Tia still felt that calling her “Xiao Truth” sounded better. She’d just treat her as a little sister in her heart, and as the older sister, she had to properly educate her:
“Hey, Xiao Truth, can you stop rubbing your head against my chest?”
That sounded a bit like what a big sister would say, right? Tia felt she was being quite dignified.
“Then can I touch it with my hand?”
“No, you can’t!”
“So stingy…” Truth pouted, seemingly unfazed by the “older sister authority” that Tia was trying to project.
Their peaceful world was broken by the sound of unfamiliar footsteps. A man knocked at the door.
“Is High Priestess Tia here?”
“Come in,” Tia replied.
A black-haired man, dressed in ornate robes embedded with various expensive gemstones, stepped into the room and stood before Tia and Truth. He didn’t look very friendly.
He looked over Tia and the girl in her arms and smiled.
“Just as the rumors say, High Priestess Tia radiates a maternal glow from head to toe. Nice to meet you— my name is Diaz. I’m the newly appointed priest who arrived in Deya City just yesterday.”
“Hello, Mr. Diaz. What brings you here today?”
Diaz glanced at Truth with a slight smile, signaling that the topic to follow wasn’t suitable for a third party. So Tia gently set Truth down.
“Be good, Xiao Truth. Go find Suna and the others for now. You can come back anytime later.”
“Okay.”
Truth obediently walked out, but just as she reached the door, a glint of crimson flashed in her eyes:
[Skill Activated: Shadow Veil]
In an instant, Truth vanished without a sound, slipping into the Shadow Realm that overlapped with the real world.
It was a far more insidious skill than stealth or invisibility, because there were almost no effective countermeasures against it.
Then, acting like nothing happened, Truth swaggered right back into Tia’s office and plopped herself down on the large desk, crossing her legs.
Let’s see what kind of “big secret” I’m not allowed to hear…
Tia sat on a wooden chair beside the desk— her designated spot for receiving guests.
Diaz casually took a seat across from her and got straight to the point:
“Did you know that the Divine Guide Klar has died?”
“No, I didn’t. But that’s good news for me— he was always trying to get his hands on my student.”
Tia was rather pleased. Klar was dead, and she couldn’t care less how he died.
“Haha, I thought you’d be shocked. This is unexpected. Then you probably also know that once a Divine Guide dies, a new one is chosen right away?”
Diaz’s expression grew serious:
“I’ve already confirmed it. Including myself, there are four eligible candidates in Deya City— and you’re one of them.”
As the only mid-tier priest in Deya City, no one dared question Tia’s devotion to the goddess.
Combined with her friendly nature, she was a strong contender for Divine Guide.
“So, Mr. Diaz, are you here today too…?”
“I want you to withdraw from the race. And please tell me what terms would make you willing to do that,” Diaz stated his purpose directly.
Withdraw from the race? Tia wasn’t quite sure how to respond.
She had never even thought about becoming a Divine Guide. If she wanted the position, she could’ve taken it long ago.
But since someone came knocking, she might as well ask for something a High Priestess ought to demand:
“If you become the Divine Guide, will you improve the welfare of the city’s priests?”
Deya City, being a starter town, wasn’t like other places that understood the importance of priests in battle.
Due to the low average level here, most people thought of priests as mere healers, easily replaced with healing potions— which were far cheaper than hiring a priest.
As a result, the number of priests in Deya had been shrinking every year.
Those with even slightly higher levels had long since left for other cities. If this continued, the city’s medical system would collapse.
Not that Tia really cared. She didn’t come to Deya to build a better city, after all.
“That’s all? No problem! I promise— once I take office, I’ll immediately raise the status of the priests. It also fits with my future plans.”
Diaz couldn’t hide his joy. He hadn’t expected his biggest rival to be this easy to deal with— maybe even recruit to his side! He briefly explained to Tia what he planned to do once he was in office.
Since there wasn’t much profit left in Deya City, he intended to convince the other powerholders to expand the city’s size.
But this would require a lot of funding— so he had set his sights on the nearby Fog Dungeon.
Although there weren’t many rare treasures left in the Mist, there were still plenty of high-quality century-old trees! And on top of that, the new Divine Guide could pray once for the goddess’s blessing…
“The Mist has outlived its usefulness after all these years of exploration. So as Divine Guide, I’ll lead the faithful in a prayer to the goddess to erase the Mist entirely, and unearth the last remaining treasures still hidden from the world.
It’ll be an epic adventure, and we’ll go down as the greatest pioneers in the history of Deya City!”
Diaz grew more and more excited as he spoke. Tia gave an awkward smile and poured them both a cup of tea:
“Ahaha… and what’s in it for the young priests?”
“Excellent question!” Diaz took a sip of tea.
“Before exploring the forest that’ll be revealed once the Mist is gone, I’ll have the Adventurer’s Guild increase the value of priests within adventuring parties early in the campaign. Then, I’ll negotiate with the Suho family to raise the price of all healing potions, as long as… cough!”
Before he could finish, Diaz suddenly froze in place. Something felt wrong with his body…
For some reason, his skin rapidly turned a sickly grey, his movements became sluggish, and even breathing started to become difficult.
“Cough… y-you—!”
Diaz lost his balance and collapsed onto the floor, bloodshot eyes filled with disbelief as he stared at Tia, who still wore her pleasant smile. Was it her? What had she done to him?
The tea— she must’ve poisoned it!
But he hadn’t said anything wrong. Their interests were aligned, weren’t they? Why…?
He never would’ve guessed that out of the four candidates, the most ruthless and cold-blooded one would be a priest…
The others just wanted to compete for influence— Tia, on the other hand, wanted him dead!
Diaz died on the floor in a twisted, unnatural position. It wasn’t a peaceful end, and Truth had seen the whole thing.
She had never imagined that someone like Tia could so calmly poison a man without saying a word.
And she used a fast-acting, lethal Gray Death potion!
Only after confirming that Diaz had completely stopped breathing did Tia begin disposing of the body, her disgust plain as day.
“To dare lay hands on the sacred Mist— you deserve to die.”
If Diaz had become Divine Guide and done whatever he wanted, Tia wouldn’t have cared— so long as he didn’t touch her junior priests or the Mist.
But he’d gone and provoked her from the very start.
“Terrifying…”
Watching Tia expertly clean up the body, Truth was stunned.
So this big sister she’d been taking advantage of all along… was actually hiding her true colors? A total schemer?
And what was that about the sacred Mist? Don’t tell me… she’s one of my followers?!