Isabella Ren Lopez, the First Saintess of the Renimid Church.
Since childhood, she had possessed a special ability, [Mind Reading], which was both a 'blessing' and a 'curse'.
Thanks to her ability to see through people's hearts, she managed to secure the position of the First Saintess in the Renimid Church, the sole religion of the continent's humans.
Unwillingly seeing people's blatant malice and filthy thoughts, she developed a sense of disdain for people.
Anyway, it became clear that the Saintess had taken an interest in me.
I don't know why.
What could she want with me?
In the worst case, she might even know that I am a transmigrator.
There was no item in the 'shop', which I thought had everything, that could block Isabella's special ability.
...But I can't keep avoiding her forever.
The Saintess is a key figure in the game, and I need to keep track of her movements.
Just as I was about to nod to Claire──
[Sudden Quest: Have a private meeting with Saintess Isabella Ren Lopez in the student council room.]
Reward: 1 gold coin from the shop
Remaining time: 00:59:59
──A transparent window popped up in front of me.
I don't know who dropped me into this world, but it seems like they're watching my every move like CCTV.
'I was going anyway, you bastard.'
With that thought, I nodded to Claire.
"Understood, Claire. Let's go. However, it's getting late, and I have classes from tomorrow morning, so I hope it ends quickly."
"It won't take long, Theo. This way."
I followed Claire, heading towards the destination.
As expected, the quest window seemed to know everything; Claire was leading me to the building where the student council room was located.
The student council room is also the place where Isabella spends most of her day.
She even takes care of her personal hygiene and sleeps here.
True to the favoritism shown to the Hero Department, the Elinia Academy's student council room is fully equipped, even with shower facilities.
While on our way, Claire and I arrived at the student council room.
"We're here."
Knock, knock, knock - Claire knocked on the student council room's door.
After ordering Claire to bring Theo, inside the student council room.
Isabella sat alone, leaning back in her chair.
'Soon that mysterious guy will arrive.'
Claire said she would 'definitely' bring him.
And when Claire used the word 'definitely', there had never been a time when it didn't happen.
Tap, tap, tap, tap...
Isabella aimlessly tapped her fingers on the desk.
'...Am I actually nervous right now?'
Since her childhood, she had never been close to feeling nervous.
There was never a need to be.
Her special ability, [Mind Reading], could read not just humans but also orcs, lizardmen, elves, fairies, and beastmen – basically, the thoughts of any being that fell under the category of 'people'.
Of course, the members of the Renimid Church where she served as the First Saintess were mostly human, save for a few exceptions.
Thus, humans could not make her nervous.
But why did she feel nervous?
Was it because that mysterious guy was the only person her ability did not affect?
'...No.'
The minds of humans, she had seen too many to the point of disgust.
Even if the sample size was small, it would still be in the millions.
That guy would be just another predictable human.
In her eyes, there is one interesting yet uninteresting aspect about humans.
Humans have a stronger tendency than any other race to coldly abandon others for their own benefit.
In other words, they are selfish.
She had seen those who vehemently deny that humans are such animalistic beings... but well.
She was sure they had never seen the depths of human minds.
Or maybe they indirectly claimed to have a different conscience and moral standards than others.
'What pitiful bastards.'
After all, she had been seeing the abyss of human minds every day since her childhood.
It was fortunate that humans are creatures of adaptation.
Even such repulsive emotions gradually dulled, allowing her to interact with other humans and lead a normal life for a while.
Otherwise, she might have gone mad and ended her life by hanging herself or something similar long ago.
'Right. The reason I'm like this now is because of those worthless old folks at the headquarters. Useless humans filled with greed but no abilities.'
She received a response today from the church headquarters regarding the 'retrieval of [Renimid's Mercy]'.
The long-awaited reply was laughable in its content. In summary, it went like this:
[To our beloved First Saintess Isabella Ren Lopez,
We are grateful that you, of your esteemed self, are willingly taking up a bothersome task not requested by us.
However, due to various reasons, support is impossible, so handle it yourself.
Of course, you cannot use Claire. It would be damaging to the church's image if anything goes wrong with a Guardian Knight who is the face of our order. Especially since the Waldeurk family is a major sponsor of our church.
In any case, any mistake will be on you. Understand?
You're working hard studying at Elinia Academy, the continent's top educational institution.
We always look forward to you spreading the renown of our church to the non-human races of that institution.]
'Those damned bastards.'
Not only did they refuse to grant her forced access rights to the Waldeurk family, but they also prohibited the use of Claire.
Well, telling Claire to bring Theo had nothing to do with [Renimid's Mercy], so it should be fine.
'But the atmosphere at the headquarters is really strange.'
Even a year ago, they would have welcomed the idea of offloading some of their tasks...
It was really odd.
She had thought that most of the major forces within the headquarters were under her control, but perhaps a new power had emerged in that short period.
Anyway, it was a good excuse to summon that mysterious guy.
"Hmm, when will he arrive?"
As Isabella thought this and was about to lean back in her chair again──
Knock, knock, knock─
──the sound of knocking was heard.
At this hour, there could only be one person knocking.
"Come in."
─Yes, Saintess.
The door opened, and in came Claire and the silver-haired enigmatic guy.
Simultaneously, Isabella involuntarily furrowed her brow.
'...Damn. As expected, it doesn't work on him.'
Her [Mind Reading] didn't work on Theo, although it worked normally on Claire beside him.
'Can't help it. I'll have to coax it out of him.'
Having organized her thoughts, Isabella stood up and said,
"Claire, could you leave us for a moment?"
"...Understood, Saintess."
Claire carefully closed the door and left the student council room.
After Claire left, Isabella approached Theo.
"Hello, Theo. Since I'm your senior, can I speak informally?"
"Please do, Isabella."
Surprised by his unchanging expression, Isabella did not show it outwardly.
"Alright. Let's sit here and talk."
Isabella sat on the sofa in the student council room, and Theo nodded and sat opposite her.
Isabella observed Theo with a calm expression.
'He really is a mysterious one...'
His behavior was extremely rigid, but he did not seem nervous.
Since becoming the First Saintess, human behavior in front of her typically fell into two categories.
The first was those who outwardly appeared relaxed but internally spewed curses and tried not to be intimidated.
The second was those who were equally tense both inside and out.
Theo did not belong to either category.
Even her insight into humans, forcibly honed from childhood, could not easily distinguish his type.
With that in mind, Isabella met Theo's gaze across from her.
"Sorry for calling you so late at night. You must be busy, so I'll get straight to the point?"
"Please do."
"The three parts of [Renimid's Mercy] that have been on long-term loan to the Waldeurk family from our church. I would like them back, would you return them?"
Isabella asked with a feigned apologetic expression.
After all, talking like this meant she had understood everything.
The prestige of the First Saintess of Renimid Church, the sole religion of the continent's humans, was immense.
Even the emperor of the continent's greatest empire treated the Saintess with respect.
When she spoke with an apologetic expression, if the request was somewhat reasonable, it was always granted.
Out of fear that a grudging Saintess might bring harm to them or their families, no one dared to refuse.
Of course, since she was never refused, she had never brought harm to anyone.
But──
"I don't think that will be possible."
This guy was different.
Theo's blunt refusal was delivered with the same calm expression as always.
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