I Can Hear the Saint’s Inner Thoughts

51 – The Fake That Wants To Be Real (2)

The first thought I had when I saw Victoria, fighting hard and bleeding in my past, was, ‘Why the hell?’

Victoria and I were heroes burdened with the task of defeating the demon lord, but this was an intensely personal matter.

Moreover, it was my past that I had never revealed to her.

I’d thought my comrades would surely blame me, or even hate me, once they knew the true story behind the incident.

‘Why is she going this far?’

Right now, Victoria was swinging her hammer countless times, shedding blood, all to protect me and my parents.

She, who was clearly frail, usually tried to end fights quickly or avoid unnecessary battles, was now engaging in a war of attrition.

Yet, Victoria seemed to be doing her best not to show any signs of strain. Her eyes were filled with unyielding resolve.

Every time Victoria moved or was grazed by an enemy attack, flower petals scattered from her body.

Originally, any touch, no matter how slight, would have caused her to scream in pain.

“Is this all you’ve got? It doesn’t even tickle. After all, women with empty chests are usually pathetic…!”

– It hurts more than words can describe, but Lord Astal is watching… I have to act like I’m okay.

Victoria gritted her teeth, enduring the pain, and forced a smile to reassure me.

She was barely managing to suppress her screams as she moved her hands and legs. Her true feelings were being relayed to me unfiltered, because I could hear her thoughts.

Just why is she doing this?

Flower petals fluttered in the air, and the saintess wielding her hammer, smiling brightly, was shattering the trauma that had been tormenting me.

The scene was so beautiful that I almost blurted out ‘beautiful,’ and I found myself searching for the reason she was fighting.

‘…Did I cure your time-limited constitution?’

No. That was something natural for a comrade to do.

Even if the person wasn’t Victoria, but Kyle, Anima, or Tarion, I would have personally thrown myself into going to the Holy Kingdom to find a way to cure their time-limited constitution.

But why,

why is Victoria fighting for me right now?

‘Because we’re precious comrades who’ve shared life and death? Or because we’re in a fake relationship for a month due to a contract…?’

Countless possibilities flashed through my mind, but I soon realized that trying to find a reason in her actions was pointless.

No matter how devout and selfless Victoria is, it would be rare to find a human being who would risk their life for such a trivial reason, fighting in someone else’s nightmare.

– …This altruistic heart isn’t because it’s my duty as a saintess, but because of my affections for you.

– I’m lying now… but once this is over, I want to properly confess my feelings to you.

Because I could hear Victoria’s thoughts, I could tell the truth hidden beneath her lies. It was a heavy, intense, and therefore, infinitely transparent and pure love.

Victoria was illogical, but due to the sensation that was strongly squeezing my heart, I could vaguely sense it.

And in that moment,

*Thwack, gush.*

My eyes caught sight of Victoria’s right arm flying away, having failed to properly block the coordinated attack of the Dullahan and Bellamora.

‘Victoria…!’

No matter how much I shouted, no sound came out. A gritty, metallic bitterness coated my tongue, and I was frozen, like a painting on the wall, unable to move even a fingertip.

This hellish past could never be changed, and I felt like a terminally ill patient sentenced to death.

‘Move, please move…!’

I could see Victoria getting more and more exhausted, her breathing becoming ragged. The distance she was being pushed back was clear to see.

“Stop with the bluster. You’ve already lost an arm…”

Bellamora, who had severed one of Victoria’s arms, sensed victory and wore a mocking smile.

Even if this was a Succubus Queen’s phantasm, the pain and suffering felt as vivid as reality.

“…Huh, do you think Astal-nim would abandon me just because I’ve lost an arm? You really don’t know him at all.”

– If I lose an arm, it might even make it easier to be spoiled by Astal-nim. It might also help close the gap in power that exists because I inherited the dragon’s blood.

Instead, Victoria raised her lips in a smile towards Bellamora, and with her remaining hand, traced a holy symbol, attempting to use a miracle.

– But, that would be something you would really be sad about… so I’ll use a little shortcut too.

Saint’s Miracle.

Trading a loss of a body part to accomplish something impossible in reality; it had been a long time, but Victoria’s miracle shone brightly even in this dream, restoring the severed right arm.

I’d always strictly told her never to use it, yet she was pouring her body into it like she didn’t care about her life.

“He’s the most tender-hearted wizard in the world. You trash like you can’t even be compared to him.”

– Above all, he is the man I ardently adore.

Victoria moved her restored arm, checking if it was working properly, then once again rushed at Bellamora and the Dullahan, violently slamming into them.

