I Can Hear the Saint’s Inner Thoughts

17 – You’re My (Fake) Boyfriend, After All (1)

“…Any last words?”

*Click*, Kyle, aiming the holy sword at Heoryong’s neck, spoke. He was in a state with all his limbs severed, the battle finished, but,

“Hahahaha…!”

He was laughing as if he was rather relieved.

“I fought a battle where I gave my all against a strong opponent. I have no regrets in this life. Isn’t that right? Harmless Mage?”

Heoryong spoke, staring right at me. He must be saying that on purpose, having read through my memories.

I experienced the massacre where all of my hometown’s people were killed by the Death Knight and Dullahan, two of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon Army.

My parents’ heads were chopped off and died, my neighbors’ heads were torn off and died, and even as my friends’ limbs were severed, I was just a human who couldn’t do anything.

“……”

I vowed in my heart that I would never again let anyone die in front of my eyes. That was my only atonement, and the revenge for those who sacrificed themselves for me.

“…Shut up and quickly cough up the Demon Lord’s weakness. Then, maybe, I’ll spare your life?”

I glared at Heoryong, who was slumped on the ground. I was irritated by the fact that he had the same face as me and was acting as a henchman for the Demon Lord.

“Hah, you’re saying something ridiculous. Do you think I would do anything to hinder Lord Ergosum’s great undertaking?”

“Why are you b*stards so loyal….”

I cursed in disbelief. The pattern of behavior of all the enemies I’d met up until this point had been pretty similar.

Demon Lord Ergosum Cogito.

Our target who we were ordered to subjugate under the imperial decree, the immortal being said to resurrect no matter how many times he is killed.

For the Demon Lord’s purpose, those fools, demons and monsters, said that they would give up their lives easily.

Even though in reality, it was him who killed and massacred innocent people, setting half the continent ablaze.

“That person took me in and raised me when I was abandoned by my parents as a child. Even beasts should know how to repay a kindness.”

Heoryong spoke, laughing with a hollow look. The Demon Lord was the only person who saved him, who was born weak and almost died.

“Is that how you normally speak? You were mimicking my way of speaking earlier just to provoke us, weren’t you?”

I leaned forward to observe the enemy whose way of speaking had changed more closely.

It was already strange for a dragon that lived for several hundred years to speak so casually in the first place.

“Yeah, if we’re going by a week ago, you were a guy who had absolutely zero romantic feelings for that saintess.”

“…A moment ago you were making a ruckus about fighting and mating and all that crap.”

“I was just eavesdropping on your conversations and using them to stir up trouble between you guys. It felt like there’d be an opening that way.”

Heo Ryong shrugged like it was nothing. His specialty was mimicking his opponents, making them fight each other, and then devouring them one by one.

The reason Kyle made us move in pairs was also to prevent confusion or infighting among ourselves.

“So, did we seem like such close companions to you? It’s only been a day since we started dating, though….”

– Oh no! If the past me with all my memories judged it that way, does that mean Astar also likes me?

Victoria kept glancing at me now. The moment our eyes met, she’d quickly turn her head away.

Her tomato-red cheeks and ears couldn’t be hidden, and her eyes, constantly darting around, were full of bewilderment.

“Telling you that wouldn’t be any fun. Why don’t you try to figure it out for yourself, Saintess?”

The past me, who possessed all of my memories from a week ago, just chuckled and didn’t tell Victoria the actual situation.

It was a relief, actually.

Since I never thought of her as anything more than a companion in the first place, revealing that fact might have interfered with my acting.

“…Glory to the demon lord Ergosum.”

Heo Ryong uttered those words and closed his eyes like a man who had just accepted his death.

A face that was a perfect mirror image of mine. Watching Heo Ryong with his severed limbs, I couldn’t shake a feeling of déjà vu.

*Swhick*!

As soon as Heo Ryong’s last words ended, the warrior Kyle beheaded him, and the dragon, its mimicry undone, crashed its massive body onto the ground, raising a cloud of dust.

