Lilian picked up her pace through the alley and arrived smoothly at the bakery, relieved she hadn't bumped into Aris along the way.
Behind the counter, the fat owner, Veto, was flipping a baking sheet with iron tongs. Spotting the white robe, he stopped mid-motion, wiped the grease off his hands onto his greasy apron, and hurried forward to greet her.
“Lady Saintess, what brings you here in person? What would you like?”
Veto's smile squeezed the fat on his face into rolls as he pointed toward a freshly brought-out iron tray.
“These are white bread rolls fresh out of the oven, still piping hot. They'd be perfect to hand out to the believers at the chapel entrance, showing the Goddess's benevolence.”
Lilian maintained a gentle, subtle smile, though she was rolling her eyes internally.
The church's usual meals were rye bread mixed with bran, while a single piece of white bread cost five copper coins. This swindler clearly saw her as young and unfamiliar, trying to bleed her dry like a fat sheep.
“Boss Veto, do you have rye bricks in stock?”
The smile on Veto's face froze on the spot, his small eyes widening into circles.
“Lady Saintess, what are you buying rye bricks for?”
The fat owner grabbed a dark, long hard block from the counter and slammed it down twice on the thick wooden board, making dull thuds like wood striking stone.
“The taste of rye bricks is hard to describe. There were even rumors in the past of mercenaries using them to beat wild wolves to death. Old folks can't chew them at all. What are you going to use them for if you take them back?”
Just as the owner finished speaking, a flurry of footsteps and giggles came from the doorway.
Lilian didn't even raise an eyelid. Just from that mean, sharp tone, the memory automatically matched up in her mind.
The nun leading the group was named Fina. Relying on her seniority, she frequently gave the original host a hard time, constantly ostracizing and targeting her.
Fina crossed the threshold, arms crossed, eyeing Lilian up and down with an exaggerated clicking of her tongue.
“My, if it isn't our Saintess?”
The two nuns beside her immediately squeezed forward, covering their mouths with handkerchiefs and letting out a chorus of harsh giggles.
“You represent the dignity of our church, yet you personally ran to a little stall like this to buy rye bricks?”
The three of them giggled so hard they shook, prompting passing commoners outside the door to poke their heads in and gawk.
Fina took half a step forward, a look of unreserved malice plastered across her face.
“Those who don't know any better would think our church is so poor we can't even keep the pot boiling, forcing the Saintess to run out and buy low-grade food that only livestock would chew.”
Owner Veto glanced left and right, wiping the beads of sweat from his forehead, completely at a loss for words. Both sides belonged to the church; as a commoner running a small business, he couldn't afford to offend either.
Seeing this, Fina grew even more triumphant. She stepped closer, pointed a finger at the fresh baking tray, and sneered:
“Hurry up and pull out your coins to buy this high-quality white bread! Let me tell you, there are fully over a hundred believers waiting at the church entrance right now! If the Goddess finds out you're letting the believers starve, she might just revoke your blessing!”
Fina tilted her chin up, calculating furiously in her head.
She didn't believe Lilian could possibly have that much money on her.
By standard exchange rates, 1,000 copper coins = 10 silver coins = 1 gold coin. Even if over a hundred believers were given just one piece of white bread each, it would still cost five to six hundred copper coins—more than half a gold coin, equivalent to several months of earnings for an ordinary laborer.
Today, she intended to tear Lilian down in front of everyone and watch the embarrassed, humiliated look on the Saintess's face.
Passersby on the street were drawn by the squabble, stopping to gather around as the murmurs grew louder.
Revoke the blessing? Is there actually such a good thing?
Lilian didn't panic in the slightest. The corners of her mouth hidden under her long hair almost burst into a laugh.
She blinked her innocent big eyes. Instead of a trace of anger, her tone turned somewhat mournful:
“Sister Fina, rye bricks are the food everyone relies on daily to fill their stomachs. How did it become... filthy stuff that only livestock chew when it comes out of your mouth? Do you view all these believers in town who work hard from dawn to dusk to support the church as livestock?”
