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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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Hmm, the taste of leafy greens wasn’t bad either.
As expected, dressing was the best.
It could make even tasteless grass somehow delicious.
While enjoying a rather satisfying meal, I quietly looked around the restaurant, sensing a strange atmosphere.
Curious glances came from all around.
It didn’t seem like they were particularly staring at us, but… Why was that old man covering his mouth and shedding tears every time Karina chewed her food?
Could it be something like… The saint is eating in front of me…!?
Well, even I would have made a fuss if a world-class star was eating nearby.
Moreover, if it was a saint who was practically an idol of the world’s largest religion, surpassing even a world-class star, all the more so.
“Father Rowan?!”
…Ah.
He collapsed.
When I turned my head to look at Karina due to the commotion in the restaurant, she had an expression of indigestion.
Poor thing.
It must be hard to even eat if someone does that every day.
“Ahaha… I’ll go check on that priest and come back.”
Karina rose from her seat with an awkward smile.
While transferring more food onto my plate, I watched Karina rush over to the priest. But is it really okay to go?
Wouldn’t he just die of a heart attack if she gets any closer?
Well, it doesn’t matter since she can just pour out healing magic…
“Renny, Renny, why did that old man collapse?”
“Hmm, think about when you first ate hydra snake meat.”
“It felt good!”
“It’s like that. But he liked it even more than you, so he passed out.”
“Is that so?”
That’s a fitting explanation.
I didn’t know Renny had this level of intellect.
Surprised by Renny’s unexpected side, as she even struggled with two-digit calculations, I stared at Renny’s face.
Renny must have felt my gaze, as she turned her eyes and met mine.
“Why are you staring at me like that?”
“…It’s nothing.”
“How boring.”
I like boring things.
I dislike unnecessarily spectacular things.
I quietly put the grass into my mouth.
Hmm, it’s sour.
What kind of dressing was this made with?
Should I ask the chef later?
And so, our dinner ended peacefully.
Although one more person fainted.
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“Johann! Let’s go to the night market!”
“Millia. Look at the sky.”
The sun is above our heads, and you’re talking about a night market.
Do they call day night and night day here?
I looked at Millia with a questioning gaze, and she tilted her head as if asking why, then dropped her head.
“Ah!”
“Be careful.”
I quickly picked up her head and placed it on Millia’s neck before anyone could see.
Why didn’t you wear a neck band?
Even if it’s stuffy, you should do what you need to do.
If you accidentally drop it in a crowded place, it’ll cause a commotion.
Of course, there won’t be a problem since she’ll just become healthy even if she receives a holy magic baptism, but losing this comfortable life is a bit too much.
We’re getting food, a room, and plenty of money from exchanging jewels, enjoying a golden age of life by indulging in luxurious meals outside.
Losing it all due to a single accident was not acceptable.
…Although it was a bit too comfortable after living like this for about a week.
Sometimes, when I was tearing into a high-class steak at a fancy restaurant, I missed the stinging texture of a plump caterpillar.
When I was surrounded by dining etiquette, somewhat uncomfortable clothing, and the attention I receive as a saint’s companion, I sometimes feel nostalgic for the deserted island.
When I was living there, there was no place as precious as that, but now that I’d left, I actually missed it.
The human heart is so insidious.
I have no intention of going back, though.
People should live where there are people.
If you live alone, you’ll go crazy.
Like how I used to talk to myself in the air.
“Johann? Johann?”
“What is it?”
“What could Karina be doing right now?”
“She’s probably being held up by people.”
Unlike us, Karina was a high-ranking person.
As expected of a saint’s reputation, there must be a mountain of people wanting to meet her.
Until we departed for the academy the day after tomorrow, she’d be either talking to people or healing them non-stop, so it’d be difficult to see her face.
“Karina is popular, isn’t she?”
“A saint is originally very popular.”
“But it does look troublesome.”
“You’re right. It’s troublesome. That’s why there’s nothing better than living a low-key life.”
“Low-key?”
“It means living without standing out.”
In a modern society with excellent public order and reliable safety measures, it might be different, but here, having recognition is almost synonymous with an increased probability of your life being in danger.
Think about it.
This is a world where there are assassination guilds, bandits, goblin hordes that can raid small villages, and crucially, pseudo-religions that offer human sacrifices just by going a little outside the city.
