Chapter 130
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Is this a dream or reality?
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The girl wakes up after a month has passed.
She had been struck by part of a forbidden curse used by one of the most powerful cardinals. However, due to her rare Light Magic ability, she had fully recovered by the time she regained consciousness.
By the time the girl regains consciousness, her superior Odyssey has already obtained the position of Archbishop.
Upon hearing the news of the girl’s recovery, Odyssey rushes to her side, barely prepared. They meet for the first time in a month, comforting each other and sharing information about the time she was unconscious. However, this wasn’t the main reason for his visit. After briefly exchanging pleasantries, Odyssey informs the girl about the fate of Cole, who had been a potential match for her. This was the real purpose of his visit.
Cole is to be hanged as soon as things settle down. The execution hasn’t been carried out promptly because Odyssey granted Cole’s last wish to apologize to the girl.
The next day, although far from fully recovered, the girl accompanies Odyssey to visit Cole.
When the girl receives Cole’s apology, she realizes that he no longer harbors any evil intentions.
So, the girl pleads with Archbishop Odyssey for Cole’s life to be spared and for him to be forgiven.
However, Odyssey stubbornly refuses the girl’s request.
Cole had targeted the life of a fellow church member out of self-interest and even used a forbidden curse. Odyssey’s judgment was justified.
But the girl insists that she won’t move from that spot until Archbishop Odyssey cancels Cole’s death sentence, kneeling in front of the prison cell.
Odyssey leaves the two behind, thinking it’s ridiculous. But as he finishes his late-night work and prepares for bed, he suddenly becomes concerned about the girl.
Thinking it couldn’t be, he goes to Cole’s cell himself, only to find the girl still there, motionless, fervently praying to God for Cole’s redemption.
After a quick glance, Odyssey leaves without a word.
Odyssey himself is a man who has risen to the position of Archbishop by steadfastly adhering to his beliefs, and the girl is destined to inherit the role of Saint. As both refuse to yield and try to assert their own will, another week passes.
Throughout this week, Odyssey has been ordering his subordinates to report on the girl who continues to pray in front of the cell.
Grumbling that it feels annoying to give in to the girl’s unwavering will, Odyssey finally visits Cole’s cell for the third time, concerned for the girl’s well-being.
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The girl before him is still recovering from illness.
Despite this, she has been praying to God for a week without ceasing. Not a morsel of food, not a drop of water.
What noble spirit, no, what golden spirit combines both nobility and indomitability—Odyssey sheds tears as he witnesses the girl’s extraordinary spirituality.
As for Cole, he is so impressed that the word 「admiration」 doesn’t do justice to his feelings. He develops a devotion to her equal to his faith in God.
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This incident becomes the catalyst for the current Archbishop and the former, albeit once influential, cardinal to become her unwavering supporters.
On their recommendation, the girl becomes the candidate for the next Saint.
Not long after, as if by divine providence, the aging Saint Mika decides to step down from her position. The girl inherits her title, name, and immense mana, becoming the new Saint Mika.
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Even after inheriting the role of Saint from her predecessor, Saint Mika continues to dedicate herself to the people through relentless training and constant, sincere prayer.
And so, after many years pass, she meets the summoned young man.
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When described like this, the girl—Saint Mika—may seem like a perfect being.
In fact, she is even called the 「Mirror of God」 among the common people.
However, she too is human.
This story takes place a few days after a certain young man is summoned.
When he first met Saint Mika, he described her as a 「robot with an unchanging expression.」
This wasn’t an exaggeration at all.
The girl originally didn’t have very expressive features, but since joining the church, she had consciously tried to maintain that demeanor.
There should be no discrimination based on age, gender, social status, or wealth among the people to be saved.
She believed in approaching everyone with the same attitude, without showing emotion.
That was her mindset.
However, half of her motivation was correct, and half was sophistry.
Of course, she herself wasn’t even aware of this.
Indeed, there wasn’t a shred of falsehood in the girl’s compassion for others.
The expressionless face was a mask for her. The girl had donned the mask of emotionlessness to protect herself from the tragedies she would inevitably witness in the years to come.
The incident that triggered this state of mind was undoubtedly her father’s injury.
The fear of losing a loved one—that was the cause of the girl’s consideration for others. At the same time, it was a powerful trauma etched into the depths of her heart.
To understand the severity of the emotional wound she received, consider this: it was so intense that the girl, who had no magical abilities or knowledge, awakened to powerful healing magic.
As time passed, the trauma transformed into an aversion to death, but being a childhood wound, it was buried deep in the recesses of her heart.
By the time she became a Saint, she probably no longer remembered the original circumstances that led her to start healing people.
It had become exactly as she had once intended it to be.
She should maintain composure.
She should distance herself from fear.
Unconsciously, she had imposed these behaviors on herself out of an aversion to the death of others.
What began as a conscious effort eventually became second nature through repetition.
Thus, while revered by the citizens as a compassionate Saint, she became an iron-faced Saint who remained calm and composed no matter what situation arose.
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Her mask, hardened and layered multiple times, repaired when cracked, and tied more tightly when it threatened to come loose, boasted overwhelming strength.
This is evident from her use of Heal on the young man who had collapsed like a rag doll, all while maintaining her expressionless face.
However, this unbreakable mask, which no one had been able to shatter before, was broken by a single young man.
The time Saint Mika spent with the young man to conquer the Mirror Dungeon was special to her.
Sometimes they fought back-to-back, sometimes they trained through the night, and sometimes they strolled through the market together.
While these may seem like trivial episodes, each one was a treasure to her.
She carefully tucked away these dazzling, jewel-like memories in her heart’s treasure box, often opening it to reminisce about the days spent with him.
And as she thought about the memories she would continue to make with him, she smiled to herself.
The time spent with the young man was even more special to her than he felt about their time together. It was uniquely precious among all the time she had spent in her life so far.
She harbored feelings for the young man that rivaled her devout faith that made her worthy of being a Saint.
The expressions Saint Mika showed to the young man were reserved only for him.
He might not have noticed, but the expression she made when she ran out of money from splurging on food distribution and had to ask for a loan, or when she salivated at the mention of sweets—all these expressions that no one had ever seen before, expressions that should have been lost to her long ago, were directed only at him, only for him.
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However, in the end, her feelings and his feelings, their wishes, hopes, bonds, connections, past, present, and future—everything has been distorted, taken away, desecrated, lost, and is now gone.
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