Chapter 274: Losa Cecelia

“Oh? An antidote for the ‘impure’? Does such a thing really exist?”

In the eastern part of the Sarnos Province, within a settlement nestled amidst the primeval forest, the White Fox Girl, walking alongside a girl draped in a light golden robe with a hood, couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise.

As she gazed at the setting sun casting a soft red glow over the river, Fleidetrika shook her head in a somewhat resigned manner.

“Miss Xī must have already heard about it from that girl named Sasha, so why pretend to be surprised in front of me…?”

“After all, it’s not really a secret. Although the Church of the Light distributes the medicine, it’s actually provided by our Cecelia Family.”

The sunlight bathed the girl’s fitted robe, outlining her beautifully curved figure; despite sharing a striking resemblance to a certain Holy Knight, Fleidetrika’s figure was noticeably more voluptuous.

In contrast to the still somewhat naive Edwina, the current Saintess radiated mature charm as she pulled back her hood, shaking her head to let her crystal-clear golden hair bask in the light.

She turned her head again.

“Have you heard of Losa Cecelia, Miss Xī?”

“Losa…?”

Miss Vilyric pondered briefly, her divine race’s remarkable memory quickly filtering through relevant information.

“I have some impression. If it’s the Cecelia surname, she should be the fifteenth Judging Saintess of the Holy Empire, right?”

That would be Fleidetrika’s predecessor, predecessor, predecessor.

Speaking of Losa Cecelia, the Priestess had a rather deep impression of her.

Not because of any special achievements recorded in history, but simply because Losa’s active years were a little over three hundred years ago, coinciding with the tumultuous era when travelers like Min Chen came to this world, resulting in a series of significant events.

Losa the Saintess didn’t hold her position for long, maybe just over thirty years. According to the Holy Nation’s accounts, it seemed she suffered some unhealable wounds in early battles, and as she aged, it became harder for her to endure the frequent battles and heretic subjugations as Judging Saintess, thus passing her position and the “Arbitration Holy Sword” to her successor and retreating into the background.

Regarding this fifteenth Judging Saintess, who had a short term and didn’t leave behind any outstanding achievements, historical descriptions in the Holy Nation were very sparse.

The specialized publishing house that compiled biographies of the three Saintesses held no more than a thin volume regarding Losa, far less than the illustrious records of others… like the first generation, which would take up a third.

After her retirement, Losa quickly reduced her appearances in public events of the Holy Nation and within a few years completely vanished, leading most of the world to believe that this ordinary Saintess had silently completed her life and returned to the Goddess.

However, it was unexpected for Fleidetrika to bring up the name of such a predecessor Saintess.

“Indeed, it seems Miss Xī knows a lot about my Holy Nation’s history. She was indeed the previous Judging Saintess.”

The current Saintess nodded slightly in admiration and paused for a moment.

“But you should also understand that what is written in historical texts and biographies may not necessarily be the true history or may differ from the truth… I have a story here. Would Miss Xī be interested in knowing?”

“As long as Fleidetrika is willing to share.”

“Hehe, Miss Xī is being polite. You’re a noble; you can simply call me by my name.”

The blonde girl chuckled and nodded, then turned to sit on the steps by the riverside, brushing off the dust beside her and gesturing to the White Fox Girl.

“Please, have a seat.”

“~”

The two sat side by side, facing the setting sun slowly sinking into the river, and Fleidetrika suddenly seemed somewhat sentimental.

“Speaking of which, when I first heard this story, my teacher was sitting beside me just like you are now, facing the setting sun beyond the Star River. It’s been over ten years since that moment, and both Nana and I have grown up…”

“…Your teacher, huh.”

With those words, Edwina appeared to recall her own teacher, a highly respected figure within her family, likely a senior from the Cecelia Family, so the teacher in their conversations was probably the same person.

While pondering this, Fleidetrika officially began her narration.

“Over three hundred years ago, on January 1st of the new calendar, the day of the Holy Arrival, the disaster monitoring and warning agency of City of Angels, ‘Hall of Saints,’ detected an unprecedented large-scale spatial disturbance.”

“A spatial disturbance is a wave that occurs alongside high-level or large-scale spatial magic. To put it metaphorically, it’s like an outsider throwing a stone into our peaceful world—rippling across the tranquil lake.”

“In most cases, spatial disturbances disappear swiftly due to the world’s power autonomously repairing itself. They rarely create noticeable impacts or are observable by beings from distant regions, but that particular spatial disturbance was remarkably different.”

“The world’s power didn’t address that disturbance or its related spatial fluctuations. Instead, it fell into an unusual silence, causing the disturbance to expand in all directions.”

“Regions including our nation, the western United Kingdom, the eastern Ost Empire, the northern Snow Country, and the southern Feather Nation were all more or less affected.”

“From the strength variations of the spatial disturbance, it was highly likely that this unidentified large-scale spatial magic occurred within the Holy Nation, situated at the world’s central location. Coupled with the sensitive timing of the first Holy Arrival of the new era, this event gained significant attention from the Holy Nation’s high-ranking officials, who were still under the management of the three Saintesses back then.”

“After deliberation, they decided to send one of the three Saintesses—the Judging Saintess, responsible for diplomatic offense and exceptional situations—on an investigation.”

“And that Judging Saintess was the fifteenth at the time—Losa Cecelia.”

“Losa had only recently become the Judging Saintess, barely a few years into her role, at an age brimming with youthful energy and enthusiasm to make her mark.”

“Taking on this heavy responsibility, she immediately led a special elite team, following the guidance of the ‘Hall of Saints’ to the region where the spatial disturbance was most intense, starting to seek and investigate the origins and details of this event.”

“But unfortunately… she could find nothing.”

“Despite the abrupt onset of the spatial disturbance, there were no subsequent changes or waves. All traces soon vanished into the vast territory of the Holy Nation, like a stone sinking into the sea.”

“Even though Losa tried everything to search, nearly covering several of the most suspicious provinces, she found hardly any valuable clues.”

“After months of fruitless investigation, she could only return to the capital due to the backlog of other affairs she needed to attend to.”

“Losa was a newly appointed Saintess, and the unsuccessful start of this special incident caused her reputation among the Holy Nation’s higher-ups to suffer considerably.”

“Although leaning on the Cecelia Family and receiving support from the other two affiliated Saintesses meant that one failure wouldn’t have too much substantial impact, hearing others discuss this matter privately would still leave the Saintess—once a favored child of heaven—feeling particularly vexed by her first setback.”

“So, she silently vowed that, if given the chance, she must somehow redeem this failure.”

   

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