episode_0104

The central church of the kingdom’s capital, Pifnel.

The bishops of the seven churches were all gathered to select a new saint.

Unlike the heroes chosen by the goddess’s prophecy, the selection process for the saint was heavily influenced by the bishops.

The two factions that had previously failed to select a saint had been stripped of all their rights in this round of selection.

Now, only five factions remained.

The bishops were discussing the list of saint candidates and debating how suitable each candidate was for the role of saint.

“This time, let’s select a proper saint and choose a real hero.”

“We must be more cautious than ever.”

As the bishops of the five factions reviewed the qualifications of the saint candidates, the bishop of the Castia diocese, which Selena, the expelled saint, belonged to, watched with a narrowed brow, unable to hide his discomfort.

“Our faction’s selection of the saint should have been perfect. Saint Selena was a child with deeper faith than anyone else. It’s still unbelievable that such a child distorted the goddess’s prophecy and chose a fake hero.”

The bishop of the Freya faction, which the previous saint, Sistina, who had relinquished her role as saint and fled, belonged to, also had a complicated expression.

Due to the disappearance of not only the saint but also the bishops in the Freya faction, a new bishop had recently been appointed.

In other factions, the Freya faction was often mocked as the “heretical faction” for losing not only the saint but also the bishops.

So, the man who had become the new bishop couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable with this tarnished reputation.

“This time, the saint is…”

Before the discussion on selecting the saint could conclude, voices were heard among the bishops of the five factions.

But at that moment, the entire central church building began to shake with a loud rumble.

Kugugugung- Kugugugugu-!

“What! What is happening!”

The floor shook, the central statue of the goddess collapsed, and the church’s windows shattered.

Priests from outside rushed in and shouted.

“It’s an earthquake! Bishops! It’s an earthquake!”

“What… of all times…”

“You must evacuate immediately!”

Kugugugugu-!

The shaking intensified, and the bishops hurriedly led the priests out to safety.

After the earthquake passed, the central church, which had been devastated, was a horrific sight.

“What in the world is happening…”

“The goddess must be punishing us…”

“It’s ominous, very ominous…”

One side of the central church’s wall had completely collapsed, burying the central sanctuary in rubble.

The large statue of the goddess had fallen and shattered, and the long wooden chairs were overturned and in disarray.

Even more strangely, there was almost no damage outside the central church due to the earthquake.

The earthquake seemed to have targeted the central church as if deliberately destroyed by magic, causing concentrated damage only to the church.

Of all times, this incident occurred during the regular meeting to select the saint.

This incident sparked rumors among the priests that the church had been abandoned by the goddess.

The bishops simply dismissed it as a coincidence and tried to calm the priests and others.

But once the rumors started, they spread and grew uncontrollably.

***

“It’s a product that can never be found again. Surely you must know who it is.”

In the underground slave market of Pifnel’s sewers.

A woman in tattered clothes, shackled and chained, was brought before a man dressed in priestly robes.

“Could it be… the fake saint…”

Surprise spread across the slave trader’s face.

Having traded slaves here for decades, he had never seen a product like this before.

Once a true saintly woman… received the punishment of exile from the kingdom, but the priest who had taken charge of her thought it would be a waste to just exile her, so he secretly brought Selena here.

Selling a saintly woman as a slave was a crazy act that would surely incur divine punishment, but Selena was already a woman who had been disgracefully stripped of her role as a saintly woman.

When a former saintly woman is sold as a slave, the fact that she was ‘once a saintly woman’ becomes of immense value.

A pure and beautiful female slave always fetches a good price.

But to sell a woman who until recently was a saintly woman at the central church as a slave?

It was hard to come across a more attractive commodity for those with money who sought rare slaves.

Even though she may no longer be a saintly woman, the audacity to call a woman who was once a saintly woman a slave.

The guilt of tarnishing the days of deep faith she had lived to become a saintly woman.

The fact that one can freely corrupt a being who lived as a sacred presence at the center of the central church will surely catch the attention of guests.

“This… would be perfect to sell to guests who visit from afar. We can get a good price for it.”

“Our visit here is absolutely confidential.”

