The Saintess
Chapter Four: The Saintess
* * *
The Sixty Niners.
A mid-scale gang based in the south side of the city.
On the surface, they were nothing special. No grand ideology, no world-ending ambitions…. Just a business. But a very profitable one.
Their specialty was kidnapping children who hadn’t awakened yet, or whose abilities were still unstable and undeveloped, and selling them.
Once a child was taken, they were evaluated.
Those with high potential were kept alive and trained just enough to understand their ability. Not to master it, just enough to prove it worked.
After that, they were sold.
Private research institutes, underground labs, mercenary groups, and even some government-affiliated organizations paid absurd amounts for living ability users.
Children with mediocre abilities were just discarded and thrown out.
And the ones with no abilities at all?
They got sold for other reasons.
Blood donors. Organ stock.
The Hero Council knew.
They had known for years but haven’t done anything against them.
Because when the council needed test subjects or rare ability data, the Sixty Niners could “help.”
That relationship made them untouchable.
Corporations funded them. Institutes protected them. The south side fell under their control not because they were strong, but because no one was allowed to fight them.
Until now.
“P… please spare me!! I just work here..!!”
The man’s body exploded mid-sentence, blood and fragments splashing across the corridor walls.
I stepped over what remained and kept walking.
“T… this way… please…”
The man I took from the alley was leading me deeper inside, his hands shaking so badly he could barely point straight. Every few steps, he looked back, as if hoping I’d changed my mind.
I hadn’t.
The deeper we went, the more the place changed. The smell of oil and rust faded, replaced by disinfectant.
This wasn’t just a gang base.
It was more of a processing facility.
And somewhere inside it was the reason I came here in the first place.
* * *
“Well… well,” a rough voice echoed through the chamber. “And who might you be?”
I had reached the lowest level of the facility.
At the center of the room sat a massive man, his body slumped comfortably into a reinforced chair like he owned the place, because he did.
“W…well! I’ll leave you two to it!”
The guy that led me here didn’t even look back. The moment the words left his mouth, he turned and ran, footsteps echoing wildly as he scrambled for the exit.
I snapped my fingers.
His head burst apart mid-step. The body staggered forward for a moment before collapsing onto the floor, blood splattering across the wall and pooling beneath him.
“So,” the man continued, resting his chin on one hand, “what do I owe the pleasure?”
“Are you the one running this place?” I asked.
The man chuckled softly. “Running it? I guess that would be me.”
“I’m here for a girl,” I said. “I know you have her.”
“Oh?” He raised an eyebrow. “You’ll have to be more specific. We’ve got plenty.”
“The one with the healing ability.”
That wiped the smile off his face.
His eyes narrowed, the room suddenly colder.
“…Kid,” he said slowly, “I don’t know how you got that information. But I can’t sell her to you. She’s already spoken for. A big client. Actually, several.”
I let out a quiet sigh.
“But hey,” he added quickly, spreading his arms, “I can offer you something else. Plenty of quality merchandise here.”
“You’re surprisingly calm for someone whose entire workforce I just slaughtered.”
He laughed. Loudly.
“Those idiots?” he scoffed. “They’re replaceable. Every last one of them. I am a little annoyed about the mess, but honestly?” His gaze sharpened. “You seem more like a customer than a problem.”
Just as I expected.
This man wasn’t sane.
“How much for the girl?” I asked. “Name a price.”
“A billion credits,” he said without hesitation. “That’s what my client’s paying. So forget it and….”
“I’ll give you five.”
The room went silent.
“…Five?” His expression twisted. “Five billion?”
“That enough?” I asked calmly.
The man stood up, the floor creaking under his weight.
“Kid,” he growled, “I let you talk because I thought you understood your place. Don’t fuck with me. I swear I will….”
I tapped my phone.
“I’ve sent it.”
“…What?”
His phone buzzed.
He glanced down.
Then froze.
The color drained from his face as his fingers trembled over the screen.
“H…how the hell… my account… WHAT THE FUCK?!”
“Now,” I said, slipping my phone away, “take me to the girl.”
For a long moment, he just stared.
Then, suddenly, he bowed.
Deep.
“Of course,” he said hurriedly, his voice tight with panic. “Right this way, sir. My sincerest apologies for the misunderstanding.”
I watched him turn and lead the way.
Money was simple.
People were simpler.
* * *
We passed dozens of cages filled with children.
The room was massive, far larger than anything that should exist beneath a single building.
