I Became a Childhood Friend With the Villainous Saintess - Chapter 195



195 – Dark Clouds (1)

After Sirien’s house arrest was released, everything happened in an instant.

In particular, the movements of the Pantheon were unbelievably fast.

The Demon King’s handmaiden was discovered deep within the temple.

I guess it’s also related to the civil war in the former Marquisate of Eloran… … No.

It is no exaggeration to say that this is a certainty at this point.

Such a thing did not happen in a small religious order. The Order of Order is one of the five pillars that support the Pantheon.

It is only natural that the prestige of the Mansinjeon falls as the incident becomes more and more talked about.

The only way to stop the news from spreading was to end the incident quickly.

The Pantheon was ready to have Acleron put on the scaffold at any moment.

Thanks to this, there is less than a week left until Achilles’ execution.

It was an unusually fast pace.

“My decision will not change. Rather than erecting a flimsy pillar, I think it would be better to reduce the number of pillars in the Pantheon.”

“It is the result of careful consideration by the elders. If only His Majesty the Grand Duke would accept it… … ”

“No. Our church has not yet achieved that level of scale or achievements. I appreciate the offer, but I think it would be best for you to go back now.”

Was that all? It seemed that the Mansinjeon had decided to wag its tail properly this time.

With the reputation of Order in ruins, it was suggested that Rest fill the void.

However, Sirien firmly refused.

There was no room for negotiation. And no one could ignore the Grand Duke of Illencia’s order to banish the guests.

As soon as the delegation from the Pantheon returned, Sirien spoke grumpily.

“Huh, where are you planning on using me as a shield? Anyway, I heard the old people are weak.”

“You declined well. We are not in a position to regret something like that.”

Just because the prestige of a religious order has declined, faith does not disappear all of a sudden.

There were still many believers in order in high positions in the empire.

If we take the place of order now, the believers will soon think that we have ‘robbed them of their place’.

I had no intention of serving as a breakwater against an enemy whose numbers and identities were unknown.

Besides, weren’t we the instigators of the incident?

Once we started to indulge in the bean curds, the purity of our intentions could be questioned.

When the cause is polluted, the fight becomes mired in mud.

Anyway, the financial aspect is already making a lot of money through the distribution of red magic stones.

In particular, Baron Iskente was meeting considerable demand.

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The original purpose was to provide some financial leeway, but it seemed that they were stockpiling red magic stones as they had more leeway.

Anyway, the expansion of the Hybras sect also received considerable momentum through the subjugation of Eligos and Lerazie.

Now that the Crown Prince and Ellis issue is settled, most of my worries are sorted out.

There is no reason to drink from a poisoned chalice when everything is going well.

“Is that all for today’s guests?”

“Yeah. There’s nothing left to do.”

“Then why don’t you go and stretch out a bit? I’m thinking of going down now.”

“Let’s go! Let’s go together.”

Is it because I’ve been living too busy?

While locked in the mansion, Sirien found the endless passing of time very boring.

It’s like when you suddenly give a vacation to someone who has been living without rest, they feel awkward.

Now that I’m under house arrest, it’s obvious that I can’t work.

There were no new books to read, so I was not interested, and with the royal knights coming and going so often, I could not indulge in carnal desires.

I couldn’t play board games like chess for long because I always lost.

Sirien still hasn’t lost a game to me.

Seriously! I didn’t lose a single game!

“Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve heard any news from the South.”

“I think it’ll be okay. I heard Barbatos has returned. There was some damage after stirring things up for a few days, but it’s cheaper than before.”

“I bet Darssian had a hard time.”

“There were a lot of laments written in the letter. You said very gently that you were dying to see Isha. I thought it was a wish, so I decided to grant it.”

Sirien giggled.

In the meantime, the place we headed together was the training room in the basement of the mansion.

There were no knights staying there, so it was just the two of us in the wide open space.

I picked up a light wooden sword, and Sirien grabbed her usual axe.

A light water level match.

This was Sirien’s way of relieving boredom.

When I was young, when Sirien was still inexperienced with the axe, I would often check her posture.

After both of our skills reached a certain level, we stopped training together.