*Thud*!

Looking at the beheaded dragon’s corpse, I tried to shake off the strange feeling by kicking it pointlessly.

“I can’t shake this unsettling feeling…”

I’d just witnessed a human who looked exactly like me getting beheaded right before my eyes. Even if I was used to corpses from the battlefield, there was no denying that it was a nasty experience.

It was like a prophecy of how I would die at the hands of the demon lord. The way Heo Ryong had shouted Ergosum’s name before dying felt infuriating.

That was when it happened. The warrior suddenly turned to me and asked a question.

“Astar, that sword strike just now… did you really learn that all by yourself?”

Kyle frowned as if something was amiss, his eyes opened in a way that resembled a snake’s.

“Huh? Of course, I was just imitating your movements.”

I actually thought it was strange that Kyle was thinking that. There was no way he didn’t know I’d been constantly training my body to fight barehanded ever since we came to the Demon Realm.

Besides, thanks to the special eyes I was born with, my dynamic vision was several times better than that of a normal person.

Just a few times of watching the warrior swing his holy sword, I could instantly grasp his stance, the knack, wrist strength, and angle.

“…That’s way beyond anything you could just copy.”

Kyle said, bringing a hand to his chin as if deep in thought. Given his background, he must’ve dedicated his entire life to the sword.

It seemed he might consider it strange that I was picking it up this quickly.

“Astal, you’re more suited to the sword than magic. How about training under me?”

The words from the hero, after his deliberation, were quite shocking. Kyle was recommending swordsmanship to me, a mage, and asking me to learn it.

“I’ll pass. Swordsmanship, by nature, you have to start from a young age so your muscles and body grow to fit it. Even now, my arms and my whole body are throbbing…”

“That swordsmanship you just showed was perfect, even to my eyes. You have a talent for it. You just need to swing it.”

Kyle kept putting his arm around my shoulder, telling me to trust him, and I suddenly felt like a cigarette, rummaging through my hood.

Just one last dog-end left.

“…That’s definitely confiscated today.”

“Oh, come on, I even caught the Wyvern this time!”

But as soon as I brought the cigarette to my lips, it turned into a flower, and I glared at Victoria.

I can’t understand why she’s doing this. My hands are still shaking and I’m so tense that it feels like the blood is rushing to my head.

Cigarettes made from mana leaves were known to be so potent that only hardcore smokers could even feel them.

“Your mana core is overloaded right now. Any more and you would have gone into shock and your heart would’ve stopped.”

“If I survived, that’s all that matters, right? A couple of potions will fix it all…”

“…Fix it? Don’t talk nonsense. You need rest to recover, to take it easy on your body, you know that?”

Victoria’s face was flushed, her bottom lip trembling as she got angry. I’d tried to lie to stop her and the others from worrying, but it backfired.

I’d only wanted a drag of a cigarette to try and forget the pain and after-effects crashing down on me.

“…So you knew. Sorry for lying.”

To catch an enemy who used the same techniques as me, it was an unavoidable sacrifice. If I’d spent more time and effort, I could’ve trapped them without such drastic methods.

“There wasn’t another choice if I didn’t want you all getting hurt.”

“That’s exactly the thing I hate about you! Do you think we’d be happy if you just acted like a hero and sacrificed yourself?! We’re comrades! And above all, you’re my boyfriend!”

Victoria has gotten angry when I’ve overdone it before, but today was unusually severe.

Was it because we were in a one-month contractual relationship? Her eyes even had tears welling up.

“…Please, think about me being left alone, if you die. Please, I beg you.”

Her voice, full of accusation, turned what was supposed to be a victory celebration into something else entirely.

– If even you leave me…how am I supposed to live…?

Hearing Victoria’s inner thoughts, my heart could only turn heavy as lead. Normally, I’d think she was just worrying like any good comrade would.

