I Reject the villain’s ending.

Episode 29.

He rested on my knees and folded his eyes, smiling in a stupidly pleased way, his face as pretty as a peony blossom fluttering its petals in the breeze.

I grumbled unnecessarily and pinched the bridge of Iros’s nose.

‘You shameless pinkie is too pretty to be needlessly sick.’

“It’s a good thing I’m pretty. If I wasn’t pretty, I’d have kicked you, let alone a lap pillow.”

‘I might have had my throat blown out.’

“Oh……. Please help me.”

Iros made a weak sound and snorted, then feverishly babbled in a daze.

He probably didn’t even know what he was saying.

I was also racking up a black history with his random, context-free ramblings.

Iros rambled on for a while, but then his speech slowed and he fell fast asleep.

‘He’s fallen asleep, Guardian?’

‘He’s running a fever, so he’s been babbling to himself, but he fell asleep right away. Let’s not wake him.’

‘Shouldn’t we still feed him?’

‘We’ll feed him later when he wakes up.’

I answered Mei’s question in a small voice and gently lifted Iros’s head to eat lunch, then slipped out and propped him up with a pillow.

Careful not to wake him, I got up and went to get some stew when something grabbed my ankle.

Instantly, goosebumps broke out all over my body and I instinctively screamed.

‘Kaaaak!’

‘Gak, gak, what’s wrong, saint!’

“Hurup. My, my ankle. What’s on my ankle-”

Mei muttered in disbelief as she rushed over, scoop in hand, and found herself holding my ankle.

‘No, Guardian, why are you holding her ankle, and more than that, when did you wake up?’

‘What, what, pink, pink?’

Mei nodded, and I jerked my head around, clutching my surprised chest, and looked down.

The sleeping Iros had suddenly opened his eyes and was gripping my ankles tightly.

I swiped at his chest in surprise.

‘Oh, no, no, no, no, no!’

‘Where, are you going?’

‘If you’re awake, at least pretend to be awake! I thought your heart was going to jump out of your mouth.’

‘Where…….’

‘I’m going to have lunch, lunch! If you’re awake, wake up so you can eat.’

‘Aha.’

Iros exclaimed fiercely, before dropping his head again and falling colorfully asleep.

I stared at him in disbelief and opened my mouth.

‘Was that a joke in your sleep?’

‘I think so.’

Mei’s mouth dropped open in disbelief as she looked at the sleeping Iros holding my ankle.

I wiggled my feet to shake off Iros’s hand, but his grip on my ankle was firm.

I would look back on this moment in the future and bitterly regret that I should have known he would grab my ankle.

But for now, I looked at Iros as he grabbed my ankle and said.

“Oh my, it’s not a leech and it’s not coming off. Mei, can you bring me some stew, I think I’ll just eat it here.”

“Sure. I’ll be right back.”

I sat down beside the sleeping Iros, holding his ankle tightly, and looked up at his long pink lashes.

“Anyway. It hurts, so I’m cutting you some slack. There’s no such thing as a second time.”

Iros’s brow twitched again as he muttered and unwrapped his hand from around her ankle.

His frown widened as he took the hand that had been removed and held it tightly, and his gentle face relaxed.

I sighed and looked at the distant mountains.

My puppy, who will kill me in the future, has separation anxiety for sure.

After lunch, I wrapped a still groggy Iros in a blanket and sat him before me, with Mei in the back.

‘Saint, just so you know, I’m not a cocoon.’

I snorted at the seriousness of Iros’s words and slapped him on the bum as he curled up in the blanket.

“You’re a pink cocoon now. Be quiet.”

‘Ew!’

Iros clutched his furry friend tightly and took off through the forest, riding on top of the dragonfly.

They flew over the fallen leaves, which fluttered in unison with his wings and rustled in the wind.

As they soared through the lush forest, they were greeted by a vivid blue landscape that stung their eyes.

“Let’s go. We need to get back to the temple.”

‘We’re finally going home.’

‘Yes.’

Our home was a temple.

We flew across the blue sky, longing for a home like children who had left home for the first time and tasted the world’s bitterness.

That was the end of the warlock slaughter.

Enemies in the Temple]

When I returned to the temple, I was greeted by the high priest, priests, and paladins who had heard the news from the messenger bird.

Their faces were stiff with fear, and they chattered amongst themselves.

‘You mean to tell me that a real saint has succeeded in defeating the warlock?’

‘They say so.’

‘But I heard that Wisdom is dead?’

‘I heard they couldn’t find her body, but didn’t Wisdom have a falling out with the saint, and that’s why she took it out on the warlock?’

‘Otherwise, there would be nobody. That mad holy woman must have killed Geary Eldrakis!’

‘Isn’t the reason Diane-sama didn’t come with us because she was taken out like a mouse or a bird?’

