The Cowardly Baby Saint Sees Ghosts - Chapter 68

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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# Episode 68.
In that moment, a Status Window materialized before my eyes.
[Sudden Mission]
Explore the Annex Building!
―Obtain Blueprints 1/1 ✔
―Gather Documents 0/3
“Thank… thank goodness.”
I was about to exhale in relief when a sharp, throbbing pain seized my back, and I clenched my teeth. Every time the wound brushed against my clothes, a stinging ache radiated outward.
My fingertips trembled as I channeled Holy Power through them.
“We still need to find the documents. Three of them.”
“Yes! They should be somewhere nearby, I’m sure!”
Seria wiped away her tears and began opening filing cabinets one by one.
Her hands shook so badly that papers kept scattering across the floor, but she didn’t stop.
The smell of moldy paper saturated the room. With each breath, my throat felt thick and congested.
“…I think… I think this is it!”
The first document. An old Land Ownership Certificate. The Status Window flickered again.
―Gather Documents 1/3
Then, from beyond the door, came a low sound again—footsteps drawing slowly nearer from somewhere deep in the distance.
The doorknob began to turn, very slowly, with a dull rattle.
“…That… that thing.”
Seria held her breath. I froze in place too, my eyes locked on the doorknob as though I could bore through it with my gaze. My heart felt like it would leap straight out of my throat.
Fortunately, the door didn’t open. The knob rattled a few times, then fell silent.
“…It’s all right. It won’t open.”
I forced myself to steady my breathing and turned back to the filing cabinets.
“…Found it!”
Seria pulled out a moldy envelope from the very bottom drawer of an old filing cabinet. Inside was an aged Plumbing Diagram.
―Gather Documents 2/3
“One left! Just a little more!”
I examined an old cabinet standing against one wall. The wooden surface was swollen and damp with moisture.
The handle was so rusted that it wouldn’t open easily. The moment I put strength into it, a searing pain tore through the wound on my back.
“Ugh…!”
“W-Holy Maiden!”
“I’m all right. If I can just… just get this open…!”
Gritting my teeth, I pulled hard on the cabinet. With a screech, the door swung open. Inside lay a single worn folder, sitting alone.
On its cover, faded letters read <Administrative Approval Documents>.
“That’s it! The last one!”
[Sudden Mission Complete!]
―Obtain Blueprints 1/1 ✔
―Gather Documents 3/3 ✔
Reward: Good Deed Gauge +5
[Current: 74 / 1000]
A brief vibration, and the air in the room felt somehow a little lighter. The footsteps from outside had faded away entirely.
“…Is it over?”
Seria asked carefully.
[You cannot leave this place until sunset.]
[It is recommended that you secure safety until the remaining time passes.]
“…We can’t leave before sunset.”
I murmured weakly and leaned my back against the wall, then swallowed a groan as pain flared from the wound.
“Holy Maiden, please let me see your back. Please.”
Seria hurried toward me. I reluctantly lifted my shirt just enough to show her.
Blood from the scratches had seeped deeply into the fabric. The skin around the wound throbbed and swelled with heat.
“…This looks like it might need stitches.”
“I’m fine. I can manage somehow with Holy Power…”
I tried to channel Holy Power toward the wound again, but I had already expended far too much.
My fingertips glowed faintly before the light faded helplessly away.
“…It’s not working well.”
I forced a smile, but Seria’s face twisted as though she might cry.
“It’s my fault. Because of me, the Holy Maiden is…”
“Don’t say things like that.”
I took her hand.
It was still cold. My fingertips had turned to ice.
“Let’s rest here until sunset.”
* * *
In the Administrative Office with no windows, we leaned against each other in the darkness and waited for time to pass in silence.
Only the sound of each other’s breathing felt like proof that we were still alive.
The darkness was so thick that keeping my eyes open made no difference from closing them. Beyond the wall, in the collapsed shelves, only a faint creaking sound drifted through now and then.
For a long while, neither of us spoke.
Seria still gripped my hand tightly, her shoulders trembling at intervals.
“……Saint.”
After what felt like an eternity, Seria called out to me in the smallest voice imaginable.
“……Yes.”
“I’m sorry.”
