Chapter 121

“The Hero truly was heroic.”

Ria was on the taller side for a woman, but she wasn’t towering over everyone. Just tall enough to look down on me.

But Ria’s father, the hero Lee Do-hyun, was not just your average height.

190 cm… no, he seemed even taller. I couldn’t quite tell if he was really 2 meters or not, but at least that’s how intimidating he felt. He had to look down on me whether standing or sitting.

And his arms were massive.

Don’t they sometimes measure male athletes’ thigh sizes and compare them to female celebrities’ waist sizes? Well, I felt like his arms could rival my waist size. His shoulders were broad, and the thickness of his arms and thighs seemed almost cartoonish.

Hmm.

If he hit me, I’d probably break something for sure.

That was my first impression of this guy.

Of course, I wasn’t going to say that out loud.

He let out a deep sigh as he looked at me, and I felt a little intimidated by that.

“Sister Anna, I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Ah, um… yes, I’m Anna. Nice to meet you….”

“Your daughter has been a burden.”

Despite saying that, his expression didn’t seem too happy. Was that because I came along?

“Why are you scaring the girl?”

Ria immediately snapped at her dad.

No, Ria. Could you please be a bit careful?

I’m a bit scared over here.

Of course, I knew this guy wasn’t going to hit me, but still.

It was strange. I had fought against much bigger monsters than this guy, even in front of a Cardinal.

…..

Oh, maybe it’s because I was prepared to be hit.

Ria just sat down boldly facing her father without even saying she didn’t want to, crossing her arms as she stared at him.

If it were any other time, I might have glanced at Ria’s chest without realizing it, but now felt like that would lead to trouble.

So instead, I lowered my gaze and hesitantly sat near Ria.

It seemed like that was enough to signal the end of the small talk; Ria’s father suddenly spoke up.

“It’s about time you come back, Chae-eun.”

And Ria abruptly responded.

“Dad, have you lost it?”

“…….”

Hearing their first conversation, I covered my face with both hands.

Well…

I thought their relationship was bad, but I didn’t expect it to be this tense.

“You’re the one who brought me here, right? You wanted me to come in and learn some manners!”

“…….”

It seemed Ria’s dad had lost his words.

“Do you really think my attitude looks like I’ve learned any manners?”

“So you’re saying you’re intentionally acting rude?”

“No? I’m just saying I’m not going to follow your thought processes.”

Ria’s father, the country’s greatest hero, Lee Do-hyun, opened his mouth. It might have just been my imagination, but it looked like some veins popped up a little on his enormous biceps.

“…Are you saying you have no plans to continue the family business?”

“Is it really a family business? It’s just you being the hero. It’s not like it runs in the family or anything!”

Hmm…

Both of them had a point. If Ria had no talent whatsoever, her dad probably wouldn’t have any expectations. If Ria was completely uninterested in fighting but could play piano or violin, maybe he would support her in that field.

On the other hand, whether Ria had talent or not, she should be able to choose her own path. As Ria said, even if it’s called a family legacy, it’s really only just started with one generation.

With only a few decades of history, you could say it’s not really a family business at all.

“So what do you want, Ria?”

Ria’s father said.

“Do you want to just stay here for the rest of your life—”

He stopped mid-sentence as if he thought it was going too far.

No matter how plain this place looked, it was still in a church. There were people passing through, but at the same time, there were those who were determined to spend their whole lives here. And even though Ria’s father technically had not entered the convent, who knows who might be lurking around this door?

So the word ‘stay’ felt somewhat off. For someone, that faith was genuinely important to them.

…..

I didn’t expect to have these thoughts.

“Are you really saying I should become a nun?”

“Not a nun, how about a knight?”

Ria deliberately avoided looking my way.

Just like I didn’t ask God in front of Sister Maria, maybe Ria was doing the same. She probably didn’t want to burden me.

…But.

This could also be my fault. Ria had no intention of coming to see her dad in the first place, but I insisted on joining her, so here we are.

“…You want to become a knight in the church? Living a life bound by the law without getting married?”

“What’s wrong with that? That could be called a ‘hero’ too.”

“Do you even know what kind of life that is?”

Ria’s father said that, but Ria only glared at him, arms crossed.

Ria’s father’s gaze finally landed on me.

I froze up and tensed, and Ria suddenly spoke.

“This has nothing to do with Anna. It’s my choice.”

That caught me a bit off guard. I mean, sure, I know she was saying that to keep me out of it. I was aware that the reason Ria wanted to stay was ultimately because of me.

But still, it felt… a bit unsettling to hear.

“In the first place.”

Ria began speaking slowly.

“Dad, you sent me to learn from a Saint Candidate, didn’t you? You’ve never even met her before.”

“…….”

“You’re only going by rumors, right? There are so many factions in the church, but you’ve heard about the Hunters’ tales too. Pretty, healing everyone no matter what, giving it her all. That’s what makes her the one and only Saintess, right?”

Oh, this time my face felt a bit flushed.

Forget about the whole Saint business. What embarrassed me was that Ria had called me pretty.

I desperately tried to think about something else to avoid turning red, and then Ria hit me with this.

“You thought I’d be influenced by being around such a Saint, and that I’d just obey you and come back?”

I don’t think that’s the case.

But rather, you probably hoped I’d be feeling a bit exasperated here. Of course, I also think you wished for me to have some influence. From the outside, I looked like a miracle worker when seen within the church, and I was quite faithful.

The fact that I fought against a Cardinal could be seen as faction fighting.

Ria’s words were a denial of God, a statement that is forbidden to a hero. And because of this, in the original story, the Saintess and Lee Chae-eun frequently clashed.

Even though I was far from being that Saintess.

…….

Ria’s father stayed quiet for a while, then let out a long sigh and stood up.

“If that’s how you feel, there’s nothing I can do.”

“It’s good that you at least understand that now.”

Honestly, I wanted to just storm out right there and then, stop this whole conversation, but it was hard to find the words to say.

Memories of my childhood from my past life surfaced.

I didn’t know Ria’s father well, but at least I knew how my own father had been.

In the end, without coming to a consensus, I lived my whole life apart from my parents. I don’t quite remember how that last moment went. Until recently, I thought I just flipped through a novel and ended up in this world the next day, but these days I’ve been questioning if it didn’t really go that way.

I kept my mouth shut and quickly stood up.

“R-Ria— no, Mr. Chae-eun’s father.”

At my words, he abruptly stopped in his tracks, turning to the exit.

Ria looked up at me with wide eyes.

My heart raced heavily. Honestly speaking, this moment scared me way more than being in front of those giant monsters.

Ria’s father was terrifying, but Ria scared me even more. If she got mad at me for meddling—now, that would really hurt.

But if I didn’t say anything until the end, there would have been no reason for me to come along.

I didn’t need to fix things right away, but I at least wanted to prevent the emotional gap from getting too deep.

“I-I will protect you.”

At that, the room fell silent.

It felt like even the sound of breathing stopped.

I just wanted to grab my head and roll around on the floor.

No, what am I even saying, Anna….