The Saint’s Manual for Redemption - Chapter 12

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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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Chapter 12
I’d clearly come to the Well because she said she was fetching water there, yet finding no one was naturally unsettling.
Especially with so little time before sunset.
The village people had all been purified of their Demonic Energy and returned to human form, but if the Old Woman—now transformed into a Demon Beast—were to wander about, the outcome was as plain as day.
Worse still, we had no idea where this living time bomb currently was. If we didn’t find her immediately, casualties were guaranteed.
“She hasn’t fallen into the well, has she?”
Arden and I peered into the well without waiting for the other to act first. It was quite deep. I illuminated it with Holy Power, but there was nothing inside.
If she’d fallen in, at least an empty Water Bucket should be floating on the surface. Or the bucket would be rolling about on the ground.
Which meant the Old Woman had never come here at all.
“We have about twenty minutes before sunset.”
Arden glanced up at the sky, already beginning to blush red with twilight, and muttered darkly.
Twenty minutes was absurdly short for searching every corner of the village. There was no time to waste.
“Have you seen the Old Woman from the Green-Roofed House?”
I rushed into the village streets asking urgently, but everyone shook their heads. The smell of food hung thick in the air—people were preparing evening meals.
They seemed reluctant to actively search for the Old Woman, caught up as they were in anticipation of celebrating the night as human beings for the first time in ages. I gave them a terse, brutal summary of the situation’s gravity.
“The Old Woman from that house is the only one we haven’t purified yet.”
That was enough. As if they finally felt in their bones the danger of becoming the Demon Beast’s prey, the people who had been outside began scattering in all directions to search for her.
We, too, set our faces grimly and knocked on the door of the Green-Roofed House’s neighbor. The Neighbor Woman—who had exhausted us with her relentless chatter during her Purification—poked her head out.
We explained the situation and asked if she’d seen the Old Woman leaving her house. The Neighbor Woman shook her head.
“She left without telling her husband where she was going? Though usually she’d tell him before she goes…”
“Her husband said she went to fetch water at the Well.”
I felt a spike of alarm—if I kept listening to the Neighbor Woman’s chatter, we’d easily blow past twenty minutes. That’s why I’d been keeping my responses to the minimum, though she seemed not to notice.
The Neighbor Woman furrowed her brow as though sharing some crucial secret, glanced around, and then whispered conspiratorially.
“She’s got dementia now, dementia.”
Of all things. But before we could sink into despair, the Neighbor Woman poured out a torrent of words.
“She might’ve gone to the Old Well instead—you know, the old one. Even though we’ve taken her to the new one several times, she can’t remember it for the life of her. Every time she picks up her bucket and heads to the Old Well. We even covered that one up, but somehow she manages to open it and drop the rope bucket in. It breaks my heart, truly it does. Even when we offer to fetch water for her, she insists on going herself. That’s why dementia is so frightening. Even when we dug the new well, I prayed that the Old Well would hold out until she passed, but the water dried up four months ago anyway. Oh my, oh my, listen to me ramble. You two came from outside, didn’t you? I’ll take you there. We can’t afford to waste time. Come on, hurry!”
I couldn’t find an opening to interrupt. At least she’d reminded us of our purpose at the end.
The Neighbor Woman, who’d muddled our minds one more time, hastily pushed us along and led the way toward the village’s Old Well.
Praying she’d be there, I followed the Neighbor Woman. Fortunately, I found the Old Woman bent over, grunting as she pushed aside the well cover.
“Ma’am, take my hand!”
Twilight was rapidly being swallowed by the darkness of night. The Old Woman saw me rushing toward her and staggered back, stepping away. As if choreographed, Arden blocked her retreat.
To any outsider, it would have looked like we were conducting a coordinated assault on an elderly woman.
The moment I grasped the Old Woman’s hand, I unleashed Holy Power in overwhelming waves. The Demonic Energy collided violently with what I poured in, but I was simultaneously casting Healing Holy Power upon her body to help her endure the clash.
