Yuna had never seen what Leah looked like after her evolution, so when Leah popped out, it really startled her.
“What is this? Elemental fairy? Magical Automaton?”
It was only after getting a clear look at Leah that Yuna finally recalled this familiar creature, unable to hide her shock.
“She, she’s that ‘Pupu’?”
“Yeah.”
Jon nodded.
“Bad person! Why are you hiding from Lili! You still haven’t explained!”
Leah stood aggressively on the shoulder of the mecha.
Even though the Saintess could wipe her out with a casual divine spell, she wasn’t afraid at all.
Because, just like these women back then, she had a powerful Hero behind her.
Damn it! Is this the sense of security that comes from having a cheat-brother backing you up?
No wonder you’re all so arrogant.
If it were me, I’d be arrogant too!
Yuna’s expression was blank.
“I… I wasn’t hiding from you.”
“Understood! Then you’re hiding from Lili’s friend! You’re deliberately hiding from Jon!”
Leah puffed out her pink cheeks, pretending to be angry.
She looked as cute as a peach cake.
“I wasn’t hiding from Jon either.”
“Then why didn’t you come find Jon? Not taking the initiative to find him is the same as hiding from him!”
Leah kept interrupting.
Yuna was momentarily speechless.
She stared at Leah suspiciously for a couple of seconds, unsure if the other party was doing it on purpose.
If not…
How could she predict her own logic and use it against her?
But if so…
How could a ‘Pupu’ be so crafty?
But Yuna wasn’t ordinary either.
She forced a smile, walked over, and, pretending to be surprised, skipped over the topic.
“Jon, she’s so lively, really cute, so smart she doesn’t seem like a Pupu at all.”
Unfortunately, the Hero didn’t catch the hidden meaning at all, his mind filled only with the humiliation of losing to a Pupu at reciting.
“Yeah.”
Jon sighed.
“Compared to her, I feel like an idiot.”
Yuna: “???”
How did such a strange feeling arise?
Forget it, not important…
Yuna composed herself, turning her attention back to the main matter.
The corners of her mouth drooped, showing a bit of ‘heartfelt’ sorrow.
She spoke with guilt.
“Jon, I’m sorry. The refugees are also God’s people, yet I couldn’t bring them blessings. I asked the Local Church, but in the Disaster Relief Campaign, the Local Church gave a lot. There truly wasn’t any surplus grain left.”
“I understand.”
Jon felt a bit relieved.
At least… the Saintess didn’t completely ignore the matter, pretending to be dead with the Princess, but tried—though the effort was ineffective.
This made him view Yuna much more favorably.
Two lines of clear tears slid down Yuna’s pale cheeks.
She lowered her head in compassion, her voice trembling slightly.
“But whenever I think of those poor people you protect, Jon, dying from hunger and cold, I feel unbearable torment. And whenever I think of your suffering, I feel endless pain as well.”
“So… I secretly diverted some Lumi from the supplies sent to the church and brought it to you, Jon, hoping to save a few more lives, and also to help you.”
Jon patted Yuna on the shoulder, laughing heartily.
“Then let me tell you some good news—you don’t need to suffer anymore, everyone’s doing just fine now.”
Yuna slowly raised her head, almost suspecting she was hallucinating.
“…What?”
“You don’t need to worry about the specifics. Anyway, there’s food and clothing, enough for a warm winter.”
Jon waved to the convoy behind him, signaling them to turn back.
“All right, no need to deliver this grain. Take it back. How could you skim off supplies? Local priests need to eat too.”
Now it was Yuna’s turn to be at a loss.
“Eh…wait…no…”
Jon invited her directly.
“Tonight everyone’s having a festival banquet. Want to stay for a meal? It’s a bit simpler than your usual fare, Yuna, but there’s still some meat, and it’s lively. Worth a try.”
“What?”
Yuna stared in astonishment.
Was the camp really so well-supplied now?!
Seeing the Saintess’s wide-eyed, stunned expression, Leah, lying on Jon’s shoulder, almost burst out laughing.
