Since meeting Truth, Aisia had never been able to predict her next move.
But one thing Aisia was certain of was that Truth had never learned the Saintess etiquette at all!
And she showed no respect for her elders—who was responsible for teaching her?!
“It was Tia from Deya City.”
Truth answered honestly, which infuriated Aisia so much that she decided to set out for Deya City at dawn the next day.
She planned to confront that Tia, intending to leave only one Eighth-rank guard behind in Watchtower City to assist the army in rectifying the situation.
Really, how was the divine selection ceremony supposed to continue now? There were only two days left…
“Go to sleep now. At dawn, we leave!” Aisia’s face was ashen because she simply couldn’t maintain the dignity expected of a senior in front of Truth.
Oh… seeing Aisia standing before her, hands on hips and fuming, Truth felt a faint sense of senior pressure—though just barely.
“Can I sleep with you then?”
“No. You’ll definitely try to grope me!”
At dawn the next day, Aisia’s carriage was ready at the military camp gate. Truth, who had been dozing on the sofa, was immediately dragged out by Aisia, who grabbed her hand.
Meanwhile, Watchtower Fortress had finally come under initial control. A large group of the main culprits were being escorted in formation to the prison.
Among them was a familiar figure to Truth—the drug peddler.
The medicine merchant Wells’s face was bruised and swollen; his hands were tied behind his back by two soldiers.
As he was led along, he muttered, “If only I’d lowered the dose a bit, my followers would at least still know whose signal to follow,” or something to that effect.
Wells was so lost in self-reflection that he passed right by Truth without noticing her.
“Stop staring and get in the carriage. There’s a big bed inside. If you’re still tired, you can go back to sleep,” Aisia said as she pulled Truth into the carriage. After giving some instructions to one of the Eighth-rank guards, the convoy set off.
“Two Eighth-rank, three Fifth-rank, and the rest mostly around Fourth-rank…”
Counting Aisia’s guards on the carriage, Truth was quite shocked. Forget the Eighth-rank, even Fourth-rank was enough to dominate the border here. Why bring so many mid-tier guards?
After asking a bit, Aisia replied seriously:
“Even within the Kingdom of Silvia, we can’t be careless. The further from the big cities, the more heretical atheists spread. They’ve been trying to capture the Saintess for propaganda purposes for quite some time, even collaborating with demons!”
Then Aisia revealed something known only to high-ranking church officials:
Three years ago, the Goddess of Life selected the Eighth Saintess, Mary, in the southern Water Marsh City.
Mary did not disappoint the Goddess’s expectations—within just over a year, she elevated the prosperity of Water Marsh City to a new height, and the followers of the Goddess of Life there exploded in number.
Everything seemed to be heading toward a bright future, but Mary made a fatal mistake: she neglected her own safety.
The heretics near Water Marsh City were mostly between Second and Fourth-rank, so Mary always traveled with three Fifth-rank guards, thinking that was enough.
As a harmless Saintess, as long as she behaved obediently within the kingdom and with the Goddess’s authority behind her, who would dare harbor ill intentions—except those weak heretics?
But within a few days, the heretics brought an Original Demon:
“Sir, this way.”
Hearing that there was an easy-to-capture Saintess here, Dark Demon Dakros came.
Mary became the first Saintess captured by an Original Demon; the several Sixth-rank guards around her were no match for Dakros.
The Original Demons took Mary hostage to negotiate with the Goddess of Life, threatening that if they didn’t receive some benefits, they would publicly humiliate the Eighth Saintess in front of the world.
“And then? Did they humiliate her?” Truth’s eyes instantly lit up.
“That, we don’t know. The Goddess only told us the demons killed her, and forbade us from revealing Mary’s death. The believers in Water Marsh City still think their Saintess is traveling outside.”
After this incident, all the Saintesses under the Goddess of Life were forced to upgrade their security measures.
Every time they went out, they had to be accompanied by two Eighth-rank guards and one Ninth-rank shadow guard ready to provide support at any moment.
“Dead?” Truth frowned again. That shouldn’t be. Demons loved to slowly torture their prey. They wouldn’t kill so easily.
“That’s why, as your senior, you must listen to me quietly, understand? Or you’ll end up in big trouble one day.”
After speaking, Aisia nodded with satisfaction, pleased with her own lecture and hoping Truth would show her some respect as an elder.
But Truth still showed no respect.
