Heroes and Machine Girls Looking at Profiles

14 – The Forsaken Saint

Ciel spent her childhood in a quiet, small country village.

It was no exaggeration to say that she spent a simple but happy childhood.

That happiness shattered when robbers raided the village.

Ciel could only stand as her family, friends, everyone was killed by the robbers.

In the end, everyone but Ciel, who was lucky enough to escape the robbers’ notice, died, and the village disappeared…

Afterwards, she lived in a back alley of a nearby city.

Sometimes she was alone, sometimes she formed groups with orphans in similar situations to beg and pickpocket to survive.

Always struggling with hunger, cold, and heat, she harboured a desire for happiness, ever reminiscing of her happier childhood.

Her life in the back alley ended a little over three years later.

During her parents’ time, they were zealous believers of the goddess Erdiya and attended church every week.

A deacon from that church grew worried when her parents didn’t show up for a long time and went to the village, only to discover that it had been destroyed by robbers.

While clearing the villagers’ corpses, the deacon, realizing Ciel’s body was missing, began searching for her.

He considered the possibility that she was captured by the robbers, but it was near impossible given their atrocity of unselectively killing everyone.

During the search, he happened to find Ciel, who had been caught pickpocketing by a guard.

The deacon who protected Ciel brought her to the church.

Since then, Ciel grew up in the church.

Living in the church, Ciel naturally became a follower of the goddess Erdiya.

“Ciel, I wish for your happiness.”

Then, while practicing and praying at the church, Ciel heard the voice of Goddess Erdiya.

Goddess Erdiya warned Ciel of the looming disaster.

Ciel relayed this divine message to the deacon, and soon the southern demons united under a demon king and invaded the entire continent.

Hearing the voice of the goddess and foreseeing the situation, Ciel was ordained as a saint through the church.

The church blessed her ascendance through her white horse skills honed in the church and the blessing of Goddess Erdiya.

And, a few years later, as the war with the demons dragged on.

The hero descended into this world, as ordained by Goddess Erdiya.

The hero was summoned from the neighboring kingdom of Cloeti.

It was the result of collaboration between the Church’s clergy, the magic-users of the Tower, and the divine sword Reinforce kept in the Kingdom of Cloeti.

Upon hearing the news of the hero’s summoning, the headquarters of the church immediately dispatched Ciel to the kingdom.

“Ah…hello.”

The hero, who greeted her shyly upon seeing her, was an average young man for better or worse.

While he did have rare black hair and eyes, his overall impression was very ordinary.

Neither handsome nor ugly, the young man had a precisely average look and demeanor.

At the church’s headquarters, it was announced that upon vanquishing the Demon King, Ciella would be made the wife of the hero.

The Cloeti Kingdom had made a similar proposition, hence spurring the church into action as well.

Frankly, Ciella wasn’t much concerned.

Because the saintess who was chosen by the goddess was destined to become the partner of the hero bestowed upon them by that very goddess.

Of course, she was a bit startled at the fact that she would have to marry someone she just met, but such things could be sorted out over time.

Watching the hero grow stronger with each passing day, Ciella carried on her journey, hopeful that peace would finally return to the continent.

However, things didn’t go that way.

Upon reaching the capital Shailak of the Halphas Empire,

Ciella unexpectedly found herself presented with a chance that could potentially change her fixed destiny.

The crown prince of Halphas, named Freud, caught her attention.

With hair shining like golden bricks and skin that exuded a wild charm, and his well-built and perfectly balanced physique, he was a good-looking man.

The prince, boasting a stunningly handsome face unlike the average looking hero, completely took Ciella’s breath away.

However, she immediately lowered her head.

Ciella was meant to be with the hero.

That was her destiny, decided by the goddess and by the church.

But that evening, unexpected guests came to Ciella.

The Princess Anees and the witch Alesa.

They came to make a proposition.

Betrayal.

The crown prince Freud had apparently suggested it to Anees.

After conquering the Demon King, she would dispose of the hero, then join him.

Ciella was extremely shocked.

As far as Ciella understood, it seemed that Princess Anees loved the hero.

Yet Anees casually confessed her plans to betray and murder the hero.

This sight was so grotesque that it also incited fear.

What surprised Ciella even more was not her own anger at them but the fact that she was desperately trying to calculate which decision would lead to her happiness.

To marry the crown prince and inherit the continent’s largest empire with him would certainly promise very attractive and blissful days ahead.

On the other hand, what about a marriage with the hero?

Naturally, as a saintess, she was obliged to choose the hero.

The hero who was chosen by the people’s hopes, entrusted by the goddess Erdiya.

…But if she was to be with the hero, could she really be happy?

Ciella was reminded of the face of the crown prince she saw during the day.

His handsome and charismatic face.

Unexpectedly, Ciella felt her cheeks flush.

With the added insistence of Anees and Alesa.

In the end, Ciella, unable to give a clear answer, followed Anees and Alesa to the crown prince that night.

Following that, things escalated quickly.

The hero was incredibly strong and had faith in himself.

Every time she saw the hero fighting earnestly against the demons, giving faith to his comrades, a tiny sense of guilt stabbed at her heart, but her desire to be happy numbed that feeling.

