When the meeting reached a stage requiring discussion of confidential matters, Di Lisha consciously exited the council room.
Even as the city lord’s daughter, there were some things she wasn’t yet permitted to know at her age.
“It’s a bit more troublesome than I imagined, the Ninth Saintess…”
Di Lisha walked over to a nearby window and gazed down at the small park beside the church.
The park’s layout was quite pleasant, and it was clear that someone tended and cleaned it every day.
The water spraying from the small fountain in the center glittered beautifully under the sunlight, looking rather soothing.
Di Lisha leaned against the windowsill to relax, but soon a petite figure on a bench in the park caught her attention.
“Hm? Another priest? And they look pretty young too.”
Di Lisha craned her neck to get a better look at the little priest’s appearance, but unfortunately, the upper half of the priest was obscured by the shade of a nearby tree, which made Di Lisha a bit curious.
Since entering the Church of the Goddess of Life, aside from Chief Priest Kashan, this little priest was only the second priest Di Lisha had encountered. In that case…
Di Lisha’s mind stirred, and she headed straight down to the park below.
She hadn’t forgotten the purpose of her visit to Deya City: to gather as much intelligence about the Ninth Saintess as possible and try to build a good relationship with her!
And right now, this little priest might just have some information about the Ninth Saintess too.
After walking downstairs and arriving at the park, Di Lisha tidied her clothes a bit before casually “passing by” the little priest in a leisurely stroll, successfully catching a glimpse of the priest’s profile.
Observing carefully, Di Lisha suddenly felt that the little priest’s appearance seemed somewhat familiar, as if she’d heard about it somewhere before?
“Silver-white shoulder-length hair…” Di Lisha froze for a moment, then recalled that Uncle Roland had once mentioned one of the Ninth Saintess’s distinguishing features was silver-white shoulder-length hair!
“Wait, could this priest actually be the Ninth Saintess? But… shouldn’t a saintess be wearing holy robes? This little priest is only wearing ordinary priest robes…”
Based on Di Lisha’s understanding, the church should be a place with strict hierarchies, so even a saintess should display her identity at all times.
Then this little priest probably isn’t the saintess… right?
“Speaking of which, this little priest is pretty cute.” Di Lisha leaned in to examine the priest’s profile again.
It was a kind of beauty that instinctively stirred one’s desire to protect her, appearing incredibly fresh under the sunlight.
For some reason, Di Lisha had an urge to pinch the little priest’s cheeks… but how should she strike up a conversation?
Just as Di Lisha was hesitating, the little priest, who had been sitting quietly on the bench, suddenly turned her face toward Di Lisha with a smile, gently patted the bench to invite Di Lisha to sit beside her, and spoke softly:
“Hello there~ The entire Church of the Goddess of Life is on lockdown, so how did you manage to get in?”
Di Lisha took a deep breath, then maintained an elegant posture as she sat gracefully beside the little priest, trying her best to project warmth:
“I’m a friend of Chief Priest Kashan. Since they’re visiting the Ninth Saintess secretly this time, Di Lisha didn’t want to reveal too much to this little priest directly.
“A friend of Chief Priest Kashan? Then you must have come from the royal capital, right? And looking at the clothes you’re wearing, they’re not something that could be made here in Deya City. They’re really beautiful.”
“Hehe, I didn’t expect you to have such good taste! Yes indeed, this outfit of mine is made from fine fabric from the Land of Exile. It’s something I only wear when attending important events!
“It’s just that this Deya City has been a bit disappointing, honestly. Even though there’s a renowned Ninth Saintess here, I really can’t see what’s so great about this place. If I’d known earlier, I wouldn’t have dressed up so formally…”
Di Lisha had already phrased it rather tactfully—she couldn’t exactly just come out and say “Deya City is a poor, backwater place,” could she?
“I see… Then what was your ultimate purpose for coming here, sister?”
As the little priest spoke, she slightly shifted her body closer to Di Lisha. Just this tiny movement—for some reason, Di Lisha felt an elusive magnetic aura emanating from the little priest, constantly drawing her to want to press close against her…
‘Damn it, I really want to reach out and touch her face, but that would be too rude… I have to maintain my image!’
Di Lisha cleared her throat lightly.
“It’s because of my father’s request. Father said he wanted to bring me here to humble my arrogance or something. How should I put it… My reputation back home isn’t great. People my age say I throw my weight around and bully others because of my status, and that I’m always tattling to my father. Then I got dragged out here. It’s completely baseless!”
