The Priest of Complete Dispel ~ Every Time I Save a Cursed Beautiful Girl with My Status Abnormal Cure Skill, For Some Reason Her Dependence on Me Maxes Out ~

Chapter 68: Savior

“Alisha, it’s been a while since you’ve been back to the church school, hasn’t it?”

“Yeah. Every year I think the same thing—I never would’ve guessed a place like that actually gets proper long breaks.”

The luxurious carriage, decorated in red and gold, rolled slowly through the forest.

The sharp clack of horseshoes and the dry rattle of wheels kicking up pebbles echoed through the quiet woods.

Inside the carriage sat two women.

One was a young maid dressed in a black-and-white maid outfit.

The other was a girl with golden hair tied in twin tails, wearing a red dress—Alisha.

“Aren’t you looking forward to seeing your old school friends again? Like MyuMyu, who you used to share a room with?”

“Who knows… She might’ve completely forgotten about me by now.”

Alisha gazed out the window and let out a small sigh.

“You’ve always had a bit of trouble making friends, Alisha. It’d be nice if you could make some new connections this year.”

“Hmph. I don’t need friends anyway.—Lizette, you understand my personality better than anyone, right?”

“That’s exactly why I’m saying it.”

The maid called Lizette gave a gentle smile.

That peaceful moment—

—it ended in an instant.

“—Ambush!!”

The knights escorting the carriage all drew their swords at once.

In the next breath, more than a dozen men in shabby gear burst out from behind the trees.

“Bandits…!? Why are there bandits in this forest—!”

“Gah!”

The knights weren’t supposed to be weak by any means. But the bandits attacking them moved with freakish skill, swinging their swords without mercy.

In just a few minutes, almost every guard was down on the ground.

“L-Lizette…!”

“Alisha, don’t worry. I’ll do something—!”

The two of them trembled inside the carriage. Then a voice cut through the silence from outside.

“—Come out. Behave yourselves.”

There was no hiding anymore.

Lizette stepped out first, forcing the words out in a shaking voice.

“What exactly do you people think you’re doing!”

But the bandits just eyed Lizette up and down like they were appraising merchandise, then grinned lewdly.

“You don’t need to know. Get the other one out here too.”

A knife pressed against her, and Lizette had no choice but to obey.

She shielded Alisha behind her and shouted with everything she had.

“I won’t let you lay even one finger on Alisha!”

“Ghehe… Too bad your life ends here. But until then, we’re free to do whatever we want.”

The meaning behind those words hit Lizette, and her face went stiff.

And then—

“Nooooooo!!”

A knife flashed, and Lizette’s clothes tore apart in an instant.

Through the ripped fabric, her pale skin was exposed.

“Damn, she’s actually got a pretty nice body.”

“Lizette… Lizette!”

Alisha called her name in a trembling voice.

But the bandits didn’t stop. The next moment, Alisha’s dress was brutally torn apart too.

“Kyaaaaaaa!!”

“Alisha!!”

Lizette threw herself over Alisha, hugging her tight.

But the two were quickly pulled apart and pinned down by multiple men each.

“Give it up, little ladies.”

“Nooo! Lizette! Lizette!!”

“Alisha! Alisha!!”

Right as despair closed in—

“Gu…!? Uah…!”

One after another, the bandits collapsed to the ground.

No one could understand what just happened.

“Wh-what… what just happened…?”

Alisha, breathing hard, lifted her face.

Then, from the sunlight filtering through the trees, a single boy slowly stepped into view.

“—[Heal]”

A soft white light poured from his hand and wrapped around the fallen knights.

What should’ve been a basic light magic [Heal] shone with the intensity of mid-tier or higher, healing multiple people at once. Their wounds closed up right before everyone’s eyes.

At the sight, both Alisha and Lizette could only hold their breath.

◇◇◇

—It was a seriously bad situation.

Deep in the forest.

A bunch of guys who looked like bandits had surrounded an expensive carriage.

Two girls in torn fancy dresses, terrified. No sign of help coming from anywhere.

I made the call in a split second.

I didn’t care who was right or wrong right now.

The ones crying in front of me were—the girls.

“—[Complete Dispel: Reverse]”

The instant I chanted it, the bandits’ bodies jerked with full-body spasms from [Paralysis] and crumpled to the dirt.

Looking around, I saw knights—probably their escorts—lying there covered in blood.

Luckily they were still breathing—I followed up right away with [Heal].

“Alisha!”

“L-Lizette…!”

A woman still topless threw herself at the golden-haired twin-tailed girl.

They clung to each other with tears in their eyes—the scene alone told the whole story of what had almost happened.

“Hii…!”

But the moment I took one step closer, the girls flinched back in fear.

Of course they did. Some random guy shows up out of nowhere—I’m a dude too. No way they’d trust me just like that.

“…Guess I’ll call Dorotheia for now.”

I focused the thought in my mind.

The next instant, the darkness of the transfer magic [Abyss Gate] appeared on the ground.

“Master~… calling me while I’m in the middle of peeing!?”

“Shu! Is something—wait, this is…!”

Ignoring Dorotheia blushing from her misunderstanding, Iris and Erina instantly grasped the situation.

“Iris. Could you cover them with this cloth?”

“Got it!”

“Leave it to me!”

They’d probably feel safer with other women. I left the girls to Iris and the others.

“Dorotheia, Medina. Tie up the bandits.”

“Gotcha~”

“Y-Yes!”

Dorotheia pulled out some rope next, and they quickly bound up the paralyzed men who couldn’t move a muscle.

“Lizette… we’re saved… right?”

“Yeah… looks like it…”

Finally covered with cloth, the two girls let out long breaths.

Fear, trembling—and then relief.

Looked like my decision hadn’t been wrong.

◇◇◇

“—Thank you so much, really! Thanks to all of you, we were saved.”

“Th-thank you…!”

The woman with dark-purple hair tied in a ponytail—Lizette, apparently a maid—bowed deeply in gratitude.

They must’ve had spare maid clothes in the luggage from the carriage, because she’d already gotten herself properly dressed again.

Standing next to her was the golden twin-tailed girl—Alisha.

The fear had faded from her face, and bit by bit she was regaining that air of elegance and dignity. There was almost something holy about the way she carried herself.

Just from how she stood, you could tell she wasn’t ordinary.

“No, it was all thanks to Shu’s power. You should thank him over there.”

Iris gestured toward me.

I was leaning against a tree, watching from a little distance.

I’d already left the rest of the handling to the women—Iris and the others.

When their eyes turned my way, I gave a small nod in return.

“By the way… what you’re wearing is…”

“Yes. I’m Iris Carnelia—a saint candidate.”

“I-I knew it…! What incredible timing…!”

“A saint candidate…! The real thing…!”

The moment they heard Iris’s name, their expressions completely changed.

The closer we got to the capital, the more widely known the saint candidate’s name seemed to be.