"…So, what you're saying is, Bishop."

Guest, the Hero in faded armor, asked back, doubting his own ears.

"That I must be cursed to become an ugly man in order to save the world?"

Bishop Eltrich, the head of the Order of Aelia, nodded with a benevolent smile. His eyes shone shrewdly somewhere between fanaticism and cold realism.

"To be precise, it is a temporary curse that lasts only until the moment the Demon King is subjugated. Once you drive your sword into the Demon King's heart, your handsome face will return like magic."

---

The Saint's Divine Power, A Cruel Secret

The Saint is the only key to saving this world and the proxy of Goddess Aelia. The world believed miracles happened when she offered pure and noble prayers, but the reality was quite different.

From the Top Secret Documents of the Order of Aelia

'The Saint's divine power is proportional to the suffering of her soul. Annoyance, anger, sadness, deep resentment... The more miserable the Saint becomes, the closer her divine power reaches the realm of God.'

Indeed, the Goddess must have had a terrible sadistic streak. Miracles to destroy the Demon King only descend when the Saint is at her most miserable. The problem was that the Saint of this generation, Lucia Belhart, was by no means a person who would become miserable quietly.

---

The Delinquent Saint, Lucia Belhart

"The Saint has climbed over the wall again! This time, she was reportedly spotted near the handsome man's carriage rental shop in the east of the capital!"

"Catch her immediately! She's supposed to leave for the subjugation with the Hero in a week!"

Lucia Belhart was the most difficult 'delinquent Saint' to handle in the history of the Order. Her piety was long gone, and she escaped the Order to enjoy herself whenever she had the chance.

Above all, she was a peerless visual-obsessed fanatic. Looking at the faces of handsome men was the only joy and salvation in her life.

Lucia's divine power crawled along the floor as she purified her eyes by looking at handsome priests every day and found happiness in eating delicious food. If she encountered the Demon King's army like this, they would surely be wiped out without her being able to fire a single drop of holy water.

---

The Bishop's Perfect Scheme

Bishop Eltrich put down his teacup and looked at the Hero heavily.

"What would be the most certain, consistent, and fatal way to make Lucia miserable? It's not like we can slap her every day."

"That... surely you don't mean."

"As you know, she is obsessed with looks. What would happen if she had to eat, sleep, and travel alone with the ugliest man in the world for the months it takes to defeat the Demon King?"

The Hero's face turned pale.

"Every morning when she opens her eyes, she will despair at the sight of your face. When she meets your eyes while eating, she will feel deep resentment. As that annoyance, sadness, and visual terror accumulate every second... her divine power will amplify explosively!"

The Bishop folded his hands as if in admiration.

"What a perfect decision for the sake of the nation! The moment you accept that curse, our Saint will become a walking human strategic nuclear weapon. Since you'll return to normal once the Demon King is caught, isn't it a win-win?"

Facing not the Demon King's curse but the Order's absurd curse, the Hero fell into deep agony. The Hero who must temporarily give up his appearance to save the world, and the delinquent Saint Lucia, who does not yet know the fate of the massive 'visual terror' that awaits her.

The curtain rises on the strangest journey of a Hero and a Saint in the world.