Tsk, too bad she didn’t hear what she wanted, though the whole Eighth Saintess thing seemed a bit fishy… Whatever, she’d lie down first. Ignoring Aisia, Truth pushed open the small compartment at the back of the luxurious carriage.
Inside was an incredibly soft big bed that looked very comfortable. But why was it so messy?
Several casual clothes were tossed on the bed, along with some bright blue panties, and the blanket had no corners to be found. Even the pillow was thrown carelessly on the floor, causing Truth to pause for a moment:
“Dog’s den?”
“Whoa! Wait a second!”
Aisia hurriedly covered Truth’s eyes from behind and then pulled her out of the compartment.
“I-I-I… forgot to tidy up! Wait for me!” Aisia closed the compartment door and immediately began to clean up inside.
Heh, looks like a slob. Truth had no choice but to go to the front of the carriage to get some fresh air, watching Watchtower Fortress gradually shrink on the plains in the distance.
At that moment, she suddenly noticed the figure of the carriage driver looked very familiar.
Twin tails hairstyle, and compared to the other guards, this one was much smaller…
Hmm? Rachel?!
Truth grabbed the driver’s head, forcing her to look at her face—it was indeed Rachel!
“Hi~”
Dressed as an ordinary soldier, Rachel waved at Truth with amusement, as if she had been waiting for this moment for a long time.
“You weren’t taken to the marketplace for beheading?”
“What? Impossible! Hmph, didn’t expect it, but now I’m the Saintess Aisia’s guard.”
Actually, she was only a temporary guard, but Rachel was still very proud.
How about that? Now I have a real Saintess protecting me. Let’s see if you, the quasi-Saintess, dare act so arrogant now!
Aisia brought Rachel along to prove Truth indeed had Dissociative Identity Disorder and to keep a close watch on her to prevent any chance of escape.
Still, Truth remained defiant, grabbing Rachel by the collar and saying coldly:
“You look pretty happy. Just so you know, tomorrow I’m undergoing the divine selection ceremony, and the first thing I’ll do as Saintess is drag you to the marketplace for beheading!”
“Eh?”
No, why do you always want to behead me?! And it has to be at the marketplace? Is that something a quasi-Saintess should say?! Rachel thought bitterly, I was just trying to apologize more sincerely!
Meanwhile, behind Truth, in the compartment, a pair of blue eyes carefully watched Truth and Rachel through a crack—it was Aisia.
“Rachel was right. As long as she’s alone with Truth, Truth will definitely show a hidden side!
But this doesn’t feel like dissociative identity disorder. It’s more like what Mary had—she just doesn’t bother pretending anymore.”
Only after Aisia stepped out did Truth release Rachel’s collar and revert to an ordinary Saintess demeanor.
The convoy continued rapidly toward Deya City. The road was quiet, with only a single black ordinary carriage passing by in the opposite direction.
One of Aisia’s guards looked at the receding black carriage with suspicion:
“Haven’t you seen the news? At a time like this, someone’s still going to Watchtower Fortress?”
Inside the black carriage, Suna, dressed as an adventurer, wore a very nervous expression. She couldn’t figure out why the demon sent her to Watchtower Fortress.
After mailing a letter yesterday, she had spent the whole night studying disasters and disaster cultists.
She found that the books in the school mostly just crudely explained the Creation Myth and gave only a general introduction to disasters.
Some even said disasters were the world’s negative force, gods were the positive, and if the balance broke, disasters would destroy the world.
“But none of this is recorded in ancient texts…”
Suna sighed again, growing even more distressed. She didn’t know who to believe. For now, she’d better go see what that so-called Hermit demon wanted.
Carefully avoiding the army, she reached a hill near Watchtower Fortress, ordering her men to stop the carriage. Then she went alone to the other side of the hill, following the demon’s coordinates.
“What a remote place.”
At the coordinates, suddenly two strange voices came from the grass ahead, startling Suna enough to quickly draw her “Fire Pattern Magic Staff.”
“Who’s there? Show yourself!”
Because Ariel’s name was too difficult, Suna had given the staff an easy nickname based on its features.
Now the Fire Pattern Magic Staff was simply wrapped in bandages; as long as she didn’t make violent movements, she could still cast some spells normally.
“Rustle rustle…”
The grass in front rustled more intensely, and Suna grew tenser, the skyfire gem on her staff rapidly glowing.
“Hm? Who’s speaking?”
The next second, Anderson stood up dumbfounded from the grass. The two glanced at each other and said in unison:
“It’s you? How are you here?”
Then Reg jumped out, greeting Suna:
“Miss Su!”