I Became a Fake Priest the Saintess Is Obsessed With

10 – I Don’t Like Men Leaning On Me

“He admits himself to be a swindler.”

Unbeknownst to me, Miguel had been observing me from the corner of the alley.

“Perhaps it’s just a manner of speaking. By the way, Miguel, how long have you been watching my performance?”

“From the very start – rather, from the moment you asked the children if they liked magic.”

Hmm, he was there from the very beginning.

I awkwardly scratched the back of my head.

“If you were watching, why wouldn’t you come and watch with the kids instead of lurking?”

“I didn’t know what kind of mischief you’d be up to with the kids, so I thought I’d spring a surprise. To think the ‘thing’ I was wary about was just a magic show.”

With those words, Miguel strolled over and plopped down onto the mat of newspaper.

“Just a magic show? Wasn’t my performance quite splendid?”

“…Yeah, it was splendid.”

Mm-hmm, naturally.

While I’ve used the techniques plenty of times to deceive people, they’re not worth handing out a business card over, let alone impressive.

I learnt magic with a rather interesting story.

One day, while doing my odd jobs, I showed a simple magic trick I had learned to a patient. Interestingly, the patient believed they were cured after seeing my magic.

Curious, I performed for other patients who also claimed to be healed afterwards.

Realizing that magic could be beneficial for my odd jobs, I continued to practice and now I’ve gained some skill.

“Ha… The more I think about it, the stranger you are. I feel suspicious about you, but it doesn’t seem like you’re a bad person…”

“Of course, I’m not a bad guy. I’ve told you many times that I’m a priest who volunteers.”

“… Don’t lie too much. What are you, really?”

That surely seemed unfair.

No matter how much I insisted that I’m a priest, Miguel didn’t believe me.

Wondering how to win over the trust of a skeptical teenager who won’t listen to an adult, I noticed a scratch on his knee.

I approached Miguel and gently touched his wound.

“What the hell are you doing!”

Despite Miguel’s strong resistance, I ignored him and recited a spell.

“Oh, my God, I swear this flesh and soul to the Mother of Earth, please raise this lamb again.”

Suddenly, my knee started to feel a slight sting, and Miguel’s wound cleanly disappeared.

Even though my knee ached, it wasn’t painful compared to the hellish agony I had experienced over the past few days.

“You pervert!!!”

Miguel’s fist hurt me more.

“Cack! After I treated you… to, to punch me in the stomach…”

“Treated? What treatment?!”

Miguel looked down at his cleaned-up knee and showed a surprised expression.

“How was it? I even showed you my power right in front of you, and you still don’t believe me?”

“Power? That’s ridiculous… You! Did you give me some suspicious medicine in the meantime!?”

“Gosh, what else do I have to do to make you believe…”

I stopped speaking as a sudden noise reached my ears.

It sounded like thunder, a loud and resounding sound.

Rumble…

It was a sound coming from Miguel’s stomach.

“Miguel, are you hungry? Here! This is what the priest brother gave me!”

“Lily… you shouldn’t eat something given by others…”

Rumble…!

“Miguel, it’s fine. We already ate it before, and there were no issues.”

“That’s why I’m saying, Shilin, what if among those things there is poison or…”

Rumble…!!!

“Miguel, can you please eat moderately? It’s too noisy.”

“Stubborn, as always, sister.”

Miguel’s stomach made a symphony, playing from the first movement to the tenth movement simultaneously.

Miguel looked at his own stomach with resentment and then took a piece of bread.

He then tore it apart, disdainfully looking at me.

“You trash using others’ desires…”

… No, what did I do wrong?

Miguel still seemed cautious as he slowly chewed the piece of bread in his mouth.

Gulp.

Finally, when Miguel fully swallowed the piece of bread,

“…It’s delicious.”

He displayed a faint smile.

“It’s delicious, right? After all, it’s freshly baked bread brought hastily in the morning.”

“Yeah, at least it’s a thousand times better than the pill you fed me last time.”

“Ah…I apologize for that.”

I bowed my head in apology, remembering the incident with the terrible-tasting medicine from last time.

“It’s alright, no need to apologize. After all, it did make me healthier.”

“Ah…that was really a mistake last time… Anyway, I’m sorry!”

That evening that we had the incident with the disgusting medicine, Miguel’s reaction was so funny that Silly and I tried it out, and we both ended up regretting it.

Recalling the unpleasant smell that rose from our stomachs while we were retching…

I really felt so sorry for making him eat such a thing that I bowed my head as low as if to touch the ground.

“Maybe… I might have been generalizing adults…”

Miguel chuckled at my sincere apology, muttering something.

“Pardon? What did you say?”

“…Never mind!”

The atmosphere was warm until Miguel ruined it with a loud yell.

Probably it’s puberty, his mood swinging up and down.

Miguel and Silly, I sometimes understand and sometimes don’t understand the minds of teenagers.

[Miguel’s rating of you increased by 15. Current rating: 52]

Looking at the system, he doesn’t seem to be upset.

“Anyway, you have no more business here, right? Then get out of here right now!”

