「I rushed over after I heard Filuria’s order…… And it was really you.」
Sophie muttered in between her exhausted breaths.
It seems she knew a little something about this situation, but Fran tilted her head.
「But why are you here?」
「You! How dare you refer to Saintess-sama like that!」
「Such insolence! I’ll have you thrown in jail!」
「Be quiet!」
「B-But……!」
「I said be quiet, didn’t I?」
「M-My deepest apologies!」
The guards flew into a rage after Fran said Sophie’s name without honorifics, but they fell silent after Sophie scolded them personally.
Did they just call her “Saintess”? I remember the Saintess of the Sanatorium being one of the people we were told to watch out for.
I heard she wasn’t a bad person herself, but people around her tended to go too far or something……
「But to speak so disparagingly of you is worthy of――」
「You are refusing to listen to my orders. Aren’t you disrespecting me too?」
「W-We would do nothing of the sort!」
「Indeed!」
「Then it’s about time for you to shut your mouths. It seems you have poor hearing, so I’ll say it one last time――Shut up.」
「……!」
Sophie spoke without any attempt to hide her annoyance. She wore such a harsh expression that I found it hard to believe this was the same girl who assisted us at Castel.
It was obvious from the moment she showed up, but she seemed strangely irritated for some reason.
Perhaps intimidated by Sophie’s intensity, the guards turned pale and went silent.
However, they showed no signs of remorse, and I could see that they were quite perplexed. They probably did not think they had done anything wrong.
I can easily imagine them going on another outburst once Sophie is no longer watching.
「You were sent by Filuria to capture her, weren’t you?」
「Y-Yes. We were ordered by the Medical Director’s guards, to be exact.」
「They said a black cat girl was acting suspiciously on the outskirts of the Sanatorium grounds, and that she was a thief……」
Medical Director? Was she the one behind all this?
「Sophie, who’s the Medical Director?」
「……This isn’t a good place to talk. Let’s go to my room. I’ll take her with me. Okay?」
「……Of course!」
The guards were obviously displeased, but they didn’t make any objections.
「This way.」
「Nn.」
Sophie quickly walked away without waiting for Fran. We hesitated for a moment, but Fran soon started following her.
While the Sanatorium was certainly suspicious, I don’t think Sophie would set Fran up. Besides, if she really was the saintess, no one would be able to touch us as long as we stayed with her.
I’m filled with questions, but it seems like we won’t get a chance to ask until we reach her room.
As we walked in silence, I saw a group of stern-faced men running toward us from the front.
I remembered their faces. They were the guys guarding Sophie when she fought with us at Castel.
I wouldn’t say we can trust them completely, but I doubt they would betray Sophie. After all, they were so loyal to her that they followed her to what could have been their deaths.
「Saintess-sa――Wait, you’re……!」
「It’s been a while.」
「Uh-huh…… B-But more importantly, Saintess-sama…! You worried us greatly when you left your room without any notification!」
It seems like they tried to avoid calling her “Saintess” previously. I guess now that they’ve realized that Fran knew her identity, they went back to calling her that.
「Something came up.」
「I-Is that so?」
Sophie answered casually, and the guard flinched. Then, he immediately glared at Fran.
「What?」
「It’s nothing!」
It obviously wasn’t nothing, but the man kept his mouth shut. Well, I could tell he didn’t appreciate it when an adventurer like Fran acted all friendly with Sophie.
We entered the Sanatorium under the same tingling atmosphere. Befitting her title of saintess, the people around us bowed their heads at her one after another.
Soldiers, patients, outlaws. Everyone showed their respect. Some of them even had fanatical looks on their faces.
Only the soldiers seemed to be suspicious of Fran. Most of the others were so focused on Sophie that they couldn’t even notice Fran when she was hiding her presence.
Sophie did not say a word back to them, keeping silent as we went deeper into the Sanatorium. We entered a magic-powered elevator, ascending upwards through the building.
She apparently wanted to surprise Fran with the elevator technology, but ended up a little irritated at Fran’s lack of expression.
It’s not that Fran wasn’t surprised, it just didn’t show on her face.
「This is the room. Come on in.」
「Nn.」
「You guys stay outside and make sure no one comes in. Nelsh can enter.」
Nelsh was apparently the leader of the guards. The rest of them waited quietly in front of the door.
「Now then, let me explain my position to you.」
「Nn. Saintess-sama?」
「Don’t call me that. Just Sophie is fine.」
「Okay, Sophie.」
When Fran nodded her head, Sophie smiled happily. Nelsh, on the other hand, had a complicated expression on his face.
After reuniting with Sophie at the Sanatorium, I could tell she didn’t seem too happy with being treated as a saintess. Nelsh seemed to feel strongly about that, but he couldn’t ignore Sophie’s wishes either.
「They all call me “Saintess” and talk about how I’m the most important person in this tower, but I don’t actually have any special status.」
「Really?」
「They only give me special treatment because everyone calls me a saintess, but I’m nothing more than a guest here. It was different when I first came here though……」
Sophie’s face became unmistakably sad as she spoke with a downcast look.
