As a priest of the New Century, almost thirty and still unmarried, Mr. Liang Lai always kept kindness in her heart.
Every Sunday, she would get up early, go to the church, and prepare… some free eggs 🥚 for the elderly—first come, first served.
Of course, Liang Lai believed they were all scrambling for eggs just to make their own lives a little better, and so their children could spend less money.
In her eyes, they were all kindhearted people.
Wake up, shave, piously take the Bible, and then—just as she was about to leave—she saw a little girl standing dumbfounded in the middle of the street.
She rushed over, pushed her aside, and was struck by a great stroke of luck, sending her to another world.
That’s right, struck by great fortune 😄
It all happened so fast—
Thus began “I Actually Became a Saintess After Crossing Into Another World”!
Yet, as a seasoned priest and an old otaku of the New Century, she accepted this kind of set-up in almost an instant.
But!
“Damn! My pet bird was obliterated by fortune!”
Liang Lai closed her eyes, a single tear sliding down her cheek.
A life where she could no longer walk her bird under the moonlight sounded truly dull.
Moreover, after waiting a whole day, there seemed to be no sign of any system or the like… So what was the point of sending a priest with no special skills to this world?
Liang Lai slumped into a chair, somewhat dejected, looking at the mirror—silver hair, violet eyes, a dazzlingly beautiful woman.
She forced a rather stiff smile.
She had more or less figured out the situation of this world.
How to put it? The level of interest was about on par with the dullness of losing her bird.
The symbol of divine authority in this world was the current Pope Alphonse VII.
He wasn’t chosen by anyone, nor decided by vote, but was selected by the “Crystal Crown” (a living holy relic) atop the Ivory White Tower, the Pope’s residence.
And she was a newly appointed Saintess.
If the Pope was the one and only t0 existence, then she was at the t2 tier.
Above her were the Triumvirate of Saints, appointed directly by the Pope, and on the same tier as her was the Crimson Cardinals.
Liang Lai found this system fascinating.
At least in her previous world, there had never been a situation where a Pope ruled an entire Nation of the Pope.
Even when the Pope held considerable power, it was always balanced by an emperor.
Never before had the Pope been the king of a nation.
As a t2, Liang Lai felt she was fairly lucky.
Because, according to her investigation, the Dustfolk (the believer class) in the t5 tier had a branding system—they must have a glowing Sacred Brand on their foreheads, and the brightness represented their piety.
Their daily lives revolved around collecting Dawn Dew to make Light Honey as offerings to the White Tower, always busy.
As for the Atheist Commoners, they could only do the hardest, most exhausting work; any good jobs were out of reach for them.
This kind of hierarchy seemed unfair, but in a sense, it was also fair.
Because those who joined the church (apart from Dustfolk) were not allowed to marry or have children—one could say they treated the topic of sex like a taboo.
Since those in the upper echelons of the church were forbidden from marrying or having children, and even from having relationships with others, the right to inherit every position was given to the children of the Dustfolk, as well as the children of those Atheist Commoners who later joined the church.
Of course, Liang Lai couldn’t really agree with this kind of class division.
As a young person of the new era, the ideas of freedom, equality, justice, and the rule of law had long been ingrained in her mind.
Even though she believed in God, she didn’t think God would agree with his believers oppressing others like this.
But, as one of the Saintesses, she didn’t seem to have much say.
That’s right, she wasn’t the only Saintess.
There were thirteen in total, and she ranked third.
The ranking seemed to be determined during the selection of the Saintesses, based on piety and the strength of their Crystalization Ability.
She wasn’t the strongest, but her ranking was high.
Liang Lai was sure that her current body could be considered a powerful one—that was at least some good news.
Where there’s good news, there’s bad news.
The bad news: Liang Lai had no idea how to use the “Crystalization Ability” within her.
“What should I do about this?”
Liang Lai anxiously twirled her silver hair, staring at the beautiful woman in the mirror with curved brows and long lashes, unable to help swallowing a mouthful of saliva.
She had the urge to fall in love with herself.
Too beautiful—such beauty could probably only exist in another world.
Moreover, Liang Lai discovered that hidden beneath her eyelids was a second pair of pupils—pure golden, with a gemstone-like gleam, looking divinely holy.
She found this while trying to use her Crystalization Ability.
So beautiful.
But beauty was of no use; she had to learn how to use the Crystalization Ability as soon as possible.
Liang Lai felt somewhat irritable.
As a Saintess, her daily work was plentiful but easy—basically just ceremonial.
In the morning, she performed the Morning Dew Prayer—at dawn, collecting the first drop of dew in the Court of Purity and dripping it into the Papal Chalice.
At noon, she drank Papal Blood Wine to maintain the purity of the crystals within her body.
If there were special circumstances, she would use the “Tears of Mercy”—shedding crystal tears for the suffering of believers, which could be used to heal serious illness or purify those lightly corrupted.
At dusk, using blood as a guide, she checked whether the Shadow Prison holding the Darkspawn had loosened, thus ending her day’s work.
And recently, there was an extra task: the current Pope’s fingers had begun to “crystallize.” Within about ten years, he would become fully “crystallized.”
The Saintesses were required to adopt ten powerful children (regardless of gender) as candidates for the next Pope.
Liang Lai hadn’t given much thought to this extra task for now, because there was something even more pressing—
There was an attendance system here, like a punch card machine.
And every time she missed a day, the cross pattern on her forehead would dim.
When it turned completely black, she would fall to the rank of Penitent Saintess.
Because she didn’t know the situation on her first day, Liang Lai had already missed a day of attendance.
The cross on her forehead, once bright, was now a bit dim.
In other words, she had to work tomorrow to ensure her own safety.
“Sigh.”
Liang Lai let out a heavy sigh.
Other people’s isekai stories were always surrounded by beautiful girls—beast-eared girls, vampire princesses, or all kinds of princesses and villainesses.
But her luck was such that she transmigrated into a world where sex was taboo, and landed as a character who couldn’t even marry or have children.
At least in her previous world, as a priest, she could still marry and have kids, but now…
Fine, fine, it seems she was single before transmigration, and now she would be single for life.
Oh, and there was one more difference.
Now she could no longer pay tribute to or imitate the Legendary Captain.
Tragic!
All in all, she could only hope her life in this other world would go smoothly…
That was what Liang Lai thought, before she picked up the little “pitiful one”—Dolosa.