“But I can't stay here all day,” Freya said. “I'll probably need to head to the Church of the Earth every now and then.”
Hearing this, Euphemia sized Freya up and down. “Are you sure about that? Passing by this place once or twice could be dismissed as a coincidence. But if you come too often—with your white hair, running around barefoot with your eyes closed, and being so incredibly pretty—it'll be hard not to draw attention.”
Freya blinked. “Then can't I just get a larger black cloak to wrap myself in?”
“But a suspicious figure in a black robe during broad daylight is also super weird, okay?” Euphemia countered.
After a brief pause, Euphemia sighed. “How about this? I'll lend you my Invisibility Cloak. You can wear it when you go out.”
“Huh?” While Freya was still in a daze, Euphemia had already pulled out the thin cloak and handed it to her. Freya accepted it blankly. “You're just... lending it to me like that?”
“Yeah, why? Is something wrong?” Euphemia asked matter-of-factly.
“No, it's nothing.” Freya draped the cloak over herself. “Anyway, thank you. I'll return it to you as soon as I'm done.”
Soon after, Freya quickly departed. After casting a reinforcement buff on herself, she began walking back to the Church of the Earth. Along the way, she couldn't help but wonder, Is Euphemia too trusting? She lent me such an incredible item without a second thought. Is she really not worried I might just run off with it?
Meanwhile, back in the rented apartment, Euphemia was also silently muttering to herself, Is Freya too unguarded? She actually agreed to move in with a stranger she only met a day ago?
Back to Freya. Sometime later, as she approached the vicinity of the Church of the Earth, she took off the Invisibility Cloak and walked straight toward the church.
Unlike before, however, many devotees dressed in green robes were now standing at the entrance of the Church of the Earth. Freya walked over with a curious expression. Upon seeing her, they all wore expressions of awe and worship.
“The Archbishop was right. Such a pure aura, and so many sincere blessings...”
“It seems I'm still not working hard enough. I need to help even more people!”
“Lady Saintess!”
“Mother!”
Everything had sounded quite normal at first, but near the end, Freya suddenly heard someone call out “Mother.” She immediately turned to look. It was a muscular man standing nearly one point nine meters tall, gazing at her with a look of utter devotion. She was instantly dumbfounded.
Huh? Wait, this isn't right. Isn't this some weird modern-day slang from my past life? How is this a thing in this world too?
“Uh... I don't think an underage girl can be your mother...” Freya said, feeling rather awkward.
However, the devotee wore a puzzled expression, seemingly not understanding what Freya meant. After a brief pause, he said, “Your very existence is a miracle, as if the Mother Goddess herself has descended. Since the Mother Goddess is the mother of all living things, then you, Lady Saintess, are naturally the mother of us all!”
When he spoke these words, there was not a single trace of desire or greed in his tone. Instead, there was only the purest adoration. The way he looked at Freya was truly like a child looking at the mother who raised him.
This actually rendered Freya completely speechless, leaving her at a loss for words. Right at that moment, the Archbishop stepped out from the crowd and said to Freya, “Your Highness Saintess, you have returned.”
Freya quickly walked over and said, “Shall we head back to the previous room to finish our discussion?”
The Archbishop nodded. “Very well.”
Along the way, he took the opportunity to explain, “Atticus, that devotee back there, was abandoned by his parents when he was a child. The church took him in, and even his name was given to him by the church. Naturally, he views the three gods worshipped by the church—the Mother Goddess as his mother, and the Earth God as his father.”
“Your Highness, you walk the Path of Life, which symbolizes the Mother Goddess. In his eyes, you are currently no different from the Mother Goddess herself descending to the mortal realm, which is why he calls you Mother. And it's not just him; the situation is actually quite similar in the eyes of the vast majority of our devotees.”
“So if someone suddenly calls you Mother, please do not be surprised. Just return a gentle smile.”
Freya fell silent for a moment. Well, she had indeed been overthinking things. In the eyes of these devotees, the word “Mother” was the purest honorific, representing gratitude and respect, without any inappropriate undertones whatsoever.
