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*Omniscient POV following Delia. A few hours earlier *

“Alessia, I’m done with Mr. Oscar. Send the next one in,” I say, peeking into the waiting room of my clinic from the small room where I use my skills to heal people.

As I utter these words, a kindly middle-aged man walks past me, who a few moments ago showed almost every bone in his deft hand broken.

But now he walks out fully healed.

“There are no more people who need to see you urgently…” Alessia says from behind a small desk, where she is in charge of organizing the order in which the patients come in.

“… There are still approximately 60 people outside, but none of them are experiencing any serious injuries. I think you should rest for a few minutes. You’ve been treating people for an hour without a break.”

“It’s not necessary. I don’t feel tired at all,” I say, trying not to let it show how exhausted I feel, having used so much mana in such a short span of time.

‘Ugh… I’m going to have to drink an MP potion soon… but maybe I can delay that moment for a few more minutes… How can it be that no one has developed a method to improve their taste?… Maybe it’s not possible… Haaa’

“Delia… You know how Master feels about you overexerting yourself. Are you sure you don’t want to drink some tea and eat something before you go on?~” says Alessia, in an affectionate tone.

‘ – I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of seeing how Delia reacts to the mention of Master. It’s almost as if he’s her God, or something.’

“Well… I think it would be nice to have a small cup of tea before we go on,” I say, slightly embarrassed that Alessia has to remind me that I have to take a little care of myself too.

‘At the end of the day, Emir is my priority. I need to be ready in case he needs my help. And right now I’m almost at the limit of my MP reserves… Besides… if I rest for a few minutes, maybe then I won’t have to drink a full potion of MP.’

“That’s just what I thought…” says Alessia as she stands up and pulls a teapot and a tray of sandwiches from her inventory.

The kettle has a fire stone inside, which causes the water to quickly start boiling at the press of a switch.

“… Come over here and sit down while I pour your tea. Surely you haven’t sat down once in the whole hour and a half we’ve been in the clinic?”

“You’re correct, but I’m accustomed to standing for extended periods of time. In the temple I-” I begin to say, as a fleeting image flashes through my mind of the long-standing vigils we had to do every time some nobleman came to seek our care.

We prayed for hours, sometimes even days, while abstaining from food.

Since we are God’s chosen ones, as long as we have enough faith, it is expected that He will not allow us to feel hunger or fatigue.

After all, Saints must be the image of courage and selflessness.

That’s why it’s essential for everyone else to be a witness to our grace.

Or so the Solus Temple bishops used to tell us.

The reality is that I was always hungry and tired during those vigils.

But neither I nor any of the other Saints ever dared to say anything about that out loud.

For that would imply that our faith was not as strong as that of the other Saints.

“Delia… do I really have to repeat to you what I told you a moment ago?…” asks Alessia, taking my hand to gently drag me to the fluffy chair she has just vacated to serve tea.

“… Sit down!”

“I don’t like being treated like a child!” I say, looking at her with a frown, but I obey her because I know she means well.

‘That’s the only thing I hated about Victor. He took the subject of my protection as if I were a little girl who can’t do anything for herself. And now Alessia is slowly starting to do the same.’

“I’m not treating you like a child. I’m simply reminding you that you need rest and food too, something I’ve begun to notice that you often forget.” says Alessia, as she smiles warmly at me and hands me a steaming cup of tea.

‘ – But it’s true that you are quite immature at times… Haa… anyway, that’s part of your charm.’

“I don’t forget it… I just don’t make a big deal out of it.” I say as I take a small sip of the tea and grab one of the sandwiches on the tray.

“Well, you shou- what’s all that noise?…” says Alessia, looking with a frown towards the clinic door.

Now that she mentions it, I notice some shouting and complaining outside.

That’s strange, since so far people have always lined up orderly, waiting patiently for their turn for me to heal them.

“… I’m going to see what’s going on. You stay here.”

Alessia straightens her posture as she utters those words, and all of a sudden, the tender and attentive woman who was just serving me a cup of tea vanishes, replaced by a tough and fierce woman who is prepared to battle whatever is causing trouble on the other side of the door.

“O-okay,” I say, as I nibble somewhat nervously on one of the sandwiches.

‘I don’t know what’s going on outside, but I don’t feel confident about what I should be doing in this kind of situation…. Conflicts between people… Those kinds of situations are complicated… people shouldn’t fight each other… someone always gets hurt. I’d rather trust Alessia to sort out whatever’s going on.’

Alessia opens the clinic door a few millimeters to spy on what is happening outside.

After a few moments she signals me to tell me not to worry and steps outside, closing the door behind her back.

One minute passes.

Two minutes.

Three minutes.

‘Hmm… I think I should go see if Alessia needs help.’

Just as I’m about to get up, Alessia comes back in, followed by three men dressed in robes from the Solus temple.

Two are dressed in robes with red and white accents, identifying them as high-ranking priests, and the last is dressed in a luxurious red and gold robe, distinguishing him as a bishop of the temple.

“They were the cause of the commotion…” says Alessia, looking contemptuously at the people of the Solus temple.

‘Alessia shouldn’t look at these men like that. Judging by the colors and motifs of their robes, they are important people of the Solus temple.’

