Chapter 18: The Villainous Wife Job-Changes into a Saint!?
“…Huh?
A s-saint…?”
I ask back reflexively, and my face is probably completely stiff.
“Yes, a saint.
The title given to female mages who wield holy magic.”
“I know that much, but…”
To clarify, female magic users who wield holy magic and are not members of the royal family are called saints.
If you are royalty, you are a princess before you are a saint, so by convention they are not referred to as saints.
Incidentally, holy magic users outside the royal family are extremely rare, so saints are extraordinarily uncommon.
In the novel The Black Wolf General’s Beloved Flower, there is only one character called a saint.
Needless to say, that character is the heroine, Liliana.
“…No, no, no!
There is absolutely no way someone like me, the villainous wife, should be a saint, right!?”
I clutch my head again, utterly confused about what is going on.
I already exited the story a long time ago.
Being called a saint and standing out like that is something I want to avoid with every fiber of my being.
“I really should refuse, no question about it.”
That’s what I think, but…
“Logy, you may already have heard this, but the Magic Forest has been very active this year.
Magical beasts are appearing in large numbers.”
“Yes, I heard it’s a bad year…”
I recall what Jake the adventurer told me.
“We in the defense force are doing everything we can, but despite that, we allowed the town to be breached…”
The young lord bites his lip in frustration.
As the commander of the defense force, he must be feeling responsible.
“I hate to make excuses, but the defense force has been fighting magical beasts outside the town walls every day.
Many of our people have been forced to withdraw due to injuries.
To rebuild the defense force, I really want your help, Logy.
Of course, we’ll pay you well.”
“…By help, you mean using holy magic to heal injuries and such, right?
I can’t fight, you know?”
There are various kinds of holy magic, and some people can apparently use offensive spells, but all I can do right now is heal injuries and neutralize poison.
…Even that, I’m not fully convinced I can do freely.
I can’t help but suspect it was just a burst of adrenaline in a crisis.
“Of course not.
Even if you could use offensive magic, I would never think of sending my beloved Logy to fight magical beasts.”
As he says that, the young lord dramatically brushes back his hair and gives me a wink.
…Did he really need to brush his hair back just now?
“Some of the injured soldiers were poisoned by magical beasts.
Their lives aren’t in danger, but many are suffering from lasting aftereffects.
I believe your holy magic could save them.”
“Ugh…”
That makes it really hard to refuse.
I’ve seen firsthand how terrifying magical beast poison can be.
“But I still have work at the Lycoris Tavern…”
During lunch hours, even with three people it’s overwhelmingly busy.
I can’t just leave.
However—
“Logy, don’t worry about the shop.
Being a saint is an amazing thing!”
“What?”
To my surprise, Hanna sides with the young lord.
“B-but if it’s just Dan and you, Hanna, that’s too much—”
“Then how about this?
You help the defense force for three hours, from the second bell after the lunch rush until the fifth bell in the evening.”
“If that’s the case, that would actually help us a lot.”
“Good.
Then it’s settled.”
“W-wait a moment!”
As the young lord and Hanna start wrapping things up without me, I hurriedly interrupt.
“Um… I understand how serious the magical beast situation is, and I do want to help the people of this town.
But right now, I want to stay by Lowell’s side.
Until things calm down, I don’t plan on leaving him at the church…”
I tighten my arms around Lowell.
I heard that the church nursery will reopen starting tomorrow.
But for the time being, I don’t plan to leave Lowell there.
While I work at the Lycoris Tavern during the day, Lowell will stay in a corner of the shop with me.
It will inconvenience Dan and Hanna, and Lowell might feel constrained.
The kitchen has dangers like fire and knives.
But it’s far, far safer than being outside and potentially running into magical beasts.
I never want him to be in danger where I can’t see him again.
I want to protect Lowell as close to me as possible.
I know I’m being selfish when the town is in crisis.
Even so, more than a saint or anything else, I want to be Lowell’s mother first.
“So, young lord, I’m sorry, but this offer—”
“Ro-chan go church today!”
“I can’t accep—huh!?”
The one who interrupted my refusal wasn’t the young lord.
It was Lowell’s cheerful voice.
“W-what did you say?”
I ask, looking at Lowell’s beaming face.
I thought I heard him say he was going to the church, but that can’t be right… right?
“Ro-chan going to church!”
It wasn’t my imagination.
“W-why?
Let’s stay home together with Mama…”
“’Cause, you know, the potatoes that went ‘come out, come out,’ we’re making roasted sweet potatoes.
The sister said so.”
“Roasted sweet potatoes!?
If it’s roasted sweet potatoes, Mama can make them with you in the backyard—”
“And, you know, when you go to church, you get really yummy snacks, right?
So Ro-chan going to church!”
“S-snacks…”
The unexpected food-motivated argument makes me feel dizzy.
The sister is very generous and hands out sweets donated to the church during snack time at the nursery.
They range from homemade treats to expensive confections from shops in town.
Lowell looks forward to those snacks every day.
“B-but what if magical beasts come again?
That would be scary, right?”
“Ro-chan not scared!
If the ‘gaa’ comes, Ro-chan go ‘go away!’”
There is genuinely not a trace of fear on Lowell’s face as he says this.
“Well now.
Impressive.
Lowell is a strong-hearted child.”
“Ro-chan strong kid!?”
Lowell reacts to the young lord’s words.
“Yes, a very strong child.”
“Yay!
Ro-chan strong kid!”
Still sitting on my lap, Lowell starts bouncing happily.
Ever since hearing about his father, Lowell has wanted to become a “strong kid,” and the young lord’s praise hit him right where it counted.
Meanwhile, I’m on the verge of tears.
“Waaah… I’m happy to see Lowell grow…
But isn’t it way too early to be this independent at just two years old…
Mama isn’t ready to be weaned off you at all…”
“?
Ro-chan not leaving Mama.
Always together.”
Lowell tilts his head, then snuggles up close.
“L-Lowell!
That’s right!
Let’s stay together with Mama for a long time!”
I hug him tightly, and his little hands hug me back just as tightly.
So cute…!
“Well then.
It looks like you can balance this with your work at the Lycoris Tavern, and Lowell is saying this himself.
So, Logy, how about it?
You’ll be a saint for the defense force, right?”
“Ugh…”
The young lord smiles as he presses me.
With no more reasons to refuse coming to mind, I reluctantly accepted the job of being a saint.