NOVEL WEB Chapter 35
Commonly known as the Saintess Route.
Actually, it’s a word I popularized in the community.
My life accomplishments consist of eating and playing [Night Heart Trilogy], and that’s about it.
It was quite a light statement. If she were the main heroine, a prettier name would probably have been given.
Since she doesn’t have a name, our Saintess.
There are three conditions to see it.
First, don’t break the game’s main coupling. For [Night Heart], you automatically succeed at this by playing the game normally.
“Why did you call? Licht.”
“Kainel, Ariel, could you come over here for a moment?”
“Got it! Helm guy!”
In the original, it was Dennis, and in the sequel, it was these two.
I was sorting my thoughts while looking at the blonde and redhead couple. I needed to prepare to align the Grand Route with the Saintess Route.
Now I had to include the Crown Prince companion route as well.
Second, do not take the NTR or Harem routes. This condition was added separately in [Black Heart].
Anyway, it’s because of that strange-loving creator that our Saintess suffers.
The reason I initially avoided Rufus was also because of this condition.
“Licht, what are you doing?”
“I had a good idea. Mardol.”
Lastly, there was virtually no one but me who succeeded at this.
‘Don’t change the healer to another person until you clear the game.’
Because of this, most people would start with the Saintess Route but then deviate. In the early game, her healing prayers work well, but characters strong enough to take down the Demon King wouldn’t get healed by a tiny heal. So I learned skills from other classes to compensate for the insufficient healing.
The moment you change the healer just once, it’s said you can’t see the Nameless Saintess Route.
[What?! There’s a cutscene like this?!]
[Is it a hidden route? I didn’t see this line appear!!]
[Is she really becoming the Saintess heroine? There were plenty of hints…]
I didn’t know since I had never done it in the first place. I was surprised when there were tons of question comments in the community. How did they manage to beat the Demon King with this underperforming healer?
Actually, I wonder if it was a lack of effort. If you don’t hit, she doesn’t have to heal.
‘In the end, it’s about skill. It’s a godly game.’
Whether it’s by brute forcing through control or specs, or by memorizing strategies and patterns, I became quite famous in the community as a crazy guy going around defeating Demon Kings.
[Pure Love Black Knight: Before checking out our Platinum Wolf’s guide, let’s watch him once!]
The response when I first wrote a guide for Magic Hat’s Phase 1 was the most annoying.
[Could you not use a garbage build that no one uses…? I want to do it differently.]
[Newbies! Don’t be fooled…! Run away!!!]
[Why is this even a guide?? From the video, it’s just hitting a wall?!]
[As expected ^Real^ level… Look, none of this is necessary for the guide.]
└ [Pure Love Black Knight: Where do you live?]
└ [How is she a Saintess if she can’t even use Divine Power well? She can’t heal better than a mutt.]
└ [Pure Love Black Knight: Just give me your address!!]
Honestly, our Saintess is cute. I just wanted to catch people’s interest by posting a Demon King guide and slipping in some illustrations.
The two techniques I found most useful in the Demon King strategy were:
“Would you like to learn a Combination Move? You two.”
The Ultimate Moves and Combination Moves of NPCs.
“A Combination Move…? With me and Kai?”
“Licht, what the heck are you thinking?”
“Just had a thought. You could say I was inspired.”
In the case of Kainel and Ariel, if they execute two Ultimate Moves at the same time, it becomes a Combination Move.
‘I was trying not to teach them magic, worried it might mess up the Grand Route.’
Since the player meddling with their love certification magic could ruin things, it was also a technique I often saw in-game.
I drew a picture in the ground with my sword.
It was probably still too early to learn Ultimate Moves, so let’s grab a simple and new Combination Move while simultaneously working on the flags and affection level.
“…should I blow this up?”
“Correct, Mardol. You’re really sharp.”
“3D Magic Circles, application.”
The Glass Knight found what I drew on the ground interesting. Does he have sharp eyes? He gets that I drew a circle and split it with a diagonal.
“By casting firework magic repeatedly like a 3D Magic Circle, and then Kainel launches it with Shine Strike to blow it up.”
Actually, this plan came from something Ariel said in the clubroom. It should land decent damage even against the water-element weakness.
“Will this have any benefits, Licht?”
“It will combine light and fire attributes. Plus, since it’s a chain explosion of overlapping magic, its destructive power will be stronger than typical magic.”
“Hmm… So, it’s like a time bomb that Kai can detonate flexibly?”