Suddenly, a whimsical thought struck Freya. “Then if I had chosen the Path of the Earth, which symbolizes the Earth God, would they have called me Father?”
The Archbishop replied earnestly, “Naturally.”
Freya: “...”
After a brief pause, Freya asked again, “What if it were the Path of the Giant, which symbolizes the Heavenly Father?”
Surely they wouldn't call me Grandfather, right?
To Freya's surprise, the Archbishop answered with a straight face, “The Heavenly Father, who supports the heavens, does not descend to the mortal realm. Thus, you would simply be addressed as the ordinary Her Highness Saintess, without any other extra titles.”
“I see.” Freya nodded, but her mind was already wandering. A two-meter-tall, muscular Saintess? That sounds incredibly powerful.
Soon, they returned to the room from before. Freya was the first to speak as she recalled something. “By the way, I still don't know your name.”
“You may call me Pantheon,” the Archbishop replied.
Freya: “...”
Now that is a powerful name!
Freya introduced herself as well, then continued, “Now, about my original purpose for coming to the Church of the Earth.”
Speaking of which, the Archbishop finally realized that he still didn't know why Freya had come to the church in the first place before he had dragged her in and made her down four potions. He immediately said, “My apologies.”
“Uh... there's no need to apologize for that,” Freya said. “Anyway, the general situation is that I have foreseen a major disaster that will sweep through the entire city in twenty-nine days, and countless people will lose their lives in it.”
“The mastermind behind this disaster is a Rank Five General of the War Pathway. Can the Church of the Earth help me deal with this enemy?”
The Archbishop's face turned serious. “Of course!”
Without asking for a reason, without inquiring about the details, and without even questioning whether Freya's words were true, the Archbishop agreed immediately. And it wasn't just him; none of the devotees would have any objections. The words “a disaster foreseen by the Saintess” were more than enough to convince everyone.
“What exactly do we need to do?” the Archbishop asked.
Freya thought for a moment and said, “If possible, send some devotees to wander around the city and use their Heart Perception to see if they can locate that Rank Five General. Of course, if they do find him, they must not alert him. Just memorize his appearance and let me know!”
The Archbishop nodded. “Understood.”
Once Freya finished speaking, the Archbishop added, “As for the Rank Five advancement ritual and potion, I have already sent people to make preparations. Starting today, the Church of the Earth will distribute free food on a larger scale under the pretext of the ‘Birth of the Saintess,’ and we will hold a grand gathering fifteen days from now that everyone can attend.”
“At that time, you will appear at the gathering as the Saintess, display some extraordinary abilities—a minor ‘miracle’—and then I will attribute all the good deeds performed by the church during this period to you. By then, the requirements for the most sincere blessings of five hundred people will be met, and you can drink the potion at the end of the gathering.”
Although this sounded slightly unethical—since Freya hadn't actually done anything while the other members of the church did all the good deeds, only for those deeds to be credited to her—she still did not object to the plan.
After all, she was currently in a simulation, and as a pragmatist with a highly flexible moral compass, she naturally prioritized efficiency above all else.
The Archbishop immediately followed up, “I have also commissioned someone to tailor a beautiful Saintess outfit. However, this might take some time. Once it is finished, it must be sent to the Special Service for inspection before it can be delivered to you.”
After all, as the Saintess, Freya certainly couldn't wear the exact same clothes as the other devotees when she made her appearance at the gathering. A distinct outfit was necessary to highlight her status as the Saintess, after all.
However, Freya caught a key phrase. She asked in confusion, “Wait, why does it have to be sent to the Special Service for inspection?”
The relationship between the Church of the Earth and the Special Service could be summarized as “minding their own business.” They usually had no contact with each other, which was actually something Freya found puzzling. Since both sides were good guys, why didn't they cooperate?
The Law Pathway had decent combat strength in the early stages, while the Earth Pathway's early-stage support capabilities were exceptionally strong. Standing on the ground with closed eyes and activating Heart Perception allowed for highly efficient tracking of extraordinaries, after all. Then, the Special Service could go make the arrests. Wouldn't that be great?
