I Can Hear the Saint’s Inner Thoughts

Episode 9 – Who is the Liar? (1)

“We’re nearing Whispermist, the village of liars.”

“…That’s some heavy fog. If we fought in a place like this, it’d be impossible to tell friend from foe.”

In the fog where we couldn’t see an inch ahead, Victoria and I were holding hands.

It was a suggestion to stick together and not get separated, just in case a False Dragon appeared pretending to be real.

“Are the others alright? What if they meet a False Dragon and get tricked…”

Victoria’s hand was trembling slightly, showing her unease. The fog was so thick, I couldn’t even see her right next to me.

“They’ll be fine. You’ve forgotten they’re the heroes of the hero party, haven’t you?”

I held Victoria’s hand tightly, intertwining our fingers, tightening my grip. I had the thought that she might disappear if I loosened my strength even a little.

Because the fog blanketing this village didn’t seem like ordinary fog, but a special substance created by the False Dragon.

It was a precaution, just in case.

“The way you say it, I have no faith at all…”

– You’re not worried about me? You’re walking hand-in-hand with your girlfriend right now… Oh, you interlocked your fingers…!

Her inner thoughts were trembling, a bit embarrassed, but Victoria’s reply was mixed with annoyance, the opposite of her inner voice.

It was like she didn’t like me intertwining our fingers, even showing me that she was slightly twisting her wrist.

“You seem to have different attitudes when you’re with other people, compared to me?”

“What sort of different attitudes are you talking about?”

I threw a question at Victoria. It made me think that she was being too harsh towards me.

If she really liked me, wouldn’t she at least show a friendly attitude, or try to make it obvious?

Hearing only her inner voice like this was just continuing to confuse me.

“You, to me, you swear so much, and show this really venomous side. Not at all fitting for a Saintess.”

I sighed deeply, reflecting on Victoria’s past actions. Even normally, she was always nitpicking and pointing out my flaws.

“What’s so wrong with that? It’s about calling out what is unholy and not overlooking what’s wrong.”

– Because I’m worried about you. I’m constantly fretting you might fall into drinking and smoking and collapse.

Victoria chuckled, dismissing it as nothing, but her inner thoughts were in turmoil.

I decided to push a little harder, to shock her more.

“Could it be… that you’re actually picking on me because you like me?”

“…Are you insane?! Seeing you spouting nonsense like this, you must be a Hollow Dragon disguised as Lord Astal!”

Victoria shouted immediately. Her inner voice was a chaotic mess, frantically searching for a response.

– What do I do. Has he figured it out, by any chance?

– It’s because you’re always acting so childish and bothering me! Like some little boy teasing the girl he likes!

– Let’s just play it cool. If I act like I don’t know, Lord Astal won’t be able to press me further.

Why can’t I just say I like him? I was barely holding onto Victoria, who was trying to wriggle free and run away.

“Since we’re in a contract relationship, you’re completely blinded by your own hubris! There’s absolutely no woman in this world who would like you!”

“Hey, why are you getting so mad…”

I held back tears in my heart. Even if her inner voice was telling me she liked me, with her acting like this, I was starting to doubt the truth of it.

If she was acting like this because she couldn’t be honest about her feelings, maybe it would be better to just give up on her.

This kind of stalemate was only going to hurt us both.

“How can I not be mad?! This is already a place where I have to be on edge because of the Hollow Dragons, and now you’re just making me more confused with this pointless chatter!”

“Okay, fine. It’s my fault for asking. I’m sorry.”

Victoria, huffing and puffing like I’d stepped on her tail, was working herself into a rage. Her reaction was so tiresome that I just apologized.

“That’s always your problem! Not knowing a woman’s feelings, you’re a stupid, dumb…”

At that moment,

“…Wait, Victoria. Do you hear that?”

I felt a creepy sensation and started listening intently.

“Huh? What do you mean, what sound…?”

The pebbles on the ground started moving vertically, and then, a rumbling roar—dudududu—! along with vibrations, was felt at my feet.

And then,

A black form, like a giant wave, could be seen rushing towards us from the other side.

“It’s a swarm of Chameleon Dragons! Victoria, hold on tight! I’m casting a defensive spell right now…!”

The fog was so thick we didn’t notice them until they were right on top of us. I immediately cast a defensive spell to protect Victoria beside me.

At this size, one spell wouldn’t be enough. I quickly started drawing magic circles with my other hand, combining different ones.