“Of course. Is this just a day or two of business? We will raise her here with care and send her to a good owner. We will calculate the payment, so please wait a moment.”

Former saint Selena looked at the slave trader and priest who were negotiating a deal with her in blurry eyes.

A priest of the church trading with a slave trader… it was unbelievable even to see it happen before her eyes.

Was she lucky to be exiled to the barren wasteland outside the kingdom overflowing with demons?

Or would it have been better to be exiled and become food for the demons?

Selena now knew nothing.

Everything she had dedicated her life to and firmly believed in was crumbling away bit by bit.

* * *

– The revised adventurer grades are announced as follows.

Adventurers visiting the guild are advised to check the bulletin board.

Having returned from excavating the Goddess’s crystal at the ruins of Baldur, I saw the notice posted on the Adventurer Guild bulletin board.

The revision details applicable to all adventurer guilds in the kingdom, including the Kubele Adventurer Guild, were outlined.

In addition to the existing Bronze, Silver, and Gold grades, a tier system was implemented.

Bronze 1-5 grades. Silver 1-5 grades. Gold 1-5 grades were subdivided to facilitate the assessment of adventurer strength.

All adventurers will convert their grades from the existing 5th grade to the corresponding tier and receive a new badge.

In addition to the existing promotion test system, adventurers can be promoted or demoted at the discretion of the guild master.

As a result, requests are divided into 15 grades based on their level of danger.

“What is this?”

“These are instructions from the capital. It seems to have gotten more complicated.”

I couldn’t quite figure out what had improved even after reading it, so I asked Tina, and her answer echoed my feelings.

So they’ve just divided the grades into smaller categories…

“Well, it doesn’t seem like much has changed.”

Algot suddenly appeared in the study and spoke to me.

She approached me and smiled.

“But there is an important point. Right here.”

“Hmm?”

“Adventurers can be promoted or demoted at the guild master’s discretion. This gives quite a bit of authority to each regional guild master. Well, they’ll have to bear the responsibility if they misuse it.”

“Ah…”

“So, Miss Yunoa. Give me your badge.”

“What?”

“Quickly.”

I promptly took out the Silver grade adventurer badge that I had kept in my pocket and handed it to Algot.

Could it be that she’s thinking of giving me a higher grade using the guild master’s authority?

“Here, a new badge for you.”

“Hmm? This is…”

Algot examined the new badge she had just given me.

Silver 5th grade. No, it’s the badge that corresponds to my original grade.

When I looked at the badge and subtly showed a disappointed expression, Algot smiled and said.

“Disappointed? Special promotion.”

“To be honest… I can’t say no.”

I was deceived by Algot’s perfect flow of conversation that led to the special promotion.

Well, I never really had any ambitions in the adventurer rank anyway, so it’s fine.

But the next moment, Algot said to me.

“Miss Yunoa, if you have time, would you like to spar with me for a bit?”

“What?”

“Since becoming the guild master, I haven’t been able to move my body much. I hope you can be my sparring partner.”

“What’s the catch.”

Now I know.

Algot wasn’t the type to suddenly make such a random request for no reason.

“Well, I just feel like exercising. And in my opinion, Miss Yunoa seems like a perfect opponent.”

“Algot couldn’t ignore the eyes of other adventurers as the guild master.

She wanted to promote Yunoa specially, and create a reason that other adventurers couldn’t refute.”

Algot was looking at me with a teasing smile.

He seemed pleased with the small prank of reissuing the silver rank badge, as if he had succeeded in teasing me by saying he would promote me.

Although the narration had just revealed Algot’s intentions to me, there was no reason to refuse if it was for that reason.

Besides, I was curious too.

About my objective skill level.

She wasn’t as skilled as Mireia, but she had once been active in the gold rank and even served as a knight swordsmanship instructor.

It wouldn’t hurt to test my skills against someone like that.

Originally, I had planned to go straight home and investigate how to use the goddess’s crystal I excavated from the ruins, but it wouldn’t be too late to do that after the sparring with Algot was over.

“Well, shall we go to a quiet place right away?”

Algot took his sword and headed out of the guild first.