Taming the Evil Saintess

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When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was the view of Eastern Port outside the window. It seemed I was looking at buildings within the city, not from the tent inside.

In other words, I was now in Eastern Port. After Elgore died and I fainted, it seemed my comrades and the Knight Order handled the city’s recapture.

Just as I was about to let out a sigh of relief, a sharp pain shot through me as if a needle had pierced my lungs. Frowning, I tried to brush away my wet hair, but both my right hand and left arm were tied to splints.

I was completely unable to move.

“Are you coming to your senses, you idiot?”

“…Ophelia.”

Ophelia, who had come into the hospital room without my noticing, said with a deep frown.

“How many days have passed?”

“Not long. About five days.”

“Five days feels like a lot.”

“It’s not long compared to your condition, you moron.”

As Ophelia raised her fist, she realized how terrible my state was and let out a heavy sigh.

“You could have genuinely died this time.”

“I know.”

“You think you know! If you did, you wouldn’t have acted like that!”

“…I probably would have acted the same way even if I knew…”

“….”

Ophelia seemed to agree with my last words in silence, biting her lip.

Then crossing her arms, she plopped down right beside my bed.

“Anyway, I won’t let you off the hook, not a single word.”

“Ophelia, that goes for you too…”

“You’re genuinely going to die.”

“I’m sorry.”

I sincerely apologized. It was indeed my fault for rushing in without thinking about my condition.

But what could I do? Elgore was that strong, and I had to prepare for considerable blood loss.

As a result, wasn’t I able to enter this grand city of Eastern Port without bloodshed?

It seemed Ophelia didn’t question that.

“Yeah. We won, so that’s what matters.”

Ophelia grudgingly said this.

“It’s good that the outcome was favorable. After all, I permitted it… But don’t do something like this again next time.”

“Okay.”

“You’ll just run off again anyway.”

Ophelia muttered a curse under her breath, quiet enough for it to be unheard, and then glared at me.

“Do you think I’m your beaten wife? Conveniently lying around?”

“I feel like I get beaten more than you do.”

“Shut up.”

Ophelia shook her head and then looked at me. When she noticed that I looked quite fine, she smiled faintly.

“So, how’s your body?”

“Not too bad. Maybe thanks to the hemolysis, but it seems I’m recovering quite fast.”

“…That’s a relief.”

“Yeah.”

Ophelia showed a warm side that she occasionally revealed. I really liked that bright smile. I wanted to hug her, but unfortunately, my arms were tightly bound.

“So, what happened to the demon remnants in the city?”

“They were all captured. Except for a few, we decided to hand them all over to the Knight Order.”

“Were there no resistances?”

“The lieutenants strongly opposed and fought back, but…”

“But…?”

“When we showed them Blackie, they all tucked their tails and surrendered.”

That makes sense.

Thanks to eating so many healthy foods in the Cathedral, Black Dragon Blackie had grown massively. Now, his wings could easily cover a decent mansion when spread out.

How many demons would retain their fighting spirit when such a siege weapon appeared?

“What about the Possessors?”

“We caught them. There were two. One was a Chimera-maker and…”

“And the other one?”

“Oksana.”

At that, my eyes widened.

Possessor Oksana. The Tsar’s daughter I met in the stronghold of Plague Lord Vermina. Was she coincidentally under Elgore’s command?

“What did you do with her?”

“What else? Cecilia is interrogating her.”

She wouldn’t kill her, right?

From what I’ve seen, Cecilia’s personality isn’t cruel. Most importantly, since she had an acquaintance with Oksana before being possessed, she would likely try her best to keep her alive.

I probably didn’t need to worry.

As I was thinking about this, Ophelia pulled something out from her attire, a golden potion bottle.

“What’s that?”

“Drink it.”

“No, I should know what it is first.”

“Shut up and drink. It’s an elixir.”

An elixir. Just the mention of those three syllables made my eyes widen.

An item that you could only get three of even in the game. The effect? Growth of all stats.

“Where did you get this precious thing?”

“The Knight Commander guy gifted it.”

…Austin?

“I think that was his name.”

Ophelia nodded.

“That Knight’s entire group was imprisoned underground in the mansion. They opened the family report as gratitude for rescuing them. So just drink it. It’ll be good for your health.”

“…Hmm.”

Knight Commander Austin. To that guy who was beaten in public, going so far as to give an elixir. I thought he was a thickheaded type, but it seems he has a strong sense of obligation.

Anyway, receiving an elixir for the first time is something to be grateful for, right? With Ophelia’s help, I gulped down the golden potion.

Suddenly, I had a thought.

“Ophelia, do you want to try half of this?”

“Eh?”

Elixirs are items that are used up in one gulp. At least, that’s how it works in the game.

If I shared an elixir like this, wouldn’t its effect be halved?

