The Man’s 101st Bad Ending

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The life of a saint was one of the most boring lives a human could possibly lead, and that was fine.

Even if people adored her, that was all there was to it.

What meaning was there if someone who couldn’t even look her in the face adored her?

She had lost her sight in exchange for gaining God’s blessing.

The only world she could remember since birth was one with merely differences between light and dark; she only learned what colors flowers were through learning.

The name “saint”, the position of standing at the summit of the church to bestow blessings upon the citizens of the empire.

She had never doubted that, but the “world” itself was always one of the things that piqued Adriana’s curiosity – the unknown realm of what lay ahead, though she had heard about it only through books and fairy tales.

Adriana had always harbored the desire to talk to someone other than priests or the Pope.

It was for that reason that she first escaped from the church at age 13. The world she set out into with the help of a close priest friend, being unable to see, was an extremely mysterious place.

The various sounds reaching her ears were different from the ringing of bells. Instead of the organ sounds she always heard, people were truly chattering and talking about something.

Princess?

Palace?

She didn’t know it at the time, but she later learned that the first friend she made after leaving the outside world was a princess.

If she hadn’t happened to run into the princess’s carriage by chance, what might she have been doing now? Perhaps she would have met some strange person and gotten caught up in some suspicious business – Adriana let out a small laugh at the sudden memory.

“Your Holiness?”

“No, I was just reminiscing a bit about the old days.”

Although she had been severely scolded after being caught escaping once, she was able to freely go outside after that.

However, since she had to hide her status as a saint, she wore these plain clothes.

What Adriana did when she went outside was simple.

Sometimes she would go up to the meadow and blankly gaze at the sun, and sometimes she would visit the slums where young children lived and keep them company.

While learning about what was happening in the world, there were often times when a child insulting Miragen would get severely scolded by her.

Today was the day she visited the orphanage where those children lived.

She had set out with some anticipation for the weekly outing, but Adriana was perplexed by the somewhat rowdy atmosphere.

Although she couldn’t see, she could sense the atmosphere.

Normally the children would run up to her when she came, but today only a few children came over, and it was just noisy.

“Is something the matter, by any chance?”

When Adriana, kneeling, asked that, one of the children fidgeting nearby answered.

“Hans got into a fight with Cato and ran away. He’ll probably be back soon.”

Ah.

With a small sigh, Adriana stood up.

Children fighting happened quite often, but since he had run away, she had to find him, didn’t she?

Moreover, Hans was a child who frequently got into trouble.

If he went outside and happened to run into an ill-tempered noble, things could take an strange turn, so it was better to find him before that happened.

“Sister will go look for him for a bit, but is anyone hurt?”

“No, no one’s hurt.”

That’s good then.

Leaving the children behind, Adriana wandered the streets to look for Hans.

However, the truth was that she couldn’t move as quickly as she had imagined.

It was not so easy to walk without someone by her side; she could use her holy power and it would be a bit better, but she couldn’t use that power in a place like this.

“I wonder where Hans is.”

She had to find him before it got dark, and with that thought in mind as she listened to the sounds around her, Adriana flinched at the sudden voice that reached her ears.

“Um, excuse me. Are you perhaps looking for someone?”

“Hiyah!”

After the shriek that came out of her mouth without her realizing it, silence fell.

For the saint, who always maintained her composure and didn’t raise her voice, it was just an extremely embarrassing “accident.”

Calming her pounding heart from the sudden surprise, Adriana carefully parted her lips.

She had definitely heard that voice before.

Searching her memory, the name that came to mind was quite unexpected.

She had thought she might meet them later, but she truly hadn’t expected to meet them this quickly.

“…It’s you, Sir Taylor.”

The voice she answered with, trying to remain as composed as possible, was slightly trembling.

She probably thought she wouldn’t be found out, and Adriana, waiting for a response with that expectation, soon saw her hopes shattered miserably.

“Ah…yes, that’s me.”

The voice tinged with a hint of laughter meant that even an idiot wouldn’t fail to notice.

At the voice that now seemed to be openly laughing, Adriana’s expression crumpled completely.

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“So this is the child you were looking for.”

The child Adriana had been looking for was the one who had just bumped into me.

