The Heroines All Want to Kill Me

"...Alright. If it's about conditions, I can accept."

"Good, the negotiation is successful."

After a long discussion with that wicked and detestable Frey, I finally reached a truce agreement with him. That is the so - called armistice agreement. Incidentally, in the last cycle, a truce was the thing I desired most after peace, so I strongly advocated it in the name of an agreement.

"...But, what exactly was going on with you just now?"

"Hmm?"

Just as the negotiation ended and I was about to walk out of the dim warehouse, Frey suddenly threw a question at me.

"When you were walking towards me, you suddenly squinted and looked around. I'm asking why you did that."

So he was asking about what happened just now. Although I hesitated a bit about whether to reveal information to Frey, who was a member of the evil Demon King's Army, considering that we were currently in a truce state, I decided to tell him.

"Although it was just for a moment, I felt an extremely evil aura."

"Evil aura?"

"Yes, and it felt like it was very well hidden."

When Frey made that female staff member cry just now, I did feel a familiar and terrifying aura envelop me. So I thought Frey had used some evil magic and quickly pulled him away and released my divine power. However, for some reason, Frey didn't show any reaction. Although it was very suspicious, Frey wasn't the one who emitted that evil aura.

So, who exactly released that evil aura? Could it be that the minions of the Demon King had sneaked into this nursery? Or was it just an illusion because I've been too sensitive to divine power recently? I wasn't sure. But if I don't know, I'll just find out. So in the future when living in this nursery, I have to track down that evil aura.

"Evil aura... So you're talking about an evil aura..."

I gave Frey, who was mumbling beside me, a discontented look and then walked out of the warehouse first.

"...Miss Pelosh?"

"Ah, yes! Hello!"

As soon as I walked out of the warehouse, someone standing in front greeted me. This person was different from the one who came to pick me up earlier. Who could it be?

"Nice to meet you. I'm the current person in charge and also a staff member here. My name is Anna."

"I see! Hello!"

So this was Miss Anna, the person in charge here! She seemed like a very kind person.

"It's my great honor to meet the renowned Saintess."

"Ah, no! Please don't kneel! That's not right!"

Miss Anna was about to curtsy to me, and I quickly stopped her.

"Ah, y - yes... I'm sorry?" Miss Anna showed a confused expression and apologized to me. Oh dear, I didn't mean to make her apologize.

"I'm just an agent of God...! So there's no need to curtsy to me!" I quickly explained, and after hearing this, Miss Anna showed a bright smile and said, "Sure enough, the Saintess is as kind as the rumors say."

"Th - thank you..."

"...It suits Ruby very well."

Then, Miss Anna pointed at the staff member who was sobbing just now and took my hand to lead me.

"That girl over there is Ruby. She has been volunteering here for three whole months without pay."

"Really?"

Volunteering for three months without pay. What an amazing person. Out of curiosity, I followed Miss Anna to where she was leading me, and there I saw a young girl looking at me.

"Ruby, have you greeted her? This is the Saintess of the Sun God Order."

"Ah, ahh...Hello!"

As soon as Miss Anna introduced me, Miss Ruby showed a very nervous expression and then bowed to me. She looked like a frightened little puppy, and I couldn't help but feel soft - hearted.

"It's inevitable for the little saintess of the orphanage to be nervous when meeting the Saintess of the empire."

"P - please don't call me by that nickname!"

Miss Anna said with a mischievous expression, and Miss Ruby immediately blushed and lowered her head.

"Wow! You're so hypocritical!"

"Ah, ahh!?"

I said a few complimentary words to Miss Ruby with a smile. Seeing her obviously flustered look, I tilted my head in confusion. Could it be that she felt pressured by compliments?

"Um... Saintess? What did you mean by that just now?"

"Ah, I'm sorry!"

It seemed that Miss Ruby and I were both not used to receiving compliments.

"I'll be more careful not to call you hypocritical in the future! I'm sorry!"

After apologizing to Miss Ruby a bit awkwardly, I started walking towards the direction where Frey was in the distance. From now on, I have to keep a good eye on him!

.....

"Whoo... Hah..."

"..."

I'm feeling very uncomfortable right now. Because in front of me, Frey was gasping for breath while cleaning. Of course, he was a hopeless piece of trash and deserved to suffer like this... but for some reason, I still felt a bit uneasy.

Sure enough, I'd better give him a little bit of divine power.

"Mr. Frey, do you need my help?"

"...What?"

Just as I was struggling with my thoughts alone, Ruby suddenly squeezed beside Frey and picked up the broom.

