When I Maxed Out the Zero-Star Saintess, a Yandere Confinement Life with Overwhelming Love Began - Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I sink deep into a sofa stuffed with the finest down feathers, staring at the steam rising from the tea placed in front of me as I ask Sizzle.

The place is the very heart of the royal capital—the innermost room of the grand cathedral. Beautiful religious frescoes cover the ceiling, and the floor is laid with a long-pile carpet so thick it would swallow my ankles.

The windows are guarded by iron bars and what seems to be a magical barrier. Outside, the Holy Knights patrol so tightly that not even an ant could crawl through unnoticed.

“Hey, Sizzle. Is there a clear definition that separates a guest from a prisoner?”

“…Whether or not there was mutual agreement on the means of transportation, perhaps.”

Sizzle answers while tilting the teapot. The only sound in the quiet room is the amber liquid pouring into her own cup.

“Then what about walking here alone?”

“That is not permitted.”

Sizzle looks up, glances at Celesfia, and gives a bright smile.

“If someone can’t walk around alone, isn’t that a prisoner?”

“No. Lady Celesfia also never goes out without an escort. Does that mean the saintess is a prisoner?”

Well, in a way she’s treated almost like one, but I let that pass for now.

“Well… I have my own definition.”

“Let’s hear it.”

“Whether the key is on the inside or the outside.”
I pause. “…And just now, I’m pretty sure I heard the door lock from the outside.”

“That was the activation sound of a ‘safety device.’ So that you, a state secret, don’t accidentally leak out into the world.”

“I’m just an ordinary citizen.”

“No. You are a precious, troublesome ‘living holy relic.’”

Sizzle hands me the tea with a perfectly cool expression. Beside her, Celesfia sits on the edge of the sofa, staring straight at me.

Even though she just flicked away a demon god with a forehead poke, the excitement still hasn’t left her. Her cheeks are flushed bright red, and her eyes gleam like a cat stalking prey.

“…Lord Lyle.”

Finally, Celesfia speaks.

“What is it?”

“Please explain. What on earth happened to us?”

She looks down at her own palm. The aftershock of that absurd violence still seems to linger there.

“I was terrified… The very word ‘demon god’ made me want to throw up… Yet the instant you touched me, the whole world seemed to freeze.”

I set down my cup and let out a small sigh. It’s no wonder she has questions. To the people of this world, that kind of strength goes far beyond anything that can be brushed off as a “miracle.”

“Right… Normally, the level cap for humans is supposed to be 50. That sound correct?”

Sizzle nods at my question.

“Yes. For humans, that is accurate. However, among monsters, there are recorded individuals that have reached level 130.”

Celesfia tilts her head at Sizzle’s answer.

“Then does that mean we’ve become half-human, half-demon?”

“A half-demon saintess sounds rough… Couldn’t it just mean the human level cap wasn’t actually 50?”

There’s no way they’d understand if I explained the concept of “protagonist correction,” so I gently steer the conversation instead.

“But… why did it happen to just us, and at this exact moment?”

Sizzle voices the obvious question. Both of their gazes naturally turn to me.

“Now that I think about it, right before my level cap went up, I was with Lord Lyle.”

“Same for me. It was after Sizzle and Lord Lyle came to get me. I remember Lord Lyle gently wrapped his arms around me…”

“Yeah… that’s probably it. I don’t know the exact mechanism myself. But thinking about what happened to you two right before… it looks like I have the power to raise the level cap of anyone I touch.”

“But Prisoner Number 001—”

Sizzle says it with a perfectly straight face.

“Hey, quit treating me like a prisoner.”

The moment I cut in, Sizzle flashes a satisfied smirk.

“Heh heh, my apologies.”

“So what were you going to say?”

“What bothers me is the effect on other people. It’s clear that touching you raises someone’s level cap. But in all the time you’ve lived here, Lyle, is it really possible you’ve never touched anyone else?”

“Either no one noticed… or the effect is limited to specific people.”

