This Wasn’t an Erotic Game?

Chapter 37 - You Son of a Viper

『 Translator – Divinity 』

For the next three weeks or so, I visited the princess every day.

It might sound strange to say this, but it felt similar to taming a wild animal. I would bring snacks and delicious food, and even some picture books to read to her.

As always, every Tuesday at 2 p.m., she would become irritable and try to harm herself or act violently, but each time, I would embrace her tightly and soothe her.

I sang children's songs, pop songs, anime songs - every song I knew - and stayed with her until she fell asleep, trembling and crying.

Perhaps thanks to those efforts...

"I'll be going. See you tomorrow..."

Before leaving today...

Iomene smiled at me.

"She smiled... Iomene smiled..."

When I relayed this news, the Empress and Emperor couldn't hide their tears.

Yes.

Even though I was doing this to avoid going to hell, seeing them so happy didn't make me feel bad.

Judging by her condition, it would be soon.

It wouldn't be long before the fragment of the Evil God within Princess Iomene would transfer to me.

I felt both relieved and wistful.

This life in another world had been filled with unpleasant memories, but it still made me sad to think that I would never see these people again.

Especially... Erpa.

I finally had a woman I was interested in, and I had to leave already.

But what choice did I have?

My survival came first.

"Saint, my son!..."

"My mother cannot see!"

I continued to heal the sick, one after another.

These were people I would never see again.

It would be good to heal them diligently one last time before leaving.

I didn't discriminate between the poor and the rich, nobles and commoners. For three weeks, I diligently went around healing those who were sick and injured.

Thanks to that, the donations and offerings from the nobles increased even more, and the slums prospered using those offerings, but now...

It didn't matter anymore.

The role of a saint, which never suited me...

The vulgar description windows of the skills…

They were gone forever now.

I even felt a sense of detachment.

Well...

The slums were back to normal.

What other incidents could possibly happen now?

"Saint!! Saint!!"

"Saint Amael!! My daughter..."

"My wife has been burned! Saint, please!!"

There it was.

One morning...

While I was still drowsy from sleep, a group of people suddenly knocked on my door.

At their urgent voices, I rushed outside to see countless people collapsed on the ground, their faces melted, foaming at the mouth.

"Quickly!! Bring the potions! Hurry!!"

The priests of the clinic were frantically running around, healing people, but there were still so many to treat.

Most of them were women...

And young girls.

Suddenly...

I realized who they were.

They were the same as the fifteen matchstick girls I had rescued from the back alley.

"There was a fire at a nearby factory! Saint! Please save my wife!!"

I was jolted awake by the people crying and screaming.

"Bring the critically injured to me! Now!!"

As soon as I shouted, the well-trained priests of the Lilia Church of Grace, seemingly accustomed to such situations, quickly triaged the patients and brought them to me.

I hurriedly healed the collapsed women.

Their faces were all gruesome.

Someone gasping for air, their body burned.

A woman whose head had been completely burned, turning into a hideous lump of flesh.

A young child whose jaw had melted away, exposing their bones, likely due to white phosphorus poisoning.

As I frantically healed them, gradually...

Familiar faces began to catch my eye.

"Saint! Please heal me!"

I remembered healing a young girl whose face had melted from exposure to chemicals while making white phosphorus matches.

That girl was suffering in front of me for a reason similar to those I had healed before.

A woman who had her fingers severed while working in a factory that paid a pittance and forced its workers into back-breaking labor to support their families, a factory she continued to work at out of necessity, now lay before me with burns all over her body.

As I restored the mangled, flesh-like human back into a recognizable form, I saw the faces of the women and children I remembered.

Anger surged within me.

Why?

Why!

Why!!

Why do they keep appearing before me like this, after I've already healed them?!

I knew why.

"There are few jobs that pay as well as the factories in the three slum districts. We are trying to attract as many businesses as possible, but... the majority of workers still work in factories outside the capital. Not all the poor in the capital can earn a daily wage of 1 Saled."

Jonathan Karma's words came to mind.

I clenched my fists so tightly that they creaked.

After healing all the dozens of critically injured patients brought before me, I left the priests who were still treating others and walked forward.

"Where is the factory that caught fire?"

"The fire hasn't been completely extinguished yet! It's dangerous! Saint!"

"Guide me! Now!!"

At my rare outburst, the poor people were surprised and hurriedly led the way.

With each step I took, the smell of burning flesh and acrid smoke filled my nose.

Unable to bear it any longer, I used Body Modification on myself to enhance my strength and started running at an incredible speed.

There might still be people I could save.

If I just got there a little faster...

I could save them.

With that thought in mind, I ran and ran like a madman, but...

"Aaaaagh!! My daughter!! Aaaaagh!!"

"Mom! Mom!!"

"No! No! Please!"

In front of the burning factory, dozens of charred bodies, barely recognizable as human, were sprawled on the ground.

Families were clinging to the charcoal-like figures, wailing.

I approached the charred bodies and tried to use the skill.

[Skill can only be cast on living beings!]

[Skill can only be cast on living beings!]

[Skill can only be cast on living beings!]

[Skill can only be cast on living beings!]

Repeatedly...

I tried to use the skill repeatedly, but the result was the same.

I couldn't save them.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't bring back those who were already dead.

Fuck.

What was this awful feeling?

As I was helplessly looking down at the tragically burned corpses...

