For Sale. Fallen Lady. Never Used.

Only after receiving the promise to borrow the chapel for a day did I leave the audience chamber.

Albaor and Gilbert stayed behind, probably to discuss the return of the priests who had been dispatched.

Instead, Helena guided us to the VIP room.

Iris had been nervously fidgeting with her lips as if she had many questions but couldn’t ask them here. I gently pinched her cheek.

“Eek!”

“Hoo…”

For some reason, seeing Iris fluttering and shrieking made me feel calm.

After confirming that the tearful Iris had run to Elisha for comfort, I looked ahead.

A neat black nun’s habit. But it couldn’t hide her curvy hips.

With each step, the slight side slit drew my eyes unconsciously.

…It reminded me of the time I played with Faye in a nun’s habit.

Shaking my head to dispel the distracting thoughts, I called out to the staggering Helena.

“Excuse me, Sister Helena?”

“Yes? What is it, Brother?”

Her voice responded normally, but her complexion was pale.

“Um, are you alright?”

“Uh… Honestly, I’m not.”

Helena nodded with a vague smile.

“First, I’m embarrassed that I had such a strange misunderstanding, and then you suddenly revealed confidential information I didn’t even know as a saintess candidate. On top of that, you said you’d recommend me as a saintess… Honestly, it’s too overwhelming.”

“Ah? That makes sense.”

I didn’t know if it was the right example, but it was like a newbie accidentally listening to veterans discussing spoilers while speculating about settings. It was naturally confusing.

While I hesitated for a moment, Helena awkwardly laughed and continued.

“Hehe… Brother Yandel asked me to join the party in exchange for the medallion, right?”

“That’s right. We needed a priestess since we only have magicians.”

“There must be many other capable people, but you specifically chose me… You must have intended to make me a saintess from the beginning. Maybe even approaching me was…”

“Well…”

I momentarily lost my words and hesitated, but Helena chuckled and shook her head.

“Oh, I spoke as if I were blaming you too much earlier. Actually, it’s the opposite. I just wasn’t confident that I deserved the position of saintess… Recently, various things happened.”

“By ‘various things,’ do you mean avoiding me?”

“Uh… yes.”

Helena nodded with a flushed face, as if recalling something.

I shrugged and spoke lightly to her.

“Don’t worry too much about that. It’s not me who will make you a saintess, but the Righteous Radiance, right?”

“The Righteous Radiance…”

“Yes. A saintess is an apostle of a god. The closest being to a god, the representative, and the first daughter. No matter how much I ask, the decision ultimately lies with the Righteous Radiance.”

Well, if it was Helena, she’d be appointed without any problems.

There were two other saintess candidates in the Church of Righteous Radiance. In H&A, depending on the choices, they could also become saintesses.

But there was a significant difference between those two and Helena.

The other two only gained the qualities of a saintess after resolving their individual episodes and issues, reaching a sort of enlightenment.

Helena, on the other hand, had the qualities of a saintess from the start.

The most important thing for an apostle of a god was not combat power, the amount of divine power, or deep faith.

These three were important, but they naturally followed once you became an apostle and were directly connected to the god.

So the most crucial thing was how similar their mindset was.

Since their spirit was connected to a transcendent being, many people feel a sense of dissonance.

The method to judge this was simple. Each god had already kindly left their thoughts and will in writing.

Doctrine.

One must not only understand and accept the doctrine of their god but also have a mindset that closely aligns with it.

That’s why I didn’t want to take the position of an apostle.

It wasn’t that I’d mentally collapse if I was incompatible, but having someone nagging in my head 24/7 wasn’t appealing.

Living the rest of my life almost forcefully like the Righteous Radiance wasn’t for me.

Moreover, since I was on the magician’s path, my abilities would become ambiguous if I switched to a saint.

But look at Helena.

That battle maniac who rushes at cultists and monsters half-crazed! And her blind hatred towards evil!

She might have learned to control herself to some extent, but her essence hadn’t changed.

The reason for her restraint was to eliminate enemies more efficiently.

Although the followers of Righteous Radiance were all extreme and rigid against evil, no one was as genuine as Helena.