Remembering where they were, I brought them over, and she smiled brightly while stroking the child’s head.

Perhaps this was a child who caused a lot of trouble often.

Seeing her more relieved that no accident had occurred than happy to have found them, I couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

“You’re laughing again.”

At that, Adriana glanced at me slightly.

Her eyes were closed, but if her sight had been intact, she would probably have looked at me sidelong.

Perhaps because I had laughed a bit after hearing her shriek earlier, she was reacting somewhat sensitively to my laughter.

“It’s because the scene was pleasing to look at. Isn’t the picture quite nice?”

“If that’s what it is…I have nothing to say…”

“Well, I think people can let out a shriek when they’re surprised.”

“I’ve never shrieked like that before.”

She had clearly let out quite a shriek earlier – the “hiyah” sound she made was rather unexpected, it seemed to me.

Wasn’t she always dignified, rarely even raising her voice in public settings?

Seeing this more casual side of her was a bit of a surprise.

Who would have thought she would be working at an orphanage like this?

Could she really be a saint?

It probably wasn’t easy for her to go out often, but the fact that she was using even those scarce opportunities for volunteer work made me admire her a little.

I had never met anyone like her before.

If there was someone like her, one could fully trust them.

The thought suddenly occurred to me that if I had built a connection with her in previous regressions, my ending might have been a little different.

It wasn’t that I had never tried to meet the saint before.

It was just that, strangely enough, I was unable to meet her.

Whenever I tried to meet her, the saint had already fled to another country.

Or if it was finally a time when I could meet her, I would be ambushed and struck down.

So I had almost given up on the expectation of meeting her, but in this turn, through a coincidence, I met the saint twice.

…It was a bit anticlimactic, but I didn’t think negatively of it either.

“By the way, Sir Taylor, where were you headed?”

“I had some business to take care of. But, aren’t you having trouble carrying that heavy load alone?”

Seeing her struggling to carry the heavy load alone, I asked, and Adriana nodded, saying it was fine.

It was probably bedding or something used by the children.

But after seeing her stumble a few times on her own, I naturally couldn’t just leave her be.

“Let me take that for you. I think I can move faster with it.”

“It’s okay, you don’t have to take the trouble – ah.”

“No, I’m the one who’s not okay with this.”

Her movements looked precarious at a glance.

It was quite impressive that she had been doing this until now, but on the other hand, I glared at the servant who was just watching from the side.

Even if she had to act like a commoner outside, she was still a saint – wasn’t this too much?

However, the servant just shook his head as if protesting his innocence.

He probably knew the situation more or less.

Perhaps it was Adriana’s stubbornness that made her use her own strength in a place like this.

“Really, you don’t have to help me.”

Adriana pouted her lips and grumbled.

It seemed she couldn’t stand that I was carrying the heavy load, and she finally quieted down only after taking the top item from the pile I was holding.

She was quite an unusual woman. Normally, a noble would hesitate to come to a place like this, but as a saint, she came here.

Adriana moved with several children clinging to her as she carried the bedding.

They would blurt out what they had to say, and she would respond with various remarks while listening to them.

“Kids, if you keep clinging to me like this, I won’t be able to go any further.”

“Sister, Hans has been hitting Cato since earlier!”

“I didn’t hit him, I just touched him!”

“Hans, if you keep doing that, Sister will leave early.”

At that, the boy named Hans shut his mouth tightly.

It seemed Adriana wielded quite a bit of influence at this orphanage.

No matter how you looked at it, he was just a troublemaker, but he listened well to her words, at least.

The person who seemed to be the director of the orphanage was just watching this scene with a pleased expression.

Adriana blended in quite well among those children.

I didn’t know how long she had been doing this work, but there was no denying that she found joy in it.

Just the thought of that made my expression darken, if only a little, just a bit.

It was almost like looking at someone from another world.

Despite being unable to see, her laughing amidst the children was a sight befitting of her name as a saint.

Different from me.

The sunlight seemed to be shining and sparkling on her.

In contrast, a shadow was cast over where I stood, and the light was only directed towards Adriana along with the children.

I let out a bitter smile at the scene that made it seem like I was being discriminated against.

Well, since she was the saint chosen by God, it was only natural that she would be treated differently from me.

