“Huh? Why aren’t you all saying anything?”
After introducing herself, Truth noticed that the people before her were all stunned.
What, do I not look like much of a Saintess?
Or is today’s meeting too informal, making them feel I’m not taking them seriously enough?
What, did you expect the whole city to celebrate your arrival? I came to meet you today, isn’t that already pretty generous?
“Saintess… good day, my lady. My name is Roland, Vice City Lord of Wangsheng City, and also the leader of this delegation.”
Sensing Truth’s growing impatience, Roland quickly spoke up, then launched into a very practiced string of pleasantries and flattery.
But Truth had no patience for such things:
“Just get to the point, thank you.”
So, she’s the straightforward type… Roland stopped with the small talk and formally asked,
“About the purpose of our visit today—have you given it some thought?”
“What purpose?”
“Uh? That is, the matters we wrote about in our letter.”
“Oh, that. I forgot. Could you repeat it?” Truth replied with the innocent face of someone who had never been worn down by society, leaving Roland and the others dumbfounded once again.
What? She forgot the important contents of the letter just like that?!
No way, the Ninth Saintess wouldn’t make such a rookie mistake. She must have another agenda… Right, recording!
The Ninth Saintess must want us to repeat everything at the meeting so there’s evidence, making it easier to get a hold over us and keep us from backing out in the future. How cunning…
Roland wasn’t far off—Truth would never forget something so basic, but the reality was that she hadn’t even read the letter at all.
When they set out, Tia had handed the invitation from Wangsheng City to Truth, but she didn’t even look at it before tossing it aside.
After all, it probably wasn’t anything important, and there was a more critical point…
Truth couldn’t read.
“No problem, I’ll summarize it again.”
Roland took a deep breath, then, on behalf of Wangsheng City, sincerely apologized to Truth for the recent assassination attempt, stating that they never intended to harm the Saintess.
The assassination was carried out by a radical faction within their city, which has now been eradicated.
To demonstrate their sincerity, Roland had also brought with him an invaluable Extraordinary artifact as a gift to Deya City:
“Lars, bring out the gift for the Saintess!”
The middle-aged man named Lars immediately produced an exquisite large chest and set it on the table.
Truth placed her hands on the table’s edge, watching with curiosity as the chest was opened.
As dazzling golden light spilled out, a magnificently detailed gown, luxurious as rolling waves and deep crimson in color, was revealed before Truth’s eyes.
“Allow me to introduce it, Saintess. This gown is called the ‘Rebirth Gift.’ It was created over three months by fifteen of our city’s finest craftsmen and represents the pinnacle of Wangsheng City’s artistry! Moreover, every material in this dress comes from the Wangsheng River. The design is like a deep crimson wave breaking against your body, so at any banquet, as long as you wear the ‘Rebirth Gift,’ you will be the brightest jewel in the hall!”
“And before it is a work of art, the ‘Rebirth Gift’ is also an Extraordinary-level piece of protective gear! Do you see the high-grade Magic Core at the collar? It continually supplies magic to the seven Autonomous Defense Devices at the dress’s hem, collar, and elsewhere. It also features a flawless Warning Device, able to withstand the full power of a Seventh-Rank Mage!”
Roland became more and more excited as he spoke. The ‘Rebirth Gift’ combined beauty and safety—what’s more beautiful wasn’t as safe, what’s safer wasn’t as beautiful. Truly a one-of-a-kind treasure, the dream of every girl.
The Hall Scouts had already confirmed—the Ninth Saintess was a girl of about thirteen or fourteen years old, who liked to wear long dresses when she wasn’t in her Sanctified Robe.
So Roland and the others had decisively given Truth the ‘Rebirth Gift,’ which was originally meant for the Northern Empire’s young princess, as an apology.
Hmph, as long as it’s a girl, there’s no way she’d refuse such an attractive gift. After his grand presentation, Roland looked at Truth with pride. Well? Don’t you want to try it on already?
But Truth showed none of the surprise, delight, or impatience Roland expected. Instead, she was left speechless…
Truth just stared at the deep red gown, saying nothing. It was indeed beautiful, but for someone whose psychological gender didn’t match her physical one, it simply wasn’t very appealing!
If they’d given her an artbook or an elegant maid squad or something, she’d have grinned from ear to ear.
Roland immediately saw her disappointment, and broke out in a cold sweat.
Not good, those old geezers had miscalculated—the Ninth Saintess wasn’t interested in pretty dresses at all!
