I Reject the villain’s ending.

Chapter 42

Iros still had the gentle smile of a spring breeze on his face.

“The test won’t be over until evening, so why don’t we get a snack?”

“Sure. Whatever you want.”

“Whatever you want,” I mumbled like an idiot, my heart racing and my smile still a slice of a beautiful spring day.

“Come to think of it, I think the most beautiful woman in the world was Iros.

My memory was being manipulated now.

‘No, no. If Iros isn’t the most beautiful woman in the world, who is?

… was brilliantly shattered the next day.

It was shattered.

The world was big and there were many beauties.

* * *

The next Great Guardian, Wisdom, became Mei without much fanfare.

“Am I going to be a Guardian……?”

“Yes.”

“That’s ridiculous. Really? Oh, my God.”

Mei muttered in disbelief as she looked at the results sheet. It wouldn’t be long before the news spread outside the temple.

But Mei didn’t seem to realize it yet.

“No, I just took a test and had an interview, and I answered the questions well.”

“Everyone else failed because they couldn’t do that, and you got in.”

“But I can’t even use holy power?”

“Eldrakis couldn’t use holy power either, originally. It doesn’t matter, the original Guardians were given holy power at the Guardian Installation Ceremony.”

Mei fell silent, speechless.

“I didn’t realize it was so easy to become a Guardian.”

“Unlike the other Guardians, Wisdom, by its very nature, opens the door to everyone, so anyone can become one.”

“Guys, that sounds like Eldrakis frothing at the mouth.”

Even if I didn’t have to go to the netherworld to find Eldrakis, I could feel the heat in the eyes of the rejects staring at me.

With awkward smiles and heartfelt mumblings, I took refuge in the temple’s Great Prayer Hall, where the installation ceremony was to take place.

Still looking dreary, deserted, and somber, the waiting room was lit with candles everywhere.

Mei looked around and marveled.

“Wow. I’ve never been here before.”

“Normally, the Great Prayer Hall is only opened once a year, during the New Year, but it’s also used for the appointment of the Guardian.”

As I was explaining, a restless gaze pierced my back.

“…….”

The sting was too much to ignore.

I glanced back at Iros, who was flinching and shaking and stalked over to him, looking him up and down.

“What the hell is wrong with you? You look like a puppy that needs to be fed.”

“Well, this is where we came from the day before the Saint died, so-”

“So you’re worried about me?”

“That it might happen again, to be precise. If she does it again tomorrow, I’m going to…….”

Iros trailed off and jerked his head away, looking like he was about to cry.

His reddened eyes and furrowed brow, as if he were about to break down and cry, stunned me.

“Are you afraid I’m going to die?”

You? Are you killing me in the future?

“You’re worried about me? It’s not like the cat cares about the mouse.

What am I supposed to make of Iros, who cowered with his tail between his legs like a puppy in fear of losing his master?

Like someone with PTSD, I wonder if it was so traumatic that I died right in front of me.

‘There’s no mention of me coming back from the dead in The Crazy Saint, so maybe Iros has changed because the novel is different?

A thought filled my head that maybe Iros really wouldn’t kill me in the future.

This, yes. It was a hunch.

‘The certainty that he will kill me, and the intuition that he won’t be able to kill me. I have a complicated life.’

Before I knew it, the guardianship ceremony was underway.

Mei walked between the two rows of priests facing each other and knelt at the altar, overlooked by a large statue of the god.

I watched meekly.

“Mei, do you swear to punish evil and follow only good, in the name of Viata, given to you as Wisdom, guardian of temples and saints?”

“I swear.”

Mei answered with a solemn nod, and High Priest Diego stepped away from the altar with a solemn expression and opened his mouth.

“So says the servant of God. From this moment forward, Mei will live as the Seventh Wisdom.”

As High Priest Diego finished speaking, a brilliant light burst forth from the statue and enveloped Mei.

* * *

“……!”

Mei remembered the conversation she’d had with Iros before the ceremony.

‘Guardian, once I’m appointed as a Guardian, I’ll be able to borrow your power, what am I supposed to do then?

‘It’s hard to explain, even if I wanted to. You’ll find out in a little while anyway, Mei, so you’ll have to experience it yourself.’

‘So this is what it feels like.

The feeling of something settling into your body and connecting with you from the soul.

