On the borders of the Selvius Kingdom, there existed a small town filled with poor and helpless individuals who were devoid of any facilities provided by either the Aidiac Kingdom or the Selvius Kingdom— At least, that’s what Saintess Marianne observed.
Due to the Expansion of Goddess Fela’s religion across several kingdoms, the Saintess had become a means to reach the goddess.
Several people came today to pay their respects and receive blessings from her.
“Hey, Filth, move faster! I need to heal this burn mark,” scolded a nobleman sitting inside the carriage, making its way through the small town known for its criminal activities and populated by fugitives banished from their kingdoms.
“Tch, is she stupid to come to this dump yard?” Sitting beside the man was a chubby woman, feeling irritated by the assault of alcohol and dirt smells, causing a frown to form on her face.
“Shh, at least it will be free. Did you prepare 50 vials? We need to get as much holy water to sell,” the nobleman silenced his wife, inquiring about the empty bottles they had prepared to sell by collecting the purer holy water made in presence of the Saintess.
Seeing her nod, he turned towards the window, where the only sight welcoming him was drunkards or smokers moving about with beards and dirt all over their bodies, evident of their lack of hygiene.
“Ugh,” he muttered, pinching his nose and focusing on the way.
The carriage’s destination was the center of this rundown town, which was now filled with several nobleman carriages, unlike before, when such luxurious views were lacking.
Many soldiers and guards belonging to the private soldiers of these nobles were present to protect them from the criminals moving all around this place.
Tack tack
The carriage halted at some distance from the center, where some guards stopped its way, causing the nobleman to look out of the window. He inquired, “How arrogant to stop a Count’s Carriage.”
“Forgive us, Lord. We hope you take the VIP route,” the guard approached the carriage and bowed, informing about the already established system inside the place to provide better facilities for healing.
Clank
“HAHA, good, good. Here, take this,” the nobleman, feeling delighted knowing he wouldn’t have to stand beside those filthy beggars, threw a pouch filled with gold coins that the guard caught.
“Thank you very much. Please, this way,” a smile formed on the guard’s face as he showed the way, and the carriage moved, taking a detour away from the direct route to the center.
The carriage moved for some distance.
“Halt the carriage!” Suddenly, a voice arrived, causing the nobleman to feel irritated.
He turned towards the man who wore a white robe, signifying himself from the Monastery.
“P-priest Kermit!?” The nobleman and his wife both disembarked from the carriage, feeling delighted to see how the Head of the Monastery came himself to welcome him.
“Greetings, Your Grace,” maintaining etiquette and showing respect to the highest saint of the Monastery after the Saintess, the noblewoman greeted.
“May Goddess Fela’s blessings always be with you,” Kermit reciprocated his greeting, smiling calmly with a saintly demeanor, already accustomed to dealing with rich noblemen.
“But, what is Your Grace doing in such a place?” the Count felt confused and inquired since everyone among the noblemen knew the Saintess was only a figure, not the brain behind the whole religion.
Kermit’s smile vanished. Looking at the Count, his mind started cursing him for reminding him about the reason that brought him here.
“When you can just sit in the Monastery and pray to the goddess and get rewards, Hahaha,” the Count added while looking towards Kermit with a knowing smile.
‘Bastard, your name will be above all,’ Kermit’s face twitched, understanding the meaning behind the nobleman’s words about how everyone thinks the money the Monastery earns inside the Selvius Kingdom goes into his pocket.
“Please come this way,” Kermit moved, making way for the Count to follow as he brought him towards a temporary camp.
“Oh my, Viscount, you are here too,” the Count, seeing a very familiar figure, felt surprised.
But the moment his eyes slowly moved downward, noticing his outfit, his face contorted.
“It is nice to meet you, Count,” understanding that his dress had caused both the Count and Countess to react like that, he feigned ignorance, knowing they would soon be dressed similarly.
“Count, please sign here,” Kermit brought a ledger carrying names of several nobleman names, and among them existed only Viscount, Baron, mostly low-ranked nobles, making the Count understand he should sign above them all.
“Good, it seems I am the richest here, Haha.” Both the Viscount and Kermit’s faces twitched, but knowing his upcoming fate, they felt pity, albeit with different perspectives.
“Here,” Kermit moved towards the table, picking up a tattered and dust-filled cloth, offering it to the Count.
“Ugh, keep this away from me,” feeling a sudden dirty stench assaulting his nose, the Count covered it.
“You have to wear this if you want to receive healing from the Saintess,” Kermit explained how this attire was necessary to deceive the Saintess into believing them to be beggars and poor people.
