I Became a Childhood Friend With the Villainous Saintess

Chapter 58: Beyond the Original (4)

[Russell]

Was it because of my age, as the officer suggested?

My legs felt heavy. I hadn’t walked much, yet I was already drained.

I had allowed Millen too many hits.

There wasn’t a single part of my body that wasn’t battered.

I staggered as if I might collapse at any moment, and my head throbbed.

It felt like the vibrations from my footsteps were rattling my brain.

My vision had already passed the point of being blurry—it was darkening.

‘Look, Isolet. Our daughter resembles you so much. She won’t listen, no matter what I say. Once again, she’s causing me endless worry.’

I had no idea how far I had come.

It felt like only a few minutes had passed, or perhaps it had been drifting for countless hours.

When I regained my senses, I saw a girl dressed in black sacred robes.

Beneath the veil covering her head, vivid silver hair caught my eye.

Along with blood-stained gloves and an axe in her hand.

– Take your daughter and leave the way I came. When you come across a silver-haired woman, politely ask for help. Isha will know what to do

She was a strikingly beautiful girl at a glance.

Her long silver hair exuded nobility, and her crimson eyes radiated an otherworldly aura.

The axe in her hand was a bit unsettling, but not as much as her emotionless gaze.

There wasn’t a trace of emotion in the way the girl looked at me.

Like she was staring at a pebble by the roadside.

The girl, who had been mechanically raising her axe, flinched when she saw me and lowered her arm.

That knight had mentioned Isha’s name. Could they have met before?

Whether it was coincidence or not, my body had reached its limit. My legs gave out, and I collapsed to my knees in front of the girl.

Luckily, I didn’t drop Isha from my back.

“Please, help me.”

“You must be Russell.”

“Yes. Don’t worry about me; please help Isha first…”

“Hmm.”

I should promise her a reward. My words were stuck in my throat.

What could I even offer right now? Nothing came to mind.

At that moment, a wave of eerie killing intent washed over me, then vanished.

Startled, I looked up at the girl, but the aura I had felt was gone, and she had already stowed the axe at her waist.

The same divine aura I sensed from the knight now enveloped the area.

It was unsettling, yet somehow comforting.

Perhaps noticing my unease, her cold voice echoed again.

“I know you’re nervous, but lay Isha down on the ground. It’s natural for you to feel uneasy. That’s just how this divinity works.”

“I’d like an explanation, just a little…”

“This divinity isn’t for the living. It’s only natural for life to fear death. Unless you’re that curious to hear more right now?”

“No, I’m not.”

As soon as I laid Isha down, the girl placed her hand on my daughter’s forehead and radiated her divinity.

It was far more overwhelming than anything I’d felt from other priests.

Only then did I feel relieved. I silently watched Isha’s face.

As the divine power flowed into her, her breathing became calmer. Even the occasional pained moans seemed to ease.

Seeing her like this always tore at my heart, but now I felt a bit of peace.

‘You were like that too. You never listened to me. Not even at the end. You have no idea how much you broke my heart.’

I couldn’t help but feel a pang of resentment towards my late wife.

Yet I was still the same—lacking and foolish.

Even now, I was so glad to see my daughter’s face.

Though my heart ached, I was secretly happy. I was as spineless as a child.

I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d seen her sleep so peacefully.

Even though we lived so close, I realized I hadn’t even cared this much.

I should have stroked that forehead one more time.

At the very least, I should have made sure she didn’t feel lonely.

As a father, I’ve done absolutely nothing.

What was I clinging to all this time?

I wanted to brush away the hair stuck to her cheek, but I was afraid—could I even dare to touch her now?

A few minutes later, the priestess girl stood in front of me.

Her gloved hand once again held the axe.

I had managed to sort through things in my mind to some degree.

The murderous intent she had briefly shown me, the axe, and the situation we were about to face in Requitas—everything became a little clearer.

“It seems I’m of no use to you after all.”

“That’s right. I didn’t really have any reason to keep you alive. Plus, I don’t like using divine power meant for my knight on someone else.”

“It’s fine. You’ve saved my daughter. You can take this worthless life of mine as many times as you need.”

“I don’t need it. I don’t want to lie to my knight just because of you.”

Her voice was cold.

Except when she mentioned ‘my knight.’ The sweetness practically dripped from her words when she said it, even though she had just casually let it slip from her lips.