The priests and paladins, who had heard and experienced Sierra’s misdeeds repeatedly like a lullaby, shuddered.

‘Hush, everyone, the Saint will be here soon, so don’t discuss such rumors.’

“Yes, yes. High Priestess.”

‘I apologize.’

Diego calmly warned the gossipers and turned his attention back to the temple entrance.

People had always said that the High Priest had a broad mind, but it would have taken a little more thought to realize that he was not.

Instead of refuting or denying the rumors, the High Priest told them not to speak of them because Sierra would be coming.

He didn’t deny the rumor, which was more like a malicious accusation against Sierra.

Substitute Diego waited for Sierra with his back to the door.

‘The Saint is late.’

He had prayed since morning, but the carriage was nowhere in sight.

Then, from the back, a priest raised his finger to the sky and stammered.

‘Look, there’s …… in the sky!’

‘But what’s up in the sky? Hmph! That’s a mo, a monster!’

‘It’s a wyvern!’

‘All paladins, draw your swords and stand by!’

The people were scattered and terrified at the sight of the approaching wyvern.

The Wyvern was flying high in the sky, but it was descending and getting closer.

As everyone became agitated, High Priest Diego stepped forward, his hands filled with holy power, ready to strike the wyvern.

And just as the wyvern was within range, the Wyvern turned suddenly, and a man popped, popped, popped, popped out of it.

“Holy shit. Did I make myself clear? There’s no room to park in the temple?”

‘Saint, I thought you said you wouldn’t swear.’

‘I know a place for that dragon to park! There’s a launderette at the back of the prayer hall, it’s quite spacious.’

“Are you crazy, May? People will freak out.”

The wyvern sighed and yelped at the frantic bickering, then landed with a clawed grip on a large statue in the center of the temple.

It looked like an evil horde possessing a statue of a god, and High Priest Diego and the paladins froze awkwardly, ready for battle.

Spotting them, Sierra ran her hand through her hair with the reins and her eyes widened.

‘What are you all doing out here, swords drawn, like there’s some kind of war going on?’

‘Why don’t you get that wyvern off the statue and come down, holy woman.’

“The wyvern stomps on the god’s head, and cackles…….

A wyvern worshipping evil on a statue of a god, and a saint riding it.

It was so blasphemous that I was afraid to speak.

Sierra parked the dragon in a large garden and got out, watching the pious priests faint from biting the bubbles.

Iros and Mei slid off the dragon’s back familiarly, gathering their belongings. They’d been traveling together for three days and were already used to it.

Sierra, who had arrived with nothing but her bow and quiver, looked at the assembled temple people and asked.

‘So why are you all out here? I didn’t see a human on my way out, and I doubt you’d have welcomed me back.’

‘And what are these wyverns?’

‘I sent him off with a letter tied to a messenger bird, didn’t I? Killing and robbing warlocks… No, he was brought here to keep me in line.’

‘…….’

Everyone’s jaws dropped at her answer and they made faces like they didn’t know what the hell she was talking about.

So not only had she stolen a wyvern from a warlock, but she’d killed it?

They all felt their heads ping.

What can I say to this bastard, this damned saint?

The priests had suffered so much in their lives that they feared what Sierra would do to the warlocks now.

Moreover, the messenger was full of thanks from the Lord of Elotta, Viscount Ellis, and praise for Sierra, so I wondered if she had been blackmailed into writing.

Whether or not everyone in the temple thought so, Sierra remained nonchalant.

“Anyway, I’m back. Ah, it’s good to be back home.”

‘Is it?’

The priests looked at Sierra with puzzled expressions on their faces. Had she ever been this fond of the temple before?

As far back as she could remember, she couldn’t remember, for she had always felt like a caged bird.

But now that she was smiling and looking so relaxed, I wondered if she knew how to look like this.

Seeing the reactions of the priests and paladins, High Priest Diego turned to Sierra and opened his mouth to speak.

‘We’ll talk about this later, but first, let’s go to the conference room to hear the report.’

‘Shouldn’t we get cleaned up first…….’

‘The work of the Wisdom, for example, or the work of the Shield, which is yet to come.’

‘…….’

‘It sounds like you have a lot to tell me, Saint.’

Sierra looked up at High Priest Diego and tightened her grip on her bow. Her watery blue eyes flared.

“I see. I was short-sighted. I thought you’d all be waiting for me here, eager for the news.”

One corner of Sierra’s mouth tilted upward, her cold gaze scanning the crowd.

She pushed past Diego and strode briskly through the rippling crowd of priests.

At the top of the stairs, Sierra whipped her head around and looked down at High Priest Diego.

‘What are you doing, not following me?’

‘Yes, sir.’

Sierra glared down at him, and he locked eyes with her, wordlessly.