LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 148
The spotlight shines down on us.
Thousands of worshippers surrounding us glare fiercely from every direction.
Just those chilling gazes could freeze anyone in their tracks, but they don’t stop there. The nearby worshippers, positioned as if to reach us in an instant, stretch out their hands towards us.
“Grab them!”
“How dare you ruin the worship!?”
“Get them!”
These fanatics, fittingly labeled as zealots, swarm in an instant. While I was dumbfounded witnessing the chaos, Six naturally draped her hand around my waist.
“─Don’t open your mouth?”
Then she swiftly vaulted over the heads of the worshippers, moving like a thief in the night. Watching Six cling to the walls like a spider, I was finally reminded of her true identity.
The sixth officer of the Evil Organization.
At the same time, the best spy who had infiltrated every city and corporation to siphon their information.
In that moment, it became clear that Boss hadn’t just assigned her that role because of her unique ability to blend in. There was much more to it.
“This is dangerous—what do we do now?”
“…First, let’s get out of here.”
“But how? All the exits are completely blocked!”
Listening to Six, I glanced around and realized this was a chapel with no windows. Unlike the lovely stained glass that was common back on Earth, there was none to be found here.
Perhaps they believed that the very existence of the Saintess emanated enough holiness to render such luxuries unnecessary.
However, we couldn’t precisely unleash some over-the-top attack with the Evil Organization’s full might here. Last time, our adversary was a powerful superhuman villain, but now we were just trying to escape from a group of civilians…
Moreover, since our identities hadn’t been exposed yet, leaving any trace that could reveal who we were would be a huge blunder.
“Let’s climb up.”
“Up… You don’t mean we’re escaping through that ventilation shaft, do you?”
Upon hearing my words, Six pointed incredulously at the large ventilation shaft. With her agility, crawling through that vent might actually be possible.
But moving at a snail’s pace out of here would only get us caught outside, and there was no way she could carry me along that narrow path.
Fortunately, that wasn’t what I meant.
It was much higher than that.
“Something will open soon. The sky.”
“Huh? What do you mean by that…?”
As Six protested, something plummeted from above. It was precisely aimed at bursting through the chapel’s roof before disappearing as if fulfilling a specific purpose.
Gazing at the long beam of light stretching into the universe, Six turned to me, her expression a mix of incredulity.
“Did you just—hack a satellite…?”
“Not quite hacking. We launched one recently.”
“Launched—!? I mean, satellites aren’t toy rockets that you can just shoot off so easily…”
After a moment of incredulity, realizing that a path to the sky had opened, Six grabbed my hand and we dashed out of the chapel.
I wondered if the Saintess’s powers extended beyond the chapel, as the moment we escaped, those chasing us began losing their purpose and hesitating.
“Huh? Who were we just…”
“What were we… trying to do?”
Emerging from the chaos of confused worshippers, we climbed into a vehicle and sped away from the religious city.
I briefly glanced back at the melted chapel ceiling.
‘The Saintess…’
It didn’t take long to realize she wasn’t an ordinary person. Avoiding this place entirely might be wise.
But would they easily give up just because we did? Based on my experiences thus far, definitely not.
This meant we had to prepare in anticipation of future encounters with the Saintess…
——————
“W-What just happened…?”
“Why is the ceiling… melted?”
As soon as the entity that had snuck into the chapel slipped out of sight, the Saintess became aware that the spell she’d cast on the worshippers was lifted.
“─It seems the Lord wanted to take a look at this place. Given that He came in person.”
“Ohh, ohhh!”
“It’s a hole created for the Lord to peek through!”
“The Lord’s peeping hole…!”
Embracing this occurrence as part of divine insight, the Saintess recalled the intruders who had been stirring up trouble in the chapel moments ago. A moderately handsome man and a woman who looked like she’d stepped out of a flower garden.
Realizing their presence had been a close call, she noted that something felt off about the worshippers’ movements; they were behaving unusually, as if something were blocking their path.
Therefore, when she borrowed a glimpse from her divine perspective, it was easy to tell they were no ordinary people. One didn’t seem of this world, while the other was slightly out of touch with reality.
As she shared her insight with the worshippers, they seemed to only then recognize the two individuals. Though, as soon as they slipped from her perception, it was clear they had forgotten their presence.
‘An unusual ability… an assassin, perhaps?’
This wasn’t an uncommon situation. Each time she embodied the Saintess’s role and channeled divine powers, there were always those jealous or envious enough to want to kill or kidnap her to use for their personal gains.
However, she had always managed to overcome those adversities, becoming the leader of the largest religious organization in the city. It would not be an exaggeration to say she nearly ruled this town.
‘It’s been a while since I’ve had this kind of visitor.’
Because of this, encountering assassins, especially allowing them to get this close to the chapel, was a rare occurrence. Usually, before an assassin could even step foot inside, the details of their identity would be thoroughly vetted by the worshippers.
Thinking of how they had evaded detection, it seemed they had snuck in unnoticed. Considering they hadn’t flown in from the sky, they must have hidden among the worshippers, undetectable to anyone but those with divine insight…
‘I’ll need to bolster security.’
Determined to do so, the Saintess contemplated the necessary budget. Oh dear, it seemed like an embarrassingly large amount of money would be required. Especially since there were already so many financial demands…
But fortunately for her, there were plenty of generous wallets to squeeze from.
“Alright, everyone. Let’s pray. Please, keep the robbers away from our homes…”
The Saintess prayed.
That the worshippers would increase their donations.
As expected, her prayer was granted.
——————
“Name: Lizbel. Profession: Self-Proclaimed Saintess.”
After returning to the laboratory, I used artificial intelligence to investigate the Saintess’s background. There were no special protective measures, so I could easily find out her personal data.
Lizbel. Self-proclaimed Saintess. Age: 22, Height: 165 cm. Weight, according to a recent fitness app, was reported as 63 kg…
‘Hmm, that’s to be expected.’
I nodded, recalling the mass of fat hanging from her chest, each side likely weighing a few kilograms. Given that weight, she was closer to being slightly underweight.
In any case, I continued reviewing her personal specifications and found no particularly strange aspects. Her power seemed average.
‘X-ray vision?’
Surprisingly, the ability listed in the database wasn’t anything divine like God’s descent, but merely the ability to see through objects. Not like clairvoyance, which lets you see far away, but more like peeking at the details of flipped-over playing cards.
How was it possible for someone with such a trivial ability to pretend to be a Saintess? That puzzled me greatly.
‘Is she hiding her actual powers?’
This was the most plausible explanation. The Saintess was disguising her ability, living a life while pretending her power was x-ray vision. After all, for a guy, it would pose some issues, but for a girl, it would likely have little downside…
If she possessed divine abilities, then disguising them as x-ray vision seemed to be a rational choice. However, that meant…
‘Has she been deceiving people since she was very young?’
How old was she when she began planning to become a Saintess? What exactly did she intend to achieve by becoming one?
That was the crux of the matter.