Suna ran out crying, running fast, her face full of shyness.
And as she ran, she kept muttering nonsense like, “My father is about to give birth, I have to hurry home to take care of him,” or something along those lines.
After all, lifting up her skirt in front of others was really impossible! Even though her good friend was just worried about her coming back from the Mist, it wasn’t anything bad, but still…
The situation was just too special!
If she didn’t lift her skirt, Truth would dislike her, but if she did…
After weighing the pros and cons, Suna felt it was best to retreat, since she really couldn’t come up with any good excuse.
She had originally wanted to check her own level after putting on her panties, but with Truth acting like this, she’d have to wait until tomorrow.
Seriously, sometimes caring too much for someone isn’t a good thing!
“Ah, she ran away already? How cute, that sense of shame…”
Watching Suna’s slightly flustered back, Truth’s lips curled into a faint smile. You managed to escape today, but what about tomorrow?
Tsk, too bad Suna didn’t stick around to look for her panties with me, and then let me get ‘possessed by a demon’ again. Oh well, I’m not in a hurry. We can take it slow.
Truth pulled out the panties with Suna’s scent from her pocket and casually tossed them back onto the floor, then slowly walked out of the research room…
Night fell. At the academy gate, after dodging some students who had just run out, Tia, wearing her Priest Robe and carrying a simple wooden staff on her back, carefully stepped out from the darkness.
As the High Priestess of Deya City, Tia could actually go anywhere she wanted, but tonight’s business was rather shady, which made her instinctively hide.
She was going to pay her respects to the Mist.
“Hermit said the Mist would protect me, so can I finally return to the Mist like my ancestors?”
Suppressing her excitement, Tia took small, quick steps toward the Mist.
Because she was wearing the Priest Robe of the Goddess of Life, the Patrol Team and the Gate Guards all greeted her respectfully.
The High Priestess going out so late must be to save someone, right?
She arrived at the western side of the Mist, where the thick vegetation made it nearly impossible to walk. Other than smugglers, ordinary Adventurers would never come here.
Looking at the vast Mist in front of her, so dense that even the moonlight couldn’t penetrate it, Tia pressed her hands together and began to carefully step over the thick plants, letting her Priest Robe get torn by the branches.
“If Hermit hadn’t told me to keep working as a Priest at the Seat of the Goddess of Life and not to stir up trouble, I would have burned this outfit long ago!”
As the Mist grew denser, Tia gradually felt the magic within her body become more active, making her feel extremely comfortable and much more energetic.
And even more strangely, she didn’t experience the disorientation that Adventurers claimed happened in the Mist; her navigation tools still worked perfectly.
“So comfortable… Is this what it feels like to be protected by the Mist?”
Since she didn’t have a player system, Tia couldn’t see the talent she had at that moment:
[Mist Faithful LV.1: You are a devout follower of the Mist. Within the Mist, your magic recovers faster, and no creature of the Mist will proactively attack you.]
After walking about five hundred meters, Tia finally encountered some small monsters under an old tree— three Mist Wolves jumped down from the branches and surrounded her.
They bared their fangs, but in the next second, the Mist Wolves froze in place, looking curiously at the well-protected Tia, their noses constantly sniffing.
“This is…”
The monsters didn’t attack her—i s this also part of the protection?
Thinking for a moment, Tia made a bold decision. She dispelled the Life Shield she had instinctively activated, standing completely unguarded before the three Mist Wolves.
The Mist Wolves still didn’t move, just tilted their heads as if wondering what this human was up to. Then, Tia slowly reached out her right hand, trying to pet the head of a Mist Wolf.
But just as she was about to touch them, perhaps out of shyness, the Mist Wolves turned and ran away.
“Just like puppies, they’re actually kind of cute.” Tia could now be one hundred percent certain— she was already considered one of the Mist’s own…
All the little monsters along the way avoided Tia, and she occasionally heard the sounds of Adventurers fighting monsters.
When she reached a spot closer to the Mist Entrance Tree Hollow, a dislocated-armed Adventurer appeared before her:
“High Priestess Tia, I never thought I’d meet you in the Mist! Thank goodness, I’m finally saved. Thank you for the Blessing of the Goddess of Life!”
