While Leticia was lost in thought, Lin Ling watched as the patrolmen walked away, laughing loudly.
It was as if they had just done something incredibly amusing.
One of them even looked back at the overturned wooden bucket and said something with a grin.
The others immediately burst into laughter.
The clanking of armor gradually faded into the distance.
The street returned to its former silence.
Everyone was pretending that nothing had happened.
The little boy huddled in his mother’s arms, his body trembling slightly.
His mother held him tightly, her fingers turning white from the force, yet she didn't even dare to cry out loud.
Lin Ling stood where she was, the expression on her face shifting bit by bit.
“This is...”
She whispered softly.
“...a terrible situation.”
She couldn't worry about the dazed Leticia beside her. Dropping her shopping bag, she ran forward.
“How is the child?”
“Is he alright?”
Lin Ling knelt directly on the ground.
The ground was filthy, a mixture of mud, dust, and the murky water that had spilled from the overturned bucket.
But she paid it no mind at all.
She reached out her hand.
A faint white light began to coalesce in her palm.
It looked like morning light carefully cupped in her hand.
When the little boy’s mother saw that light, she recoiled as if she had been burned, pulling the child back with her.
“No!”
“Please, no!”
Lin Ling was stunned.
“Eh?”
The woman’s face was pale as she held her child and backed away repeatedly.
“We cannot afford the fee for receiving the Holy Light.”
Her voice was frantic and trembling.
“Please, just go.”
“We really can’t afford it.”
Lin Ling’s hand stopped in mid-air.
“A fee?”
She blinked in confusion.
“I just want to give him a little treatment. Why would there be a fee?”
The woman didn't answer.
Or rather, she didn't dare to.
Just then, several boys suddenly rushed out from the nearby dilapidated houses.
None of them were very old.
The oldest looked to be no more than twelve or thirteen.
Each of them held a wooden stick, a broken broom handle, or a piece of wood they had scavenged from somewhere.
They stood before Lin Ling, their eyes like those of a pack of small beasts cornered against a wall.
“Leave this place!”
“Don’t come any closer!”
“You’re with those trash soldiers from before, aren’t you?!”
Lin Ling was startled.
“I don’t mean any harm.”
She quickly raised her hands.
The light in her palm had not yet dissipated.
“I just want to heal him.”
“He looks like he’s in a lot of pain.”
Seeing the ball of faint white light, the boys grew even more wary.
One thin, tall boy held a wooden stick across his chest.
“We won’t believe you!”
“It was the same before!”
Lin Ling froze.
“Before?”
“They said there wouldn't be a fee.”
The boy grit his teeth, his eyes bloodshot.
“But it was just some magic trick that looked like a ball of light.”
“When it was over, they asked us for ten gold coins!”
“Ten gold coins!”
His voice grew louder and louder.
It was as if, after holding it in for so long, he had finally found someone he could vent to.
“Where would we get ten gold coins?!”
“When we couldn't pay, they hauled away my mother’s weaving loom!”
“Liars!”
“All of you who use the Holy Light are liars!”
Another boy gripped his stick tightly, his voice shaking.
“One day, you’ll all be burned to death by the Goddess’s light.”
“All of you!”
Lin Ling opened her mouth.
She wanted to explain.
She wanted to say she wasn't part of the Holy See.
She wanted to say this was free.
She wanted to say she just didn't want the child to be in pain.
But the boys’ gazes were too sharp.
It was the kind of wariness left behind after being deceived, robbed, and abandoned time and time again.
They didn't believe her at all.
Or rather, they no longer had any strength left to believe in any so-called “Holy Light.”
Lin Ling’s hands at her sides slowly clenched.
Leticia stood behind her.
Watching this scene, she felt as if she were nailed to the spot.
They couldn't afford the fee for receiving the Holy Light?
A magic trick like a ball of light.
Ten gold coins.
Hauled away a weaving loom.
Liars.
All of you who use the Holy Light are liars.
These words struck her ears one after another.
Aren't the people of the Holy See supposed to bring the Holy Light to the people?
