“I’m doing this so you don’t do something stupid! What good will it do for you to go and rescue Lady Emily now!”
Bena spoke up again to advise Hadia, though she could tell the Hero still hadn’t calmed down.
This time, however, Bena’s tone carried a hint of anger.
‘I’m doing all of this with the big picture in mind! Yet Hadia doesn’t understand at all!’
Anger aside, Bena could understand why Hadia was acting so impulsively.
After all, the relationship between Hadia and Emily was truly excellent.
There was even a strange organization within the Church dedicated to shipping the two of them as a couple.
As the Saintess, it was impossible for Emily to have any intimate relationships with men, but girls were a different story.
No matter how strict the Church was, they couldn’t prevent Emily from speaking with other women.
Furthermore, Hadia was the Hero.
As fellow agents of God, the two of them naturally spent a lot of time together to communicate.
It just so happened that Hadia was a woman with a very heroic and striking beauty.
A gallant Hero paired with a frail Saintess — it was hard for the gossip-loving nuns not to ship them.
Of course, Hadia and Emily themselves were unaware of this.
Hadia could never have any improper thoughts about the Saintess.
As for Emily, she was exhausted every day just from maintaining her persona as a Saintess.
This was especially true whenever she was with Hadia.
If Emily slipped up slightly in front of others, she could usually salvage the situation.
But if she failed in front of Hadia, an agent of God, the deity would not easily forgive such a lapse in composure.
Spending time with Hadia under that kind of pressure, how could Emily possibly develop those kinds of feelings?
Even so, Emily still considered Hadia to be one of her few true friends.
It was hard for Emily not to befriend someone as righteous and enthusiastic as Hadia.
Faced with Bena’s perfectly logical and rational words, Hadia didn’t hesitate to retort, “And you think we can defeat the Demon King after we’ve recovered?”
“That…”
“And wait until we’ve recovered? Who knows how much time that will take! How could Lady Emily possibly hold out for that long? And if we still can’t defeat the Demon King after we’ve rested, are we just supposed to abandon Lady Emily then!”
“…”
Bena was rendered speechless by Hadia’s long tirade.
“Instead of that, it’s better to launch an attack now, while the Demon King is gloating over defeating us and capturing Lady Emily! We can rescue her in one go and escape immediately!”
“… Lady Hadia, please give up on rescuing Lady Emily!”
Bena forced the words out, bracing herself for Hadia to strike her.
Even though Hadia had made her point very clearly!
Abandoning Emily made Bena feel incredibly frustrated as well.
The guilt was overwhelming; she even felt like she wasn’t human for wanting to abandon her own savior.
If it hadn’t been for Lady Emily’s healing magic, Bena had no idea how many times she would have died already.
But looking at it from a rational perspective, Emily, having fallen into the Demon King’s hands, was truly beyond saving.
Abandoning her was the only choice now.
A Saintess was different from a Hero.
If a Saintess died, God would immediately summon or designate someone else to take the role.
After all, if the Divine Oracle could not be conveyed to the Church, God would lose control over humanity.
God would never allow such a thing to happen.
But if a Hero died, they would truly have to wait for the next person with perfect character and talent to appear.
Whether such a person would appear even once in 100 years was a question.
Therefore, Bena could not stand by and watch Hadia, the Hero, throw her life away for nothing.
If the human side lost both the Saintess and the Hero at the same time, they would have no way to oppose the Demon King.
Now that it was clear the Demon King’s strength was far beyond imagination, the best course of action wasn’t to rescue a replaceable Saintess.
It was to return to human territory immediately and have the Church summon the kings of all human nations to discuss how to defeat such an absurd Demon King.
After all, through 1,000 years of propaganda from the Church and God, the human view of the Demon Race was that they were beings that had to be eradicated.
If the Demon Race wasn’t destroyed, they would destroy humanity!
There was no possibility of peaceful coexistence between humans and the Demon Race!
Bena explained all of this in one breath to persuade Hadia.
If being beaten by Hadia would solve the problem, Bena would have no complaints.
However, Bena also knew that the Church would likely hold her accountable.
Even if a Saintess was a replaceable existence, she was still the second most important figure in the Church.
Even if Bena was acting for the greater good, she would have to take responsibility for abandoning Emily.
Otherwise, the Church would have no way to explain the decision to stop the rescue mission to the believers.
Bena was truly risking everything to stop Hadia’s actions.
After hearing all of this, Hadia simply walked up to Bena.
Seeing her approach, Bena instinctively closed her eyes, waiting for Hadia’s fury to descend.
But the pain never came.
Hadia only placed her hand gently on Bena’s shoulder.
Hadia was indeed impulsive because of Emily, but seeing Bena’s expression — one of someone ready to die — Hadia knew that Bena was truly risking everything to stop her.
How could she strike her?
Moreover, even if Bena hadn’t thought that far and simply didn’t want to go to her death, Hadia would never hit a comrade.
“Lady Hadia?”
“I’m sorry, Bena. Even so, I must go and rescue Lady Emily!”
“Why!”
“Can a Hero who abandons a friend to flee still be called a Hero! Furthermore, to let one’s own comrade take the blame for one’s cowardice? I could never do such a thing.”
“…”
Hearing Hadia say that, Bena knew she couldn’t stop her no matter what.
Hadia’s injuries had already healed a bit, and her lost magic resistance had partially recovered.
Bena’s hypnosis magic would no longer work on her.
Looking at Bena’s silent form, the determined Hadia turned and rushed out of the base without looking back, heading straight toward the Demon King’s castle!
“Lady Hadia!”
The scout, who had just finished surveying the surroundings and returned, froze upon seeing Hadia’s running figure.
But Hadia didn’t stop when she saw her; she simply kept running.
The scout hurriedly ducked to the side to avoid being knocked over by Hadia.
Looking at Hadia’s receding back, she was completely bewildered, having no idea what had happened while she was gone.
Turning back to see Bena’s despondent figure, the scout vaguely guessed that something had transpired between the two while she was away.
“Bena, are you okay?”
“It’s nothing… let’s hurry and find reinforcements!”
Faced with the other woman’s concern, Bena turned and replied.
Since she couldn’t stop Hadia from rescuing Emily, the only thing Bena could do as a comrade was to find a way to support the Hero and Saintess upon their return.
“Oh? Understood…”