“Well… but Shiro, even if you say that… I’ve never heard of holy power having a mind of its own.”
Lintis rested her hand on her forehead, looking troubled.
“But they really do have minds of their own, and they’ve already given me messages more than once.” Shiro said urgently, trying to explain further.
Afraid the Saintess wouldn’t believe him, he specifically summoned a ball of holy power into his hand and explained what it was saying at that moment.
Seeing him like this, Lintis spread her small hands and said in a tone like she was coaxing a child:
“Fine, fine, let’s pretend they have minds of their own.”
“No… Saintess, they really do!”
“Yes, yes, I know. Can we go back now?”
“Also, Shiro, have you gotten your power under control? If so, would you mind cooking? I’m hungry… um…”
Watching the Saintess cover her stomach and wanting to head back, Shiro felt at a loss. His whole demeanor visibly drooped.
“I should be… just about there. I actually could control it last night, but to be safe, and because of the incident at night, I didn’t come back.”
“But… Saintess, don’t you cook for yourself?”
“Um…” Lintis faltered, hung her head, and kicked a pebble by the roadside. She said weakly, “Doing that for one day is enough. If I had to cook every day, I’d rather die…”
Her undisguised laziness left Shiro speechless, but then he froze.
He saw that for some reason, the Saintess’s small hand had grasped his own again.
The slight coolness and softness from her hand instantly cleared his mind a bit. His previously disappointed feelings became complicated.
“Saintess, what’s wrong?”
The Saintess looked over at him, still in that same dispirited manner.
“What else? Someone looks like a sad little puppy. It made me soften up, so I’ll test you~”
Shiro’s heart trembled. At the same time, through their skin contact, a wisp of holy power abruptly charged into his mental space.
Sensing the intruder, the holy power within his body erupted with astonishing cohesion, surrounding the holy power the Saintess had sent in.
Seeing this, his eyes widened.
“Saintess, can you sense it?”
“They’re afraid of you, in awe of you, they want to drive you out.”
“Um… why does that sound weird? Shiro, are you using the holy power as an excuse to jab at me?”
“……”
“Hehe, fine, fine, just kidding~ But just this doesn’t prove anything. Any holy power would show rejection to outsiders.”
“If we really want to test it…”
Lintis suddenly paused, looking hesitant, then nodded firmly as if to encourage herself.
The force in her palm gradually softened. She twisted her hand inward, her fingertips slipping through the gaps, and interlaced their fingers.
Then, she raised her slightly flushed face, met the utterly stunned Shiro’s eyes with a flustered gaze, curled the corners of her lips, and unconsciously drew her body even closer.
Before she knew it, she was pressed against Shiro’s chest, but Lintis, already absorbed in her own actions, didn’t notice at all.
Instead, she stood on tiptoe, leaned close to Shiro’s ear, deliberately softened her voice, and said in an extremely seductive tone:
“Shiro~ if you really want to test it, let your holy power ‘hug’ me~”
Hug…
‘Hug…’ Shiro silently repeated the word in his heart, feeling the softness against his chest. His heart pounded wildly.
At that moment, he could simply reach out a little and pull her completely into his embrace…
Though… even if he didn’t reach out, this position was practically the same…
But in the end, Shiro did nothing. His whole body went stiff, not daring to move a muscle.
He forcibly buried his awareness into his mental space and communicated with his holy power, discussing the Saintess’s proposal.
After much persuasion, they finally agreed to approach the Saintess’s holy power.
The two different holy powers slowly drew close inside his body. Just as the Saintess said, they “hugged.”
The sensation from the holy power made Shiro feel his body temperature rise a few more degrees.
But then, the feeling abruptly stopped.
The softness against his chest vanished, along with the holy power that belonged to the Saintess.
Shiro snapped back to reality and saw the Saintess standing three meters away. He was puzzled.
“Saintess, is the test done?”
Unexpectedly, the Saintess in front of him seemed reluctant to meet his eyes. Her small hands kept twisting the strands of hair falling by her face. Her pretty cheeks were bright red.
Unlike her clearly visible agitation, Shiro felt he was in a good state now, his heartbeat steady.
He looked at the Saintess again and understood everything. A mischievous impulse arose, and the corners of his mouth lifted slightly.
“Saintess… are you blushing?”
“… Mm!”
Lintis hesitated, then let out a cute little sound, covered her face with both hands, and crouched down.
Shiro found it funny and couldn’t help laughing, only to immediately receive a fierce glare from the Saintess.
But he didn’t stop. Instead, an indescribable joy swelled in his heart.
He deliberately stepped closer and looked at the blushing Saintess, continuing:
“Saintess, you were trying to tease me just now, weren’t you?”
“Mm…”
“But the tease backfired, and you ended up this embarrassed? What should I say to you~”
“……”
Lintis, already red-faced, turned so crimson that it seemed like blood could drip. She wished she could find a hole to bury herself in.
She held it in, but then suddenly felt a sense of grievance. The emotion swelled rapidly, and in the blink of an eye, tears glistened in her eyes.
The next second, instinctively, Lintis felt her legs go weak. She sat down on the ground, sobbing, frantically wiping her tears with her small hands, but couldn’t stop them.
Seeing the Saintess cry, Shiro was startled.
He paced around her in a fluster, reaching out several times, only to forcibly pull his hand back.
“Saintess, Saintess, I’m sorry, I was wrong. Please stop crying, okay?”
Hearing this, Lintis only felt more wronged and cried louder.
Shiro was at a complete loss. Faced with a crying girl, he couldn’t use any of his skills.
And judging by the Saintess’s state, she would probably cry for a while.
Then, perhaps because his brain short-circuited, an image of someone comforting a child flashed through his mind.
He gritted his teeth, crouched down, and directly lifted the stunned Saintess into his arms. Then he gently rocked her, softening his voice as he coaxed:
“Don’t cry, don’t cry…”
The strange action made Lintis’s emotions snap. She didn’t know whether to cry or laugh.
“Shiro…”
Maybe because her voice was too soft, Shiro was still immersed in his baby-soothing mission.
Lintis was amused and exasperated. She pinched Shiro’s waist without mercy.
He winced in pain and finally set her down.
Once steady on the ground, Lintis looked at Shiro, who had also calmed down. They both turned their heads away in unison.