I saw the red-haired elf thinking hard with her hat pulled down. As she said, if the 3D Magic Circles are done wrong, the caster risks getting hurt.
“Correct, Ariel. It could effectively deal with multiple targets as well.”
“But it’s too dangerous… Helm guy… It would be different if it was a water attribute like Professor Dennis…”
“You both need to take down strong and many monsters, right?”
“Well, we did say that…”
But that’s truly unstable with fire attributes overlapping. Thus, I thought of a good solution.
“Cast magic while having physical contact with Kainel. That should work.”
“What? Licht?”
“Hyahya! Licht. What the heck are you saying!!!”
What I learned from the Glass Knight. If I borrow another’s magic circuits, this issue could be resolved. The fire attribute would be coated with the light attribute, thus lowering the risk.
“Shall I demonstrate? Mardol. It’s possible, right?”
Ariel omitted my title again, she must have been quite surprised. I nodded at Mardol. I had to show it directly to avoid suspicion.
“Sure, Licht.”
The Glass Knight nodded, and the shining armored knight held my hand. He really loved holding hands, just like before.
“With this method, I can also use magic.”
He’s pretty strong with his grip. Could you ease up a bit, Crown Prince?
“What? You can use magic…?”
“Well, good for you… No, what does that even have to do with anything, Licht!”
Kainel gave me a strange look while Ariel was bursting with embarrassment.
「Merak.」
Right as I finished the incantation, a transparent bubble-like sphere of light began to rise into the air. Seeing this should give them a clue.
“Hmm…? This is a bit different from a normal Merak? Licht?”
“…Ah, I’ve seen it in a book. It’s rare to actually see it done though.”
Normally, Merak is simply a skill to float a sphere of light. The way it’s being cast like a soap bubble is largely influenced by Mardol. That’s when I realized.
Since he’s the one who can twist earth-based steel and use it like glass.
“Thus, an individual’s attributes are unique and hard to change. That’s why it gets overlaid.”
The protagonist is indeed a cheat. Seeing Dennis twisting water into liquor with ease.
Then it might be easy to later find someone with a light attribute to identify our Saintess.
Suddenly, a brilliant idea popped into my head.
“Shall we give it a try? In a back hug position.”
Here I added difficulty unlike with Mardol. This method was perfect for boosting the childhood friend couple’s affection level. Sometimes blushing can be quite helpful.
“..Uh? What? Are you serious?”
“Licht, do I, have to, really?! Why do I have to back hug Kai!?”
The red-haired mage blushed as she shot glances at Kainel. Seeing her like this, she really is a tsundere.
“Absolutely not! I refuse──!!”
“…Isn’t there an alternative?”
Our clueless Rufus seems to want to back out again. I needed to apply more pressure. I hoped Mardol would back me up and opened my mouth.
“Mardol, don’t you think a back hug would be good?”
“..Yeah. That’s true.”
As expected, Rufus at this point is an intellectual. He knows a thing or two. I chuckled behind my helm.
“Once the casting of the 3D Magic Circle is done, you can drop it. But until then, let’s keep our hearts close for stability.”
That’s true. Ultimately, the source of mana is the heart. That’s why the game titles are [Night Heart] and [Black Heart].
“…Hyah, Helm guy… you’re right, but…”
“Ariel, let’s just try it once.”
The closer they get, the lower the risk of an explosion would be. It’s quite a romantic setting. There were players who pulled swords from their hearts too.
“If you ask that much… I guess I can… but only if Kai…”
“…”
When I spoke, she yelled, but when Kainel spoke, she listens instead.
Finally succeeded. The corners of my mouth lifted uncontrollably. How great it would be if they were that good at dating without me. I felt grateful for hiding behind my helm.
“Ariel, are you feeling uncomfortable…?”
Kainel took on a gentle hugging posture from behind Ariel.
Truly the Light Hero. He barely touched the weird parts, just a light hug from the back.
“Yeah… Kai. I’m okay…”
Ariel likely liked this even more. Her face and neck were so red they blended with her hair color.
“Now, please proceed to cast various layers of 3D Magic. But since it could explode, be careful and use only weak techniques.”
I opened my palm and made a squeezing gesture. Beside me, Mardol was watching with his arms crossed.
“Licht, why?”
Golden eyes peeked through my helm. An armored knight speaking from within a cave.
…Could he be thinking of back hugging me to teach me magic too?
