Praying is an essential part of the daily routine for a saintess. Morning and evening, without fail, it must be done.
Eyes closed, hands clasped together in reverence, deep faith in her heart—not mere admiration, but true belief. Admiration means to follow, but faith means to trust. God never asked for followers.
After finishing such a selfless prayer, miracles sometimes occur—divine oracles are bestowed.
Today was one such day.
“The place where the strongest ray of light shines will soon be overrun by corpses.”
“Ah…”
Lagraisha trembled momentarily at the holy voice delivering the oracle. Carefully, she rose and immediately contacted the Holy Kingdom through their direct communication device, relaying the message.
“This is the oracle I received.”
[You heard it too? Then there’s no mistake.]
“Even the Cardinal?”
[Yes, the Pope received the same oracle here.]
The Saintess and the Pope—two humans, one loved most by God and the other loving God most—had received identical messages.
If this prophecy spoke of an unavoidable calamity, predicting who might be involved was painfully easy.
“Hmph, those despicable evil ones again.”
[Yes, those damned Evil God worshippers.]
“I’ll go as well. Contact me when you’ve fully interpreted the message.”
After ending the call, the Saintess chuckled as she began preparing herself. After washing meticulously, drying her hair, and donning her long-worn saintess robes, she braided her waist-length hair and covered it with a long veil.
Once ready, she stepped out of the dormitory. Despite the admiring gazes trailing her, she paid them no mind, heading straight toward her destination.
“—Hero.”
“Hmm? Oh, Saintess.”
Standing before Kail Meyer, the Saintess regarded him with a stern expression. Seeing her seriousness, Kail mirrored her concern.
Carefully nodding, the Saintess spoke.
“I need your help, Hero.”
“Suddenly, what…?”
“It’s evil.”
At the word “evil,” Kail’s gaze sharpened as he looked at her.
“How big?”
“A great evil. Perhaps the greatest evil in this world.”
An enemy not just to the believers of the Saintess’s sect, but to all life, spirits, gods, and even demons on this continent.
“It’s the Evil God Cult.”
They had been quiet for a while, but now they stirred again. Hearing this, Kail moved without hesitation.
“Where do we go?”
They had a debt to settle—an old grudge that needed repaying.
* * *
True to its millennia-long history of receiving divine prophecies, the Holy Kingdom’s cryptanalysts swiftly decoded the message.
Upon hearing the results, the Saintess set off for the southern region with Kail—the same Emerald Realm he once visited with Yuri.
“We’ve arrived, Saintess.”
The carriage stopped, and the driver cautiously called her name. The Saintess, who had sat statue-like with closed eyes throughout the journey, slowly opened them and stepped down.
Kail followed suit, stretching his stiffened body from the long ride.
“Crack-crack!”
“Geez… so this is where the Evil God Cult is?”
“More precisely, it’s where they’re causing trouble.”
Kail marveled at the most developed city in the south. Though most regions paled compared to the continent’s center, each duchy rivaled the empire’s capital.
Such was the case with the southern Helra Ducal Territory.
“Let’s head to the church first, Hero.”
“I’ll follow you, Saintess~.”
“Heehee, feels like a date, doesn’t it?”
The Saintess teased as she led the way. Finding the church wasn’t hard; the carriage driver had already told them its location.
As they walked in the indicated direction, a massive cross-topped church came into view. Kail smirked at the sight of the enormous golden cross.
“Wow, I thought churches were supposed to be humble…”
“Humble? That… uh…”
“Uh?”
“That’s probably from donations…”
“How many donations does it take to make a golden cross that size? Wow, maybe I should start accepting donations too?”
Watching Kail’s sarcasm, the Saintess clenched her fists and stormed toward the church, muttering under her breath.
Seeing her rush off to confront the church leader, Kail wondered if he’d gone too far.
Following her inside, they were greeted by a grand interior matching the church’s exterior.
“—Ah, welcome, brothers and sisters. Today’s mass has ended…”
“Fetch the church’s leader!”
“Y-yes!? W-what suddenly…?”
“If you say the Saintess is here, they’ll come running.”
“T-the Saintess!?”
The nun greeting them finally realized who had arrived and hurried inside to fetch the priest.
Moments later, a priest named Johan emerged, dressed casually as if resting. He greeted the Saintess cautiously.
“I am Johan, the priest in charge. What brings you here, Saintess?”
“That cross outside—what’s the meaning of it?”
“Ah, that…”
Johan seemed to know something, prompting the Saintess to ask:
“Did you exploit your followers to build it?”
“Of course not! Even if we plundered enough gold for that, the local lord would summon us before God could punish us.”
“Then how did it happen?”
Johan scratched the back of his neck awkwardly before answering.
“The lord gifted it to us.”
“The lord?”
“Yes, recently, the duke’s daughter found faith.”
Which duke’s daughter would commission a golden cross tens of meters tall? Kail was curious until Johan mentioned her name.
“The Helra Duchy’s own Lady Izuna Hela.”
“Ah…”
Izuna Hela, a Force Capacitor who graduated from the Academy not long ago.
“So this is the Helra Duchy…”
Kail realized belatedly, marveling at how connections from the Academy continued to play out.
* * *
“Achoo!”
Sniffling, Izuna was immediately scolded by her waiting maid.
“My lady! You shouldn’t touch your face with your hands!”
“…I forgot.”
“Honestly, what if you ruin that beautiful face of yours?”
The same nagging every time. Izuna wanted to cover her ears, but doing so would only invite more scolding. So she clenched her jaw and endured.
Eventually, the maid’s ranting ceased, granting Izuna some peace.
“Ugh, so boring.”
Having graduated from the Academy’s administrative department, Izuna now handled some of the paperwork meant for the duke. Among the documents were precious intelligence, potential war-related espionage, and international affairs.
Minor incidents like murders or marriages weren’t included; those were summarized numerically at the end. Such was the position of a duke.
“Hmm?”
Something felt off about the documents. As she processed them, the information consolidated in her mind, thanks to her Force ability, forming a status screen.
[Quest!]
“The Saintess has visited the Helra Duchy. Why, you wonder?
Reports of increasing disease outbreaks suggest an epidemic may be looming. Could her visit be related?
Fortunately, you have the power to resolve this issue—if you choose to.”
“Sigh…”
“My lady, sighing isn’t becoming.”
“Anna.”
“Yes, my lady.”
“I’m going out. Prepare.”
“…Yes, understood.”
Anna, aware of Izuna’s uniqueness, quickly prepared for her outing. After a quick touch-up, Izuna set off to meet the visiting Saintess.
“Why did she come without notice…?”
The status screen didn’t bode well. All she could do was hope it wasn’t serious.