Take the Obsidian Incident that was currently giving the Special Service a headache. The city was crawling with Devil Pathway extraordinaries who popped up to cause trouble every now and then. If the Special Service partnered up with the Church of the Earth to patrol together, wouldn't their efficiency double?
Yet, the Special Service had not done so. Furthermore, under this premise of mutual non-interference, the fact that the Church of the Earth had to seek approval from the Special Service just to design an outfit was also extremely bizarre.
The Archbishop sighed. “Because the outfits designed by the church in the past apparently didn't align with their sense of propriety. When our devotees walked outside, the police would immediately arrest them. Once the Special Service found out, they came to negotiate with me, requesting that we add more fabric and redesign them. Furthermore, we are not allowed to wear any newly designed outfits outside without their permission.”
“Didn't align with their sense of propriety? Requesting more fabric and a redesign?” Freya picked up on the crucial detail. “Wait, what exactly is the Church of the Earth's sense of style?”
The Archbishop said as if it were the most natural thing in the world, “Clothing is inherently a form of constraint on life. We should embrace freedom, so naturally, the less of it, the better! Your Highness, you are also on the Earth Pathway now, so you should be well aware that wearing clothes is not a very comfortable thing, right?”
Freya was utterly shocked. “Even if it's uncomfortable, you still have to wear them! So you guys were literally running around naked and getting arrested by the police?!”
The Archbishop said with a straight face, “No, we weren't. Although there indeed were instances of devotees being arrested for not wearing clothes, that particular time was truly just because the robes had too little fabric.”
Freya was even more astounded. “So there really were devotees running around naked outside?!”
With that, Freya couldn't help but sigh helplessly. She pressed a hand to her forehead, the exasperation practically overflowing from her lovely green eyes.
How should she put it? Nobody was perfect. Everyone in the Church of the Earth was a kind-hearted person, and it was understandable for good people to have their own little quirks. Or rather, since they were a religious group, “doing things that ordinary people found abnormal” was, in itself, quite normal.
But a split second later, the helplessness in Freya's eyes turned to sheer panic. “Wait, what does the outfit you prepared for me look like?!”
She absolutely did not want to debut before so many people at the gathering looking like a pervert! Even if she was currently in a simulation, it was still a hard no!
Freya quickly said, “Since it's the outfit I'll be wearing, can I take a look at it in advance and offer some design input?”
The Archbishop naturally didn't refuse her request and provided an address. “Your Highness, you may go there and offer your suggestions at any time.”
Only then did Freya breathe a sigh of relief. Seeing that they had covered almost everything, the Archbishop took out a small holy emblem and a book, handing them to Freya. He said, “In any case, thank you very much for being willing to join the Church of the Earth, Your Highness. With you here, we will surely be able to perform more good deeds and help more people in need in the future. Let us begin all of this by helping you advance to Rank Five and stopping that General.”
The book was, of course, the teachings of the Church of the Earth. As for the holy emblem, it was something every official member of the church possessed. The pattern on the emblem depicted a cluster of sprouting plants taking root.
However, Freya noticed that the holy emblem in her hand seemed slightly different from the one the Archbishop wore on his chest. His was just a standard silver piece, whereas hers was colorful, with gold patterns along the edges and a vibrant green depiction of the sprouting plant.
The Archbishop explained, “While I was praying this afternoon, the statue of the Mother Goddess suddenly manifested a miracle and responded to my prayer. She said She was already aware of your deeds, and then She bestowed this special holy emblem.”
“In the future, even if you go to other cities, any member of the Church of the Earth who sees this emblem will instantly recognize your identity as the Saintess.”
To put it simply, the Archbishop had made a report to the deity, and the deity had actually responded. Did this special holy emblem mean the Mother Goddess had truly recognized her status as the Saintess?
Freya stared at the beautiful holy emblem in her hand, her mouth slightly agape. So, regardless of what the situation had been before, she was now officially certified as a genuine, bona fide 【True Saintess】!?
Rate on N.U.