"You look so tired..."

"Get out of the way."

"Don't, don't be like this... Let me help you..."

"I told you to get out of the way!"

Frey shouted as he snatched the broom from her, and Miss Ruby immediately lost her balance and fell heavily to the ground. Oh no, Miss Ruby's knee was scraped and bleeding.

"Are you o - okay?"

"...Ah, I'm okay! I'm fine!"

I quickly ran over to use my divine power to heal her knee, but Miss Ruby quickly got up from the ground and bent down.

"Mr. Frey, I'm really sorry for disturbing you."

"...Alright, just get out of here."

After saying this, Miss Ruby disappeared without even accepting the treatment.

"What on earth are you doing! Using violence while doing volunteer work as a punishment..."

I was extremely angry and was about to lose my temper with Frey...

"Hah... Hah..."

"...Frey?"

For some reason, Frey didn't get angry as he usually did. Instead, he was gasping for breath and staring straight at me.

"What's wrong with you? Is there something wrong...?"

"...Nothing."

After saying this, Mr. Frey suddenly walked away in a hurry in a certain direction!

- Click.

Then, Mr. Frey walked into the warehouse,

locked the door firmly,

and remained inside without emerging for quite a long while.

I watched this scene in silence.

After a moment of contemplation,

I made up my mind,

stood up from my seat ever - so - gently,

and tiptoed towards the warehouse with utmost caution.

"Miss Ruby."

"Ah, yes!?"

I approached Miss Ruby,

who was passionately performing a play for the children in the orphanage.

Leaning in closely, I whispered softly into her ear,

"Could you possibly lend me the key to the warehouse?"

"W - what's this for?"

Ruby tilted her head in confusion, her eyes filled with curiosity.

I tried my best to put on a heroic and confident expression and replied,

"This is an essential part of the plan to capture the Demon King."

".....!"

Instantly, Ruby's eyes widened in astonishment,

and she stared intently at me,

resembling a frightened little puppy,

so incredibly endearing.

"...Hey, hey."

Ruby continued to stare at me for a good while.

Then, with great care, she reached into her bosom,

pulled out a bunch of keys, and handed them to me.

"Thank you, Ruby..."

I whispered once again,

conveying my gratitude to her sincerely.

"...You're really quite the hypocrite, aren't you?"

Ruby blushed shyly and lowered her head.

It seemed evident that we were on the verge of becoming great friends.

"...Hmph."

Just like that,

I took the keys from Miss Ruby,

and with a sense of determination,

unlocked the tightly - locked warehouse door.

This time,

I was absolutely determined to catch Frey using his evil magic red - handed...!

"...Cough! Cough!"

"Fr - Frey?"

However, the scene that greeted me inside the warehouse

was completely different from what I had envisioned.

Instead of seeing Frey menacing the orphanage

with an evil sneer and wielding his dark sorcery,

I found him slumped against the wall,

sitting weakly on the ground,

spitting up blood in a pitiful state.

"...Get out."

Frey, who noticed my presence,

shot me a cold, hard look and uttered those words.

"Cough! Cough!!"

No sooner had he spoken than he spat out another mouthful of blood,

and his body began to tremble violently,

as if it were being wracked by some invisible force.

"....Uh."

At first,

I was tempted to simply ignore him

and make a hasty exit from the warehouse.

He was a loathsome and evil individual,

so conniving that he would pounce on me at the slightest opportunity,

a villain destined to bring ruin to the entire empire.

But... somehow,

seeing him in such a weakened and defeated state,

I was suddenly reminded of the very first time we met.

Back then,

I was the one sitting helplessly on the ground,

while he stood tall above me.

"Cough! Cough!!"

"...Hah."

As I was lost in these thoughts,

he coughed once more,

and then his eyes closed tightly,

as if in great pain.

Finally,

my heart softened despite myself,

and I couldn't bear to leave him in that state.

I slowly approached him, who was slumped on the ground.

Of course, I had no intention of bestowing any divine power upon him.

I was merely going to make a diagnosis.

This was not an act of healing but a means to gather intelligence about the enemy.

I assured myself that I was not feeling the slightest bit of sympathy or worry for him.

It was all just for the sake of gathering information...

".....!"

With this firm thought in mind,

I placed my hand gently on his body.

The moment I did so,

I was so shocked by what I sensed that I was rendered speechless.

"What... What's wrong with you?"

"...What are you talking about?"

"This... What on earth..."

The extent of his physical damage was far beyond my wildest imagination.

His magic power circuits were poorly connected,

and every flow of magic power seemed to overload his body,

causing it to shudder and convulse.