The little priest watched Di Lisha’s disdainful expression. ‘Tch, so she’s a spoiled rich girl who’s been pampered into bullying everyone around her… Can’t really tell from looking at her, but that just shows she hides it well.’
“So, sister, the way you’re acting right now is all put on?”
“Of course! In front of Father, I’m extremely well-behaved. After all, back home I only need to please Father, while everyone else needs to please me.”
Di Lisha wore a very proud expression, but she quickly froze as she realized something was wrong. Wait… why did she just blurt out all these things to this little priest?
Was it because of her appearance?
Upon meeting this little priest, Di Lisha had subconsciously deemed her completely harmless and trustworthy.
After being guided by just a few words, Di Lisha had willingly revealed some of her little secrets.
‘Tch, as expected of the church—they really do know how to beguile people without them even realizing it!’
“So as soon as you return home, sister, you’ll revert to your true nature, right?”
“Wrong! I… I am exactly the same inside and out!”
Di Lisha immediately changed the subject, not letting the little priest pry any further into her background:
“By the way, what’s your name? Are you a little priest working at the church? What are you doing out here at this hour?”
“What else could I be doing? Eavesdropping on your father’s private conversations, of course. That anti-eavesdropping device they brought from Wangsheng City is actually pretty impressive—it can block detection from Ninth-Rank! Though fortunately, I’m King Rank, so I can hear every word of their discussion loud and clear.”
“Right now, Di Lun and the others are talking about how, besides the publicly known legendary item ‘Scepter of Rebirth’ from Wangsheng City, there are actually two Hidden Families that each possess several pieces of legendary-grade equipment. They’re currently discussing how to negotiate with the two Hidden Families if they agree to the Ninth Saintess’s demands.”
“So what type are the legendary equipment? Weapons? Armor? Or some special items? Just so we’re clear, I only want legendary weapons!”
Truth has a way of re-brewing legendary weapons into other weapons of the same grade, continuously re-brewing until she gets the weapon she wants.
“I suppose I do work at the church. I really like this little park though—I used to love walking my little dog here. Let me tell you a secret, that little dog was very disobedient and loved peeing all over the park, causing so much trouble for the gardener!”
Truth looked mischievous and playful, which Di Lisha found quite endearing.
“Is that so? So you like small animals too. I also… wait, you still haven’t told me your name!”
This time, Di Lisha, who was slightly more on guard, quickly snapped back to attention.
This little priest was also trying to change the subject and avoid telling her name? Something was fishy!
“Huh?” Truth tilted her head.
“Is my name really that important? Sister, you haven’t told me yours either…”
“Th-then… I’ll go first. My name is Di Lisha. What about you?”
“Truth.”
“Oh, Truth… Hm, what a unique name.
…Wait, what did you say your name was? Truth? Isn’t that also the Ninth Saintess’s name? No way… Could you actually be…?”
Di Lisha suddenly became flustered and incoherent. No way—was this girl actually the Ninth Saintess?!
Then, Truth directly took Di Lisha’s hand, calming her emotions.
“Does it matter to you whether I’m the Ninth Saintess or not?”
“It matters!”
“Alright then. If I really am the Ninth Saintess, what do you plan to do next?”
“Um…” Di Lisha didn’t know how to respond. After a long silence, she quietly answered:
“Do… do friends?”
“Is that so? Then sure, that works!” Truth agreed very readily, but soon revealed a hint of mischief:
“It’s just that we have a custom here—if you want to be friends with a priest, you have to pass a few little tests first…”
“Tests? What tests?” Di Lisha asked, confused.
But just then, a mysterious purple light suddenly flared up in the sky above Deya City.
Truth and Di Lisha both instinctively looked up.
The moment she saw the purple light, Di Lisha felt an inexplicable sense of fear.
Truth also furrowed her brow slightly. ‘What idiot is using a public channel loudspeaker?’
“Blood Demon friends, Abyss Demon Soros cordially invites…”
BOOM!
Unfortunately, before Soros could finish, the Goddess of Life, having sensed the sinful aura, obliterated Soros’s loudspeaker with Saintlight.
However, the shattered purple light in the sky still formed a beacon visible only to demons, pointing toward the distance.
“Chaos Abyss?” Truth looked at the beacon and immediately realized that an Abyss Demon was trying to invite her to visit the Chaos Abyss…