Thus, unless the other two candidates awakened by themselves, Helena would likely take the position of saintess without issue.

The problem was that even if the Righteous Radiance confirmed her as the saintess, there might not be enough power to bestow upon her.

…But I had some thoughts about that.

While I was internally reviewing my plans, Helena, who had been muttering “Righteous Radiance’s will…” with a serious face, nodded her head.

“Thank you, Brother. You’re right. It’s our Lord who decides if I’m fit, not me.”

“Exactly. So don’t stress or worry too much; just join us at the chapel tomorrow.”

“Yes!”

Finally, Helena’s face brightened.

While others already knew to some extent, Helena truly knew nothing, so I was a bit worried.

But it seemed she’d be fine.

Just as I was feeling satisfied and smiling, Helena slowed her pace and turned to us.

“I’m sorry. I promised to guide you, but I’ve been walking silently. Would you like a brief explanation about this Great Church?”

“Of course.”

“I-I also have a lot of questions.”

“Great! Great! Today, I’ll be the student instead of the teacher!”

Faye, who was uncomfortable with the tense atmosphere, quickly agreed, unlike Carla, Elisha, and Iris, who seemed deep in thought.

Iona, who was innocently admiring the surroundings, also joined Helena with excitement.

Helena flinched momentarily but smiled softly and pointed to the paintings filling the corridor walls and ceiling.

“As you might have guessed, these paintings depict events from the War of the Gods. Originally, they illustrated how the Righteous Radiance first met people and established the church, but after the Great War, they were painted over to emphasize vigilance against Evil Gods and cultists.”

“Yeah, I figured. Some scenes looked familiar. For instance, that one! The scene where the Righteous Radiance tears apart the Apostle of Vile Proliferation? I fought there too, so I know it well! Vampires have a slightly different form of lust, making them perfect to counter the Vile Proliferation!”

“Ah, I’ve heard of that. Because of your constant thirst for blood, you have a resistance to mental attacks and can resolve lust simply by drinking blood…”

“Exactly! Since battlefields are full of blood, we are practically immune to high-level cultist powers! Well… we did struggle when they reached apostle levels, almost driving our thirst into a frenzy.”

“That’s when the Righteous Radiance appeared.”

With an enthusiastic expression, Iona clapped her hands and pointed at a corner of the painting, while Helena proudly lifted her arm.

Just as Iona said, the vampires seemed to be in agony, clutching their heads.

And a gigantic white lion descended from the sky.

With a single roar, it subdued all miscellaneous enemies and, after a few clashes, easily tore off the wings of an incubus who appeared to be the Apostle of Vile Proliferation.

After falling to the ground, the lion shredded the incubus through a one-sided assault.

Though some artistic exaggeration might be involved, it probably wasn’t much different in reality.

The Righteous Radiance was a particularly strong god, and the Vile Proliferation was weak in direct combat.

Given the disparity between a god and an apostle, it was almost a given outcome.

While imagining the scene and listening to Helena’s explanation,

“Huh?”

I paused at something depicted in a corner of the painting.

“Oof… Why did you stop, Master?”

Carla, who was following me, bumped into my back and asked, rubbing her nose. I pointed to the spot I had been looking at.

A woman with strikingly red hair, impaling grotesque monsters with a spear.

“Isn’t that Professor Iona?”

“Oh… now that you mention it, it does look like her.”

Helena glanced at the direction I was pointing and giggled, nodding her head.

“It probably is. Professor Iona was famous even back then.”

“Hehe… see? see? I’m that impressive, Yandel!”

Iona struck a peculiar pose, her eyes gleaming, seemingly awaiting praise or adulation.

But what surprised me was something else.

“Wow… so Professor Iona is really old. If you’re 372 years old, rounding up makes it 400, so I guess being recorded here makes sense.”

“…That’s your takeaway?!”

Iona jumped in place, expressing her surprise.

Even after that, we looked for Iris and Iona in the paintings, received various explanations from Helena, who had become our curator, and finally arrived at the VIP room.

And morning dawned.

The time to first contact this world’s god had arrived.

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