I Supported My Fiancé for 10 Years After He Said, 'Let's Get Married When I Succeed,' but When He Finally Did, He Dumped Me. By the Way, I'm a Witch and Turning 30 Next Year!! - Episode 34
Carbuncle immediately tried to pull back the real Saint’s soul.
“However, I could not find the true Saint’s soul…”
“Why didn’t you report it right away?”
When Ie said this, Carbuncle looked up at the sky with a distant gaze.
“To be honest, I didn’t want to admit my failure!”
Carbuncle puffed out its chest as it spoke. But that wasn’t something to confess so boldly…
Even if Carbuncle hadn’t said anything, wouldn’t others have noticed?
“The Saint originally did not let anyone get close and rarely spoke. That’s why no one noticed the change.”
On top of that, the girl who possessed her knew a lot about how Saint Sui was supposed to act in the story.
She spoke like a Saint in front of others and carried out her duties without any trouble.
“She happily said, ‘I’ve done this Saint routine in the game before!’ and performed the tasks.”
But there was one big problem for Carbuncle. One of the Saint’s routines was preparing sacred food for the holy beasts.
“The food she made was so bad it could kill…”
Apparently, the real Saint’s cooking wasn’t good either, but compared to the new Saint’s food, it was far better.
“It was either burnt, smelled fishy, or tasted rotten.”
“Wait, burnt and fishy? That’s completely opposite!”
“Try it yourself! I am not lying!”
“I’ll pass.”
Noticing that Carbuncle wasn’t eating much, a priest specially prepared sacred food, but even that didn’t suit its taste, so it barely ate anything.
“But your cooking was the most delicious I have ever had. I was surprised.”
“Well, the food in the church is usually bland and simple. If I used lots of meat and fish, of course it tasted good.”
“That may be true, but… never mind.”
Carbuncle had spent months trying to bring back the real Saint’s soul, but it had no success…
Then, an incident happened where a dark magic user tried to kidnap the Saint.
“But the Saint is perfectly fine now.”
“It seems so. They probably thought she was useless and let her go.”
“You mean they realized she was a fake Saint?”
“Most likely.”
Since the kidnapper used dark magic, it was obvious why they wanted the Saint.
“They wanted to use her as a sacrifice for dark magic.”
“That’s the only explanation.”
“Maybe the Saint realized she was being targeted and took precautions?”
Hearing Ie’s guess, Carbuncle suddenly shouted, “That’s it!!”
It almost sounded like Carbuncle was trying to claim that the Saint’s soul changing wasn’t its fault.
“But what was the dark magic user trying to achieve by sacrificing the Saint?”
“The only thing I can think of is summoning the Demon King.”
Even if it was just a theory, that was terrifying to hear.
Carbuncle also realized how terrible that sounded and shook itself, as if trying to get rid of a bad feeling.
“Ie, do you know any dark magic users?”
“No, I don’t.”
“I thought so.”
I had heard of black magic before. But black magic users had been cruel in the past, so the church’s inquisition had captured and executed all of them.
“That was fifty years ago, wasn’t it?”
“I don’t think any dark magic users could have survived, since dark magic is even worse than black magic.”
Hearing “fifty years ago,” iYe seemed to remember something.
“Now that I think about it, there was an incident fifty years ago where the World Tree almost withered.”
“Yes, they stopped it with the help of a witch.”
“Right. I feel like that might be connected. I will look into it.”
What was supposed to be a pleasant dinner had turned into a gloomy discussion.
“Ie, come have a meal with us again sometime.”
“Thank you.”
ie placed a hand on his chest and bowed. It was a salute usually meant for a superior.
He was doing it to a mere witch, which felt odd, but I didn’t want to ruin the moment, so I said nothing.
“Oh, right. I brought a gift for you.”
He pulled out a small wooden box from nowhere.
“Thank you! What is it?”
When I opened the lid, inside was a pair of ruby earrings shaped like roses.
“I thought they would suit you, so I bought them on impulse.”
“Wow, they’re beautiful. But are you sure I can accept such an expensive gift?”
“It’s just a small token.”
“I can’t give you anything in return.”
Ie shook her head.
“Do I even deserve something like this?”
“Then, could you grant me one wish?”
“Something I can do?”
“Yes.”
I braced myself, wondering what he would ask for. But his request was surprisingly simple.
“Can I call you ‘Rei’ instead of ‘shopkeeper’ from now on?”
“That’s it? I don’t mind.”
Hearing that, ie smiled like a blooming flower.
His beautiful smile was dazzling. Even though it was night, it felt like the surroundings lit up.
“I’m so happy. From now on, I’ll call you Rei.”
“O-okay.”
I was surprised he was so happy about something so small. But being called by my name didn’t feel bad.
In fact, it made me feel like we had gotten closer.
For the first time, I experienced a soft, warm feeling in my heart.