I trudged back to the gas station convenience store after discovering that the Lost Forest, and with it, Viola had disappeared.
But after thinking about it for a while...I didn't feel as discouraged as I did with Liliana.
I would keep my promise. I'd keep returning to that place every time I regressed until I once again stumbled upon the luck I had to find it.
I managed to reach by the end of the day. It was getting dark, so I walked inside, intending to turn the lights on using the shop's generator, and close the metal shutters of the store.
But instead of finding an empty, silent shop...I I instead heard noise.
I'm my rush, I hadn't grabbed anything to use as a weapon. So I was left alone with my fists. Unlike before in my second and third regression, however, I didn't feel too scared. Actually, I felt surprisingly calm and confident.
The noise was chaotic. Bottles being tossed aside, bags of chips and other snacks being ripped open and then tossed aside, many other similar sounds…
I slowly walked inside, closing the door behind me.
Then the noise suddenly stopped.
I was on edge, but I didn't back away from the shop.
Instead, I slowly advanced…then I heard a sound immediately behind me. I ducked, avoiding an unknown blow, and immediately turned around.
The cold metallic glint of a gun shone in the moonlight that streamed into the clear store door. I had barely gotten out of the way of being cracked in the head by the barrel.
I couldn't see the person wielding it clearly, but they looked large - a person, hopefully.
Reacting quickly, much quicker than the person who had attacked me, I turned my momentum into a spin kick, easily knocking the gun out of their hand. I regained my footing and dashed forward, elbowing them in the chest - hitting something surprisingly soft?
"S-shit!"
The voice shouted out, feminine, but crass.
Ignoring that, I stepped back, with the figure slumping to the ground. They let go of their second gun, groaning.
"That's what you get for trying to shoot a random person. Not really a good thing to do, you know."
"S-spare me the bullshit…fucker…"
"You're cursing at me when you tried to kill me first?"
The person slumped over, clearly a woman, cursed again, practically spitting out venom. If she hadn't let go of her guns earlier, I would've assumed she still wanted to kill me.
Curious about who such a bold person would be, I kneeled forward, only to see…
"The Saintess?"
Her pained groans were the only thing I got in response.
—--
With the metal shutter over the door now closed, the Saintess and I were shut into the convenience store. The emergency generator was still running off of the backup fuel last put there by the boss, but that guy was a cheapskate. It would only last for so long. I had learned that the hard way in my first life.
That was why I always headed out to the city first thing each Regression. No sense getting used to luxury in the apocalypse when it'd soon disappear…especially since raiders and violent scavengers weren't rare.
Like the silver-haired woman in front of me, whose bright red eyes remained on me, full of distrust, while she chomped down on a bag of chips.
"So let me get this straight…you were really just trying to knock me out instead of killing me?"
"Of course!" She replied after swallowing a mouthful of chips. "What do you think I am, some kinda crazy bitch?!"
Her words almost made me laugh, but I managed to put all of my harsh training into refraining.
"I definitely don't think you're sane, that's for sure."
I decided on, to which the Saintess growled like a wild animal.
"You sure always have something smart to say, smartass."
She went back to eating her chips, seemingly trying her best to ignore my presence.
I just watched her curiously.
She was obviously the Saintess. The woman that would become both feared and loathed in the future due to her power and her impulsiveness with using that power. That was also without mentioning the influence of the 'Sistine Chapel' guild.
Yet here she was, wearing nothing but ragged, torn rags that showed off bits and pieces of her shapely body. She wasn't as plush as Viola. If anything, she was more slender, though not as much as Liliana. She still has a shapely bust, and a round looking rear…
But, rags? Rusty pistols that seemed ready to fall apart any second?
Her personality was definitely the same, considering the way she tried to knock me out and cursed the moment she lost, but…
I couldn't imagine this person, eating chips like some sort of last supper, becoming the fearsome Saintess in a mere three weeks.
Considering that she had said to Liliana and I that she'd been clearing dungeons for a while before we met her, it was possible that the timeframe of her growth was even shorter than that.
Maybe even just two weeks…?
This was definitely making some sort of cognitive dissonance, here.
