As usual, Aria came to the divine hall. The Church of Medias, the God of Light, bestows white blessings. Only those in power within the Church can enter this place—it is where they pray and receive the divine orders of the god.
As per the custom of all Saintesses before her, they would come to the divine hall every morning simply because they wanted to—true lambs of faith. Others could enter as well, except in the morning, which was reserved for the Saintess and the Pope. Thanks to this, Aria had the chance to act and search for clues about those knights.
As Aria stepped in, a boy with white hair appeared from a corner of the hall.
"Good morning, Aria," the boy with pink eyes and porcelain-like skin, looking very much like a doll, greeted her adorably.
"You really have a lot of free time, Conal," Aria sighed softly and walked straight towards the altar.
This boy was a prodigy of the Magic Tower—a place where those capable of using pure mana gathered to study and develop magic.
"You should call me 'big brother,' you know. I'm older than you!" Conal puffed his cheeks and followed behind Aria.
'I'm nearly twenty years older than you, kid. Why should I call you big brother?', Aria silently grumbled, kneeling at the platform. Before her stood the grand statue of Medias. She clasped her hands together, pretending to pray.
Conal crouched beside her, blinking as he watched.
A white light began to emit from Aria, who remained still in her posture. So beautiful. Aria looked beautiful no matter what she did. But… he couldn't feel any divine power being bestowed upon her.
In truth, Aria wasn't praying or doing anything of the sort. She was simply releasing her mana. Thanks to the potion from Dally, her mana appeared completely pure.
"Isn't it next week you're heading to the capital?" Conal smiled mischievously, resting his chin in his hands.
"Yeah," Aria answered briefly, saying nothing more.
"I heard you've never been to the capital before."
"…"
"You should be careful when you get there. Someone might try to make things difficult for you."
It wasn't surprising. The emperor of the Alezadax Empire had always seen the Church of Medias as a thorn in his side. The Church, having long been the faith of the people, had deep historical roots and now wielded power second only to the royal family.
Aria smiled faintly. That was fine—it would help her bring the Church down.
"Oh, right, Aria. You really don't have any more information for me?" Conal pouted.
"Seriously, if that's all the information you've got, it's really hard for me to dig anything up about them."
"…," Aria opened her eyes. "I just remembered recently, the head knight had blue eyes, and the soldiers behind him were carrying a blue flag. But I can't clearly recall the symbol."
"You should've told me that earlier," Conal chuckled. "But what did they do to you? Why are you so interested in them?" His face still smiling, but his cold eyes contained Aria's image.
"None of your business," Aria shot Conal a glare.
"Alright, alright, don't be mad~" Conal stood up. "Time for me to go."
Before Aria could say goodbye, the boy's soft, childlike lips had already touched her cheek—then instantly pulled away before she could react.
Aria blinked in surprise, her lips parting slightly.
"Bai bai~ see you next week~!", Conal vanished into a puff of red smoke.
'Honestly, I can't do anything about him,' Aria sighed.
'God Medias… I don't know if you truly exist', Aria looked up at the towering statue.
She had prayed thousands of times before in this divine hall—she had prayed for Dally's appearance, for her survival.
'If you can hear me… please bring Dally back to me. If not…'
The light in her kaleidoscope eyes grew chaotic, just like her current emotions and thoughts.
…
"The filthy witches, the way they sneak around and command the magical beasts is so cowardly," a Cardinal angrily slammed his fist on the table. Pope Emeritus Adorlee sat at the center among the Cardinals.
"Pope Maltheos still hasn't returned, the village in the West can hold on for another three months while waiting for his return," Pope Emeritus Adorlee calmly replied.
"Your Holiness, we still have the Saintess," a Cardinal at the end of the table spoke up, causing all eyes to turn towards him, seemingly in agreement.
"The Saintess is only ten years old, and she still hasn't mastered or controlled the divine power," she paused for a moment before responding.
As for Aria's power, she couldn't sense any divine strength in it, but from the color of her magic, it was a pure white, almost identical to that of Pope Maltheos. 'Well… my mana really has weakened over time. I can no longer sense the strength of those above my level.'