I’m an old man although I’m a Saintess.
I know you don’t quite understand what I’m talking about, but I don’t know what it means either.
Born in a small village in the middle of nowhere, I have lived a life that paints a picture of poverty, where I never starve but neither can I save any money.
It is a three-day walk to the nearest town. Sometimes the village chief would go there to buy the bare necessities, such as salt, on behalf of the village, or wait for a peddler, who rarely came to the village.
The villagers, who live in such an inconvenient place and have neither money nor time to buy useless things, never even bothered about going to town.
So, I usually never left the village, and it has not bothered me.
I’m poor, but I live reasonably well, and not going to the town doesn’t cause me any problems.
….Well, actually if you mention it, there is one problem.
To live in this country, one needs to do a status appraisal at the age of 15.
And I still haven’t done that. Or rather, most people in this village haven’t done that.
The reason is that the town is far away. And there is no temple in this village, which is supposed to exist in every village for status appraisal.
No, there is a temple. But I don’t know if I can still call that place a temple.
Because first of all, there’s no priest there.
I heard a few decades ago, when my grandfather was a child, there’s a priest in that temple. But when the priest died, the substitute priest never came… or something like that.
And in that building, which was supposed to be a temple, is where the village’s food is stored.
It’s the only stone building in the village, and since it stays cool even in summer, it has already been used as food storage for as long as I can remember.
But there is still a statue that was used as an object of worship, so I think it can still be called a temple….
While it’s hard to say whether it has fulfilled its role since the object of worship is covered in cloth and placed in a corner so as not to get in the way, I think it’s undeniable that it is an excellent food storage.
And in the sense of protecting our precious food, I think its existence is even more appreciated than the gods themselves.
….Ehem, it seems I got off the topic.
So back to the topic. For this reason, we who live in a remote village far from town and don’t have a temple, have never had our status appraised.
I actually think that it is not good because, after all, as a people living in this country, we are obliged to fulfill our duty. But it seems that even if we do that, the appraisal results will only show that we don’t have any magic power. I couldn’t leave my field for a six days round trip to town just for that.
My father, mother, grandfather, and grandmother had done the same thing, so there should be no problem.
No government official would come all the way to this remote village just because we didn’t do our duty, anyway.
Even if they did, they wouldn’t be able to punish the entire village. At most, they would only scold us.
….That is what I thought until yesterday.
Yes, until yesterday.
✢
In this village, where women make up less than 40% of the population, there are several men who will be excluded.
They are sorted out by whether they are good-looking, good at talking, or rich… So, it was only natural that I, who was mediocre, uncommunicative, and whose parents had died early, should be excluded.
That is why it is not unusual for men to marry each other in this village, but I didn’t have a male partner either. So, I lived quietly alone in the house where I used to live with my family in the past.
I welcomed my 42nd birthday without feeling sad about it.
After finishing my work in the fields, I went home alone and was immediately summoned to the village chief’s house.
According to what I heard along the way, there was a high-ranking official who came from the capital and intended to do a status appraisal on us.
His goal was to search for the Saintess who had not been found for more than 20 years.
I suddenly wanted to thank him for his efforts to come to such a remote village like this.
ーーSo, there’s a Saintess in this village, huh?
I think the first time I heard that the next Saintess had yet to be found was when I was in my twenties.
Someone who can purify an entire country, keep away the demonic beasts, and heal the wounded, such a person is called a Saintess.
There is always only one Saintess in every generation, and it is also said that the Saintess never does not appear. It was said that if the strength of the Saintess of the previous generation weakened; it was a sign that the next Saintess had appeared.
Even though I don’t know how it works, thanks to the Saintess, the damage this country has received from the attacks of demonic beasts is still under control.
And perhaps it’s also thanks to the Saintess that we can still live in this village even though it’s close to the demonic beasts’ forest.
Since the Saintess is a very important person, the rumor that the next Saintess had yet appeared had even reached a remote village as this village.
The village chief even held a meeting with the village elders to discuss the rumor.
If the next Saintess is not found, there may be an increase in the damage caused by the demonic beasts. The knights are looking for her with all their eyes, so it won’t be long before she’s found, but we’ll keep an eye on the situation for the time being.