Of course, in the original game only the characters the player controls can receive protagonist correction. The same rule probably applies in this world too.

Explaining that would be pointless, but that’s likely why no one noticed until now.

“I believe it’s the latter. Lord Lyle and I… we were brought together by the will of God!”

Celesfia’s eyes sparkle as she leans forward and declares it. Then, carried by the same momentum, she stands up from the sofa and plops down right next to me.

“C-… Lady Celesfia… you’re too close…”

“Please call me just Celesfia.”

Celesfia clings to my arm and speaks in a sweet, spoiled voice.

“Or you could rearrange the letters and call me your sex friend if you like?”

Sizzle mutters with faint displeasure.

“Sizzle sometimes says mean things when she’s jealous.”

“I’m not trying to take Celesfia away…”

“Hee hee hee. It’s not that I’m being taken—it’s that Lord Lyle is being taken, you see?”

“Huh…? Why would that—”

“You were always telling me stories, remember? At the old bookshop—”

Celesfia starts to say it, then Sizzle slams the table—BAM! Cracks spiderweb across the hard mineral surface.

“Ah… m-my apologies. I still can’t control my strength properly…”

Sizzle supports the cracking section so it doesn’t shatter completely and calls toward the door, “Someone!”

It’s not enough power to destroy a shop, but she clearly hasn’t mastered fine control yet.

“Hee hee, that felt pretty intentional though.”

“L-Lady Celesfia… please don’t bring that up.”

The two of them talk happily together, more like friends than master and servant.

It’s a peaceful moment—if you ignore the almost-broken table. Peaceful, except for the almost-broken table.

“Lady Celesfia, Lyle. I just had an idea.”

Sizzle’s amethyst eyes gleam suspiciously.

“I’ve got a really bad feeling about this.”

“Hee hee hee, me too!”

“Don’t be like that… In short, if Lyle has a lot more ‘intimate contact’ with us, wouldn’t that be for the good of the country?”

“Intimate…”

Celesfia tightens her grip on my arm, her face turning red. She still can’t control her strength either—creaking sounds come from my arm, like it’s about to snap.

“Celesfia, that hurts.”

“Ah! S-sorry! But I’m against it. Keeping Lord Lyle here just for practical gain is wrong!”

Her straightforward sincerity warms my heart and stings my eyes a little.

“Celesfia…”

“Then shall we send you home?”

“No, that won’t do. Lord Lyle is staying here of his own free will, right? Right, Lord Lyle?”

Celesfia climbs onto my lap and leans her full weight against me. Warm breath brushes my neck. A sweet scent tickles my nose. She should be light, yet the sheer weight of her affection makes the sofa groan in protest.

“Umm…”

“…We’re not letting you go home anymore. This is your home now, Lord Lyle.”

I don’t actually have a home to go back to.

I shoot Sizzle a half-lidded glare, and she awkwardly looks away.

“Fine, Celesfia. But in return, feed me good food, okay?”

“Is… is that a proposal!? I’ll start practicing cooking right away!”

“I didn’t say that!”

“Eh… but only someone you love would say ‘feed me good food,’ right? Right? Right?”

The light vanishes from Celesfia’s eyes as she leans in closer with that dead stare. Sizzle clears her throat—“Ahem”—and Celesfia snaps out of it.

“Lady Celesfia, by that logic I’ve been proposed to by you as well.”

“Ah… you’re right. I got carried away.”

“Also, Lyle. It’ll be good for you yourself to understand exactly what your ability does. Even setting aside grand excuses like ‘for the country,’ there’s no harm in testing it properly.”

“Well… yeah, I guess.”

“Wonderful. Thank you in advance, Lyle.”

“Yay! Lord Lyle! My own room is separate, but starting today I’m moving in here!”

Sizzle smiles boldly, Celesfia buries her face in my shirt and takes a deep breath, and outside the window the city bells ring out—goooong, goooong—as if solemnly bidding farewell to my freedom.