Just as I purified the Demonic Energy to the threshold of the creature’s transformation, twilight faded completely and the night sky replaced its glow.
It was a timing almost too perfect to believe.
“…You’ve succeeded.”
Arden, who had remained tense until the end, watching the Old Woman, murmured with relief at the sight of her unchanged form even now that night had fallen.
“My goodness, my goodness. Still amazing to see. The Cardinal who visited before would purify me every day too—will you do the same, Saint? Truth be told, after that Cardinal purified me, my body didn’t feel this light. You’re certainly different from him.”
While the Neighbor Woman prattled on in the background, I finished purifying the remaining Demonic Energy from the Old Woman’s body, and taking the opportunity, I used my Holy Power to heal her dementia as well.
“Grandmother, I’ll escort you inside. Go on in and rest. Have some food, too.”
Before parting with the Neighbor Woman, I smiled gently at the Old Woman, who clutched my hand and repeatedly thanked me, then returned to the Inn with Arden.
Since my rebirth, I’d lived as an orphan under the Temple’s Orphanage, doing whatever those above me commanded, but now—having used Holy Power after so long and having run about by my own will and judgment after so long—I was quite exhausted.
‘Have I grown so weak?’
I reflected on my frailty, something I couldn’t have imagined during my days as the Third Holy Saint, and glanced back at Arden to find him looking even more worn and haggard than I did.
I felt reassured by that. No matter how diminished I was from my past life, at least I was still in better condition than the Holy Knight!
Rufus, who spotted us returning safely, brightened and greeted us at the Inn.
“Would you care for a meal?”
“It’s fine.”
I desperately wanted to collapse into bed, so I politely declined the meal Rufus offered. Arden, his deep blue eyes full of concern, asked me a question.
“You haven’t eaten all day. Are you truly certain you don’t need something?”
“Going hungry for a day is nothing new to me.”
At my words, a helpless compassion flickered in Arden’s eyes.
He seemed to think the Orphanage had starved me, but the place I’d been—the Main Temple Headquarters—had quite generous provisions. The cost was that we orphans were worked like animals for cleaning and all manner of events.
I’d simply skipped a meal because I couldn’t be bothered to eat on my rest days.
It was a habit formed during my days as the Third Holy Saint, when I was crushed under the weight of work.
“Don’t worry about me. Eat your fill.”
Arden didn’t refuse and plopped down at the table. Judging from his height and build, he certainly needed to eat. His basal metabolism must burn far more than mine.
Despite his obvious hunger, Arden ate with perfect grace and no breach of etiquette. I watched him from across the table.
This too was different from my ex. He’d been clumsy with manners even after receiving a noble title. Of course, I wasn’t exactly a master of etiquette myself, so it hadn’t really mattered to us.
“Can I see your sword for a moment?”
Arden set down his fork and knife at my request and handed over his sword without hesitation.
While he ate, I cast Sanctification upon the blade. I’d explained before how God’s blessing and Holy Power could seep into an inanimate object, but it still demanded considerable concentration.
“There. It’s done. You won’t need a separate Sanctification when you return to the Temple.”
As I offered him the consecrated sword, Arden’s eyes crinkled with amusement.
“I wonder if you’re aware that Main Temple Headquarters is currently trying to eliminate those with the ability to cast Sanctification. If Cardinal Delpis, who oversees Sanctification, had known, he would have actively championed your candidacy as a Holy Saint.”
Yes, the fact that he could make such smooth, supple jokes was quite different from my former boyfriend, who’d been so rigid. Please don’t be like him with that identical face—I’m still getting used to it.
***
The next morning.
Troubled by Cardinal Norman’s account of having to purify the villagers every day, I visited each house before breakfast and examined them again.
“Did you sleep peacefully last night? Here, shall we try holding hands?”
The moment I stepped out of the last house, my bright smile froze.
Demonic Energy had risen again in a single night.
In every single villager.

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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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