Because a saint doesn’t necessarily need to be strong in close combat.

Actually, it’s still the same now… … It seemed like Sirien started out as a kind of hobby.

There is no harm in learning it.

If I taught her martial arts, Sirien would teach her the sacred methods in more detail.

Sirien hooked the axe blade onto my sword and pulled it towards me.

I obediently opened my defenses while following Sirien’s axe blade with my eyes.

“You’ve improved a lot. Last time I tried it, my sword skills seemed to have improved a lot.”

“But I’m still much more comfortable with the axe. With the sword, I just blindly follow what you do. I still have a long way to go.”

“Well, it’s a sword, so I just have to use it well. That’s right. The reverse swing I just did was really good. Did you practice separately?”

“No. Not like I practiced, just thinking in my head that there might be a way to do this?”

The current Grand Duchy of Illencia is in a very stable position.

The emperor is busy using this incident as an opportunity to regain his influence.

The Crown Prince was overcome with grief after his separation from Ellis.

He will probably recover and rise again someday, but his sorrow will not be aimed at us.

If Barbatos returns, the hawkish demon lords will be quiet for a while, so both the South and the West will enter a period of recovery.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that it was the most peaceful period both inside and outside the empire.

─Except for Baal’s existence.

The Demon King of the first place.

The oldest and most powerful demon lord remains.

His plans have come to naught, so there will be a response someday.

I had to prepare for it when I had time.

Strike. Sirien knocked my sword away.

Sirien’s silver hair shone beautifully on the clean axe blade.

“This morning, Baron Iskender sent me a letter… no, a letter.”

“What were you talking about?”

“… … If you take out all the useless details, I heard that the northern front is tense again. It seems like the water mercenaries are gathering. It won’t be long before the demons gather.”

As expected, nothing in the world goes smoothly.

When one side becomes quiet, the other side becomes noisy.

The North is said to be a battlefield where relatively low-ranking Demon Lords gather, but the Empire has yet to completely fill the void left by the Marquis of Eloran.

If the northern front is breached, the empire will be in immediate danger.

As it turns out, it wasn’t someone else’s story.

“You want to help me?”

“Look. It looks like you’ve prepared well, so I think I’ll just prepare a little.”

“You don’t have to worry too much. He’s a guy who cherishes his territory very much. I don’t know about anything else, but I can trust that one thing.”

How well did they synchronize with each other?

The moment she swung Sirien’s axe aside as if she was spinning around, her mouth opened slightly.

The bright red eyes stared at me intently.

“I don’t know how that got blocked. Show me more clearly.”

“Is this what you mean?”

“Yeah. I have no idea why it’s like this.”

There were times like this sometimes.

A movement closer to the realm of sense rather than something learned somewhere.

I just came up with a spur-of-the-moment idea, but Sirien took it and turned it into a technique.

Actually, I thought this was something that was just done by feeling… … but actually, Sirien uses it well for a long time.

Is this what they call a difference in intelligence?

Anyway, in times like this, it was fastest for me to hold his arm and teach him.

A posture that seems to embrace her from behind.

As Sirien surrendered her body to me, I slowly began to explain while moving her arms.

“Usually, this is where the strength comes in. So, if you wait in front and catch it, if you strike it at an angle, the trajectory changes.”

“like this?”

“Well done, but let’s lighten the load a bit. You only need to apply force when the weapon makes contact.”

I could smell a faint fragrance from our bodies touching.

Sirien’s scent mixed with the body temperature that had risen warmly from moving my body just a moment ago.

It’s a soft, gentle, and pleasant smell. I’m sure you’ve sweated quite a bit, but it doesn’t smell bad at all.

I took my eyes off her for a moment as she moved her body.

Sirien didn’t miss that opportunity.

He took out the wrist I was holding and grabbed my hand in return, smiling.

“What were you thinking just now?”

“… …the thought that my body smells good.”

“I was learning seriously, and Rajen had such a naughty idea?”

“Are you feeling unwell?”

“No. It’s not bad at all. I was just thinking about something similar.”

Sirien turned around and lifted her heel.

The two lips met naturally.