"My daughter!! My daughter is still up there!"

"You can't go in!"

"Daughter!! Daughter!! My daughter!! Please save her! My daughter is still inside!"

I heard the desperate cries of a young mother.

Turning my head, I saw a young girl hesitating amidst the flames on the third-floor balcony of the factory.

She is still alive.

At that thought, my body moved on its own.

"You can't go in! Saint!..."

Before the police officer trying to stop me could finish his sentence, I cast Time Stop.

I didn't know how long the child could hold on.

I had to hurry.

As I always did, I released Time Stop locally.

How?

In a way that allowed me to walk straight up to the balcony where the child was.

Within the space where Time Stop was released, I started to climb, stepping on the time-frozen air as if it were solid ground.

I just instinctively thought it might work, and thankfully, my plan was successful.

Reaching the balcony in an instant, I broke the window, jumped inside, and found the young girl.

Her skin was already severely burned, and she was lying on the floor, foaming at the mouth, seemingly unable to breathe properly due to the smoke.

I released Time Stop on the girl and lifted her into my arms.

And I used Body Modification.

The child's body was instantly healed.

As the pain disappeared and she was restored to her healthy state, the girl looked at me with surprised eyes.

"Saint?"

I didn't have the energy to answer her.

Damn it.

I had already used up a considerable amount of mental energy just climbing that short distance.

This damn skill mechanism!

But it was still bearable.

"Hold onto me tightly."

The child followed my instructions and clung to me.

Focus.

If I made a mistake, the child might get hurt, even if I didn't.

I slowly descended, stepping on the time-frozen air as I had done before.

And before long...

I was standing outside the factory with the child in my arms.

"...Sir! It's dange... Huh?"

The police officer who was trying to stop me shouted and tried to run towards me as Time Stop was released, but he stopped in surprise when he saw the child in my arms.

From his perspective, it must have seemed like I suddenly appeared with the child in my arms.

I gently placed the child, now perfectly healed thanks to Body Modification, on the ground.

"Please take this child to her mother..."

"Adele!!"

Before I could finish my sentence, the child's mother rushed over and hugged her tightly.

"Ah! Thank you! Thank you! Lilia! Saint! Thank you... Thank you."

Seeing the mother and child sobbing and crying, a smile unconsciously spread across my face.

"Bring the injured to me. I will heal them."

I did my best to heal the people, one after another.

I didn't want to see any more people turned into charcoal like those outside.

As I was struggling, the firefighters of the capital and the mages from the Magic Tower arrived and extinguished the factory fire with water and magic. Only then could I finally take a breather.

"What is the meaning of this!"

As I leaned against a wall, trying to rest my exhausted mind...

I heard someone shouting.

"Who allowed you to use the water from the warehouse! Those are all company property of Leota Company!"

I saw a fat, middle-aged man yelling.

"If we hadn't used the water, the fire would have spread even further!"

"I don't care! We will measure the amount of water used and charge you accordingly! There's no such law! How dare you use company property without permission!"

The middle-aged man ignored the firefighters' words.

Hearing that, the workers who had collapsed on the ground glared at him and started to get up one by one.

"You! This is all your fault!!"

"Factory manager! If you had just told Baron Hanson, the owner of Leota Company, to properly install fire safety equipment in the factory, my family wouldn't have burned to death! You son of a bitch!!"

The bereaved families of those who had been turned into charcoal screamed in anguish, but the man called the factory manager didn't seem to care.

Spitting out yellow phlegm as if he was smoking, he sneered.

"You noisy bunch. Making a fuss to extort money. Fine! I'll throw you some compensation. 1 Saled per dead person, isn't that enough? No complaints, right? That's more than your three months' wages."

The factory manager chuckled.

"Those born poor are all cursed by the gods. You bastards. Fire safety equipment? It's cheaper to just give 1 Saled to each of the dead, so why bother spending a fortune on that? You dissatisfied? If you are, you're all fired. Fired! Do you want to lose your jobs along with your families?"

"You devil!! You devil!!"

"Your soul will fall into hell! You son of a bitch!"

Wailing filled the air, but none of the workers dared to attack him.

This was because armed police officers were standing near the factory manager, who had come to manage the fire scene, and behind them, burly men who appeared to be bodyguards were openly displaying pistols on their waists, glaring at the workers.

Yes.

They must be scared.

Getting shot hurts.

And even if they managed to overpower the bodyguards and police officers and beat them up, the repercussions would be even more frightening.

Getting fired.

Losing their jobs was sometimes scarier than being shot.

I understood.

But what about me?

Police officers and bodyguards...

Do you have the guts to shoot me?

I'm the one treating the Emperor's daughter.

I'm a saint recognized by the Pantheon.

I guarantee it.

You can't shoot me.

And repercussions?

I'm going back to Korea soon anyway.

I'm going to get cursed, have my soul shattered, and return to Korea, where there's no hell or anything.

So...

[Body Modification! 20x Strength!]

I could do this.

I cast Body Modification on myself, then looked around for something to use as a weapon and found the belt around my waist.

And I charged towards the factory manager with incredible speed.

With 20x strength, the belt swung towards the factory manager, who was spouting nonsense.

Whack!!

With a sharp sound, the factory manager, spitting out red corn from his teeth, flew through the air and crashed into the door of the car he had arrived in.