Saint, You Should Quit Smoking

Rinet and I left the Special Hall.

She walked ahead of me with tiny steps.

“Where are we going?” “To the forest!” Forest?

I knew the Academy grounds were quite vast, but to think there was even a forest.

It truly lived up to its reputation as the world’s most prestigious educational institution.

“Is the forest nearby?” “It’s just a short walk from the Special Hall. I visit there often.”

Perhaps she has a hobby of enjoying the forest.

Well, how could a saint only have a hobby like smoking? This saint-like behavior aligned with my common sense, making me feel at ease.

As Rinet said, once we moved a little away from the Special Hall, a vast forest appeared. Rinet, with her back to me, approached the trees without hesitation.

It seemed like she wanted to fully take in the view of the forest. But I found that a bit questionable.

“Couldn’t we enjoy the forest later?”

If the goal was to guide me around the Academy, couldn’t the forest be postponed to a later time?

Rinet turned toward me as I asked with such doubts.

“Yes?”

A cigarette and a lighter held in both hands.

This woman, she hadn’t come to enjoy the forest. “You came to smoke?” “This is a place where hardly anyone comes.”

Whether I looked at her with disbelief or not, Rinet didn’t care at all and lit her cigarette.

Click- her skill at lighting the fire without any wasted motion was quite proficient.

Then the saint closed her eyes, deeply inhaled the cigarette smoke, and.

“Inhale. Haa-“

She exhaled it.

The process was so clean that it felt like watching a smoking artist’s performance.

It was enough to pique my curiosity, someone who had never touched a cigarette in my life.

“Ahh~ I feel alive now.”

She said with a happy smile.

The saint repeatedly inhaled and exhaled the cigarette smoke.

Seemingly satisfied to some extent, Rinet opened her eyes and met my gaze, as I was at a loss for words.

“…”

Her cheeks flushed red. With an embarrassed expression, she rolled her eyes around, but she never stopped smoking.

“…You really smoke with relish.”

For me, a prince, to use such a crude expression as ‘smoke,’ Rinet was indeed enjoying her cigarette with relish.

She could appear in a cigarette advertisement. The only problem was that she’s a saint.

“Saint.”

“Y-yes?” “How long have you been smoking, if I may ask?”

“C-career?!”

Rinet was startled by my words. She almost dropped the cigarette from her mouth.

“How dare you say such a thing to a saint! That’s blasphemous!” “But you’re smoking right now.”

“…”

Rinet shut her mouth.

“…I’ve been smoking since my coming-of-age ceremony.”

The saint’s face was now flushed red.

“Is that okay? Aren’t you concerned about your health?” “Oh my, who do you think I am?”

At my words, Rinet proudly declared, pushing out her prominently raised chest.

“I’m a saint, a saint!” “I’m aware.”

“That’s not what I mean! I can purify these harmful substances with my holy power anytime.”

“Isn’t that power not meant to be used for such purposes?”

“…”

Rinet pouted her lips at my words.

Regardless, the cigarette held between her fine lips was gradually reaching the end of its life.

Soon only the filter would remain. At that point, a question arose in my mind.

“By the way, without an ashtray, how do you dispose of the cigarette butt? Weren’t you supposed to avoid being caught?” “Oh, you don’t need to worry about that.”

Rinet again showed off her chest fat that stimulated men’s hearts.

“I have my ways!”

Then she flicked her finger on the cigarette butt in her hand.

And then.

Whoosh! A pure white flame rose up and completely burned the cigarette butt.

It was holy fire.

“This way, there’s no problem. Hehe.”

Rinet told me with a bright smile. Her face was like a child boasting about their talent to their parents.

So it’s a perfect crime.

I could now understand why this tragic fact had not spread throughout the world.

After leaving the forest, we went to a chapel set up in one part of the Academy grounds. Rinet guided me there.

“May I ask why we’re going to the chapel first?” My question was quite reasonable.

There must be countless places to show within the Academy. Yet she was deliberately guiding me to the chapel.

In response to my question, the saint turned to me with a prim look.

“I think you’re seeing me as too strange a person. I thought I’d show you my saint-like side.”

“That’s true, isn’t it?”

“No! I may smoke, but I’m a proper saint.”

“The moment you smoke, you’re not saint-like.” “…”

The end of our continued exchange was Rinet pouting her lips once again.

While we continued our conversation, we passed by numerous believers inside the chapel.

During this process, so many believers greeted Rinet that we were delayed because not a single one was missed.

However, Rinet’s demeanor when receiving the believers’ greetings was truly so saint-like.

It was hard to believe that she had a hobby of smoking.

Seeing her like this, her conduct as a saint was indeed perfect, which made me wonder why she engaged in something like smoking.

Rinet continued to guide me inside the chapel.

“Where are we going?” “First, let’s go to my room.” “What? Your room first?”

I asked for a tour of the Academy, but why is she suddenly revealing her own room?

The saint answered my question with confidence. Her fair face was filled with unwavering determination.

“I’ve run out of cigarettes. That was my last one just now.”

“…”

This person, she doesn’t even try to hide it anymore.