The meeting of the elders ended like that, but contrary to everyone’s expectations she would be found soon, the Saintess still hadn’t been found.
Even though our village was miraculously free from demonic beasts’ damage, the damage suffered by the entire country was very serious. Even the village chief said that there was a rumor that there would be a demon invasion or something like that.
That must be the reason why the high-ranking official from the capital had come to such a remote place like this village.
ーーBut, why did they even have to appraise this old man?
It must be a woman since it is called Saintess, right? So, wouldn’t it be enough to just appraise Lilia, the village chief’s daughter, or Mimosa, the old Dan’s daughter?
In the first place, I don’t believe there is a Saintess in this poor, remote village.
When I followed the guy who came to call me earlier and entered the village chief’s house, I found that the whole village had already gathered there. The women in the front and the men in the back. I wondered if it was the order to be appraised.
I gave up my turn to my companion and got in line at the end of the queue, and turned my attention to a man who said he came from the royal capital.
I had heard that he was a high-ranking official, but I wondered if he was what people call a knight? He was dressed in a stiff white uniform with a long sword hanging at his waist.
He has blond hair that reminded me of wheat, and his purple eyes were like mountain grapes. He is a man with a handsome face and slender body.
He seemed to be around 30 years old or so.
The women looked very excited when they saw him. Even I, who was standing at the end of the queue, noticed it.
Is the capital full of men like him?
Or is this man exceptionally good-looking?
While I was thinking about these unimportant things, the line was slowly moving forward.
Unfortunately, there seemed to be no Saintess among the women.
People started smiling bitterly and as expected, the line was moving faster now.
It might have taken a long time before because the women were gawking at the man.
When I peeked from the rapidly advancing line to see how the appraisal was going, I saw a paper that was just about to lit up.
Somehow your status will appear when you touch the provided paper.
I almost thought that it was like magic, but then I realized it was indeed magic.
Living in a village that is on the verge of extreme poverty, magic and magic tools are something foreign to me, but I have heard that they are very commonly used in towns, let alone in the Royal Capital.
The paper must be a magic tool.
This will, of course, be my first time seeing and touching it.
Just as I was filled with the thought that I will touch magic for the first time in my life, soon it was my turn.
There’s no one behind me. In other words, this is the end.
I guess there really is no Saintess in this village.
Since this was a predictable outcome, I somehow felt sorry for the man who came all the way here.
“The next one… Are you the last?”
“Yes.”
The man’s expression clouded faintly as I nodded lightly in reply.
His mouth remained smiling, but his eyelids drooped slightly, causing the shadow of his long eyelashes to fall on his cheeks.
Rather than being disappointed that he had come all the way here to no avail, the face he showed right now depicted that he was truly sad that the Saintess wasn’t here.
Perhaps he was a man with a strong sense of responsibility.
I touched the paper as instructed, and slowly the letters appeared.
Zeph. Age: 42 years. Gender: Male.
What is displayed next is my level which is in the three-digit number, then my power and magic power which is in the four-digit number.
….I’m not sure if this is high or low. I wonder about how the other results are.
While I tilted my head, the next letters slowly appeared.
The attribute section says: Holy Attribute, Light Attribute, Earth Attribute, and Water Attribute.
….Maybe I can use magic?
Earth, water, and light… Aren’t those attributes suitable for working in the field?
“….Saintess…..”
“Huh?”
While looking at the paper, the man mumbled something. Huh? I then looked behind me. Of course, no one was there.
I think I just heard him say “Saintess”, but maybe I was just imagining it. I couldn’t have heard wrong, could I? There can’t be a Saintess in a village like this.
Or maybe he said that because he was disappointed that he couldn’t find the Saintess?
I suddenly feel sorry for him.
I looked at him sympathetically when my eyes met the man’s instead.
ーーWhat….?
It was hard to read his emotions because of his very handsome face, but I could feel that the look he gave me differed from before.
Like he saw me as myself, not as one of the villagers.
I felt he was trying to hold back something.
……But I don’t know what he’s holding back.
“So you are here.”
“Huh?”
“We’ve been looking for you, Saintess.”
“…..Huh??”
I asked him with a frown on my face, but the man who looked like a knight didn’t budge. Paying no heed to my words, he knelt down in one smooth motion and lowered his head.
