The reddish light surrounding the long-distance magic receiver gradually faded. Lara was in the middle of a huge fancy bedroom, wearing red pajamas. She sat on a sofa decorated with black silk and golden handles. The sofa was larger than that of a decently sized bed.
Pale moonlight poured over Lara's head. She sat in a drowsy position, her long hair loosened on the shiny black silk sofa. It was like a work of fiction.
"Wow… Milady."
"Don't say anything."
"Why? I was going to say that you suit that sofa the best in the world…"
"That's an insult, right?"
"No!"
Konny strongly denied her.
"Are you sure?"
"Even though you're like that, you're still cool. When I watch you, I feel like I'm a maid who serves the demon lord, you know? Sooner or later, I may have horns on my head and black wings on my back."
"I'm sure you will get a tail first."
"I don't like that…"
Konny glanced at her bottom and made a sad face. Lara smirked and got up from her seat to draw the curtains.
Should I go to bed early today?
Lara had been falling asleep late these days, and now, the time to wake up was getting late. There were many people looking for Lara, but since she did not meet them, the number of people waiting increased.
"They said the saintess is weird."
"Who said that?"
"Everyone. They grumbled that even though the long-awaited saintess had finally appeared, they couldn't even see her face."
"Is that something to grumble about?"
"Since you're a saintess, you deliver God's words in the prayer room, hold hands while meeting people outside, and spread warm stories here and there… They must be thinking that you should do that."
"Why should I?"
"Because you're the saintess."
"Well, now the priests can use God's power again. Tell them to take this opportunity to go out and let people know their faces and spread warm stories here and there."
"You have to be the one to say it, milady. If I go out and say that, I will get beheaded."
It was obvious what people expected from the saintess. She should show miracles, make people sure of the existence of God, and give hope that life would continue somewhere even after death. The saintess should tell people that the world was safe and God was merciful, she should instill expectations that the upcoming future would be better than yesterday. She should also make people believe that good people were blessed and that evil people were punished.
However, despite Lara turning the temple upside down, she did not engage in any significant external activities. She did not even get out of the High Priest's abode and sanctum. Although she was called to the Imperial Palace once in a while, she tried to conceal her appearance as much as possible.
In the meantime, Lara had only met Konny, Valentine, the Crown Prince, her mother, and her friends.
"I think even the priests want it to happen too. They think that if you go outside and spread the word of God, the temple will be able to regain its past glory in a clean state."
"Who said that?"
"Valentine!"
Konny proudly said. Lara nodded, saying that she knew it. Valentine learned too much about the history and corruption of the temple as he began to wander in and out of the secret space under the abode.
"He's a smart guy. He said that he could be the greatest alchemist in the world if things keep going like this and that it'll only take him a few years."
"Tell him he already is a great alchemist."
"That's what I'm talking about! People want you to tell them just like what you said to Valentine. Then, they will be moved like that simple Valentine and believe everything you say."
"How can people just believe it just because it's from the saintess. Even as a saintess I could still be lying. Even though a saintess was chosen by God, I'm still just a human being… The more influential people are, the more objective they should be."
Even though Lara was muttering at Konny, the words she said were close to a monolog. Lara was about to get up and go to bed, but instead just flopped on the sofa and leaned against the backrest.
"Miracle my foot… Do they think miracles are a puppy that comes when you call for it?"
Fwoosh!
At that time, a palm-sized flame rose in the candlelight, it lit the center of the table and soon turned into a human shape. It had two arms and two legs on a small body. The small human ran out of the candle and jumped onto the table with a crackling sound. Then, it opened its arms and mouthed toward Lara.
It was the giant of fire that God introduced to Lara. To be exact, it was said that it was a fragment from the giant of fire.
As she told Demian, the giant of fire was as big as Lara's palm. It was bustling around the table and busily gestured its arms and foot toward Lara.
Konny held her hands together in front of her chest and told Lara.
"So small…and cute."
"What is it saying?"
