Raising Alencia (3)

When Alencia was still a child, her mother always used to say this.

'Mom has memories of living in another world.'

Since Alencia was still young, she didn't question those words.

She just thought, mom is amazing, and that was it.

Whenever she cried, her mother would often tell her stories from that other world to comfort her.

Stories of a time ruled by the Demon King, when humans lived oppressed and only held vague hopes.

Stories of the heroes who brought that era to an end.

Of those tales, Alencia liked the story of the Guide and the Saintess the most.

The Saintess, who for thousands of years lived in fear that the demons might discover her existence, and so was trapped for a millennium.

And then one day, a being called the Guide appeared before that very Saintess—a figure who, to young Alencia, seemed incredibly cool.

'Alencia.'

As if aware of Alencia's feelings, her mother would always smile and say,

'I'm sure Alencia will grow to be a wonderful person.'

Just like the heroes Alencia admired.

'But.......'

Her mother's smile was never truly bright.

For some reason, she would look at Alencia with a faint, cloudy smile and swallow her next words.

What was it her mother wanted to say?

That was something Alencia still didn't know.

Even now, seven years after her mother had passed away.

***

"Reincarnator?"

This was something I had never expected.

But in a world where magic existed and people known as returnees had come back from other dimensions, there was no law that said reincarnators couldn't exist.

However, for someone from another dimension to be reincarnated in this world, retaining all their memories, was a different matter.

"Did your mother, Sarah Walker, have all her memories from the other world?"

"Well, I'm not sure? Mom never really got into that much detail with me. And I was just a kid then, so I've forgotten some stuff too......"

Seeing Alencia speak so hesitantly, I let out a sigh.

Ever since she'd told me about that 'Guide' or whatever it was, I'd sensed she'd been rather self-conscious around me.

"Why are you suddenly acting so awkward?"

"I-I'm not acting awkward, okay?"

"But that's how it feels to me."

At my words, Alencia bit her lower lip.

Then, sighing, she averted her gaze with a pout.

"...... It's because of what Mom said."

"You mean what she said about heroes?"

"Y-yeah! That, exactly!"

Pointing her index finger at my chest, Alencia's eyes widened.

"She always talked about people from fairy tales, and then to simply explain, it's like, mom used to read 'The Little Mermaid' to me, and then suddenly I meet the actual Little Mermaid in real life. Wouldn't you be surprised? Wouldn't you?"

"...... I'd be surprised."

"See! And in the fairy tale Mom told, it was, uh... everything was a bit cooler, you know."

Her grumbling left me with a strangely unsettled feeling.

'What the heck? Does she mean I'm not really that cool after all?'

It wasn't like I particularly wanted to seem cool, but actually hearing that made me feel oddly uncomfortable.

"So, what exactly were you doing over there?"

Hwang Yeon-ji, who had been quietly watching our conversation, suddenly asked.

It seemed she, too, found my exchange with Alencia extremely interesting in its own way.

"...... Well, you know, just stuff."

I didn't want to make grand statements like 'I saved the world.'

In truth, all I'd done was help the heroes so they could fight better. It was only at the very end that I myself stepped into battle at all.

If anyone saved the world, it wasn't me......

'Anyway, there's more I want to ask, but this is awkward.'

The staff could come back to the suite at any moment, and with Alencia acting all flustered, I was doubtful whether I'd get straight answers from her right now.

It seemed best to ask for more details when we had some time to spare later.

"Hey."

Alencia looked at my face, hesitated, and finally spoke.

"There's something I want to ask... Is that okay?"

"Sure, go ahead."

"Then... you really are the 'Park Jung-woo' that my mom talked about, right?"

"Of course. Didn't you already believe that, though?"

"I did. But I wanted to hear it clearly, just once more."

Her words made me curious, in turn.

Just when did Alencia start to believe that I was the hero from the stories, 'Park Jung-woo'?

"At first, I thought it was just a coincidence you shared the same name,"

As if reading my thoughts, Alencia continued.

"But it became obvious. Who else would recognize my abilities right away?"

Her blue eyes looked straight into mine.

A blue current flickered briefly in her irises.

"From the start, you approached me because you sensed something about me. You didn't pay attention to me as James Walker's daughter, but because of something else. That's when I knew something was up."

Given the information her mother gave her and the things I'd done, it wasn't strange for her to link us as the same person. Moreover, I had just revealed myself to be a returnee.

Still, something bothered me.

No matter how special Alencia's abilities were, she didn't seem to connect them to the 'Saintess'.

'She seems to know about the Saintess in the story, but...'

But she didn't seem to have any idea what abilities the Saintess had, or even what the term meant. She was completely ignorant about the fundamentals.

'Why didn't Alencia's mother tell her that she was the Saintess?'

She'd been a reincarnator, so she would have had that knowledge.

If she had seen the Stigmata appear on Alencia's back, there's no way she wouldn't have known.

And if her mother knew, it meant James Walker would certainly know too.

"......."

I fell silent, lost in thought for a moment.

Somehow, I could guess why Sarah Walker hid information about the Saintess.

"Did Sarah Walker ever oppose the idea of you becoming an awakener?"

I asked Alencia carefully.

If her mother had hidden from her that she was the Saintess, perhaps she wanted Alencia to live as someone unrelated to the role of 'Saintess'.

'Alencia's authority is electricity.'

Certainly, that power was fitting for the modern era.

It has been a hundred years since magic power appeared in the world, and yet electricity remained the energy closest to people.

With technological progress, the history of humanity had become entwined with electricity.

Since electricity was the most valuable power to humanity in this time, perhaps that's why Alencia gained that authority.