“… apparently they wanted the rest of the people outside the clinic to move aside to make room for the unnecessarily large carriage they came in, but the other people weren’t very inclined to cooperate with them. I wonder why that is~”

‘ – This blonde doesn’t seem to think very highly of us… That’s why I hate having to deal with commoners and poor people… But at least she has a nice body… maybe she could… no, now is not the time… hopefully the Solus God will help us get this matter over with quickly, so we can get out of this dunghill they call a clinic’

“Hi, I’m Alec, bishop of the Solus temple. And these are Joel and Ciro, important priests of our order.” says the one wearing the red and gold robe, stepping forward to address me, but Alessia blocks his way.

“I am Delia, priestess of God Solus, and this is Alessia, my friend and bodyguard…” I say and beckon Alessia to relax.

I don’t know what these people want, but there’s no point in us fighting amongst ourselves.

At the end of the day, we are all servants of the Solus God.

“…What do you need?”

“We came looking for you to take you to one of our temples….” he says, extending a hand towards me, which makes Alessia tense up even more and start looking with open hostility at the three men.

‘Haa… Why could it be that Alessia is so surly about everything related to faith?’

“… Archbishop Manuel has heard, from several members of the temple, of your labors here in the capital and has been pleased with your selfless dedication to those less fortunate. So he wants to have a word with you and reward you for what you have done so far.”

“That… That’s unexpected…” I say, slightly excited at the thought of seeing the inside of one of the capital’s temples.

I’ve only been living here for a short time, and I still don’t know my way around the city well enough to go on my own.

But I’m sure Emir and Alessia would not be pleased if I asked them to take me there.

So I never asked them.

However, I haven’t prayed at any temples in a while, so I’ve been thinking for a few days now about finding a way to get Alessia to take me to visit one of them.

The small altar to the Solus God that I built in our house is fine, but it cannot reproduce the peaceful and relaxing atmosphere of the temples of God.

“… But I’ll be more than happy to accompany you.”

“What? Delia, I don’t know if this is a good idea. You know Master is not going to be happy about this,” Alessia says nervously.

‘ – What do I do? I can’t force her to stay, but I’m also not sure whether it is a good idea to use the magic words with her when there are three damn Solus temple people in front of her.’

‘ – Master? Is this blonde a slave? Hmm… quite interesting… I think I’ll pay a visit to her Master some other time…. That sinful body is too tempting for me not to be willing to pay a few gold coins for her… and if her Master is not willing to sell her…. then I’ll have to come up with some other method to get her’

“It’s okay…I-I’m sure Emir will understand….” I say as I feel remorseful because I know I’m lying to Alessia.

But I want to go to a Solus temple.

Besides, this is an excellent opportunity.

After all, an archbishop is calling me.

You can’t turn down that kind of call.

‘ – Shit! I knew it… now what do I do?’

“… What’s more, we’ll probably be able to get back here before he gets back.”

“I think there’s been a bit of a misunderstanding. The archbishop only wants to see you, Miss Delia. Your companion cannot accompany us” says bishop Alec, as he looks at Alessia with an apologetic smile.

‘ – That’s a pity. I’d love to have a private session with this blonde for a few hours to teach her to respect her superiors… maybe I could even ask Joel and Ciro for help… but we’re busy now… there will be time for that in the future’

“What?! No. Delia, you’re crazy if you think I’m going to let you go alone…” says Alessia, turning to look at me, very upset all of a sudden.

“… I’m coming with you.”

‘It’s a pity that Alessia can’t accompany me, but maybe it’s better this way….

Alessia doesn’t have a good opinion of religious people, and this way she can explain what happened to Emir if he comes back early….

Besides, she has no reason to worry about my safety….

At the end of the day, these people are my family in a sense, even if I just met them.’

“No, Alessia. Stay, and if Emir ever comes back early, explain to him where I went….” I say, taking Alec’s hand.

“… I would also like you to apologize to the people outside. Tell them they can come back tomorrow and I will attend to them free of charge, as an apology.”

‘ – I can see why the Archbishop is so interested in this priestess… we can’t have people healing commoners for free… that’s very bad for business.’

‘ – This is crazy… and worst of all, I don’t see how I could stop her… Delia is an adult and is perfectly capable of making her own decisions… Besides, she can take care of herself… I have no right to deny her what she wants, but… Master is going to kill me when he finds out’

“Fine….” Alessia says slowly, as if she’s having a hard time saying those words.

“…But I want you to take Blue Wind out of your storage ring. At least please me on that.”

‘ – I’ll feel a lot less guilty about letting Delia go alone if I know that her spear will be on the lookout for any possible danger that might befall its owner.’

“Ok…” I say, as I materialize my companion in my free hand and wink reassuringly at Alessia.

Blue Wind has the appearance of a small, common iron spear.

The look I always ask her to take on when we’re not fighting.

‘ – Free at last! Oho? Delia who are these people?’

‘It’s a long story; I’ll explain later. I’m going to accompany them to a place while Alessia stays here to wait for Emir.’

‘ – They seem like nice people… maybe they will be able to convince you to stay away from my maker’

‘Don’t start with that!’

‘ – I know, I know. I promise I won’t say anything bad about that guy’

Alec, Joel, Ciro: !!!!

‘ – What is this immense sacred aura I feel coming from that spear? At first glance it doesn’t look like anything special, but the holy power it gives off is worthy of a national treasure… How did a filthy commoner get a weapon like that? Surely she stole it from someone… What a beautiful discovery… that weapon will be a nice addition to our temple’s treasury.’

“…See you in a few hours, Alessia. Thank you for being so understanding.”

‘ – Are you really thanking me for being ‘so understanding’? If it were up to me, I’d lock you up in this place until Master comes back… but I’m sure that would make you hate me… Shit! There are times when I wish I could be as impulsive and thoughtless as Master’

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