The Saintess' Troubles

"… Did it dodge that too?"

"No, direct hit. Was dangerous. Some of, my body, was shaved off."

However, the light being so strong actually worked in Rin's favor. Rather than suffering lingering pain, the parts touched by the light were instantly annihilated. There wasn't even time to feel pain, and while the aftermath gouged out surrounding flesh, the damage didn't spread any further.

After that, it just had to regenerate and it would be good as new. If Rin had been an actual wolf monster, things wouldn't have gone so smoothly… wait, don't slimes have cores? Rin, where's your core? Apparently not in your head… can you move it wherever you want? Since you're a slime, that's probably possible.

"So Kehma. I'm eating."

"Want seconds? If your body's damaged, you should eat plenty. I can prepare regular golems for you."

"Yeah, hand them over."

I mass-produced golems using the abundant dirt and sent them to the room where Rin was. Even without DP, I can dig through the dungeon using golems, so I have as much dirt and stone as I need.

The golems spawning from the magic circles I set up in the dungeon have also slowed down, so I need to keep making more golems too.

Rin devoured the golems smoothly, one after another. Like wanko soba.

Being a wolf, wanko… well, that pun wouldn't work in this world anyway. Nevermind.

"Phew, feeling, a little, better."

"Good. I'm counting on you for one more day."

"Nn."

And finally, Rin munched on the messenger golem I was controlling.

What a reliable partner. If we can just get through one more day, we win.

That said, I get the feeling the saintess' spirit was completely broken by today's battle.

… Maybe tomorrow she won't even come?

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

The saintess pressed her temples.

What should she do? Opening a huge hole in its torso didn't work. Blowing off its head didn't work either. Poison had no effect… Maybe if she could vaporize its entire body at once, she could manage it somehow.

But that would be nearly impossible without the black wolf's cooperation. The gap in their abilities was that overwhelming. Hitting it today was pure luck.

… For now, she decided to take a bath in the onsen. She barely had any time left to stay at this inn, so she might as well enjoy it while she could. She felt guilty about not completing the request and failing to conquer the dungeon, but… well, she'd set that aside for now.

She put on her bathing clothes and entered the onsen. Large baths were even better than she'd expected—a luxury that enriched the soul. Today, one of the inn's employees was in the onsen. Ichika, the slave with the Pavera accent.

"Ah, Saintess-sama… You look tired?"

"… Yes, is it that obvious?"

"Well, yeah. Want me to rub your shoulders?"

"No, there's a massage chair in the room."

Ichika waded through the water and approached the saintess.

The saintess and Ichika often enjoyed the rat races together in the game room, so they talked frequently.

"Bibibi's running in today's race. How about going for a long shot?"

"… Hmm, that might be a good idea."

Luck, huh. The saintess felt she'd used up all her luck when she hit that black wolf's head with [Judgment Ray]. Betting on Bibibi, who always lost, would probably yield the same result.

"Hm? What's wrong, got something on your mind? I'll listen if you want."

"Well, it's… not really something to talk about."

"Come on now. Sometimes just talking about it makes you feel better, you know?"

"… Well, I suppose it might be okay to tell Ichika."

And so, the saintess prefaced with "Keep this secret from Village Chief-sama, alright?" before consulting Ichika about her troubles. She was somewhat vague, but she talked about having to return to her country and about the black wolf being so strong that she couldn't win.

She also mentioned that lately her attendant seemed to be looking at her rear with lecherous eyes.

"… So even Attendant-san is a man after all…! But wait, doesn't Saintess-sama's doctrine forbid men or something?"

"That's not a problem. If anything, I prefer someone as passionate as Village Chief-sama. Such approaches and presents… fufufu, I feel love, I feel the love!"

The hard-to-obtain items he acquired and provided for her were the "presents," and whether those presents were free or paid seemed like a trivial distinction to the saintess.

"Hold on? That's not okay, you know? Yeah, not okay. The village chief already has a partner, so there's the whole balance thing, right?"

"There's no problem doctrinally. As long as one has the means, one may take as many partners as they wish. 'Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth, and rule over all of it'… That is Light God-sama's teaching. And since I'm the Saintess, I have the means. I could simply take in Village Chief-sama's partners as well."

"The Church of the Light God is something else!? And Saintess-sama would be the one taking them in!?"

"Of course. I am the Saintess, after all."

The saintess snorted proudly. Ichika wondered what exactly a saintess was supposed to be… though the answer was right in front of her.

"W-well, that aside, about that black wolf… if you can't win, why not just run away? It's not like failing the request means you'll die."

"My reputation would suffer though. Besides, leaving such a dangerous dungeon harboring a monster that even a Saintess can't defeat so close to Village Chief-sama…"

"Eh, wait, Saintess-san? Seriously? Are you seriously going after the village chief?"

"Whether I'm going after him or not aside, I can't help but feel good about being shown such affection."

"Hmm… but you can't win, right?"

"…"

What to do, the saintess pondered with her hand on her head.

"Sometimes giving up is important too, you know."

"Even if you say that…"

"And just between us, the Hero comes to this dungeon about once a month, so it'll be fine even if Saintess-sama doesn't try so hard."

"… The Hero? The Empire's Hero?"

Hearing that, the saintess nodded thoughtfully.

"… I see. Even if I can't win… that makes me feel a bit better. Well, I'll still do what I can until the end."

"I see～"

The saintess' worries eased somewhat.

Coming to the onsen was a good idea, the saintess thought.

And then,

She was thinking that if the Empire's Hero was trying to conquer this dungeon… it might be a good idea to beat him to it and later introduce him to the unconquered dungeons remaining in the Holy Kingdom.

Incidentally, she bet big on Bibibi in that day's rat race and lost spectacularly.