“Are you sure Yuri is in there?”
“Yes, Mister. I saw her with my own eyes. She’s inside the carriage.”
“Did you confirm the small mark on the lower left side of her neck?”
“Uh… yes. It’s there. But how do you know about that?”
“…”
The grand procession of the Vatican’s carriages occupied an entire road, heading south.
They were too far away for me to see clearly.
Thanks to Charlotte’s keen eyesight, we confirmed that Yuri was inside the central carriage.
The carriage was currently moving toward the Vatican in real time.
It would take less than an hour to reach its destination.
Fortunately, we caught up in time—if we’d been any later, we might have lost sight of Yuri right before our eyes.
“Once she enters the Vatican, it’ll be hard to get in. It’s surrounded by walls, and security is extremely tight.”
“My Lord, do you really intend to attack the Vatican?”
“This isn’t a decision I can make alone. The aftermath will surely be enormous. But even if it means making the Vatican my enemy, I believe we have to take Yuri back by force. What do you all think?”
“Y-Yuri is a precious friend… I don’t want her to be taken away and become miserable…”
“I want to play with Yuri for a long, long time!”
“I will follow your will, Master, no matter what it may be.”
“…”
Opposing the Vatican.
I fully understood what that meant.
One impulsive decision could bring disaster upon my entire house—or even the whole territory.
But I didn’t care.
If I abandoned Yuri just to protect everything I’d built until now,
I would regret it so deeply that I’d wish I could turn back time.
Well, if it comes to it, Empress Sister will handle things just fine.
I decided not to worry too much about it.
“Then we’ll extract Yuri before they reach the Vatican.”
“The carriage is surrounded by three layers of guards. Taking her won’t be difficult, but if the soldiers enter defense mode, a clash will be unavoidable.”
“Then we just finish everything before they can get into formation.”
“…Huh? How would that even be possible? They have mages too, so even with Sword Master speed, reaching them before they react would be difficult.”
Sylvia tilted her head in confusion.
There was a way.
“Julia. If you summon Dirt-Dirt and Water-Water right now, do you think you could precisely control their landing points?”
“Yes, no problem. As long as I concentrate, I can keep adjusting their trajectory while they’re flying.”
“Good. Then we’ll enlarge Dirt-Dirt and Water-Water and drop them at the front and back of the carriages to separate the soldiers from the target. Before they can form a defensive line, we take Yuri. Understood?”
“Yes!”
“Mmm…!”
With the final plan in place, all preparations were complete.
Now, all that remained was execution.
Closing my eyes tightly, I took a deep breath.
“Let’s go.”
I stepped forward.
“Yuri. I’ve come to rescue you. Take my hand.”
“Wha—?”
“Don’t just stand there—grab my hand! We don’t have much time.”
Everything had gone according to plan.
With the front and back of the narrow road blocked by enormous Dirt-Dirt and Water-Water, the soldiers would take at least 30 seconds to find a way around.
In the meantime, I had sprinted here while riding on Sylvia’s back.
Now, all that was left was to escape with Yuri.
But this girl…
Why does she look so frozen in shock?
She’s usually not this slow to catch on.
“Count, what are you doing here…?”
“I told you. I’m here to save you. Just grab my hand. We’ll say we kidnapped you, alright?”
“Ah…!”
“Sylvia, let’s go.”
“Yes, my Lord.”
I pulled Yuri out and lifted her into my arms.
Then, Sylvia scooped both of us up and sprinted back the way we came.
Vatican soldiers hurriedly chased after us, but only for a moment.
Within a second, they had already fallen far behind, vanishing from sight.
We successfully lost them.
Something felt like it was missing, but I decided not to dwell on it.
It was probably nothing.
“Yuri is back!”
“Uwaaaah! I thought I’d never see you again!”
“Huh…?”
[The Evil God ‘Kali’ praises your swift and daring decision for rescuing our healer and acknowledges your achievement.]
As soon as Sylvia set me down, Charlotte and Julia rushed at Yuri, bawling as they threw their arms around her.
It was understandable.
They had almost lost their friend forever to the role of Saint.
But even in the midst of this, Yuri still looked utterly bewildered.
