“Did you see... all of that?”
Lilian had a complex expression on her face, but she held back the urge to blast her with fire.
Setting aside how hard it would be to explain burning her, or whether the Goddess would punish her...
This little nun was one of the few children in the original body's memories who was willing to come and help Lilian after she was bullied.
That she was still alive meant she owed a debt to the original host, so on that basis alone, Lilian couldn't bring herself to lay a hand on her.
In her past life, the underworld had its rules: avenge grudges, settle grievances, reward virtue, and repay kindness.
“Mm-hmm.” Little Clara kept her head down, not daring to meet Lilian's eyes.
Lilian rubbed her forehead, intending to negotiate with Clara to see if she could keep it a secret.
Otherwise, her plan to flee would have to be brought forward.
However, if she lost her status as a Saintess, roaming this continent with her current strength would be extremely dangerous.
Before Lilian could open her mouth, Clara raised her face, blushing red. “Lady Saintess, you were so cool!”
“Thank you for protecting me! I knew it—in the entire Church, Lady Saintess is the best to me!”
Lilian was taken aback, but quickly resumed her gentle smile. She patted Clara's head and said softly:
“Clara, since you are so loyal to me, naturally I have to protect you.”
When dealing with such a naive child, encouragement was far more effective than threats.
Clara's face turned completely red. Her mind was filled with: Lady Saintess is praising me! Lady Saintess is praising me!
[Friendly emotion from a believer detected.]
[Faith Value +1]
[Faith Value: 123/200]
An unexpected harvest.
It seemed this little girl harbored no ill intentions toward her.
“Alright, Clara. The believers are getting anxious. Let's hurry and bring the hot beast milk over!”
“Yes! Lady Saintess!”
...
Before long, the two pushed the warmed beast milk to the church entrance.
Two nuns, whose hands were cramping from fatigue, were still continuously handing out rye bricks with a look of total despair on their faces.
They didn't yet know that Fina was already done for.
Seeing Lilian and Clara pushing a wooden barrel filled with warm beast milk toward them, the two were briefly startled. They then sensibly bowed their heads even lower and quickly stepped aside to maintain order.
Neither of them was Fina; without Aris as their backing, they naturally didn't dare offend the Saintess.
“Lady Saintess is so merciful!”
“It's hot beast milk! It's finally here!”
The believers grew restless, their eyes lighting up.
Dusk in Glimmer Town was bone-chillingly cold. Being able to drink a gulp of piping-hot beast milk and bite into a soaked rye brick at a time like this was no different from a personal blessing from the gods to these destitute, struggling people.
“Don't crowd, everyone, line up in an orderly fashion. The Goddess's radiance favors every suffering subject.”
Lilian stood gracefully beside the wooden barrel, a warm, gentle smile resting on her face.
She bowed slightly, scooping up a bowl of steaming beast milk with a long-handled wooden spoon, and handed it to the old beggar shivering at the very front of the line.
“Old sir, drink slowly, mind the heat.”
The old beggar's hands trembled as he took the earthenware bowl, tears dripping patter after patter into the milk broth. He was about to kneel right then and there to kowtow:
“Lady Saintess... you are a living emissary of the Goddess! Praise the Goddess of Light! Praise Lady Saintess Lilian!”
“Praise the Goddess of Light! Praise Lady Saintess Lilian!”
[Fanatical believer emotional fluctuation detected!]
[Faith Value +1]
[Faith Value +1]
[...]
[Current Faith Value: 155/200]
The notification chimes rang continuously, and the Faith Value that had been stuck at 123 surged all the way up.
Lilian suppressed the urge to beat someone up, inwardly greeting these poor wretches along with the Goddess of Light in heaven eight hundred times over.
Fuck.
Just now in line, you old bastard were cursing at me the loudest.
And those big men chewing on rye bricks—you have hands and feet, so how can you have the nerve to come take relief food? Truly disgusting!
If it weren't for the system's Faith Value steadily climbing, I would have kicked this bucket of milk over long ago!
Soon, the Faith Value froze at 179 and stopped climbing.
It seemed she had finished shearing this batch of believers.
“Clara.”
