Aililan’s mind was full of worries.
Originally, she had planned to talk to the other Saintesses about her governance methods. This included, but was not limited to, drastic reforms in laws, commerce, and even taxes.
However, as she grew and learned more secrets, she truly felt the immense pressure involved.
Aililan’s furrowed brow made the Saint of Temperance chuckle. She reached out and gently tilted Aililan’s chin up, smiling.
“Chastity, you don’t need to worry. As your sisters, we will handle any concerns for you.”
Aililan’s breath hitched.
Looking at the Saint of Temperance’s exquisite face, especially those deep red, slightly parted lips, she instinctively gulped, her cheeks flushing slightly. She felt her resolve to guard her chastity waver.
‘If it’s Temperance Sister… it might not be so bad.’
Aililan admitted to herself that she did like the Saint of Temperance. Temperance gave her the feeling of wanting to be in a relationship.
Taking a deep breath, Aililan spoke seriously, “Is there anything I can do for you, Sisters?”
Temperance pinched her cheek playfully. “Being able to manage Atester City well is the best help you can give us.”
The Saint of Diligence stood nearby, making faces with a sour tone. “Is your relationship really that good? Temperance, you spoil Chastity too much. And Chastity, we just got back. Can’t we rest for two days first?”
Temperance covered her mouth and laughed, nodding. “Diligence is right. Let’s rest for two days first.”
She paused for a moment and then looked back at Aililan. “However, the things you’ve been doing in Atester are quite… novel. You can think about it for a while and then tell us. We need to summarize everything before giving our debriefing report to the Seven Regents.”
Hearing this, Aililan’s heart grew heavy. She asked cautiously, “Has someone been snitching to the Holy Land? Or have I stepped on someone’s toes?”
Diligence walked over and snorted. “It’s all just trivial matters.”
Aililan felt even more uneasy. She spent the night reflecting on her actions to see if she had offended anyone.
It didn’t seem like it. The thing that touched the Church’s bottom line the most was nothing more than distinguishing between Religious Law and secular law, and trialing parts of the Civil Code in Atester.
But she had already cleared that with the Inquisitor of Atester beforehand. If they were still snitching behind her back, they were being completely ungrateful.
‘Or maybe the trade with the Demon Lands was exposed? But that shouldn’t be it. Publicly, I claimed to be attacking the Demon Lands to promote the spirit of the Church. I even have the results to prove it, having captured an iron mine.’
Aililan thought for a long time. Eventually, she narrowed it down to the likely cause. There was one thing that had been implemented in Atester for so long that she had become accustomed to it, but it was likely to be criticized — the Mutual Market with the Orcs.
This Mutual Market required permits, which undoubtedly took a piece of the pie away from many people.
‘Hmph.’
Having figured it out, Aililan felt relieved. The Seven Virtues Saints were not fools; they wouldn’t believe rumors easily.
Two leisurely days passed.
The Saint of Tolerance and the Saint of Humility also returned. When the two saw Aililan, they were more affectionate than if she were their biological sister.
One patted her head while the other pinched her cheeks. They even insisted on “checking” Aililan to see if their Chastity Maiden had grown any larger.
Aililan couldn’t win a fight against them and couldn’t resist. She could only cry out in frustration, “Stop it! Do you two even act like sisters?”
The Saint of Humility laughed loudly. “Little sister, aren’t you meant to be teased by your big sisters?”
Aililan was speechless.
After the playfulness, Tolerance waved her hand toward her back. Soon, a person completely shrouded in a black robe walked over, kneeling on one knee to salute the three Saintesses.
The Saint of Tolerance waved her off, indicating no need for formalities. “This is the Grandmaster of my Tolerance Knight Order. While negotiating with enemy forces, she was hit by a curse magic. I heard that you’ve awakened a part of your Authority, Chastity. I was wondering if you could take a look.”
Aililan nodded and looked toward the Knight Commander.
The woman’s face was pale, the circles under her eyes were dark, and a large area of skin below her neck was festering. If it weren’t for the black robe covering her, she would probably be emitting a foul stench by now. She was a female Knight. At this moment, the look in her eyes as she watched Aililan carried a faint glimmer of expectation.
Perhaps this was her last hope.
Aililan folded her hands in prayer, and the power of the Authority of Chastity emerged in her palms. She gently placed her hands on the female Knight.
Aililan’s brow gradually furrowed. The Saint of Tolerance sighed. Seeing this, the female Knight’s expression turned ashen.
Perhaps, as the Grandmaster of the Tolerance Knight Order, her best ending would be to choose a dignified death.
After the examination, Aililan sighed. “This curse seems to be related to the soul. I am currently helpless to eliminate the power of the curse completely. However, I can suppress it from worsening further and restore her appearance.”
The Saint of Tolerance raised an eyebrow. “Wait, you call that being helpless? Do you know that the one who cursed Ginea was a wizard serving a rival royal court?”
Ginea, the Knight, trembled with excitement. She knelt on one knee and said, “Saintess, that is already enough.”
Aililan couldn’t help but scratch her head.
‘Is some royal court wizard really that powerful?’
Her Virtue Authority was something that could even weaken the influence of a Succubus with Demon Lord blood. She truly didn’t know how powerful her ability actually was. She would have preferred a massive Holy Light spell instead.
She didn’t realize that in the eyes of the Saint of Tolerance and the others, this was already an Authority with strategic value.
The Church was already famous for its healing abilities. If paired with Aililan’s ability, their high-level combatants would essentially become “tanks” with both high attack and high defense.
Aililan said no more. She released the power of her Authority onto Ginea. The black mist that had been eroding Ginea evaporated instantly, like water droplets hitting a red-hot iron pot.
After a long while, Aililan withdrew her hand. “That’s about it. You can recover from the injuries on your body slowly with healing magic.
However, I didn’t completely eliminate the curse, so you still need to find a way to break it. Or, when the curse flares up again, come to me for another purification.”
Ginea could hardly hide her excitement, her voice trembling. “Thank you… thank you for the Saintess’s blessing.”
Aililan waved it off. “It’s nothing.”
Tolerance also waved her hand. “Alright, go down and rest.”
Ginea immediately saluted and withdrew.
Aililan felt a bit envious. Ginea’s strength seemed to be about two or three times that of Renata. Although she was a bit weaker than Fina Nisi, she was still very powerful. Unfortunately, she was the Saint of Tolerance’s Knight.
While Aililan was still plotting, the “temptation” from the Saint of Tolerance fell upon her.
“Chastity, do you want to come play at the Seventh Wing? We have great food and the scenery is nice, hee-hee.”
The Saint of Humility immediately jumped in. “What’s so good about the Seventh Wing? You’d be better off coming to my Third Wing.”
The two immediately began to argue. They really wanted to spirit Aililan away.
Just as the two were about to start revealing each other’s embarrassing secrets, several more Saintesses walked over.
The Saint of Generosity stopped the two, covering her mouth as she giggled. “You two can stop thinking about kidnapping Chastity.”
“Huh?” Aililan looked confused.
The Saint of Generosity looked at her with a half-smile. “You’re still laughing? Chastity, the trouble you’ve caused me isn’t small at all. If you don’t try to get on my good side now, it’s going to be very hard for me to help you settle this.”
Aililan scratched her head again. That was a bit too blunt.