Chapter 834
Chapter 264: A Private Conversation with the Judging Saintess
Last time we met, this confident and beautiful Saintess had left quite a good impression on the Priestess, but now, upon our reunion, she was questioning her own faith.
But any truly devout believer would find it hard to accept such a thing.
With a sigh, Miss Vilyric refrained from offering any meaningless comfort and simply filled the empty teacup in front of Fleidetrika again, nudging it towards her.
“Drink some water first, take a breather.”
“Um… Thank you…”
To become the Judging Saintess, Fleidetrika’s mental resilience was undoubtedly strong. Although she got a bit emotional discussing this long-standing conundrum, after downing half a cup of warm tea, she gradually calmed herself.
After waiting a moment and noticing her complexion improving slightly, Miss White Fox spoke up thoughtfully.
“Was that what the Church of the Light mentioned to you just now?”
Caught off guard for a moment, the blonde girl quickly nodded.
I knew it…
It’s a classic case of ‘the one in power being oblivious.’ Though it certainly sounded off, for someone like Fleidetrika, who had grown up surrounded by a faith-based magical atmosphere, if she could have grasped the nuances on her own, she wouldn’t have waited until now to realize it.
It must have been some outsiders who pointed these things out and presented the irrationalities more starkly. Combined with the frequent occurrences of faith-based magic failures in the Sanos Province, it was enough to rattle this resolute Saintess.
Setting her teacup down, Fleidetrika gently resumed the earlier conversation.
“Once I regained consciousness after being critically injured, I found myself lying in the bed of a cottage.”
“Later, I learned from my personal guards that I’d been unconscious for over a week. On my way to the eastern Sanos Province, due to the unfamiliar climate, cold weather, and combat injuries, I had a severe fever and was close to losing my life.”
“My guards were skilled fighters, but none were particularly good at healing. Left with no choice, they decided to find a nearby village to borrow a place to recuperate, trying out some local herbal remedies with the villagers’ help, and after much effort, they managed to keep me alive.”
“I slept for a long time. When I woke up, the situation in the Sanos Province had plummeted; cities had fallen one after another, occupied by demons, but that village… was quite odd.”
“Although there was widespread anxiety about the future due to the tumultuous situation, overall, it seemed stable. It was as if some force was secretly maintaining order, taking the place of the churches that had been shattered or temporarily withdrawn due to upheaval, soothing the people’s hearts.”
Having said a lengthy account in one breath, the Saintess took a moment to catch her breath, glanced down at her pale golden “Follower of the Light” robes, and shook her head in regret.
“It was only later that I learned, the organization known as the Church of the Light had just spread here from overseas. Taking advantage of the Goddess Church’s temporary loss of control over two provinces due to demon invasions, they began to take root in this area.”
“Honestly, as a Church saint, I was initially very wary of these people.”
“Without revealing my identity, I observed them secretly for a long time and sent my most trusted guard back to the Holy Capital to report my situation to a reliable ancestor, who wouldn’t cause any issues, before planning to lie low for a while and look for opportunities to learn more about this weird organization.”
“It was also around this time that peculiar occurrences of faith-based magic failures began to spread in the Sanos Province along with the Church of the Light.”
“Wait… So who exactly is the true leader of this Church of the Light?”
Upon hearing Miss White Fox’s question, Fleidetrika thought for a moment, then quickly shook her head seriously.
“I don’t know, or rather, the Church of the Light likely doesn’t have a leader under titles like ‘Pope’ or ‘Saintess’.”
“As you can see, the core of the Church of the Light in this area is constructed of members like me and Aland, such as ‘Apostles’ and ‘Missionaries.'”
“But what we do is merely guide and care for the believers within a certain region to some degree; there is very little long-distance communication within the organization. I still don’t know who the Apostles of other countries and regions are or how many there are.”
“It’s a loose organization, and the concept of faith is very similar to that of the Goddess Church, almost like a part-time job, which is why I could join without much burden.”
At this point, the Saintess smiled a bit.
“As for why I joined the Church of the Light, I mentioned earlier that shortly after I woke up, strange phenomena of faith-based magic failures began appearing in the Sanos and Keller provinces.”
“At the time, the disaster of the Blood Calamity in the Saint Beirgen Mountains had not yet unfolded. It was my first encounter with such an absurd situation. Since my guard to contact my ancestor hadn’t returned yet, puzzled, I could only try to seek help from the Church of the Light, which had arrived here earlier, to see if they had any insights.”
Fleidetrika glanced towards the tightly closed door of the room, lowered her voice slightly, and hinted.
“What does Miss Xī think of Aland, the Light Tribe member?”
“What?”
Slightly taken aback by the sudden shift in topic, Miss Vilyric quickly recovered—Fleidetrika was likely referring to the person in the village who was in charge of the Church of the Light they just discussed.
In other words, he was Fleidetrika’s guide.
After some thought, Miss White Fox shared her judgment.
“First of all, it’s said that the Light Tribe possesses not only outstanding strength and talent, but they also have a reputation for being just and benevolent, which is why this race has always been respected and praised by the Saint’s people…”
“As for Aland, I haven’t interacted with him too much, but overall he seems to be a pretty genuine guy.”
“He can’t be classified as a saint or anything, but at least he won’t lie or deceive others for personal gain or power… he’s relatively trustworthy.”
In simpler terms, he’s what we’d call a “good person.”
The Saintess nodded in agreement.
“I think so too. Also, Miss Xī might not know, but Aland used to live in the Wasteland between the United Kingdom and our southern region. During the Abyss Tide, he aided the Holy Kingdom’s forces in battling the Abyss Beasts, achieving remarkable results.”
“After the Abyss disaster ended, he quietly left and then, by chance, connected with the newly rising Church of the Light. After some twists and turns, he quickly became one of their Missionaries, choosing to come to this area to spread the doctrine…and then he just happened to run into the demon invasion.”
“I’ve secretly sent people to investigate his background, and it’s very clean. Plus, with the assurance of being a member of the Light Tribe, there shouldn’t be any issues…”
“So, what are you trying to say?”