I no longer expected any saint-like behavior from her.

Rinet walked up to the spire located at the center of the chapel. She moved without any hesitation, already familiar with the structure inside the chapel.

“Is your room at the top?” “Yes. They said it’s to distinguish the saint from other believers.”

The saint seemed displeased with this.

“I find this burdensome.”

“It’s inevitable for those who stand above others.”

This was also a feeling I had experienced living as a prince.

I didn’t find it particularly unpleasant, but Rinet seemed to have quite a tender heart.

The conversation ended on a not-so-good note. After passing through a long spiral staircase in a suffocating atmosphere. We arrived in front of a door engraved with beautiful patterns. It was the saint’s room.

She turned toward me as if trying to refresh the stifling atmosphere. The finger pointing at her room door was slender.

With a playful smile, Rinet faced me directly.

“Hehe. You have the honor of entering a saint’s room. How about that?”

“I don’t feel anything in particular.”

“Aren’t you pleased? Aren’t you excited?” “Not really.”

“…”

The saint packed her eyes with the emotion that she didn’t like my answer.

Of course, I knew that Rinet was clearly joking with me, but my position as a prince prevented me from playing along with that joke. What insane prince would say such nonsense in front of a saint?

In the first place, since she is also a saint, the problem was that she was acting in a way that didn’t match her position.

“Prince, you’re a boring person.”

“If my previous answer had been funny, wouldn’t that have been more troublesome?”

“Hmph! Fine. Just come in.”

Rinet grumbled as she opened the door. I followed her into the room.

She immediately approached the desk. Her attitude suggested that it was natural for there to be a pack of cigarettes in the drawer. I inwardly sighed at the sight and casually looked around while waiting for Rinet.

I initially intended to just glance at the room casually. But upon seeing what was in my view, I changed my assessment.

‘It’s desolate.’

I examined the room again, putting more effort into my vision.

There was a wardrobe in one corner of the room. Through the slightly open gap, I could see spare saint’s robes.

On the desk were a bible and a cross. They were surely well-used, as evidenced by the wear marks.

And.

‘That’s it.’

Besides that, nothing else existed in the saint’s room.

I slightly furrowed my brow.

It’s a saint-like room for a saint. Just as she showed her good saint-like image to the believers. If it’s true that her usual conduct is saint-like, it was understandable that she wasn’t particularly interested in decorating her room.

A virtue of the clergy is frugality. That makes sense.

However.

‘Hmm.’

For that, it’s a bit.

‘Excessive.’

It felt like looking at an imperial warehouse. Clearly people come and go frequently so there’s no dust. But there’s no sense of life either.

I was feeling a similar contradiction in the saint’s room.

What pulled me out of my contemplation was the saint’s high-pitched voice.

“Aaah! Why are you looking around like that! Don’t look!”

Flap flap- Her small palms frantically waved to block my gaze.

I withdrew my gaze so as not to upset Rinet.

Instead, I asked her one question.

“Saint, I’m asking this just in case.”

“Yes?” “Do you perhaps have no hobbies other than smoking?” Upon hearing my question, Rinet froze for a few seconds. The reaction that followed was truly explosive. Jumping up high enough to reach the ceiling, she shouted at me, forgetting even basic courtesy.

“W-w-what nonsense are you saying?! I’m a saint, a saint! To say I have no hobbies other than smoking!”

“For that matter, it seems like there are no personal items in your room.”

“That’s none of your business!”

Her expression was so flustered that she couldn’t even care that she was a saint and I was a prince. Her eyes were shaking violently.

Her shock was palpable. Recognizing the situation, I immediately bowed my head to Rinet. It might seem ridiculous for a prince to bow his head, but Rinet, being a saint, and I are essentially equals. So it wasn’t particularly problematic.

“I apologize. I didn’t intend to upset you. Please forgive my rudeness.”

I sincerely apologized to her. Of course, it was still the saint who was behaving inappropriately.

As a fellow classmate. As someone more level-headed and sensible than her.

I hoped Rinet would regain her composure. My relationship with her needs to remain good and last long. Only then can I achieve the goal of a successful graduation.

As if she understood the intention behind my words, the saint, now calmed from her excitement, seemed to realize what she had done. Her eyes, looking at me nervously, trembled with anxiety.

“Um, umm. Prince. That…”

“Don’t worry. I don’t mind.”

The comfort I conveyed to her was the truth.

It would be a lie to say I didn’t mind at all.

I’d been told from the beginning that the Special Class members, including Rinet, were troublemakers, so why would I be surprised by this much? Rather, the greater concern was if this incident caused Rinet to avoid me.

At my words, the saint’s cheeks turned as red as a carrot. She cleared her throat with a “ahem” and spoke proudly.

“Th-then shall we go get something to eat? It’s mealtime anyway!” “Let’s do that.”

I readily agreed, understanding Rinet’s intention to dissolve the uncomfortable situation.

As I followed the saint, who was awkwardly leaving the room, I slightly turned my gaze back.

A room where the owner’s interests were not revealed at all.

I had a hunch that this would be of great significance in the process of ensuring Rinet, the troublemaker, graduated safely.