"What the hell is it? Why are you staring at me so much?"
"Nothing. Just sorting of wondering, what's your name, Miss Scavenger?"
She showed me displeasure in her gaze, but sighed and replied while rudely continuing to eat. "Alyssa. But I don't think you should get to use my name yet, after beating the shit out of me. I liked that name you used earlier…'Saintess'. Sounds regal…sounds…pure." As she said that last word, 'pure', something mysterious shimmered in her crimson eyes. I didn't miss that detail. "Use it. And yours?"
I stared at her blankly. I was definitely curious about her focus on 'pure'. I do remember, even with Liliana's 'purity', she was obsessed with it to the very end.
'No way. This can't be how she comes across her name, right? She just…finds it…cool?'
There had to be something deeper to it.
I could just leave to try and do something else. Maybe just focus on doing more training in an attempt to fight the Flood Dragon another time.
I could keep letting myself die until Viola's Lost Forest appeared again.
But…I had all these allies by the end. Liliana and our Lily's Pond guild, Nozomi and her magical girls, and…the Saintess with 'Sistine Chapel'.
Frankly, I knew nothing about any of the two aside from Liliana.
Maybe now was the time to learn.
I thought about her question for a while, and then I replied,
"You can call me the Manager."
…
…
"Lame…" Alyssa's voice drawled on in the near-silence of the shop.
"Ah, shut it."
—--
"Say, Manager."
"What is it, Saintess?"
"It's fucking hooooot…doesn't this place have any air-conditioning?"
"Sorry, dear customer. Air conditioning is a premium service for paying customers."
"Ahhh, you're a horrible manager. And still way too much of a smartass."
Two days had passed by since the Saintess and I found ourselves sticking together as unlikely partners. The generator had run out of fuel long ago, and we were stuck lazing around in the heat of…December.
Strange, right? Why the hell was it so hot in what should've been the middle of winter?
"God…don't tell me it's another one of those creepy bastards outside who decided that making it hot is the next crazy thing..."
The Saintess spoke in annoyance, absentmindedly chewing on another bag of chips.
"Or maybe they came to stop you from eating your 500th chip bag. Just saying."
"Whatever."
She muttered, and after finishing the bag, she tossed it to the side.
"Hey, Manager?"
I lazily looked over at her, sitting at my old position behind the counter. Even though I had moved myself up the corporate ladder, old habits died hard.
"What is it, dear customer Saintess?"
"I'm bored. Let's go outside and make something happen."
I tilted my head, noticing a strange spark in her eyes, which had been mostly dull up until now.
"Something? What, exactly, do you mean by something?"
"Hell if I know. What I do know is that I'd prefer finding something to do instead of sitting around in this convenience store, waiting to die. You coming with?"
She grinned at me.
"You're an impure bastard, but I can tell that you're strong. I like strong people...not as much as pure people, but still."
I hummed, and slowly sat up from my position behind the counter. So this was where Alyssa's exploits began...with a simple desire to cause trouble.
I felt like I was beginning to understand her a little bit better.
"Alright...then I'll lend you the Manager's services from now on."
"...you ain't gonna charge me some hidden fee or something, right?"
"If you keep wasting time, I just might change my mind~!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, don't piss your pants rushing me!!" The Saintess, Alyssa, actually scrambled around, trying to pack everything that she could. Considering that she should've been as much of a rookie as all the others scrounging on by to survive, her hands moved surprisingly fast.
She looked...experienced at picking and choosing at what would keep her going the longest. Interesting.
Expecting this, I actually already had a bag packed. I hoisted it over my shoulders as she got up, a few bags of poorly packed chips poking out from the zipper.
I guess she wasn't completely all-efficiency...
"Alright, let's bust this joint!"
She grinned and headed off on her own outside of the door, easily lifting up the metal shutters with just her fingers gripping the steel. I did the same, though I couldn't help but stare at her curiously.
That shutter should not be that easy to lift for someone who hadn't even practiced their ability yet.
Her potential was already showing itself in these small moments...
I couldn't help but smile.
Yes, this loop, I would just focus on observing it - the story of Saintess Alyssa.