Chapter 65: A Sweeping, Satisfying Victory

The Church of Light is purely an institution for nurturing support roles.

Although Priests are just one rank within it, in a certain sense, everyone in the Church is a Priest.

As the greatest Saintess in history, Leah’s power was also the strongest, and the Church’s strength came from only one thing.

Milk.

As the strongest Healer ever, even though she had yet to reach her full potential, she could heal hundreds of people at once with a single breath.

If it was a life-and-death struggle on the battlefield, it might be a bit difficult, but for a brawl like this, there was absolutely no problem!

“Go!”

“Beat it up, damn it!”

“Hit its head! Yes, hit its head!”

“Damn, I’ve wanted to do this for ages, with its eyes growing out of its forehead, it’s just an eyesore!”

The fight at the Market was overwhelmingly one-sided.

Hundreds of humans, fearless of injury and in fact unable to be injured, were beating up a group of Sirens holding their Siren Idols, smashing their heads and making them bleed, their belongings falling and shattering on the ground.

Some Naga sensed things were going badly and turned to flee, while the remaining Fishmen and Frogmen, slow to react, took a few more punches before finally scrambling after them.

“Run! Run for it!”

“Haha!”

A complete and exhilarating victory.

Even while praying, Leah kept waving her hand to cheer everyone on, utterly excited, until the fight was almost over and the adrenaline faded. Seeing the chaos left in the Market, she started to get a little nervous.

“Ella, what… what do we do now?”

What else could they do?

They’d already fought, so of course, they had to find a chance to slip away.

Ella quickly glanced around, reached out to grab the money pouch on the table, and with a flick, the remaining Pearl Oysters for the day scattered with a clatter in all directions.

“You all fought beautifully! All of this is for you!”

Then she grabbed Leah’s hand and turned to run.

The street was rather chaotic now, with the rioting Sirens coming and going.

The two girls ran a long way, dashing straight out from the center of the Market before finally stopping outside.

Huff, huff.

Saintess was never one to run away like this before.

She stopped, panting heavily, her pretty face flushed red.

“Ella, do you think,” Leah’s eyes sparkled with excitement, “does this count as us fighting a religious war today?”

After all, both sides’ followers had fought due to a clash of faith. It definitely counted.

As the highest leader of the Light’s side present, she had accomplished something that no Saintess in history had ever done.

“I suppose so?”

Ella replied casually, then saw the excited Saintess suddenly leap over and hug her, about to plant a kiss.

Punyuu—

The softness of her chest squished together, and the twin marshmallows of justice blocked the distance between them.

Soft as they were, if she pushed harder, a kiss was possible, but this brief pause let Leah regain her composure.

Ella blinked in confusion.

“What are you doing?”

Kiss or not, if not, then don’t squish my marshmallows.

“I… I just wanted to check if you were hurt. If you’re not, that’s good.”

Leah let go, stepped aside, and fanned her face as if that could blow away the blush.

It was getting late—they should head back.

The Market wasn’t too far from the Inn.

There was a bit of distance, but most of it was a straight walk, and before long, they arrived.

When they reached the entrance of the Inn, Leah finally couldn’t help but ask, “Should we talk about what happened today?”

As the Kingdom’s Diplomatic Mission, they were fully responsible for establishing relations with the Sea Demon Tribe near the shore.

On the surface, they were peaceful envoys.

Yet today, they’d rallied the humans to brawl with them.

Ella thought for a moment and replied, “If Celes doesn’t ask, we won’t say anything.”

Don’t ask, and that means you didn’t ask.

They entered through the main door and climbed the familiar stairs.

The girls had booked out the whole Inn, with rooms on the second floor and the main hall on the first.

Now, they entered the main hall.

“We’re back, and everyone’s here~”

“Good evening.”

Vina lifted her small head listlessly and yawned.

She’d slept too long, and the Little Witch was still drowsy.

Celes sat at the table, her expression somewhat serious.

“You’re back just in time, Ella, Miss Leah,” she said.

“I heard some things today that gave me a bad feeling, so I’m re-evaluating our strategy.”

Zero, who had been out for a whole day and night on her own, sat on the other side, leaning back in her chair, lost in thought.

Kagasha had told her that a hundred years ago, when the first Silent Sanctuary investigated Harbor City, they discovered strange activities by the Sea Demon Tribe, which were deemed serious cult behavior.

The consequences were unknown, but some mysterious harm had already befallen the residents at that time.

Some time later, the Kingdom sent the first batch of professional Assassins after the Sanctuary’s transformation.

After joining up with the original personnel, they carried out a bloody purge against the cultists.

They killed all the Sea Demon Tribe priesthood in the city, then traced the clues to their Shrine and destroyed it completely.

‘After the mission, we stayed here, settled down, and passed on our teachings to our descendants. The cult priesthood disappeared without a trace. Only some Sirens who fished at the Market would occasionally hold Rituals, but nothing abnormal was found.’

‘Decades later, though, the effects of the Rituals became more and more obvious, but we could no longer find any priesthood. They, together with a new Shrine, had hidden themselves in a very special way. There was only one way to find them.’

“Zero?”

“Zero!”

Celes called her twice, pulling the girl back from her memories of the day.

“Wh-what is it?”

“Nothing much, I just saw you spacing out. Did something happen?”

Yes, a lot had happened.

She’d come into contact with all kinds of incredible information, but Zero couldn’t say.

Because of that gaze last night, telling them would only bring them danger.

“It’s nothing, I just haven’t rested in a long time, so I’m a little tired.”

“Then get some good rest in a bit. I’ll continue—today I heard some news outside, very strange, and I can’t say for sure it’s true, but it gave me a bad feeling about them.”

Celes’s face was very serious.

“So, about Ella’s earlier suggestion…”

Just then, the Inn’s attendant knocked on the main hall door.

“Ladies, Mister Dory from the Market Administration Office is here to see you.”

“Here to see us?”

Celes frowned slightly.

“What’s the matter?”

Leah’s pretty face tensed up, and Ella propped her chin with both hands.

Yeah, what was the matter?

Lala had no idea.

“I’ll be right there.”

After tidying herself up a bit, Celes stepped out of the Inn and saw Dory, looking anxious, waiting at the door.

“You’re finally here. After what happened today, I don’t know how I’m going to report to the Governor.”

“What happened?”

Celes was baffled.

Only then did she find out about the afternoon’s events: Ella had stirred up the crowd at the Market, leading Miss Leah in a mass brawl against the Sirens.

How did they know it was Ella?

Because she’d pulled a similar stunt back in the Capital—she had a record.

“Miss Celes, Harbor City has enjoyed normal relations for a hundred years. What happened this afternoon is enough to drag the two races back to a time of war!”

Dory made the incident sound extremely serious.

Celes’s expression didn’t change.

After a moment of thought, she spoke, “Let’s leave that aside for now. There’s something I’d like to ask you—what’s the story with the Sea Demon Tribe’s priests and their Shrine?”