How the Regressor Loves the Reincarnated

61. Between the Saint and the Apostle (8)

1.

“Yes, yes? Did you not hear me?”

The brown-haired paladin who asked back with a dumbfounded expression looked suspicious of what he had just heard. And it wasn’t that I couldn’t understand his feelings.

In Lumineria Cathedral, which is not strange even if it is called the heart of the church, the saintess herself, not anyone else, requested a meeting in person. In this situation, the fact that someone would reject it would be a situation beyond the paladin’s understanding and, from his point of view, unbelievable.

“I’m sorry, but I will refuse that request. I said so.”

“Ah, ah… That, the saintess told me to make sure to bring the two of you, Seo…”

The paladin who kept looking at me while he was talking was the one who belatedly realized who he was talking to. Seeing how they approached me and Luke from the other side, calling me nobles, I wondered if Burgo had revealed our identities to this person in advance.

“Okay. Then maybe May I ask the reason so that I can tell the saintess separately…?”

“I don’t think I need to tell you that.”

“…I understand.”

It was a bit pitiful to see the paladin’s complexion darken at my answer after asking that question with a desperate look, but considering Burgo’s public status now, it wouldn’t be too much of a break. Burgo is in a position where he has to maintain the image of a benevolent and holy saint.

“Adele, why did you just turn it down? The saintess summoned us on her own first, so was there any reason not to accept it…?”

If you think rationally, Luke is right. If we wanted to meet her saintess first, the process would never be smooth, and perhaps the meeting itself might not come to pass.

But.

“Yeah, because as soon as that hypocritical woman said she wanted to meet her, she said she was good and she ran away. If this is the case anyway, she will come directly from there, so there is nothing to worry about.”

Luke listened to my explanation and nodded as if he understood. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with what Luke said, but I hated letting that crazy hypocrite do whatever he wanted.

It’s all the more unpleasant because the intention to lay a board in advance so that we can never kill ourselves recklessly is so obvious. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from working with Aquarius, it’s that it’s easy to get caught up in the mischief of the apostles if you move with too many factors in mind.

I didn’t want to repeat the day I almost lost Luke.

That’s why, even if it means moving a little ignorantly without thinking about the future, the plan of the apostles must be thwarted. It’s only for the future with the most precious person I’ve found in this life.

For that reason, I could endure a little adventure.

“Hmm… I see, Adele. Does Lux really know what the situation is like for the church that serves her?”

As I was walking inside the main building, Luke suddenly asked me that.

Since the place we are right now is such a place as the heart of the Church of Lumineria, watching Luke pay extreme attention to his words and actions, he calls Burgo a hypocritical b*tch and slashes the previous war. Of I became a little shy. I’d better follow Luke’s attitude and be a little more careful.

“Okay. If I had to say it, I’m inclined to the side of knowing. I wonder if my coming back and meeting you would have been possible if it weren’t for the guidance of a god-like being.”

It’s just a vague guess, but… I’ve been thinking that the one who sent me back to the past was most likely the current main god, Lux. If it was the god of the Lumineria Church, which has the most followers on the entire continent, there would be nothing strange about it even if it had that kind of ability. Rather, I wondered if anyone other than Lux could have such abilities.

Actually, neither Luke nor I, who came from a family that believed in Lux for generations, did not serve Lux separately. If it really was because of Lux that I got the chance to protect my family twice, and that it was because of Lux that I was able to meet Luke… At that time, I was willing to believe in the doctrines of the Lumineria Church, to a very small extent.

“If that’s real, then you must be very grateful to me.”

After saying that while shrugging his shoulders, Luke turned his head slightly to look at me, and he smiled with one corner of his mouth raised. My heart beats faster just by looking at it, and with that charming smile that I would have jumped right into Luke’s arms had it not been for a public place, I bit my lower lip before I could barely open my eyes and open my mouth. Could

“…Yeah, I think so too.”

Really, I wish you wouldn’t go anywhere and smile like that at other girls. Would it be better to put the ring on that hand right now?

“How long do you think it will take to get to me from over there?”

I could clearly feel Luke’s fingertips touching my hand as he asked a question. It was an implicit signal between us that Luke wanted to hold my hand.

Actually, words are an implicit signal between us, it was only a signal to protect Luke.

When I want to hold your hand, I usually just hold it without saying anything, and when Luke did that, he would quietly hold my hand tightly. In fact, I think it’s better if Luke doesn’t do that and holds my hand because it’s more powerful, but I couldn’t help but laugh at every little consideration like that.

