The Regressor and the Blind Saint-Chapter 268: After Story: A Certain Season (2)

For Lennon, Elia was special.

It was a land of pure white, save for the cabin where he lived.

Everyone he met there greeted him with a smile.

And so, it was a land he couldn’t help but love.

Lennon loved Elia.

He loved the things, the people, and their smiles.

This love made Lennon’s steps naturally cheerful as he traversed the land.

He arrived at the Grand Temple with excited strides.

Lennon clenched his fists, remembering today’s goal.

The Pirate King!

Today, he was going to meet the Pirate King.

Though Lennon already knew that her name was Ellen, he called her Pirate King.

He did that because he thought that name was cooler.

As he scurried around the Grand Temple, priests and paladins greeted him with smiles.

Lennon told them “Shh!” and continued his busy search.

The Pirate King always hid in quiet, secluded spots.

Not in the church!

She must be somewhere else today.

Lennon continued his pondering with a “Hmm.”

Feeling obligated to make the only person in Elia who didn’t smile, laugh, Lennon recalled her usual hiding spots.

The food storage? Trevor’s lab? Or the Sanctuary?

A completely enclosed space where sound couldn’t escape.

The Pirate King would surely be there.

Lennon unleashed his divinity.

Pure white divinity gathered at his fingertips like a ball, then spread its wings.

Intermediate Tracking Spell [Tracker].

The spell with spread wings rose slowly and then pointed in a direction.

Lennon knew what lay at the end of that path.

The quarters!

She must be hiding under the bed in her room.

Lennon’s face brightened as he solved the puzzle.

The pretty boy with snow-white hair blushed and started to run.

*The person Lennon called Pirate King, Ellen, also known as the Apostle of Judgment, was once again melancholically hiding under her bed today.

...I hate this.

She wanted to go home.

She missed the salty breeze, the crashing waves, and the various delicacies served at every meal.

She no longer wanted to be in this blindingly white city.

She disliked Vargo, who always pestered her.

She disliked the lecherous Trevor, who always stared at her arms.

She disliked Marie and the twins who tortured her with food, and Rohan who always clung to her while asking how to become popular with women.

“Ugh...”

But if she had to pick the one she disliked the most, it would be Vera.

The Holy Emperor.

He’ll probably beat me up again under the guise of training...

For the past seven years, excluding a few dispatches, what troubled Ellen the most was Vera’s training.

To her, it was merciless violence, a continuous series of near-death experiences that chilled her to the bone every waking moment.

While it showed ridiculous efficiency in terms of power increase, it also felt like her personality was being trampled to the roots.

Shudder—

Ellen trembled.

Her eyes were tightly shut, and her body was curled up.

She resolved not to go out today, either.

She would spend peaceful moments stuck in the corner of the room.

Though Ellen had made this resolution, things never go as planned in this world.

Bang—!

“Pirate King!”

Along with the sound of the door being roughly opened, a young boy’s voice was heard.

The excited voice was one Ellen knew well.

Ellen’s breath stopped, and she concealed her presence as much as possible.

It was Vera’s nasty son.

If he caught her, a peaceful day would become an impossible dream.

“Pirate King?”

All signs of her disappeared at the repeated call, but it was a futile effort.

Lennon was a divine being.

He was a living miracle, imbued with the Divinity of Heaven since before birth.

As such, no matter how much Ellen erased her presence, he could immediately detect the divinity she held.

“Here you are!”

Lennon lifted the bedcover.

Ellen’s brightened vision caught sight of the brightly smiling snow-white boy.

She frowned and said.

“...Close that. Light’s coming in.”

“No can do! You have to go on an adventure with me today, Pirate King!”

Lennon pulled off the bedcover completely.

Ellen trembled in despair.

“Seriously...”

I don’t want this...

*Leaving the Grand Temple for Elia’s plaza.

Lennon walked cheerfully, tightly holding Ellen’s hand.

“Mother said so! Staying in a room all the time makes people depressed and sensitive! The Pirate King is sad because she’s always in a corner!”

His energetic voice echoed across the plaza.

Passing priests and paladins chuckled at his words and looked at Ellen.

Ellen lowered her head in embarrassment and muttered.

“I would have been happy if it weren’t for you...”

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“That’s not true! Mother is always right, so the reason the Pirate King is sad is because she’s inside!”

Whose trait was this stubbornness that didn’t listen to others at all—his mother’s or father’s?

Ellen dismissed the question and sighed.

...What does it matter anyway?

The important thing was that she ended up outside like this.

Ellen sat in front of the fountain in the plaza with a blank face.

Lennon, sitting beside her, looked at Ellen while grinning.

“How is it? Are you happy now?”

His ashen eyes sparkled.

Expectation spread thickly across his face.

Ellen glanced at that face and then answered.

“No.”

“Wh-What!”

Lennon jumped up.

His face was full of shock.

“Was Mother wrong...?”

He had an expression on his face as if the world had collapsed.

Ellen flinched, feeling guilty inside.

One might wonder why an ex-pirate who used to plunder would feel guilty about this, but that thought would vanish upon seeing Lennon’s face.

Lennon was beautiful despite being a boy.

If one had to compare, he truly had an ‘angelic’ appearance.

Do you know?

How much it stings your conscience when you think you’ve made an angel who descended from heaven cry because of you?

Ellen’s lips tightened.

She tried to look away, but the presence right next to her pricked her conscience even more.

As always, Ellen finally surrendered to that guilt, unable to escape it.

“...Sorry, I lied. Actually, I think I might be a little happier.”

At the end of Ellen’s gaze as she said this was the boy with a bright expression.

“I knew it...!”