It had no eyes or nose. Of course, it had a mouth-like orifice. It did imitate the shape of a human, but it did not know how to speak. As a result, Lara could not understand what this human-shaped flame wanted to say.
It continued mouthing something. It waved its hands around and tried to explain something.
"Konny."
"Yes, milady."
"Can you bring a bowl of oil to the Master Giant?"
"Yes, milady!"
Konny ran excitedly and soon put oil in a small bowl. Then, she pushed it out toward the human-shaped flame that was walking around with a crackling sound.
"Master Giant, eat this."
The giant of fire dropped his shoulders.
∘₊✧──────✧₊∘
Lara's God, Abraxas, gave the fire that he had promised to the saintess after finally finding his name.
But once Lara was able to summon it, she did not know where to use it. Above all, she had no confidence commanding such a small and cute being to burn the demon out. She felt like she should not tell it to kill the demon, but instead, she should embrace and raise it.
This thing is such a terrifying fire?
It very much did not feel real for Lara.
"What is this?"
Even her mother, Isadora had a similar reaction to Lara. Coming to replenish her daughter's new home, her lips twitched as soon as she saw the giant of fire toggling on the handle of the soda.
"The giant of fire."
"Giant…"
Isadora cleared her throat twice in the face of the giant of fire. It was evident that she was holding back her laughter, so Lara sighed and added her explanation.
"It was called the giant of fire in God's realm. I don't know for what reason such a great existence became this small fragment…"
"Good boy."
Good boy?
Lara, who had been calmly explaining, turned her head toward Isadora. The giant of fire had moved from the sofa's armrest to the back of the sofa. It looked up to Isadora and opened his mouth in a round shape.
Isadora tore the notebook she always carried and cut it into small pieces before putting the pieces in its mouth one by one.
Fwoosh.
"Good boy."
Fwoosh.
"Good boy. You're eating well."
Lara's dumbfoundedness led to her being speechless, she looked at Isadora silently. Isadora cleared her throat again and told her.
"Because paper catches fire easily."
"I didn't know it'd eat something like that…"
"What have you given it so far?"
"Oil."
"Same thing then, more or less."
Isadora smiled.
"Can I touch it?"
"It's a little iffy. It sits well on my palms or shoulders, and sometimes it sleeps on chairs or blankets… Sometimes it burns just anything. Yesterday, it almost burned Konny's hair."
Lara approached the giant of fire and reached out her hand. It puffed out as it was pleased and crawled up onto Lara's palm. Then, it hugged her thumb and sat down with its legs poking out of her palm.
"Hmm."
Isadora twitched her lips again.
"I don't get hurt. But even if I do get hurt, I get well soon so I can just touch it. But there's no guarantee that it'll be safe for others…"
"It's because it's still young."
"What?"
"You can tell that it's still a baby. Babies usually can't control anything skillfully. This guy is just clumsy."
Thinking about it again, Lara's mother seemed to be right. Lara put the giant of fire, who began to doze off on her palm, on the cushion and sat down facing Isadora.
"Is the hotel still a mess?"
"The Barbarians have left for the Eastern border, so it will be back to normal soon."
"What if your guests stop coming?"
"You're worried about something weird. Do you know how Dandelion is now? Pilgrims will appear on every street you have been to because it was where the saintess used to walk."
"That's really…burdensome."
"The Emperor was the only one who was excited. He said he'd give me a peerage title, but I refused. And then, he said he would give me territory. After I refused that too, he said he'd personally act as a matchmaker for my marriage…"
"What?"
She knew that her mother, Isadora, was quite close to the Emperor of Tarragon, but she did not know that they were close enough for him to act as a marriage broker. Lara was surprised and opened her big eyes wider, then she looked at Isadora.
"Are you going to get married?"
"You hate it?"
"I like it!"
This time, Isadora was surprised and looked at Lara.
"You want me to get married again?"
"Yes!"
"Why?"
"You only do work every day. Work for the trading company or work for me… If not that, work for my friends."
"Lara."
"There's no law prohibiting you from trying again just because you failed in your marriage once. If there's anyone who loves you, I'm all for it."