“So that’s how it is… tch, I thought you had some deep, hidden special ability. Disappointing. Whatever, as long as you can complete my task, do whatever you want.”
After Ariel finished her explanation, Truth didn’t bother to hide the disappointment in her eyes as she spoke.
Ariel could only respond with an awkward smile, making the few servants nearby and the furniture shop’s boss unsure of how to react.
So who exactly is this little hooded brat, to make even Lord Ariel—whom even Earl Mayna kneels before—treat her like this?!
Unfortunately, none of them dared to look Truth directly in the face, afraid of offending her.
They simply stood quietly, heads lowered, not daring to interrupt or eavesdrop on the conversation between these two bigshots.
Though they were so-called “bigshots,” why did it feel more like the conversation between a master and her servant…?
Two minutes later, Truth left, and only then did Ariel breathe a sigh of relief.
She hadn’t expected that this blood demon was actually quite open-minded, saying as long as the task was completed, Truth could do as she pleased.
“So what exactly counts as ‘playing,’ though?” Ariel wondered aloud. The blood demon didn’t seem to have set any boundaries, meaning she could pretty much do as she liked?
With that thought, a few wild ideas began bubbling up in Ariel’s mind…
Five minutes later, at Deya City’s gates, Truth, who was about to return to the Mist and spy on the Adventurers, was caught red-handed by Tia.
Without hesitation, Tia dragged her straight into the Great Cathedral of Life:
“You’ve already become a Saintess, but you’re not even doing your twice-daily prayers! I know you’ve been busy, but you should at least keep up appearances. There are so many believers staying in the cathedral all day just to see you, but you never show up!
Do you know what nickname you have now? The Shut-in Saintess!”
“What’s wrong with being a shut-in? It’s not like I don’t do my work! Besides, the Goddess hasn’t said anything. Compared to appearances, actually getting things done is what matters most!”
“Well, at the very least, you should put on a show to promote yourself! As the Saintess, you should always be in the cathedral. Let others run errands for small stuff, and take your time with the big things—after all, most people come to you, and you definitely can’t rush things!”
Judging from her first impression of the Hermit, Tia always thought that lately, Truth had been squeezed dry and forced to work overtime every day by the Hermit.
She said “don’t rush things,” but she actually just wanted Truth to stay and rest properly in the cathedral.
However, even when her body was in the cathedral, Truth could still manage the Mist at full intensity.
“Alright, alright, I’ll do two prayers a day to keep up appearances, okay?” Not wanting Tia to keep nagging like a mother hen, Truth reluctantly agreed.
After all, Tia had a point. As a Saintess, she did need to keep up appearances from time to time. Otherwise, the Goddess of Life would start getting suspicious.
Tch, she’d originally wanted to make the Mist Core Region her lair—the house was already built in construction mode, and she’d had Ariel buy all the furniture.
But now she might have to stay in the cathedral all the time? Annoying!
Well, not impossible. Maybe she could just renovate the whole cathedral, make it much bigger—nothing too outrageous, just half the size of Deya City would do.
The main area would be for prayers, the rest a simple 2,000-square-meter kitchen, a 5,000-square-meter bedroom, move the Wangsheng River over for a bathtub, and add an office, dressing room, training room, and other essential areas.
“Tsk, come to think of it, doing that would take a lot of money. Gold coins are easy to get, but explaining the source and laundering it is a huge hassle. Looks like I really need to make Deya City more prosperous, or I’ll be broke. In the end, developing the Mist is more important.”
Without the Mist, Deya City couldn’t prosper. That was Truth’s current thinking, since apart from the Mist Dungeon, the city had nothing else.
After mentally sketching the future cathedral’s layout, Truth took off her hood and, under Tia’s watchful gaze, slowly knelt before the statue of the Goddess of Life.
She folded her hands, closed her eyes, and began to pray, startling the scattered dozen or so believers nearby.
People had already assumed they’d never see the Ninth Saintess in the cathedral, so none of these believers expected to see her today.
Suddenly, they were tense and cautious, afraid to disturb her prayer.
Soon, news that the Ninth Saintess had appeared in the cathedral spread like wildfire.
In no time, all the believers of Life dropped what they were doing and crowded outside, trying to catch a glimpse of the Ninth Saintess through the windows.
“The rumors are true. Just seeing her for a moment feels like it adds years to your life…” Thanks to their faith and the Saintess’s affinity with the elements of life, the believers sighed with admiration.
Meanwhile, Truth was praying in her heart. The thing was, she had no idea what kind of prayers followers of the Goddess of Life usually said, so she just winged it:
“Is the Goddess listening? Praise the Goddess, meow. Praise the Goddess, meow. Praise the Goddess, meow. Kill the godde—”
“I’m listening.”
A ray of sunlight suddenly shone on the statue of the Goddess of Life, and the Goddess’s voice sounded in Truth’s heart, startling her so much she almost forgot the Goddess really could hear her prayers.
“Eh? What did you just say? Something about… ‘silk’?”
“N-nothing! I was just speaking too fast and stuttered. Greetings, Goddess!”
“Why are you suddenly praying to me today, and even going ‘meow meow meow’ like the beastkin? You never prayed to me before. Or are you just here because you want something? I don’t like that kind of behavior, you know?”
“Of course not! I’ve just been really busy lately, so many things to do. Now that I finally have some free time, I thought I’d come to the cathedral and see you. I’m completely devoted to you, Goddess!”
To someone who’d given her a “newbie package” of over thirty thousand Faith Points, Truth felt it was necessary to show some respect and flattery.
“So busy, are you? But I haven’t even sent you to our church’s Priest Academy for further studies yet. Then there’s the priest selection for the hero’s crusade against the Demon King, the recent Demon-Hunting Campaign, the parades to spread the Church of Life throughout all border cities of Sylvia Kingdom, and…”
The Goddess of Life rattled off more than a dozen tasks she wanted Truth to do in the future, making Truth’s face fall. Good grief, was she treating her like a workhorse?
“But Goddess, just developing Deya City and handling affairs with Wangsheng City already has me running ragged. So about those other things in the future…” Truth tried to decline politely.
“Maybe you won’t be busy later on. Don’t worry, I’ll make arrangements. Also, I’ve heard about you and Wangsheng City. I want to know, what’s your view of the Readers? Are you planning to fight them, or peacefully coexist?”
“Peaceful coexistence!”
“Oh? Tell me why.”
“With our church’s strength, defeating Wangsheng City wouldn’t be a problem. We’d even get a hefty war indemnity in the short term, but then…”
Wait a second—oh right, war indemnities!
Truth suddenly remembered: This is a transmigrated world! She wasn’t restricted to role-play anymore—she could wage war like a strategy game! Plus, she was the Saintess of the Church of Life, with the perfect justification for war, so…
No!
Truth shook her head violently, trying to shake the idea away.
Not now. If she really did that, her persona as a Priest would collapse, and right under the nose of the Goddess of Life at that.
As a Priest, her persona should be someone who saves the world with love, not someone scheming for “war and compensation”!
At least, not for now. If the Goddess found out she wasn’t fit to be a Saintess, she’d lose the chance to rake in Faith Points for free.
After carefully rearranging her thoughts, Truth continued, keeping in character:
“We could get a big war indemnity in the short run, but that would just intensify border conflicts in the future. War isn’t a beginning or an end; once it’s over, a lot of radical Readers would stir up trouble at our borders. That would seriously hinder the city’s development, and without a stable environment, there wouldn’t be any progress at all—just holding on would be hard.
So I think we should use this opportunity to establish ties with Wangsheng City and leverage their Market to drive the development of our borders!”