I felt a reservoir of power, a connection to a warm golden presence.

‘So vast that it could be drawn upon at any time. ‘This is the divine power of the Lord.

I instinctively and naturally recognized the divine power, filled with light and life, and how it could be drawn upon.

Then he heard a boy’s voice faintly in his ear.

– The boy was… Remember……. Please.

‘Voices? Whose voices?

The glow of the statue that had lit up the great hall slowly faded, and the ceremony was over.

Mei knelt at the altar, still dazed, and looked up at the statue of the god.

She could still hear the voice ringing in her ears.

“Mei? Are you okay?”

“Yes. Yes.”

“Why do you think she’s getting more stupid, Pink, did you do this after the ceremony too?”

“I didn’t look this stupid.”

“I can hear you!”

Mei shouted, storming off.

“Now go back.”

“Okay. If you’ve come to your senses, let’s get some rest. It’s been a long day.”

“Hehe. Yeah!”

Mei glanced back as she followed his footsteps back to her room, smiling broadly.

“What was that voice at the end? It must have said something.

The statue of the god in front of her did not answer, its eyes closed in silent prayer.

* * *

The day came when Mei became the new Guardian, and the Emperor invited her to the palace, even stamping his seal on the invitation.

“Damn…….”

“Saint, please stop saying such nasty things, it makes you look even dirtier than you already are.”

“What?!”

I whipped my head around to glare at Iros.

Iros didn’t react to my fearsome glare and continued to do his job.

I shuffled my legs and tugged at my hair, twisting myself into a fetal position and glowing like hell.

“Today’s the day, finally! Ack, shit! Damn it, Geary, today’s the day!”

“Why are you having a seizure again this morning, your make-up is creaking. Be quiet.”

Iros pointed out, mascara in hand, and I blinked at him in a half-crazed state of mind.

“I’m beautiful without make-up. My beauty is the best in the universe. I’m perfect.”

“Yeah, yeah. You’d be even more perfect if you didn’t get so weird sometimes.”

Iros, already immune to my bullshit, snapped back.

“You’re not being very sincere!”

“…….”

What the hell am I supposed to do, I thought, as if I could hear his thoughts.

Iros looked like a runaway soul, his eyes radiating incredulity.

I love that cocky glare.

Sometimes it seemed to him that he wanted to be a guardian, to slap this little brat on her arse.

But the reality is that he’s the obvious one.

“Life…….”

Iros was repeating the words I’d been muttering under my breath.

But the bullshit wasn’t over yet.

The brazen, confident man who had been so brazen and confident had fallen apart and was muttering to himself again.

My mood was a rollercoaster of ups and downs, almost as high as 8,000 meters above sea level.

“Why did I live so hard……. Why, why did I live a good life…….”

“Are you crazy, since when have you been good?”

Iros’s sour words didn’t calm him.

“Shit. I shouldn’t have been so nice. I should have been just a little bit mean!”

“Is that what a saint would say?”

“Yes.”

I meant it a hundredfold. I really should have been meaner and worked less hard.

If I had, the imperial palace would have said, “We honor you for your efforts for the people. Come and see us. You’re invited.” I wouldn’t have heard that damn thing.

I picked at my nails out of habit and stopped moving when I felt a large, warm body cover my hand.

I looked up to find a pair of violet eyes staring down at me with concern.

“You’re bleeding.”

“Oh.”

“Don’t make yourself sick.”

Before I could protest, Iros used his holy power to heal his fingertips.

A warm golden glow of holy power enveloped his hand.

“Don’t.”

“It will heal quickly.”

Iros spoke again, pushing his hand away.

“I told you not to, Iros Elijah.”

“Are you angry?”

“Yes. I’m angry.”

His expression hardened, and he pulled Iros’s hand away.

His exposed hand was red as if it had been scalded by a fire, and the flesh was raw.

“I don’t know about anyone else, but you told me not to use my holy power, didn’t you?”

Biting my lip, I pulled a potion for Divine Misfits from a drawer and carefully poured it into Iros’s hand.

The redness of the burn disappeared as if it had been washed away, but he was still angry.

“You’re hurting yourself when you use Divine Power.”

“I’m fine-”

“You!”

“…….”

“It hurts.”

I cut Iros off and shouted, feeling strangled, my voice getting smaller and smaller the further back I went.

This is why I didn’t want to give him my heart.