#1126 The Citizens’ Reaction 2 – Obsession Towards the Saint 

I am Ryugomytes.
People used to call me “Ryugomytes the Glittering Dust.” 

No, it’s not some cringe-worthy phase from my past or anything.  
That nickname came from my time serving in the Demon King’s Army. 

Back then, I was a mid-ranking officer with a decent record of achievements. I pulled my weight on the front lines. Even my comrades and subordinates tended to rely on me.  
Of course, I was no match for any of the Heavenly Four or their aides for that matter, but I was in the limelight in my own little way. 

It’s been years now since I experienced the event that changed the course of my life forever, but...  
I still remember it like it was yesterday.  
The shock was so great, I can practically feel it in my bones even now. 

That was the day I encountered a dragon. 
A creature feared as one of the World’s Two Greatest Calamities. 

It was the first time I’d ever seen one up close, and wow… that thing was terrifying.  
In an instant, I knew: No matter what humankind tried, there was no way we could ever measure up to the raw, staggering power of that beast. 

You know that saying, “A person’s greatest fears are born in their own imagination?” Well, the dragon in front of me was worse than anything my imagination could’ve cooked up.  
Simply put, it was something beyond human understanding. 

I’ll never forget that feeling of shock or the all-consuming terror that seized my entire body. 

But the real shock came after.  
The dragon spoke perfectly fluent in our language just like that: 

— “My master is the Saint. Any who stand as enemies of the Saint shall be enemies of mine.” 

There’s somebody out there who can treat this monstrous dragon like an errand boy?! 

Saint? 
Just who in the world is this person? 

From that moment on, I couldn’t get the Saint out of my head. Curiosity burned inside me, and I wanted to know more. 

A short while later, the war ended.  
Our Demon King launched a lightning strike on the enemy’s capital, overwhelmed their leadership in one fell swoop, and snatched victory from right under their noses. 

It all happened so fast, even our own side was left going, “Huh? We’re done already?” 

Anyway, the war was over. We soldiers were no longer needed for much of anything. 

I wasted no time in submitting my retirement request.  
I knew peacetime would bring a scaledown of the military, and I wanted to make a graceful exit before everyone else did. 

The army tried to convince me to stay. 
It was a nice gesture, but I wasn’t changing my mind. 

There wasn’t much to do in the army anymore now that we didn’t have an enemy to fight. 
That’s why I decided to prioritize my new burning desire: 

I wanted to find out who—or what—the Saint really was. 

I had a fair bit of savings from my time in the army, plus my pension and a little help from my family, so I could get by for a while.  
With that financial cushion, I made plans to do some serious investigating. 

Just who is the Saint? Where do they live? And what’s their agenda in this world?  
If I could, I even dreamed of meeting them in person, face-to-face. 

But the Saint is not the kind of being a random nobody like me can track down that easily.  
 

The best I could do was gather scraps of rumors scattered around the world, piece them together, and figure out which ones might be tied to the Saint. 

Over time, I collected a decent chunk of stories: 

• The Saint rescued the satyrs from a crisis? 

• The Saint was at Orkubo’s Castle’s big event? 

• The Saint competed in the merfolk’s martial festival? 

• The Saint supposedly annihilated the Lifeless King who lived in the Old Demon Capital? 

• The Saint was involved in running that rare expo in the Demon Kingdom? 

• A hot springs retreat in the mountains was built by the Saint? 

• The Saint revived an elven forest on the brink of ruin? 

• The Saint attended the new Mermaid King’s wedding? 

• There were rumors of the Saint being linked to some group of missing young people in the Human Kingdom? 

• The Saint was a valued customer of the Underground Dwarven Empire? 

• The Saint brokered peace with the so-called Demon Isle? 

• There’s some mysterious tie between the Saint and the Pandemonium Trading Company? 

• The Saint goes around selling beans in every region? 

• Just recently, the Saint showed up in some remote town and made a spring flow in barren land? 

• The Saint restored a ranch somewhere? 

• The Saint might actually be a bear? 

And so on and so forth.  
Every rumor ends in a big question mark, which frustrates me to no end—but that’s the limit of personal investigation, I suppose. 