Isn't the Saintess supposed to bestow healing upon those in pain?
The records in the White Tower said so.
Her mother had told her so as well.
The Holy Light was a gift from the Goddess to the world.
The Holy See was the hand that delivered that gift.
But now, when these children saw the Holy Light, their first reaction wasn't anticipation.
It was fear.
It was anger.
Leticia suddenly felt a tightness in her chest.
Of course.
After all, even she, the Saintess, had never truly looked at these people.
She only bestowed the Holy Light upon those “worthy of receiving it.”
And what kind of people were “worthy of receiving it”?
Nobles.
Soldiers.
Her mother’s friends.
The people on the steps of the White Tower who wore clean clothes, offered donations, and praised the Goddess.
But what about this child who had been struck down by a scabbard?
She had never seen him before.
No.
Perhaps she had.
Below the judgment platform.
Behind the crowds declared as Filthy Ones.
In the eyes that looked at her with hatred.
Lin Ling was still trying to take a step forward.
“I really won’t charge any money.”
“It’s just a single spell.”
“Please let me heal him.”
“He really looks like he’s in pain.”
The boys didn't retreat.
They held up their sticks, their arms trembling, yet they still blocked her path stubbornly.
“Don’t come over!”
“Who knows what you’ll ask for later!”
“The Holy Light is for nobles!”
“You won’t save us!”
Lin Ling stopped.
She looked at the child huddled in his mother’s arms.
The little boy’s lips were frighteningly pale.
The place where he had been struck was visibly swollen.
He was shaking from the pain, but because his mother was covering his mouth, even his cries were suppressed in his throat.
Leticia watched Lin Ling from a distance.
She saw Lin Ling’s anxious expression, yet she still didn't force her way through.
She saw how Lin Ling could clearly use magic, yet she only clenched her hands and tried to explain over and over again.
She saw the hatred in the children’s eyes and the desperate urge to save someone in Lin Ling’s.
Then, she moved.
Leticia walked forward.
One step.
Two steps.
She reached out and grabbed the wooden stick held by the boy at the very front.
The boy was stunned.
The other boys were also stunned.
They seemingly hadn't expected this girl, who was dressed in rags and had been standing silently by the side, to suddenly rush forward.
The old Leticia would never have done such a thing.
Grabbing a stick.
Standing in front of commoner children.
Using these hands, which used to only wear pure white gloves and receive kisses from others, to grab a rough and dirty wooden stick.
It was too crude.
It was too unsightly.
But now, she wasn't the high-and-mighty Leticia.
She was just Sia.
Just another girl dressed in rags, who had also been thrown into a trash heap and possessed no Holy Light.
The boy finally reacted.
“What are you doing?!”
He tried to yank the stick back.
Leticia held on with a death grip.
“Let her through.”
Her voice was hoarse.
But it was clear.
“She won’t lie to you.”
The boy grit his teeth.
“How would you know?!”
Leticia didn't answer.
Beside them, another boy had already swung his stick.
“Let go!”
The stick slammed into Leticia’s shoulder.
A dull thud echoed.
Her body swayed, and her face went pale instantly.
Another stick struck her arm.
The pain made her fingers tremble.
But she didn't let go.
Lin Ling cried out in alarm.
“Sia!”
Leticia didn't look back.
She just grit her teeth, clutching that wooden stick as she stood between Lin Ling and the boys.
The boys were still pushing and shoving.
Sticks fell haphazardly upon her.
Once.
Twice.
The pain made her breathing erratic.
But she suddenly thought of the little boy who had been sent flying by the scabbard just now.
She thought of his mother’s pale fingers as she covered his mouth.
She thought of the children who had once stood below the judgment platform, looking up at her.
She had never shown them a Saintess’s mercy before.
Not once.
Then at least now.
At least this once, when someone was willing to bring the Holy Light to them, she wanted to do something.
Leticia looked up.
There were tears in her eyes from the pain of being struck by the sticks, and her face was still covered in dust.
But when she looked at Lin Ling, her voice was exceptionally firm.
“Lin Ling.”
“Heal him.”
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