Chapter 415
Ssshhhhhhhh—!
Simon was washing himself in the bathroom. The air filled with steamy mist, and a fragrant cleansing scent wafted through the air.
Lete was sitting on the bed with her back turned, wearing a sullen expression.
‘…Isn’t that sound way too clear?’
The bathroom walls were made of glass, and although Simon was completely naked, thankfully the steam inside the bathroom only revealed his silhouette.
A little later, the water stopped, and the sound of changing into fresh clothes could be heard.
“Finally felt alive again.”
Simon said as he came out of the bathroom, drying his wet hair with a towel.
“The water pressure’s good and it's warm. Feels like I’m at the Keyzen bathhouse.”
“……”
Lete pressed her forehead with her hand. She was trembling slightly, and after a moment of inner turmoil, she suddenly jumped to her feet with a loud,
“Ahhh! Just, just remember! If you try anything weird, I swear—!”
“…I won’t.”
He couldn’t help but wonder, was her trust in him still that nonexistent?
Lete shot him a sharp glare before grabbing her clothes and a towel, and running into the bathroom.
Ssshhhhhh—
Soon, the sound of running water filled the room.
Simon, casually drying his hair with a towel, suddenly felt his lips dry out.
A single, thin pane of glass separated them in the same room.
It would’ve been strange not to feel tense.
“Don’t look this way, you perv!”
“…I’m not looking.”
Soon after, Lete bent over and began to take off her clothes. The soft rustling sound of fabric sliding across skin pierced through the sound of the water and into his ears.
Her silhouette began to appear behind the foggy, misted-up glass pane.
“……”
Simon sighed, unable to help but reflect on the design of this building.
Why the hell was the bathroom made of glass? And why did the bathroom door rattle around with not even a simple lock?
What exactly had the architect intended when designing this place?
It was hard to comprehend with Simon’s common sense.
Vmmmm!
At that moment, a Holy Shield materialized in front of the bathroom.
Vmmm! Vmmm! Vmmm! Vmmm! Vmmm!
The entire bathroom was soon layered with multiple Holy Shields.
“What the—?”
“If I can’t trust your conscience, I’ll trust my skills!”
Only after going that far did Lete finally begin to shower in peace.
“Haaaa.”
Lete, freshly showered and wrapped in a clean gown, sat on the sofa, her cheeks slightly flushed as she rolled a wine glass between her fingers.
She twirled the glass expertly, then brought the rim to her lips. The vibrant red liquid passed her lips and flowed down her throat.
“Nice~”
She leaned back with a happy expression, letting her body sink into the sofa and letting out a soft sigh of relaxation.
“You must’ve been tired.”
Simon was nearby, hanging the damp towels out to dry.
“Don’t even get me started.”
She twirled the wine glass in her fingers, eyes closed.
“Ever since I became a Saint, there’s just so many places calling for me, and so much I have to learn. Did you know they classify people’s smiles into twenty-five categories?”
“…Seriously?”
“They say you have to smile appropriately for each situation. Like, the servant says, ‘Saint, today is Holy Communion Day, so please use only smiles number seven to fourteen’. Can you believe that?”
Simon prided himself on having been rigorously trained in etiquette by Richard, but even just hearing that made his skin crawl.
“I mean, I don’t know much about the Holy Federation, so maybe I shouldn’t say anything, but… is all that really necessary?”
“Of course not!”
Lete shouted, extremely worked up.
“It’s all just empty formalities! Honestly, I bet even the instructors can’t tell which smile is which! And let’s be real, isn’t it just old people being like, ‘Back in my day, we had to go through it, so you suffer too!’?”
“Haha! That’s a pretty cynical take.”
“There’s no other explanation for it, really.”
After a refreshing shower and a sip of wine, Lete seemed to brighten up and chatted away cheerfully. Since Simon had things on his mind from earlier, he joined her enthusiastically in the conversation.
“Alright, playtime’s over.”
She said, rising from her seat and lightly tapping her forehead.
She used white magic to dispel the effects of the alcohol, and the flush on her cheeks returned to its usual color.
“Let’s get started.”
“Start what?”
She turned around and began rummaging through the bag on the table.
“What do you think? I’m not letting you sleep tonight.”
