Olivia's expression froze instantly, her pupils contracting subconsciously. She could hardly believe that someone as serious as Brittany would play such a joke on her.
"Ms. Brittany, that joke isn't funny at all," Olivia couldn't help but say.
However, she noticed that after she spoke, the look in Brittany's eyes became even stranger.
Brittany seemed to be pondering something but couldn't quite figure it out. She finally asked, "Olivia, why do you think I'm joking?"
Seeing Brittany's earnest expression, Olivia felt a chill rise from the bottom of her heart. She couldn't help but glance at Mirabelle beside her, only to meet an equally puzzled gaze.
The light passing through the rose window suddenly felt bone-chillingly cold for some reason.
In that moment, Sunlight Cathedral felt like an ice cellar.
Olivia felt her thoughts descend into chaos in a short span of time. One thought would emerge only to be shattered by the next, leaving her momentarily unable to think.
After a period of silence, she finally spoke. "Rose is a strange child we met at the orphanage yesterday. She had clearly been at the orphanage for a long time, yet the people there suddenly and completely forgot her, as if they had never seen or heard of her. Yesterday, Ms. Brittany, you even said the church would investigate the matter and told me to be careful. You said if I saw Rose again, I must report it to the church or to you."
As she spoke, even Brittany's eternally serious expression couldn't help but show a hint of shock and suspicion.
Mirabelle, standing nearby, was also stunned.
While the two of them were thinking rapidly to process the problem, Olivia began to chant in her heart.
'Magic mirror, do you remember Rose, the one I told you about?'
【Yes, Master. She is the child from the orphanage.】
As the magic mirror's reply surfaced in her mind, Olivia felt like a drowning person grasping a piece of driftwood and let out a long sigh of relief.
At least she wasn't the one with the problem.
'Magic mirror, Brittany and Mirabelle have both forgotten Rose. What's going on?'
【I do not know the specific circumstances regarding Rose, as she is outside the monastery. However, I have found that the two people you mentioned have indeed lost their memories of Rose. This may be because Rose herself possesses a unique trait that causes people to forget her. Additionally, the records in the monastery related to Rose have also vanished. For example, the physical description of Rose that you dictated and Brittany recorded yesterday—that paper is now blank.】
Even though she still remembered Rose and the magic mirror remembered Rose, such an answer still made Olivia's hands and feet feel cold, and a chill ran through her heart.
It was too strange.
It was too eerie.
At that moment, Brittany spoke. "Olivia, tell me everything you know again, carefully."
She still didn't recall anything about Rose, but she keenly felt that this matter was not simple. In the transcendent world, methods that influenced memory or even perception were endless; this should not be ignored.
Olivia had no choice but to recount what she knew and what she could say.
During this process, she also communicated with the magic mirror in her heart, asking about certain things.
'Magic mirror, if everything related to Rose is forgotten, will Brittany forget what I'm telling her now later on?'
【Yes, Master.】
Olivia suddenly didn't feel like talking anymore.
'Magic mirror, why do I remember?'
【My beautiful Master, your soul does not belong to this world.】
Doesn't belong to this world?
Olivia couldn't help but chew on the meaning of those words in her heart. Because she was a transmigrator, was the essence of her soul different from the human souls of this world? Therefore, if certain methods acted on the level of the soul, could she escape them because of her different soul composition?
She really didn't know whether to call it lucky or tragic.
After talking to Brittany about Rose for a while, Brittany stated that she would investigate the situation and told Olivia and Mirabelle to leave first.
Walking out of Sunlight Cathedral, the intense midday sun shone down on them, but it couldn't dispel the gloom in Olivia's heart.
"Olivia, were you really not teasing Brittany just now? Although I don't think you'd do something so bold, still..." Mirabelle didn't quite know how to put it.
She truly didn't remember anyone named Rose.
Werent there only four children assigned to Olivia at the orphanage?
"Let's go to the cafeteria first." Olivia didn't want to say more about it.
If it was destined to be forgotten, speaking was useless.
Only... had the high-level transcendent soul inside Mirabelle also forgotten this matter?
Regarding this, Olivia asked the magic mirror.
【No, that entity has not forgotten. It is simply in a deep sleep, and since Mirabelle hasn't taken the matter to heart, she hasn't woken the entity to ask about it.】
Olivia let out a breath.
It seemed Rose's situation wasn't so absurd that it had no limits. At least a high-level transcendent, even if only a remnant soul remained, wouldn't be forced to forget... but even in a place as large as Kaliron, how many high-level transcendents were there?
"By the way, what did Brittany call us over for?" Mirabelle suddenly realized this.
Olivia was also startled, then gave a bitter smile.
It seemed her interruption had thrown everything off, causing Brittany to forget what she had originally intended to tell them. But there was no need to turn back now; they could wait until next time.
...
It wasn't until the next day, after morning prayers had ended, that Brittany called Olivia and Mirabelle over again.
The old nun, whose face was lined with wrinkles, had a flash of confusion in her eyes, but she still spoke slowly. "You both performed well in the monastery previously, so the church has decided to reward you..."
Speaking to this point, Brittany still felt a slight sense of dissonance.
The reward had been decided and she had been notified yesterday, and she had intended to tell them yesterday, so why did she forget?
Was she getting old and her memory was failing?
Perhaps she should pray before the Goddess's statue one more time each day.
She gathered her thoughts and looked at the two girls radiating youthful energy. "Because of your courage, decisiveness, wisdom, and talent, the church has decided to help you become a Pilgrim. The church is willing to provide the transcendent materials required for the corresponding advancement ritual. What you need to do is finish the path of the Initiate as quickly as possible and reach the point where you can become a Pilgrim. Of course, you will also need to choose your future transcendent path, but there is no rush; you still have enough time to think."
Mirabelle smiled but said nothing. Her background ensured she wouldn't lack money, so such a reward was merely better than nothing.
But for Olivia, this was an excellent reward.
In addition...
'She really forgot about Rose again.'
Olivia sighed inwardly. However, since this was an expected outcome, she didn't show any loss of composure and quickly focused her attention on the present.
She asked Brittany, "I wonder how many transcendent paths we can freely choose from?"
"Two. One is Priest, and the other is Arbiter," Brittany replied.
As expected, there was no Ascetic...
Olivia felt a bit of a subtle mood. She didn't know why the Ascetic path, which was clearly considered an orthodox path of the church, was kept hidden. Perhaps it required some special condition to become an Ascetic.
Of course, this didn't mean she absolutely had to become an Ascetic. She had learned about the advancement ritual for an Ascetic through the magic mirror. From the ritual alone, she knew that to become an Ascetic, one first had to endure suffering, and she didn't particularly want to suffer.
Therefore, her future would inevitably be a choice between Priest and Arbiter.
Naturally, she already had a preference in her heart.
Rate on N.U.
