Free Web Novel“You’re awake?”
Liya opened her eyes. As the drowsy haze faded, she saw images that shifted from unfamiliar to familiar at lightning speed, as if they were surging up from the depths of memory.
Wavering candlelight, stained-glass windows, the compassionate statue of the Goddess, and a figure dyed infinitely gentle by the soft glow.
A holy figure, seated with a book in hand.
“Sa—Saintess, teacher!”
The grogginess born of long sleep vanished in an instant. Liya sprang up from the bed like a released spring. Perhaps from sheer shock, her lips opened and closed, yet the words that came out still stuttered:
“Why... why are you here? Am... am I dreaming?”
Instinctively, she touched her own cute cheeks and steeled herself to give a hard pinch.
Tss.
Ow.
Not a dream!
“The time for dreaming ended long ago.”
The Saintess lifted her gaze from the book in her hands and let it fall upon the disciple she hadn’t seen in so many years. She ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ smiled:
“This is the Church.”
“The Church...”
Liya blinked. “Which means...”
She’d managed to reach the Holy City?
But...
Liya lowered her head and looked at her hands.
On those clean little hands, there still seemed to linger warmth from fresh blood, and the sensation of gripping a blade and driving it into flesh.
And awakening along with it came those mingled and terrifying memories that felt like they had happened only a heartbeat ago.
The deep forest.
The vicious pursuers.
The grueling battle.
Death.
Pain.
Wailing.
And...
The despair brought by that dreadful natural disaster.
Yet, within those shards of darkness, there had always been a warm light that never went out, making those terrible memories feel not so hateful after all.
Rather like a treasure—something she wanted to keep forever.
That light was...
“Muen—right, where’s Muen? Muen... where is he?”
Liya’s bright eyes suddenly flew wide as she looked around in confusion.
When she found no trace of that familiar figure within sight, the warm candlelight around her suddenly turned ice-cold, surging over her like the tide until it nearly made her suffocate.
If she remembered correctly, the very last image in her mind was Muen hurling himself at that terrifying calamity without a thought for his life. Did that mean...
“Don’t worry. He’s fine. In fact, he’s even livelier than you.”
A gentle voice sounded, and the candlelight grew bright and tender once more.
“R—really?”
Liya let out a long breath and patted her chest without thinking. Then, the moment she lifted her head, she met a pair of eyes brimming with a mischievous smile.
“Oh my, the first thing you do upon waking isn’t to catch up with the teacher you haven’t seen in years, but to fret over a man? Boo-hoo, how heartbreaking for your teacher.”
The Saintess pantomimed wiping away nonexistent tears.
“N—no...”
Liya’s pretty face flushed scarlet in an instant. She flapped her hands in a panic:
“It’s just that Muen has helped me many times, and he was caught up in something really terrible, so that’s why I was worried about him...”
“Is that so? Truly not because you have some strange feelings for him?”
The Saintess blinked and teased.
“Ab—absolutely not! Saintess-teacher, that thought is what’s strange!”
By habit, Liya puffed her cheeks, then realized that such a face wasn’t proper before her teacher. She instead clenched her pink fists and stiffened her expression, speaking earnestly:
“A—and besides, my goal is to serve the Goddess as a Saintess. Maintaining purity is a must. How could I possibly have such strange thoughts!”
“Purity?”
“Yes—purity!”
“Oh~ I see~”
The smile at the Saintess’s lips suddenly grew deeper.
Her gaze lowered. She turned a page of the book in her hands. Hua-la—the sound was especially crisp.
Huh?
A book?
With that overly clear rustle of turning pages, Liya’s line of sight drifted, almost involuntarily, to the very book the Saintess had been paging through this whole time.
Eh?
This book?
Why... does it look so familiar?
As if it were...
It was...
Upon the black cover, a faint silhouette of a woman’s alluring figure seemed to be outlined.
Bit by bit, Liya’s little face went rigid.
The blush that had only just faded spread swiftly back across her cheeks.
Perhaps it was someone’s illusion, but as if from a brain in overdrive, wisps of steam seemed to curl up from the top of the girl’s head.
“Th—then... Saintess-teacher...”
“Mm?”
“That book...”
“Oh, you mean this?”
The Saintess held the book upright so the girl could see it more clearly, then smiled:
“I just found it on your person. I was too curious, so I borrowed it for a look. You won’t blame your teacher, will you?”
“...”
The last sliver of hope vanished completely. The girl’s delicate body began to tremble violently.
As though her soul were swaying in an endless storm, the colors in her eyes turned at times vacant, at times confused. Finally, in a chaos beyond words, only one sentence surfaced in her mind.
The sentence she’d just said.
Purity.
Purity.
Pu—
Not pure at all.
“Uuuuuwaaah...”
Liya wrapped herself tightly in the quilt, like a young girl whose dark-history diary had been discovered by her parents, wishing she could disappear from this world at once:
“Sa—Saint—Saint—Saint—Saint... Saintess-teacher, wh—why?”
“My, is this something one shouldn’t read?”
Only now did the Saintess cover her small mouth in “sudden realization.”
“But I didn’t expect that after a few years apart, Liya would become so bold. Tsk-tsk—looks like you’ve truly grown up.”
“Uuu... I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. Goddess, Liya is no longer pure. Liya can’t serve You anymore, uuu...”
From beneath the covers came the girl’s wail of despair.
...
A few minutes later, Liya finally calmed down and glared huffily at the wretched book that had made her display such disgrace.
Hmph. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com
It’s all that hateful guy’s fault for making me pick out spoils.
If I hadn’t seen this book, I wouldn’t have let a teensy bit of curiosity turn into... this...
Uu... I want to die...
“All right, all right. It’s just been so long since we met that your teacher couldn’t resist a little joke.”
The Saintess gently stroked Liya’s head and smiled:
“The Goddess won’t be angry over something every youth does. Besides, didn’t your teacher also read it just now?”
“Mm.”
Liya’s eyes still brimmed with tears, but she nodded slightly.
“Then...”
Sitting face to face with the girl, the Saintess asked solemnly:
“Liya Angel, long time no see.”
“Long time no see, Saintess-teacher.” Liya straightened her back in reply, like a student being called on in class.
“Have you been well these years?”
“I’ve been very well.”
“Have you grown?”
“...Yes.” A brief think.
“Have you grown stronger?”
“...Yes.” A short hesitation.
“Made new friends?”
“Yes!” Without hesitation.
“Have a boyfriend?”
“Yes—wait, no, not that!”
Nearly tricked, Liya flushed all over again and puffed:
“Saintess-teacher... wh—what are you even asking!”
“My, none at all?”
The Saintess blinked in surprise. “I thought you and that Muen Campbell had something going on.”
“N—no we do not!”
Liya pouted, then said seriously, “Didn’t I just explain? We’re only ordinary friends.”
“Really?”
“Of course!”
“I see. Looks like your teacher was overthinking.”
“Exactly!”
Liya pumped her little fists.
“Then... Liya.”
“Mm?”
Liya started, because she sensed the change in her teacher’s tone.
“If you do like someone, you must tell your teacher right away.”
The Saintess suddenly gathered away all her smiles. She leaned forward and cupped the girl’s pretty face.
In those crystal-clear eyes of hers shone a strange light Liya could not understand.
“Before you...”
Looking into Liya’s eyes, she spoke softly:
“Step onto a road from which there is no return.”
