I Can Hear the Saint’s Inner Thoughts

Episode 7 – Let’s Sleep Holding Hands (Not Kept)(2)

Following after Victoria, who was running away, out the door, I could see our companions already prepared to leave, waiting for us.

Among them, one person couldn’t suppress his laughter, his lips curling up as he put an arm around my shoulder.

“Did you sleep well last night? Judging by your expression, it looks like you didn’t sleep well.”

The Flame Warrior, Kyle Dragonica, was glancing back and forth between me and Victoria’s faces, testing me with his question.

“Don’t even ask. Our esteemed Saint tormented me endlessly.”

I answered his question truthfully. It was true that Victoria had made me lose sleep by hugging me tightly because she didn’t have a teddy bear.

Her sleeping habits were embarrassing if others found out, so I deliberately said it in a roundabout way.

“What…? You two, could it be?”

“What you just said… is that real?”

All eyes locked onto me. A sorcerer was staring with disbelief, eyes narrowed and suspicious, while the hero stood agape, utterly stunned.

“I always knew you two would do something like this. If you truly had no interest in each other, you wouldn’t even bother fighting,”

Only the archer, Tarion, nodded, muttering to himself about witnessing something good.

“Victoria, no way, right? You’ve only been together for a day, and you’ve already gone *that* far?”

“……”

— We didn’t do anything like that! We said we’d just hold hands and sleep! Ah, though I did hug you…!

Victoria remained silent at Anima’s question. She just stared at me, her face flushed. Her covered mouth and trembling eyes spoke volumes.

“Answer me! You said you hated those goody-two-shoes magicians to death!”

Why were they all reacting like this? From the look on Anima’s face, which was practically burning holes through me, I could tell something was wrong.

Objectively speaking, Victoria and I weren’t close enough for us to be doing anything out of line.

I hadn’t dreamed they would take my attempt to euphemize and protect Victoria’s honor as the literal truth.

“You guys are misunderstanding. We really were just going to hold hands and sleep? But Victoria….”

I hastily tried to explain the truth. If this misunderstanding got any bigger, there’d be no turning back.

But,

“I absolutely did not kiss him. I’m saving that for the man I truly love. And as of right now, Astar is not that man.”

— As of now, we’ve only hugged, not kissed like you all think! Wh-well, I have practiced it a lot in my imagination…!

Then, Victoria made her shocking statement. Her inner thoughts, thinking that physical intimacy meant kissing, came out as well.

The pure imagination of a saint who had no experience with men was more than enough to lead others to misunderstand.

“What? So you *did* do other things? You guys just started dating…!!”

“… I’ll leave that to your imaginations. After all, I’d like to keep it our little secret.”

— If I put it like this, they won’t misunderstand, right? I want to try kissing him using our contract relationship as an excuse later…!

I felt dizzy and massaged my temples. The way she said that, anyone would think we had gone all the way.

— The romance novels said it was important to rotate the tongue in a circle. Later, I’ll be able to lead Astar with ease…!

No matter how I thought about it, her inner thoughts were terrifying. Victoria was plotting to capture me within this limited one-month time frame.

“Hey, you guys are misunderstanding something. Victoria and I really didn’t do anything.”

I tried to fix the situation that was spiraling out of control and explain the truth about last night. The truth was, I’d snuck some alcohol and a cigarette, and Victoria had scolded me for it.

But,

“Then who was the man that saw me naked yesterday? I clearly remember it being Astar…”

“That’s because you came out of the shower with just a towel on…”

“So you remember *that*? You really are a pervert. So, how was it? Sleeping next to the saint who’s known to be the most beautiful woman on the continent?”

Victoria, a relaxed smile playing on her lips, was teasing me. Everyone else was silent, waiting for my answer to her question.

“…It was truly awful.”

“Oh, really? I thought it was lovely. I didn’t realize human warmth could be so, well, warm.”

Victoria’s eyes crinkled gently at the corners, as if she was completely unaffected.

– I could sleep like that every day… Did you perhaps dislike being held? I do have a decent bust, you know. It must have felt pretty soft…

It was definitely overwhelming, a force of nature. It was a violent hug, every nook and cranny of my body pressed against hers, so much so that even in my drunken state, I couldn’t sleep properly.

“I’m never sleeping with you again.”

“Are you perhaps afraid of being overcome with lust for me? I noticed you were quite… well-adjusted this morning. Isn’t it a natural bodily function?”

– Judging by this morning, he’s definitely not a eunuch. So why aren’t you falling for me…? Was it maybe my underwear? Or, could it be…do you perhaps prefer smaller chests?

“How can a saint be spouting such filthy things…!”

I couldn’t stop my face from burning as I shouted at Victoria. Her inner thoughts, invading my space at every moment, were really getting on my nerves.

“Is there a law saying a saint can’t speak like this? You definitely reek of a man who’s never met a woman before.”

