The Gloomy Saintess Obsessively Clings to Death

Before eating breakfast, I was supposed to be shown to a new room.

The saint cautiously glanced at me as she carefully took each step.

“…Uh, it hasn’t been cleaned in a long time, so it’s going to be really dirty.”

“That’s fine. We’ll clean it.”

“And the furniture is really old, so it’s probably all broken by now….”

“We have things we can use, so it doesn’t matter.”

The saint still looked hesitant as she spoke.

“…And there might be some really big bugs.”

“One of the gods, Mr. Death, is probably the best at pest control.”

At my answer, the saint let out a faint smile.

I faintly heard her mutter, “He jokes too.”

…It wasn’t a joke though.

Because one of Mr. Death’s tasks is to help tend the gods’ garden.

There were many pests that thrived there, feeding off the power of the gods.

“If there are bugs bigger than my head in there, insects from the human world would seem cute by comparison.”

I followed behind the saint while thinking these thoughts.

After a short while, the saint stopped in front of an old door.

Placing her small hand on the doorknob, she looked up at me with a slight groan.

“…I really can’t do it. I’ll clean it, so why don’t you stay in my room in the meantime!”

“It’s fine, really.”

“Huh, but… No, I’ll stay in this room instead!”

“Why is the owner of the room the one trying to leave?”

The saint fidgeted around while letting out groans of discomfort.

It didn’t look like she had any intention of turning the knob, so I slowly extended my hand.

“Hiik─!”

“If we keep going like this, it’ll be dawn soon, Miss Saint.”

“Ugh, this place hasn’t really been maintained in such a long time… it’s really not suitable for Mr. Death!”

“It’s fine. I’ve gone camping often, so having a roof over my head is always better than being outside no matter what.”

I grabbed the doorknob and slowly turned it.

The moment the door opened,

A massive amount of dust exploded into the air, making it impossible to see clearly.

The air instantly became suffocating, causing me to cough involuntarily.

“Hack! Ugh….”

“Mr. Death, are you alright…? Achoo!”

Eventually, the dust began to settle slightly, revealing a room that could make the haunted houses from horror games seem like child’s play.

There were numerous insect and rat carcasses scattered everywhere,

furniture completely buried under layers of dust.

The wallpaper had peeled off in patches and mold had taken over,

and chaotic spider webs of all sizes were tangled across the ceiling.

“What in the… world…”

I hesitated for a moment, then took a single step inside.

As I pushed my foot through the dust, a dried, unidentifiable stain was revealed on the floor.

At that moment, my mind was consumed by a single thought.

‘…Maybe I should just camp outside?’

Given the dust, or maybe because I couldn’t even bring myself to start cleaning,

my breath became heavy, and a small hollow laugh escaped me.

At that moment, I heard the trembling voice of the saint behind me.

“…Uh, how about we just share my room by splitting it in half?”

“What nonsense is this?”

“Ah, no, or… or I could stretch out like a caterpillar in the corner of the room, so you can have the rest of the space!”

“So why is the owner of the room giving up their rights?”

I sighed as I looked down at the saint, who had deeply bowed her head.

Living outside would definitely be more comfortable,

but surely this saint would strongly oppose it.

‘…I guess there’s no choice but to clean it, then.’

If I clean all day, I should somehow be able to manage.

“I’ll stay here.”

“What? Really? Here?”

When I calmly said these words, the saint widened her eyes and stared at me.

I smiled and nodded my head.

“It’s surprisingly spacious, but still, if I clean it thoroughly, it should be done in a day or two.”

“Even so… no matter what, this place…”

The saint looked at the room once more with pursed lips.

She shook her head and groaned.

“Then, I’ll clean it little by little, so why don’t you just stay in my room in the meantime…”

“No. That would just be more inconvenient… rather, I’m confident in my cleaning skills.”

‘What cleaning skills?’

I quietly muttered to myself as I smiled at the saint.

“Ugh… but still…”

“That’s enough. We’ve decided to stay here, so let’s go have breakfast. Aren’t you hungry?”

“My being hungry isn’t the issue…”

“Come on. After breakfast, we have to go check on those who are resting, right?”

I practically pulled the saint, who had trouble moving her feet, out of the room.

When we finally reached the kitchen, I realized something.

The kitchen wasn’t the only place that needed cleaning.

‘Right. This was a mess too, wasn’t it?’

I had completely forgotten about the condition of the kitchen because the state of the room was so dire.

It was so bad that I had even thought, ‘This might be tolerable.’

‘But no, anything to that extent is unacceptable.’

I hurriedly grabbed the saint as she was about to enter the kitchen.

“Eh? What’s wrong?”

“…Shall we eat outside today?”

“Uh, yeah? I don’t really mind either way…”

In the end, we set up a table in the corridor again.

While pulling out items one by one from my pocket dimension which I had taken out last time,

the saint watched me with sparkling eyes.