“Sir Taylor, could you help me with this for a bit?”

That’s when Adriana spoke to me, standing in the shade.

She hadn’t made any noise, but her gaze was accurately directed towards where I was standing.

I flinched for a moment before answering nonchalantly.

“What is it?”

“The children won’t leave me alone. Could you watch over them for a bit…?”

So many children were clinging to her clothes that she seemed to be in quite a predicament herself.

And yet, she seemed apologetic about asking me, so I readily agreed and started peeling the children off her one by one.

Perhaps the boy named Hans had already told them about me, as the children immediately let go of Adriana once I stepped in.

It was a relief that they didn’t outright disobey.

I had never really experienced how to handle young children before.

Adriana nodded slightly to me, then left with her servant.

She seemed quite familiar with the surrounding terrain, walking away with ease.

Come to think of it, if Adriana was coming, I should probably head out too.

I had originally planned to go to the guild, so I figured I should go do my work once she arrived.

“Mister.”

Then one of the children tugged at my sleeve.

Mister, not a bad title.

Considering my mental age, I was probably more like a corpse.

So I glanced over, and the startled child looked in the direction Adriana had left before carefully opening their mouth.

“Do you know Sister?”

“…I just know her name. Why ask that so suddenly?”

“I was wondering if you two were lovers. You’re both adults, after all.”

“That’s not it, so you don’t need to worry.”

At that, several children let out a relieved “phew” sigh.

Perhaps they thought Adriana and I wouldn’t make a good match.

Of course, I had no intention of becoming her lover, but their reaction still left me feeling rather uneasy.

“Are you still here?”

My wandering thoughts were interrupted by a voice coming from elsewhere.

Adriana and her servant were approaching, carrying full water bottles.

Perhaps it was because it was summer, and some of the children were drenched in sweat.

“I’m still here.”

“Ah, I was worried you might have left already. Thank you for your help earlier. Here, have some wat- ah?!”

Adriana’s body started leaning forward abruptly.

It seemed she had failed to notice the protruding rock on the ground as she hurriedly approached me.

Her previously serene expression crumpled, and the water bottle in her hand flew up into the air.

Her flowing hair, like sunlight, fluttered in the air in a way that resembled fading light.

If I hadn’t caught her, she probably would have been seriously injured.

“Hergh.”

Adriana, her body caught in my arms, let out a short breath.

Since I had grabbed her just before she hit the ground, I had no choice but to pull her into a tight embrace.

I could feel her warm breath on my ear.

Draping her neck over my shoulder as I held her, her heart was pounding rapidly.

For a brief moment, Adriana tightly gripped my shoulder before pulling her body away and slowly parting her lips.

A faint blush tinged her cheeks, seemingly embarrassed to have been seen stumbling.

“You caught me, thank you…really.”

“Are you all right? I apologize for touching you. I did it to catch your fall.”

“It’s fine. It couldn’t be helped, could it? Ugh, I don’t usually trip like that.”

As she tried to stand up with my support, Adriana eventually let out a groan and grabbed her ankle.

It seemed she had sprained her ankle in the fall, as she muttered softly after using her servant’s help to get to her feet, lamenting that she had a lot to do today.

The look of disappointment on her face was so palpable that even the children could only gaze at Adriana with dejected expressions.

Then, suddenly, the children’s gazes turned to me.

Their eyes held the blatant intention of asking if I, the “mister”, could help her instead.

I probably would have ignored them under normal circumstances.

If the woman with me wasn’t the saint, I definitely would have ignored it and gone about my business.

“Hah.”

My hand unconsciously touched my neck – the scar from the wound Adriana had healed last time was now completely gone without a trace. So perhaps I should help her out this one time.

…Maybe this, too, was a way to build rapport with the saint.

“If it’s not going to take too long, I think I can help you out a bit.”

“Really?”

“…Yes, I’ve received help from you before, haven’t I?”

I ended up nodding in agreement at the visibly brightening expression on the saint’s face.

That I had come outside today was a coincidence, and that I had met the saint again was also a coincidence.

If these coincidental encounters repeated several times, wouldn’t that become a fateful connection? It wasn’t bad.

In fact, I thought I could take a positive view of it – though it might just be a convenient excuse.

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