“W-What do you an, an expedition?”
To Alia, it sounded like a bolt from the blue.
Her days had been peaceful, aside from the annoying walks she had to take at the training ground every day.
And now, an expedition?
“Yes, Alia. It’s ti for you to go on an expedition too.”
“B-But, Saintess Presia, I’m still too i-inexperienced for an expedition.”
“In my eyes, you’re ready. You just need a bit more confidence.”
“May I speak for a mont?”
“Go ahead, Paladin Paulen.”
“Has a monster appeared that’s serious enough to require the next Saintess herself to step in?”
An expedition.
It ant nuns or clergy traveling through various regions for training.
Saintess Presia had also once gone on an expedition, which was both a journey of discipline and a campaign to subjugate the calamity known as the Black Dragon.
Presia gently denied Paulen’s concern with a soft smile.
“It’s nothing like that. I simply think it’s ti for Alia to visit various places and train. Don’t you also think she needs more encounters, Paladin Paulen?”
“I agree with that.”
“Paulen!?”
“As the future Saintess, she needs to get used to eting many people, doesn’t she?”
“Th-That’s true, but...”
Alia lowered her head, unable to co up with a proper rebuttal.
‘Wait, even if it’s an expedition, that doesn’t necessarily an it’s far away.’
Alia may have had low self-esteem, but that didn’t an she was always pessimistic.
‘Yeah! Even if it’s an expedition, I won’t be going too far! I can’t stay away from the Holy City for long as the next Saintess, and more importantly, Jiggly is with !’
“Saintess Presia, where am I going for the expedition?”
“It hasn’t been decided yet.”
“What?”
“Go wherever you want to go, Alia. And co back when you feel you’ve grown.”
“N-No way...!”
For the second ti, lightning struck Alia from a clear sky.
Being told to leave with no destination, and to return only when she believed she’d grown.
For soone with low self-esteem like Alia, imagining herself as soone who had grown was nearly impossible.
As Alia stood there with her mouth wide open in shock, the viewers cheered at Presia’s words.
▶ A journey!
▶ Finally, we’re leaving that boring Holy City.
▶ The duel content was getting old.
▶ It wasn’t even flashy prey like what you’d find in those places where people call themselves Alexandros II—kinda boring tbh🤥.
[Just Slam First] ▶ Right! You gotta go out to really see if you’ve gotten stronger! Fighting those people was just too bland!
[Thread-Lady] ▶ I can already imagine how excited our Squishy is getting~.
[Gothic Luxury Bone] ▶ Hoho, we’ll get to see various scenery now.
They didn’t understand the purpose of the expedition, but at least they knew she was going far away.
Even the viewers who were excited by new content like tentacle training or dueling Paulen had grown tired of seeing the sa thing every day.
“But Saintess Presia! Even if I’ve been chosen as the next Saintess… is it really possible for soone like to grow?”
“I think that kind of thinking is mistaken, Alia. You’re not just inheriting my position... no, you’ve been a proper Saintess ever since the mont God decided it.”
“Ugh.”
Presia’s words were moving, but Alia still couldn’t fully understand.
Then Paulen spoke to Presia again.
“Saintess Presia. Forgive for saying this, but Saintess Alia improves with each passing day. She just refuses to acknowledge it because she’s too strict with herself.”
“P-Paulen?”
“Is that really true?”
“Yes. So instead of a vague expedition, please give her a clear destination. I believe that alone will help her grow imnsely.”
‘He really does believe in Alia, doesn’t he, Paladin Paulen.’
Presia nodded with a warm smile.
“Very well, then…”
After thinking for a mont, Presia told Alia her destination.
“Stay at the Magic Tower for one month and offer your help there.”
“The Magic Tower? But that place…”
The Magic Tower.
It was the headquarters of all mages and the training ground for countless new ones.
Though you didn’t have to learn magic there, there was a saying that if you wanted to beco a greater mage, you had to head to the Magic Tower.
That’s how symbolic it was for mages.
“The Magic Tower is full of people with broad knowledge and great curiosity.”
In other words, it was filled with people always doing one experint after another.
“In that process, there are many who need God’s words and touch.”
In other words, many get ntally or physically wrecked by fatigue or accidents during those experints.
“There are also many unique personalities there, so I’m sure it will help Alia grow.”
In other words, seeing all the weirdos might actually boost Alia’s self-esteem.
“So, Paladin Paulen, and Jiggly, go with Alia to the Magic Tower.”
“Understood, Saintess Presia.”
Alia couldn’t refuse the instruction, especially after speaking so well this ti.
***
In a forest dotted with trees.
Godrick’s party and Nellin were fighting orcs.
“Hey! It went that way!”
“L-Leave it to ! Haaah!”
The orc changed direction due to Skol’s interference.
Def didn’t miss the chance and swung his twin axes at the orc’s neck.
Slash!
With a single blow, the orc’s head was cleanly severed and hit the ground.
“Nice!”
“W-We did it!”
While Skol and Def were celebrating,
A short distance away, Godrick was facing another orc alone.
GRAAAAH!
The orc let out a roar of rage and swung its club at Godrick.
‘Compared to Sister Marin, you’re way slower!’
In the past, he might have dodged that attack with exaggerated movents out of nervousness.
