As I walked around with the children to various shops, in the end, none of them would let me pay.
Every time, in front of the shops, there would be a back-and-forth of "I'll pay" and "Please let me off," but ultimately, the surrounding residents would insist, "Please understand the shop owner's feelings."
I thought, "What a well-coordinated play," while experiencing another defeat.
The children, who had been eating the shop's goods with me, seemed to be full and said, "Great Saintess, it was delicious," as they rubbed their eyes and went home.
It seemed to be nap time.
Taking the opportunity, I broke free from the circle of residents and walked deeper into the alley, looking for a new shop.
The residents I passed looked curiously at my red hair, but in the next moment, they averted their eyes without saying anything.
... It seems that the story of me being the reincarnation of the Great Saintess hasn't spread around here yet.
Well, if that's the case, I'll do some shopping here and pay this time.
While looking around, I made eye contact with a middle-aged man.
He approached me with a start and pointed to the deeper part of the alley, saying, "There's something delicious over there."
It didn't look like there was a shop, and for some reason, the advice from Captain Cyril, "Don't follow someone who offers you delicious things," suddenly came to mind.
Ah, this is someone I shouldn't follow, isn't it?
Thinking this, I gently shook my head to decline.
"Thank you, but I was just about to take a break, so I'm fine."
Then the man grabbed my arm in a flustered manner.
"There's a sick person! Please help!"
A sick person! That's a different story!
I hurriedly ran to the deeper part of the alley with the man, and at the turn of the road, several men were waiting.
They looked healthy, but I wondered if these were the sick people when a hand reached out from the side and pressed the lower half of my face.
Surprised, I looked at my mouth and saw a cloth pressed against it. I thought, "Huh?" and stared at the man pressing the cloth against my mouth.
1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds...
"Why aren't you losing consciousness! This is supposed to have an immediate anesthetic effect!"
The man holding me down averted his eyes, unable to bear it, and shouted at his companions.
... Why? Because I'm the Saintess.
Such a weak status effect is automatically removed.
I firmly grabbed the arm pressing the cloth against my mouth and removed the cloth and the arm.
Then, I looked at each of the five men present and asked,
"So, where is the sick person? If it turns out to be a misunderstanding and there is no sick person, I'll go back to shopping, okay?"
"That... there is... but..."
"... That..."
For some reason, the men seemed hesitant and stumbled over their words.
I tilted my head and asked them,
"Um, you were trying to make me lose consciousness and take me to where the sick person is, right? If you guide me now, I can walk there on my own. I'm not that heavy, so it's not a great deal, but it's a bit of a deal, right?"
Perhaps still impressed by the amber candy, I ended up boasting about my light weight without being asked.
"That's true, but... why are you so kind? We were trying to kidnap you, weren't we? Normally, you would run away, right?"
Looking at the man, I thought, "I knew it."
... Indeed, these five people haven't heard the story of me being the reincarnation of the Great Saintess.
From the attitude of the residents earlier, it's clear that if they knew I was the reincarnation of the Great Saintess, they would treat me more politely.
And if they knew that I currently don't have the power of the Saintess, they wouldn't try to kidnap me to treat the sick.
So, their actions must have been impulsive, based on the fact that I have the same hair color as the legendary Great Saintess, thinking that I might have the power of the Saintess, even though the possibility is low.
Still, to ask for help just by seeing red hair without even checking if I'm the Saintess, these five must be quite careless, or perhaps they are in a dire situation?
Thinking this, I answered honestly.
"I thought I could help if there was a sick person. Um, or were you planning to kidnap me for something bad? If so, I'll run."
While saying this, I glanced at the swords the men had at their waists.
... Indeed, they have impressive swords, even though they are not knights.
"We won't! We won't do anything bad!!"
The men waved their hands in a flustered manner and denied it, then looked at one of them with troubled expressions.
Then, the man who was being looked at hesitated for a moment, walked up to me, and bowed politely.
"I apologize for trying to be rough. I'm Arial, the grandson of the clan leader. The sick person is my daughter, and I would be grateful if you could examine her."
Arial, who introduced himself, was a man in his mid-20s.
He had a strong resemblance to the people of the island, with brown skin and dark blue hair, and he placed his bony hand on his chin as if he were nervous.
... Being nervous means he is aware that he is doing something wrong.
Thinking this, I introduced myself in return.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Fia Rude. Yes, I'll go with you. Next time, please explain with words first."
When I said this, the five men bowed apologetically.
--- The place the men led me to was a cave by the seaside.
The entrance was narrow, but it widened as we went deeper.
As we continued deeper, we reached a spacious area.
Looking closely, I saw that about fifty people were lying in half of the space.
Even from a distance, I could tell they were sick and breathing heavily.