Lilian lightly touched her forehead, her body swaying slightly. Seeing this, the surrounding believers gasped with concern.
“Lady Saintess! What's wrong?!”
Clara, standing to the side handing out earthenware bowls, was startled out of her wits and hurriedly stepped forward to support Lilian's arm.
“It's nothing...”
Lilian lightly bit her lower lip, feigning a perfectly measured weakness:
“Just now... in the back kitchen, executing the divine oracle and borrowing the Goddess's power of divine chastisement consumed too much mana. I'm feeling a bit dizzy, so I'm afraid I cannot stay to continue distributing food with everyone.”
Hearing the words "executing the divine oracle" and "power of divine chastisement," the scene of Lilian protecting her in front of Sister Fina flashed through Clara's mind.
Lady Saintess wasted her precious mana all for my sake!
“Lady Saintess, please hurry back to your room to rest!”
Clara's eyes reddened. Puffing out her slight chest, she solemnly guaranteed:
“I'll keep an eye on things here! I swear I will distribute every single bowl fairly without missing anyone! If anyone dares cause trouble, I'll... I'll go call the guards!”
“Good child, thank you for your hard work.”
Lilian patted Clara's head fondly, then under the gazes of over a hundred believers, she decorously retired back into the abbey's inner hall.
The moment she rounded the corner into the hallway, out of sight from outsiders, Lilian ripped off the collar button choking her neck and bolted back to the Saintess's private bedchamber.
Bang!
The door slammed shut heavily, the lock deadbolting with a crisp click.
“Phew, that nearly suffocated me!”
Lilian let out a long breath of stale air, collapsing like a broken doll onto the less-than-soft bed.
She roughly kicked off her little leather shoes, pulled her skirt hem up to the base of her thighs, fished out the last two black fruits from her inner pocket, popped them into her mouth, and chewed viciously.
“Day in and day out, on top of dealing with that perverted priest who steals stockings, I have to go flash fake smiles at those believers. If this keeps up, I'm going to end up with a split personality.”
She rubbed her face, which was cramping from smiling.
No way.
Since I've already obtained the Prismatic Augment [Coronation], why should the real me personally work like a dog out front?
I'm not a full-time babysitter for this abbey!
At this thought, Lilian took a deep breath, her mind shifting slightly:
“Come out, Little White.”
Buzz.
A tall, slender figure identical to Lilian emerged from her shadow.
“Staring at my own face in a daze really feels a bit eerie.”
Lilian sat up from the bed, reaching out to poke Little White's soft, squishy cheek.
“Very good.”
Lilian grinned with a wicked smile:
“Starting today, all those thankless, dirty chores like morning classes, prayers, granting audiences to believers, and handing out bread to poor wretches are all fucking yours.”
This was practically an AFK level-booster tailored specifically for her!
“Little White handles front-of-house business to farm Faith Points, while the real me slacks off and sleeps in the shadows.”
Lilian lay back down on the bed, pulling the rough cloth quilt over herself, mumbling indistinctly as she chewed her black fruit:
“Labor freedom... now this is real life.”
...
That night.
The church's retreat room.
“Aris, you must help me kill that little bitch!”
Fina spoke weakly, but the malice in her eyes could not be hidden:
“I'm certain she did it on purpose!”
Looking at her disfigured face, Aris felt a surge of disgust in his heart:
“She is a Chastisement Saintess now. You know as well as I do how much weight a Chastisement Saintess carries in the Church!”
Fina's eyes filled with disbelief:
“Then are you telling me to just let it go?! Look at the hideous state I'm in now!”
She shrieked uncontrollably:
“I've been with you for so many years, and this is how you treat me?! If you don't help me kill her, I'll tell everyone about all the filthy things you've done!”
Aris's gaze turned icy cold. Approaching Fina, he reached out and choked her neck.
Seeing Aris's sinister eyes, Fina's pupils trembled violently.
“No, Aris, I was wrong... I truly know I was wrong... Spare me...”
Fina struggled for a brief moment before going still.
Aris wiped his hands with a handkerchief, casting a glance toward the direction of Lilian's bedroom:
“Indeed, my little Lilian, you really have changed.”
Rate on N.U.