All of his internal organs were horribly distorted,

and the vitality within him had plummeted to an alarmingly low level.

This physical condition...

I had only witnessed such a state in the most critically ill patients

being treated at the church hospital.

So... what of Frey now...

"How many years do you... exactly have left to live?"

"Cough! Cough!! Cough... What do you mean?"

It was clear that he had no inkling of his own dire physical state.

Well, for someone as arrogant and vain as he was,

if he were to learn that he had only a few years left to live,

he would surely fly into a furious rage.

No wonder he reacted with such confusion.

If left untreated,

he probably wouldn't even last a few years before his life came to an end.

The Frey who was supposed to shatter the empire in the future,

secretly siding with the Demon King and reducing everything to ashes,

was on the verge of disappearing.

This was great.

Great.

We wouldn't have to lift a finger,

and he would meet his end on his own.

This couldn't be more convenient.

It was clearly a stroke of good fortune...

But somehow,

I couldn't stop thinking about the first time I saw him today.

"...What are you doing?"

"Just a tiny bit of divine power."

Finally,

I made a decision to inject a small amount of divine power into him.

This was definitely not because I was reminiscing about the past him.

It was simply that if Frey continued in this state,

it would cause a great deal of trouble.

So, I intended to give him just enough divine power

to enable him to resume his cleaning tasks.

"...Huh?"

But something was amiss.

Despite injecting vitality into him,

his vitality levels remained at rock - bottom.

What on earth was going on?

In fact,

I had already injected enough divine power to sustain him for an entire day today,

yet...

- Whoa...

"...What are you doing?"

"Just wait and see."

Determined to get to the bottom of this,

I started injecting more divine power.

But his vitality remained stubbornly empty.

Enough for three days,

enough for a week,

enough for a month...

No matter how much divine power I poured into him,

his physical condition refused to show the slightest improvement.

"Whoo... Hah..."

Finally,

exhausted from my efforts,

I gasped for breath and stepped back from him.

Barely managing to raise the corners of my mouth,

I began to murmur to myself.

'This is even better.

If even divine power can't heal him...

then nothing in this world can.'

Since divine power had no effect on him,

it seemed that the Sun God had already forsaken him.

Otherwise, there was no way he could remain incurable.

Yes,

this was great.

The evil Frey being on the verge of death was truly a cause for celebration.

Wasn't this exactly what I had been longing for all along?

Just a few months ago,

I had been dead - set on killing him.

Frey was a villain who didn't deserve an iota of sympathy.

So, his impending death was indeed a reason to rejoice.

Come on,

what's going on?

Just a moment ago,

I was filled with murderous intent towards him,

but once the certainty of his death sank in,

why...

'...Why does my heart ache so unbearably?'

Frey's silver eyes met my white ones.

Suddenly,

Frey's silver - glinting eyes

and the innocent way he had once handed me the potion

flashed before my eyes,

and a faint pain began to throb in my head.

"Ugh...!"

"Wha, what's going on?"

The white hair that had once been hailed as that of the Pure - White Saintess

fluttered gently in the still air,

intertwining with Frey's silver hair.

Only then did I realize that this was happening

because I had gotten too close to him.

Looking at the coagulated pool of blood in front of Frey,

my eyes grew misty,

and my mind was a whirlwind of thoughts.

I repeated over and over again.

Frey was the most evil person in the empire.

I had to hate him.

I had to loathe him.

I had to kill him.

He had tried to violate me.

He would burn the entire empire in the future.

I was a fool.

I had been a fool and an idiot since childhood.

I couldn't write properly,

and my memory was abysmal.

The only redeeming quality I had was my kind - heartedness.

So, the current situation was only natural.

There was no mistake.

Everything had reverted to its original state...

"No."

"What?"

Even when I injected divine power into Frey's body,

his vitality failed to increase.

This was clearly a problem.

It went against the established laws.

Divine power was not a miracle but a manifestation of laws and phenomena.

Miracles were something else entirely.

Going against the absolute and unchanging laws was truly perplexing.

Not only did his vitality not recover,

but the wounds within his body also refused to heal.

This was undeniably strange.

So, the current situation was highly abnormal.

"Pelosh?"

And Frey was also behaving strangely.

He had clearly said he was going to attack me,

yet he kept making excuses to delay.

No, all of his actions had been odd from the very start.

Moreover, I was also acting out of character.

What on earth was happening?

Why was I here?

Since when had I become like this?

Frey was in grave danger.

If this continued,

he wouldn't last a few years.

So, what should I do?

