The time goes back to a few hours ago.
Lintis lay on her stomach on the bed, her face flushed red as her right hand hammered against the mattress.
‘I can’t stand this anymore!’
‘How can this person be like this?’
‘Why does he always say such strange things to girls in the weirdest situations?’
‘This guy is definitely doing it on purpose!’
Lintis’s small fists trembled slightly. She wanted nothing more than to rush downstairs right now, drag Shilo out, and give him a thorough beating.
Given Mr. Shilo’s behavior, only she could possibly tolerate him. If it were any of the other Saintesses—no, forget the Saintesses—even the most kindhearted old priests wouldn’t be able to stand that mouth of his!
‘Should I just sew his mouth shut?’
The act of slamming the bed in shame and indignation stopped as Lintis began to seriously consider the possibility of this idea.
‘Hmm… Mr. Shilo seems quite capable. To become a knight at his age, and his appearance is actually quite easy on the eyes. If he just wore a smile normally and kept his mouth shut, he wouldn’t be like this.’
The more she thought about it, the more Lintis felt it was a good option, but in the end, she could only collapse limply onto the bed.
“How could I possibly do something so cruel…” Lintis pouted unhappily.
If things continued like this, it would be simply impossible to change Mr. Shilo…
“Ugh…” Lintis sat up, slapped her cheeks, and then shook her head. ‘No, no. If things keep going on in this lukewarm manner, I’m afraid I’ll be stuck on this farm for the rest of my life… I have to finish my mission quickly. I still have so many things I want to do…’
‘It seems I have no choice but to force Mr. Shilo to change a little.’
—
Back to the present, Lintis and Shilo were walking along the road toward Isol City.
The entire way, she kept her face puffed out in a pout, circling around Mr. Shilo, but he showed no reaction whatsoever, which made her very unhappy.
‘Does this guy not see that I’m furious!?’
‘He definitely knows! This jerk!’
‘It’s clearly Mr. Shilo’s fault. I’m this angry, so why hasn’t he apologized to me yet!?’
Yes, this was her plan: to force Mr. Shilo to be the first to back down and apologize to her.
But from this morning until now, Mr. Shilo showed no intention of apologizing…
‘You jerk, do you really think you’re not in the wrong?’
Lintis gave Shilo a resentful glare and then slammed her head directly into his back.
Walking along, Shilo stumbled for a few steps before stabilizing himself. His expression, which had been as flat as still water, finally showed a flicker of emotion.
Shilo turned around with some impatience and glared at the Lady Saintess behind him.
However, the angry Lady Saintess glared back without showing any sign of weakness, leaving him somewhat speechless.
‘How can she act so self-righteous after being the one to bump into someone?’
“Lady Saintess, what exactly are you trying to do? If you want to practice headbutting, could you please not use me as your target?”
As soon as Shilo’s voice fell, Lintis grew even angrier. She stepped forward quickly, preparing to deliver another headbutt to Mr. Shilo’s chest.
This time, the headbutt did not succeed. Having been warned, Shilo reached out and grabbed Lintis’s shoulders, stopping her aggressive advance.
‘He’s actually stopping me!’
Lintis felt like she was going insane with rage. Even though she was held back, she continued to charge forward.
Feeling the force in his hands steadily increase, Shilo frowned. It was hard to imagine that the Lady Saintess’s slender body, which looked like it would fall over with a single push, contained such immense strength.
‘It’s like… exactly like a rampaging wild boar…’
The phrase suddenly popped into his head, and as he looked at the Lady Saintess’s face, which was turning red from the strain, the resemblance felt even stronger.
Unable to hold it back, he let out a chuckle. The Lady Saintess’s movements froze for a split second before a force far greater than before surged forward.
She broke straight through his hands and crashed into his chest, knocking him off balance and sending him falling backward.
In the moment of crisis, Shilo originally intended to adjust his landing to avoid injury, but he saw the Lady Saintess also lose her balance and fall toward him.
With almost no thought—and no time to think—he pulled the Lady Saintess into his embrace. His body hit the ground flat, and due to momentum and their height difference, the Lady Saintess’s forehead slammed into his chin, forcing a muffled groan from his throat.
After a few moments, he finally let go of her, only to find the Lady Saintess lying on top of him without moving.
“Lady Saintess? Could you please get up? You’re a bit heavy.”
Lintis’s body shivered. Then, using Shilo’s body for support, she stood up somewhat stiffly, keeping her head down the entire time so her expression was hidden.
Shilo followed suit and stood up, brushing the dust off his clothes. At the same time, he noticed the Lady Saintess was acting strange.
“Lady Saintess?”
“Ah… I’m here!” Lintis suddenly jerked her head up, meeting Shilo’s puzzled gaze.
As she spoke, she subconsciously tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. Then, she clasped her hands in front of her body, her eyes darting around nervously.
“Could you please stop fooling around? I have a very heavy workload today and don’t have time to play with you.” Shilo felt it was strange, but he didn’t overthink it, choosing to address the incident that just occurred.
“Okay… and I’m sorry…” Lintis responded, her face slightly flushed.
Now Shilo felt even more bewildered. Not only did the Lady Saintess agree obediently, but she even apologized to him.
Usually, at a time like this, the Lady Saintess should have been stubborn and argued against whatever he just said.
However, because he truly didn’t have much time left and the Lady Saintess always acted on a whim, making it impossible to see what she was thinking, he gave up on trying to figure it out.
Before they set off again, he felt a tug on his clothes. Turning around, he saw the Lady Saintess pursing her lips, her cheeks red as she clutched his sleeve.
“Um… Mr. Shilo, please don’t tell a girl she is heavy… It’s very rude.”
“…Alright.”
Hearing him say that, the Lady Saintess visibly relaxed, and a small smile appeared at the corners of her mouth.
Shilo silently turned around and resumed the journey.
He didn’t know why he had just gone along with the Lady Saintess’s words.
It was just… seeing that aggrieved look on her face caused the words to jump out on their own.
From then on, the two did not exchange a single word for the rest of the trip.
They walked quietly along the only path leading to Isol City.
However, hidden beneath this calm scene was the sound of Lintis’s heartbeat, which had not settled down even now.
Looking at Mr. Shilo walking in front of her, Lintis felt like her condition was terrible.
She placed a hand over her chest. That pounding heart, which refused to calm, made her feel extremely frustrated.
What was wrong with her?
When they were falling earlier, she had intended to use the general magic **[Float]** to stabilize her body, but Mr. Shilo had pulled her into his arms before she could cast it.
In that instant, her usually agile mind seemed to crash.
Even after getting up, the lingering warmth from that embrace continued to interfere with her thoughts, leading her to do many things that felt embarrassing in hindsight.
She had even ruined her own plan. Wasn’t this a total defeat…?
‘Really…’
‘I clearly don’t care about this kind of thing at all, yet I’m having this kind of reaction… isn’t this exactly how a normal girl would act?’