The Saint Wants to Rest - Chapter 1.1
Ian slowly folded his fingers one by one as he watched the mage set up the magic circle.
Let’s review what he had accomplished since being dragged into this other world.
He killed the Demon King. He saved the people. He maintained world peace.
Even though he had been brought here against his will, he had fulfilled every duty expected of a Saint. Now, all that remained was for that damn God to keep his promise and send him back to his original world.
Ian glared at the magic circle, which was beginning to glow brighter, his face etched with anxiety.
“Can’t you make it go any faster?”
“I’m doing my absolute best, sir! I’d even put my life on the line!” the mage replied, drenched in sweat.
“Everyone does their best. What matters is the result.”
Ian tapped his foot impatiently against the floor. As time ticked by, his anxiety spiked. He was terrified that the crazy bastard—the one who clung to him like octopus suckers—would come charging in.
The Emperor had promised to keep the guy occupied, but even if he and the entire Order of Knights threw themselves at him, they wouldn’t be able to hold him for long.
‘He’s so pointlessly strong.’
Thanks to that strength, they had taken the Demon King’s head, but that was it. Ian figured they would have killed the Demon King eventually anyway; it was only a matter of time.
“Fast, faster!”
Ian urged the mage, forgetting his polite honorifics entirely.
“It—it’s done!”
After what felt like an eternity, the mage gasped out his reply.
“Now we just need to place the Magic Stones!”
Ian snatched the stones from the mage’s hands and hurled them into the circle. In that instant, the magic circle was complete.
‘Success!’
The problem was that the lunatic arrived at the exact same moment.
Thump!
The massive doors of the temple collapsed with a thunderous crash.
The crazy bastard had made his entrance.
“Seriously, what kind of Holy Knight destroys a temple?”
As Ian clicked his tongue, the man stepped forward. His usually shining white armor was stained with crimson blood, and golden chains were wrapped around his torso. They were the Chains of Sealing, said to be strong enough to bind an Ancient Dragon, yet they didn’t seem to be working on him at all.
“Saint!”
The strongest Paladin, the Dragon Rider, the Ruler of the Northern Territories, the Heroic Descendant of Angelic Blood, and the wielder of the Holy Sword. He was a man showered in every kind of praise, but to Ian, he was something else. A sequence of memories involving all the suffering he had endured while traveling with that man flashed through his mind.
Thinking of that, he felt he earned the right to use some choice words for their final parting.
“F*ck! I’m free now! Piss off!”
The horrific stalker of the Saint.
Vermouth El Di Loxtian.
Ian threw himself into the magic circle before the man could reach him. Goodbye forever, you jerk.
***
Ian. He had been an ordinary college student. Having lost his parents at a young age, his life had been a bit harder than others, but it wasn’t miserable. That was because his kind older brother, four years his senior, had stayed by his side.
His brother had given up on college for Ian’s sake.
“You’re the smarter one, hyung. Wouldn’t it be better if I was the one working?”
When Ian had made that serious suggestion, his brother, Choi Jae-heon, simply grabbed Ian’s nose and gave it a twist.
“And how exactly are you going to earn money?”
“Whatever it takes.”
He could work at a fast-food joint or a factory in the countryside. He didn’t want to be apart from his brother, but he heard the pay was decent.
“I’ll put you through college, hyung.”
“Forget it.”
Choi Jae-heon chuckled and shook his head. He comforted his immature younger brother and made him study. The only problem was that Ian wasn’t quite as bright as his brother. Still, hard work didn’t betray him. He managed to get accepted into a university in Seoul.
His brother had been so happy then. Ian, feeling triumphant, had shouted:
“Alright, just wait! I’m going to graduate early and let you live a life of leisure!”
“Little brother, let’s talk after you actually get a scholarship.”
“Okay…”
Who was it that said life would change once you got past senior year of high school? Change, my ass. A life spent sitting at a desk doing nothing but studying didn’t change a bit. Especially since he wasn’t particularly gifted.
“I must be an idiot.”
One night, while pulling an all-nighter for an exam, Ian left the house feeling gloomy. He thought some cold air might clear his head.
“The stars are really out tonight.”
He stood blankly for about ten minutes, staring up at the night sky. Just as he turned to go back inside to study, something glowing suddenly fell from the void. Startled, he tried to dodge, but with the poor physical stamina of someone who did nothing but sit at a desk, it was impossible.
‘I should have worked out with hyung when he asked.’
He regretted it later, but it was already too late.
By the time the light faded and he regained consciousness, he was already in another world. Before he could even marvel at the tall pillars, the white ceiling carved with cherubs, and the massive architecture, people dressed in clothes you’d only see in a manga approached him.
They shouted:
“Oh! The Saint has arrived!”
Isn’t this a bit too cliché? Being summoned to another world as a Saint or Saintess was something that happened almost as often as getting hit by a “Reincarnation Truck.”
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