But now, he calmly avoided the club with only minimal effort.
“Hrrgh!”
SHHHHH!
-GROOAAR!
He didn’t miss the opening and accurately sliced through the orc’s neck.
The orc, with its neck half-severed, spewed a torrent of blood and collapsed on the spot.
anwhile, in another area—
“Aim carefully. If you miss, you’ll get scolded.”
“Heh, I’ll show you my skills.”
With Nellin watching, Hawane aid his bow at an orc that was lumbering around.
A mont after the bowstring was drawn—
Fwhoosh!
The arrow cut through the wind and pierced through the orc’s neck.
-!
The orc clutched its neck and fell over.
“Heh, excellent marksmanship.”
Smack!
“Ow!”
Drunk on his own skill after taking the orc down in a single shot, Hawane was t with a knuckle strike on the head from Nellin.
“I told you to aim for the head, not the neck.”
“If I can take it down in one shot, does the part really matter, Sister Marin?”
“Don’t talk back.”
“Ugh, she turns into a total boor when it cos to archery…”
Smack!
“Gah!”
Hit on the sa spot again, Hawane crouched down, covering his head in pain.
“Pfft, hey! You mouthed off at Sister Marin again and got whacked, huh?”
“Skol, d-don’t laugh too much.”
“Of course I’m gonna laugh! You got smacked trying to act cool and talk back!”
“Hawane, even if you’re bored, don’t nitpick Sister Marin’s words. It’ll only make your head hurt.”
The rest of the party, having taken care of their own orcs, returned to join Hawane and Nellin.
“Did you finish your hunt?”
In response to Nellin’s question, the three grinned confidently.
“Of course! Orcs aren’t even a challenge for us now!”
“Hehe, it was easier thanks to Sister Marin’s guidance!”
“If it weren’t for her, there’s no way we could’ve beco this strong.”
“Nice words. Hey, Hawane, how many orcs do we have left to hunt?”
“Hehe, four more.”
“Four, huh.”
Nellin took the bow from her back.
She then calmly drew four arrows from her quiver and, shifting her stance, fired in different directions.
Fwhoosh! Fwhoosh! Thwip! Thwip!
After slinging her bow back over her shoulder, Nellin spoke to Godrick’s group.
“Go collect the evidence.”
“Yes, Sister Marin!”
Without hesitation, Godrick’s group split off toward the directions where the arrows had flown.
Soon after—
Each of them found a fallen orc, its head pierced by an arrow, and cut off a body part as proof of the kill before returning.
“Hehe, Sister Marin’s archery skills are still godlike.”
“A-Amazing!”
At Hawane and Def’s praise, Nellin rubbed under her nose with her index finger.
“I’ve got years of archery under my belt. This is just the basics.”
“I’ve t a few elves, but I’ve never seen one with skills like Sister Marin’s.”
“How old do you have to be to get that good...”
Smack!
Nellin thumped Skol on the head.
“Ow!”
“You don’t guess a lady’s age.”
“But elves don’t care about age, right?!”
“Who said that nonsense? Even my granny gets super petty if you bring up her age.”
“Who’s your granny?”
“Our village elder.”
“Even elf elders care about age, huh...”
“Pfft, I guess elves and humans worry about the sa things.”
“Of course.”
Having finished off the orcs, the group returned to the city.
“Yes, I’ve confird the spoils. With this, Sister Marin is eligible to take the C-Rank promotion exam.”
“Alright! I can finally rank up!”
Nellin grinned, showing her teeth.
Though the process hadn’t been hard and training Godrick’s party kept her from getting bored, she still wanted to rise in rank quickly.
“Congratulations, Sister Marin!”
“Hahaha! You guys worked hard too. I bet it was a hassle.”
“Hehe, if we’re getting trained, it’d be shaless to say it was a hassle too.”
“You little—sotis you do say nice things! Ah, but we’re still doing full training today.”
“S-Sister Marin, after training, let’s eat sothing good! To celebrate!”
“Def! That’s a great idea!”
While Nellin celebrated with Skol, Hawane, and Def, Godrick, as always, asked the receptionist—
“Hey, still no news or anything?”
He was asking if there was any update regarding the sli.
“I’m sorry, but there’s still nothing noteworthy.”
“...”
Several weeks had passed since they’d t Nellin, yet there were still no rumors about the sli reaching Godrick’s party.
It was around the ti when the sli was in the Holy City.
The sli had shown itself to people multiple tis within the Grand Cathedral.
However, the followers did not go around spreading that a sli was inside the cathedral.
After all, they didn’t know exactly why the next Saintess, Alia, was traveling with a sli.
And people were hesitant to spread the idea that a monster was inside the Grand Cathedral.
Even those who had seen the flyers at the Adventurers’ Guild inside the Holy City—
Would never have guessed that the rare and unusual sli on the flyer was the sa one being carried around by the Saintess.
Because it was hard to imagine that the Saintess would take soone else’s sli.
After finishing their usual training, Godrick’s party and Nellin splurged a bit and had a more luxurious al than usual.
‘Ti to bring it up.’
While training Godrick’s party, Nellin had been thinking over sothing she wanted to say.
“Hey. Once I get promoted, how about you guys co travel with ?”
““Huh?””
User Comments
0 comments from readers