The Grill-Wielding Saintess of the Dead

Chapter 9 Return 2

And so, Shia formed her first connection with the emperor of another world.

It was truly fortunate.

If the Titan of Wrath, Atalyd, hadn’t given off such a strong and fragrant scent of human flesh, things might have turned out quite differently.

Had Shia eaten the knights fighting against the Titan of Wrath instead of Atalyd, the story would have been much worse.

She might have been killed, or if not, captured by humans and faced a terrible fate.

To the frenzied Shia, humans and titans all looked like the same kind of meat, but she just found Atalyd more appetizing.

“Y-you’re…the emperor?”

“Do not worry. I know who you are.”

“…?”

Seeing Shia’s confusion, Menelapie leaned against the wall, smiling.

“Well done.”

“…Pardon?”

She, the Iron-blooded Empress, smiled sincerely at Shia.

It wasn’t a mocking smile, nor the type of smile one gives when seeing an amusing animal at the zoo.

It was a heartfelt smile, and the emperor sat down beside the bed where Shia lay.

“Let’s get straight to the point. The truth is, I observed your presence a year ago.”

“…?!”

A year ago, when Shia first transferred to this world and awoke in the body of the Saintess of the Dead.

‘She knew about me from the moment I arrived in this world…?’

Shia would later learn that her body, the body of the Saintess of the Dead, held incomprehensible power, a strength so legendary that it could go down in history.

The holy power meant for the living and the deathly energy of the dead were mixed.

Combined with Shia’s retained human consciousness and reason—something that should have been impossible—the birth of the Saintess of the Dead was felt as far away as the imperial palace on the day Shia awoke in the forest.

Some said that Shia, in the body of the Saintess, might even surpass the demon lord, the master of monsters, or other calamities close to natural disasters.

“I’ve been watching over you for a long time. There were countless moments when you could have lost your sanity to hunger, yet you never forsook your humanity.”

“………..”

“Now that we’re confessing, I’ll admit that you must have noticed the smell of blood near your cabin from time to time.”

“…Yes…”

It was around that time that Shia first became sensitive to the scent of human blood and flesh.

One day, despite no hunters entering the forest and no battles taking place, a tantalizing scent of blood wafted from the distance.

That scent, which seemed to originate from far beyond the woods, provoked Shia’s hunger, which she had been managing with venison and mushrooms.

From that point on, Shia completely gave up any thought of meeting other humans.

She had initially wanted to understand what kind of world this was and to learn about current events.

Since she was strong, she had even considered becoming an adventurer to explore the world. But just the smell of human blood and flesh made her feel as though she would lose her mind. How could she ever become an adventurer?

“That was all on my orders. I deliberately spread human blood throughout the forest where you lived.”

“…….!”

Upon hearing that, Shia grabbed Menelapie by the collar.

Her anger surged beyond control, and she gritted her teeth.

“Why did you do that!!!”

“…Your anger is justified.”

“Justified or not, why did you do it!!!”

By this point, Shia had completely forgotten that Menelapie was an emperor.

What would have happened if she had truly lost her sanity?

Every time she thought about it, Shia was filled with fear.

She had already lost control several times, devouring animals in a ravenous frenzy.

What if, next time, instead of an animal, she found herself holding a child’s body in her hands?

Just the thought of it drove her to madness, but only her mind suffered—the Saintess of the Dead’s body was so strong and resilient that her mental anguish only deepened her isolation.

And now she was learning that all the hunger and torment she had suffered for a year might have been because of this woman?

“If I had really lost my sanity and eaten a human, what were you planning to do? Do you know what I fear the most?! It’s the possibility that after eating human flesh, something I’ve dreaded more than anything, it might taste so good that I wouldn’t even feel guilty!”

At those words, Menelapie gave a slightly bitter smile.

“If… if I had gotten a taste for human flesh… do you know how many people might have died…?”

“I’m sorry. But as an emperor, I had to do what was necessary. I caused you great pain, but I had to perform my duties as emperor.”

“An emperor?! An emperor!! If you’re truly in a position of power—!”

“I had to determine whether you were a threat, whether you were a new evil to this land and my people.”

“…….Damn it!”

“Calm down.”

At that moment, Menelapie spoke in a soothing tone, as if trying to comfort a child.

“I acknowledge your anger. It is justified, and it should be directed at me. But the servants who carried out my orders bear no blame. If you wish to vent your anger, why not direct it solely at me?”

“………….”

The emperor was humbling herself this much, and she was even honestly admitting her wrongs.

Although Shia didn’t fully grasp how high Menelapie’s status was, nor did she understand imperial law or customs, she could tell that for the emperor of a nation to apologize to her in this way was significant.

“Explain…”

“What do you want to know?”

“Everything you know about me.”

“Haha, very well. That’s what I intended to tell you anyway.”

Menelapie gently stroked the hand Shia was using to grab her collar, as if to say, “Won’t you let go now?”

Shia, her anger subsiding, slowly released her grip.

“The birth of the Saintess of the Dead was not only detected by the court mages but also by me. A Saintess of the Dead should be an impossible existence. No matter how great a saintess may be, when they die, they return to the earth as dust. While there have been unfortunate cases every few centuries of saintesses who fell to undeath, those are not true Saintesses of the Dead—they are merely walking corpses. They have no reason, no humanity, and they certainly cannot wield divine power, which only those chosen by the gods can use.”

“…So?”

“You are a miracle in and of yourself.”

Miracle. Menelapie emphasized that word.