A sudden chill ran down my spine. Once again, I felt the threat of chastity. I just wanted to watch our Saintess’ happy ending, I didn’t want any drifts.
「Fireworks.」
「Bright Flare.」
「Sparkla.」
Ariel began her incantation. Three weak magic spells. Thankfully, at this level, even if it exploded, it would only make a loud noise and wouldn’t be dangerous.
“Good. Compress it down to the size of a sphere. Kainel, stay closer.”
I checked the slowly rotating 3D Magic Circles while giving hints to the red-haired mage.
“Ariel, be careful.”
“..Thanks for worrying, Kai.”
She deeply bowed her head, surrendering to my childhood friend’s embrace. At that, something warm and fire-like began to gather into a single point with a whoosh sound.
“Alright! Once I give the signal, throw it forward.”
“I just have to cut it, right? With Shine Strike.”
“Exactly right, Kainel.”
Good to see he catches on quickly. If something bad happens, I can rely on Void Slash to cut it. I spread three fingers.
“On three, throw it! One.”
With that, Kainel released the hug and nodded at Ariel, who stood next to him. Focused on the candy-sized flame on her palm with the Holy Sword.
“Two.”
“You can do it, Ariel. Don’t worry.”
“Really? Kai… I’m scared I might hurt you like last time…”
The reason I took this approach was because I knew she accidentally burned Kainel’s hair while practicing fire magic when they were kids.
“It’s fine. This hairstyle looks cooler, right? It’s even better.”
“…Thanks, Kai.”
What’s in the setting book. I’m glad I translated it as soon as I possessed him. Who could remember all that by heart?
It wouldn’t be good to be scared of the firepower. In the perspective of [Night Heart], it’s all resolved, but not now.
“Three! Throw it!!”
I shouted. If you maintain the magic collision for too long, it’ll explode automatically.
「Shine Strike.」
I concentrated as much speed as possible for such moments. Ultimately, this area attack can be resolved by using a combination move with Ariel.
─Puffpuffpuffboom!!
The magic circles condensed were sliced by the blade of light, creating a chain explosion.
Due to the impact of the combination move, a gust of wind blew, and trees were set aflame. I need to extinguish that fire with Void Slash. Extinguishing is not a problem. The other things are.
“Hiyah!”
Didn’t expect the range would be this wide, Ariel was startled by the trembling ground.
She immediately lost her balance and fell, crashing down with Kainel trying to maintain his grip on her.
“Ariel, are you okay?!”
“Ugh… Uhh… Kai… I’m fine…”
Catching the mage below, the hero leaned down, resting on the ground.
Their noses were so close, I felt like I could hear their hearts racing.
“..Uh, Kai…”
“Ariel? Are you hurt? You’re not injured, right?!”
As expected, it’s a romantic fantasy academy. It’d be great if their romance shot up like this. The oblivious Rufus was blushing and said something strange even after seeing Ariel’s bright red face.
Ah, they’re not dating yet. Is hitting 50% the goal?
“Move! I… I need to get up…”
“Oh. Sorry.”
That’s a rather unthoughtful comment. Given how much I precisely monitored to prevent injuries, it’s somewhat disheartening.
“Stronger than I expected…”
Ariel brushed the dust off her hair and stood up, and Kainel, realizing they were too close, blushed bright red.
They seem unbothered by the fact that they burned the forest a little with their combination move. They only exchanged awkward coughs, mildly distancing themselves.
Look over there, the ghosts and armored foes are dead. Take a look around! How ridiculous, I touched the forehead of my helm and a familiar status window appeared.
[Kainel♡Ariel 29% ‘NEW!’]
Indeed it’s increasing slowly. With Nex, it started from 50%. How long do I have to keep repeating this? I thought for a moment.
‘Well, it’s fine for me.’
It wouldn’t feel right if they suddenly fell in love at first sight or got together by forced development. A satisfied grin formed on my face.
“..Interesting.”
As I nodded slightly, the Glass Knight stared strangely at me.
I looked at Mardol, feeling his presence beside me reflecting on the shining surface of my black helm.
‘Ah, no way.’
In that moment, I felt a sharp pang in my chest. Upon reflection, my Saintess also needs to maintain her love line.
It’s not just about getting them together in the end. Indeed.
Based on my speculation, the main coupling in this work seems to be the Crown Prince.
“…”
My thoughts were short. The connection in my brain broke. When it comes to her, I become utterly powerless.
Can I truly endure this? The thoughts I had been denying for years resurfaced, making my heart flutter.