Chapter 24: Waking Up in the Night.

　The setting sun has set, and the dimness had turned to night.

　Ixendahl, the city of iron and smoke, never sleeps.

　Even after the inauguration of the Great Saint Hirune, the lights of the city have not been extinguished, and the sound of hammering iron echoed in the industrial districts. In the night sky, there were streaks of black smoke, illuminated in red.

　The people looked up at the golden ward and smoke, and praised the Great Saint Hirune, who protected the city from the threat of miasma.

　Here’s to a night without miasma.

　Here’s to the Great Saint Hirune.

　They exchanged cups over and over again, never getting tired of each other.

“……Mmmm ……  Great Church ………… baked potato……….”

　Such was the frontier city that never slept – 2 am in the middle of the night.

　There was a girl turning and dozing on a big bed.

　A Great Church, a baked potato. What was she dreaming about?

　The girl flushed her long platinum blonde hair out of bed and hugged the beautiful girl with light blue hair next to her.

“Holly’s …… baked potato. ……”

　What was she really dreaming about?

　The light blue haired girl she hugged was sleeping soundly, she was dreaming a happy dream.

“The …… sweet potatoes are going to …… burn ………….”

　The blonde girl, the Great Saint Hirune, mumbled in her sleep, rubbed her face against the light blue haired Holly’s nightgown, and slowly opened her eyelids.

“…… hmm? Is it already morning ……? Is it still night?”

　Hirune yawned and looked at her sides, relying on the moonlight.

　On her right side was Jeanne, her ponytail untied

　On her left side, Holly was asleep.

　She pressed her cheek against Holly’s soft shoulder and breathed in through her nose.

(Holly’s body is warm,……, but that’s not the point,……)

　Hirune looked up at the ceiling.

　The unfinished Great Church was being renovated at a rapid pace.

　The holy Quartz, a high-grade material, was being used for the exterior walls, and 70% of the walls have been restored. The ceiling and the areas leading up to it were still the same, and the difference between the new and old parts was clearly visible in the colors.

　Hirune blinked several times to make sure she wasn’t daydreaming.

(I woke up at night for the first time since I came to this world: ……)

　What a surprise, Hirune opened her mouth.

　She was surprised that she had woken up in the middle of her sleep, considering how sleepy she was every day.

　In order to find out the cause, she got up slowly and got out of bed quietly so as not to wake them.

　Putting on her shoes, she walked across the scripture-carved floor, trying not to make a sound.

　After passing through the many laces, she saw the statue of the Goddess at the back of the Great Church, looking down at her with a gentle gaze.

(I can’t get used to the atmosphere at night. …… Come to think of it, the only time I’ve stayed up late was when I was an apprentice saint. ……)

　It reminded her of the jewel apples in the church of the Royal Capital.

　Oh, that juicy apple goodness was delicious. With that in mind, Hirune sniffed the air.

“Something stinks. It smells like burnt rice.”

　With a small sniff, she lifted her chin and walked in the direction of the smell.

　She opened the window.

　A lukewarm breeze, peculiar to the southern region, blew through.

　The smell of something burning carried on the wind.

(Is the smell from the city? ……?)

　The city was quiet at night.

　 It didn’t seem like there was a fire going on or anything.

“Let’s go to the city. I can’t sleep because of the smell.”

　She couldn’t have her restful sleep disturbed.

　Hirune used the holy magic of lighting to illuminate her feet and changed into civilian clothes in a room at the back of the Great Church.

　It seemed to be a disguise.

(I woke up in the middle of the night and I’m hungry. I need a snack. ……)

　Rubbing her flat stomach, the easy-going Great Saint slipped out of the Great Church, down the grassy hill, and snuck into the kitchen of the Southern Branch Church.

(The thing I’m looking for is ……There it is, there it is ……)

　In the refrigerator compartment of the kitchen, fresh sugar muscats were lined up.

　After purifying the orchard and restoring it to its original state with holy magic, the trees immediately began to bear fruit. As an offering to the Great Saint Hirune, the orchard sends them sugar muscats every day.

　The priests and citizens were delighted to hear that they would eventually be distributed in the city.

