NOVEL WEB Chapter 26
Living with the saint, I encountered a problem.
“…I can’t leave here.”
To resolve this world’s issues, I couldn’t remain here indefinitely.
I needed to venture outside, inspect the world as a whole, and personally uncover the root of the problem.
However…
The saint wouldn’t allow me to leave.
Though she didn’t outright say “Don’t go!”…
“Saint, may I go out for a while?”
“…Why?”
The anxiety and fear behind that brief reply sealed my lips.
As I hesitated, the saint forced a smile.
“…Um, Mr. Death, could you help me with something?”
“Hmm? All of a sudden?”
“…Uh, yeah. I think it would be better to have a bed in your room…”
“No, I don’t really need it… Wait, what?”
The saint ignored my words, grabbed my hand, and pulled me forcefully.
As if it had to be done right now, she busily moved around the room, checking for a good spot.
“Somewhere around here would be good! Or would this wall be better?”
“…Saint, I really don’t need it.”
“That’s not true. It’s absolutely necessary.”
The saint then pulled out a measuring tape and notebook from the drawer.
Her enthusiasm was so intense that I hesitated for a moment when I was about to stop her.
“How about the frame material? Wood? Iron? Or…”
“Hey, stop for a second! Saint!”
“Mr. Death, would you help me carry the materials? Or maybe with the painting?”
“I’m sorry, but I need to go outside…”
“…Can’t you help? …Please.”
The earnestness in her final word weighed heavily on my heart.
Though her mouth was smiling, her eyes were crying.
Tears began to fall, one by one.
“…Maybe just a day won’t hurt.”
In the end, I was the one who gave in.
That day, I spent the entire day making a bed.
…And I thought that would be enough.
Starting the next day, the saint began making more requests.
To help her clean the warehouse, to assist in making a sofa, to repaint the building walls together…
Most of the work she managed to do herself.
Still, she constantly checked if I was nearby.
Even if I just turned to another place, the saint would anxiously look for me.
“Mr. Death! Where are you…? …Oh, there you are.”
Though her voice sounded unusually bright, it trembled slightly at the end.
The hand that held onto mine was shaking pitifully.
“For some reason, I can’t understand why she’s doing all this…”
Even though I had an inkling of why the saint was so anxious,
I couldn’t comprehend why she was this anxious.
But…
I couldn’t ask her why, considering the tear-streaked smile she wore.
As the days went by,
The time I spent away from the saint decreased.
I practically stayed with her all the time except when she was bathing, inside the detention center, or sleeping.
Even then…
When she was bathing, she would keep asking if I was still nearby.
“Mr. Death, are you outside?”
“Yes, I’m here.”
And in the detention center, she would frequently check if I was still around.
“Um, what do you think we should do today?”
“…I don’t know.”
Her urgency was evident in her voice when we were out of earshot in the basement.
Moreover, today, when the saint was inside the detention center, I detected a suspicious presence surveilling this area.
“Is it there?”
I was about to move after marking the location when I hesitated.
I remembered how the last time I left without a word, the saint turned pale searching for me.
In the time it took me to hesitate, the presence disappeared again.
“…This guy must have really sharp senses.”
Given how quickly it vanished, it was clear they were deliberately keeping an eye on this place.
If I hurry, maybe I could find some clue.
I shouted loudly in case.
“Sainthood! Let me check something for a moment…”
“…No, absolutely not!”
The saint’s voice came out urgently.
From inside the detention center, I heard the sound of a commotion.
Then, the door creaked open.
The disheveled saint, panting, quickly looked around.
“…Did you trip?”
“Mr. Death!”
Ignoring her own condition, the saint rushed to tightly grip the edge of my clothes upon spotting me.
Her trembling hands and her eyes, filled with anxiety, showed that her smile was strained.
Even someone like me, unfamiliar with human relationships, could tell.
‘This isn’t normal, is it?’
I hesitated, considering what to say, but eventually sighed.
“You’re all messy with blood and decay fluids. Aren’t you uncomfortable like this?”
“Th-that…”
“…I’ll stay outside the bathroom.”
“Y-yes!”
And again, I spent the entire day with the saint.
Since there was a history of me leaving without telling her,
I thought if I stayed beside her and built trust, the situation might improve gradually.
But it wasn’t getting better—instead, it was worsening.
“There’s no point in staying like this. It doesn’t benefit this world or the saint.”
Today, I’ll talk to her even if it makes her cry or anxious.
If that doesn’t work…
I’ll have no choice but to resort to the ultimate method.
I waited as I stared at the ceiling for the saint to enter the room.
Sure enough, there was a knock.
“Come in.”
“Ah, okay.”