He trembled with joy.

What great thing had he done to be so happy?

Ellen sighed deeply at the incomprehensible thoughts of the boy.

I want to go back inside now...

Considering this boy’s behavior pattern, he definitely wouldn’t let her go until evening.

Ellen frowned deeply and glared at the sky.

Please, just take this one away.

She prayed to the god who had given her the stigma.

However, if things could be resolved with such wishes, they wouldn’t have become this complicated in the first place.

“Pirate King!”

“...What.”

“If the Pirate King is happy, why aren’t you smiling?”

Lennon asked, tilting his head.

Ellen felt a sharp pain in the back of her head as she answered.

“I don’t smile much originally.”

“Can you be happy without smiling?”

“I cry when I’m happy.”

“What...!”

Lennon made a shocked expression.

He was confused by the contrast between ‘happiness’ and ‘crying’.

His expression turned serious, his adorable hand slowly stroking his chin.

“Hmm...! Come to think of it, I’ve heard from Mother! There are times when you cry because you’re too happy! She said she cried because she was so happy when Father proposed to her!”

“I see, so that’s what happened...”

Ellen’s expression was indifferent.

Of course, she didn’t care one bit about the love story of the Holy Emperor and the Saint.

She thought she could just somewhat listen and go back.

As she gave a half-hearted response with such thoughts, Lennon said something she couldn’t just let slide.

“So being with me must make the Pirate King as happy as receiving a proposal!”

“That’s ri... What?”

Snap!

Ellen’s head turned.

The expression on her face was one of disbelief.

Wondering what she had just heard, she asked again, and Lennon, with a confident face, continued his answer.

“Isn’t that right! The Pirate King is always on the verge of tears when she’s with me, so talking with me must be as joyful as receiving a proposal!”

What kind of logic is this?

Ellen felt her mind going blank as she held her forehead.

“Wow...”

Where should she even begin to explain this?

After pondering for a moment, Ellen gave up on trying to answer.

“Fine, think whatever you want.”

“Hmm hmm!”

The corners of Lennon’s mouth twitched upwards.

Ellen felt a desperate need for a smoke.

On the bench where two contrasting emotions arose, Lennon continued speaking with a brightly smiling face.

“I’m so relieved! I’m glad the Pirate King isn’t unhappy!”

Pure joy radiated from him, warming the air.

Ellen, not knowing what to say, let out a hollow laugh before asking such a question.

“Why do you care about me so much? What did the Saint say?”

It was a natural question for Ellen.

It’s been three years already.

Ever since he could run around on his own, this snow-white boy had been constantly circling around her, demanding smiles.

By now, he should have gotten tired and given up, but he was so persistent that he showed no signs of giving up.

She had let it slide until now, but hearing him say this much, her curiosity peaked and she asked the question.

Lennon blinked, then without a moment’s hesitation, blurted out an answer.

“I like being happy!”

“What?”

“Smiling makes you happy! Being happy makes your heart warm! When you’re warm, you feel good! So I want everyone’s hearts to be warm!”

It was an answer that made her laugh incredulously.

“Just for that?”

“It’s not just for that!”

Lennon crossed his arms.

He met Ellen’s eyes as he did so.

“Mother said so! Happiness is meant to be shared! That’s how the world becomes brighter and warmer! If I make the Pirate King smile, the Pirate King will make others smile too! If everyone shares happiness like that, there won’t be anyone crying in the world!”

Flinch—

Ellen’s fingertips trembled.

“So I have to make the Pirate King smile! I’ll be happy when the Pirate King is happy!”

Lennon grinned as he finished speaking.

Ellen, who had been watching this scene with her mouth agape, suddenly burst into laughter without realizing it.

“Pff, hahaha...!”

“Huh? Oh?! Pirate King! You’re laughing right now!”

As Lennon uncrossed his arms and spoke in surprise, Ellen’s laughter grew louder.

She laughed, forgetting even that all the priests and paladins around were looking at her.

“Pirate King?”

Lennon tilted his head.

Ellen, after laughing for quite a while, finally managed to control her laughter and looked at Lennon.

“You’re a dangerous one, aren’t you?”

“Huh?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Ellen’s hand reached out and roughly ruffled Lennon’s hair.

“Kid, when you grow up a bit more, you’ll be making some girls cry, won’t you?”

It was surely an offhand remark, said without much thought.

Nevertheless, Lennon’s words were as comforting and encouraging as a sweet confession of love.

She burst into laughter, amused by how this young thing already showed signs of being a heartbreaker.

Nonetheless, it was genuine laughter all the same.

“No!”

Lennon answered loudly with a bright face.

“I won’t make girls cry! I’ll make them smile!”

“We’ll see about that...”

She chuckled.

It felt like it had been a really long time, perhaps the first time since coming to Elia, that she had laughed like this.

Ellen felt her chest warming up for some reason.

Ah.

This must be the warmth Lennon was talking about.

The corners of Ellen’s eyes drooped.

Her face, which had always been frowning, relaxed into a gentle expression.

Lennon felt his mind go blank at that face.

“Uh...”

A thought that arose unconsciously.

Lennon thought that Ellen’s smiling face was truly beautiful.

Thump—

His heart beat.

Ellen looked at Lennon’s expression curiously, then turned her head away as if it wasn’t a big deal.

I don’t get it.

It’s really puzzling what this brat is thinking.

Ellen basked in the sunlight while thinking such things.

It was a warm spring day in Elia.

On that day, Lennon experienced his heart flutter for the first time.

However, the meaning behind this new feeling, and what Ellen meant by saying he would make girls cry...

It would be a long time before Lennon truly understood these things.