Shouldn’t she have realized the situation by now?
“Wait, why are you all acting like this? Did something happen?”
“A letter… No, I heard reports that you were surrounded by Vatican priests and taken away. From what I gathered, they were trying to force you into becoming a Saint, so I came to rescue you…”
“Huh? I have no intention of becoming a Saint. I was never forced into it either. They just keep calling me that on their own, but refusing to be a Saint doesn’t come with any consequences.”
“…?”
Wait a second.
Something felt seriously off.
Did I just make a huge mistake…?
“Then why did you suddenly leave without a word?”
“Huh? Do I have to report my every move to you, Count?”
“You work for me, so of course you do. If my employee suddenly disappears, it’s a problem for me.”
“I’m on leave for the next three days anyway.”
“Three days? You were only planning to be gone for three days?”
“Yes. A quick trip to the Vatican and back—three days is plenty of time.”
“…”
So when she said she’d be out of touch for a while, she just meant she wouldn’t be able to write letters for three days?
Now that I thought about it, Yuri usually sent letters to that shady guy every two days on average.
From that perspective, three days was a relatively long time.
But I had been thinking in terms of years, not days…
“…Then why were you traveling to the Vatican, surrounded by multiple guards?”
“The Pope is in critical condition. They needed urgent treatment, so I offered to help. I told them I didn’t need guards, but they insisted that a Saint must be escorted, so I had no choice…”
“That’s all?”
“That’s all.”
“…”
“…”
[The Evil God ‘Kali’ scoffs and reprimands you for your reckless and thoughtless actions!]
As I listened to her explanation, my head throbbed, and my face started burning.
So Yuri was just heading to the Vatican to heal the Pope.
She was only going to be unreachable for three days.
She stopped writing mid-letter because she had to leave in a hurry.
And she was never forced to become a Saint?
Then what was all that about me preparing to make an enemy of the Vatican and launching a military operation?
Had I just stirred up a completely unnecessary mess?
A sharp pain flared in my temples.
“Then, Yuri, you’re not going to become a Saint?”
“Probably not? If becoming a Saint means I won’t be able to see you guys anymore, then I won’t do it.”
“Thank goodness…! I was so worried I’d never see you again!”
“Sniff… Of course that wouldn’t happen…”
“Yuri, just hurry up and go to the Vatican. Since there’s a critically ill patient, you can’t delay. I’ll handle the situation here.”
“Yes, Count.”
Thinking about cleaning up this mess made my vision go blurry.
Even now, in the distance, I could see the massive Dirt-Dirt and Water-Water blocking the road—along with the soldiers struggling to remove them.
This was going to be… very annoying..
.
.
“Saint! You’ve returned!”
“We were worried sick that you’d been kidnapped by some reckless brute who controls strange monsters!”
“Haha… I just had a little misunderstanding with my employer and went to clear it up…”
“Is he an exploitative employer? We can intervene on your behalf. We can even review your contract to ensure it’s fair.”
“A-Ah, no, that won’t be necessary.”
Yuri quickly rejoined the procession, now showered with worried gazes.
Seeing that, I felt slightly relieved.
At least everyone seemed more concerned about the Saint’s well-being rather than being angry at Aslan Vermont…
‘Wait. Why am I worrying about that man?’
Realizing that I wasn’t in a position to be concerned for him, Yuri suddenly felt a surge of frustration.
Sure, I left abruptly and in a hurry for the Vatican.
Sure, I was surrounded by priests and being called a Saint, which could lead to misunderstandings.
But still—wasn’t launching two intercontinental elemental bombardments a bit too much of a reaction?
It was a miracle things had ended smoothly.
If anything had gone wrong, the Vatican and Vermont could have become mortal enemies.
‘Then again… Aslan Vermont knowingly took that risk…’
He must have understood the consequences.
No—he definitely anticipated them.
And yet, he still came charging in, ready to fight the entire Vatican…
All for a single young employee.
Just for me…
“…He’s such an idiot.”
This was the worst.
He was way too overprotective.
There was a limit to how far misunderstandings should go…
Yuri kept repeating that to herself, trying to convince herself.
But the more she thought about Aslan Vermont…
The hotter her face became.