The moment the words left her mouth, the entire street fell dead silent.
The surrounding commoners' faces darkened, their gazes turning hostile as they glared at Fina and the other two.
“We chew rye bricks every day. So in the eyes of a nun, we're livestock?”
“Yeah! Is the church's dignity about insulting us believers who offer incense and donations as livestock?”
Angry chatter began to spread through the crowd.
Fina's face turned pale in an instant. She waved her hands frantically in panic: “You... stop taking things out of context! That's not what I meant at all!”
Lilian gave her no chance to make excuses.
She pressed her hands together against her chest, her expression saintly and sorrowful to the extreme.
Then, she raised her right hand, neatly tracing a standard cross over her chest before gently closing her eyes:
“Merciful Goddess of Light, please forgive Sister Fina for the arrogance and ignorance in her words.”
Her voice was weak, yet it carried a deeply moving tremble:
“Perhaps she has simply been pampered and has never experienced the hardships of the mortal world, which is why she views the food believers rely on to stave off hunger as something filthy. May your holy light cleanse the hostility in her heart, and please do not strike her down with divine punishment.”
This pitiful act of pleading for her victimizer brought tears to the eyes of the commoners on the spot.
“Lady Saintess is too kind! Even after being bullied like this, she's still pleading for her!”
“Nuns, get the hell out of here! Stop embarrassing the church!”
Rotten vegetable leaves and mud almost flew straight at Fina's face.
Fina trembled all over with rage, pointing at Lilian, her lips quivering for a long while without squeezing out a single word.
The two nuns beside her shrank back in fear, tugging on Fina's sleeves and wishing they could crawl into a hole in the ground.
Lilian lowered her head, a sneer of utter contempt flashing in her eyes concealed by her hair.
That's all the combat ability you've got?
Back when I was the top boss in high school playing the moral high ground game, you idiots were still playing in the dirt.
“My devout believers, I am deeply sorry that Fina spoke such hurtful words. As Saintess, I offer you an apology on her behalf.”
Lilian raised her head, a pure, soft smile returning to her face as she bowed slightly to the surrounding townsfolk.
Flattered and overwhelmed, the commoners hurriedly waved their hands to reassure the Lady Saintess.
Lilian turned around to face the owner stunned behind the counter. She pulled 60 copper coins from her pocket and lined them up neatly on the counter:
“Boss Veto, please prepare 200 rye bricks for me.”
Veto looked at the pile of rock-hard black bricks and spoke reluctantly: “Lady Saintess, these really are too hard. Everyone won't be able to swallow them dry. Why don't we...”
“Which is why I also want to buy two barrels of beast milk from you.”
Lilian interrupted him with a smile:
“Set them over a large iron pot to heat up, soak the rye bricks until soft, and then distribute them to everyone. Rye fills the stomach, and hot milk warms the gut, so everyone won't get heartburn after eating.”
Hearing that there was beast milk to drink, some believers couldn't help swallowing their saliva.
No matter what kind of milk it was, it wasn't cheap.
Who said our Saintess was unwilling to spend money?
Praise the Goddess of Light!
The next second, a system prompt chimed in her head, sending a wave of horror down Lilian's spine.
[Believers have developed goodwill toward you. Faith Value increased.]
[Faith Value +1]
[Faith Value +1]
...
[Current Faith Value 50/50]
[Ding! Your talent 'Favored of Heaven' has triggered, drawing the Goddess's gaze...]
A beam of light appeared in the sky, shining down directly onto Lilian.
If the people of this world could understand English, they would hear Lilian softly chanting under her breath: "Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck..."
The milk I meant was near-expiry milk, hey! Σ(っ °Д °;)っ!
What the hell are you blind fools getting so touched for?! If divine punishment really strikes down, I'm pulling you down with me first, AAAAAAH!!
Rate on N.U.
