“Ah… Suna?”
Tia jumped in surprise and immediately withdrew her hand. She hadn’t expected Suna to show up here.
Normally, at this time, Suna should be either deciphering ancient texts in the study or attending magic class.
Luckily, her hand hadn’t slipped into Marin’s collar, or else it would have been hard to explain. Tia loosened her grip on Marin and straightened her posture, smiling as she replied:
“What a coincidence. I rarely see you come to the chapel. I’m currently teaching Marin about the Saintess Ritual.”
“Oh, really? But it doesn’t look like it.”
Suna leaned slightly forward from behind her chair. Although she wore a smile, her words felt icy cold, as if she hadn’t just passed by by chance but had come specifically to catch…
Hmph, I knew that wicked woman couldn’t resist making a move so early in the morning. Good thing I arrived in time!
Before Tia could think of an explanation, Suna pulled over a chair and sat down near Tia and Marin. Then she took out an ancient book from her bosom and began reading as if nothing had happened:
“The environment here isn’t bad at all. I’ll study here too, so don’t mind me.”
“Huh?”
Isn’t the study room much better than here? Why suddenly read here?
Tia felt targeted but had no proof, while Marin beside her looked a little smug.
Damn it!
Tia frowned slightly, wondering if she should move somewhere else. But Marin would definitely not agree to that… After thinking for a moment, Tia tried to say to Suna:
“Suna, are you sure you want to read here? This place is busy, and if any of the worshipers in the chapel make noise, it might distract you. Maybe you should find a…”
“No.”
Without looking up, Suna coldly refused. Sorry, wherever you go, I’ll follow.
Good answer! Marin secretly gave Suna a thumbs-up. She had been planning to use her Hermit status to intimidate Tia, but with Suna here, that was no longer necessary.
Suna, rest assured, I’ll work harder to help improve your talent.
Marin’s thumbs-up only strengthened Suna’s resolve. Sure enough, Marin didn’t like being bullied by that wicked woman!
With no other choice, Tia continued teaching the Saintess Ritual with some resentment. The three of them got along rather harmoniously for a while — until Tia had to step away temporarily to fetch the teaching materials for the daily life etiquette class.
Only then did Suna have the chance to be alone with Marin.
“Marin, that wicked priest didn’t do anything to you, did she?!”
Suna immediately squatted beside Marin and asked anxiously. Better safe than sorry.
“Nope.”
Why so worried? Marin tilted her head. Did Suna just see Tia making a move on me?
“No need to say anything nice about her! I saw it all. Did she catch you doing something compromising? Please tell me the details. If possible, I can report her directly to the Life Goddess Church!”
Anyone who dared lay a hand on the Saintess would surely be severely punished by the Life Goddess—if Marin would just be honest…
Huh? Report to the Life Goddess?!
Marin was shocked. If that happened, Tia’s faith in the Hermit would definitely be exposed!
“Suna, you absolutely cannot report her to the Life Goddess.”
Marin said seriously. Suna’s mouth dropped open in disbelief:
“Why not?”
She treated you like that, and yet you still cover for her?!
Could it be… Marin actually likes being treated like that? Is that their way of flirting?
If that’s true, then what I’m doing now makes me no better than a clown!
“Well… actually… Tia is a follower of the Hermit.”
After thinking it over, Marin finally told the truth to protect Tia. After all, Suna was just another little dog of the Hermit; no need to hide that.
“What?!”
Suna froze on the spot. She thought the wicked woman was just after Marin’s beauty, but now you’re telling me she’s actually on the same side… no, she’s one of that demon’s people?
Come to think of it, the demon did say it would intervene if Marin were harmed, but despite how Tia treated her, the demon never moved.
Doesn’t that mean the demon tacitly approves?
What’s going on? Tia is the demon’s follower, and the demon let Tia… train Marin?
Damn demon. Does it want Marin to become obedient in every way? If that’s true…
Tears welled up again in Suna’s eyes as she knelt weakly before Marin. Demon… it’s always demons. Against demons, I can do nothing but watch helplessly as Marin is…
“Why are you suddenly crying? I told you I’m fine,” Marin said as she gently patted Suna’s head.
