(Rustling of clothing)
Lilian nodded. It seemed both her physique and appearance could be perfectly mimicked.
Moreover, it came with the exact same outfit she wore when summoning it, and as long as it wasn't dead, she could recall it at any time once it drew close.
Great. Saved another expense.
Aside from the initial discomfort, she could now directly control this clone and share its vision and memories.
To test the limits, Lilian reached out and gave Little White a pinch on the inner side of her snow-white, tender thigh.
“Ow.”
A searing pain transmitted back to her mind through the mental link, but her true physical body remained completely unscathed, without even a red mark left behind.
Taking damage provided pain feedback, but the harm wouldn't affect her main body at all!
An infinitely resurrecting meat-shield scapegoat that could fully share senses and actions.
Offloading all the grueling day chores to Little White while she found a shady spot to munch on fruit and count money—wasn't this stepping straight into the paradise of 'labor freedom'?
Just as Lilian was fantasizing about her glorious slacker life, Little White, standing by the bed, raised her hand and dully pointed at the pillow on the headboard.
Lilian followed her gaze, her eyes turning cold.
The long strand of hair she had placed on the pillow before leaving was gone.
Her face darkening slightly, Lilian strode forward and ripped the pillow aside.
Beneath the pillow, that pair of pure white stockings still lay there quietly.
The originally neat folds were visibly creased from being rummaged through, and they even reeked of cheap perfumed oil.
“Fuck.”
A wave of disgust washed over Lilian, and she slammed the pillow back down. She swore she would never touch this pair of stockings again in her entire life, even though she had originally planned to keep them for a change of clothes.
Someone has been in my room!
Lilian quickly scanned the room.
The deadbolts on the doors and windows were all locked before she returned, and the main door showed no signs of tampering.
In this Glimmer Town abbey, who else besides herself could slip inside without picking the lock?
“Aris, that old pervert...”
Lilian gritted her teeth so hard her cheeks ached.
Only Aris, as the resident priest, held the spare keys to every single nun's room in the entire abbey!
Stealing stockings right from under my nose, huh?
Do you really take me for a pure white lotus you can manipulate however you want?
She took a deep breath, and just as she suppressed her rage, a sharp slap echoed from the kitchen, followed immediately by Clara's sobbing...
Clara had been assigned to her task by none other than herself, the Saintess. Who was bold enough to lay a hand on her?
Wasn't that a direct slap in her own face?
Lilian unsummoned Little White, opened the room door in a rage, and hurried toward the kitchen.
She shoved open the kitchen door!
Clara was kneeling on the floor, trembling all over, her left cheek swollen high with five horrifyingly distinct, purplish-red finger marks.
A few novice nuns assisting nearby stood to the side, heads bowed, not daring to even breathe loudly.
Meanwhile, Sister Fina was fussing around near the pot heating the beast milk.
“L-Lady Saintess, I'm sorry...”
Seeing the figure at the doorway, Clara lowered her head and sobbed softly.
Lilian's brow furrowed, her eyes locking onto the person by the pot.
“Fina.”
Lilian spoke coldly, “Shouldn't you be handing out rye bricks right now? What are you doing in the back kitchen!”
Fina's body stiffened for a moment, but she quickly regained her composure. Turning around, a sneering smile hung on her face:
“Oh my, Lady Saintess, why did you come over in person? Having the other two nuns distribute the rye bricks at the front door is plenty; nothing will go wrong. I was just worried that Clara, being a novice nun, might be clumsy. If she spilled or ruined this pot of precious spotted-cow beast milk, wouldn't that be a terrible waste?”
Lilian stepped closer, her gaze sweeping past Clara's swollen face:
“So that gives you the right to hit people as you please?”
“Oh dear, Lady Saintess, you mustn't slander me!”
Fina rolled her eyes, putting on an exaggerated look of profound grievance:
“Just now, when I was adding soothing spices into the pot, my movement was just a little too wide, and the back of my hand accidentally brushed against her! Right, everyone?”
