After finishing her story, Fenne let out a small sigh.
A long time had passed. Soarina had been so absorbed in listening that she only noticed her sore back when she shifted her posture to relax a bit.
It seemed to be a longer tale than she had anticipated.
Outside, the light had grown red with the approach of evening, signaling the end of the day and the time for closing up shop.
"That's all. It's a trivial story, really."
With those concluding words, Soarina couldn't find anything to say.
Life as a saint wasn't that unusual. In that regard, she was like Soarina—it was mostly spent studying theology, comforting the people, and honing her abilities to fight the enemy.
Soarina had experienced it herself, which was partly why Fenne had skipped some explanations.
But just like Soarina, who had been listening, Fenne's life had also been full of hardship and tragedy.
"A woman who got carried away, mistook herself for reaching the heavens, and lost everything. No, maybe she never had anything to begin with. It was all just a hollow construct built entirely on appearances."
If only she could say, "That's not true." How wonderful that would be. She understood Fenne's suffering. Soarina herself had a past where she had laid her hands upon those she should have loved.
The forms were different, but they had only wanted to be happy. She understood all too well the depth of despair felt upon realizing that even that small wish could not be fulfilled.
Without waiting for Soarina's words, Fenne's monologue continued.
It no longer seemed like she wanted to share her circumstances; it felt more like she was simply vomiting her pain into the space before her.
"But, still, this is too much. Far too much. Even as punishment, couldn't there have been some other way? Did I ever do anything to anyone to deserve being treated like this?"
The monologue went on.
"So, to reclaim what I lost, I made a deal with Erakino. More precisely, with the Game Master who rules over Erakino..."
Soarina had heard a little about that.
The Game Master's objective was to win the game being held in this world.
Soarina's goal is to found a new nation and build a new kingdom of God.
And Fenne's goal is to reclaim what she lost.
Though she never heard it from his own mouth,Erakino had once told her something to that effect. To reverse the aging,he said.
"I didn't need everything returned. Even if it was just a little better. And he had that power. He promised that once it was all over,he would give me a normal life. He was supposed to..."
Indeed,with the Game Master's abilities,it would have been possible. At the time,unaware of her circumstances,she had thought it a rather selfish wish,but looking back now,that too was a hasty judgment.
However,back then,her own world was full to bursting. There was no room to spare for the suffering of others.
Probably,Fenne,who had suffered for so long,was the same.
How did she,betrayed by God,view herself for still believing in God?
Either way,the outcome was already known.
For the sake of their own ideals,they had sacrificed far too much.
Soarina is ashamed of her own inadequacy,and bites hard on the corner of her lip. She,they,had been far too optimistic.
Even he,the Game Master who possessed such power and whom she once thought no one would dare to oppose,had been utterly defeated.
She had not seen him since that day. Everyone had scattered.
Because they had abandoned everything and fled desperately to this place.
Suddenly,she felt a pang of nostalgia for him. What was his name again... She had completely forgotten it because she had gotten so used to calling him GM,but she remembered clearly that despite his cold and cautious demeanor,there was a certain kindness to him.
But... even that,was now...
"In the end,men are always like that. They leave me. No matter what grand reasons they give,or this or that excuse,in the end,they just get tired of dealing with an aging,troublesome woman."
Soarina understood she was talking about him,the Game Master.
"Men are just like that,you know."
Ah,for her,the GM must have been the last one.
She had been the last man she believed might save her.
Soarina had reached this conclusion after hearing about Fenne's circumstances and life. His strength, his wish, and the promise she had made with him.
She had believed he would save her, that he would free her from this suffering.
But the result was plain for all to see in their current circumstances.
In the end, her last hope had been crushed as well.
Nothing remained here but endings.
"You'd better watch out too, Soarina. You're going to have to live your life as an ordinary person now. Nobody's going to protect a sheltered former village girl anymore."
The conversation had veered off in an unexpected direction.
Her cheerful tone seemed to be mocking Soarina's predicament, though in truth it was concern that carried the greater weight.
Soarina recalled how little she actually knew of the world, having become the Holy Maiden so young.
"A girl like you with no experience with men is easy prey for the wrong kind."
A soft giggle followed—this time, the teasing was unmistakable.
Soarina couldn't help but bristle. Being sheltered from the world was an irrefutable fact, but that hardly warranted this much laughter, did it?
She raised her voice slightly in protest.
"N-no! It's not that I have no experience with men! I greet the baker from the shop across the road quite regularly!"
"...That's exactly what I mean."
