I Reject the villain’s ending.

Episode 86.

We soon mounted our ready horses and began the hunt.
I felt a chill down my spine as I watched High Priest Diego’s intense gaze on my back as we rode away.
Seeing it, Iros drew his horse closer and called out to me.
‘Saint.’
‘I know. I felt it.’
Iros nodded nervously at my tone of voice, glanced around, and reined in his horse.
‘Saint, don’t get hurt, and be careful-!’
‘Karina?’
‘Hoohoo. I’m here too.’
Mounted on a slender, handsome black horse, Karina and her friends waved at me.
They had been invited to the tea party in the middle of the year and had become friends.
They’d been invited to the tea party halfway through and got to know them well.
‘Good luck to you all,’ I said, ’but I’ll take first prize.’
‘As usual, your distribution is exceptional. I’ll see you later, yay!’
Karina and her friends spurred their horses into a gallop through the bushes, and I followed suit.
‘Let’s go. We have two guardians, an imperial knight, and the crown prince, and it would be disgraceful to lose first place.’
‘Of course, I’m confident we can defeat them, no matter what they do, I’ll protect you, Sierra.’
‘I trust you, and I trust Dian.’
The crown prince’s lips twitched at my words.
‘I will protect you, too.’
‘Ah… I don’t trust …….’
‘Why?’
I gave him a quizzical look and said with a hint of reluctance.
‘Because you’re the weakest among us, shouldn’t we be protecting you?’
‘A country protected by you, it’s shameful to think of.’
‘Not so much.’
With two infinite healers, a half-human, half-horse, and a knight in the mix, wouldn’t the crown prince, a bit of a swordsman, be the weakest of the bunch?
He may look good in the gym, but he’s a different story.
‘For now, let’s focus on the hunt, Crimson Heart. I’ve been given the jewelry in advance, but I need to claim it as the rightful winner of the competition.’
‘Okay. I’ll take that deer over there, I’m slender as a deer. Yay!’
The crown prince ran off, emphasizing the word ‘slender’ as if he had in mind the weakest of them all.
Then he plunged his dagger into the deer’s throat, instantly cutting off its breath.
‘That’s good, that’s good!’
Undeterred, I began to take down a variety of prey, from small rabbits to deer, boars, and weaker monsters.
Everyone was quite astonished at my skill with the bow, as I was able to hit every single target.
‘Isn’t she a saint? Why is she such a good bowman?’
‘I heard that she shot all the warlocks with a glowing bow when she was slaying them, so I guess it’s true.’
‘Wow.’
The men in the distance looked at me in admiration. I smirked, my nostrils flaring with pride.
I steadied my form, drew my bow, and shot the deer in style, but then I heard the sound of conversation off to the side.
‘But is it okay for a holy woman to kill like that? I mean, sure, a warlock would kill them, but that’s an innocent animal that did nothing wrong.’
Pfft. The arrow swerved sideways, grazing the deer’s neck, and slammed into a wooden post.
‘Oh. Missed. You’re not a very good bowman.’
As soon as I heard that, I cringed, drew an arrow, held it up in protest, and spun around to yell at him.
‘Shut up and get out of here, you two!’
‘Hiss!’
‘Stand, saint, stand. Hold it in!’
I was about to show my true colors as a wicked woman when Iros hastily grabbed my arms and shouted.
‘Let go! Let go! I’m going to put an arrow up their arse, just like that!’
‘What are you guys doing, not running away!’
‘Heh! Thank you for saving my life, Guardian!’
‘Are these fuckers real?!’
Holy shit. They’re just like that!
Iros is supposed to be my guardian, but somehow he seems to be doing more to protect others from me.
It’s like Iros is a ‘guardian’ because he stays by my side to protect them!
I rampaged around, pointing my bow at everyone in sight.
Those who hadn’t yet forgotten the infamy of Saint Sierra were terrified and fled from the vicinity.
When they were gone, I spoke in a calm voice, as if I hadn’t been so excited.
‘…Make sure everyone else around here has left.’
‘Yes. They’re all at least some distance away, thanks to the Saint.’
Hearing Iros’ low whisper, I straightened my stance, loaded the arrow properly, and quickly shot it high into the branches.
Bang! I watched the arrow leave the demonstration and fly swiftly away in a flash of light and said with cold eyes.
‘These bastards always approach civilians like this when I’m the only one they’re after. Rude.’
‘Ew, ugh…….’
I shook my head. A black-robed half-man-half-horse with an arrow through its heart fell from the tree to the ground, groaned, and died.
At the sight of it, I lifted my head and scanned my surroundings, one corner of my mouth curling up into a pout in the gentle breeze.
If you still don’t want to come out, then let’s see which of you comes out first so I can kill you all.’
I stared at the lush trees, which didn’t make a sound, let alone an answer.
Seeing me like that, the crown prince asked, as if surprised to see such an unexpected side of me.
‘Did you know that there were enemies and deliberately create a ruckus to drive people away, and did you play the villain to prevent innocent people from being caught in the crossfire?’
‘Of course.’
