Damn Reincarnation

pe to unconditionally follow the church’s doctrines.
She had even drunk alcohol while calling it holy water, so it was entirely possible that she might have secretly had a descendant without anyone knowing about it.

That said, it wasn’t like he could suddenly ask Kristina, who was still just a stranger, about her ancestry.

So for now, Eugene just asked, “…Is there something that you need from me?”

Although Eugene had been treating her politely, out of consideration for the fact that they were still strangers, it seemed that Kristina had no intention of following suit.

“Please pardon me,” Kristina spologized as she reached out her hand and grabbed Eugene by the wrist.

‘What is she trying to do?’

Eugene couldn’t help but feel slightly flustered.
Although Eugene had predicted Kristina’s movements in advance, he couldn’t figure out the reason behind her actions.

Soon, a tingling electric current began flowing from where she was gripping his wrist.
Eugene’s brows furrowed at this, but he didn’t try to pull himself free of Kristina’s hands.
Kristina was still looking up at Eugene with a wide smile on her face.

“…Are you done?” Eugene asked, after a few moments had passed.

The tingling sensation spreading from his wrist had stopped.
Yet, even so, Kristina was still holding on to it.

After fiddling with Eugene’s wrist, she boldly ran her eyes up Eugene’s forearm.

“Is there a reason why you just did that?” Eugene demanded.

“Your forearm seems quite strong,” Kristina commented.

Eugene raised an eyebrow, “I’m hoping that you're not just touching me because you wanted to feel me up.”

“I heard that you personally faced the Demon King of Incarceration,” Kristina finally explained before letting go of Eugene’s wrist with a nod.
“Having come face-to-face with a Demon King, there was a risk that your mind and soul may have been tainted with his Demonic Power.”

“And so, was my mind and soul tainted by the Demon King?” Eugene asked, confident of the answer.

“Not at all,” Kristina said.
“They’re both completely clean without a trace of contamination.”

Eugene snorted.
Back then, The Demon King of Incarceration had descended upon the site using the Death Knight’s body as his vessel.
Although he might not have been so certain of this had the Demon King of Incarceration decided to come out in person, there was no way that Eugene’s soul was so weak that it would be tainted after facing just that.

Eugene got back to the main point, “So did you come here just because you were worried about me?”

“Though that was part of it, I was also curious about you,” Kristina admitted.

Eugene smirked, “It seems that rumors of my exploits have even spread to the Holy Empire.”

“Rumors are rumors, but I have also received a revelation,” Kristina said, as she looked up into Eugene’s face.

“…A revelation?” Eugene asked, uncertainly.

“Yes.”

“What kind of revelation?”

“I’m afraid that it would be difficult for me to reveal that to you Sir Eugene, as you have not yet converted to our faith.”

“If you can’t even tell me what it says, why tease me by making me aware that it exists?” Eugene complained.

“I just wanted to make you aware that God had given his blessing to our meeting,” Katrina declared piously.

God? Eugene’s face twisted into a deep scowl.
He should have known.
If there was any being capable of delivering a revelation to this Saint in front of him, it had to be the God of Light, who all of Yuras worshiped.

However, Eugene definitely couldn’t just accept these words at face value.
Even someone like Anise had never once received a divine revelation.
Thus, to a certain extent, Anise’s participation in Vermouth’s journey was done at the will of the Holy Empire, not at the will of their God.

“…Have you finished your business with me?” Eugene eventually inquired.

“Not at all,” Kristina said, shaking her head.
She reached out her hand once more to grab Eugene by the wrist, “The meeting held at the round table is finally over.
Since the Elders of the Council have decided to open the door to the tomb, let us visit the tomb together.”

“…Will you also be entering the tomb, Auxiliary Bishop Kristina?” Eugene asked in surprise.

“Yes, that is why I came here in person,” Kristina explained.

Eugene voiced his suspicions, “Is this also because of the revelation?”

“Yes,” Kristina replied with a smile.

Eugene definitely couldn’t tell what Kristina’s true intentions were, and once again, this fact reminded him of Anise.

Since Kristina was the one who had taken liberties with him first, Eugene decided that there was no need to be so polite with her.

“…Would it be alright for me to ask you a question?” Eugene spoke up as Kristina led him down the hallway.
“Auxiliary Bishop Katrina, I have heard that you are currently the only candidate for the position of the Saint.
Is that because you have inherited the legacy of the ‘Saint’ through your bloodline?”

“Your question sure is quite sudden,” Katrina responded.

