Rome’s Saintess IV

"Uh…"

Ohjin was unable to close his widened mouth as he blatantly looked at her.

It wasn't because his mind was blown by her beautiful looks or anything like that.

'Just how?'

The reason he stiffened was the fact that he met her itself.

His encounter with her was overwhelmingly unlikely to call it coincidental.

"Uhm…"

"Ah, sorry. I'm Gwon Ohjin."

He received her hand that was awkwardly hanging in the air.

"Gwon Ohjin…?"

Isabella, who was submerged in thought after hearing his name, soon clapped her hands.

"Lightning Wolf! Are you the Lightning Wolf by any chance?"

"Yes, that's what I'm known as."

Even Isabella, who was Italian, knew who he was. The title of North Star's apostle indeed brought a lot of attention to it.

"Wow…! I was wondering why you gave off a good smell!"

"Excuse me?"

'Smell?'

"A-Ah! S-Sorry! Please forget about what I just said!"

Isabella's face heated up as she urgently shook her head.

The fact that she reacted so intensely made Ohjin think deeper into it.

'A good smell?'

Then did it mean she traced that smell to find him?

'It's not like she has the stigma of the Hunting Dogs.'

Ohjin chuckled and looked at her.

"But I don't have any memories of spraying perfume."

"D-Didn't I request that you forget about it!"

Isabella was flustered as she closed her eyes tight.

The way her curly golden hair bounced every time she shook her head made Ohjin think he was seeing a sheep with fluffy fur.

"Hmpf! I was doing volunteer work with the nearby Romani people and simply came here to help you because you looked lost. I-It's not that I tracked down your smell!"

'So she did track my smell, though I'm not sure why I smell good.'

In any case, it appeared that his encounter with her wasn't pure coincidence.

'Now that I think of it, I did hear that Isabella does volunteer work in treating the homeless.'

A massive Romani village was a good location for the homeless to gather.

'So she tracked down my scent whilst she was in the middle of doing volunteer work.'

Well, even that seemed like an unbelievable coincidence, but it was at least much more plausible than meeting coincidentally on the road.

'Anyway…'

He couldn't miss this golden opportunity.

"Yes, I've gotten lost as it's my first time here. Could you help me out?"

"Of course!"

Isabella put on a bright smile and nodded her head.

"So, where are you looking to go?"

"About that… I'm in a bit of a pickle."

Ohjin put on a half-witted expression and scratched his head.

"I originally received a note with the location written on it… but I ended up forgetting about it."

"Ah, I see."

They were lies.

As he received the location as a link in the first place, he wouldn't have forgotten about it unless he left his entire phone behind.

'I need to maximize the time I'm with her.'

In order to control her to his liking in the future, building up friendship was important.

"It was roughly… around here. I don't really remember all that well."

Ohjin opened up a map and pinned a wacky location.

"Then let's head there for now!"

Isabella beckoned him to follow her.

Ohjin nodded his head and followed her.

"Thank you for going out of your way to help me."

"Fufu. It's nothing. I wanted to share a conversation with you one day, as well."

"With me?"

"Yes! Aren't you the world's first apostle of the Star of the Weaver Girl? And…"

Isabella smiled sheepishly.

"I saw you take down the Hydra through the stream. You fought it on purpose to save the people who couldn't escape because the entrance was blocked, didn't you?"

'Ah, was she watching the stream back then?'

After all, It wasn't weird for foreign viewers to be in the mix when there were over a hundred thousand viewers watching live.

"It's not like I fought it alone."

Ohjin superfluously acted humble and shrugged his shoulders.

"Fufu. But still."

Isabella looked at him with her sparkly eyes.

'Hey, it looks like it'll be easier to get close than I thought.'

To think that the stream he did back then would come back and help him in this manner.

"I've heard a lot of stories about you too, Isabella."

"Stories about me?"

"Yes. After all, the stories of Rome's Saintess are famous in Korea, as well."

"Ahh… S-Saintess? No, I'm nothing like that."

Isabella's face heated up in embarrassment.

"But aren't you a saintess when you're helping out a lost person like me?"

"No, no, you shouldn't say that."

Ohjin and Isabella shared light conversations while they walked to the location pinned on the map.

Well, it was stating the obvious, but there was no case of them finding his destination.

When they searched the surroundings for around thirty more minutes…

"Sorry, you're going through so much hardship because of me."

"Fufu. Don't worry about it. By the way, are you unable to contact the person you're meeting?"

"It seems like their phone is turned off."

"That's too bad…"

Ohjin shrugged towards Isabella, who was looking at him with a worried expression.

"Well, it can't be helped. I think I'll just head to my lodging for now and contact them tomorrow."

"I think that'd be best."

"By the way, would you like to share a meal? I feel bad for making you help me out."

He smoothly proposed a meal.

The reason he ran laps around a weird place in the first place was in order to make a reason for them to share a meal.

'It's a good thing I didn't bring Ha-eun.'

If Ha-eun knew of that fact, her eyes would roll back into her head.

"Oh, my. There's no need for you to feel bad. I simply did it because I wanted to."

