either."
Her voice was calm, but on the other hand, it was pitiful and desperate.
Thus, only a heavy air flowed between us.