The saint entered, hugging her pillow tightly and smiled at me.
After watching her for a while, I opened my mouth with difficulty.
“Sainthood, I have something to say…”
“Ah, wait! Mr. Death!”
“Y-yes?”
She nervously swallowed, fidgeted, and tightly clutched her pillow.
After waiting and receiving no response, I tried again.
“I need to go outside…”
“Isn’t it uncomfortable living here?”
“…Huh? Suddenly?”
She nodded, rolling her eyes around.
“…We’ve been living together for nearly two weeks now, why now?”
Her question was so absurd and awkward that it made me sigh, but I answered nonetheless.
“No, it’s fine.”
“But… but what if… insects come out?”
“It’s winter.”
“T-the thing is… even in winter, insects survive here… because of… immortality.”
She hesitated for a moment, then glanced at the window.
“And… I, I have a garden nearby to take care of… the insect population is higher over there…”
“Garden?”
“Yes. A friend… gave me some flowers to raise…”
“Friend?”
At my words, the saint flinched momentarily.
Then, she dropped the pillow she’d been holding so tightly and shouted.
“What does that mean! Of course, I have friends too?!”
“I apologize… I haven’t seen anyone while living here.”
The saint’s lips trembled as her cheeks puffed up.
After a while, she extended her arms fully and spread ten fingers.
“I, I have friends! It’s easily this many!”
…Why is she subtly hiding one finger while saying that? Moreover, the fingers on the hand she’s showing are gradually reducing.
I shook my head and grabbed her index finger.
“While I’m here, I’ll be your friend. Does that count as one?”
“…”
With a pout, the saint looked down.
Even if being friends with Death displeased her, I’d get hurt if she openly showed it.
After watching her silently for a moment, I moved to the window.
“By the way, this garden you mentioned?”
“Yes.”
“…All I see is an unusual jungle.”
“It’s beyond there. And that’s not a jungle; it’s a field!”
…Is that a field?
I looked again at the ‘field’ the saint talked about.
The tangled vines and weeds in that landscape certainly didn’t resemble anything you’d call a field from any angle.
“…This?”
“Yeah. We planted tomatoes… and… something else. I don’t quite remember since I haven’t managed it properly.”
“…The flower garden must be in similar condition?”
“No! I take care of the garden every morning, no matter how busy I am.”
Thinking about it, taking care of the field would have been better than the flower garden.
The saint had been eating potato peels before I came to save food.
Yet, she still took care of flowers she couldn’t eat every day,
while neglecting the edible field to such a state…?
‘What is this person even thinking…’
I sighed, looking out the window at the ‘field’ once more.
Then, the saint blurted out excuses hurriedly.
“To me, flowers are much more precious! They came from a really precious friend.”
“Did that friend happen to be the Dragon?”
The saint slowly shook her head.
Her expression held an inexplicable longing.
It was as if she was happy just thinking about this person, yet her sadness was palpable.
“…This friend came much earlier than the Dragon.”
“Much earlier than the Dragon, you say?”
The saint nodded.
“Yes. Long before. Before the Dragon came… Even when I was alone in this world. A stranger who helped teach me words, gifted me flowers, showed up every day…”
“…Alone? Hold on…”
As far as I understood, the saint had always been alone in this world.
Until the Dragon showed up and created a dimensional rift,
there wasn’t anyone here, right?
“Did this person also suddenly appear like the Dragon?”
“…No. This friend lived outside of the world.”
I looked at her questioningly.
“Outside the world?”
“Yes. Didn’t I say before? About the really important person I wanted to see, so I asked the Dragon for help. …That was this person. A child outside the world.”
The saint’s eyes were already wet with tears.
With a voice trembling on the verge of crying, she continued calmly.
“I could always talk to this person through a tiny gap they made when I waited every day, until one day they stopped showing up…”
“…Gap? What do you mean by that?”
“There’s a solid wall at the edge of the world, but this child managed to crack it a little, creating a gap.”
Listening to the saint, I found myself deep in thought.
The concept of the world’s ‘outside’ and a ‘gap’ she spoke about didn’t sound like mere metaphors or figurative expressions.
I asked her carefully.
“So the child made this gap. Is the gap still there now?”
“Yes. The gap still exists. It’s just that I can’t see anything but complete darkness.”
Why does this keep getting more and more incomprehensible the more I hear?
It’s probably not enough to rely solely on explanations.
I need to personally see this world’s ‘outside’ and this ‘gap’.
“Sainthood.”
“…Yeah?”
“I want to go confirm this thing called the ‘world outside’ and this ‘gap’.”
The saint’s eyes widened instantly.
Freezing for a moment, she then hugged me tightly as if unwilling to let go.
…