That was my reasoning, but…

“But you already drank from it.”

“…”

“That’s an indirect kiss…”

“…What the…?”

I tilted my head in confusion.

Ophelia awkwardly averted her gaze. I didn’t understand why she was embarrassed about indirect kisses but not about direct ones.

In the end, I drank all the elixir instead of letting Ophelia have it. I didn’t really feel any improvement in my body, but well, I doubt Austin would give me a fake elixir.

The effects would probably show up gradually.

As I spent time with Ophelia, suddenly the door swung open. What came in wasn’t a person, but a small black cat.

“What’s that? Did you get a new pet cat?”

“That’s Blackie.”

“What an odd name to give… huh?”

Coincidentally, isn’t there someone in our party named Blackie?

That small cat was several thousand times smaller than him.

“Blackie, you say?”

“Yeah, that Blackie.”

“Blackie is a dragon, isn’t he?”

“Can’t you see he has wings?”

At Ophelia’s words, I snapped back to reality. Indeed, there were tiny wings on the cat’s back, no bigger than two finger joints.

“What’s going on?”

“It’s similar to that old hen from Nuar.”

“Polymorph?”

“Emily said the same.”

The cat that had now climbed onto my lap, or rather Blackie, made me marvel at its cuteness. Nuar, Blackie’s mother, had approached us while polymorphed as a human too.

It was pretty much expected that Blackie, who inherited her blood, would polymorph as well. However, it seemed polymorphing into a humanoid higher lifeform was still difficult.

“Will it eat less now?”

“No, he eats just like usual. I don’t know how he can fit it all in that belly. I thought there was some sort of pocket dimension. Did you know that half of Eastern Port’s rations are going to Blackie?”

“Haha.”

I tried to pet Blackie, but as I mentioned earlier, my arms were tied. Having no choice but to soothe him with my gaze, Blackie’s next action was unexpected.

“Meow!”

He started to lick the wound on my side with an adorable sound.

If that had been it, I would have considered it just Blackie’s cuteness, but seeing my wound slowly start to heal made both Ophelia and me widen our eyes.

“…This is.”

Does Blackie’s saliva have healing properties?

No, if that were the case, Ophelia would have realized that from their first meeting.

Then that means…

“Is it because of the contract of hemolysis?”

The contract between Nuar and Blackie and me had likely caused this phenomenon.

Whatever the case may be, Blackie currently had the ability to accelerate my healing. That was great news.

“I guess I’ll have to stay with Blackie for a while.”

As I muttered that, Blackie meowed softly in my arms.

Though realistically, a cat wouldn’t make that sound.

“….”

But Ophelia had a strange expression as she looked at me.

“Ophelia?”

“What?”

“Are you mad?”

“…I’m not mad.”

Though she said that, the slope of her eyebrows was somewhat steep.

No matter how I looked at it, this seemed to be a sign of a severely bruised ego.

“…You’re not seriously jealous of Blackie, are you?”

“There’s no way! I’m way more useful than this licking little creature!”

Ophelia’s genuinely serious expression, feeling threatened by a cat, was quite amusing.

So I wanted to tease her a bit.

With a mischievous grin, I said, “But the wound Blackie healed looked like one you couldn’t fix.”

“What, what?”

“Look. Right here on my side. You couldn’t heal this. But Blackie licked it, and it’s healing just fine.”

“…Ugh.”

“See? Blackie’s doing better.”

“I-I can lick just as well!”

She looked like she was genuinely about to lick something, and I had to firmly stop her.

While on my lap, Blackie let out a snorting sound as if laughing at her.

After a while of playful bickering, Ophelia, feeling exhausted, leaned back against the chair.

“Tch, all you do is tease me.”

“I’m sorry.”

What could I do with such a cute reaction?

As I continued to poke fun at the still charming Saint Ophelia, she suddenly seemed to remember something and cautiously began to speak.

“Um, Elliot.”

“What?”

She surveyed me carefully before letting out a heavy sigh that seemed to swallow the ground.

“First off, I should mention…”

“First off?”

“I just realized this lately. So… don’t say anything if I’m late to mention it.”

“…Okay?”

Ophelia, behaving unlike herself, fidgeted for a while. Only after I urged her with a gesture did she slowly start to speak.

“I… haven’t been doing that thing lately.”

“That thing?”

“Yeah. That thing.”

Ophelia’s cheeks turned red.

She seemed hesitant.

“What does that even mean…?”

Upon my repeated inquiry, Ophelia pouted and muttered.

“You know… that thing.”

“I mean, you have to explain it…”

“Ugh! Can’t you read the atmosphere? It’s something women do every month!”

“…Monthly?”

I frowned, completely confused.

Seeing I didn’t understand, Ophelia gritted her teeth and pronounced it clearly.

“Menstruation, you bastard!”

“….”

At her words, I gaped in shock.