Still, if I do say so myself, I’ve gone pretty far and wide in my research.  
Whenever time and money allowed, I traveled to these places in person to hunt down eyewitnesses. 

What I’ve pieced together from all of this is that, while the stories have different details, the Saint tends to work for the good of the world and its people.  

And there are hints everywhere that the Saint is connected to the leadership of multiple nations, including the Demon Kingdom and the Mermaid Kingdom. 

Clearly, the Saint is a great power. 
Someone that even heads of state have to watch their step around...! 

Trying to figure out the Saint’s appearance from all these scattered reports was interesting too.  

The age estimates range from the teens to the twenties, or maybe the thirties or forties, or even the fifties or sixties.  
Some say the Saint looks like a dried-up corpse, suggesting an inconceivable old age. 

In other words, nobody has a clue. 

As for abilities, they’re definitely jaw-dropping. The miracles attributed to the Saint are massive in scale; even just hearing about them is impressive.  

Take that story about reviving an entire Elven forest.  
That alone proves the Saint can control nature itself, right? 

The more I found out, the more info piled up… until on a whim, I decided to compile it all in a book.  

I titled it A Thorough Study: Secrets of the Saint. To my total surprise, it became a smash hit.  
Readers loved it, and soon they were clamoring for a sequel. Before I knew it, I had churned out fifteen volumes in the series. 

That unexpected success brought in a nice sum of money, so my lifestyle improved, and I had more time to devote to my Saint research.  

...Which is great, except I still didn’t have any real answers. It was driving me nuts. 

But then one day, something juicy landed on my lap: 

—“The Saint has appeared in a frontier settlement!” 

Apparently, the demons and humans are working together on some new project to develop land, and the Saint’s mixed up in it somehow.  
Could this be another one of their whims? 

But here’s the critical difference from every previous rumor. 
This time, the Saint is staying put in that frontier settlement to oversee the development effort. 

Normally, the Saint breezes in like the wind and is gone before anyone can blink.  
By the time rumors start spreading, the Saint’s long gone, which means I’ve never been able to catch them on-site. 

But not this time.  
Right this moment, the Saint is “still there.” 

A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! 
I was all ready to pack my bags and race off to that settlement. I’d need to line up a carriage, of course. 

That’s when I got an unwelcome interruption. 
It was my publisher—the one who’s been handling the Secrets of the Saint series. 

“Wait! Please hold on! It’s too dangerous for you to head into unsettled territory!” 

What was that supposed to mean?  
I’ve traveled all over the place doing research. Before that, I served in the Demon King’s Army, so it’s not like I’m some sheltered lady of leisure.  
If I can handle battlefields, I can handle this.  
Even a dungeon wouldn’t faze me. 

“Y-Yes, that’s true, but… you’re our best-selling author! If something happens to you out there in a place with barely any laws or regulations…!” 

So basically, I’m the golden goose, and they don’t want me waddling into trouble.  
Real subtle. 

But I’m not writing these books to get rich.  
It’s all about unraveling the Saint’s ultimate secret.  
If that means risking my life, so be it! 

“B-But… that settlement is crawling with men doing grueling physical labor! You’re a woman; you might be in danger if you go alone…!” 

Excuse me?  
What’s my being a woman got to do with it?  
Are they implying that a bunch of lonely, wolfish men would harass me?  
How rude, and on multiple levels, too. 

I’ve had enough of this. I’m going, period! 

So there I was, preparing for the trip... 
When my editor ran in again with more news: 

“Wait! Please wait! We just got a new report!” 
 

What?  
Don’t tell me you’re spreading more rumors just to stop me from going. 
 
It already sounds like a complete waste of time, but fine. Go on, let’s hear it. 
 
“Word is, there’s going to be an emergency ceremony at the Demon King's castle next week! And apparently, the Saint is also bound to make an appearance there!” 

Whaaaat?! 
The Saint will appear?! Why would they show up all of a sudden?! 

They’ve always been this big, unsolvable mystery… Now they’re just going to pop up in front of everyone? 

No way I’m missing that. I’ve got to head straight to that ceremony.  
Forget about the frontier for now! 

But if I check out the ceremony and there’s nothing interesting going on… I’m off to the frontier after all!!!