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

Chapter 6

The lower district of the city.

The place everyone calls “the dump” has nothing to do with the splendor of the grand cathedral.

Rotting garbage, the stink of cheap, undiluted liquor, and the stares of people huddled in the shadows stab into the out-of-place visitors.

“This place… is awful.”

“We distribute aid every day, but it’s never enough. Don’t worry. If anything happens, I’ll protect you.”

Celesfia whispers while clinging tightly to my arm. She’s wearing a deep-green hooded robe for the undercover trip, but she can’t hide the saintess aura that leaks out anyway.

Word that she turned a demon god to dust has even reached here, which is reassuring.

“Still… is she really in a place like this?”

Sizzle’s voice comes from the shadow behind me. She’s on guard duty, hiding inside the darkness.

“She should be… there.”

What I point to is a back alley behind a half-collapsed bar. Something wrapped in ragged cloth is lying there. Not cardboard—an old wooden crate used as a windbreak. The girl is sleeping as if dead.

Her distinctive long silver hair is caked with mud. The long ears that mark her as an elf hang limply. Beside her rests a massive longbow almost as tall as she is.

Aira. In the original game she was “the one-shot killer archer.”
But players had another nickname for her: “industrial waste.”

“Hey. You’re still alive?”

I crouch in front of her and poke her with a finger. Her long ear twitches.

“…Not dead… just running in power-saving mode…”

A dry, raspy voice answers. Aira slowly lifts her face. Her eyes are a vivid blood-red, but right now they’re unfocused from hunger.

“…If you don’t need anything, don’t talk to me… moving my mouth burns calories.”

“Got it. Then you don’t need this ‘special pork cutlet sandwich,’ right?”

I pull out a thick sandwich I swiped from the cathedral kitchen.
In an instant—wind rushes past.

“!?”

The sandwich vanishes from my hand. By the time I notice, Aira’s cheeks are puffed out like a squirrel’s. She finishes it so fast I don’t even hear chewing.

“…ngh… fuu… not bad.”

Aira licks the crumbs from her lips and finally looks at me properly.

“…So? You fed me, which means there’s a catch. Let me say this upfront—I’m not selling my body. I don’t have the stamina for it anyway.”

“You don’t need to sell your body. I just want you to help with an experiment.”

I get straight to the point. Her problem is “terrible fuel economy.”
Every aspect of her build and skills is maxed for one-shot power.

That means firing a single arrow drains all her mana and calories, leaving her unable to move. In the game we chugged potions to keep her going, but reality doesn’t work that way.

As a result, she lives in crushing poverty—one shot, then three days in bed.

Of course, if she gets full protagonist correction, she gains realistic efficiency and becomes a high-fire-rate artillery character with decent rotation.

“…Experiment?”

“Yeah. I might be able to fix that ‘terrible fuel economy’ of yours.”

Aira snorts.

“…Impossible. It’s like a birth curse. How many mages do you think I’ve shown it to?”

“I’m not a mage. I’m just a manager.”

I hold my hand out in front of her.

“I’ll guarantee food. I’ll prepare a warm bed too. In exchange… let me ‘touch’ you.”

“…Huh?”

Aira scoots back, full of wariness. At the same time, Celesfia, who’s been clinging to my right arm, tightens her grip and mutters, “I’m jealous…”

Then, with a perfect noh-mask smile, she jumps into the persuasion.

“Don’t worry. It’s not sexual. If Lord Lyle had impure motives, I would protect you. On the other hand—if you harbor impure thoughts toward Lord Lyle, I will physically flick your head into orbit.”

“…What’s with this woman? She’s scary.”

“She’s Saintess Celesfia.”

“…Ugh.”

Aira openly grimaces. She probably hates authority figures.
But then her stomach growls loudly enough to echo off the walls. You can’t fight on an empty stomach.

“…Fine. If things stay like this, I’ll be dead in the gutter next week anyway.”

The moment Aira nods, Sizzle slithers out of the shadow and begins the transfer procedures to the cathedral.

◆

In a room inside the grand cathedral.
The women have finished confirming that Aira has a birthmark shaped like a crossed bow and arrow on her lower abdomen, and now I’m called in.

Sizzle, notebook in hand, glances at me sideways and says, “Well then.”

“Let’s start with simple contact. Just touching hands.”

“Got it.”

Aira obediently puts her hand on the table. I sit across from her and touch it.

『Contact Confirmed (ContactVerified)』
『Target: Aira (PlayableCharacterID:308)』
『Contact Depth: Level 1 (HandShake)』
『Debug Mode Activated――』

Aira’s body jolts.
Her red eyes fly wide open, and faint light leaks from her mud-caked skin.

“…Wha…? Something… power… rising from the bottom of my stomach…?”

Aira stares at her hand, then effortlessly lifts the giant bow beside her.
The lump of iron that used to leave her breathless just from picking it up now feels like a twig.

“…No way. My level cap went up…”

Sizzle checks Aira’s status and scribbles in her notebook.

“30/60. Hmm… holding hands raises it by 10?”

“Looks that way.”

From the log only I can see, it seems “contact depth” is the deciding factor.
Level 1 is hand-holding. Level 3 is hugging. That means there’s a Level 2 condition, and probably Level 4 and above—the conditions needed for full completion.

Contact deeper than a hug… increasing surface area any further sounds difficult, but how…

I try to let go of her hand.
But Aira refuses to release mine. She grabs it tightly with both hands.

“…Wait. Don’t let go.”

“Eh?”

“If you let go, that awful hunger will come back… I can feel it. More. Give me more.”

Her eyes.
The lifeless light from earlier is gone. In its place burns intense thirst—like a starving beast, or a hungry child.

“…Today’s testing ends here. Please release his hand.”

Celesfia says it coldly and forcibly separates our hands.
The room temperature feels like it drops five degrees.

“Good grief. The stray dog we just picked up has already started nipping at her new owner’s hand.”

It seems I’ve activated yet another buggy heroine who’s going to be a handful.

Aira looks like she’s practically drooling from hunger and says,

“…Hey, master. Seconds?”