Chapter 10: Saint
I've arrived at a place with several areas to both sit and kneel, and a statue of a goddess on a pedestal. I see several faithful worshippers kneeling and praying to the goddess statue, and the appearance of the statue is very similar to the image of the first saint, with only slight changes.
I go to a spot that seems to be made specifically for the saint, as it is right in front of the goddess statue and no one is there.
I kneel down, close my eyes, and remain silent, not really praying since I don't know the prayer. I decide to just stand here and think about life and what to do in the future.
I hear some emotional murmurs coming from the people around me, it seems I'm highly revered just for being a saint.
After some time, my fear has passed, because I know this place is safe and it would be difficult for anyone to kill me here. I just need to be careful and try to find out who the Yandere is that loves me.
'I wonder if I ask this goddess for help, will she respond since I'm a saint?' I decide to try, after all, it doesn't hurt.
'Goddess Solaris, if you hear this prayer, please answer me.' I continue trying, because I need to be persistent, which seems to be a trait of my counterpart in this world.
After an hour of attempts and many prayers, I hear something.
[Hello Shizune]
I restrain myself from opening my eyes and ruining everything. The voice seems to come from all around, a gentle yet powerful and heavy female voice.
'Are you reading my mind?' I ask.
[No, I just understand what you want to say because of the energy generated by your prayer]
It seems that since I'm a saint, I can actually communicate with the goddess.
'Can you please help me? I'm cursed, could you remove this curse from me?' I ask hopefully.
[I can't, I don't know what you did to have death curse you, but I doubt there's any being that can break such a curse]
This disappoints me, but I decide to try something else.
'Could you tell me who will try to kill me?'
[I don't know what your curse does, so I can't help... I just spoke to you to tell you to take good care of Alehandro, he is important to this world, he is the key to purifying the corruption of the church...]
[He must @(&#$¨&@@]
The last part became inaudible, like strange static.
'S-Solaris? Are you there?' No response, no answers.
'W-Wait, I need help, don't go...' I can't believe not even a goddess has the power to help me.
I give up on this, becoming slightly discouraged, and decide to just wait for the prayer time to end.
A bell rings, announcing lunchtime. All the faithful stand up and head to the refectory. I go with them and find Alehandro standing in front of the door.
"Alehandro, why didn't you go in with the others?" I ask him, as he's outside again.
"I... I'm not allowed to enter the refectory... or the prayer room... I can't go to the main hall either." He bites his lip, seeming sad about something.
I decide not to touch the subject while I let him guide me to the refectory. Arriving there, he stays outside again.
I go to the window on the wall to get my meal. I greet the cook as he places the food on my tray a warm cereal-like dish with vegetables, accompanied by a cup of water. It's a simple meal, but I don't complain.
I go to one of the tables and sit down, repeating the prayer I made up, while eating and thinking about what the goddess said.
I think she can't communicate with me for long, and also that she draws power from prayers, given what she said.
'She told me to take care of Alehandro, and said he's the key to purifying the church's corruption... So the church isn't really just?' I wonder how he would be the key to that, and why I was chosen to help him.
Also, knowing the church is corrupt doesn't please me at all.
'Wait, this means Alehandro can't be the one who will try to kill me... I should stay as close to him as possible...' I think about this as I take the last spoonful of my meal.
I stand up and take the plate back to the cook, thanking her for the meal. No one sat near me, but everyone had an admiring look, as if they think I'm untouchable.
'This doesn't make me happy...' In my past life as a man, I was "untouchable", but now that doesn't bring me joy.
I soon find Alehandro again, and we go to visit the less fortunate. As we walk, we chat.
"Alehandro, could you tell me about the other saints? I want to understand my duty and the duty of other saints better." I want to know what's special about being a saint, since when I spoke to the goddess, I never expected her to actually hear my prayer and talk to me.
I was asking for help, but I never expected her to suddenly start speaking to me. This makes me question why I'm a saint in this world.
"Of course, Miss Shizune... Where to begin... I'll first talk about the duties of a saint. There are 5 types of saints. The first are the saints without powers, which is your case. They usually provide spiritual comfort and guidance to people."
'So my duty is just to talk to people and preach the religion as a kind of symbol...' My duty is easy yet difficult at the same time, a mix of both.
"Then we have the second type of saint, who has the ability to heal illnesses and injuries. They usually emerge during plagues or diseases and heal everyone. They also appear in times of war against the forces of darkness."
'Wow... Magic is real in this world, that sounds incredible. I wish I had such powers, I could defend myself easily...' It would be great to have some kind of power or magic, so I could deal with the Yandere more easily.
"The third is the saint of purification. They have the ability to control fire and their duty is usually to fight against the forces of darkness and purify sinners."
Controlling fire seems amazing, if I had that, my survival concerns would be cut in half.
"The fourth saint is the one of prophecy. They can foresee the future up to 3 months ahead. They usually emerge when a great disaster is about to occur, and their prophecies have saved this kingdom many times."
Seeing the future seems crazy. Forget the fire power, if I could see the future, the Yandere wouldn't even have a chance to know me, I could easily ignore them.
"And lastly, we have the saint of execution. They are usually chosen by the goddess to perform a task in the world. They wield the sword of execution and have such a high regenerative ability that they are considered immortal."
"They rarely emerge, but whenever they have, they were invincible. Nothing could really stop them, their physical abilities were superhuman and their regeneration was unstoppable."
'My god... This is insane, true immortality...' He didn't say the saint was immortal, but with his description, this type of saint is practically immortal.
"But more than one saint can emerge at the same time, although that's very rare. Each saint has their duty, and they must fulfill it with determination." As we talk, we arrive at the exit of the church.
I've never been outside, as I literally just woke up in this world today, only a few hours ago.
I take a deep breath as Alehandro opens the door. I see the sunlight, the gentle breeze, the pure air entering through the door. The scenery is a peaceful and organized medieval city, with a beautiful clear blue sky.
I walk out, looking around attentively.
"M-Miss Shizune, are you alright? Why are you crying, did you get hurt?" Alehandro asks, seeming concerned. It's kind of funny to see this big, muscular guy acting so worried.
I wipe the tears.
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"It's nothing... It's just that life is so beautiful..." I feel purified by this lovely, lively scene, as if the weight of my death has been lifted from my shoulders. The heavy burden and worries seem to have diminished a bit.
"Yes... Life is beautiful, Miss Shizune." Alehandro agrees with a smile. We both exit together, continuing our conversation about what I'll do.
After walking a bit, I can see the church when I look back. The church is impressively large and beautiful, made of white marble and intricately carved stones, with magnificent details and breathtaking stained glass windows.
I turn around to continue our journey. The place we're going is the city square, where some volunteers are already preparing the food I'll distribute to the population.
"A-Alehandro, do you think I'll do a good job as a saint?" I ask him, with some doubts about my capabilities, as I can't say I'm very good at being altruistic.
I recognize that in my first life I was greedy and selfish, and my current altruism is linked to this life. My selfishness still exists, it's just not as great as it was in the past.
This altruism of mine makes me recognize my mistakes, but recognizing an error and fixing it are different things.
"You'll do well, Miss Shizune," Alehandro says encouragingly.
"I hope so," I say, trying to sound confident.