She understood—the Saintess wanted to build favor, had long prepared a batch of grain, delayed sending it until now, and exaggerated the preciousness of the source to boast of her sacrifice and merit to the Hero.
But in the end, she was just one step too late.
Jon, being straightforward and kind-hearted, seeing the camp wasn’t lacking, and with the Saintess looking so troubled, of course he couldn’t accept it.
In trying so hard, she ended up failing and getting nothing, her goodwill punched back by the Hero’s straightforwardness—what’s more, the Hero didn’t even realize he’d done it!
No wonder people say: naturally counters black-bellied types.
Leah guessed the Saintess would regret it to death on her way back.
“All right. I came too late.”
Yuna murmured in a daze.
But she was decisive, not dragging things out.
She rationally ended her plan and began to clean up the aftermath.
But at that moment, Leah’s voice suddenly drifted over.
“Why is it ‘came too late’?”
Yuna’s steps suddenly halted.
A cold chill shot up from her spine and seeped through her fair skin.
Sure enough, the next second, Leah tugged on the Hero’s ear, leaned close to the earlobe, and spoke in a sweet voice.
“Friend~ friend~ that sentence from the bad person is so strange~”
“Why is it ‘came too late’? Not ‘came unnecessarily’ or ‘came wrongly’, but specifically ‘came too late’~?”
Jon, reminded like this, also felt something was off with the phrase.
‘Came too late’ implied that in Yuna’s mind, there was an ideal time to deliver the supplies—a time that only made sense if he was still lacking food.
A ridiculous and terrible suspicion suddenly arose in Jon’s mind.
Could it be that, compared to starving refugees, Miss Yuna cared more about whether he was sufficiently grateful?
“Friend~ friend~”
Leah clung to Jon’s ear, acting spoiled.
“Do you think~ maybe she had a choice~ the food was ready a long time ago~ just waiting for a good time to deliver it to Jon~ that’s why it was ‘too late’~”
“Shut up! Stop sowing discord! Slandering people with wild words!”
Yuna, her thoughts exposed, panicked, turning to scold.
“Wah~!”
Leah pretended to be frightened, squealed softly, and quickly dove back into the familiar collar, her soft body pressing against Jon’s left chest, trembling pitifully.
“This human sister is so scary~! But, but Lili was only doing the Reading Comprehension Homework that Teacher Anna assigned~”
Yuna’s vision went dark.
For some reason, looking at Leah, she felt a strong sense of déjà vu.
[I… got tea’d by a Pupu?]
She suddenly felt the world was absurd.
A muscle-brained Hero really conjured up food for three thousand people out of nowhere, and he even had a Pupu with a tea-like, sly nature—more devious than a succubus—by his side!
But after all, she was a Saintess, her mental fortitude was strong.
She only faltered for half a second before regaining her composure, bowing her head to apologize.
“I’m sorry, Jon, I shouldn’t have been harsh with her. I just, I just really didn’t want you to misunderstand me.”
“You should apologize to her.”
Jon pointed at Leah, a little displeased.
“She was frightened by you. She’s still young, just started language and literature classes, analyzing word by word is normal.”
“Sorry, sorry, Lili, big sister had no ill intentions…”
Yuna bent over in shame and apologized to Leah.
At that moment, Leah thought:
Tsk, able to bend and stretch, not hesitating to apologize to a Pupu.
No wonder she could rival this king—truly a formidable opponent!
Yuna raised her head, tears shimmering in her eyes, looking pitifully at the Hero.
“Jon, it was just a slip of the tongue, I really didn’t mean anything else, you must believe me.”
“Mm.”
Jon nodded, feeling uncomfortable.
Of course, he wouldn’t judge Yuna by a few words, believing she had delayed intentionally, as ‘Lili’ speculated, to wait for refugees to die.
But this matter had planted a thorn in his heart.
He suddenly realized that perhaps he had never truly understood Yuna.
What he saw before was only the side Yuna wanted him to see—the radiant, pure side.
And the real Yuna… was far more complex and deep than he had imagined.