At the study entrance, Xue La hesitated.
She should have left already—escorting the guests to the study was enough; she still had chores at the monastery!
But Mother Catherine called her over.
“Xue La, you come in too…”
Inside the study, the Mother Superior admitted something.
“Honestly, you push yourself too hard!”
Bali Saihe said, looking at the wound on Mother Catherine’s arm.
“It’s already been treated with divine magic, dear,” Catherine said.
“After all these years, you’ve finally returned…”
“Dear…”
That was Catherine’s name for Bali Saihe—they had long been an old married couple!
So, was Asuna’s grandmother Mother Catherine?
No, that wasn’t it.
Catherine didn’t hide anything—the Brave was an elite talent that the human kingdoms needed to win over.
When Bali Saihe was young, he married Norsenia’s Elder Princess Sophia.
She was Asuna’s real grandmother!
Catherine was the princess’s dowry maid, Bali Saihe’s second wife…
The Brave was the only profession on the Patagonia Continent where “bigamy was not illegal.”
The royal families or local nobles were more than happy to have the Brave take a liking to their daughters, sharing in the glory.
Luo Yi was too scared to speak, and Asuna’s mind was unreadable.
‘If I become a Brave, I won’t marry so many wives. Master clearly owes too many love debts! No wonder he refused to go to Maisonloge to find acquaintances earlier!’
‘Brother Luo Yi, you must become a Brave in the future! Then I’ll still have a chance to compete with Sister Xue La over who is the first wife and who is the…’
Xue La, on the other hand, wore an expression that said, “I already knew that.”
‘In my previous life, I was a veteran player. How could I not know this?’
The Brave’s harem candidates were numerous: there was Master’s granddaughter Asuna, the Elven Kingdom’s little Princess Evelyn, the Western Kingdom’s female knight, the Eastern Kingdom’s prairie princess, and even the ruined Southern Kingdom, along with the Demon Realm Succubus Legion stationed here… All of them had romantic ties with Luo Yi.
What could Xue La use to compete with them?
‘I’ll just help boost the Brave’s goodwill and make sure I don’t die. That’s enough. With so many in the harem, one more Xue La doesn’t matter, and one less doesn’t matter either. I’m not going to wade into that muddy water!’
But if she didn’t wade in…
Bali Saihe was quite a remarkable master.
“Look at how thin Asuna has become!”
Mother Catherine said, holding Asuna’s slender arm with pity.
“Her mother’s mother was the Elder Princess Sophia of the royal capital. How could the princess’s descendant end up begging with you? What were you thinking?”
“In the royal capital, there’s not only Sophia but also that man…”
Bali Saihe shook his head.
“Sophia is confined in the monastery, spending her days with incense, candles, and scriptures. How much can she help Asuna? On the contrary, that man…”
Luo Yi didn’t understand much; he only knew that that man wanted Asuna, but Master Bali Saihe wouldn’t allow it—to fight for Asuna, that man had even put a bounty on her, and the Shadow Thieves’ Guild in Grinno City had once tried to kidnap Asuna’s sister.
Xue La knew more.
Bali Saihe’s failure had implicated his family—except for that bastard son-in-law who jumped ship midway, gained promotion, got rich, and lost his wife.
In the royal capital, this man had allied with the Second Prince Rustan, and his power had only grown instead of declining.
But what about Princess Sophia?
Like Xue La, she lived in a monastery—”lived,” but it was actually house arrest!
There was no way she could spare a hand to protect her granddaughter.
Sophia, being the old king’s sister, the Elder Princess, was already lucky not to be implicated by Bali Saihe.
In the original timeline of Epic Fantasy Legend, Sophia’s storyline was specifically set up for Asuna’s growth.
First Catherine, then Sophia… those divine powers, the class changes to Exorcist Nun and Paladin, were all important milestones in Asuna’s character development.
Xue La knew it all too well.
“But at the very least, you have to stay here for the winter!”
Mother Catherine demanded.
“Who knows how many full meals Asuna has had while following you?!”
Bali Saihe said nothing, like a weakened lion.
“I can fill Asuna’s stomach,” Luo Yi interjected inopportunely.
He glanced at Xue La.
“That… Manticore Sausage you made… was a big help.”