With that, Seria said nothing more.
But the hand holding mine pressed down just a little harder.
Strangely, I found myself thinking that perhaps this shared terror might draw us closer together.
How long had passed, I couldn’t say.
The light seeping through the door crack began to blush red. The sun was setting.
[System]
The Rules of this place have been completely lifted.
You may exit safely.
“Seria, we can leave now.”
Seria lifted her head, her cheeks puffy and flushed.
“……Really?”
“Yes. Let me open the door.”
I grasped the doorknob with trembling hands. Until moments ago it had moved of its own accord, locking and unlocking itself, but now it turned without any resistance whatsoever.
When I opened the door, the Library Storage Room that had been crammed with collapsed shelf debris now seemed eerily empty and still.
There were no figures, no shadows—nothing at all.
Only the ruins of what had once been shelves remained.
Fragments of broken shelving lay scattered across the floor, as if a tempest had swept through the space.
The terror of moments before seemed almost laughable now—the room was simply old and desolate, nothing more.
We supported each other and moved forward carefully.
Picking our way through the wreckage, we finally reached the entrance. The crunch of glass shards beneath our feet sounded unnaturally loud.
When I pushed open the door, sunset poured in.
The warmth of that light was more welcome than I could express.
* * *
On our way back to the Temple, the sunset had painted the entire sky crimson.
The terrible memories of the day felt like a lie, so peaceful was the heavens above.
Even the scent of grass carried on the breeze seemed strangely foreign, everything was so serene.
“……We’re really safe now, aren’t we?”
Seria asked, turning back to look several times.
“Yes. We’re fine now.”
Becky spotted us from a distance and came running toward us at full speed.
She was gasping for breath as she ran, holding up the hem of her skirt.
“Why are you so late— Saint, those wounds!”
“……I was hurt a little. It’s nothing serious.”
“Nothing serious? Come on, to the Medical Treatment Room, quickly!”
Becky rushed to support me. Seria followed behind us, her expression still anxious.
“Both of you look so pale. Did you find the Blueprints and the documents?”
“……Yes, barely.”
“That Library Storage Room must have been more dangerous than expected. I feel terrible for sending you…”
Becky’s voice was heavy with remorse, and her face grew dark as if she might cry at any moment.
“No, it’s not your fault, Becky. Nobody could have known.”
At my words, Becky’s expression remained troubled.
“I should recommend that the entire building be sealed off so nobody can enter again. Renovation or not, it might be better to just demolish it.”
I agreed with her assessment.
A place like that—it would be better if no one ever stepped foot in it again.
As we made our way to the Medical Treatment Room, Seria suddenly stopped walking and looked at me. In the sunset’s glow, her face was flushed crimson.
“……Saint, I’m truly grateful for everything today. For getting hurt because of me, for looking after me all the way to the end.”
“It’s only natural. We got out together, didn’t we?”
Tears welled up again in Seria’s eyes.
“…I… someday, I want to tell you everything, Saint.”
Was it because of what had happened with Noah earlier?
There seemed to be a story behind it all, but I hadn’t pressed her. Everyone carries their own past.
“I’ll wait. Whenever you’re ready.”
I meant it sincerely.
For the first time, Seria smiled—faintly, barely perceptibly.
Just before stepping into the Medical Treatment Room, I found myself checking my Status Window.
[Good Deed Gauge: 74 / 1000]
So much had happened in a single day. Yet at the end of it all, one thing remained certain: I had grown closer to Seria.
The mystery of the name Noah lingered unsolved, but I had decided to wait—to let Seria share her own story when she was ready.
The moment I lay down on the Medical Treatment Room bed, all the tension drained from my body at once.
As the Priest disinfected my wounds and wound the bandages, I recalled the day’s events one by one. Each tightening of the gauze sent a dull ache across my back.
The disinfectant stung each time it touched the raw wounds, but strangely, that pain made me feel that today had truly ended.
Rule Four. That blank line I had never been able to decipher.
Perhaps I would never know what it was. Yet somehow, I was certain of this much: whatever it had been, I never wanted to face it again.
Beyond the window, stars were beginning to emerge one by one in a sky that had darkened completely. The day was settling quietly into dusk.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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