So, if that's revealed, the world will never leave her in peace.

That could be a good thing—or a bad thing.

The Saintess was born to be revered, but humanity didn't always accept her presence positively. Where there were those who revered, there would be those who feared.

The Saintess I met lived a life shrouded in darkness, hidden away for a thousand years.

Extreme cases like hers were rare, but if Alencia's mother had been worried about that, perhaps she truly didn't want Alencia to live as a 'Saintess'.

"...... I don't really know."

"You don't know?"

"Mom used to say I could become someone great, but she didn't seem happy about it."

Someone great.

That, surely, had to mean becoming the 'Saintess'.

So Sarah Walker definitely recognized Alencia as the Saintess.

There could have been various reasons why she didn't speak in more detail about it.

Even in that world overflowing with miracles, 'authority' was an unfamiliar and absolute power.

The power of the Saintess was so feared among the demons who ruled that world.

How would this world, where 'magic power' has only existed for a little over a hundred years, accept a divine authority? How would they perceive a Saintess?

"I see."

"...... You're not going to ask more?"

Alencia asked me hesitantly.

At her question, I suddenly recalled the Saintess I met in the other world.

Her outward appearance had been frail, but she was stronger in spirit than anyone.

But Alencia was the opposite.

'Not all saintesses are the same after all.'

In many ways, Alencia was still immature.

She wasn't yet ready to be told everything.

"That can wait until you trust me more, Alencia."

"... Huh?"

"You don't completely trust me yet, do you?"

Alencia was simply surprised that I was the hero from her mother's stories.

But she didn't necessarily trust 'me' as a person.

Her usual distant attitude came from a deep-seated weakness.

And people who are timid and fearful don't easily trust others.

I understood that about Alencia.

Because I was like that too, once.

"Still, for now, I'd like you to follow my lead."

"......."

"For the time being, I'm your manager after all."

As I spoke gently, Alencia nodded her head slightly.

And, just then, I heard the door to the suite opening.

The staff who had taken a break were returning.

'Still, she should gradually learn how to use her authority.'

A Saintess's authority would manifest regardless of whether she understood it.

Hadn't her power just now awakened as electricity coursed through her body?

In the end, it meant that with the right trigger, Alencia's authority could emerge at any time.

'So.'

I watched Alencia as she walked away, chatting with the staff.

'I should at least teach her how to use it properly.'

Until Minerva reached the terminal.

And once we arrived, I'd probably have to meet him.

James Walker.

Alencia's father.

***

"Saintess?"

Shin Ah-yeon furrowed her brows when she overheard Hwang Yeon-ji's phone conversation.

Frankly, it wasn't even that surprising.

She'd already heard everything about the Saintess from Jung-woo.

"Okay. If you find anything else out, you have to tell me, alright?"

【Geez, you really... Haaa, this is my lot in life.】

Hwang Yeon-ji let out a deep sigh and hung up.

'So it was true after all.'

That Alencia was the 'Saintess'.

Since Jung-woo had said so himself, it had to be a fact.

'He said it was fifty-fifty when he watched the video.'

Somehow, she felt her irritation rising.

For someone like Shin Ah-yeon, who usually took things in stride, this was a rare sentiment.

Plus, until recently, Alencia had just been a streamer she watched.

"Unni, what did Yeon-ji say?"

Maybe she couldn't wait for the call to end, but Lee Soo-ah dashed to her side in an instant.

Normally, Lee Soo-ah was as angelic and kind as could be, but when Jung-woo was involved, she became strangely impatient.

Before, Ah-yeon had just thought it was because Soo-ah treasured Jung-woo—but now, she felt something was off.

Even Ah-yeon, who was slow on the uptake with these things, could tell something strange was going on with Soo-ah.

"You..."

"Yes?"

But when she tried to ask, she saw Soo-ah's clear, innocent eyes and wondered if it hadn't all been her own misunderstanding.

"Ah, never mind. More importantly, could you check my back?"

"Your back?"

To make it easier for Soo-ah, Ah-yeon took off her top to reveal her back.

"Is there nothing?"

"Nothing what?"

"A weird tattoo or something."

Soo-ah only looked at her as if she found the request odd.

Her back was flawless—not even a mole, let alone a tattoo.

'As I thought, there's nothing.'

Ah-yeon felt strangely disappointed.

Since Jung-woo had paid attention to her back, she thought perhaps she, too, had the so-called 'Stigmata.'

'I thought stigmata only appeared while using abilities and then disappeared.'

But the one on Alencia's back didn't look like it was going away anytime soon.

That difference made Ah-yeon suspect she'd just been imagining things.

"Unni, did you want me to check if you had the Stigmata?"

"Ah, you heard about that too?"

"Yes, I actually called Yeon-ji and asked her myself."

Then why had she come and asked about the phone call herself, Ah-yeon wondered.

"...... Well, I just thought maybe Yeon-ji might be hiding something from me and only telling you."

Maybe she realized her own excuse sounded weak, and glanced at Ah-yeon, unsure.

'Scary girl.'

Of course, Ah-yeon could only glare at Soo-ah with cold eyes, but she understood the feeling. She too was bothered by how Jung-woo didn't tell her everything.

At first, she'd let it slide, but it kept bothering her more and more.

"Don't worry too much, and since filming starts tomorrow, go to bed early."

"Okay... Oh, by the way, when should I book the tickets?"

"Huh?"

She asked, confused, and Soo-ah flashed her a pure, innocent smile.

"For the flight to America."

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=Soo-ah is a bit Stalkerish.【(ᐡ ⩌ ⩌ ᐡ)】

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