INS Chapter 3

That night, Stella was given a formal letter of resignation. I read it away from everyone else, while eating dinner.

I was no longer a Saint, and my merit money was no longer given.

I had to now join the relief team as an ordinary commoner.

My salary would now be directly paid to me.

Those were the only three lines written in it.

“I feel like I’ve been working for free.”

My adoptive parents spent all my salary, and the engagement that I had wanted had no love and was empty. This meant I spent 5 years just running around in the battlefield.

It would have been more profitable to work as an ordinary Knight from the beginning.

In the end, all I had left was a piece of paper with my letter of resignation.

“I had a paper-thin youth.”

From the age of fourteen to my current age of nineteen, all I did was kill demons. With the bustling voices of the knights at my back, I shoved a steak sandwich for dinner into my mouth.

Unlike paper, there was meat between it.

To welcome Olivia, a little sumptuous supper and one shot of alcohol was being served tonight.

The bread was white and soft, and the steak was thick and juicy, and I could tell that it was a high quality meat, but unfortunately it didn’t taste good to me right now.

“That’s what a real Saint is like. I can’t believe she’s providing us with such good food with her pocket money.”

“And she’s a goddess when she’s beautiful and smiling, isn’t she? The previous Saint might have been pretty, but compared to Olivia-sama… she’s going to heal my heart from now on.”

“Her healing magic was exceptional. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Her ability, her appearance, and her concern for the Knights are completely different.”

Even from a distance, the merry voices of the Knights were audible to Stella’s ears.

It had been a long time since the atmosphere of the battlefield had been this lively. And since Stella was the only one who couldn’t enjoy it, it added to the emptiness in her heart.

“I need to go someplace where I can’t hear them.”

Stella sat down at the edge of the camp, far from the bustle, and gazed up at the stars in a daze.

—Tap, tap.

Suddenly, I heard steps and crinkling of dead leaves and felt the presence of some people. I turned my gaze, and saw two men.

“Who?”

Their clothes were not those of the Order, and they both wore dark cloaks, with knives in their hands.

The moment Stella stood up, two men attacked her. They drove her further away from the center of the camp and into the forest.

(I can’t believe he just attacked me! I don’t like the idea of attacking people, but I can’t let someone this dangerous escape.)

I cast physical enhancement on my body and distanced myself from the opponent.

“Numachi morasu, kōri hari aisunīdoru.”

I turned the ground into a swamp and hit them with a low-grade ice spells when they were trapped. The two opponents winced in pain and were unable to move from their spot.

I tied the men up with rope before they could escape.

I would end up ruining the mood if they found out—but as she was slumping her shoulders, Stella felt the presence of another person again and she held up the knife in her hand.

“Miss Stella!”

“The officers and Lyle-sama…?”

Stella let her guard down as the people appeared—I thought, but everyone’s face was pale.

Then Olivia ran up to the dangerous man.

“That’s terrible. You put poisonous insects in my tent and hurt my guards who came with me from my parents’ house out of concern.”

“Huh?! But these people were trying to attack me.”

“You can’t accuse me of that! It’s okay that Stella has poisonous insects on them, …but they were my guards to get you.”

Olivia stared at Stella with tears in her eyes. Of course, Stella had no idea what she was talking about.

“I didn’t plant any poisonous insects. It’s true. Please believe me.”

“The guards were suspicious of Stella walking away from the centre and when I checked, I found poisonous insects. I was so scared…”

“No way.”

Stella shook her head in denial. She had neither the means nor the time to get her hands on a poisonous insect.

Besides, we had spent five years together on the battlefield. Stella looked at the officers and Lyle with the expectations that they would believe in her.

“—Why…?”

But the way they looked at Stella was like looking at an enemy.

They had always been on Stella’s side, even when she argued with the Knights.

“Haha…”

A dry laugh escaped on its own.

(Because I’m not the Saint anymore. Lady Olivia is the saint now, so they trust her.)

She has a pure heart. She does not tell lies to deceive others. That’s what a Saint should be. It was obvious which side to stand on.

(Because it wasn’t me they believed in… it was the Saint. No one actually believed in me!)

Stella bit her lower lip in frustration. The blood flowed from where her teeth had hit, and fell in drops on her dirty white military uniform, making a red stain.

Lyle took a step closer to Stella.

“Whatever the reason, the crime of targeting Olivia is serious. You were prepared to do it, weren’t you?”

His eyes were cold to the extreme. There was no emotion in his eyes, and it was as if the five years had never passed.

(Lady Olivia was a saint and future royalty. She had been trying to kill me from the beginning, and I was going to be executed if I didn’t do anything.

I don’t want to… be killed for something I didn’t do. I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die like this.)

Stella slowly brought her knees, hands, and forehead to the ground. She turned her head to look at Olivia, not Lyle.

“Please have mercy on me, kind-hearted Saint, for you have chosen to save others, and you would not agree to a punishment that would take my life. Please give me a way to leave my life to fate.”

“Fate?”

I could hear the executives accusing me of trying to immerse myself in the Saint’s kindness, but I ignored them. No matter what I said, they now denied everything.

“Expel me from the camp. I will go into the forest alone.”

The forest outside the camp was deep and the ground was muddy. There were many dangerous creatures and wild animals, and the sea of trees was inhabited by demons that we let slip away. The sunshine was poor and there were few berries for humans to eat.

The nearest human settlement was a town next to the royal capital, which was too far to go in the forest without horses.

The reason Olivia was able to come to the camp safely was because she used the transfer gate of the long-distance traveling device.

Even if I was a strong Knight, it would be suicide to go into the forest without the teleportation device nor horses.

“Please punish me by exiling me to the forest. When my exile is over, please pardon my sin.”

In other words, if I survived, then pretend this never happened.

The act of apologizing for a deed I didn’t even do filled me with anger, but I lowered my head to suppress it.

Olivia nodded after a bit of confusion.

“I understand. I can only pray that Stella-san will be chosen by fate. Lyle-sama, would you mind if I banished Stella-san?”

“All right. Go straight to the forest. You will not be allowed to take any equipment or food out of the tent. You can thank Saint Olivia for the oversight.”

“Yes, Your Highness. I will never forget this favor. …Never.”

Stella got up and ran into the forest without a second glance.

The light of the camp was quickly becoming distant, and she couldn’t see much further because she was a mess of tears. Her boots were heavy with wet mud, and the roots of the trees dragged her down.

The branch cut her soft cheek and hit her body like a whip.

Still, Stella didn’t stop and continued on her way.

“Screw you!”

That night, Stella, who was the Saint, disappeared from the battlefield.

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  [ E/N – I’ll use romaji for the spells so it seems like it’s in an ancient language for people who don’t know Japanese. ]