“Well… If Burgo stubbornly builds his pride, he won’t come within today, but my estimate is maybe 30 minutes at most?”

“Then you may just have to wait a bit. Hmm, a saint…”

Luke seemed to be thinking hard about something until he crossed the chapel and reached the statue of Lux. Between people praying to the god statue from all sides, I decided to wait quietly while playing with Luke’s hand.

But why did he fall into such deep thoughts about it? At first glance, it seems that she is worried about the fake saintess…

Come to think of it, Vyrego is a hypocrite who plays her saintly woman, and I hate to admit that appearance alone, but she was a little lower than me… No, she was the same class. I really hate to admit it, though.

Her saintess is quite famous for her outstanding beauty, so Luke must have heard about it at least once or twice in his life. However, to assume that just because Luke is immersed in thoughts of Burgo, he is imagining what he will look like is an overkill.

Still, I am confident that I am the owner of a look that is not at the level of being inferior to someone anywhere. For Luke to think of other women’s looks over me is something that should never happen no matter what, absolutely unacceptable…

“Ah, ah! Adele! Strength in your hands…!”

“Ah… Me, sorry!”

I was startled by the sudden shout and let go of the hand I was holding, and I saw Luke kneading the hand I was holding just a moment ago with a frown on his face.

“…Ugh, I was surprised. It’s a relief that I managed to keep what we’re saying with magic so other people can’t hear it. If not, it would have attracted a lot of attention.”

“That, I’m really sorry…”

I, who is the youngest sword master in history even on the basis of the first playthrough, not this one, not anyone else, failed to control my strength. It was an embarrassing, absurd mistake that made me want to die with my head on the ground.

To think I could manage my strength control, which I had never failed in my life, just because of my petty jealousy. It was such a pitiful story that it would be good to be ridiculed if it became known to others.

“So, did I do something wrong? I don’t think I did anything to make you hold my hand that hard…”

My conscience was pierced a little bit. Not being sarcastic, he was genuinely sorry for Luke who asked me if he had done anything wrong.

“Well, it seems like Luke is suddenly deep in thought… So stop trying to guess what he’s thinking.”

“Stop…?”

“Ugh… I was jealous because I thought I was thinking about the saintess…”

“…”

There was a madly uncomfortable silence. All I could hear was the intermittent prayers of people around me. After the words came out of my mouth, I felt even more embarrassed, so I lowered my head.

Yeah, even Luke would be dumbfounded. It makes me feel ridiculous to see myself being jealous of a girl I haven’t met yet.

This was all because of Luke.

Such an absurd situation in which, when one thinks of anything related to him in one’s head, the thought flows in a strange direction somewhere, and one even becomes an idiot. A feeling I had never felt before in my life filled my head.

“Adele.”

“…Yes.”

“I understand everything, so hold your head up.”

Huh?

“If my lover was thinking of someone else while holding her hand like this, I would naturally be jealous. So it sounds like you understand.”

Luke spoke to me in such a soft voice. Jealousy is very natural, so there is nothing to be ashamed of.

Is that really true, or is it a good thing to hear for me? Those concerns disappeared as if they were washed the moment Luke’s fingertips carefully lifted my face from under my chin.

“I don’t like Adele thinking about any other guy. But doesn’t that mean that Adele is of the same mind as me? Rather, I like the fact that Adele thinks the same as me, and I like it even more because I find that side of her cute.”

Luke is a person whose kindness is overdone, even when he is warm. He is the kind of person I saw in novels who would do anything for the one he loves.

The only thing I could feel in his warm eyes, as if he had captured the emerald-colored sea that I faced because he raised my head, was only Luke’s sincere heart.

“That, I see…”

I couldn’t take my eyes off Luke’s eyes, even as my heart was beating faster, my face was hot, and my head was in a mess. It was a strange feeling, as if it were snow melting slowly under the warm sunlight.

“But I don’t want Adele to suffer because of that jealousy. As I just said, I understand your feelings… But really, what could Adele be jealous of?”

Blinded by the words I heard and Luke’s smiling face, I forgot where we were right now,

“You, whom I fell for, are more beautiful than anyone else in the world, not only in appearance but also in heart.”

As it were, I raised my tiptoe and kissed him.

You are too much for me, Luke. So I’ll do better. I hope that heart will never change now.

…After that, a priest who was praying nearby broke up a fight at the sacred cathedral honoring Lux, asking what kind of indecent behavior it was. If it wasn’t for my identity as Luke, I might have been kicked out.

Even if he was kicked out, he wouldn’t have felt the slightest bit of regret.