LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 59
The zealot’s main weapon is a sword. A great sword, to be precise.
It might not suit his stature, but how much does weight class matter in a world filled with inflation?
Even if it seems like he’s not holding anything right now, there’s no doubt that his spatial pouch is stuffed with various types of great swords.
He wasn’t as crazy about the saintess as he was about swords, but he was certainly obsessed enough.
Wwhoosh!
Maybe that’s why, whenever he saw someone wielding a sword, he would show a combative stance.
And that aggressive, charge-like swordsmanship has plenty of parry opportunities.
No matter how confident someone might be in their skills, they’d feel something was off after a parry or two and likely stop.
With that in mind, he confidently drew his sword…
“…Never mind. Let’s stop here.”
For some reason, he started to back away while saying that.
What’s going on? I didn’t do anything, so why the sudden submission?
I thought he would at least clash swords once or twice, but the situation ended too anticlimactically.
Well, since he decided to withdraw, I put my sword away, and he seemed relieved.
“I will accept your consideration. Please take good care of the saintess.”
What’s with this guy?
Well, if good things are good things, I guess I should count my blessings. Even if it feels awkward, I got the result I wanted.
“My skills are humble, but I swear to do my best.”
“Enough with the humility. By the way, I’m envious. To be able to guard the saintess’s side.”
“That’s just a mere title of a friend.”
Being right next to her makes it seem like I have to take responsibility for Lilith for life.
“If I were to be called a friend of the saintess, I would probably die of joy.”
“Please refrain from that…”
“Of course, I’m joking. Unless the saintess commands me to die, I won’t do it.”
He said that while pulling something out from his pocket.
It was a badge adorned with a bizarre design.
“This is a token given only to those whom I recognize as comrades.”
Why the sudden recognition? Was being Lilith’s friend that appealing?
But is this a zealot friend badge? If so, I really don’t need it.
“What am I supposed to do with this?”
“There will be uses for it. Please accept it.”
But it felt like he desperately wanted to give it to me.
It was an item I had never seen even in a game, but if he says there will be uses for it, maybe I should just hang onto it for now.
As I accepted the badge and put it in my pocket, he wore a satisfied expression and flipped his hood back on.
“I look forward to our next meeting when the opportunity arises.”
With that, he left.
There was no particular reason to watch him fade away.
I turned around and headed back to my original spot, where Seria and Lilith were looking at me with somewhat ambiguous expressions.
Not knowing what their expressions meant, I decided to flaunt my dignity in finishing up work.
“Did you see that?”
“I did. Rudion threatened a small, fragile citizen with a sword and chased him away.”
“Seriously, you’re a scary guy? I never told you to go that far! If this blows up, it’s all your fault!”
What the…
But thinking about it, they were right. From their perspective, it must have looked like I was chatting and then suddenly pulled out a sword.
Especially since the other guy was small, that look must have been even weirder.
As I pondered how to explain this, Seria suddenly burst into laughter.
“Just kidding. We heard everything, so don’t worry.”
“That’s a relief… Wait a second. You heard everything?”
“Yes. Of course.”
Glancing at Lilith just in case, she shook her head.
I knew Seria had sharp hearing, but was it this sharp?
“What did you say… ‘I will surely protect the saintess no matter what’? Right?”
“Wha— what? Did you really say that?”
“Um, well… I did…”
“Wow… that’s really disgusting. Saying that with your girlfriend right next to you is cheating.”
Lilith commented while slyly glancing at Seria.
To be throwing that out even during this time! Seriously, she loves teasing Seria.
This attack seemed to hit home, as Seria narrowed her eyes and glared at Lilith.
“…Lilith.”
“Yeah. So, it’s not the case yet, huh? The prospective girlfriend, Seria the princess.”
“Sounds alright to me.”
“Is that even okay…?”
“…Hey. Seriously, let’s go grab some food. I’m starving.”
The conversation seemed to drift off course, so I quickly turned the topic.
Since they weren’t seriously discussing it either, they seemed to have decided to follow my lead without any objections.
“By the way… if it wasn’t about threatening someone with a sword, what exactly happened? What could we possibly talk about for so long?”
“Um… well, there were some things.”
“Right, there were.”
“You guys are really being petty?”
As we headed back to the restaurant, Lilith’s playful question was brushed off.
It would be unnecessary to let the saintess know that the stalker was a zealot.
“Well, nothing major happened.”
“Someone who says nothing major pulls out a sword? Are you crazy?”
“Can’t argue with that.”
“Crazy.”
Anyway, soon the saintess will be surrounded by zealots at the academy and suffer, so for now, I chose to remain just that “crazy guy who threatened a citizen with a sword.”
After much contemplation, we ended up revisiting the restaurant we had gone to on the day of the royal palace visit.
The food quality was quite impressive, as recommended by Alkiné, so I had no complaints about the repeat visit.
Of course, that was our perspective as the guests; the restaurant’s side might feel differently.
“Did they really come back here…?”
“Is that person… probably the saintess?”
Though I had told them not to feel burdened since we came as academy students, it must be difficult for them to accept that.
When we visited last time, it had turned into a chaos-filled event dubbed the “Operation to Serve a Delicious Meal to the Princess.” Now, with the addition of the saintess, how chaotic would it be?
“I’m counting on you.”
“Manager, I’m quitting today.”
“I’ll triple your pay.”
“It was three times last time too.”
“…Five times. And if you manage to pull through this time as well, I’ll take you on as a disciple.”
“I will do my best.”
Thus, it wasn’t strange that ‘The Storm-Bringing Empire’s Ultimate Meal Operation’ was unfolding as a follow-up to the last incident.
On the surface, everything seemed calm, but inside the restaurant, the atmosphere had turned utterly chaotic.
Lilith seemed to scan the situation slowly, turning her head before… looking at Seria.
“…Hey, Seria.”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t walk around outside. You’re really a nuisance.”
And she outright said that.
But Seria didn’t seem to have any rebuttal and merely averted her gaze lightly.