‘…She’s been secretly in love with me.’

Even if it was fake, Victoria and I were “lovers” right now. That person just attempted suicide, so who wouldn’t be worried?

I got so self-righteous and selfish, I couldn’t help but hug the crying Victoria.

If I didn’t comfort her, she’d probably spend all night blaming me and crying.

“I’m sorry. I’ll try my best to be more careful next time.”

“Ah, Astar-nim. You’re too close….”

– He’s hugging me from behind, hugging me hugging me….

As I gently hugged Victoria from behind, a sweet and alluring scent filled the air. Seeing her make a small, cute sound as if surprised, my heart skipped a beat for a moment.

“So don’t cry. You look really ugly right now. Your face is a mess of tears and snot. Wipe it off first before talking….”

To shake off this strange feeling, I gave Victoria a joke mixed with sincerity. If I kept our bodies pressed together like this, I felt like I would really make a mistake.

Her scent is nice. Her eyelashes are long. Her eyes are beautiful….

Things that I wouldn’t usually notice kept flashing through my mind, making me see Victoria as a woman.

“…I’m going to get mad.”

– The atmosphere was good, but it’s always like this….

*SQUISH*

Victoria stepped lightly on my foot, subtly expressing that she was angry.

* * *

A few days later, we headed to the tavern when everyone else was asleep.

It was because we needed to relieve the fatigue of our long journey, and sell the materials from the defeated wyvern on the black market.

“Victoria, you’re drinking a lot today, aren’t you?”

“How could I not drink a lot? My first ever lover almost died in front of my eyes!”

*Glug, glug.* Victoria started emptying her beer glass faster than I usually drank. Of course, I could only drink water because of her grumbling.

How much time had passed?

“Ahaha! Victoria, your face is completely red…! You look like a wild berry!”

“Who are you calling a wild berry! You impious…”

As the liquor flowed and the mood turned merry, I was the only one who couldn’t join the revelry. Well, I was the only one who was sober.

“I’ll go up now. Please take good care of Victoria-nim.”

Anima was so drunk that she ended up being carried to her room by her boyfriend, Tarion.

“I’m not drunk, I’m not drunk!” The spirit mage’s tongue was completely twisted, so it was probably best for her to stop drinking at this point.

“I’ll go in too. I don’t want to be a third wheel to a couple.”

And with that, even the hero Kyle headed to his room upstairs, while next to me, Victoria was sleeping soundly, her head resting on my shoulder.

“Hoooeeeee… Astaaal…”

Victoria, her hair a mess, face flushed red all the way to her neck, was rambling drunk. I’d tried countless times to cast a magic to sober her up, but each time she’d pulled out her hammer to stop me.

“Why are you calling me…”

Watching the saint, Victoria, nearly plant her face into the table as she tried to fall asleep, I was desperate to just go to bed.

“Don’t you… aren’t you curious why I drank myself into such a state… Hehehe…”

As if she’d sensed my thoughts, she flirtatiously ran a finger across her lips and leaned her face closer to mine.

The sweet scent of flowers and the alcoholic tang of liquor brushed my nose.

“I… I have something I want to ask you…”

“Ask quickly and let’s go to bed. What is it?”

Seeing her unfocused eyes and her tongue stumbling over words, I crossed my arms, ready to humor Victoria’s drunken rant one last time.

She hadn’t even used the magic to sober up, so was she really trying to muster some courage? My mind was silent too, so I couldn’t read what she was thinking.

“If you… for the sake of defeating the Demon King, would you be willing to have a child with me?”

“…What the hell kind of insane shit is that?”

I was so dumbfounded by Victoria’s statement that I cursed. My mouth moved faster than my brain could process.

“Didn’t Huryong say that we could make an even stronger hero if you and I got together…?”

-A baby with Astal… hmm, we should make at least 11…

Victoria, who always hid her feelings for me, was now completely out of control thanks to the alcohol.