“?!”
Simon’s face flushed bright red.
His gaze lingered briefly on Lete.
Her still-damp white hair, the gown that clung dangerously to her figure. And then…
Whack!
A flying notebook smacked Simon square in the face, knocking him onto the bed. Lete was glaring at him with a cold look.
“Hey, control your eyes, will you? You trying to die!?”
Simon groaned, picking up the object that had smacked his face.
“What is this?”
“…A notebook for teaching the kids.”
Simon flipped through it with a rustle.
It was completely empty.
“Remember. Our excuse for visiting Escaille Village is not to investigate ‘evil’, but to teach the children. We’re supposed to be teachers.”
“Right, that’s true.”
“So we need to start preparing to teach right now. We have to appear capable and professional to the villagers. They say the place is pretty closed-off, so they’ll be wary of outsiders. If we seem suspicious, we’ll be kicked out immediately.”
A fair point indeed.
Lete tossed various teaching materials onto the bed.
“This is a bag from Lady Israfil, and of course, it’s perfectly prepared.”
She held up a coloring book and waved it. Simon, finally intrigued, began to examine the materials as well.
“Hm, we’ll need a detailed curriculum. What we’ll teach the kids, what kind of class structure we’ll use.”
“Exactly! Have you ever taught kids before? Or even just anyone, not necessarily children?”
Simon shook his head side to side. Lete, who’d been looking at him with hopeful eyes, pouted.
“Useless. Totally useless.”
“Sorry about that. What about you? Ever taught kids before?”
“Tons.”
Tap.
She placed a continental language textbook on the table and continued.
“I grew up in a cathedral that raised orphans. There was a manpower shortage, so once I got a little older, I helped teach and look after the kids.”
“…Ah.”
“Less talking, more prepping.”
And so, the two quickly began drafting lesson plans. Lete prepared coloring activities and lessons in the continental alphabet.
“What are you going to teach?”
“How about Divine Beastology?”
Lete furrowed her brow like he was spouting nonsense.
“Teaching Divine Beastology to kids who can’t even use holiness yet?”
“It’s training to improve holiness aptitude by playing with the divine beasts that generate holiness.”
“…Oh?”
Apparently, the idea wasn’t bad—her face brightened.
“Then what about the divine beasts? Bringing Ran out to play with the kids would be too dangerous.”
“I have other divine beasts. About three or so…”
Just as Simon was about to explain the lesson content—
KWAANG!
A thunderous explosion echoed from outside the window.
“?!”
Simon and Lete jolted up from their seats. Boom! Boom! Explosions kept going off one after another.
“What’s going on?!”
Simon was the first to rush to the window and throw it open.
Complete chaos.
The people of the city were screaming and running for their lives.
“Run! Keep running!”
“Head toward the guild hall!”
The once peaceful city had fallen into a state of turmoil. Guards were out, helping evacuate the townspeople.
“What’s going on?!”
Lete, bursting out of the inn, shouted.
“It’s a monster raid from the mountain range! Some have already broken through the perimeter and entered the city!”
A guard responded with a grim face.
“Why are the monsters, who lived peacefully in the mountains, suddenly attacking the city?!”
Glancing sideways at Lete, the guard seemed to think she held a high status, and so he answered respectfully.
“Th-they’re likely trying to escape the severe cold! The frost has become so extreme that not even the mountain monsters could endure it…”
“That’s enough. Thanks for the info.”
Lete cut him off and turned sharply. Simon, having already picked up on the mood, was preparing for action.
“Akallion!”
From the divine subspace, the bear-shaped divine beast, Akallion, sprang out.
Simon immediately infused it with holiness, causing its size to expand, then leapt up onto its back.
“Lete!”
Without a word, Lete grabbed Simon’s hand and climbed up behind him.
“Hold on tight. Go, Akallion!”
ROOOAARRR!
Akallion began pounding down the city alleyways with its massive footsteps. The fleeing citizens gasped and quickly made way.
“Ah! So this is that divine beast.”
Lete, arms wrapped around Simon’s waist, looked over Akallion and said,
“The one they said an Efnelle student lost to a necromancer.”
Simon flinched and glanced back at her.
“…You know them?”
“Just a distant acquaintance.”