I approached involuntarily and saw that the weakly outstretched hands and feet had clearly visible yellow patterns.
"This is..."
I exclaimed in surprise.
The yellow patterns on the sick people's hands and feet, their heavy breathing, and fever. These symptoms are...
Next to me, Arial looked worried and glanced at me, but suddenly turned to the cave entrance with a start.
Then, he narrowed his eyes and shouted loudly,
"Who are you!?"
Surprised by Arial's intimidating voice, I turned around and saw a dark figure about fifteen meters away at the entrance.
It was hard to tell who it was in the dim cave, but the shoulder that glinted in the torchlight looked like a knight's uniform.
I leaned forward to look, and the figure slowly emerged from the shadows of the rocks.
Although his face was in shadow and hard to see, I recognized the familiar light blue hair and called out,
"Captain Curtis!?"
... What? W, why are you here?
M, maybe you saw me with Arial and the others somewhere and followed out of concern?
Surprised, I watched as Captain Curtis, with a tense expression, drew his sword and advanced silently.
"Hey? C, Captain Curtis, calm down! Put your sword away!"
I tried to stop him, but Captain Curtis, as if he didn't hear me, continued to advance with a firm step, gripping his sword.
Feeling a sense of unease from his unusually aggressive attitude, I stared at Captain Curtis.
Then, Captain Curtis, with a determined look, glanced at me with a slightly anxious expression.
... I remember, Captain Curtis is the leader of the knights here.
That means he is responsible for this area, so if he finds out that the residents are gathered for something unknown, he would feel uneasy.
I tried to reassure him that nothing was wrong, but before I could say anything, the residents, who had heard Arial's questioning voice, gathered one after another.
In addition to the five men who had led me, several more men who were on guard in the cave joined.
They approached quickly and put their hands on the swords at their waists.
"What can one knight do!? We are a self-defense group with years of combat experience!!"
The men shouted with aggressive expressions and closed the distance.
"Hey? W, what happened to the non-violence pledge!?"
I asked the residents in a hurry, but they ignored me and stared straight at Captain Curtis.
... This is bad.
It seems that the residents, with many sick people behind them, have made protecting the sick their top priority.
And their strong desire to protect the sick has made them forget the non-violence pledge.
I tried to move towards Captain Curtis, but before I could take a few steps, Arial grabbed my arm.
"Arial, let go!"
I looked into Arial's eyes and said firmly.
I thought I shouldn't let Captain Curtis and Arial's group fight.
Whatever the outcome, it would leave scars on both sides.
While trying to persuade Arial, several residents ran towards Captain Curtis.
The residents quickly surrounded Captain Curtis and silently drew their swords.
Captain Curtis, in response, silently readied his sword.
In an instant, a tense silence fell over the cave.
Breaking the painful silence, the first to move was a resident positioned behind Captain Curtis.
He closed the distance in silence and swung his sword from above.
Captain Curtis, turning around, deflected the sword with a sweeping motion from the side, but at that moment, two residents positioned to his right and left simultaneously thrust their swords.
The sound of swords clashing echoed through the cave.
Swords were thrust from the front, sides, and back, targeting Captain Curtis's blind spots.
In a situation where one is outnumbered, it's impossible unless there is an overwhelming difference in skill.
And while Captain Curtis is the leader of the knights, he didn't seem to have the overwhelming sword skills of other leaders.
Indeed, it was impossible for Captain Curtis to avoid all the attacks from the residents. After deflecting several strikes, his left arm was slashed, and fresh blood splattered.
"Captain Curtis!!"
I shouted and, breaking free from Arial's grip, ran towards Captain Curtis.
While I was running, a sword was thrust at Captain Curtis, and one of them pierced his back.
He was also slashed on the shoulder and neck, and fresh blood splattered into the air.
"Captain Curtis!!"
By the time I reached Captain Curtis, his body was already pierced by several swords, and he was slowly collapsing to the ground, bleeding.
His eyes were clouding over.
"Captain Curtis!!"
I shouted again, and Captain Curtis, who was leaning on a sword stuck in the ground, tried to steady his tilting body.
But his consciousness was already clouding, and his eyes, which were looking at me, couldn't focus properly.
"... Miss Fia... please... step back..."
Captain Curtis muttered weakly and, unable to hold his body any longer, crumpled to the ground.
"Captain Curtis!!"
My scream and the sound of Captain Curtis collapsing on the ground echoed simultaneously.
Captain Curtis, who had collapsed, was covered in fresh blood, and new blood was flowing out, staining the surrounding ground red.
I called his name again, looking at his closed, pale eyes.
"Captain Curtis!!"
--- My scream echoed through the cave, but there was no response.
Thank you for reading!
At the bottom of the page (↓), I have posted the cover of the second volume of the book. Please enjoy.