To throw the Magi around like this, in front of the saints and guardians, was a clear declaration of war.
‘I thought you were going to try to assassinate me outright, but here you are?
I couldn’t see if he was using magic, but he was half-human, half-magical, and his body and heart, with its life force flowing through it, could not escape my senses.
When a saint, who is the opposite of a demon, openly spills her magical energy like this, I can’t help but notice even more.
‘I can tell where you are, even if I can’t see you.’
He says lazily, hanging a new arrow from his protest.
‘I already knew you’d lay siege, though I didn’t expect it to be this blatant.’
While I chuckled, Iros, Diane, Leo, and the Crown Prince each drew their swords and circled me as if to escort me.
As I readied myself for battle, my lips moved in a wicked grin. My face was far from saintly; it was more like a wicked witch’s.
‘You’re asking me to kill them all, aren’t you?’
With those words, arrows flew, and countless Divine Power Spheres created by Dian flew toward the hidden raiders one by one, exploding with a bang.
‘Regardless, even if you’re a bit of a surprise, you’re still true to your nature. My knights still need to eat. Go!’
‘Chong!’
From behind where Diane had unleashed the divine power sphere, the crown prince’s knights appeared one after another, swinging their swords, casting magic, and attacking the invisible enemy.
‘Crack!’
‘Thud!’
‘Ack!’
Screams rained down like fruit from the trees everywhere as the black robes began to fight the crown prince’s knights, many of them severely wounded.
The knights and their enemies were quickly engaged in a fierce battle, as the half-humans were quick to recover.
In the meantime, we moved our position deeper into the center to avoid any civilians getting caught in the crossfire.
Fortunately, the halflings that had escaped the Templar’s dedicated marks were as receptive to my bait as a moth to a flame.
Once we were fairly deep into the forest, I glanced back and halted my horse.
‘I think we can run amok without being seen.’
‘Yes. It’s better than that.’
‘Better than what?’
‘I think there are fewer of them than I thought.’
‘Do you think so?’
‘Yeah……?’
I smirked at Iros’s naivety. I don’t know High Priest Diego, but I don’t know him too well.
He’s a master of deception. He always hides the important things behind the bait and reveals them at the end. Perhaps the real attack is just around the corner.
He wondered if Iros had realized this now, and his face contorted into a grimace.
He gritted his teeth harshly and shouted.
‘Saint, did you deliberately become bait, to lure them in?!’
‘Hmph. Well, how many hours Will you nag me? When we get home?’
‘Just make sure you get home safely, I’ll keep you up for days and nights.’
Ah. I hadn’t factored Iros’s anger into my calculations when I’d planned the plan. Black.
Dian, the Crown Prince, and Leo, who had overheard our conversation and realized what was going on, grunted as they reluctantly sheathed their swords again.
‘That’s all well and good, but you could have given us a little more warning, my dear.’
‘I could tell by the quality of the half-man-half-horse that came to raid that it was a decoy. I just assumed there would be a bigger raid and backed off.’
‘Anyway, you’re so smart, it’s sometimes hard to keep up with your way of thinking.’
‘That’s because I don’t study, so I have an unusually good head.’
Soon, as I predicted, the surroundings filled with black smoke, and a group of black-robed men emerged.
I swallowed dryly and spoke as I saw my enemy at the head of the line, a sturdy man with long grey hair.
‘There they are. Mr Chief, wanted us to scatter first and run away. Isn’t that right, Deputy Diego?’
‘……!’
My words startled everyone, and they turned to look at me and the leading halfling.
The silent halfling raised its head, revealing its red eyes, white hair, and wrinkled face.
It opened its tightly closed jaws and a thick, raspy voice spilled out.
‘I suppose you knew I was coming?’
‘I did, and I hoped I was wrong, but I didn’t think you’d want to kill me, even if it was just for the sake of touching innocent humans.’
‘I don’t care how many humans die. As long as I can kill you.’
‘If you want to destroy this world so badly, how long have you been waiting? How many decades have you spent toiling among the humans, pretending to be their High Priest?’
‘I’ve been waiting for this day, waiting like the dead, and now it’s time to end it.’
‘That’s the kind of dialogue a villain would say. The fact that you’re all dressed up like that makes you look even more villainous.’
His eyes scanned them, his mouth biding his time. I need to catch my breath and calm down before I can perform at my best in battle.
‘You know, in a novel, justice wins and the villain loses.’
‘But you’re the one who’s dying today, saint.

‘But you’re the only one who’s going to die today, Saint. Even if this world is a work of fiction, it doesn’t change the fact: you die.’
‘Well. We’ll only know when we try. I don’t think I’m going to die here today. Don’t you think?’
Everyone ready?
Surrounding me, Iros, Diane, the Crown Prince, and Leo nodded, their eyes shining.
‘Let’s do this.’