TNDOBM 10

Chapter 10

It was too late.

That was the moment she sensed it was unavoidable. As if time itself had slowed down, she could see in detail the sharp shards of glass raining down above her head.

No, that’s how it felt.

Reflexively, she stepped back from the center of the impact zone, but the range of the falling debris was too wide.

At this rate, even if she avoided serious injury, she’d still get some minor cuts.

“Kyaa!”

At the terrified screams of the faithful, Cecilia reflexively covered her head with her hands.

At that moment, a white light burst forth from her hands.

*Crash!*

The chilling sound of glass shards hitting the floor echoed from right beside her.

But even as time passed, she felt no pain of her head splitting open. Nor did anything wet trickle down.

‘Huh?’

When she opened her eyes, which she’d squeezed shut, she saw the people frozen in shock.

And at her feet, the glass shards that had fallen in a circle—no, the remnants that should now be called powder.

‘……Why did the glass shards get smashed instead of my head?’

As she awkwardly lowered her hands, glass dust sprinkled down from the back of them.

Then, from among the stiffened crowd, someone shouted.

“Wooooah! It’s a miracle! God has looked upon the Saintess!”

That shout was the signal.

Witnessing the miracle, the faithful clasped their hands and began to marvel at the Saintess’s majesty.

“Such brilliantly shining divine power!”

“Just as expected of the Saintess!”

……Pardon?

Her startled heart now pounded for a different reason.

‘This is divine power?’

The divine power used by the Pope and the priests was for healing people, but this…….

Cecilia looked down at her hands, which were still faintly glowing, with a dubious expression.

‘They say the foundation of divine power is the power of purification. So this was physical purification.’

The fact that her divine power manifested in a different form, and that it had turned her hands into a weapon that could even reduce solid glass to powder, wasn’t really the big issue.

The real problem was…….

‘So, how do I turn this off?’

Surely she wasn’t meant to live her whole life with glowing hands.

Just as her mind was reeling at the prospect of a future with self-luminescent hands, the Pope, forgetting his dignity, rushed towards her.

He looked so startled that his face was as white as his ceremonial robes.

“Oh, my God. Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere……!”

“I’m fine…….”

Before she could even finish her answer, the Pope grabbed her shoulders and poured his divine power into her. A massive, white aura, of a different magnitude from what had emanated from her own hands, enveloped her entire body.

It felt like being wrapped in a cozy blanket dried in the sun.

Cecilia, enjoying the warmth for a moment, shook her head lightly.

“Your Holiness, I am safe. As you can see, I’m not hurt at all.”

Even if she’d had any scratches, they would have been erased without a trace by the divine power he’d just poured into her.

After thoroughly examining her with his eyes, he belatedly withdrew his hands.

“……So it seems. I’m truly relieved.”

Letting out a deep sigh of relief, the Pope gave a weak smile.

“Still, just in case, let’s go to the treatment room first.”

“I’m really fine, though…….”

Cecilia hesitated, unable to readily agree.

Not only was she genuinely unharmed, not even a speck of dust on her, but more than anything, she remembered the person who had shouted at her just before the glass shards fell.

“I’m worried about you.”

The Pope gently clasped her shoulder.

Behind him, she could see the still-buzzing crowd of faithful and priests. In the distance, even the family knights, who had noticed the accident, were running over.

Unable to find an escape route, Cecilia reluctantly nodded.

“Then I’ll impose on you for just a moment.”

In the brief moment she turned around, led by the Pope, she quickly scanned through the crowd.

But the man in the robe had vanished without a trace.

—

She was led to a small room containing a couple of cots, a wooden table, and a long sofa.

‘It’s called a treatment room, but I expected more patients…….’

As if noticing her question, the Pope explained that it was a space for nobles who visited the Temple to receive treatment and blessings.

After personally setting down warm tea and refreshments, the Pope spoke.

“You were very startled, weren’t you?”

Startled? That was an understatement.

It wasn’t just a bolt from the blue, it was shards of glass. And they weren’t exactly shards, they were the size of a window pane.

At the time, she’d been so shocked and flustered that it didn’t sink in, but she could have easily had her head split in two.

However, instead of revealing the truth, Cecilia gave an awkward smile.

“I was surprised, but I’m fine. I’m not hurt at all.”

Not only was the Pope in front of her overly worried, but more importantly, someone else who had come into the room with them had been crying profusely since a moment ago.

“Hiccup, I, I thought the Saintess had been seriously hurt……!”

It was Sena, who had been by the Pope’s side the entire time. That meant she had witnessed the accident firsthand.

