Chapter 1, Episode 7: Farne’s POV

"Did you really take that child? "

　Kyle asked Farne in his room at the Temple.
　He was the fellow priest who was with Farne when he picked up Riese in the forest.
　He looked like an active young man with blond hair.

"Yes. I couldn’t just leave her alone."

　Farne replied.

"But what will you do if she happens to be a slave?
　Even if thrown away, the ownership of a slave remains with their master.
　If they find out you're sheltering her, they could punish you, you know? "

"I don’t care.
　The fact that they left her in such a bad condition means that she must have been thrown out because she was a nuisance.
　And if I hadn’t intervened, she would have died then and there.
　I don’t think the noble who owned her is looking for her anymore."

"Still. There is no shortage of priests who want to drag you down.
　Especially the priests of the Varnois faction would find you an eyesore.
　I'm talking about that guy who was just named to be the next High Priest.
　He really wants to take you down."

　Yeah. Recently, with the Saint discovered, there had been a stir inside the temple.
　Until then, it was the high priest faction, the Lars faction, that held the real power in the temple, but with the discovery of the saint, the temple's power quickly shifted to the Varnois faction.

　Every morning, as if to show her off in the corridors of the temple, the saint walks through the temple with the priests of the Varnois faction in tow.

　As if to show off their own power.

　They would be quite happy if a scandal were to befall one of the Lars priests.

"……You're right. I'll keep an eye on it."

"……You're not going to throw her away? "

"Yes. Of course not.
　That's a life that I picked up once.
　If I was going to throw her away, I shouldn't have done it in the first place.
　Since I picked up that child, I will look after her until the end.
　I simply can't betray such a young child just like that."

"……Alright.
　If you're so committed, then do it properly."

"……Yes."

　Originally, it would've been best to take her to a proper facility and have her recover there.
　However, there was a reason why he couldn’t do that.

　There was the possibility of her being a slave.
　
　If she was taken to a doctor, that doctor would have to return her to her owner.
　Although invisible at simple sight, a slave is recognizable by an engraved magic code.
　And that would be immediately known once she was appraised.
　And, if she was to be returned to those who threw her away in such a state, she would certainly be killed this time.

　Farne sighed as he recalled her nervousness and afraid of being hit when he tried to touch her in order to treat her.

　When he picked her up, he worried she might break just by touching her, but recently she's become a little more plump and her complexion had improved considerably.
　She had finally recovered enough strength to get out of bed on her own, but if she was sent back into slavery, the only future that would await her would be a helpless death.

　No matter if one was a slave, some human rights were originally recognized for them, so he had never heard of them treated to be in such a terrible state……

　He could feel a sense of holiness from her.

　Like a power of love that envelops everything.
　And originally it should've been the power to be loved by everyone……

　But when meeting someone with the habit of hurting people, this power can be misunderstood, making them think anything they do will be forgiven.

　That's why she got to such a pitiful state.
　The two men exchanged conversation as they walked out of the room.

"Looks like that's the rumored Saint."

　The Saintess walked up from quite a ways ahead, accompanied by a group of Varnois priests.
　Kyle rushed to the side of the corridor, making a praying pose, followed by Farne.

　Normally, a Saint was someone who should be treated with more respect.
　A girl with holy power chosen by God.
　The savior of the world, who brings bountiful harvests and banishes monsters.

　However, Sharla was a hopeless child, a plain daughter of a merchant family.
　She intimidated all the priests, living her life at the limits of luxury.
　Some of them even questioned if she was truly the Saint.
　Kyle and Farne, in particular, were forbidden from talking to the Saint since they were from a different faction of the priests who protected her.

　This would usually end with nothing happening……Or that's what was supposed to happen.

　But, this time was different.

　Perhaps Farne's appearance caught her eye.

"What's your name? "

　Farne looked up when asked.

■□■

"Farne Silverd."

　The man answered after raising his head in a dignified manner.
　He was a man with clean-cut features and neat blue hair.
　He was probably a bit older than the 18-year-old Sharla.
　Sharla gasped when he saw the most beautiful face she had seen among the priests so far.
　Her cheeks dyed in vermillion as if she had seen a Prince from a fairy tale.
　If one asked her if this feeling was love, she would definitely say it was love.

　Compared to the Saint, the other party was just a lowly priest.
　I'm the Saint.
　All I have to do is make him the Chief Priest.

　Sharla smiled to herself.

"Would you like to have a cup of tea with me? "

　Farne was puzzled by the Saint's offer.
　The reason was, that the Saint couldn't become intimate with a priest.
　
"……Saint-sama.
　Right now is not the time for that."

　One of the priests accompanying her came forward to stop her, causing her to become sullen as she answered.

"Alright. Well then, let's meet later."

　Then she smiled and left.

■□■

"……Hey. Farne."

　As soon as the Saint had left their sight, Kyle raised his voice.

"……Looks like I'll have to pack my bags, huh……?"

　With a depressed expression, he answered.
　A love relationship between a priest and the Saint was forbidden.
　This is because there was a tale in the past that a saint was killed in a romantic dispute between a saint and a priest.
　Therefore, when a priest was suspected of even becoming close to the Saint, they were sent to a remote place where they could never meet her again.

　And with such an exchange happening in front of the opposite faction, there was no way he would escape this.

　Farne's family was originally a noble family from another continent, so even if he was sent to a sidelined position, he would have no trouble making money.
　But for him, who had dreamed of sprouting the holy tree since he was young, the fact that he had to leave the holy tree was quite painful.
　The reason, the fruit of the holy tree couldn’t be obtained unless you were near the holy tree.
　And the only place where one could get the fruit of the holy tree was Cardiana.

　But above all else――there was the girl who was barely able to walk.
　How will he move her and travel to a remote area?

　Farne's shoulders slumped dramatically at the mountain of problems.

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