Save him?

Or kill him?

Were the words I had spoken just now really kind?

What did the word 'hypocritical' truly mean?

Were those really kind words?

Did I really not understand the meaning of that word?

If what I believed in wasn't a miracle,

then what was the real'miracle'?

Hadn't I known the answer just a moment ago?

Then, what were laws and phenomena?

What was the Sun God?

What did I truly believe in?

Hypocrisy, everything was steeped in hypocrisy.

It had to be exposed.

I had to reveal the truth to someone.

Although I wasn't entirely clear,

anyway, I had to cry out now.

"...Has this guy finally lost his mind?"

Hypocrisy and false virtue,

light and darkness.

The sun, the moon, and the stars.

And.....

"Mo, Mo..."

"Cough, cough! What on earth are you doing..."

"Mo....."

Pelosh's hand remained pressed against Frey's body.

A full minute had passed, and she started to pat him forcefully.

Growing increasingly irritated,

Frey, thinking she was acting foolishly again,

was about to stand up from his seat...

"...The Demon God."

".....?"

Pelosh suddenly managed to utter these words with great difficulty.

Frey tilted his head in confusion and counter - asked,

"What are you suddenly talking about?"

"The Demon God... is..."

Frey stared at Pelosh in bewilderment.

Seeing that she seemed to have more to say,

he pricked up his ears to listen intently.

However...

——Creak...

"What are you two doing in here?"

Ruby pushed open the dim warehouse door and entered.

Pelosh immediately stopped speaking and shook her head.

"...Ah! Are you okay?"

At the same time,

the brilliant sunlight streaming in through the open door

bathed Frey and Pelosh in its glow,

and made the pool of blood in front of Frey even more glaring.

Upon seeing this, Ruby's face turned ashen,

and she let out a startled cry.

"...I'm fine. Just leave me alone."

"O - okay... If you need any help, please don't hesitate to let me know."

Frey dismissed her with a cold voice.

After she left, he turned his attention back to Pelosh.

"You, why are you acting like this? Is it because of... that...?"

"...It's self - inflicted?"

"Right! It's self - inflicted! This is an expression Miss Klana taught me from the Eastern Continent..."

"Shut up and get off me."

When Pelosh, as usual, wore a dazed expression and started babbling incoherently,

Frey let out a sigh, pushed her aside,

and muttered to himself,

"...Shall we call it a day?"

"Um... Considering your physical condition... Today is rather special..."

"Then let's go to the shrine of the Sun God Order."

"Okay, okay? But recently, only those with permission can enter the shrine..."

"...Aren't we supposed to go and pray together after the volunteer work?"

"...Ah."

Just like that,

the two of them walked out of the warehouse.

They greeted Anna, who was looking at them in horror, covered in blood,

and then stumbled out of the orphanage.

"You! How did you get so badly injured? Were you tortured by the Demon King's army?

If you're willing to share your experiences, our church can provide special..."

"...Why are there so many people from the church around the orphanage? Do you know anything?"

As they bombarded each other with questions,

they boarded the carriage and slowly drove away from the orphanage.

The warm sunlight bathed them in its gentle rays.

.....

After arriving at the church,

Frey spent ten minutes patiently explaining to Pelosh,

who insisted on praying first, the advantages of a surprise attack.

Then, they made their way to the place she had indicated.

"...So, is that strange aura coming from here?"

There stood a rough - hewn iron door.

"Exactly! You guys must be up to something... Umph!"

"...Shh."

Frey quickly covered Pelosh's mouth with his hand

to stop her from speaking loudly.

Then, still keeping his hand over her mouth,

he pushed open the iron door and stepped inside.

"Whoa, how did you manage to avoid the surveillance?

Every time I try, I get caught red - handed..."

"...I don't know why, but there are so few people in the church.

There's not even a single person keeping watch. Something's not right."

Frey had deliberately arrived a few hours earlier than scheduled.

He had also made Pelosh change into an inconspicuous nun's habit

instead of her eye - catching saintess attire.

He let out a sigh, looked around the room,

and muttered to himself,

"...Well, it's about time something happened."

- Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle, thud!!!

At that very moment,

the space within the room began to distort,

and a complex and intricate maze gradually materialized.

"I knew it."

Frey regarded this scene with a calm and detached expression.

Leading the wide - eyed saintess,

he slowly stepped into the maze.

"What are they up to now?"

Just then,

"...Should we follow them and have a look?"

In the distance, Irina, dressed in a nun's habit,

was quietly watching them.

After looking around cautiously,

she quietly made her way towards the basement.