Looking up, Lovene noticed a young girl standing on the roof of a building along the street, looking down at her from above.
The girl's attire was primarily white and blue. The style carried a hint of solemnity befitting a church, yet it also possessed a trace of the crisp, clear cold of ice and snow. She stood with her arms crossed, her blue eyes filled mostly with curiosity.
Lovene stopped in her tracks. “And you are?”
Leaping down from the roof, the girl sized Lovene up. Upon discovering only an extremely faint trace of mana within her, a flicker of disappointment crossed her face.
“Those without mana should avoid meddling in this investigation. Otherwise, you might not even know how you died. Do you understand, Lovene?”
Lovene did not respond to the warning. She simply tucked the folded paper back into the inner fold of her sleeve.
“So, does that mean you've made some progress?”
“You could say that.”
The girl gave a soft snort and said:
“I found the place where that monster was born. Why? Do you want to tag along and take a look?”
“May I? I'm actually quite skilled in healing magic.”
As if filled with anticipation, Lovene's eyes lit up. However, her words only drew a sneer from the girl.
“Tch. No matter how skilled you are, how good can healing magic be? Don't forget, I warned you—you have no mana. It will be very easy for you to die in there.”
With that, she began walking toward the other end of the street. After only a few steps, she turned back and said:
“Since you insist, then follow me.”
Just then, a black figure suddenly appeared beside her. The figure wore a black nun's habit, clearly a nun from another church.
She lowered her voice, as if afraid her words would be overheard by Lovene.
“Your Highness, is this wise? You went through a lot of trouble to locate the place where that monster was born.”
The girl did not slow her pace as she explained:
“I only want her to realize the difficulty and back out. Once she understands the danger of this task, she will withdraw from the competition. That way, we'll eliminate an opponent without any effort.”
“Even if this opponent doesn't have much ability to begin with.”
The girl no longer looked back at Lovene and her companion. She simply kept walking forward, crossing streets and entering narrow alleys, gradually arriving in a sparsely populated area.
Mia walked slightly behind Lovene, her gaze shifting from the girl's pale silhouette to the hem of the nun's habit behind her. She turned her head and whispered:
“Your Highness, they are...”
“The Saintess of the Church of Winter, Ivy,” Lovene replied.
She had known the girl's identity the very moment she appeared.
As the Saintess of the Church of the Morning Light, she naturally kept herself informed about the other churches and their respective Saintesses, the Church of Winter being one of them.
Its territory bordered that of the Church of the Morning Light, and its influence was no less than theirs. However, what she envied was that this church's Saintess was a genuine Saintess.
She was not a fruit meant to awaken some ancient god, but a high-ranking church official with real authority. With a single word, she could decide the life or death of countless believers, holding a position in the church second only to one and above tens of thousands.
Lovene deeply regretted her past choices.
Had she known this earlier, she would never have come to the Church of the Morning Light. She would have gone straight to the Church of Winter. Perhaps by now, she would have already become their Saintess.
How comfortable and carefree her life would have been then.
The birthplace of the monster was highly remote. They left Sido City and headed toward the edge of the territory. Along the way, Ivy coughed frequently, her body appearing exceptionally frail.
To maintain her persona as the Saintess, Lovene stepped forward and asked in a low voice:
“My healing magic is quite decent. Would you like me to take a look?”
Ivy shook her head.
“No need.”
The nun beside her also spoke up. “It is useless. This is not an illness.”
“Not an illness?”
Remembering the past, the nun's tone grew heavier, filled with a touch of pity.
“It is a curse. Her Highness has carried a curse since birth. This curse has caused a great deal of cold energy to accumulate in her body, making her extremely weak. Sometimes, she even...”
“Lailan.”
Just as she was about to continue, Ivy spoke up to stop her. This made the nun, Lailan, realize her slip of the tongue. Apologizing repeatedly, she covered her mouth.
Lovene shifted her gaze from the interrupted conversation to Ivy's back.
Her back remained straight as she walked, but from the side, one could notice that her shoulder line sagged lower than normal.
It was as if a constant weight were pressing down on her, and she had simply grown accustomed to not showing it.
Since her physical weakness was caused by a curse, Lovene's Holy Light healing indeed wouldn't be of much use.
As the sun dipped below the horizon, drawing close to dusk, they finally arrived in front of a ruin. This place was far from Sido City, and it was practically deserted.
Approaching the ruin, Lovene could faintly discern that it had once been a wooden cabin. However, someone had set it on fire later on, leaving behind only some gray charcoal.
The carpet in the center of the cabin was weighed down by a great deal of charcoal. With a wave of Ivy's hand, a fierce wind swept the charcoal away, revealing an iron door leading underground.
Tearing open the iron door with ease using magic, Ivy was the first to step inside, with Lailan following closely behind. Lovene exchanged a look with Mia and followed them.
The underground passage was narrow at first, and the stone steps were slippery, making it easy to slip if one wasn't careful. But as they ventured deeper, the space ahead quickly opened up.
After taking a few steps, Ivy stopped and drew a cross that was the size of a longsword.
“Be careful. There are monsters present.”
Clang—!
Just as the words left her mouth, a short, dark silhouette lunged out from the darkness. Its sharp claws flashed with a glint of light, but Ivy blocked the strike with her cross, sending sparks flying.
Monsters were beasts that had absorbed mana and transformed. Their strength was often not to be underestimated.
However, Ivy's strength was even more formidable. The Church of Winter had no rule forbidding its Saintess from possessing mana, so despite her young age, she already possessed Rank Five mana.
“Freeze!”
She cried out, slamming her cross hard against the ground. Instantly, countless pale blue ice crystals erupted from where the cross met the floor, blanketing most of the space.
Unable to maintain their grip on the dark walls, the monsters fell to the ground one after another. Only then did Lovene clearly see that they were actually a pack of mutated rats.
“Humph, a mere pack of rats dares to block our path.”
Ivy held her cross, taking an offensive stance. Nun Lailan also drew a flail, preparing to join the attack, while Mia drew her sword and stood by Lovene's side.
Though she would also strike, her primary focus remained protecting Lovene.
What followed was a slaughter.
Although the mutated rats were numerous, even the strongest among them was only at Rank Three. Compared to the Rank Five Ivy and Mia, the disparity in strength was far too vast.
Ten minutes later, the carcasses of the mutated rats filled nearly half the underground space.
Sheathing her cross, Ivy caught her breath and turned to look at Lovene behind her.
“Sido territory is different from other places. The monsters here are highly aggressive, let alone those contaminated beasts. If you continue this investigation, you will inevitably lose your life.”
She had seen with her own eyes during the battle just now that Lovene's survival relied entirely on the Holy Knight beside her. Once the Holy Knight was gone, she would be reduced to a corpse gnawed to the bone by the mutated rats.
If she abandoned the investigation now, she could still live.
However, Lovene's determination made her furrow her brows.
“Thank you for the warning, but I still wish to persist.”
“...Humph, seeking your own death.”
Ivy snorted coldly and decided to ignore her.
To have warned her this far was already more than enough. Since this Saintess was bent on seeking her own death, she would let her be.
Good advice falls on deaf ears.
Rate on N.U.