Overlapping different magic circles, creating a new, higher-level magic. That was my ultimate secret weapon, something only I could do.

“Water Ball, Freeze, Barrier—a composite spell.”

Three different magic circles, layered atop a single one.

A technique demanding the most delicate control of mana, something a normal mage could never even attempt, but…

“Frost Barrier!”

I possessed eyes unlike anyone else.

A shield made of ice rose before us, repelling the advance of the chameleon dragon pack.

KWAHaaaH!

SHWaaaH!

The young chameleon dragons surged forward, gnawing at the icy barrier.

The sound of their breath and ice shards colliding and vaporizing echoed, and the immense heat was steadily pushing me backwards.

“And to top it off, Chain Lightning…!!”

I didn’t miss the moment, unleashing chain lightning magic to fry the connected enemies all at once.

The sound of lightning, like linked chains, searing through their bodies echoed.

—TU-KWAANG!

Like a gigantic wave crashing and dissipating, the chameleon pack that had blocked our way scattered and fled.

“Damn it, I wasn’t even the target from the start….”

In that moment, a current swept past our waists, causing me to lose my grip on Victoria.

* * *

“Victoria…!! Where are you! Answer me…!!”

I ran through the fog, searching for Victoria. My throat was raw from calling her name, my feet moving without rest.

Neither location-tracking magic nor sound-amplifying magic were having any effect.

How long had I been running, thinking only of Victoria?

“This way! Lord Astar!”

“Over here!”

“Please come this way!”

“Hurry and save us!”

Several voices, seemingly belonging to Victoria, mingled in my ears.

A sudden presence made me turn, revealing four figures standing side-by-side, identical as twins.

“…? Who the hell are you?”

“That’s what I should be asking. Surely it’s a mimic by the Void Dragon.”

“Astal, please don’t panic. I’m the real Victoria.”

“I want to get out of here right now. I didn’t know a being pretending to be me could be this disgusting.”

Pointing fingers at each other, calling the other a fake. Their faces, expressions, even the location of their moles were identical, like looking in a mirror.

“……”

I could tell these were the disguised offspring of those lesser wyrms that had just passed by, trying to deceive me.

Creatures that could read memories from exactly a week ago, then use lies to imitate the real thing, deceiving and devouring their prey.

To defeat the Wyrms, the Chameleon Dragons, I had to rack my brain and set a trap.

“You know, you guys are dating me, right?”

I said, staring at the Victorias as nonchalantly as I could. They wouldn’t know about our contract relationship, so I had to take full advantage of that.

Like a liar game, I had to find the liars without revealing a single fact.

“…We know. It hasn’t been many days, of course.”

“Me? With a guy like you? Absolutely not. You must be lying to find the Wyrm. I understand.”

“Do you really need to have this conversation here?”

“Even if we are lovers, I think testing me like this in this situation is too much….”

Every Victoria except one showed that they weren’t denying the relationship. So the second one from the left was a fake.

“Okay, not you… Hydro Blade.”

I immediately slashed the person I pointed at with a sword made of water, preventing any excuses.

Kieeeeeek—!

The lesser wyrm, the Chameleon Dragon, finally revealed its true form.

To deal with beings that never drop their disguise before death, I had to resort to such drastic measures.

“Are you insane?! Even if it’s the enemy, it’s still something that looks like me!”

“It’s actually a good thing. If I’m shaken by something like this, I’ll never defeat the Demon King.”

“……”

After I cut down one of the fakes, each Victoria reacted differently. But just that wasn’t enough to tell the real one from the others.

– Oh, oh no? If I tell them about the contract relationship, the other fakes might catch on and start lying… I didn’t know he was this cruel!

At that moment, a familiar inner voice reached me, telling me that the real Victoria was among them.

Information only I knew, and what I could do with it was boundless.

“Victoria calls me by a pet name when we’re alone, you know.”

I decided to ask them questions one by one, minimizing the possibilities as much as possible.

“W-What are you talking about?! We aren’t at that stage yet! Please, do not lie in front of the Gods!”

“…Honey, why aren’t you getting rid of the other fakes? Is our love really worth so little?”

“Astal, do you have *any* serious side to you? How can you joke around in a situation like this…!”

– I, I also want to call you honey…! But…!

Then, I saw two Victorias blushing with embarrassment, and one fake trying to cling to me while calling me honey.

“Okay, now there are two left.”

I eliminated it immediately with a triumphant smile.

I decided to use this chance to ask Victoria even more embarrassing questions, to test her feelings.