Ignoring her evasiveness, Eugene continued, “I have been studying magic for the past two years in Akron.
Auxiliary Bishop Kristina may not be aware of this, but within Lady Sienna’s Hall, there is a place where she left behind the images of her comrades from three hundred years ago.”

These words caused Kristina’s steps to falter for a few moments.
As her eyes narrowed into a thin smile, she turned around to look at Eugene.

In response to her silent smile, Eugene justgrinned and said, “This of course include my ancestor, the Great Vermouth, as well as the Brave Molon, the Stupid… Hamel, and the Faithful Anise.
I was able to see all of their appearances.”

“How fortunate for you,” Katrina said drily.

Eugene got to the point, “There, I happened to get a good look at Lady Anise’s face.
I’m not sure how you’ll take this, but you just so happen to greatly resemble Lady Anise, Auxiliary Bishop Katrina.”

“Although that comes as quite a surprise, I am grateful for your words,” Kristina said as she let go of Eugene’s hand and bowed her head deeply.
“For you to have seen a resemblance to the Lady Saintess from long ago in this servant, I, who have yet to graduate from being a mere candidate….
Perhaps this too may be due to a miracle from God.”

“Can a mere facial resemblance really be called a miracle?” Eugene questioned doubtfully.

Instead of answering Eugene’s question, Kristina continued, “Perhaps Lady Anise may even be my ancestor.
If that is the case, that would be quite amazing.”

“Though I’ve heard that Lady Anise didn’t leave behind any descendants,” Eugene pointed out.

“Though that may be what the world believes, beneath the title of a Saint even Lady Anise was still only human, so she may have desired descendants,” Kristina argued.
“How much do you know about me, Sir Eugene?”

“…I’m aware that you are Cardinal Rogeris’s adopted daughter,” Eugene replied.

“Yes.
I was abandoned as an infant by my birth parents.
My parents, whose very names are lost to me, placed me in a basket and discarded me at the door of a monastery, in the hopes that the priests of the God of Light would take me in,” Kristina reached out once more and caught Eugene’s wrist in her hand.

“Because of that, I know nothing about my bloodline or about my ancestors.
However, since Sir Eugene claims that he can see a resemblance to the Faithful Anise in my features, then I really do suspect that she might be my ancestor,” said Kristiana with a giggle.
“If that really is the case, then it would be truly fortuitous and amazing, but it would also be slightly distressing.
From what Sir Eugene has said, if I really am the descendant of Anise… wouldn’t that mean that one of parents was still unable to care for their own child despite also being a descendant of Anise?”

Eugene wasn’t sure what to say to this, so he just shrugged his shoulders.
He didn’t miss the reaction that Kristina had shown when she had first heard him say that she resembled Anise.
Kristina hadn’t seemed overly flustered.

As if she had heard it many times before.

Once he had given it some thought, Eugene realized that there was no way that Anise’s appearance would have gone unrecorded by the Holy Empire.
Just like what Eugene had felt upon seeing Kristina, the priests of the Holy Empire must have also sensed a resemblance to Anise’s appearance in Kristina.

How many children were left abandoned in front of a monastery each year? For an abandoned child like her to have caught the eye of a Cardinal, there must have been some kind of reason behind it.

Eugene decided not to continue asking questions about her relationship to Anise.
Perhaps that snake-like woman really had started a family without anyone knowing about it, even as she went around as a Saint.
Maybe she had even started a family while wandering around on her pilgrimage.

That was all up to Anise.
But what was clear was that it couldn’t be the least bit pleasant to keep bothering Kristina, who might not even be Anise’s descendant, about it.

“…The night air sure is cold,” Eugene muttered as he pulled out a thick robe from within the Cloak of Darkness and handed it to Kristina.

No matter how cold the night air was, it wasn’t like Kristina was incapable of making her own preparations to handle the cold.
Eugene was also well aware of this, but the offer was still meaningful as the act communicated his good will to her.

“Thank you very much,” Kristina said with a faint smile as she took the robe and wrapped it around her body.
She didn’t feel the need to turn down Eugene’s good will.

“Are we heading to the tower with the round table?” Eugene finally asked.

“Nope,” Kristina replied.

As the closed door to his quarters swung open, the paladins waiting outside his quarters bowed to Kristina.
Then they raised their bowed heads and eyed Eugene, but that was all that they did.
The paladins did not move to follow Eugene and Christina as they left.

Kristina revealed once they were in private, “We will be heading to the back of the castle.”

Then she pulled up the hood of her cloak and led the way forward.

1.
A diocese is a territory with several churches, under the jurisdiction of a bishop. ☜

2.
The readers may recall that this is the same substance that the succubus den on Bolero Road extracted from their clients. ☜