After healing the people, I returned with Voldred to where the carriage was parked.

I’m really exhausted…

People had flocked to me after that first heal, asking me to heal them as well. As a result, I ended up using a lot of magical power.

But still, it wasn’t so bad, I guess. I’ve never been thanked before… So, hearing so many say “thank you” made me really happy.

In my previous world, even when I did the housework and childcare for Arisa, nobody ever thanked me. They always took me for granted.

But here, everyone smiled and said, “thank you.”

Even though they were struggling to make ends meet, they wanted to show me their gratitude. They tried to give me flowers, fruits, and other small trinkets they had in their houses. I thought they needed them more than me, so I declined.

It seems that we need to not only improve medical care and sanitation, but also stabilize the economy. Maybe I can make products utilizing my modern knowledge and sell them to other countries? If I can get others to lend their strength, I could give them work…

Although I wasn’t born in this world, I lived in it (albeit by force). Making the world a better place would also improve my own life.

As I walked and thought about these things, Voldred peered into my face.

“Lady Mia, you’re too kind—almost too kind.”

“Is that a compliment?”

“I’d never criticize you, Lady Mia. I just think that you should only be kind to me.”

“…I didn’t mean to be kind to you, though.”

“Even when you didn’t, you were kind. That means that you’re wonderful to me just the way you are. Lady Mia, I really want to lock you away somewhere, without anyone knowing about your existence.”

How exhausting~

Being treated with hostility was tiring, but I didn’t know what to do with the overwhelming affection I received.

Anyway, I got Voldred to pull my horse and returned to the palace.

“I heard about it, Saint! You’ve finally taken my words to heart and understood what compassion is!”

The princess had been a little quieter since I transferred Voldred’s wounds to her, but she didn’t seem to have learned her lesson.

Seriously, I’m beat…

Also, did she have to appear so smug? Even though she had been badly wounded, she forgot the pain as soon as it was over.

Well, I don’t think such a rotten princess would change so easily.

I had only just returned, but she quickly learned of what had happened in the city. It seemed that in this world, there were things called Messenger Magic Stones. They were basically like telephones. They were rare, so commoners didn’t have them. She was probably contacted by a knight or someone guarding the city.

“…Are you talking about me using my power in the city? What does that have to do with you? Why do you act like it’s all thanks to you?”

“Well, you’re the saint summoned by my brother. Your achievements are the achievements of the royal family. Besides, haven’t I been persuading you, a fool, to use your power all this time? Finally! My words have gotten through!”

The princess twirled her ringlets smugly, looking down on me.

It felt stupid to argue back at this point, but hearing her continue to repeat that was annoying.

When someone said something unpleasant to you, there was a trend that said, “It’s classy to just shrug it off.”

Why should I endure it and laugh when I was the one being made uncomfortable?

Well, I understood that if I argued back, it’d end up being my loss. Besides, I feared provoking the wrong person and earning their ire, so I sometimes held back for my own safety. Even in high school, when people teased me or said mean things to me, I’d just let it go. After all, if a dangerous person set their sights on me, it’d be difficult to fight back.

But I’m in another world. Even though I was summoned against my will, I now have the power of a saint.

I argued back without hesitation.

“I didn’t do it because of you or anyone else—it was for myself. You can’t take credit for what I did.”

“Hmph, you just want to be in the spotlight! And you call yourself a saint? How shameful! Learn to be humble!”

“Are you referring to yourself?”

“In the first place, you’re only a saint because my brother summoned you to this world! Shouldn’t you be grateful?”

“I’m a saint because of my actions.”

Although I could only become a saint in this world, I used my power by my own will and protected my dignity because I resisted the royal family.

If someone weaker and less assertive had been summoned to this country, with no one to rely on, they’d have been at the mercy of the prince and the princess. They’d have been forced to use their power like a machine without any rest, while all the credit went to the royal family. And because a saint was expected to be “selfless,” their freedom would have been stripped away, and their mind exhausted…

One wrong step and I’d have been trampled the same way. I got my freedom because I refused to give in to the royal family. I mustn’t be fooled by sophistry.

But really, this princess won’t listen to reason.

I was exhausted from using all my magical power today, so I decided to get this over with quickly.

“Oh, right, Your Highness. Today, I’ve collected quite a lot of wounds, illnesses, curses, and poison. As the princess of this country, would you like to accept the suffering that the people have endured up until now?”

“Hyii?!”

The princess went as white as a sheet.

“Y-you! Are you threatening me?! Do you think you can do whatever you want just because you’re the saint?!”

“You threatened me just the other day, didn’t you?”

“What are you saying? I didn’t threaten you!”

“You threw Voldred in front of me as he was dying and said that he’d die if I didn’t use my power. That’s a threat.”

“I was just desperately asking you to help a pitiful, dying man! That wasn’t a threat, but compassion!”

“Huh?”

The one who said this, his eyes shining sharply, was Voldred, the victim himself. He glared at the princess with a murderous intent—completely different from the sweet gaze he’d been giving me until now.

“Because of the curse of submission, I could never refuse an order. Entering a monsters’ den should have been done with a squad of knights, yet you made the obviously unreasonable request for me to go alone. You pushed me to my death, and you dare to preach about compassion?”

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