"Still, it would make me feel incredibly guilty to send you away like this."

"Hmm. In that case… ah, how about there?"

Where she pointed to was a street kebab store.

Ohjin had heard that she was a lady of quite a rich house, but it appeared she ate stuff like that as well.

"Very well."

After gladly nodding his head, he bought two kebabs, and they both sat down on a nearby bench.

"Hehe. This almost feels like we're out on a date."

Was it because she was Italian?

Her words were quite aggressive.

'My heart nearly fluttered.'

Ohjin zealously reminisced on Ha-eun's appearance in his head and slightly nodded his head.

"Well… not that the location is appropriate for a date."

She smiled bitterly and looked around the Romani village.

The buildings were so worn-out they looked like they would collapse at any moment, and the clothes of the people walking past were also extremely tattered.

'It's like the neighborhood I used to live in.'

The biggest difference was that the size there was several times larger.

Wherever you go in the world, the lives of people without power and money would be miserable.

"Ah! Isabella is with a man!"

"What? It's true!"

The children that were passing by shouted as they pointed their way.

It appeared that they were acquainted as they addressed her comfortably and had a friendly smile.

"I-It's not like that!"

Isabella got up from her seat in a hurry.

"Hahahahaha!!"

"Isabella and mister sitting on a tree~ K-I-S-S-I-N-G~!"

'Damn, how long has it been since I heard that?'

"You kids!!"

"Hahahahaha!"

The children ran far away.

"I-I'm sorry, Ohjin."

"Don't worry about it."

"Sigh. Indeed, we should have eaten somewhere indoors."

She exhaled a deep breath and nibbled on the kebab in her hands.

"It looks like you're popular with the kids."

"I've come here often for volunteer work."

She had been treating the injured for free.

"You're kind."

"…"

For a moment…

Her expression turned dark.

"…No, that isn't it."

She clenched her pants as she dropped her head.

"I'm not kind in the least."

If that wasn't being kind, just what was?

"…This is your first time in Italy, right?"

"Yes."

"The Romani in Italy are… discriminated against from birth."

"Is that so?"

"Well, I'm not saying the people that discriminate are absolutely evil. After all, it's the truth that the Romani have an extremely high crime rate."

She looked around the worn-out Romani village with somewhat sentimental eyes.

"It's the same… for me. I'm kind on the outside, but something deep inside me thinks that I'm 'different' in the end."

"Is that something bad?"

Discrimination couldn't be said to be a good thing.

However, it was in the realm of problems that could never completely disappear.

Because of a different race, because of a different ideology, because of a different sex.

As long as one was human, the disappearance of discrimination and conflict was impossible.

People simply endeavored to reduce it.

With that in mind, she was one of the people who was trying more than enough.

"Fufu. It can't be said to be bad with that alone. However…"

She continued with a deeply sunken voice.

"To be honest… I involuntarily have these thoughts whenever I help those people."

Grit—

Isabella bit her lips.

"—That it's a 'relief' that I wasn't born as a Romani, that I have a powerful stigma, that I possess exceptional talent."

She continued with a repressed voice as if she was reprimanding herself.

"The reason I help those people… is, in truth, because I want to feel those vulgar feelings."

So was that why she said she wasn't 'kind'?

"Hoho. Saying such useless words to a person I've met for the first time…"

"Is that wrong?"

"Pardon?"

"Helping others to feel a sense of superiority, is that wrong?"

'This woman seriously lives while being too uptight.'

"That's…"

"A good deed while desiring a reward is still a good deed—whether that reward is materialistic or psychological."

"But!"

"People glorify those who do deeds without a desired reward as a true good deed. Why do you think that's the case?"

The reason was simple.

"It's because those kinds of people are easy to take advantage of."

"…"

"The more innocent people with good will don't desire a reward or compensation, the more advantageous it is to others."

The more the people with good will lost, the more others would be able to take away.

"Helping them because you want to feel a sense of superiority and not helping them because you don't want to feel those feelings. Ultimately, which one is a bigger help to them?"

"…That's."

"Only thinking of the result is foolish. However, only thinking of the process is even more so."

"…"

Isabella's eyes opened wide.

After a brief moment of silence…

"…You're a unique person."

A bright smile like the sunlight was placed on her mouth.

"I'm not unique."

It was nothing more than him saying the 'words she wanted to hear the most'.

"Haha, no, you're plenty unique."

Isabella got up from her seat and brushed off her bottom.

"I'll take my leave now, as there are matters I have to take care of. Ah, and here's my business card."

She lent out her business card and smiled brightly.

"Will we be able to talk again?"

"Of course."

Ohjin was planning on asking for her contacts, but she had ended up giving them to him first.

"Then let's see each other again, Ohjin."

She looked at Ohjin gently and mumbled, "Sembra delizioso" in a low voice.

'Hm?'

Was it because her voice was too silent? The translation device didn't work properly.

'Whatever.'

Ohjin waved his hand to Isabella, who became more distant, and got up from his seat.

"Well then…"

It was about time to meet Paolo Lanzon, who would have been eagerly waiting for Ohjin's arrival.