Slowly, the Count’s eyes widened, but knowing he had brought 50 veils, he relented.
As the backs of both individuals, the Count and his wife disappeared, while the Viscount remained inside the camp, Kermit sighed, turning towards him. “Here, Viscount Murphy, you can tell His Highness that the Count is also corrupt.”
Viscount, with trembling hands, took the ledger, his eyes becoming teary, remembering how he had fallen into this mess and become a messenger who collects money and names of corrupted noblemen and sends them to the Crown Prince.
Murphy was called to the Monastery by Priest Kermit a few years ago, only to meet the Crown Prince waiting for him there.
While moving, he turned towards Kermit, who averted his gaze. “It’s fine, Kermit. It’s not like I was alone.”
Murphy’s gaze turned downward, remembering the hell he had experienced that day.
A chilling feeling ran down his spine at the mere recollection of those memories where he lay on the ground, screaming his lungs out, bearing a pain only he knew,’ Just Some years more’
He had at least some hope of being freed from his fate because the Crown Prince had promised to release him after his work was done, granting him a peaceful and long-awaited relief.
…..
“Hey, is this the line to meet the Saintess?” the Count called out to a beggar standing in the line behind several others while covering his nose.
His wife moved behind a line filled with women in dust-filled cloth while holding huge bags.
“Yes, are you new here… C-count?!” Seeing a familiar figure, the man replying covered his face, averting his gaze, trying to hide his embarrassment.
‘What the hell,’ slowly, a realization hit the Count.
He turned his gaze towards others, slowly identifying them from faces – all nobles wearing dirty clothes.
‘Disgraceful. How could this be?’ Those words seemed to come from his nobleman’s heart, but already knowing his circumstances, he remained silent, waiting just like the others.
tap tap
“Saintess Marianne has graced us with her presence,” suddenly a guard announced, making way for a girl with purple hair.
She walked gracefully towards them, followed by two men in priestly attire.
‘How pitiful,’ Maria’s eyes became slightly teary seeing the sight in front of her.
A long line filled with people wearing tattered cloth, exhausted faces, eyes lighting up at the sight of her. Dry mouths while carrying big bags, seeking some food for their children.
Her gaze suddenly noticed a small child around her own age.
“Are you okay, child?” Feeling pity, she inquired, looking at the boy who seemed to have wounds in several places, evoking her sympathy.
Thud
“Sniff…Oh, Goddess,” suddenly, the little kid kowtowed in front of her, his teary eyes revealing the pain his body had endured, each wound dripping blood, causing his dirt-filled clothes to become damp.
“Oh my, you don’t need to do this. Hey, bring this boy here. I will help him first.”
“TCH, TCH.”
Suddenly, a unified sound reverberated in the place.
Unaware of it, Maria kept her focus on the boy being slowly brought by the priests, approaching the center where a camp was set up.
‘Boss will be happy with my performance,’ Aphos thought as he was carried by them, feeling satisfied, knowing his performance would earn him a promotion.
“It will not hurt,” Maria assured, moving her hand above him.
WHOOSH
Suddenly, a surge of divine energy fell upon aphos’ body, causing his eyes to widen.
The feeling he experienced was surreal, unlike what he had expected. ‘It’s even better than the boss’s potion.’
“It should be fine now. Tell me, do you need some food?” Maria looked at the pitiful child who was gazing at her before glancing at the two priests beside her, making her understand, ‘Maybe he is fearing them.’
“Both of you can leave,” Maria ordered them, waiting for the boy to share his problem so she could solve it.
Seeing both figures leaving, Aphos slowly moved his hand towards his back pocket, taking out a vial filled with crystal clear water before saying, “Saintess, please check it. I can give you more. It’s just my boss who wants to sell it, not wanting charit—”
“So, this is what Arvi is doing behind my back.”
‘!?!’
Both Maria and Aphos got startled upon hearing a voice, causing them to turn their gaze towards the direction where a girl in a cloak stood.
Only her black eyes were visible, making it hard to identify her figure.
“Who are you? And how did you enter—” Maria tried to inquire but got interrupted.
“Shut up, Maria. If you speak a single word, you are dead,” Amayara’s anger surged, understanding that her little sister had started to hide things from her, feeling slightly hurt. ‘When did she start hiding things from me?’
Unaware that as she started to change herself in this life by going on monster hunts and taking on the burden of the whole orphanage, her little sister also tried to form her gang inside the orphanage to become independent.
Thud
“Elder Sister!?” Aphos recognized the voice, feeling his heart race, causing the vial to fall on the floor and break, spilling the liquid inside.