Xue La nodded in acknowledgment.
“I’m glad it helped. Well, if you don’t mind, I should head to the kitchen now.”
That wasn’t an excuse.
The orc problem had been resolved, and Maisonloge Monastery had survived, but new troubles had come.
The noble army and adventurer coalition that had come to their rescue were still stationed in Privet Town!
It was a ruin burned by the orcs, and could only rely on the townspeople to rebuild.
For anyone staying in the hollow shell of Privet Town, the biggest problem was the lack of food and clothing.
They needed the help of Maisonloge Monastery—otherwise, they wouldn’t survive the winter.
The town’s residents needed food and fuel.
The adventurers needed gold and silver as payment.
The noble army was in between; they also wanted those things, and at the same time had to watch out for the adventurers’ “betrayal.”
Not all adventurers were morally upright.
Bali Saihe, the former Hero, had chosen not to follow the traditional hero’s path back then, but to join the military.
He naturally had his own thoughts.
The human allied forces had to be like steel in order to eliminate the threat of the Demon Realm—not rely on luck and hope that a few powerful adventurers could solve the crisis of the Demon Realm.
Unfortunately, Bali Saihe failed at the last step.
“Wait, there’s something I need you for,” Catherine said.
“Don’t rush out of the study.”
Oh?
Xue La was a bit puzzled, but obeyed the Mother Superior’s orders.
Catherine then looked at Bali Saihe, her former husband.
“You’re a fool. A fool who holds a golden bowl and begs,” Catherine said, poking at the items on Luo Yi and Asuna.
An old black helmet—the equipment Bali Saihe had shoved to Luo Yi before they dealt with the Dire Wolf King Lubriz.
An oak staff—the item Bali Saihe had given to Asuna.
“These two items…” Catherine said seriously.
“If sold, they’d fetch tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of gold coins, you old fool.”
“How can I sell gifts from friends!”
Bali Saihe slammed the table, getting angry for the first time.
Xue La took a deep breath and opened her panel.
[Dwarf King’s Gift: Black Dragon Helmet]
[Elven King’s Gift: World Tree Staff]
This really was holding a golden bowl and begging.
By using the helmet for begging and the staff for walking, Bali Saihe was essentially “flaunting his wealth.”
If the Dwarf King and Elven King of that time knew what Bali Saihe was doing, they would probably be furious enough to spit blood.
The Black Dragon Helmet was a divinely inspired weapon made by ancient dwarf ancestors who killed a Dark Dragon, using its scales and other rare metals—a miracle forged under the guidance of the Dwarven God of Smithing and the Father of All Dwarves.
The World Tree Staff—the Elven Kingdom was shrinking, yet they still maintained their faith in the World Tree.
The blessings of these sacred trees protected the remnants of the elven realm from being further devoured by human armies and flames.
Breaking off a branch and giving it to a human hero as a gift was enough to show Bali Saihe’s skill back then.
And now he had degraded himself to a beggar?
He really owed a pile of debts: debts of favor, debts of love…
Catherine’s words weren’t entirely wrong.
Xue La sighed inwardly.
A pitiful general framed for a crime, but after his dignity was shattered, it had turned into something else.
A kind of self-abandonment?
Making a poor girl like Asuna follow him and beg?
That was unconscionable, Xue La thought.
So, she would treat Asuna like her own little sister—after all, in her previous life, she had done the same for the party: Luo Yi was the main DPS, and Asuna served as support or sub-DPS depending on the situation.
Xue La had no intention of entering the harem, but she could still help.
This winter, she would take care of Bali Saihe, Asuna, and Luo Yi.
“But if you want Maisonloge Monastery to provide anything else, forget it,” Mother Catherine said.
“What Asuna wants is called Ambrosia of the Moon. It does have the effect of restoring the body and curing hidden ailments.”
But that item…
“I gave it to Xue La,” Catherine said.
“I am, after all, the Mother Superior, and I have to consider the monastery’s interests. Xue La is a very, very promising seedling. Without her help, the monastery might have fallen to the orcs already.”
“What you want, I don’t have here.”
Catherine delivered her final judgment.
“Bali Saihe, as the Mother Superior, I have the right to choose the best Exorcist Nun candidate. I think Xue La is better than Asuna. That’s it.”