It made sense. This young lady must be quite caught up in her romantic affairs.

Then it happened. The girl grabbed one of my arms and lifted it.

It was the arm that had been mangled by Millen.

“I’m going to cut it off.”

“What did you just say?”

“I said, I’m cutting it off. If you keep this attached, you won’t survive.”

Her axe moved without hesitation.

* * *

As I retraced my steps, I soon encountered Sirien’s divine aura.

The thick darkness that had been looming vanished as soon as I stepped into it, like a lie dissipating.

All that remained were crimson lanterns. I followed the flickering lights ahead of me.

There were many bodies along the way. Some were killed by me, but a few had taken their own lives by stabbing themselves in the neck.

I thought I’d cleaned things up thoroughly, but it seems I missed a few.

Maybe that’s why Sirien always scolds me for being careless.

“Sirien?”

“Over here.”

Her voice came from a bit of a distance.

It seemed she had hidden away as soon as she ran into Russell.

Isha was sound asleep, and Russell lay on the ground, having received only the simplest of first aid.

One of Russell’s arms was lying on the ground nearby.

It must’ve been beyond recovery, so they’d cut it off.

That makes sense. If they had left it attached, it would’ve drained his divine power and endangered his life.

“How are they?”

“Neither of them is in any mortal danger. They’ll just have a rough time recovering.”

“If they’re alive, that’s good enough.”

Russell had survived.

I had saved someone who was supposed to die in the original story.

It might seem like a small difference, but I was quite pleased with how things had turned out.

For the first time, I had caused a distortion in the original plot.

Who knows what effect Russell’s survival will have on the future?

It won’t necessarily be a positive one. Now that Isha has some peace of mind, she might not become a Sword Master like in the original.

As Sirien mentioned, we didn’t really need Russell.

I had already accepted the small cost of keeping him alive.

But living humans are unpredictable.

And there’s no rule that says things always have to turn out for the worse.

We had become Russell and Isha’s benefactors, and while others might, Isha wouldn’t betray us.

I was already looking forward to what kind of change this small distortion would bring.

Sirien patted the spot next to her with her palm.

It seemed like she wanted me to sit, so I did as she indicated.

“Let’s rest a bit before we go. There’s no rush anymore.”

“Okay.”

No sooner had I sat down than Sirien stood back up.

She glanced beside my helmet and furrowed her delicate brow.

“What’s wrong? Did you get hurt?”

“No. Not really.”

“Not really? It looks like you did. Take off your helmet.”

Despite telling me to take it off, Sirien reached over and removed the helmet herself.

Her eyes, filled with suspicion, stared at me intently.

Then she brought her finger to the corner of my lips.

Come to think of it, Millen had landed a hit on me during the fight.

I’d tasted blood in my mouth, so it must’ve dripped outside.

How did she notice something even I’d forgotten about?

Her worried expression suddenly crumpled.

“I knew it!”

Sirien’s hands came down to punish me.

She pinched both of my cheeks between her fingers and shook them back and forth.

“Ow, ow, that hurts! Hurts so much! Aaaaagh!”

“You come back all cocky, but you’re injured again! And to top it off, you lied about it!”

“If I just eat well and get a good night’s sleep—”

“Ugh!”

“Aaaaagh!”

Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything.

Sirien, now thoroughly angry, violently shook my head.

My pinched cheeks stung.

Somehow, this hurt even more than when Millen had landed a blow on me.

Lately, Sirien’s hands seemed to be getting harsher and harsher.

Where had the delicate young lady who used to throw soft punches in the cabin gone?

I really missed that version of Sirien...

Only after tormenting me for a good while did Sirien finally let go.

I felt divine energy flowing from her fingertips, so my body was probably healed, but oddly enough, I hurt even more now than before the healing.

My cheeks were burning.

“Hmph. Let’s rest a little longer, then head back. We need to see Baron Esquente.”

“Weren’t we originally planning to rest for a few more days until someone came to clean things up?”

“That was the plan, but I think we need to meet him as soon as possible.”

“Did something change?”

“You were right about saving Russell. I thought at most he’d have a few dirty secrets about the central nobles, but it turns out to be far more than that.”

I thought it was just a small twist in the story.

But it seemed a much bigger crack had formed already.

“Count Eloran is colluding with demons. And Russell has the proof.”

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