“You have a lot to explain to me, Aphos,” Amayara moved towards him, causing him to stumble, before turning her gaze to Maria, adding, “You still act like a child, not even understanding how you are being fooled by nobles. Pathetic.”
‘S-she?’ Maria’s mind started to swirl, recognizing the familiarity with those words, which she had heard countless times in her previous life.
“Let’s go, and you,” Amayara held Aphos’ wrist before leaving a final message to the girl whom she would have killed herself but already felt the presence of people who would soon do this deed.
Not wanting to waste her time, she added, “The day you will recognize what you lost, it will already be too late.”
SWISH
“Stop there!” Maria tried to stop the cloaked figure, but it had already vanished, leaving her feeling confused about the words left behind.
‘What I don’t know?, regret?’ Maria stood there, holding her elbow in confusion and looking downward, trying to understand everything that had just happened but unable to piece it all together.
‘Isn’t this that veil?’ Suddenly, her gaze fell on the spilled liquid on the ground, narrowing her gaze, she leaned closer, her hand touching it.
‘What is this?’ The moment Maria’s hand made contact with the liquid, a soothing sensation ran over her.
It felt like high-grade healing potion, but somehow she didn’t feel anything changing inside her body at all.
‘Was it just some normal holy water?’ Slowly lifting herself, not understanding and ignoring it, she made her way towards the camp exit, prioritizing healing others over her own thoughts.
Unbeknownst to her, the very liquid she disregarded as mere holy water, if known to people outside this small continent, would have caused wars just to get a small drop of it.
There is a saying: Woodcutters even take sandalwood as fuel, signifying how unawareness causes one to disregard the true value of something.
Moving outside the camp, Maria saw several people still waiting for her with their pitiful state and faces which was etched with exhaustion.
Due to it being early in the morning, she could still see some of them yawning.
With a smile, she requested, “Please enter the camp and tell me your problems with grace—SCHKLT.”
“Kughh?!” Suddenly feeling a force hitting her, she clenched her stomach, feeling a dagger directly tearing through her abdomen, not understanding what just happened her body fell on the ground.
Thud
“Kyaaa~!” Women’s line broke, causing everyone to scatter, leaving a small cloaked figure standing, gazing down at Maria, whom she just threw a dagger at.
“Stop right there!” Saying that, both priests ran towards the small cloaked figure to stop it from advancing further.
BANG! SCHLKT!
THUD
Subsequently, two bodies fell on the ground with hollow eyes, both men’s priestly attire becoming damp with their blood.
“Aghhh….it hurts.” Lying down on the ground, Maria somehow felt her pain intensifying, not understanding why her wounds were not healing.
Tap tap
Lying there, her eyes only saw small feet moving towards her.
“S…top i..t,” she tried to plead, but still was not able to lift her gaze to look at the figure.
Swish
A breeze passed, causing the figure’s eyes and hair to get unveiled under the rising rays of Gaia.
Slowly, it traced upward, revealing small feet, then hands, and subsequently two cold amethyst eyes and fluttering ash-grey hair.
Yui gazed down at the Saintess Maria, who was her aim today.
Her father had been engaged in an everlasting battle with a creature trying to stop him from entering the Heindal Continent, leaving only her to arrive here.
Yui’s gaze shifted to Maria’s wound, which had turned black with several veins forming on them.
Knowing she can’t even kill a small girl with her poison, she felt frustrated, understanding that she still needed to become more proficient in her assassination abilities.
She turned to leave with a single goal.
‘I will be waiting for the day when we meet, Alisia Von Selvius.’
This is Apology to every Reader who likes this book and somewhat irritated due to my updates, Though Ones on discord already know but for readers who are not yet joined it — I am in my final Year of College, from 2nd Feb my exams will start which will extend to 20 Feb, meaning I will be busy till that date, And to prepare for presentations and all, it takes time~ Exactly, I have created Privelege thinking to fill it in span of four days but somehow, curse my luck, I got notification of my Exams on same day, I can’t even remove the privelege which is like more 5 chapters, total 10 chaps for 200 coins( I understand, many of you thinking of me greedy but try to understand me too, I am a student and giving time to this book, So, atleast I deserve this much), So, I am stuck with writing one chapter in some three days, have stopped another novel( of course it’s my problem), I just want from you guys to forgive me and don’t drop this novel due to update( which I think is possible) But again, I can’t shorten my chap length or quality to push regular chapters, Thanks for those who understood and for others, You can wait for some chapters to stockpile and then read, Love you for supporting this lazy Author…..
