The Saintess (4)

The next day, the saintess was chomped by Rin for a second time.

"This one too, like Kehma, is all-you-can-eat, huh."

"Go ahead and eat as much as you want～"

… Come to think of it, does the saintess not have a holy attribute? Rin seemed to enjoy eating her. Maybe she's actually some shameless, scheming woman who's anything but holy? … Well, Rin did say it tingled a bit, so maybe she has a little bit of holiness to her.

Anyway, I decided to spin the 1000 DP gacha every time the saintess dies from now on.

That's right, the 1000 DP gacha.

It's actually the reason I was summoned here in the first place, but I haven't used it at all.

… I'm the cautious type, so I'm not great at leaving things to chance. We haven't had much income to spare until now, and I couldn't bring myself to gamble on the gacha when there's a high chance of getting junk.

But now we're getting twenty-five gold coins a day from the saintess's inn fees. Adding in the DP from the saintess herself and from Rin, we've been making a killing lately. It's like hitting the jackpot. Of course I can afford to use 1000 DP every day.

I mean, that saintess is loaded… Yet she could only offer an additional three hundred gold coins? Talk about stingy. That's only twelve days' worth of her stay. Hasn't she already exceeded that by now?

"So, this is what I got from spinning the 1000 DP gacha right away today."

The quintessential dud: a scrub brush… Isn't this exchangeable for like 5 DP? Also, I didn't know you could get things other than monsters from the gacha.

"… A miss, huh. You've got bad gacha luck, Kehma～. For stuff like this, you need more, you know, love and fighting spirit? You gotta go ugugugu like this, ugugugu!"

"I have no idea what you're trying to say."

Even though Rokuko's only spun it twice, she was proudly trying to teach me gacha techniques… Though she did manage to pull an otherworlder and a phoenix in those two spins.

Okay, I'll have Rokuko do it tomorrow.

There was a knock at the door. It was Ichika.

"Goshujin-sama～. The Saintess-sama wants to see ya～. Whatcha gonna do?"

The saintess came again, huh… Haah, do I really have to deal with her? What a pain. She's probably here to report that she found the quest target. The reason she didn't come right away yesterday was probably to double-check first.

"Sorry, Rokuko. It's Saintess-sama. Please head to the Master Room."

"What, Kehma? We're spending time together right now, but you're saying the saintess is more important than me? Honestly…"

She said it like she was sulking, but her face was all smiles. Has she been like this since I gave her the ring? She's been teasing me like this more often lately. Where'd she even learn that?

"Obviously you're more important. If I let you meet the saintess and something happened to you, I'd die. Literally."

"… I know～, fufu."

After saying that, I thought, "Wait, doesn't that sound like I'm flirting with her?" I think I can feel Haku-san's murderous intent…?

What I said was simply a matter of fact based on the relationship between Dungeon Master and Dungeon Core.

I saw Rokuko off as she left for the Master Room in high spirits, then headed to the reception room.

Without having to wait, Ichika promptly brought Saintess Alka over. Deputy Village Chief Wozuma was there too, fully committed to blending into the background as always.

"So, what brings you here today?"

"Yes. I have found the target monster from the quest."

The saintess smiled as she sat down on the sofa across from me.

"So, will you accept the quest?"

"I don't mind, but I have a condition… Grant me the destruction rights to the Dungeon Core."

"That's not something we can discuss. Please come back after obtaining the emperor's permission."

"Oh my. All the Village Chief needs to do is nod. Just by nodding, you'll receive second-class land in the kingdom and three hundred gold coins, you know? It's that simple, isn't it?"

"I refuse."

An ordinary greedy village chief might easily agree, but for me, it's basically "I'll give you money if you let me kill you." There's no way I'd give permission for that.

… I just thought of something. There might be magical restrictions involved. I can't rule out the existence of some instant-death magic that would shatter the Dungeon Core the moment I give permission. After all, this is a world where magic exists.

Yeah, I can't let my guard down at all. I can't even be half-asleep. I want to tell her to just go home already!

"However, that monster cannot be defeated without me."

"Oh? What makes you so sure?"

"Because it's a fact. That thing is an evil, dark existence."

And now the Saintess-sama is saying things that sound like a chuunibyou patient.

But assuming that's true, she hasn't actually been able to do anything and just keeps getting eaten. It's been so one-sided you can't even call it a fight… Is she just bluffing, or does she have some secret trump card?

"However, it will take some time to defeat it… So please make your decision before then."

"That's why I'm refusing. If you're not going to accept the quest normally, feel free to leave, you know?"

"No, I'm saying, that monster cannot be defeated without me."

"No, no."

"No, no, no."

After that, I tuned out her preaching about the Church of the Light God while periodically rejecting her demands for the Dungeon Core destruction rights.

She didn't accept the quest in the end.

What's more, it dragged on until dinner time, and she kept shamelessly hinting "I'm getting hungry, you know" with obvious glances. Has she completely fallen for our inn's food or what? What's with this saintess? Just go back and eat by yourself. Fine, you can eat, but leave after you eat.

"This dish called bubuzuke is delicious. My, what a feast this has turned into. Village Chief-sama is quite skilled at negotiations; I shall negotiate with the kingdom to present you with better terms. Ah, another serving please."

"No, this will be added to your bill separately, so don't worry about it. Also, there are no seconds."

Of course, in this other world, the phrase "Have some bubuzuke" doesn't mean "Get lost already," so it just turned into us eating together normally. Hero Wataru would probably happily dig in too, so this saying really doesn't work in this world.