Just the other day, the elders at the meeting insisted any girl would be unable to resist a beautiful dress, assuring him he had nothing to worry about… and now it’s all gone wrong!
“So… does the Saintess find our specially-made gift to your liking?”
Roland asked a bit nervously. In fact, he’d already sent Hall Scouts to investigate what the Ninth Saintess liked, but the Church’s security was too tight—he couldn’t find any useful clues.
Wangsheng City’s Hall Scouts discovered that there was no Saintess File for the Ninth Saintess, no trace of parents or residence, and even her best friend Suna had suddenly disappeared.
In short, almost all of her past had been wiped clean.
Damn the Church of the Goddess of Life, to have such airtight secrecy!
“Ah, um…” Truth looked the crimson dress over again. She didn’t really like it, but if she said so directly, the other side might think she wasn’t willing to forgive the assassination attempt.
She honestly didn’t care about the assassination, nor about Wangsheng City’s plans, as long as they didn’t interfere with Mist’s development.
But if they did interfere… well, Truth would take action.
So she decided to give a lukewarm evaluation so they wouldn’t misunderstand:
“It’s… all right.”
At that, Roland nearly had a heart attack. It was over—the Ninth Saintess really wasn’t going to forgive them for the assassination!
For a work of art, being called “all right” was basically the same as “awful!”
Of course, how could a blood feud be settled with a dress? It seemed the Ninth Saintess was shrewd, planning to use the assassination to squeeze more benefits from them.
Not that it couldn’t be done. After the failed assassination, maintaining a good relationship with the Saintess was the only sensible path forward, especially since the Saintess was practically synonymous with the Church of the Goddess of Life—she couldn’t be ignored.
So Roland tactfully asked, “What can we do to make the Saintess smile?” The implication was clear—what would it take to earn Truth’s forgiveness and let both sides save face.
“Well, then, give me a Legendary Weapon. Preferably something light—y’know, as a girl, I’m not very strong, so a dagger or something would be best for self-defense.”
Truth voiced her small request—she wanted a Legendary Weapon that suited her. Not unreasonable, right?
Roland and the others thought they’d misheard. After confirming again, it took a long while for Roland to accept that the Ninth Saintess simply didn’t want to make peace with Wangsheng City.
A Legendary Weapon—what an excessive demand!
A Legendary Weapon! The kind even deities fight over! In all of Wangsheng City’s centuries-long history, they’d never even touched a Legendary Weapon, only a few pieces of Epic Equipment at most. Yet the Ninth Saintess asked for one without hesitation.
This was just making things difficult! Aside from her status as a Saintess, she was a Priest not even at the second rank.
Even offering her Extraordinary-level gear was already a stretch; wouldn’t Legendary Equipment be far too much?
Sorry, that’s just not possible.
But to show embarrassment now would be shameful. After some contemplation, the more experienced Roland finally spoke:
“Forgive us, Saintess, but to be honest, Wangsheng City hasn’t so much as seen a fragment of a Legendary Weapon since its founding. We simply can’t match the resources the Church can provide. Perhaps… you should ask the Goddess herself.”
Since she wasn’t interested in negotiation, Roland started getting snarky. Aren’t you a Saintess, the earthly representative of the Goddess of Life?
Why not ask your own Goddess for a Legendary Weapon, instead of coming to us—your adversaries? Is it because you don’t dare?
But Truth, being straightforward, simply shrugged and didn’t catch Roland’s sarcasm:
“The Church? Forget it. There’s definitely no Legendary Weapons in the Church. That level of stuff is basically all under the control of the Goddess herself, and she’s stingy—she wouldn’t just hand that kind of thing out for fun.”
Truth could guess as much from the Goddess of Life’s behavior during the Divine Selection Ceremony, collecting Faith Power—definitely stingy.
Or, to put it nicely, thrifty and good at managing resources.
Well, whatever. Truth had only asked about the Legendary Weapon out of curiosity.
She never expected these middle-ranked folks to actually produce one.
As for the red dress, she’d accept it to save face for them.
“Fine, fine, I’ll take your gift. I do like it, really… huh? Why are you all frozen again?”
Truth was just about to signal Roland to put away the ‘Rebirth Gift,’ but noticed they’d gone stiff again.
At that moment, Roland and the others all had one question in mind:
Did I just hear that right?
Roland’s lips twitched, then he exchanged glances with his companions, and finally confirmed he hadn’t misheard…
The Ninth Saintess had just… spoken ill of the Goddess of Life, calling her stingy!
