A few minutes later.
Only two somewhat hurried breaths remained in the room.
At this moment, Lintis was straddling Shilo, her entire body radiating an un-dissipated warmth. Her long hair was scattered messily over her shoulders and neck, and her chest rose and fell slightly with her rapid breathing. Fine sweat hung from her forehead, and at some point, a layer of mist had clouded her eyes. Combined with that slightly weak panting, it was hard not to let one’s imagination run wild.
However, the culprit responsible for all of this was completely oblivious.
Lintis pressed Shilo’s hands to the floor with one hand and grabbed his collar with the other, saying triumphantly, “How about it, Mr. Shilo? Do you realize your mistake? Even if I’m sick, I’m more than enough to handle you~”
Just as she finished speaking, Lintis noticed Shilo turning his face away. This made her a bit unhappy, so she leaned forward, forcing him to meet her gaze.
“What are you doing! Please look at me, okay?”
Unexpectedly, this only intensified Shilo’s resistance, his legs struggling as he tried to buck her off.
Seeing him being so disobedient thoroughly piqued Lintis’s desire for control, and she directly used her legs to lock Shilo’s legs firmly in place.
Shilo struggled a few times but couldn’t break free. He had no choice but to turn his head back and look helplessly at the Saintess, who was still immersed in the joy of her victory.
“Saintess… could you please let go of me?”
“No!”
As the Saintess spoke, her hot, light breath fell on his face, and Shilo felt that things were becoming a bit problematic.
Their bodies were pressed tightly together. Because the Saintess’s dress was thin, he could clearly feel her body temperature and… the softness that had been pressed against his chest since just a moment ago. To be honest, it was getting a bit out of hand.
Even if he had no such intentions toward the Saintess, being provoked like this caused his body to inevitably react. Realizing this, Shilo grew even more anxious.
“Saintess! Please let me go. I know I was wrong; I won’t tease you anymore. Please forgive me. Even if you don’t forgive me, at least please get off me first.”
Hearing this, Lintis blinked, finding it quite amusing. This was the first time she had seen Mr. Shilo looking so flustered.
Caught up in her playfulness, she applied a bit more strength, her face flushed with an irrepressible excitement.
Right at that moment, she suddenly felt something poking against her.
Her excited brain was instantly doused as if a bucket of cold water had been thrown over it. Lintis, gradually realizing what was happening, felt her cheeks burn bright red.
Supporting herself on Shilo’s chest, she stood up stiffly. She didn’t even dare to look back to verify her suspicion before mechanically crawling onto the bed. She dove straight under the covers, forming a large ball.
The rescued Shilo was still taking deep breaths to suppress the turmoil in his heart. Fortunately, under his intentional suppression, that sensation gradually subsided.
Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief and stand up, looking at the Saintess who had hidden herself, and let out a sigh.
“…Saintess, I told you to get off me…”
Hearing his voice, Lintis poked her small head out and looked at Shilo with shame and indignation.
“Pervert!”
After saying that, she dove back in.
Shilo looked on with pure helplessness, but if he didn’t explain things clearly, he felt he would be the one suffering the grievance.
He could only sit by the bedside and shake the “ball” on the bed, saying as he shook it, “Saintess, I really don’t think this is my fault. Please don’t misunderstand; I truly don’t have those kinds of thoughts about you. That was just a physical instinct. I would never do something like that to you.”
“Besides, don’t we still have serious business to discuss? I need to go into the city later. If you’re still angry, I can bring back something you want as an apology. How does that sound?”
Hearing this, Lintis poked her head out again, blinking her slightly red eyes. Her voice was soft and sweet as she asked, “Really?”
“……” Shilo remained silent for a few seconds before nodding silently.
The next second, the Saintess, who had looked aggrieved just a moment ago, immediately beamed with joy. She threw back the covers, hugged her pillow, and moved closer to Shilo’s side. She began counting on her fingers.
“That, and that… Mr. Shilo, I want a lounge chair, a large plushie, and it would be best to buy some more delicious food. Oh, right, I also want some ingredients and seasonings…”
The Saintess’s small mouth opened and closed, rambling on for several minutes. Shilo suddenly felt a twinge of regret…
“That’s all of it. Did you remember, Mr. Shilo? Oh, also, I promised Sister Sery that I would be a model to promote her shop. I probably can’t go today like this. I’m afraid the Corruption will affect her. Can you help me ask for a leave of absence? And that girl we left with Mr. Eric—please go check on her for me as well. It would be best if you could pay a sum of money in advance; I will work to pay you back.”
He felt like his entire day’s itinerary had been filled up. Shilo’s lip twitched, but he didn’t refuse.
“There’s no need to work. Aren’t you going to teach me Holy Arts and Sword Skills, Saintess? Just consider it a small bit of compensation from me. I hope you can provide teaching that matches the price.”
“Really? That’s great!” Lintis cried out happily.
“Really… let’s end this topic for now. I want to continue the previous conversation. Saintess, what exactly happened to that girl…”
“Hmm…” Lintis thought for a moment and said, “Actually, it’s nothing much~ It’s just that the Corruption on her body was affecting my treatment. I decided to let myself bear the taint of the Corruption first so that I could save her.”
“?”
A large question mark seemed to pop up over Shilo’s head.
“Saintess, that’s not right. Since when can Corruption be transferred? I don’t recall those things being so ‘merciful.’ Logically, such an existence should have tainted both you and the girl together, shouldn’t it? But I remember seeing no traces of Corruption left on that girl earlier.”
At that, Lintis held up a finger, a hint of pride on her face.
“Hmph, Mr. Shilo, have you forgotten who I am?”
Shilo froze for a moment before reacting.
“You mean… the Saintess?”
“Mhm. This is a special ability of the Saintesses. We can absorb the phenomenon of Corruption from others. It was my first time using it, so I was a bit unpracticed, but the effect seems pretty good. Although, it seems there are some side effects…”
“But it shouldn’t be a big deal. Don’t look so serious~”
Seeing Shilo’s furrowed brows, Lintis waved her hand dismissively, indicating she didn’t care much.
“Saintess, why did you save her? You and she only met for the first time, right?” Shilo asked suddenly after a moment of silence.
“Eh?” Lintis tilted her head. “There’s no ‘why’ about it. I’m the Saintess of the Church. If I have the ability, of course I should save people.”
“Isn’t it the same logic as you being a Knight, Mr. Shilo, and going to handle Corruption incidents?”
“No, I’m not a Knight. I only do those things because I want to. We are different, Saintess,” Shilo interrupted stubbornly.
“Sigh… here we go again. Even if you say that, Mr. Shilo, you are indeed a Knight recognized by the Church.”
As Lintis finished speaking, she suddenly seemed to remember something and let out a startled cry.
Beside her, Shilo jumped, glaring at her irritably. He was clearly dissatisfied with the noisy Lintis.
But the latter didn’t think much of it. She suddenly leaned even closer, her eyes blinking vividly.
“Mr. Shilo, I just thought of a great idea!”
“Since you feel you aren’t a Knight because you didn’t pass the Trial… then, after I finish teaching you, how about I give you an assessment?”
“An assessment?”
Facing Shilo’s confusion, Lintis nodded.
“Yes! An assessment! Just like the Trial. I’ll be the examiner. If you pass, your qualification as a Knight will be acknowledged by me—Lintis, the current Saintess of the Holy Church!”
Finished speaking, Lintis gave a cheeky grin.
“How about it? This is the acknowledgment of a Saintess~ This is way more impressive than that Knight status Isol City gave you!”