She could give up, she could run away.

She could even leave this phantasm right now, join the Hero Kyle, and figure out a way to save me.

“And, right now, no matter what anyone says, he is my lover.”

Victoria remained in this nightmare with me, purely because she loved me.

I didn’t yet understand what love was, but by simply observing Victoria’s words and actions, I could vaguely grasp it.

– For the sake of the one I love, I would follow him even into the fires of hell.

Right now, I could hear Victoria’s innermost thoughts without any filter, and I became unable to comprehend the depth of the feelings she held for me.

For the one she loved, she would willingly throw away her life and die.

For the one she loved, she would bear their dark past alongside them, and walk together.

‘…Am I not receiving too much love for someone like me? Victoria.’

I gritted my teeth while watching Victoria fight. It was a saint’s devotion that no man in the world deserved.

It was not something that a fool who’d been arrogant as a child, simply because he was a genius, and had thus killed his parents and everyone in his village, should receive.

But, I couldn’t leave everything like this on her shoulders, just because Victoria liked me.

I thrashed my body on the horse, doing my best, and fell, crawling on the ground. Pain like bones breaking, my body crushed, ripped through me, but it was a luxury to compare it to what Victoria was enduring.

“The freezing cold of the snow-capped mountains… that chills everything…”

I reached a hand toward Bellamora, squeezing out the last of my strength to use magic.

Though it was clearly an unchangeable past, I could act a little bit on my own, thanks to Victoria.

“Now… dwell in my hand, become a spear that pierces the enemy…!”

Ice Lance, a beginner spell.

Since my current level had regressed to around ten years old, I couldn’t use complex magic circles with the small amount of freedom I had.

This, a desperate measure I had wrung from my brain, was all I had.

As soon as I finished the incantation, a long, sharp spike of ice shot from my palm, flying like a cannonball towards Bellamora.

*Crack*

“How unfortunate. You thought it was a surprise attack, casting a spell like that, but it didn’t reach me, after all.”

Bellamora didn’t even bother trying to block the simple spell, merely tilting her head, gracefully dodging my attack.

“It wasn’t… aimed at you…”

“…Huh?”

Instead, seeing her like that, I inwardly cheered. I’d been using my magic-seeing eyes to search for the movie’s weak points.

Ultimately, showing so many dreams within such a vast territory, even the succubus queen, the queen of nightmares, must have had some limitations, relying solely on her own power.

The hero Kyle must have known this, choosing to act separately and find a way to evade Bellamora’s surveillance.

“That spot where magic is unnaturally concentrated… you thought I wouldn’t notice it?”

*Sparks, crackling*

Sparks flew, creating noise from an unknown machine. It looked like a magical device used to project the movie.

“Hahahahaha!!”

Bellamora, seeing smoke rising from behind her, couldn’t help but laugh loudly.

“…Why are you laughing?”

“You’re really quite adorable! I just humored you to see what kind of scheme you were trying to pull!”

Bellamora, tears welling from laughing too hard, wiped her eyes and even had the composure to block Victoria’s attacks with her remaining arm.

“Sadly, the projector here is just a temporary power source to show the movie to people. It doesn’t matter if it’s destroyed.”

“……”

“Ha, did you expect that? For this nightmare to end? It wouldn’t be that sloppy! It’s basic strategy to have at least two backup plans…”

As Bellamora snapped her fingers, her shadow servants appeared, replacing the so-called projector.

“…Then, what happens if we destroy the real power source at the same time?”

I watched the scene, a soft curve pulling at my lips, and tossed a single word to Bellamora.

“…Huh?”

“Looks like Kyle timed it just right. Victoria, thanks for fighting so hard until now.”

I offered her a nod of gratitude.

This entire string of possibilities existed because of Victoria, Kyle, and the others’ efforts to find the enemy’s weaknesses.

* * *

* * *

Whoosh.

A pillar of flame erupted from the newly swapped projector, Kyle’s symbol, the dragon, becoming visible.

“Astal, I think you can tell just how much magic I poured into this.”

Kyle spoke in front of the massive machine after dealing with all the suits that had been obstructing them.

It was a massive power source, one that he’d tried to destroy countless times, only for it to keep rebuilding itself and attacking Kyle’s group.

“Looks like we can’t just break this from one side, we need to destroy it at the same time, at the same timing.”

Kyle then plunged his flame-forged holy sword into its maw, hoping that the strongest, most battle-savvy mage in their party would catch on.

*Please let the timing be right.*

So that everyone could escape Bellamora’s illusion.

With that hope, Kyle twisted the hand gripping the holy sword.