The female diviner shook her head, not understanding why the other party had such a strong reaction.
"I am a divination mage. Predicting a client's name is the most basic requirement for us."
"If I couldn't even do that, I wouldn't be studying divination; I'd have gone back to my hometown to pull radishes long ago."
Hearing that the other person didn't seem to realize there was anything wrong with the name, Ruiya was stunned for a moment, then breathed a sigh of relief.
Although it sounded a bit far-fetched, she had confirmed that the female diviner in front of her didn't know the only princess of the Katar Kingdom.
The street where the Church of the Original God was located was the most prosperous and crowded street in Yiertaya.
If possible, Ruiya didn't want to kill anyone here.
So she suppressed the killing intent in her heart, put on an indifferent smile, and changed the subject: "You aren't from Katar, are you?"
The female diviner looked surprised: "You can even tell that? Am I that obvious? Don't tell me you're a divination mage as well?"
"No, I just noticed from your accent."
Ruiya told the lie with a serious face.
The female diviner covered her mouth slightly, surprised: "Is that so? I thought my accent had already blended in locally. I didn't expect you to hear it."
"I am indeed a mage from elsewhere, and this is my first time traveling far from home."
"I didn't expect the expenses in the capital of Katar to be so high. I ran through all my travel money in less than two days."
She smiled sheepishly.
"But my divinations are truly accurate. Please let me do one for you, otherwise I really won't know how to repay you."
Seeing how persistent she was, Ruiya understood that if she didn't let the woman perform a divination, she wouldn't let the matter rest.
Since she didn't recognize the real Princess Ruiya anyway, she would let her finish the divination and then have her leave quickly.
The female diviner giggled and, as if performing a magic trick, suddenly placed a crystal ball on the table.
She moved her hands through the air around the crystal ball as if performing an ancient ritual.
Ruiya watched quietly, but she was neither expectant nor nervous.
She was like a spectator who had nothing to do with the performance.
"Miss Morai Sulin, can you tell me what you intend to divine?" the female diviner asked.
"Anything," Ruiya said.
"Then I'll just improvise!"
After saying that, the female diviner closed her eyes. Her hands moved faster around the crystal ball, which grew brighter and brighter.
Watching this miraculous scene, Ruiya chuckled softly.
It did look somewhat convincing.
However, Ruiya fundamentally didn't trust divination.
If divination were really so magical—if it could know the past and future and easily find answers to anything—the God of Divination would have unified the world long ago.
Yet, in the history books of the Church of the Original God, the God of Divination was merely a low-level deity who assisted the five great Original Gods in ancient times.
In terms of both status and authority, he was even inferior to the Goddess of Flowers, who served as a mascot.
Divining a name was likely just a small trick used by divination to attract people.
So, from the beginning, she had no expectations for the female diviner's reading.
"Oh, I see it..." the female diviner suddenly cried out.
"See what?" Ruiya didn't care about the content; she was just playing along subconsciously.
The female diviner froze for a moment, then spoke slowly: "I see you in the slough of the abyss, struggling desperately like a drowning fish..."
Ruiya was stunned by the words.
The female diviner continued: "So my initial guess wasn't wrong. Lady, you are indeed at the most confused stage of your life. You are in the slough of the abyss, yearning for a great existence to lead you out of your misery."
"Is that why your gaze has been fixed on the Church of the Original God? Do you hope the Original God can save you?"
Ruiya remained silent—or rather, she didn't dare answer the diviner's question.
"I don't understand, lady. If you want the Original God to resolve your predicament, why don't you walk into the cathedral openly and speak of your troubles before the divine statue?" the female diviner asked. "The gods are very benevolent to all Their believers."
"What you're saying is meaningless," Ruiya shook her head. "More than that, I want to know if there is an answer to the future I desire."
"Oh, there is!" the female diviner said earnestly. "I saw the answer that belongs to you!"
"What is it?" Ruiya asked hurriedly.
"I don't know, but..." the female diviner looked puzzled, "but the results of the divination tell me that the answer which belongs to you is on your person."
Ruiya's whole body jolted.
"On my person?"
Her first instinct was to think the woman was deceiving her. After all, there were many frauds in the divination business.
If the answer were on her own body, she wouldn't have been suffering all this time.
She expected someone to save her, but that person could never be herself.
But suddenly, she seemed to think of something and immediately began searching herself.
Finally, she pulled out a piece of paper—more accurately, an exam paper.
It looked ordinary, save for the strange, mysterious symbols on it that made it look somewhat unique, but that was all.
It seemed that as long as one didn't commit any acts of desecration against it, it was just a plain, ordinary test paper.
"Could it be... that my answer is with Him?" Ruiya murmured.
...
In the past, Grinya had always held stereotypical impressions of the gods.
She thought they were cold, serious, and would maintain the dignity befitting a deity no matter what happened.
But since an evil god had entered her body, Grinya found that all her previous rose-tinted filters regarding gods had been destroyed.
She racked her brains but couldn't understand why a grand evil god would be so obsessed with stealing lollipops from children.
During the two-hour journey from the rental house to Yiertaya Academy, whenever the evil god saw a lollipop, he would stop and control her body to steal it.
"Stay calm, Grinya. Perhaps these lollipops are also evil products originating from the evil god's body. The great evil god must have a reason for doing this."
Grinya told herself this in her heart.
As long as her acts of stealing lollipops weren't discovered by others, it would be fine.
"Hey lady, stealing is not a good thing to do."
Suddenly, a young woman wearing a pointed hat stood behind her and spoke.
Grinya's face stiffened.
It's over. I've been caught.
Gexi frowned as she looked at the person's back, complaining in her heart. Had the customs and culture of Yiertaya already deteriorated to this point?
A girl this young and able-bodied had to rely on stealing to survive?
It seemed one couldn't judge a city solely by its prosperous side; those in the dark corners, unknown to others, were the most real part of the city.
Then, she saw the girl turn around somewhat stiffly, her expression dull and wooden.
Gexi was stunned.
She had never seen such a strange person!
Immediately after, the corners of the girl's mechanical face suddenly twitched.
Grinya said coldly and heartlessly:
"So? Are you going to beat me to death?"
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