Tina felt an urge inside her, which became especially pronounced whenever Sathya was nearby.
The more she tried to restrain it, the more obvious the urge became.
Tina even felt that she might indeed have been affected.
No, Sathya was such a dummy.
Why was she going to so much trouble for me? Did she really owe me anything?
It hurt. It was so painful...
A few hours later, Sathya found her plenty of pain-relieving medicines and magical supplements, staying by her side to accompany her through the entire morning. She suggested that Tina return to the infirmary, but Tina refused.
Perhaps it was only a temporary peace, but the pain from the curse eased significantly.
She went straight to the top floor of the library and found Miranda.
“I'm very sorry. I can't help you much with this wound.”
Miranda shook her head.
As she spoke, she took out a special magical bandage and wrapped it around the wound.
“I see...” Tina nodded.
“This curse is likely controlled at the whim of the magical beast. It seems it intends to torture you, which is why it's causing you so much pain.”
“If you really want to get rid of this wound, you will probably have to eliminate the magical beast that harmed you. But from the looks of it, you failed?”
“Yes.”
Tina pretended to look embarrassed, but she didn't say much else.
Miranda's hypothesis aligned perfectly with her own theory.
“What if I cut it off?”
“I never expected you to say something so terrifying, but that method probably won't work either.”
Miranda gently pinched the area around the wound. It didn't hurt much now, only feeling slightly warm.
“What it harmed wasn't your physical body, but likely something akin to your soul. The wound is merely its physical manifestation... You've most likely been marked. This thing is probably a curse.”
“Then I'm really lucky, aren't I?” Tina gave a wry smile.
If it were anyone else, their body would probably start feeling unwell within a few days, and they would be consumed by the pain.
Fortunately, she possessed Immortality. Even if the blood in her body ran completely dry, nothing bad would happen to her.
Tina also remembered this bandage.
Although it had no healing effect, it could greatly suppress the spread of the curse.
“Well, that's as much help as I can offer. Have you made any progress regarding your sister?”
Miranda nodded, the gloom in her eyes deepening. “I did as you suggested and have already obtained more information.”
“Your batch isn't the first Saintess Selection. Actually, a long time ago, there was another one.”
“It was about ten years ago. Four apprentice Saintesses competed against each other to choose the human most suited for the position of Saintess.”
Miranda's brow furrowed. When she spoke of this, she was clearly recalling some unpleasant memories.
“Unlike this time, that selection wasn't public. Counting my sister, fewer than twenty people knew about it.”
“My sister was chosen as the Astral Sage to oversee that Saintess Selection.”
“The end result was that none of those Saintesses survived. This was closely followed by the incident in Lystra, and after some time, Lystra vanished from this world.”
“Perhaps, at its core, the Saintess Selection was a failed plan from the very start.”
...
In the afternoon, Sathya headed straight for the teaching building in the eastern campus. The eastern campus was originally an area Tina had rarely set foot in; because of their participation in the Saintess Selection, followed by the Sacred Mutiny and the awakening of the Flame Magical Beast, the students had never attended a single class there.
Now that both incidents were resolved, the students had officially begun their classes. Of course, the primary reason was that the dust had settled on the Saintess Selection.
“Did you hear? Sathya actually defeated the traitor!”
“That general was one of the strongest warriors. Is Sathya really that powerful already?”
“The entire Holy Academy owes its survival to Lady Sathya~”
“I'm a fan of Lady Saintess!”
“...”
Walking along the pedestrian street, similar voices could frequently be heard all around.
Tina, once again, attributed the credit to Sathya.
Currently, if the Saintess candidates' achievements were measured in terms of “contributions,” Sathya was completely ahead of everyone else.
And even in terms of combat ability and leadership, Sathya was incomparable to any of the other apprentice Saintesses.
Simply put, almost the entire Church had already decided that Sathya would become the final Saintess.
Without the distraction of the Saintess Selection, the Holy Academy naturally resumed classes.
With that in mind, Tina looked at the letter in her hand.
The letter was made of the Holy Academy's gold-trimmed parchment, with a large “A” written on the front.
Simply put, she had been assigned to Class A.
Which was the class where the strongest group of students in the entire Holy Academy belonged.
In the Holy Academy, only the more outstanding students could enjoy good classes, and Class A students could enjoy the most top-tier curriculum in the Holy Academy, only occasionally meeting students of other levels. This was originally one of the privileges of being an apprentice Saintess, but Tina remembered that she was no longer a so-called Saintess.
Her spot in the Tower of Stars should have already been given to Velrose.
Ironically, except for elective courses, all other compulsory courses were held in a single building. This was Tina's first time attending classes in such a place; even in the past few months, she had only attended a few lectures in the regular classrooms of the eastern campus.
Looking up, she could only see blue flags and golden crosses fluttering atop the towering structure. The brand-new white bricks exuded a solemn aura, and a massive ruby clock floated in the gap at the top of the building, driven by mysterious magic.
The Holy Church Building.
With the crisis resolved, it was being used as usual.
“Look, that's Tina...”
“Isn't that the building only Class A students can enter?”
“She doesn't seem to be a Saintess anymore.”
From behind her came the whispering voices of several students. They gathered in a group, seemingly looking forward to the entrance of their ideal goddess or god.
The girl walking past them was clearly not the figure they were hoping for.
Of course, Tina was just as puzzled.
She entered the building and showed the golden student ID she had pulled out from the envelope. The guards on both sides nodded, bowing slightly to indicate that she could enter the building.
The first thing Tina did upon entering the building was go to the nearest office, push open the door, and speak to the female teacher at the desk.
“Hello, I would like to apply to withdraw from Class A.”
“Eh? Student, what... what do you mean by this?” The teacher, who had been smiling and planning to greet the lovely and outstanding student before her, was taken aback.
Wait, what did this student just say?!
“Ah, are you Tina? Please don't be so impulsive. Let's talk this through first.”
But Tina tilted her head and said, “Miss Dean of Students, only those with a GPA over 97 in astronomy, history, and mathematics, a comprehensive magic score of over 95, or apprentice Saintesses can join Class A, right? Do I look like an apprentice Saintess to you?”
Honestly, this really disrupted her plans.
Not only would she learn nothing from attending these classes, but she would also waste two hours every afternoon.
Furthermore, having to expose herself to the students' view was by no means a good thing for her.
“This, this...” The Dean of Students was at a loss for words. Although she was one of the administrators in charge here, she really didn't know why Tina had been selected.
Just then, a girl with golden hair walked into Tina's line of sight.
She was tall, about 178 centimeters, nearly half a head taller than Tina.
She wore a very heavy robe, which did little to conceal her voluptuous figure, and a gentle smile graced her beautiful, fair face.
“That is because Sathya insisted on recommending your inclusion, so the teachers made an exception and gave you a spot,” she said in a soft, gentle voice.
The apprentice Saintess, Alix.
She was also a highly troublesome person.
Rate on N.U.