Eventually, at some point, even that tiny sense of guilt stopped bothering Ciella.

Unperturbed, Ciella lied in front of the hero.

She stopped thinking that killing might be too extreme.

Towards the end of the journey, she even began entertaining the thought that the presence of the hero might be a sacrifice sent by the Goddess for her happiness.

“Ciella, I wish for your happiness.”

The Goddess had definitely said something along those lines.

And so, sacrificing the hero for her own happiness might, paradoxically, be what the Goddess wishes for her.

As a proof, the Goddess has not reprimanded her.

That’s what Ciella had come to believe.

But she was unaware.

From the day she gave in to the suggestions of the comrades and betrayed the hero to stay with the prince,

She was already abandoned by the Goddess Edia.

Even that day, Ciella woke up from a nightmare filled with terror.

Despite being the same nightmare time and again, the horror renewed itself every time she woke up.

She had already been having this nightmare for almost a month.

Regardless of whether she screamed or kept silent, the palace maids no longer entered her room.

Dark circles were deeply engraved under her eyes, making her look terrible.

Prince Freud who used to whisper love to her, didn’t show up in front of Ciella these days at all.

She should have been happy.

She had definitely gained happiness.

But, lately, Ciella wasn’t feeling happier than her days performing duties at the church.

Even though she had good food and servants at her disposal and slept in a soft, comfortable bed,

The relentless nightmare and the indifference of the one who used to whisper love to her had steadily made her sick

“Oh Goddess Edia…why don’t you say anything?”

Today again, Ciella prayed to Goddess Edia.

She pleaded for help, hoping to be freed from these torturous and horrifying nightmares.

But there was no sign of Goddess Edia, who had promised to wish for her happiness.

Did you lie when you said you wished for my happiness?

She pleaded desperately, but her prayers, tinged with a hint of resentment, didn’t seem to reach Goddess Edia.

“A book?”

“Why, this city has a grand library? Maybe we can find a book that holds a solution to the nightmares. “

During breakfast, when Alisa mentioned this, old memories resurfaced in Ciella’s mind.

The grand library, she had indeed visited.

It was during their beast-hunting journey when they first arrived in Sheilaak.

Hans, the hero, had expressed interest in the grand library, suggested by their guide on the imperial road, and they had all visited once.

For Ciella, who hardly ever read books except for fairy tales in her childhood and the holy bible during her apprenticeship, it was a slightly boring time.

“…Right, it’s not a time to be picky about the means.”

Indeed, if the book contains the wisdom of the ancients, they might find a clue to restore Ciella’s current state.

Whether it was magic, a mental problem, or a drug, didn’t matter.

After her meal, Ciel quickly prepared, as if removing a bull’s horn at once.

Her assigned knights thought optimistically that the Grand Library would be quiet at this hour.

Ciel knew, too.

The rumors about her recent nightmares had spread throughout the Empire of Eternal Light.

For that reason, neither Ciel nor her guards wanted to stand out.

The Grand Library was not far from the Regulus Palace.

As Ciel walked into the Grand Library with her knights, the staff at the reception desk recognized her and became flustered.

“Th…the Holy Maiden?! What brings you here…”

“Shhh, I’m just here to look at some books, so let’s not cause a scene.”

“Oh…I see.”

However, the quiet library became noisy due to the sound of the armor her knights were donned on. They had four knights after all.

The receptionist sighed, relieved that there were no other customers.

But wait, did one person come earlier…?

“Where should I go if I want to find a book related to diseases or ancient curses?”

“Ancient curses, you say…? We have an area for history and folklore…”

Following the staff’s instructions, Ciel walked in that direction.

Her guards’ armor was making noises, causing disturbance to those around, but they were completely oblivious.

Already seated at a desk in the area where books filled the shelves was a guest.

“Oh, there’s someone here at this hour.”

“Well, the Holy Maiden purposely chose a time with few people but we can’t expect no customers at all.”

The guest was a man.

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His messy black hair and a mask covered the top half of his face.

It was similar to a mask worn by those with scars or burns.

The man glanced at them briefly, stood from his seat, bowed his head, and was about to move elsewhere.

“Oh, no need to move, the Holy Maiden is just here to read quietly.”

One of the knights said, causing the man to bow again and return to his book.

Leaving one knight behind, the other three went off in search of any books that might be related to the nightmare.

In the quiet time, Ciel prayed again.

She knew to her bones how fruitless it was for Erdia, the goddess, to respond, no matter how much she prayed.

But she couldn’t stop praying.

Ciel was that desperate.

So deep in prayer she was that when Ciel finished praying and opened her eyes, there were a few books in front of her.

The knights who brought the books probably didn’t want to interrupt Ciel’s prayer, so they didn’t call her.

The masked man who was there earlier was no longer present.

When Ciel looked at the place where the masked man had been, the knight who stayed near Ciel answered.

“Oh, the customer who was here earlier has already left.”

“Oh…I see.”

“Why do you ask?”

“Ah… No. I’m just a bit on edge.”

Underneath the man’s mask, a pair of black eyes shown through.

Ciera had a sudden feeling of deja vu, but he could not recall exactly why.