Normally, to a believer of Life, the Goddess was perfection itself. Yet the Ninth Saintess had just pointed out a flaw…
Wait, aren’t Saintesses supposed to view the Goddess as the ultimate perfection? How dare the Ninth Saintess, in front of outsiders, directly call the Goddess stingy?!
Could it be that the Goddess’s brainwashing is losing its touch, or that this Truth girl is newly appointed and hasn’t been fully indoctrinated yet?
In the eyes of the Faithless, church and faith are nothing but brainwashing.
The Saintess was not only an accomplice in spreading it, but also the most thoroughly brainwashed of all.
Yet here was such a person, casually teasing the Goddess of Life in front of a group of Faithless…
Unbelievable!
In an instant, Roland’s expression shifted from stunned, to suspicious, to fanatical. Even Truth started to feel awkward. All she’d done was accept a gift—why such a big reaction?
Being a Saintess sure comes with perks…
“R-right, Saintess. About the Legendary Weapon, while Wangsheng City doesn’t possess anything that powerful, we do have information!”
Roland, his earlier sarcasm gone, suddenly became enthusiastic—so much so that he even started to stammer, and signaled his companions not to act rashly.
“Information? Is it just unreliable rumors or something more solid?” Truth’s curiosity was piqued again. She’d been making do with plain gear for so long—she really needed a better weapon.
Using basic equipment would suffice, but Legendary gear was hard to come by, and anything less just didn’t feel right. Don’t ask why—it’s all about the feel…
“There are many rumors, but one has been officially confirmed by Wangsheng City. In the eastern part of the Land of Exile, above the Ancient Ruins, the presence of Demon God Kurthos has been seen from time to time.”
“Over the past two centuries of observation, we’ve noticed that whenever a hero’s tale of vanquishing the Demon King repeats—ah, that is, whenever legendary events play out—the aura of a Legendary Weapon will appear within the ancient ruins, and Fire Qu Island will appear nearby.”
“Many have speculated that Demon God Kurthos has hidden a Legendary Weapon there, but no one’s managed to explore the ruins themselves—because a Demonic Dragon has been entrenched there for over a century.”
Land of Exile? Demon God Kurthos? Wait a minute, Truth suddenly remembered that Tianhuo’s original destination was also the Land of Exile, but he later fled to the Northern Empire.
How did all these events get connected? And a Demonic Dragon, too… Wangsheng City sure knew a lot!
“Can you tell me more? Details!” Truth craned her neck to listen eagerly, and Roland realized that the Ninth Saintess wasn’t trying to make things difficult at all—she was genuinely interested in Legendary Weapons.
“I’m truly sorry, Saintess, I’d love to share more, but my clearance is limited. Only a select few in Wangsheng City’s High Council are privy to those records, and the information is tightly controlled.”
But if you were to inquire… perhaps they would be delighted to tell you.
Roland’s intent was crystal clear—he wanted to lure the newly-appointed Saintess to Wangsheng City!
This was a major discovery, and several present realized that the Saintess wasn’t completely brainwashed from the start, but rather indoctrinated gradually.
They had finally found a weak point in the Church of the Goddess of Life.
In other words, before Truth was fully indoctrinated, Roland and his people could act—perhaps try teaching her atheism!
Of course, all this depended on Truth secretly visiting Wangsheng City first.
Deya City was filled with Church personnel, and the eyes of the Goddess of Life could look upon them at any time.
Making a move here would be unwise, so the most important thing was not to let the Church realize that they had discovered this.
They had to behave normally, and not act suspicious out of excitement!
“So, you want me to visit your city? Why not just have your High Council write a letter instead? What a hassle. Or are you trying to trick me into coming over so you can plot something?”
But Truth wasn’t foolish. She quickly picked up on the suspicious part, but Roland responded quickly:
“How could we dare scheme against a Saintess? If anything were to happen to you, our little Wangsheng City couldn’t possibly bear the wrath of the Goddess of Life!”
“But you did send people to assassinate me, you know…”
“Ahem, that was just the action of a radical faction—it doesn’t represent Wangsheng City as a whole. R-right, since the Saintess has accepted our gift, may I ask if you could… perhaps call off your Mind Game Strategy against our city?”
Roland gave a fawning smile, trying to get Truth to show mercy and stop the Mind Game Strategy.
Truth was utterly baffled.
“Mind Game Strategy? What’s that?”