“And the fact that the Saintess of the Dead retains her humanity, reason, and ethics is the greatest miracle of all. For me and for this empire, you are the greatest blessing.”

Menelapie then pulled out an old parchment from her bosom.

Despite having never seen the script before, Shia could read it.

Thanks to the knowledge passed down from the original owner of the body.

“An…oracle?”

“Yes, it’s a prophecy foretelling the appearance of the Saintess of the Dead.”

“Are you the type to believe in prophecies?”

“Of course not. No matter how important a prophecy is, what matters is human will. Like yours, for example.”

Menelapie crumpled the precious prophecy scroll in one hand and looked at Shia.

“The prophecy describes the Saintess of the Dead as a being not black or white but something closer to gray. However, it mostly warns of the dangers you could pose. It speaks of the disasters that would occur if someone like you stood against humanity.”

“…What does gray mean?”

“It means you could become anything. If you were to be influenced by something, you could become more wicked and terrifying, but the opposite is also possible. You are gray, meaning you cannot be divided into simple categories of good or evil. As emperor of this empire, I couldn’t unconditionally treat you as an enemy, nor could I blindly embrace you without knowing you.”

Shia could understand that.

An emperor, a person in power, had to consider every possible risk, even the worst-case scenarios.

“What if you were naturally a soulless monster who felt no guilt for eating humans? What if your hunger eroded your reason and ethics until you forgot yourself? I had to know who you were before approaching you. I had to understand the limits of your reason and morality.”

“And…if I…if I had been the trash you feared…what would you have done?”

“Well, since you’re not trash, there’s no need to know, is there? Haha, some things in life are better left unknown.”

As Shia would later learn, Menelapie was known as the greatest superhuman among humans.

If things had gone wrong, they might have fought to the death.

And there was no denying that the emperor had a point.

If Menelapie had naively approached Shia, seeing only her positive side, and then something terrible had happened—like Shia eating humans—Shia would have become a greater calamity than even the newly-born demon lord.

“And you had many opportunities. Countless moments when you could have lost your humanity and reason. You could have succumbed to hunger, devoured humans, attacked villages, and completed your transformation into a new disaster. You also had plenty of chances to eat the Imperial Knights I sent, rather than the Titan of Wrath.”

“……..”

“But you rejected all those opportunities.”

Hearing the emperor’s words, Shia felt a cold sweat run down her spine at the thought of what could have happened.

She had imagined such scenarios herself.

“Did you know?”

“…Know what?”

“When you grabbed my collar earlier, I was delighted.”

“…Excuse me?”

What? Was she a masochist or something?

“You’re thinking strange thoughts. But no matter, I meant that your anger proved to me that you are still human.”

“…..!”

“I’ll say it again—you’ve done well. Despite everything, you didn’t try to kill me. You weren’t angry that I deceived you; you were more upset that innocent people might have died.”

Hearing those words, Shia felt a strange sensation, as though something inside her was being gently tickled.

“That anger is just and righteous. I believe that your anger proves you are still human.”

“…….”

“You’ve suffered. And you’ve done well. And I thank you. Once again, you are a great blessing and a miracle to me.”

Just moments ago, Shia had wanted to kill the emperor out of hatred.

But in an instant, with just a few words, Shia felt her heart melt.

Since arriving in this world, ever since she awoke in the body of the Saintess of the Dead, Shia had never once been happy.

What had happened to her parents in the other world?

What had happened to her original body?

Could she return?

Even if she could return, would she have to continue living in this body?

When would the hunger end?

Would she have to suffer from hunger forever?

Would she have to eat a human to make it stop?

Would the torment only end by eating the sweet, fragrant flesh of a human?

Was it all just a natural law of survival of the fittest, like how humans eat pigs? Would it be okay to eat them?

No, no. I’m human. I want to stay human.

Every day. Every single day.

Shia repeated these thoughts endlessly, in agony.

And yet…

“You’ve done well.”

“……..Ah…”

Without realizing it, Shia began to cry.

From the body of the dead saintess, which she thought was dried up, tears flowed like an open faucet.

She didn’t know why she was crying.

Had her emotions and sensitivity become more feminine after possessing the body of the Saintess of the Dead?

Once the tears started flowing, they wouldn’t stop.

Shia didn’t sob or speak; she simply cried silently for a long time.

“…Ugh…sniff…ah…”

“Yes, you’ve suffered. It’s okay…cry. You have the right to cry. You have the right to be angry, and you have the right to be rewarded.”

“………Sniff…sniff…”

Menelapie gently embraced Shia.

An emperor of a nation.

The strongest superhuman of humanity, holding a crying woman in her arms, soothing her, was a sight that anyone would find utterly absurd.

“Are you done crying now?”

“……Yes.”

After crying for a long time, Shia nodded.

Menelapie held Shia’s hand and helped her up.

“Come with me. There’s much I want to show you. Much I want to talk about. And if there’s anything you desire, just say the word.”

Menelapie’s smile, as radiant as the sun, made Shia blush.

“Whatever you want, whatever you dream of, whatever you wish to eat, I’ll grant it.”

“…Can I really? Can I eat as much as I want?”

“Haha! Of course!”

Heuh…an emperor who will buy me unlimited food…

“I am the emperor.”

By then, Shia’s affection for Menelapie was already overflowing.

○○○○

“Ah, I miss Menelapie and Teresa…”

I happened to dream about the past.

Before I returned to this place.

-Growl…

“…I’m hungry now…”

Should I turn on the stream…?