Lete continued, looking uninterested.
“And that kid knows how embarrassing it is, so they’re keeping their mouth shut. Imagine—a divine beast ditching you to choose a necromancer! If the higher-ups in Efnelle found out, they’d be expelled immediately.”
“…Ahem, well, if you ever meet them, tell them I’m sorry.”
Lete scowled, as if wondering what he was on about.
“No need to apologize. No one can interfere with a divine beast’s choice. Honestly, it’s funnier that someone tried to force a bond with a beast that hadn’t even chosen them, just because they were impatient.”
By then, Akallion had arrived at the scene.
The village watch was in the middle of a fight with monsters.
Their opponents were White Goblins, a variant with snowy white fur and brown eyes.
“They’re breaking through!”
“Block them with your bodies if you have to!”
The watchmen were holding a corner of the broken fence, but the goblins’ assault was overwhelming.
“Out of the way!”
Simon shouted.
“Wh-who—?! Gah!”
Startled, the watchmen moved aside, and Akallion, with its enormous frame, barreled through the monsters.
CRASH!
The goblins were flung in every direction, and Akallion snorted loudly before letting out a roar.
“A-a bear?!”
“It’s a divine beast! A priest is here!”
Whether the watchmen were cheering or not, Lete tapped Simon’s shoulder and hopped off Akallion.
“I’ll leave the attack to you.”
“Got it.”
Lete rushed toward the fence while Simon rode Akallion straight into the horde of White Goblins.
Sreeeng!
Simon pulled out a greatsword from his subspace and infused it with holiness. Each swing of the glowing white blade sent monsters collapsing in bursts of blood.
‘A bit of a shame I can only use holiness!’
In the Holy Federation, Darkness was sealed, and Chaos took too long to prepare.
Simon quickly scrawled a magic circle on the blade's surface, gripped it with both hands, and swung hard.
BWOAAAANG!
A fan-shaped holy blade shot out, slicing five goblins in one go. Cheers erupted from the watchmen.
Meanwhile, Lete, who had reached the fence, first reinforced the weakening barrier.
<Holy Enchant>
FWWAAAASH!
All of the city's fences glowed with a white light.
Screeeech!
The monsters’ charge, meant to smash the fences, was stopped instantly.
They tried climbing over instead, but Lete raised her arm with a scoff.
<Great Wall>
RRRRUUUMBLE!
A massive wall of holiness surged up around the fence. The eyes of the defending watchmen widened.
“Am… am I seeing things?”
The once pathetic fence had transformed into a grand fortress wall, encircling the city.
Thanks to Simon and Lete’s intervention, the situation quickly changed.
Lete’s support abilities, in particular, were dazzling.
<Mass Heal>
White light shimmered over the bodies of those in pain throughout the battlefield. Their wounds closed in the blink of an eye.
“My—my wounds healed!”
“Let’s go!”
Wide-area healing and wide-area blessings—Lete healed and strengthened the watchmen who otherwise wouldn’t have been much of a force, sending them back into battle.
Emboldened by their boosted strength and speed, the watchmen went wild, cutting down monsters with every swing.
“Push them back!”
The tide had turned. As Lete ran, Simon came galloping in on Akallion at just the right moment.
“Grab on!”
Lete caught Simon’s hand with a snap.
He pulled her up strongly, and Lete spun her body to hop neatly onto the rear seat.
“We’ve secured this area. Let’s move along the perimeter and block the other incoming monsters!”
“Got it.”
Simon and Lete dashed across the battlefield. The city was large, and there were many zones to defend.
But the next area they reached was swarming with far more monsters than before. The defensive line had already collapsed, and the monsters had breached the fences.
The remaining watchmen were locked in close-quarter combat, but it looked like they were on the brink of annihilation.
“If we take them down one by one, it’ll never end. We need to hit them all at once.”
Lete moved her arm and opened her divine subspace.
Simon’s eyes sparkled.
‘Is she finally bringing out the white dragon, Ran?’
He wondered how much it had grown since last time.
Superb.
When are we getting more free chapters?
Thanks for the new chapters
Very good story and translation but half the chapter aren't for free and it is wayyyy too expensive will it stat like tjis foreve or will it get free after some time