In a world like this, having a reputation is nothing more than making yourself a tasty prey if you don’t have power.
Although I didn’t remember all the content and settings of Survival Academy, even the sporadic memories that came to mind indicated that it was definitely not a peaceful world.
The most vivid memory I had was the traitor route, where the protagonist joined a pseudo-religious group worshipping an evil god after realizing that humanity has no chance of winning.
Even the good ending ended with an unsatisfactory feeling, where the mastermind was not caught.
I guess the true ending requires catching that mastermind…
Who was the mastermind?
There were gaps in my memory, but even back then, I only remembered spending hours in keyboard battles arguing about who the mastermind was.
“…Well, it’ll work out somehow.”
“Huh? What did you say?”
“Just talking to myself.”
“Johann really likes talking to himself.”
“When you live alone, there’s no one to talk to.”
“Then I’ll talk with you by your side!”
“…Thanks.”
Really.
At my words, Millia put her hand on her waist as if telling me to say whatever I wanted.
Seeing that mischievous pose, I patted her head once and turned my gaze to the window.
The view of the city through the window was quite nice.
Since this was a city, there were only brick houses, so they all looked the same, but it still had a lot of charm.
This was exactly how a city on the European coast felt.
I’d never been there, but I’d seen it in videos.
“What, why aren’t you talking to me? I was all ready to answer anything!”
“Have you finished your homework?”
“…That’s low.”
You haven’t done it.
You need to at least master the language to have a chance of getting into the academy.
You’re not going to communicate with letters from hundreds of years ago, right?
I watched Millia’s back as she disappeared with quick steps, saying she was going to do her homework.
It was a great way to pass the time.
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‘I’m tired.’
Karina smiled, thinking a thought she could never utter out loud for the seventh time.
Even though she had missed this situation of being surrounded by people all day when she was on the deserted island, now that she was actually surrounded by people here, the contradictory feeling of the deserted island came to mind.
It was a feeling that had gradually taken hold in Karina’s heart every time she talked to people over the past few days.
“Lady Karina! Greetings! I am…”
“Oh, you! I’m first! Lady Karina!”
“Lady Karina!”
“Kari…”
Desperation, joy, reverence, curiosity, desire.
Countless gazes pierced Karina’s body.
The saint was the symbol of the Kalon Church, the largest religion in this world, and the one who conveyed the will of God.
The very symbol of hope.
They were the gazes she had experienced to the point of being sick of them until she was cast away.
Surely she should have been used to those gazes by now.
…Until she was cast away.
Since she returned to the continent, a feeling of suffocation began to coil up in her heart.
With people watching her every move, she couldn’t even utter a single word carelessly, and her expression always had to be a benevolent smile.
No other expressions were allowed.
Because she was a saint.
‘It wasn’t like this before…’
Karina had no choice but to admit to herself that she had changed.
Once you’ve tasted the sweet fruit, it’s hard to forget it.
But she couldn’t show that in front of people.
Karina listened to the prayers of countless people and recited a plausible prayer as always.
“As Lord Kalon says…”
A prayer so obvious that it induced drowsiness.
But it was a different story if the speaker was a saint.
Hundreds of people who had come to see her all sat down and looked up at her.
With hundreds of people staring at her face intently, not a single mistake could be made.
Karina recited the contents smoothly, recalling the contents of the prayer.
That alone was enough to make many people shed tears of emotion and even faint.
Then, with the help of other priests, she would quietly slip away, which was her daily routine.
Of course, she believed without a doubt that she would do the same today, but while reading the prayer, Karina suddenly shivered at the chill she felt from behind.
‘There’s something behind me, but I can’t see it…’
Karina unconsciously twisted her body slightly to the side.
It was the minimum movement she could make.
That movement saved her life.
Puff.
“Lady Karina!”
‘It hurts…’
Karina’s delicate body collapsed from the sudden pain.
Her vision blurred from the excessive pain.
Even as she fell, Karina tried her best not to frown at the pain she felt on her back.
Collapsing while sweating profusely all over her body, she looked back with blurred eyes.
Who shot an arrow at me?
Who…
Karina’s consciousness sank into darkness.
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someone tried killing waifu? yeah that not gonna go well for them