What a cold thing to say…

To push out someone who came to serve…

I cursed him my mind, but agreed to leave since there was nothing left to do.

“See you next time~”

“Goodbye!”

“Next time, Father Brother, you have to bring lots of delicious things!”

“Alright.”

“Don’t come!”

“Why did you say that, Miguel Brother…?”

Each of the children said their goodbyes in their own ways.

I retraced my steps and left the alleyway.

When I entered the alley, it was a morning with a blue sky spread out, but when I left, the setting sun had cast a mesmerizing atmosphere of yellow throughout the streets.

‘Ah~ Homeward bound~ It was such a fulfilling day~’

I was entranced by this mesmerizing scene, and as usual, I was on my way to the monastery.

Given the time, people were getting ready to leave work.

The kind bakery owner was scattering bread crumbs for the birds by the roadside, the guild guides were closing their doors, and the adventurers were checking their loot as they returned to their lodgings.

It was such a leisurely time.

Perhaps the only ones busy at this time were the poor graduate students trapped in the magic tower?

Oh, look, there’s a priest too.

Wearing our sect’s nun apparel, her platinum hair and green eye glow were fluttering…

‘Saint?’

Saint Amelia was there.

“Sister~ Come play with us~”

“How much? How much to play with us?”

“Th, This is difficult for me…”

The situation with the saint just across the street seemed dangerous no matter how you looked at it.

Surrounded and coerced by two men who looked like low-class thugs… uh, where have I seen this situation often?

Anyway, why does the saint find herself in such a situation?

When she goes out, she usually has several senior paladins with her, but where are they now?

Looking around the crossroads, there were no people who looked like paladins.

“Hey~ Just come with us~”

“Doesn’t it work to just talk about it?”

“Uh… Let go of this…!”

No matter how long I waited, the paladins didn’t show up, and when the saint refused the men’s suggestions, they forcibly grabbed her wrist.

As a priest, I couldn’t let them defile the chaste saint.

Since the situation had become increasingly dangerous, I had no choice but to step in.

“Could you please leave the Saint alone? You’re making her uncomfortable.”

“Priest…?”

“Yes, Saint, it’s Ivan.”

The Saint recognized my face and her expression suggested she was relieved.

Um… I wish she hadn’t been so quick to relax.

I looked so troubled, as if I had suddenly popped up without thinking.

They, the men, glare at my sudden appearance.

The best way to resolve this situation is dialogue…

“Hey, who the hell are you! I’m busy, scram!”

Swoosh!

A burly man swung his fist at me.

The fist cleaving the wind seemed like it would hurt quite a lot, but luckily, I managed to dodge it before impact.

“Argh, my hand…!”

When I dodged, his hand ended up slamming against the wall and he grimaced in pain, clutching it.

“Damn, you’re rough! Talk, use your words!”

“Hey~ We’re about to duel here~”

This time, a smaller man kicked.

His legs, which looked as firm as steel, seemed like they could shatter anything on impact, yet again I managed to dodge his blow too.

His wild, blind attack ended up kicking the wall and he clutched his leg in pain.

“Ah, my beautiful leg~”

…What kind of tone is this guy using?

“Why are there so many people who swing their fists first thing after seeing a human face, not even beasts do that…”

I was irritated by the men attacking me out of the blue.

“Did I do a lot of sins in my previous life?”

……

……

“Hmm, come to think of it, I lived rather badly ……”

I realized a convincing reason and no words were left.

“What are you mumbling about! Hey,‘ Alec’, grab him from behind!”

“Alright~”

In the moment when I let my guard down, the smaller man grabbed my waist from behind.

“Wait, I don’t have any hobbies of hugging men!”

“Hey~ I also don’t have a hobby of hugging men~”

“Then let go of me!!!”

No matter how much strength I pulled out to escape from the man, it was all in vain.

Choke! Ivan, you natural-born weakling!

“Die!”

“Rex, kill swiftly~!”

When I was struggling, a burly man tried to pound at me with his big fist.

I want to dodge it somehow, but I can’t do anything as my feet are tied.

Eventually, I gritted my eyes shut, bracing for the loss of a few teeth.

Bang! Bang!

A tremendous blow sound rang out, and I slumped to the ground.

……

……

“Huh?”

When I opened my eyes a few seconds later, thankfully, I was intact.

However, the man who tried to hit me was slumped in front, and when I turned around, the man who had grabbed me was unconscious, crushed under my buttocks.

“Huh… Huh… Are you okay, priest?”

The Holy Maiden, looking faint, extended one hand toward me.

And in her other hand was a metal pipe.

“Holy Maiden, did you knock these men out with that?”

I got up, accepted her hand, and asked her politely.

“Ah, yes… I thought the priest was in danger…”

“I see… Tha, thank you…?”

“Hihi… It’s nothing. We helped each other.”

Amelia, the Holy Maiden, smiled like a playful child.

And I realized one thing.

‘She knocked out two grown men… almost at the same time?’

Amelia, the Holy Maiden, is incredibly strong.

She is so strong that she can perform feats that not even an apostle of God can do, let alone an ordinary human.