Chapter 63: Saintess(?), Verdi

“Who’s the saintess?”

It was Marcel who spoke up instead of me.

“The person right behind you, of course.”

In response to Marcel’s question, Mateo, who had risen back to his feet, gestured toward me.

“Ms. Verdi is the saintess?! As I thought—”

“There’s no way that’s true.”

Deneb shouted in a surprised voice, and my anger flared up instantly, so I cut her off in an irritated tone. Why the hell would you believe that and fall for it?

“Hey.”

Unable to hold back any longer, I stepped out from beside Marcel and glared at Mateo as I spoke.

‘Every single one of these bastards keeps fucking disrespecting me.’

That thief bastard I met before, those assholes spouting nonsense at the Association office—if they knew who I was, they wouldn’t dare say a word.

Same goes for this crazy cult leader in front of me right now. He probably thinks we look easy and approached us to pull some scam. If that’s the case, I just need to make sure he can never come near us again.

Dealing with cults is a pain, but I know their trigger button.

“I don’t believe in God. Actually, no… yeah, if there is a god, wouldn’t I be the god? I think I’m pretty damn amazing myself. But being treated as just a saintess… that’s a bit of a letdown. Feels like I’m being undervalued?”

Something like this—just thoroughly dismiss the god they believe in. If they have a seizure over what I said and get aggressive? Then I’ll report them right away. This body is a little girl. I’m confident I can get them thrown in a cell immediately.

But contrary to my hopes, Mateo didn’t seem to fall for the provocation easily. Still wearing that benevolent smile, he spoke.

“Hehe, there’s no need to hide it, Saintess. I know everything about you. My ability, ‘Clairvoyance,’ can see through all truths.”

‘Clairvoyance?’

What the fuck is that?

“Saintess, I also know that you are a virgin and that you are still chaste.”

“What, what? Fu—”

My jaw dropped at Mateo’s next words.

‘This crazy bastard, why the hell does he know something like that? And why is he blurting it out so casually!’

Suddenly, I felt a strange gaze from behind me. When I turned around, I saw both of them staring at me.

Young Deneb, still not understanding what Mateo said, had a clueless expression. But…

‘This fucking bastard, Marcel!’

Marcel couldn’t control his expression. When our eyes met, all he could do was quickly turn his head away to hide his face.

…There’s no way that bastard didn’t understand what Mateo said. Any adult man would know exactly what that meant.

More than that, though.

‘Why did he specifically mention virgin and chaste together?’

I was furious, but what Mateo said bothered me.

‘Aren’t those the same thing?’

I wanted to curse this cult leader bastard out right then and there, but I forced myself to cool my head and think.

—Murderer!

I kept recalling that word. Those bleak memories quickly chilled my mind. If I fell for this bastard’s provocation now, I’d lose.

“…I don’t know what nonsense you’re talking about. And I’m not even an adult yet, so is it really okay for you to say things like that?”

Calming down, I gave Mateo a cold smile and said that.

“An adult… well, I’m not so sure. From what I see, Saintess, you are an adult in name and reality.”

But Mateo shot back with that same unreadable smile.

‘This bastard really knows how to piss me off.’

He just keeps spouting nonsense.

On the surface, Mateo was playing the role of a benevolent cult leader. But I knew that smile was never born from good intentions.

Bastards like him piss me off. You know the type—sly and cunning like a snake, the kind that gets under your skin the more you deal with them.

Mateo Kvachi seemed to be exactly that kind of person. No wonder he was the head of such a deranged organization.

“Let’s go, Mr. Marcel. Dealing with him will just tire us out. Deneb, stop spacing out and follow quickly. I don’t have time to waste in a place like this.”

“…Yes.”

“Yess…”

Their answers somehow lacked energy.

Seeing that, I was a little pissed and considered hitting them, but—

‘…Huh?’

Suddenly, both of them slumped down weakly onto the floor at the same time.

For a moment, I wondered what was going on, but I figured it out quickly.

‘It’s sleep magic.’

You think I wouldn’t notice that? Now you’re pulling tricks?

I didn’t even need to look to know who cast it.

“…Is this a declaration of war?”

I turned my head slightly and glared at Mateo as I spoke.

“How could that be.”

He was still wearing that fucking smile.

“We merely wish to escort the Saintess. If you do not resist, no harm will come to those two.”

“…What do you want.”

From the moment he called me a bitch earlier, it was already a lost cause, but now that my two party members were asleep, I had no more reason to keep up the act. I dropped the formal speech. This bastard didn’t deserve it anyway.

“Our order has long been searching for God’s proxy, the Saintess. And at last, we have found her.”

“I’m not a Saintess.”

“Clairvoyance has the power to see through the essence of all beings.”

“What the fuck, Clairvoyance or not, I’m telling you I’m not a Saintess.”

“It seems you are not yet aware. But you will come to realize it soon.”

“Realize or not, I—”

Before I could finish my sentence.

Mateo’s smile changed. Up until now, it had been a facade of benevolence, but now it was a smile closer to malice.

That smile was one of the expressions I used to wear best before my body changed.

A smile full of composure and condescension, enough to put pressure on the other person.

That smile sent a faint chill down my spine.

“I know who you really are.”

And the next words out of Mateo’s mouth turned that faint chill into a full-blown shudder.

‘He knows who I am?’