“Wow, last time it was amazing, but seeing it in the light makes it even more so.”

“Is it?”

“Yeah. Stuff just appears out of nowhere, it’s definitely magic.”

The saint’s voice carried the pure amazement of a child.

I smiled slightly as I laid out the tablecloth.

“I don’t know how to use magic. It’s you who can use magic, not me.”

“Hmm, then, what is this? What’s the principle behind it?”

The saint approached me and gently poked the pocket dimension with her fingers.

The pocket dimension repelled her touch, as if rejecting her.

Startled, the saint’s eyes widened, and I couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

“…Ah? My, my finger just got pushed away.”

“It’s always like that. Only I can use this. In fact, any mortal with recorded life can’t even enter… Wait.”

Hold on, isn’t this confidential as well?

I hastily clamped my hands over my mouth and broke out in cold sweats.

The saint stared at me intently.

Her clear, golden eyes gradually filled with curiosity as she observed me.

The more the saint beamed with curiosity, the more I became flustered and didn’t know what to do.

Eventually, I couldn’t meet her gaze anymore and covered my face with my hands.

“…Uh, I’m troubled, but could you just let it go?”

“Eh? Why? What’s troublesome?”

I heard her take a step closer.

I could feel her right next to me.

I could hear the saint’s breathing near my ears.

“Waaii?”

“…Please, just let this slide.”

“Ahhah!”

The clear, melodious laughter that spread through the corridor momentarily stiffened me.

Confused, I lowered my hand and looked at the saint.

The saint was smiling while covering her mouth with her fingertips.

She looked somewhat like a mischievous trickster and also seemed very carefree.

“Just kidding. If it troubles you, Mr. Death, you don’t have to tell me.”

“…A joke?”

“Mm-hmm. Guess I inadvertently made you cover your face. Sorry.”

The saint grinned and slightly bowed her head.

Her gaze, whether she understood my feelings or not, slowly lowered to examine my expression.

“Still…”

The saint paused before carefully observing my face and taking a step back.

She then burst out laughing.

“The sight of Mr. Death being flustered was really cute.”

“But I’m a god, you know?”

“Hohoho, but you were cute.”

The saint tilted her head as she looked at me.

It felt like she was teasing me, but her sincerity made me momentarily speechless.

I couldn’t maintain my expression, so I turned away from the saint and fumbled around in the pocket dimension.

“Miss Saint, are you not going to eat breakfast?”

“Aww, sorry. It was wrong of me…”

From behind, I heard the saint sniffling.

Her whining voice came with her pulling on my clothes, trying to appease me.

“Mr. Death… Are you mad? Ehh?”

“Maybe.”

“Really sorry! I didn’t mean to tease you… but I guess I did.”

“Ah, so you were teasing me.”

“Auuu…”

The saint clutched my clothes even tighter with her pouting face.

I glanced at her and returned my focus to the pocket dimension.

‘You must have starved while I was sleeping, so I need to hurry up.’

I intended to serve something special today, not wanting to give her instant food.

I was sure I had received some bread from Lady Hestia, yet I couldn’t find it anywhere.

Well, it wasn’t surprising that I couldn’t find it.

I hadn’t bothered to organize anything and had just piled things up, making it resemble a makeshift dump.

‘…Looks like I need to clean this up too.’

I sighed inwardly, beginning a careful excavation through the accumulated items.

“Sorry…”

“…”

“Ugh… I’m really sorry.”

“…”

“Don’t ignore me, even if you’re mad. …Eh?”

The moment I finally found the bread, I heard her sobbing from behind.

Thinking something was amiss, I peeked out from the pocket dimension and turned around.

The saint, catching my eye, softly muttered while sniffling.

“I’m truly sorry. I won’t tease you again. So please don’t ignore me…”

“…”

I froze momentarily, unsure of what she just said.

Not knowing what to do, I tightly closed my mouth. Then the saint, growing restless, clung to me even more.

I cautiously questioned in confusion.

“Did I ignore you?”

“Yes, you didn’t respond. Just now, and earlier as well…”

Upon thinking about it, I indeed had been completely focused on the pocket dimension this whole time.

…At some point, I stopped hearing the saint’s voice altogether.

I sighed softly and looked at her.

“…I apologize. Whenever I get concentrated on something, I lose track of other things. I was so focused on finding the bread that I didn’t hear a single word you said.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really.”

The saint’s tearful expression gradually relaxed.

She still looked uneasy, carefully peering at me while asking.

“Then… you’re not mad?”

“No, I’m not. It wasn’t something to be mad about in the first place.”

The saint let out a sigh of relief and nodded, yet she still didn’t release her firm grip on me.

I uneasily spoke up.

“Miss Saint, if you stay like this, I can’t prepare anything. Are you not hungry?”

“…Just a little longer please.”

“Yes, yes.”

Since it was my fault, I’ll let her stay like this until she feels better.

I sighed lightly and gently patted her head with one hand.

---