It resembled an aircraft hangar stretched beyond reason, easily ten times larger, its vast space consumed by endless rows of metal cages.
Some children sat silently. Others stared blankly into nothing. A few still cried, their voices swallowed by the size of the room.
The man who ran this place, Ravencage, led me down another flight of stairs, even deeper underground.
“This is where we keep our most prized possessions,” he said with a crooked smirk, gesturing casually around him. “Feel free to look.”
The atmosphere changed the moment we reached the lower level.
Instead of rust and filth, the hallway was pristine with white floors, reinforced walls, cold lighting.
It looked less like a criminal facility and more like a private research lab.
The walls were lined with thick glass windows, each revealing a small white room. Inside every room sat a single child.
I walked past them without stopping.
Until I reached the very last room at the back wall.
I stopped.
‘This is her.’
Inside was a girl with white hair and soft pink eyes, sitting quietly in the sterile room. No chains. No visible restraints. Just silence.
‘S-rank villain Saintess’
In my past life, she would become known as the Saintess, an S-rank villain who would one day overthrow an entire country and rule it through fear disguised as salvation.
Her ability was healing.
That alone was enough to make her dangerous.
But her power was not an absolute cure.
Anything she healed could be undone.
She had the ability to “reverse” her healing.
And when she reversed it, the damage returned far worse than before.
There was an incident years later, someone whose injured leg she had healed. It was a small cut or something. But when she “reversed” her healing, the leg didn’t simply rot or fail.
It tore itself off.
That was how she rose.
She healed people, saved their loved ones, restored their bodies, then held them hostage by threatening them about reversing her healing.
An army built on gratitude and terror.
A country ruled by dependency.
But that was her future.
But not yet.
Now, she was just a girl sitting alone behind reinforced glass.
And this time..
She would work for me.
“Take her out.”
* * *
By the time we reached my place, she still hadn’t said a single word.
She sat at the small dining table, hands folded neatly on her lap, posture stiff like she was afraid.
The apartment was silent except for the faint sizzle coming from the kitchen.
Steak.
Real meat. Thick cut. Something she probably hadn’t smelled in a long time.
I plated it properly.
When I set it down in front of her, she flinched slightly, eyes lowering to the food.
“Try it,” I said casually.
She hesitated.
Her fingers tightened around the fork.
For a moment, I thought she might refuse.
Then she slowly cut a small piece, lifted it, paused again… and finally took a bite.
Her eyes widened.
“…!”
She froze mid-chew, then hurriedly swallowed, as if embarrassed by her own reaction.
“I… it’s… really good,” she said softly. Too softly. Like she wasn’t used to saying things out loud.
I leaned against the counter, watching.
Yeah. Thought so.
Someone who’d lived off nutrient paste and leftovers just had real food.
She ate more this time. Faster and less careful. The plate emptied quicker than it should have.
When she finally set the fork down, she looked up at me, pink eyes searching my face.
“…Why?” she asked.
I raised an eyebrow.
“Why what?”
“Why feed me.” she said.
Her shoulders had finally relaxed, just a little. Enough for me to notice.
“…What are you going to do to me?” she asked again. “Are you going to kill me?”
I didn’t answer right away. I pulled out a chair and sat across from her, resting an arm on the table.
“No,” I said. “If I wanted you dead, I wouldn’t have brought you here.”
Her eyes searched mine, trying to find the catch.
“I’ll treat you well,” I continued. “You’ll eat properly. You’ll sleep in a real bed. You’ll live a life most people would kill for.”
Hope flickered in her eyes.
“But you have to help me.”
“Ahh…”
“I’m not a nice guy,” I said plainly. “But I won’t cage you. I won’t starve you. I won’t hurt you for no reason.”
I leaned forward slightly.
“But I will use your power.”
Her lips parted, unsure whether to speak.
“In return,” I said, “you get protection, freedom, and a future where no one ever dares put you in a cage again.”
Silence.
She swallowed.
“…And if I say no?”
I smiled.
“Still you’ll still be safe,” I replied. “Just… not important.”
That landed harder than any threat.
She looked down at her hands, fingers trembling. Then she clenched them.
“My name,” she said quietly, “is Celine.”
I nodded once.
“Good,” I said. “Then listen carefully, Celine.”
I stood up.
“Stay with me,” I said. “and lend me your power.”
She didn’t answer immediately.
But she didn’t look away either.