– Yes! A reaction! It must be that Astal has no experience with the opposite s*x, just like me! He can’t handle it! It’s the first time I’ve seen him blush!

Victoria, mentally celebrating her small victory, continued to tease me. Even though, in the Holy Kingdom, a saint was practically revered as a religious figure, she wasn’t fazed by it.

“You two, save the lovey-dovey stuff for later. We are sorry for not noticing sooner…”

Even the hero, Kyle, was trying to mediate our fight. To an outsider, we must have looked like a couple bickering.

“That’s not it.”

“It’s not a lovers’ quarrel. Just a common disagreement.”

I forgot all about our contract relationship in that moment, denying Kyle’s words. The thought of having a love quarrel with *that* woman was absurd.

“Okay, okay, I get it. Let’s focus on where we need to go. You both know that the next place is a town called ‘The Liars’ Village,’ right?”

Kyle spoke while looking at the map of the Demon Realm etched into one of the inn’s walls, tapping a spot not too far away with his finger to pinpoint its location.

“Yeah, it’s the one where legend says you get lost in a thick fog the moment you enter, and then get your life taken by demons disguised as people you know, right?”

The Liars’ Village. It was a dangerous place even within the Demon Realm, a passage everyone had to go through to reach the territories ruled by the Four Heavenly Kings.

Taking out the Heavenly Kings before fighting the Demon King would prevent any potential hold-ups, and help save any innocents trapped by them.

“Yeah, originally, we were going to use Astal’s magic to travel without splitting up… but after hearing what the innkeeper had to say today, it looks like we need to change our plans.”

Kyle nodded at my words, looking at the pig-headed man wiping down glasses at a table far away.

Because of my perception altering magic, the man, despite being human, appeared as a demon. It seemed Kyle had tipped him with his own blood.

“They say no magic, holy power, mysticism, spirit magic, or even my holy sword can reveal the fakes.”

“…What? Is that really possible?”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. If that was possible, then the Demon King and the Heavenly Kings could be doing the same thing.

I’ve seen plenty of enemies with high magic resistance, or immunity to physical attacks. But this was the first demon or monster that nullified all of our specialties.

“The one who’s made its home there, it’s a chameleon dragon. Commonly known as, the Void Dragon.”

Kyle raised a finger, mentioning the name of the foe we were about to face. In this world, dragons were categorized as beings that humans could never possibly defeat.

“Originally, we suspected it might be a doppelganger or an invisible man… but the situation has changed.”

It got to the point that there was a reason why Kyle’s family was so famous as dragon slayers. That’s how much of a specialist you had to be, otherwise, you couldn’t even kill it.

“Its hatchlings or adults—no matter what method, you can’t tell if they’re fake. They even read the memories and habits of the one they mimic, acting completely identically.”

“So the problem is that they can also wound the real ones, right? But if the fake is exposed, then attacks work?”

“Exactly. Normally, to fight a dragon, it’s best to strike the muscles under the wings… but this one is like a giant chameleon, crawling on the ground.”

Kyle was the type of person who possessed such professional knowledge about dragons. As he explained the enemy’s information, I immediately thought of a way to defeat the chameleon dragon.

“What if we tie ourselves together with invisible threads? Then we could immediately recognize the ones without threads. My eyes can read the flow of magic.”

“No. The Void Dragon can even copy the magic cast on the one it mimics.”

“Then what the hell do we do?”

“Well…”

Kyle glanced at me and Victoria for a moment, then gave a meaningful smile and opened his mouth.

“If people who are lovers pair up and walk together, they might be able to better distinguish the fakes from the real ones.”

“What…?”

“Why should we? You said the enemy is a creature that completely mimics us. Then it would be better if we all moved together.”

I was left speechless by Kyle’s unexpected solution, while Victoria was vehemently protesting as if she absolutely hated it.

Even knowing that we were in a contract relationship, such a reaction would have been a little hurtful.

“Listen to the end. The memories the Void Dragon can read are only up to ‘a week ago’. It’s different from the present we know, so it will have to fabricate its words.”

At mine and Victoria’s reactions, Kyle rubbed his forehead, adding further explanation about the chameleon dragon.

Essentially, it would mimic us with the memories before we started dating, so we just had to find those discrepancies.

Well, if a mere underling of the four heavenly kings didn’t have such a loophole, it would have been superior to the succubus queen.

“Then, does that mean I can purposefully interrogate Aster to test the other person? This is going to be fun.”

-Ah, I’ve got a legitimate opportunity to ask what kind of ideal type Aster likes…! Thank you, Chameleon-ssi!

Victoria smiled and chuckled when she heard that, clearly plotting something strange.

It seems she was planning to ask me all the things she was normally curious about to prepare for the Void Dragon.

“…Hey, can you tell me what your ideal type is? For reference, you know.”

I decided to beat her to the punch.