“Because… because I can’t help you. I feel useless… sniff.”
Want to help me?
You’re just a low-level mage. What can you do for me? Want to get me away from Tia, or fight the gods that will surely suppress me in the future?
Getting away from Tia is something I can do myself, but fighting gods… an extra hand would certainly help.
“If you really want to help me, then you have to improve your strength. You can train in the Mist now. The Deya Underground Labyrinth has reopened.”
Hurry up and farm some energy for me in the Mist. And level up while you’re at it!
“Is that so…”
Suna wiped her tears away and thought it over. Right now, no matter what she did, she couldn’t help Marin. Only by growing stronger until she could match the demon could she help Marin escape her suffering sooner.
But could Marin endure until Suna grew strong? Suna feared that by the time she reached mid-tier, Marin would already be… trained…
“Marin, you have to hold on!”
Suna grabbed Marin’s hands and said with a determined, serious look. Marin looked bewildered:
“Uh?”
After saying that, Suna ran off without looking back, planning to follow Marin’s advice and train in the labyrinth immediately.
Confronting Tia here was only a temporary fix; she couldn’t keep watching her forever. Sooner or later, Tia would find an opportunity.
Only by growing stronger could she break the deadlock!
I’ll clear the Deya Underground Labyrinth in the next few days and then immediately head to the Royal Magic Academy to study. I want to learn… demon hunting!
–
A few minutes later, Tia returned and saw Marin alone, her eyes shining brightly. She immediately sat beside her:
“Suna left?”
“Yeah, she went on an adventure.”
“Great, then let’s continue. Let me see you… uh?”
Just as Tia’s hand was about to slip into Marin’s collar, she noticed something strange in Marin’s eyes. The right eye was still pure and lovely pink, but the left had turned blood red.
What’s going on? Is the Hermit watching Marin right now?!
Tia quickly withdrew her hand.
Hah, as soon as I show the Hermit’s identity a little, Tia dares not touch recklessly. Marin sneered. After leaving last night, she’d thought of this way to deal with Tia. If you dare make a move on Marin, then how dare you do the same to the Hermit?
Marin then leaned closer, inviting Tia to touch her, but Tia remained motionless, looking extremely nervous.
Heh heh, looks like it’s working well. Probably made a strong impression when we suppressed that seventh-tier fire dragon before. Scared now, huh?
Tia was indeed afraid, but more than that…
The Hermit is inside Marin’s body now. So… so exciting!
Tia’s expression froze, waves of emotion surging inside. If I touch Marin now, would that count as touching the Hermit? So exciting, so exciting, so exciting!
Trembling, she stretched out her index finger, trying to carefully touch Marin’s shoulder. But with just one glance from Marin, Tia was scared into withdrawing her hand again.
Will… will I get slaughtered?
No, I have to hold back. It would be nice to touch her today, but if I do, maybe I won’t get another chance. Looking at the long term, maybe there will be many chances to touch her without getting killed?
“Marin, are you okay?”
Not daring to look at the blood-red eye, Tia took a deep breath and suppressed her excitement as she asked.
“Mm-hmm, just say the usual Saintess Ritual stuff.”
Knowing Tia had been scared off by the Hermit’s majesty, Marin sat back down and resumed managing the Mist.
Tia tried not to touch her and started teaching by herself, but it was obvious she wasn’t paying attention. Marin, however, didn’t listen to a word.
Because Marin felt she was already polite enough and didn’t need to learn the Saintess Ritual anymore. It was best to just behave quietly and stay out of trouble. Soon, Tia noticed Marin wasn’t listening and gradually stopped teaching, falling silent.
Sorry, leaving you hanging like this is a bit cruel, but consider it punishment for last night when you made a move on me, Marin thought.
Not long after, Marin felt water dripping on her head. Was it raining?
Looking up, she saw Tia’s lecherous expression right before her eyes:
“Hehehe…”
No, not just “lecherous” — outright perverted!
