Guide of the Holy Knights

When I subtly averted my gaze, Raphael narrowed his eyes.

He put a hand on his hip, stepped closer, and leaned his upper body deeply over me.

“Well, look at this?”

Whenever those pale sky-blue eyes stared into me, I felt as though he could read everything.

‘Go away!’

He’d been backing away from me just moments ago, so why was he suddenly getting so close that it made me uncomfortable?

I held my breath and lowered my gaze. Raphael silently stared down at me for a moment, then gave a short laugh and stepped back.

“Whatever you’re thinking, give it up. That man would rather die than defy God. Have you forgotten where you are, nun? Giving in to desire is corruption, and the gravest sin.”

“I’m not planning to give in to desire either!”

I felt so wronged that tears nearly sprang to my eyes.

‘I’m sick to death of guiding too!’

If I’d possessed even slightly less compassion, I wouldn’t have cared about any of this.

If it were that infuriating Raphael, maybe I could ignore it. But the person whose life was currently in danger was ‘Arle.’

The first person I had ever genuinely respected across both my previous and current lives.

‘Losing someone like that would be a loss to all humanity.’

With the desperation of someone clinging to his trouser leg, I asked Arle again.

“What if you had to preserve your life for the greater good? What if you were the only person capable of saving everyone from the demonic beasts!”

“……”

“There are demon dens appearing everywhere, and everything is very! Very! Dangerous!”

Arle couldn’t answer as quickly as before.

He appeared to think seriously for a moment, then spoke as though he had reached a decision.

“In that case, I suppose I would have to break it for the time being.”

My eyes lit up as though I’d finally seen a glimmer of hope.

Maybe I could persuade him if I appealed to his sense of duty?

“Really?”

“Yes. However, once all the turmoil has been resolved, I will confess my sin to God and accept punishment.”

“…Punishment?”

“I intend to pay for my sin, even if only with my insignificant life.”

“No…”

My head genuinely began to spin.

Wasn’t he being far too cruel to his own life at this point?

‘Is this really right?’

What on earth was I supposed to use to persuade a man who valued his own life so little?

Saying, ‘I’m trying to save you,’ was out of the question. Appealing to his sense of duty would only prolong his life temporarily.

What would be the point of using every method imaginable to keep him alive if he was only going to finish himself off with his own hands afterward?

Even though I wasn’t the person directly involved, I was the one growing desperate.

‘It definitely won’t be long.’

Soon, there would come a time when he urgently needed guiding.

Without a rampage detection device, there was no way to know exactly when, which meant I needed to be even more cautious.

Feeling utterly hopeless, I stared at the quiet man before me.

‘How am I supposed to save this man?’

Was wanting to save him merely my own selfish desire, and should I respect his beliefs instead?

* * *

I walked down the corridor carrying an empty holy water container, my eyes growing damp.

‘God, why are You putting me through this trial?’

A week had passed since I held Arle’s hand, yet I still hadn’t found a suitable solution.

He had learned to control his ability within a single day, and I no longer even had an excuse to see him.

A low-ranking nun of the Saintess’s Palace who handled menial work and the Commander of the Holy Knights simply had that little reason to cross paths.

‘Well, it’s not like seeing him would give me an answer anyway.’

Either way, things had already been bleak enough.

And then, just earlier, I’d received devastating news.

Before dawn had even broken this morning, Commander Arle had departed once again to close another demon den.

〈Mireille, Sir Arle has left on a mission, so the Saintess is in a foul mood. You know what that means, don’t you? Go fetch all the holy water again.〉

Apparently, a Dungeon Gate had opened in a nearby territory, and a returning group of knights had discovered it by chance and urgently requested support.