I Was Told to Drink Poison, So I Drank It - 34 - Because I am the Saint of Salvation

Plop, plop—the sound of something crumbling could be heard.

That sound made me suddenly snap to attention.

(This place is…)

That’s right. This is the temple’s office room.

It seems the shock made me lose consciousness for a little while.

I slowly sat up and looked around to see what had happened.

The office room no longer held its original shape. The walls and ceiling were starting to fall apart.

That sound earlier must have been rubble falling.

I have to get out of here fast, or the ceiling might come down and the whole place will collapse.

“Ugh…”

It seems I hit my head hard.

I felt dizzy, so I held my forehead and stood up, enduring the spinning sensation.

The room was a terrible mess.

Furniture near the explosion was knocked over and broken, and the rest of the items were in ruins.

“Are you safe, Lady Chalize…?”

A voice came from behind me. I gasped and looked in that direction.

“Louis…!”

Louis was slowly placing his hand on the floor to sit up.

His hair tie must have come undone from the shock.

His long hair was falling out from his robe.

I knelt down in front of Louis, and I understood why both of us had only light injuries—or at least, how we managed to survive the explosion from the grenade.

“…Before it exploded, you opened the door to avoid a direct hit.”

Louis must have grabbed my wrist and pulled me toward him before the grenade exploded, while also flinging the office doors wide open.

So we could hide behind the door.

The office doors were heavy and solid, decorated with detailed patterns. Probably both as a defense and as part of Aidan Lips’ taste.

They were double doors made of steel.

Because of that, the blast was weakened.

…As expected of someone who used to be a royal guard knight.

I was saved by his quick thinking.

“I’m fine. Noah and Luke… Let’s look for Aidan Lips.”

Luke is a priest.

If he’s a priest, he should have holy power. If he used it during the explosion, then he shouldn’t be too badly hurt.

The problem is—

Noah and Aidan Lips.

They took the explosion directly.

And both of them were already wounded before this.

…A bad feeling passed through my mind, and I bit my lip.

At that moment, Louis spoke to me.

“Prince Noah has strong luck. I don’t think… he would die so easily.”

“…Yes. You’re right.”

Louis and I split up to search for them.

Probably because of the explosion, I could hear people talking and footsteps from the hallway.

But the blast must have blown off the office door and caused part of the hallway wall to collapse.

The rubble was blocking the path, and the priests were rushing around, trying to figure out what to do.

We had to get out of here before the rubble was cleared. No matter what.

We found Noah right away.

And also Cain.

Cain must have protected Noah at the last second.

The two of them were lying near the wall, side by side.

“Noah…! Cain!!”

Cain’s legs were buried in rubble, but at least his arms and legs weren’t blown off or anything like that.

I let out a relieved breath.

With healing through holy power, even lost limbs can be restored.

But it takes a lot of holy power and is very hard to do.

And I barely had any holy power left now, so there was a risk of failure.

I ran over and touched both of their cheeks.

They didn’t seem conscious, but they weren’t cold or stiff either.

…They’re okay.

They’re still alive.

I kept my hands from shaking, tried to steady my rough breathing, and held my hands over them.

Drip, drip—drops of water fell to the floor.

Each time the torn and shredded carpet caught a droplet, its color darkened.

(…Thank goodness. They’re alive.)

They’re alive. If they’re alive, then I can heal them.

I can save them. I can keep them alive…!

I raised my hand and used my holy power.

(Please… I’m begging you. Goddess…)

I poured my holy power into them like a desperate prayer.

I had very little holy power left.

I had overused it in the Forest of Utis, and I was already near empty.

It hadn’t recovered fully in this short time. To be honest, there was only a fifty-fifty chance I could heal them completely.

But if I didn’t give everything now, I would definitely regret it.

(Cain… Luke protected Noah, didn’t he?)

They probably used his holy power to lessen the damage from the explosion.

Luke was a spy in the temple who betrayed Noah.

But his heart—his loyalty—

I bit my lip and held back my tears.

I roughly wiped my eyes, took a deep breath, and used my holy power again.

Right after that—

“Lady… Chalize…?”

I heard Luke’s voice and gasped.

I looked to see him watching me while struggling to breathe.

He had regained consciousness.

“Thank goodness…! You’re awake. Are you hurt anywhere? I’m healing you now, so just wait a little.”

“I… I’m fine. Please, Prince Noah instead—”

Luke shook his head.

He was telling me not to waste my holy power on him, but to save Noah first.

I understood how he felt. It hurt how much I understood.

Even so, I couldn’t agree.

“…Even so, I was called the Saint of Salvation, you know? So I’ll be fine. This is nothing. Just leave it to me.”

I gave him a bold smile.

If I hadn’t lost so much holy power in the Forest of Utis, maybe those words would have been true.

But now that I had so little holy power left, those words were just bravado.

I knew that. But if I could turn bravado into truth, it was worth it.

It’s not about whether I can do it or not.

I will do it. With that feeling, I kept using more holy power.

It was like something was pulling my soul from all over my body—my strength, my spirit, my bl00d, my body heat—everything was being taken as holy power flowed out.

—No. It wasn’t like that.

That’s exactly what was happening.

To make up for the lack of holy power, something else was being used in its place and converted into it.

That’s why—

“…It’s okay. Noah… all of you… I won’t let you die.”