For a fleeting instant, Fenne had assumed the worst, but then he employed an ability he rarely liked to use—reading her heart—and saw Soarina's true meaning for what it was.
He realized that her claim of having "experience with men" was meant in the most literal, innocent sense: simply having exchanged words with a male.
After a long, heavy sigh of profound relief, he delivered the words that followed.
But Soarina herself could only stare blankly. She didn't understand the reason behind his sigh, and tilted her head adorably in confusion.
Fenne silently swore that he would have to find the right moment to educate her, and firmly.
I had enough of seeing girls end up like that. At the very least, I didn't want the sheltered young woman before me to suffer the same fate.
As if to brush aside the tangent, Fenne steered the conversation back.
"Complaining to you was pointless, wasn't it... Just forget it. They're the bitter words of a wretched woman who's been betrayed over and over."
But the resentment she had let slip so absentmindedly proved somewhat inappropriate for the moment, and it caught Soarina's interest.
"That... Do you resent him? Him, I mean."
The moment the question left her lips, Soarina realized her mistake. She had blurted it out upon hearing the word "bitterness," but it was not a well-considered inquiry. It was a thoughtless question that trampled upon the other's heart. Whether the answer was yes or no, what mattered now was not to lay bare her feelings but to quietly stay by her side. She shouldn't have asked about emotions that could not be helped.
"I don't resent him. It wasn't as though he had any malice—I understood that much. But he and I... I just think there could have been another way."
Fenne had not held the position of saint merely on the strength of her abilities alone. She returned Soarina's impertinent question not with offense but with a gentle smile. Yet the words of grief that trembled in that beautiful voice pierced Soarina's heart like thorns.
"Aren't you the same?"
"...Perhaps."
"But it's over now, I'm afraid. My story, your story—both finished. Fortunately, the power of a saint still remains. As long as we keep our heads down, two women living quietly together shouldn't be too difficult."
"...Yes. I'm sure that's right."
Soarina agreed with Fenne's words. What was there to do now? As Fenne said, giving up everything and running away was the easiest path. Her own sins and the friend she had lost. Her dreams and wishes—she would abandon them all and simply accept a quiet, silent time.
Everything had ended. Their story had already reached its conclusion.
This dim, dilapidated house where the day's light filtered in was the final chapter.
This was the last page of their story.
—The Holy Maiden Soarina and the Holy Maiden Fenne were defeated without their dreams coming true, and then quietly faded away into obscurity, their fates unknown to all.
It was over. Only the closing words remained to be written.
Whether the world was destroyed or endured, they who had been removed from the stage no longer had any part in it.
That was fine.
Ah, she was tired. Truly tired.
Soarina thought so from the depths of her heart. The moment she admitted it, a wave of exhaustion washed over her.
Fenne must have felt the same.
"Come now, we've been chatting and it's gotten this late. Let's prepare dinner. I've been feeling well lately, so I'll help too. Hee hee, it's nice not having to pray to the gods; we can take it easier."
As if forcibly shoving their shared grief somewhere aside, Fenne smiled. Soarina answered with a similarly forced smile.
Am I smiling properly? Are we smiling properly?
But perhaps she no longer needed to worry about such things.
Because their story had already declared its end, and from now on, only quiet, unchanging days would follow.
The only color would be the light filtering through the window and the vigorous lives of the people visible beyond.
And the occasional echoes of the past she recalled.
So yes, there was no need to worry about anything anymore…
But.
"Guuuuuuys!!"
A sudden scream echoed from the entrance.
Who could blame Sorina and Fenne for flinching involuntarily at the sound?
That voice was that abrupt, that intrusive, and that forceful.
"Sorina! Fenne! Open uuuuuup!"
Their names were called. It wasn't a case of mistaken identity; they were clearly the target.
Few beings would seek to harm the two saintesses. In fact, encountering one in the town of Iron Henge could be called a miracle. So, there was no need for fear, but...
The two were plainly terrified. A natural emotion, of course. Saintesses or not, they were human. Saintesses or not, they were women.
The emotion they felt now was, rather, the same one one might feel towards a pervert.
"It's meeeeeeeeeeeee!!!"
Wh-who is it?
They exchanged glances in silent question, but only bewilderment showed on each other's faces.
In the meantime, the door continued to bang with a light rhythm, and the visitor outside kept calling their names without a shred of decorum.
For what purpose? And more importantly, who is it really?
No answer came.
—Only, from somewhere, the sound of a page turning in a story could be heard.