Why would she make such a face? Was she scared silly by the Hermit’s pressure? And if you’re a pervert, fine, but why… why is the drool at the corner of your mouth dripping on my head?!
Looking at the sparkling drool strands, Marin felt utterly shocked and helpless. The Hermit’s pressure really worked, but the effect wasn’t what she expected…
Sensing Marin’s gaze, Tia suddenly realized and her pupils trembled:
“Ah! My drool!”
Panicking, Tia quickly wiped the drool off Marin’s head with her sleeve. But the more she wiped, the more evenly the drool spread. The more even it got, the closer Tia felt to death:
“Oh no, oh no, I’m doomed!”
–
At noon, deep inside the heavily damaged Mist, Ariel sat under an old tree, resting her face on her hand and watching the passing novice adventurers with utter boredom.
“So boring…”
Because of her previous behavior, adventurers now avoided her. She tried having some passersby deliver messages to her teacher or Lord Flame, but all were rejected.
The postage to the capital was expensive, and Ariel had no money. The most valuable item she owned had even been broken in two by Marin and tossed onto a small hill on the Deya Plateau.
So Ariel wanted the others to advance the postage first, but everyone suspected she was a scammer trying to cheat money— mail fraud being very common in remote places like Deya City.
Why won’t anyone believe me?! Angry, Ariel revealed her identity—the Plague Mage of Flame!
“I’m a Plague Mage who worships Flame! I’d never do such deceitful things. And that meteor crater right in front of you was made by me!”
She pounded her chest and shouted, but the adventurers responded with a few questions that stopped her cold:
“Whoa, Plague Mage? Can you summon plagues?”
“Can you show us again? Like the meteor falling from the sky?”
“Hey, can you smash another labyrinth entrance? We have too many people, and the queues to enter the labyrinth are really long!”
“You guys… hmph!”
No matter how Ariel explained, she failed. She had no skills to show anyway. In the end, she earned the title “a female scammer who complains about low pay from the Mist and tries to profit from adventurers by using her looks.”
No, I really have to pull out some real tricks, Ariel thought and started pondering new ideas.
Two hours later, a female mage in traditional robes, carrying a large pack of high-level potions and wielding a new magic wand, suddenly passed by.
Thanks to her intuition as a seventh-tier Plague Mage, Ariel immediately sensed a faint trace of fire elemental magic on the woman:
“Already controlling elemental power at second tier? Pretty impressive, and fire elemental like me…”
This looks promising!
–
Not far from the labyrinth entrance, Suna walked toward it with a determined look. She hadn’t encountered many monsters on the way and arrived at the entrance in full health.
Because there were so many adventurers coming to the labyrinth, the monsters along the path had all been killed and hadn’t respawned yet. So Marin was busy spawning monsters on the road, trying to milk every bit of benefit.
“The labyrinth difficulty is only first tier, and I’m a second-tier battle mage. Soloing the small monsters inside should be no problem!”
Suna thought, deciding to grind inside the labyrinth until level 25 before coming out.
Just as she prepared to step into the torch-lit cave, a loud female voice suddenly called out:
“Hey! Over here, black-haired mage, over here!”
Turning, Suna saw a ponytailed girl waving at her from beneath an old tree. The girl seemed eager to run over but was somehow tethered to the spot.
Curious, Suna approached the ponytailed girl as warnings from nearby adventurers reached her ears:
“You better not go over there. That woman’s a bit crazy. She might just yell at you.”
“Someone said she’s always trying to get something from us because the Mist pays her too little. Better keep your distance. Compared to the last employee, this one’s work attitude is just terrible!”
Suna quickly caught on to a key point and tilted her head:
“The Mist… has employees… and pays wages?”
“Uh, I don’t know. I just heard other adventurers say so.”
The passerby replied, sparking Suna’s curiosity. Could the Mist really hire employees and pay wages? Or did it have something to do with Marin and the demon within her?
Cautiously approaching the ponytailed girl, Suna was immediately pointed at and seriously addressed:
“Girl, I see you have an extraordinary bone structure. You must be a one-in-a-thousand fire magic prodigy!”