The incident that had unfolded before her eyes must have been quite shocking, as the child, who had been too shy to even approach her before, was now clinging close to her side and clumsily pouring out her divine power.

And, on top of her head.

‘I-It’s blinding!’

It was so bright it hurt her eyes, to the point where tears were streaming down her face.

“Sena, I’m fine, so you can stop now…….”

“B-but, the glass, that huge thing fell on the Saintess!”

“Sena? I told you I’m not hurt!”

“Hiccup!”

“Stop……. Stop!”

With her vision growing increasingly dazzling, she finally grabbed the child’s hand. As if by magic, the light faded.

‘Whew, I nearly went blind.’

“See, I don’t look hurt, do I?”

“But you have tears in your eyes here…….”

‘That’s because of you.’

As Cecilia struggled to swallow the truth, Sena’s gaze flickered over her body.

“……It really does seem like you’re okay.”

The child, her eyes still wet, looked down gloomily, then fiddled with the hand Cecilia was holding. And just like that, the child calmed down as if by magic.

Just as Cecilia, having barely saved her eyesight, reached out with her free left hand to brush away the hair stuck to the child’s cheek—

*Bang!*

As if trouble came after trouble, the door flew open without a knock.

The person who appeared through it was none other than her brother, Knox. Breathing heavily as if he’d run all the way, he strode straight towards her.

“Cici, I heard your head exploded!”

His large hands grabbed her cheeks. He must have been quite frightened, as his hands were terribly cold and clammy.

‘Still, he must be worried since she’s his sister, right?’

“My head didn’t split open, so don’t worry…….”

“It may be a useless thing on you, but if it disappeared, it would be a big problem!”

Knox muttered seriously, inspecting her perfectly fine head.

What exactly had she expected from this human?

The urge to detach even his ‘useless thing’ surged up suddenly.

Cecilia grabbed his wrists and pulled his hands away, speaking gently.

‘Don’t worry.’

“Please just get lost.”

“Cici, I think your inner thoughts just slipped out again.”

This time, too, was of course intentional.

But far from flinching at her insult, Knox’s eyes sparkled ominously.

“Surely you’re not telling that to your big brothers?”

“Yeah.”

‘Wait, brothers?’

By the time she realized the subtle error, she had already affirmed it.

Knox grinned and turned around.

“Miguel. Cici says you should get lost too.”

Only then did Cecilia shift her gaze behind him. The knight, who had been standing awkwardly at the threshold, unable to enter, flinched.

“……I apologize.”

‘Why is that person acting like that?’

His bowed silver hair looked so pitiful that anyone would think he was the one who broke the window.

Knox, glancing sideways at the flustered Cecilia, let out a sigh as if he’d been waiting for this.

“Phew, I barely managed to bring him here, and he’s been blaming himself for not being able to escort you properly. If I’d known he’d receive such a harsh scolding, I wouldn’t have bothered.”

“What? No, that’s not……!”

“Poor Miguel. You’d better hurry up and get lost, just as our merciless Saintess commanded.”

At a loss for words, she clamped her mouth shut. She felt like giving him a fist-shaped gift called ‘mercy’ right in that mouth, but with the Pope and Sena present, she couldn’t.

‘I can’t shatter a child’s ideals.’

Swallowing the vulgar words that had risen to her throat, Cecilia called out to the knight.

Of course, completely ignoring the detestable Knox.

“Sir Miguel.”

“……Yes.”

“Unless you personally broke the window, I don’t think you have any responsibility whatsoever, so please come in.”

After all, his duty had been to escort her to meet the Pope. There was no need for him to blame himself for failing to protect the Saintess from an accident.

Even so, the hesitant knight only slowly stepped forward after the Pope nodded.

“Thank you for your forgiveness.”

Miguel bowed respectfully to her, as if he’d received a great favor.

‘No, there’s nothing to forgive…….’

While the sight of a beautiful man looking dejected was quite pleasant, it didn’t put her at ease for other reasons.

After the Pope and Sena, was it now her turn to placate a Holy Knight?

Just as she barely managed to swallow a weary sigh—

The Pope, who had been watching their exchange with a benevolent expression, spoke first.

“Sir Miguel. Have you properly managed the commotion outside?”

“Yes. I’ve sent all the faithful back for now.”

“Well done.”

“And during the clean-up, we discovered what is presumed to be the cause of the accident.”

“Is that so?”

The Pope asked, surprised.

“This is it.”

Miguel abruptly held out what he had been clutching in his hand.