The Adventurer immediately pointed to his arm, hoping Tia would heal it for him. She gladly agreed.
For some reason, Tia felt a sense of favoritism.
She could move freely within the Mist and never be attacked by monsters, while these Servants of the Goddess always had to stay on high alert, praying they wouldn’t be ambushed.
So blessed…
“Honestly, I thought I’d be fighting monsters for three days and nights, but not long after I came in, that Strange Fellow dislocated my arm.”
As he felt his arm gradually healing, the Adventurer began to tell Tia about his misfortune, still chattering about how grateful he was for the protection of the Goddess of Life.
Tia felt an inexplicable irritation at this. What damned Goddess of Life? You’re only safe because you’re protected by Hermit, all right? Without Him, you’d never have met me in the Mist!
Too bad she couldn’t reveal Hermit’s existence; otherwise, she would have retorted long ago. All she could do was force a smile and ask about the “Strange Fellow” the Adventurer mentioned.
“I always feel like that guy was sent by the Mist just to mess with us. He just keeps repeating the same few lines.” That’s what the Adventurer said, instantly piquing Tia’s interest…
At a fork near the Mist Exit, Gadelia still stood there, quietly waiting for the next Adventurer to arrive so she could tell them about the Mist Boss.
As a sort of “semi-official employee” of the Mist, Gadelia had witnessed all kinds of Adventurers.
Some people would pass by her over and over to see if she would keep repeating the information about the BOSS, and sure enough, she did.
And it took Gadelia quite a while to notice, which annoyed her! So she kicked that Adventurer.
Others would come up and ask irrelevant questions— like whether she was single, or her bust size.
Some would whistle at her because of her figure, and some even tried to lift her hat to see who this Strange Fellow really was.
That crossed Gadelia’s bottom line— enough is enough! So she began mass-producing “one-armed Adventurers.”
She really couldn’t take it anymore. She wanted to kill all these Adventurers, but she still owed a debt to the monsters… Gadelia was extremely aggrieved, but grievances couldn’t pay off her debts.
Soon, another figure appeared in front of Gadelia, prompting her to blurt out instinctively:
“I heard a powerful BOSS has appeared deep in the Mist. Just follow the Thornflower path and you’ll find it…”
Then the newcomer’s next words put Gadelia instantly on guard:
“Eh? Airwing?”
Who? Someone recognized her at a glance?!
Looking up, she saw a priestess with long golden hair and a slightly tattered Priest Robe standing before her. Wait, wasn’t this the High Priestess from Deya City?
Gadelia recognized Tia, but Tia didn’t recognize Gadelia. Tia asked curiously:
“I didn’t expect you to be from the Airwing. I’ve heard many stories about you in the Mist, so I came to see for myself. May I ask who you are? Are you in trouble?”
Ugh… She’d actually run into the most empathetic priestess among humans. Gadelia’s eyes gradually reddened. After a whole day, finally someone cared about her—and it was a mid-level priestess!
“I… I accidentally offended a powerful being in the Mist, so I can’t leave for now.”
After being sulky all day, Gadelia immediately poured out her grievances, causing Tia’s smile to vanish instantly.
Offended a powerful being in the Mist? Hermit?!
After a pause, Tia continued to smile and said:
“I see, that’s really unlucky. The Mist is indeed dangerous. By the way, your voice sounds a bit hoarse. Are you thirsty? Have some water.”
“Thank you…”
Sniffling, Gadelia took the small bottle of water Tia handed her and brought it to her lips. Indeed, among humans, only priests deserved her affection—they even offered her food!
If she didn’t care about her pride, she’d have thrown herself into Tia’s arms already.
Then, just as her lips were about to touch the bottle, Gadelia’s nose suddenly caught a faint, odd smell…
Eh? This doesn’t smell like water!
Hesitating for a moment, she grabbed a torch that Adventurers used for navigation and shone it on the bottle, seeing four small words on the label:
“Gray Death Potion”
Gadelia: “?”