…No.

There’s no way.

Think.

There’s no way a guy I met for the first time today knows my identity — that I’m Yoschuko Verdiol.

Even Mr. Luca, who drugged me, didn’t know this would happen to me. He’s just bluffing or talking shit.

I insisted to myself, but that eerie shudder refused to settle.

“You’re making a face that says ‘that can’t be.’”

“…”

“There are many eyes here, so I will keep your secret for now. But what will you do? If you come quietly, I will not only grant you treatment befitting a Saintess, but as I said, I will also treat those two with the utmost care.”

‘Fuck.’

‘Utmost care’ my ass. Right now, the worst treatment ever is being updated in real time.

‘Haah.’

Seriously, what’s with me lately? Is it because my body’s a girl now that everyone thinks I’m easy prey?

Back in the day, I would’ve just abandoned those guys next to me.

Or maybe it’s because Jihyeok is so damn strong that they can’t take him hostage even if they wanted to.

‘You guys are really asking for it. I can’t take this anymore!’

Starting with those Bandit bastards, then some brainwashing thief prick, and now some cult leader comes at me like this.

I’d been trying not to lay a hand on people, but it seemed like I’d have to use force to wipe out this shitty feeling.

[ Stealth Lv.4 ]

I activated the Stealth spell and immediately vanished from their sight.

“W-What?”

“Where did she go?”

The other followers started panicking, except for Mateo, who still wore that leisurely attitude. I immediately activated Gravity Magic on the fallen Marcel and Deneb, lifting their bodies.

“…Do you intend to oppose us?”

I was in the middle of moving the two of them to a safe spot. My eyes met Mateo’s, and he spoke to me.

‘He saw through my Stealth.’

Everyone who had ever seen through my Stealth until now was a skilled fighter.

That meant this bastard was at least on the Same Rank level as them.

But that didn’t mean I was going to lose. If it came to a fight, I planned to pay them back double.

[ Ice Element — Frost Nova Lv.7 ]

The spell had been ready for a while. I could cast it with just a hand gesture.

“Don’t you have a secret you need to hide? If I were to reveal it all—”

“Are you really going to?”

I shot back confidently, my hand poised to strike.

“If you were going to, you would’ve done it already. The fact that you haven’t means you’ve got an ulterior motive. Sorry, but I’m not that easy to push around.”

I don’t know what these bastards are after, but I do know they need me. The moment my identity gets exposed, I’ll become the center of public attention overnight. Since Karelin’s group is currently operating in secrecy, they can’t want things to go that way. So they wouldn’t dare spill it carelessly.

“Hahaha…”

Mateo laughed the same way as before, but I could tell it wasn’t because he was amused. Seeing him like that felt satisfying.

“Indeed. With that level of insight, I suppose Vasquez didn’t go down without a fight.”

“Vasquez?”

“You were attacked by a stranger in a Gate some time ago, weren’t you?”

He meant that egg-thieving bastard. So that was his name. Vasquez, you’re dead next time I see you.

“You in cahoots with that fucker?”

“Cahoots… Well, yes. For now, that’s the case.”

“Then are you after the egg too?”

Vasquez’s goal was the egg the Earth Dragon had. Which meant this guy—

“No. I came here solely to meet you.”

“What?”

I’d thought he was after the egg, but Mateo said it without a shred of hesitation.

“I have no interest in some egg like that. I’m working with them only to achieve my own goal. And my goal is you, and you alone, Saintess.”

“Ugh, fuck, that’s creepy. And I’m not a saintess.”

I didn’t know what it was, but this bastard’s goal didn’t seem to be the egg. He was technically in cahoots with Vasquez, but they didn’t seem to be on good terms… Hmm.

‘Did he bring other allies?’

I quickly scanned my surroundings. But all I could see were the cult followers.

They still hadn’t found me in hiding.

“Rest assured. Only I and the followers of the Ark came here.”

“And you expect me to believe that?”

“I didn’t come to harm you. I came to help you.”

“Then why’d you put my people to sleep right off the bat?”

“That wasn’t my doing.”

As he said that, Mateo glanced to his left. Following his gaze, I saw a female follower. Her eyes were pretty fierce. Unlike the other followers, she wore a gold shawl over her shoulder — seemed like she was some kind of executive.

“But I admit the method was a bit excessive. On that point, I offer my deepest apologies on behalf of Ramiel.”

Mateo bowed his head. I shot back with a scornful expression. Was this that thing? Locking the barn door after the horse has bolted?

“I’ll withdraw for now. I hope you’ll think positively about this when we next meet. Let me say it once more: I am not the Saintess’s enemy. I only wish to be on your side.”

“Side my ass.”

I said it out of disbelief, but instead of answering, Mateo just smiled.

“Then I’ll take my leave. Ramiel.”

“…Yes. To headquarters.”

When Mateo called the woman beside him, she bowed her head. At that, the followers who had been milling about all stopped moving at once.

“Until we meet again.”

With those words, Mateo and his followers vanished in the blink of an eye.

I waited a bit longer just in case, but nothing else happened.

It was only when I was sure the danger had passed and I finally let my guard down.

‘…Fucking bastards.’

Only then did I realize.

That the only people left around the Association office — which I’d thought had turned into a full-blown riot — were me, and the sleeping Deneb and Marcel.