As Fina spoke, she turned and shot a fierce glare at the surrounding novice nuns.
The young nuns looked at each other, their faces pale with fright, and buried their heads even lower.
Fina was among the most senior in terms of tenure at the Glimmer Town abbey.
Relying on her close relationship with Priest Aris, she was long accustomed to acting domineering toward the lower-ranking nuns.
How could these novice nuns dare to offend her to her face?
Seeing that no one dared speak up, Fina snorted coldly and even raised her chin toward Lilian:
“You see, Lady Saintess? Everyone has eyes. The Divine teaches us to be forgiving—you surely can't go falsely accusing someone out of nowhere just because a little nun is throwing a tantrum, right?”
Lilian closed her eyes and let out a long breath. When she opened them again, her gaze sent a sudden panic through Fina's heart.
“The Goddess is not blind. She just sent down a divine oracle, judging you guilty, Sister Fina.”
Lilian's voice wasn't loud, yet the back kitchen fell instantly silent.
“Pfft!”
Fina burst out laughing.
“Are you kidding me! The Goddess sent you a divine oracle? Who do you think you—”
Before she could finish her sentence, a wave of heat surged through the air!
Boom!
Above Lilian's open right palm, a head-sized ball of raging flame burst forth!
The back kitchen instantly grew as hot as a steamer.
The smile on Fina's face froze solid, and she collapsed onto the ground in terror.
Magic!
It was common knowledge in the Church that Saintesses were forbidden from learning offensive magic, unless it was gifted by the Goddess!
Besides, the church in a backwater place like Glimmer Town had no offensive magic for her to learn anyway!
Lilian took a step forward, looking down on her from above, her eyes as cold as if looking at a corpse.
“This is a spell granted to me by the Goddess just now to punish heretics.”
Lilian said in a flat tone:
“Unfortunately, I am not yet proficient at controlling this divine grace. If Sister Fina does not wish to be accidentally injured, apologize to Sister Clara immediately.”
Cold sweat ran down Fina's back, but as she looked at the timid Saintess before her—someone she usually hit and berated at will—the domineering arrogance in her bones flared up anew.
She didn't believe it!
This was the abbey! Lilian was the Saintess! Would she really dare burn her alive in front of so many people?
Fina swallowed hard, forcing a smile. “Lady Saintess, stop playing the devil here—” “Aaaagh!!”
“Oops.”
Lilian couldn't even be bothered to hear out her nonsense, lightly flicking her wrist:
“My hand slipped.”
The head-sized, scorching-white fireball slammed right into Fina's high-heaved chest!
Bang!!
Flames spread across her entire body along her nun habit in an instant!
The fabric turned to char within seconds, her neatly styled brown hair singed and curled, and the stench of burning flesh filled the entire kitchen.
“Aaaaah! Help! I'm burning to death! Help me!!”
Fina let out a blood-curdling shriek like a slaughtered pig, rolling frantically back and forth across the grease-stained floor tiles.
But the fire clung to her, refusing to go out no matter how much she rolled, burning brighter and hotter!
The surrounding novice nuns wept loudly in horror, while Clara's eyes widened in shock.
“I'm sorry! I was wrong! Lady Saintess, I was wrong!!”
Fina was cooked until her skin split open. She collapsed weakly onto the stone tiles at Lilian's feet, trying with all her remaining strength to kowtow:
“Spare me! I beg for your forgiveness! Clara, I'm sorry! I deserve to die! Please, Lady Saintess, dispel this divine power!”
Lilian stood where she was, pressing her small hands to her chest with exaggerated affectation, a look of distress and self-reproach plastered on her face:
“Oh dear, oh dear... whatever shall I do?”
Lilian blinked her big, innocent eyes, though a smile glinted within them:
“I already warned you, Sister Fina. This is a divine spell just bestowed upon me by the Goddess. Yours truly... ah, I mean, I have no idea how to take it back.”
Just then, from the courtyard outside the wooden door, Aris's furious roar exploded: “Stop!”
Rate on N.U.