….So, what kind of situation is this?
I checked behind me again, and no one was there.
I looked at the village chief who was by my side, but he just froze with his eyes wide open.
I’m sure my expression must be similar to his.
….Someone please tell me what’s really going on right now.
✢
Well, that’s what happened yesterday.
In summary, a knight who came all the way from the Royal Capital, recognized a man in his 40s as a Saintess. That’s all.
You don’t understand what happened, do you?
I don’t understand what happened either.
I retorted that it is impossible for a man to become a Saintess, but it seems that it can happen but it is very rare. In particular, there are only 5 men of the 52 Saintess throughout the history of the temple. They said I was the sixth.
The way to identify a Saintess is whether there is a ‘Holy Attribute’ in the attribute.
Holy Attribute seemed to be a magic attribute that only a Saintess could use.
To find it quickly, the status appraisal then becomes an obligation.
My status is…… Yep. It was firmly written Holy Attribute there.
It had been over 20 years since people had made a fuss about not being able to find the Saintess.
I once wondered why they couldn’t find the Saintess, it turned out that the reason behind it was so trivial.
It’s because I didn’t do a status appraisal.
Furthermore, this village is also missing from the temple survey because it is not on the map… Perhaps when our priest was alive, this village was still included in the survey, but after the priest died, we were completely forgotten.
Such an unfortunate coincidence made it impossible to find out the existence of this village in all the investigations so far. It seemed that this was the first time he had heard rumors about this village and had finally decided to come here despite some hesitation.
“So I hope the Saintess will come to the Royal Capital with me as soon as possible.”
“About me being a Saintess…… Are you sure it wasn’t a mistake?”
“Impossible. We’ve confirmed it through the status appraisal and we’ve also learned from the village chief that this village has a very low amount of damage from the demonic beast’s attacks. Demonic beasts will usually avoid places where a Saintess is instinctively.”
Heh, a Saintess is very useful, isn’t it? Like an endless supply of demonic beasts repellent or something like that.
But if that’s the case, isn’t that even more the reason that I can’t go to the Royal Capital?
I heard that our village, which is surrounded by forest, has suffered serious damage from demonic beasts many times in the past.
If it’s thanks to me that this doesn’t happen now, I can’t go to the Royal Capital just like that.
Even if it is said that if I fulfill my role as a Saintess in the capital the demonic beasts will calm down, it would still take me a month to get to the Royal Capital from here by carriage.
I find myself in a tough position when I think about what will happen to the village before I get there.
When I explained it to him, trying my best to say it despite my poor communication skills, the knight smiled slightly.
I don’t know the reason for his smile, but as soon as I saw that, I somehow felt uncomfortable.
He squinted as if he saw something dazzling, but what was in front of him was only an old man over 40 years old.
Please come to your senses!
This old man may be a Saintess (temporary), but that doesn’t mean you can keep staring at him like that.
“Don’t worry. If you offer something containing your divine power to the four directions of this village, you will get the same effect.”
“Offer something that contains my divine power…?”
“Like your hair or your blood.”
“Oh….”
By hair… You’re not referring to the hair on my head, are you?
I’m not bald right now, but my hair seems to lose its vigor as I get older.
I’m very careful when I wash my hair but you’re asking me to pull it out myself?
That’s too cruel!
I feel compelled to apologize to the knight who explained to me that the basic rule is to use hair so as not to damage my precious body, and that the hair that has fallen out has lost its divine power so it cannot be used, but I have no intention of offering my hair.
The four directions of this village mean at least four strands of hair. That’s an amount I can’t bring myself to pull out.
“Blood. Only blood. I will only offer my blood.”
“But you’ll get hurt.”
“If the blood is not good, I will not go to the Royal Capital.”
I think the work of a Saintess is important, but I don’t want to go that far by giving away my hair.
I still doubt that I am a Saintess.
Maybe this is something that seems trivial to you, but four strands of hair! I can tolerate long trips because they promised to compensate me, but not for my hair!
If you pull it out, it may not grow back. How can I offer it so easily?
I stared straight at the knight with a determination not to give in, and he reluctantly complied.
And with that, I managed to protect my hair.
