On the east side of Fog Gate Plaza, a tall and a short priest were slowly emerging from the Mist.
While Tia rambled on with her work report, the hooded Little Mist followed behind her, looking guilty, thinking:
‘She must be Tia, my only believer in this world, me as the direct subordinate of the Ninth Saintess of the Church of Life…’
Little Mist had learned from Truth that Tia was a descendant of the former Taskmaster Receptionist of the Mist.
She was probably the person who knew her best besides Truth, but even that was just a superficial understanding…
Maybe she could try to get close to her?
Since Tia was the High Priest of Deya City, her personality should be very kind, right? She hoped she wasn’t like Truth, who only seemed kind on the surface…
“Truth, are you listening?” At that moment, Tia turned back to look at Truth, whose face was full of worries.
This girl had been preoccupied since they met, looking very suspicious, as if she had just been bullied…
Tia guessed that Truth had been severely punished by the Hermit deep in the Mist and that was why she was like this.
Plus, Truth had thin skin; she would scream if touched. So for the sake of Truth’s pride, it was better not to ask about the Hermit for now.
Let’s just talk about work!
“I… am listening.” Little Mist didn’t dare meet Tia’s eyes.
“Good. As the Saintess, you can’t just push everything onto me and then know nothing. Where was I… Right, about President Edwin and Count Suho.”
Tia continued leading Little Mist forward while pointing to two middle-aged men not far away who were dressed in a very old-money style:
“President Edwin has agreed to build a new Adventurers’ Association in Fog Gate Plaza, and today Count Suho directly leased a very well-located area to sell various Healing Potions directly. Now these two are our long-term partners. Remember to greet them in formal occasions, or if you keep ignoring them, they might easily make some mistakes.”
“Is that so…”
Little Mist looked at Edwin and Suho with some curiosity. Truth had never told her about these matters.
It seemed these two weren’t important figures, but since Tia said so, she should at least be polite.
So Little Mist pulled back her hood a little and showed a very sweet smile toward the two not far away.
Then Edwin and Suho were so frightened that they jumped on the spot, looking very flustered.
Edwin, after thinking seriously for two seconds, intended to kneel down to Little Mist, but as his legs were about to bend, Suho promptly grabbed him…
Then the two exchanged some furtive whispers with terrified expressions, and finally, they bowed deeply to Little Mist.
“Huh?!”
Little Mist looked at the two in shock. What? I just smiled at them, it wasn’t a death threat. Was such an extreme reaction necessary?!
How did Truth usually treat these people…
“Oh, and there’s one more thing I need to tell you. A new noble named Scott has been unable to come to terms with me on land leasing. He said if I didn’t give him some discount, he would spread rumors that our church oppresses the local commoners to work day and night. So I poisoned him to death. So, Little Truth, if anyone asks if you’ve seen Scott, remember to say you’ve never seen him.”
Tia said very calmly. Little Mist took a deep breath and replied with a smile:
“Business negotiations inevitably have disagreements, since interests are involved. And you handled it well, directly poisoning… wait, you poisoned him to death?!”
It was only then that Little Mist, stiffening all over, looked in disbelief at Tia’s still calm expression.
How could this person calmly say “I just killed someone”?!
“Yes, what’s wrong?” Tia tilted her head, somewhat puzzled.
Was such a big reaction necessary? Last time when she buried the body, it was seen, and Truth had also been possessed by the Hermit to kill many people, so she should be used to it. Why such an exaggerated reaction?
“Y-y-y-you… aren’t you a priest?! H-h-h-how can you…”
“Yes, I am a priest, but also a faithful disciple of the Hermit. My kindness will not be reserved for those who want to hinder the construction of the Mist. Don’t think I don’t know, Little Truth. Building Fog Gate Plaza must be the Hermit’s plan, right?”
Since it was the Hermit’s plan, obstructing the construction of Fog Gate Plaza was going against the Hermit’s will.
So Tia cleanly dealt with Scott, and the body was fed to the monsters in the Mist.
But just as Tia finished speaking, Little Mist hurriedly came up to Tia and raised her hands to cover Tia’s mouth, but due to the obvious height difference, Little Mist could only touch Tia’s mouth when jumping:
“You can’t… can’t say that!”
She couldn’t say such things here! She still didn’t know if the Goddess of Life was watching her. If She learned about the Hermit, it would be trouble!
“What…” Tia raised her right hand and steadily pressed down on Little Mist’s head:
“You’re very strange today, you know?”
The Mist was the Hermit’s territory, so saying something about the Hermit shouldn’t be a problem.
And Truth seemed to have become a bit silly, completely lacking her previous playful spirit.
“In any case, we can’t talk about this now!” Little Mist was a bit anxious. Fortunately, Tia, though puzzled, respected that and didn’t say more.
The two didn’t say much more after that. They silently walked out of the Mist and returned to the Church of the Goddess of Life.
Truth had said that Little Mist, while acting as a substitute, could just stay in the church if she didn’t know where to go. Little Mist did just that.
Along the way, Little Mist was preoccupied with thoughts of this High Priest.
Was her only believer such an extreme person who would poison someone at the slightest disagreement?
No, priests shouldn’t be like this. Where were the normal priests she remembered?
Could it be that Truth had corrupted her? Little Mist immediately thought of Truth as the culprit, since no matter how she thought about it, Truth was definitely involved!
No, she had to make a change. She absolutely could not let Truth single-handedly corrupt all the priests in the world! Little Mist silently vowed…
Half an hour later, as the carriage slowly stopped outside the Church of the Goddess of Life, since this was Little Mist’s first time leaving the Mist, she was very curious about everything along the way.
Like a child from the mountains seeing a plain for the first time, Little Mist’s eyes lit up at the endless Dea Plateau without any mist.
After entering Deya City, she became very interested in the various human street stalls, especially when passing through Night Market Street, filled with all kinds of delicious smells.
After five hundred years, the world had changed a lot, but also many things had remained the same.
Entering the church, Little Mist glanced at the stone statue of the Goddess of Life and then sat quietly on a pew.
Mm, she would just sit here until dawn, then do a perfunctory prayer and switch shifts with Truth.
“Mmm~, I’m so tired. I’ve been working in the Mist for two days straight. Finally, I can come out and take a bath.”
Tia stretched, intending to take a hot bath in the bathroom. At the same time, she said playfully to Little Mist:
“Want to soak in a hot bath with me? I can wash your hair for you.”
“A hot bath?” Little Mist tilted her head. Was there any difference between a hot bath and soaking in a pond? Maybe she could give it a try:
“Sure.”
Since she had nothing to do anyway, and Tia was trustworthy, driven by curiosity, Little Mist got up and followed Tia, a hint of anticipation on her face.
Then Tia froze.
Truth… agreed?
Was she dreaming? Or had she eaten some hallucinogenic mushroom?
Normally, Truth would blush and shout “Get away!” But now…
Something was wrong. Very wrong.
The next second, without hesitation, Tia frowned and directly used a Wandering Hand to attack Little Mist’s chest.
The latter, after reacting, didn’t resist at all, letting Tia’s hand cling tightly to her slightly heaving bosom.
The touch was very soft.
“Uh… what’s wrong?” Little Mist asked dazedly, looking at Tia’s hand, not understanding why she suddenly touched her.
Tia didn’t answer…
After a long while, several breaths later, Tia still hadn’t let go. She bent down slightly, pressed her face close to Little Mist’s ear, and asked softly:
“Who are you?”