　Incidentally, the orchard village had always been reluctant to establish a Mephistophelian church, but now they were eager to build a big one. The cultivation of the Mephistopheles faith was progressing without Hirune’s knowledge.

(It always looks so delicious, doesn’t it?)

　The Great Saint of Dozing, who knew nothing about the matter, smiled when she saw the sugar muscats.

“The great thief of the other world EverSophia is me, …… fufu fufufu …….”

　Hirune had woken up in the middle of the night and was feeling buggy.

　If she woke up the priest in charge of the kitchen and asked “Please give me one”, he will gladly give it to her, but she can’t seem to get rid of her little commoner habits. She woke up in the middle of the night, so she felt guilty that she might gain weight, but still opened the refrigerator to eat some cheap pudding.

　In the quiet kitchen, she picked up a sugar muscat fruit.

“Yum!”

　Hirune tossed them into her mouth and felt the crunch of the sugar crystals and the sweetness spreading throughout her mouth.

　When she was satisfied with a few pieces, she spread out a handkerchief and placed the stripped fruit on it. She took the four corners of the handkerchief and lifted it up to use it as a bag, then twisted it into the pocket of her civilian clothes.

　Her pockets were full.

“Got a snack!”

　Hirune sneaked out of the kitchen, headed outside the church, and used the holy magic of levitation.

　She jumped over the wall with ease.

　She left the grounds of the southern branch of the Mephistopheles Church and landed in a secluded alley.

“…… wind.”

(If I stand out too much, they’ll know I’m the Great Saint.)

　She was dressed as an ordinary citizen, but no matter how you looked at her, it was obvious that she was the Great Saint Hirune.

　The aura that she exudes, her elaborate doll-like appearance, her long platinum blonde hair that shimmered even in the moonlight.

　With her pictures circulating all over the city, it would take a very insensitive person to look at her and not recognize her as the Great Saint Hirune.

(It’s nice to walk the streets as an ordinary citizen.)

She was quite serious.

　It must have been partly because she’s gotten used to seeing herself as a beautiful girl every day in the mirror, and partly because she still feels that it’s not real, and her senses are numb.

(If Wanda found out that the great saint was taking a walk in the middle of the night, I’d have to listen to a two-hour sermon course)

　It was quite hard to endure not dozing off during the sermon.

　Hirune walked quickly through Ixendahl at night, observing the city. 　

(It’s like a city dedicated to fighting demons, with steel plates reinforcing everywhere and zero fashionable stores…….)

　She walked around the city, eating sugar muscats with gusto.

　In Ixendahl, there were only solid and practical stores.

　After being attacked by demons every night, Ixendahl has been struggling to survive. It was the fate of the miasma-ridden southern region that no culture of its own had sprouted.

　Hirune’s blond hair fluttered as she flicked her nose in the direction of the burning smell.

　Heading north of the city, she entered a district of rugged steel mills gathered to form an industrial area.

　The area was brightly lit by torches, and black smoke was rising.

(Is this the cause? ……)

　Hirune pinched her nose and muttered, “Kusai.” (It stinks)

　The sound of hammering iron echoed.

　It was two o’clock in the morning, but the surroundings were as bright as day.

(I was told that they burnt a lot of demon coal to make iron. It smells like burning a large amount of fallen leaves ……)

　The smell of burning demon coal filled the district.

(The wind is blowing from north to south, so the smell hits the Great Church directly. …… It seems the wind direction is the reason I didn’t notice it before.)

　Light spilled out of the windows of the steel mill, and a high-pitched metallic sound resounded regularly: klank, klank, klank.

(This is a nuisance to the neighbors. Also, it’s black, it’s in violation of the Labor Standards Act…….)

　Hirune turned her half-lidded, haunting gaze toward the steel mill.

　There were no labor laws in this world.

“working until two in the morning is outrageous. The frontier city of Ixendahl will be reborn as a white city.”

　Perhaps it was the tension of the middle of the night.

　Hirune pinched her nose and raised her voice strangely.

“Let’s go,” She declared and opened the large doors of the steel mill.

　By coincidence, Hirune was headed for the largest steel mill in the frontier city, the one that was synonymous with Ixendahl.