Hush Now, Saintess!

Chapter 49

Translator: Yonnee

—

A shiny white mineral.

As two people stared at it, their eyes sparkled like explorers who had newly discovered this treasure.

“This is what the Saintess had risked herself to obtain…”

Carefully lifting the sacred relic, the high priest spoke with a very emotional tone.

“It wasn’t that big of a deal.”

Roella smiled awkwardly as she replied, but the high priest shook his head firmly.

“You don’t have to be modest. I’ve heard about it from the imperial family.”

No, but. What the hell did you hear.

No way…

‘Is this the thing that the Duke mentioned earlier…?’

Roella was right.

“After you heard the almighty Luqera’s voice, you took the risk to retrieve the sacred relic, is what I was told.”

“Kind of, but…”

“I was also told that you overcame such perils that had put your life in danger many times as you were being chased by bandits. Nevertheless, you showed such unyielding strength, saying that you can never hand the sacred relic over to them…!”

That’s not exactly what happened though.

‘Me? Unyielding…?’

Why was it that her memories of that time and the rumors being spread about it were seemingly getting further and further away from each other…

‘This can’t go on.’

This was certainly better than negative rumors, but it was also burdensome to be at the center of such inflated hearsay.

“No, it wasn’t that great.”

Therefore, Roella humbly denied the allegations.

“Besides that, this isn’t the almighty Luqera’s sacred relic.”

She already knew that the two of them would be a little disappointed once they’d find out that this wasn’t actually Luqera’s sacred relic.

The god, Luqera.

And the god of evil, Arhopev.

When faced with a belonging of the evil god, the best course of action was the get rid of it rather than to let it stay here. Such a dangerous object would be the furthest from being helpful.

It’s not something that could be kept, so it’d just be useless.

“What?”

“What do you mean…”

Sure enough, the two of them froze up.

It was an expected reaction. Roella also schooled her features into a serious expression to match the atmosphere.

“Something about it is strange, so I looked into it. Sure enough, this is not Luqera’s sacred relic, but Arhopev’s.”

“Is that true?”

“Yes. Ah, of course, I’ve purified all its energy before, so it shouldn’t be too dangerous anymore. But still, it’s better to get rid of it…”

“Huhp.”

“Purified…?”

The two of them interrupted Roella with their murmurs.

This was a more rigid reaction than she originally expected, so she faltered for a moment.

What? Was she not supposed to purify it or something?

“Should I have refrained from purifying it?”

“No, not at all. It’s not that, but…”

Victor answered quickly, placing a hand over his forehead.

And then.

“I’m just so surprised that you recognized it.”

“And in addition to recognizing its true properties, you even purified it. How truly remarkable.”

The two priests murmured one after another.

“Is it really a huge deal?”

Perplexed, Roella was taken aback. She could only ask with confusion.

Only then did Victor recall their ongoing progress in class.

〈 Basic Theology for Children, Vol. 2 〉

‘I see. Your Eminence doesn’t even know how great your actions are.’

Hoh. Still though, she’s still at that level in theology.

Wasn’t it even greater that she managed such a feat?

Putting aside his admiration for a moment, Victor reassumed his role as the saintess’s teacher and began to explain.

“In truth, it’s difficult to recognize what kind of energy a sacred relic has.”

“W-Why?”

“From the very beginning, the two kinds of energy are very similar, to the point that it’s incomprehensible how the two gods are hostile to each other.”

“……”

“That aside, the energy contained in a sacred relic is even more difficult to distinguish. It’s difficult not only for general priests, but even for a high-ranking priest like myself.”

“Yes, it’s just as Victor explained. That’s why, do you now know how great it is for you to instinctively distinguish the energy in this sacred relic? It’s a truly remarkable feat, Saintess! As expected, you stand above on a different level as the person chosen by the almighty Luqera!”

Far from their admiration withering, Roella’s words just ramped it up even more. Roella shook her hands in a hurry.

“Oh, no. It’s not like that at all—”

“And you are also so modest!”

“No, seriously, it’s not like that! It’s just a pure coincidence—”

“Really, you are so humble!”

Ugh. Okay. Stop talking.

Roella kept quiet this time.

‘What should I say…’

She had been cautiously knocking on all the stone bridges she’s encountered thus far, but this single action was akin to just breaking it all with a forklift.

If she were to utter the wrong thing here, it felt like she’d be rushing in with not only a forklift, but a full-on tank that would reduce all those stone bridges to dust.

However, keeping silent here was not going to be a good choice either.

‘Goodness.’

Despite her intentions, however, the high priest went on to interpret her silent struggle in a different direction.

‘It’s just as Victor said, indeed. This isn’t just mere humility. This is…’

The high priest had been smiling all this time, but at this moment, he became as serious as he could be.

And then—

“Please keep your chin up, Saintess. There is no reason for you to feel timid.”

Out of the blue, he started consoling Roella.