The Successor of the Saint Does Not Fight - Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Curse of the Rain-Summoning Serpent Part 6

It was an unusual sight.

The statues of the village’s saint were gathered in the square, so tightly packed that there was no room to spare. Each statue struck a divine pose reminiscent of a goddess, but I had never seen my mother in such postures.

I believe a pose of reclining on a sofa while indulging in snacks would be more suitable for her.

“This… it must be a test of my faith…”

Mr. Shiraat asked me, trembling and clutching himself, his face pale.

“Even without the statue, can I still envision the beautiful figure of the Holy Saint before me? I have been challenged to such a trial! So, even if my heart bursts, I will overcome this hardship!”

“Oh, yes, it must be something like that.”

Moving away from Mr. Shiraat, who uttered clichéd lines with a pale face, I positioned myself in front of the assembled group of stone statues. The villagers and stonemasons had joined forces to collect them, but their assistance concluded at this point.

Damaging paintings and sculptures of the saint might be considered blasphemy against the church. Despite my assurances of immunity as a saintly girl, wielding a hammer against the saint’s statue would still be emotionally challenging.

Yet, breaking all these statues alone was impossible for a delicate and powerless beauty like me…

“It must be hard to shatter the image of your mother, isn’t it? Alright, leave it to me.”

The only one here with no reservations about breaking the saint’s statue was the White Wolf.

“But can you use force in front of everyone?”

“Well… for now, maintain your size and simply explain your strength as the divine messenger of the gods, and it should be fine.”

“Haha, a divine messenger, huh. I’ve become quite impressive, haven’t I?”

We whispered to each other in low voices.
“A demon breaking things like this in the Holy City’s neighborhoods could lead to a bad reputation. However, since I won’t be coming back to this countryside again, if I can just casually deceive them, it shouldn’t be a problem.

“All right then, please go ahead.”

“Very well.”

Once I nodded, the White Wolf’s figure vanished.

And in the next moment, several statues of the saint shattered into tiny fragments, collapsing. Every time the white shadow raced through the space between the statues at high speed, one after another, the statues of my mother turned into a mountain of rubble.

(Well, he’s so fast that there’s no need to make excuses for this…)

Most likely, at this moment, no one could see that the White Wolf was destroying the statues of the saint. The villagers were bewildered, unable to grasp the sudden collapse of the statues with no forewarning.

The only exception was Yuno, who calmly shifted his eyes, following White Wolf’s figure. The slightly eerie movement of his eyes was a bit unsettling.

“It’s over.”

In just about ten seconds, the White Wolf returned to my feet.

In the already poor visibility due to the rain, no one even noticed his absence during those ten seconds.

Meanwhile, Mr. Shiraat appeared to have endured too much mental shock, lying on the ground with his head down. Several villagers rushed to help him up and offered comfort.

At that moment, I looked up at the sky.

All the statues of my mother were destroyed. Now, what would happen to the rain?

“It doesn’t stop.”

“Ugh.”

The rain clouds lingering over the village showed no sign of clearing.

The villagers offered prayers of repentance to the debris that used to be the statues of the saint, and they began pulling carts for the cleanup.

What should be the next move?

As I pondered, Yuno approached. Without minding his knees getting muddy, he knelt in front of me and said,

“Please allow me to present my opinion, Lady Meril Klein. Shouldn’t we slay the Rain Serpent immediately? Since a while ago— even now, a strong demonic presence can be felt from the direction of the waterfall basin. It’s clear that the demon is still alive.”

Ugh, I stuck my tongue out inwardly.

I had no clue about demonic presences, so I hadn’t noticed at all. Had Yuno already grasped the situation to that extent?

The possibility that Yuno’s slaying was successful, and the Rain Serpent was already dead, was now completely denied.

“Hmph, you, brat. Do you think this girl doesn’t know that much already?”

Suddenly, White Wolf let out a mocking laugh as if he were exasperated.

What’s up with that sarcastic comment? Of course I don’t know, idiot.

“What do you mean?”

“Wait.”

The White Wolf then dashed to a corner of the square, plunged his head into a large puddle resembling a pond, grabbed something, and quickly returned.

Had he found a ball or something that could be turned into a toy? As I pondered, I looked at the White Wolf’s mouth when he returned and let out a light scream.

It was a snake.

Not a giant serpent. A snake of a very ordinary size wriggled and struggled in the White Wolf’s mouth.

“How about this, brat? Do you see it now that I brought it up close like this?”

“What does this snake have to do with…?”
As Yuno, who had leaned in to peer at the snake, said that, he suddenly jumped back and sharpened his gaze.

“…Why does this snake have the same aura as the Rain Serpent?”

“I noticed just a moment ago as well. I didn’t realize it in the carriage, but being soaked in the rain finally made it clear— the continuously falling rain itself has a ‘serpent-like’ scent.”

“What do you mean?”

“In other words, the main body of the Rain Serpent is the rainwater itself. It manifests in the form of a serpent in places where rainwater gathers, such as the waterfall basin or places with accumulated water. However, that is only a small part from the perspective of the entire existence of the Rain Serpent.”

The White Wolf spat out the snake he had in his mouth, and the snake wriggled on the ground for a while, eventually melting away as if dissolving into the pouring rain.

“I’ll ask you again, brat. What do you plan to do in the waterfall basin? No matter how many times you defeat that serpent there, it’s nothing more than a scratch for the entirety of the Rain Serpent.”

If we were going to resort to force, the White Wolf laid that out as a preamble.

“We need to cover the entire area within this rain cloud with a barrier so massive that it leaves no escape for even a single drop of water and purify it completely. But as far as I know, there are only two people in this world who can perform such a large-scale miracle.”

“The Holy Saint and the girl Meril Klein, right?”

“That’s correct.”

Don’t just bring up my name.

There’s no way I can do that. Don’t overestimate me, idiot.

“I realized as much too. She should have already figured out the true nature of the Rain Serpent long ago. Yet, she hasn’t executed the large-scale purification with the barrier. That’s because there must be another strategy to resolve the situation, right?”

“Is that so, girl?”

Two idiots are now casting intense gazes in my direction.

“Uh, well…”

This is troublesome.

The moment I destroyed the statues of my mother, I didn’t have any strategies left. Besides, those two should be sharing that valuable information with me beforehand.

Especially that White Wolf. I can’t believe he already knew the true nature of the Rain Serpent.

A demonic entity of a colossal scale, larger than even the special train, and the serpent in the waterfall basin being only a small part of the entire entity. There’s no way I can deal with something like that.

Apart from immediately calling Mom and requesting its execution, there’s no way to stop this rain…

“…Huh.”

At that moment, I suddenly placed my hand on my own mouth.

Something doesn’t add up. If the serpent in the waterfall basin is just a small part of the Rain Serpent— then why did the rain temporarily cease when Yuno first defeated the serpent there?

“Hey, I wonder why the rain stopped for a bit when Yuno defeated the serpent in the waterfall basin before.”