Chapter 7 - A Saint

"So it's going to be the way we agreed?"

"Yes, I saw her enter the bank just now. When she leaves, we kidnap the nymph and wait for the signal."

"I just hope everything goes well. I don't want to face the wrath of the fairies if something happens to the nymph..."

Two men conversed near the fountain in the square while keeping their eyes on the bench.

Athena walked through her vault, choosing what she was going to take. In the vault were mannequins dressed in armor, tunics or cloaks on the left side, and staffs, scepters, swords and shields on pedestals on the right side.

In the middle, a row of dressers and tables with scrolls, jewelry and accessories, and at the bottom a large pile of silver and gold coins.

Fotiá ran through the two aisles, stopping in front of each mannequin and pedestal, grimacing at a large shield with the twisted face of a sculpted woman, then climbing and rolling in the pile of money.

"Fotiá, don't touch anything, there's a lot here that is cursed." Athena said, but her eyes were fixed on a pile of sealed gray parchments.

These had been the scrolls that like Hades, Athena used to copy her spells that were classified as rare or unique in the game.

'Can I learn? But if I learn dark and demonic magic will I still be able to follow the path of justice? Hm…' Athena looked thoughtful and then shrugged and threw the scrolls into her inventory.

"Athena, Athena!" Fotiá shouted from the top of the mountain of gold.

"Speak, cute thing!"

When Athena looked at Fotiá, the girl had in her hands a necklace with a red stone just like her eyes.

"Fotiá wants this!"

'Is that...', "Fotiá didn't I tell you not to touch anything?"

"But Fotiá knows that this is not cursed!"

"Do you know what he does?" Athena asked and Fotiá shook her head in denial. "It steals mana from nature and thus increases the user's. It can be for you."

"Yay!"

Athena smiled at the girl's joy. "But now you're going to have to find something for Anemus too."

"OK!" Fotiá replied and slipped off the mountain of coins.

While Fotiá began her hunt for a gift for Anemus, Athena returned to the vault door to wake up Iris who had fainted when she saw the contents of the vault.

"Miss, wake up Miss Iris..." Athena called to Iris as she patted her pale face. "....."

After some affectionate attempts, Athena got angry and gave Iris two strong slaps on the face, waking the receptionist with her cheeks red and marked with fingers.

"W-where am I...?" Iris asked, still bewildered.

"You finally woke up. Can you teach me how to use this?"

Athena held a silver parchment, sealed with a golden cord. This was a class learning scroll, which allowed the player to switch classes.

Iris looked at the parchment with a confused expression, she took a small monocle from the pocket of her black coat embroidered with gold thread, and placed it in front of her eye.

As soon as she did, all the information about the parchment invaded Iris's brain, making her dizzy again.

"H-how do you have so much stuff I've never seen?" Iris asked with a terrible expression.

Athena thought for a moment before answering and looked at her safe door, dusty and cobwebbed like an object in an abandoned house that hadn't been opened in years.

"How long ago did people call the eastern forest the 'Forest of the Holy Hermit'?"

"About three hundred years ago."

"So I spent a lot of time collecting these things before I got too lazy to come here." Athena lied without any hesitation, that was the easy way out. "So how do I use this?"

"Are you really the holy hermit?" Iris asked and Athena just smiled. "Yeah... D-after removing the seal, you'll need to infuse mana into the parchment while reading the contents."

'Hm... It was so simple in the game, just open it and that's it.' Athena thought as she snapped the golden rope.

After unrolling the parchment, Athena saw a text written in gold, an unknown alphabet, but which she somehow understood.

"The Paladin's Scroll." Athena read the title on the parchment with satisfaction. "Let's see... First I have to impregnate this thing with mana..."

Concentrating on the object in her hands, Athena circulated the mana around the parchment as if it were an extension of her body and was impressed with herself.

Not knowing how long she could keep the mana circulating this way, Athena began to read the text.

With each word read, Athena felt something warm invading her body and shivers throughout her body and she felt something change in her body.

"And in that way, fight and defend the weaker." Athena read the last sentence and her body was lighter. "Hm... I think I'll need to see in the soul mirror if I want to know what has actually changed."

The parchment had obviously worked, but Athena was unsatisfied. In the game, when changing classes, an incredible golden light would have bathed her and her body would have levitated, but none of that happened.

"What is it? Didn't work?" Iris asked with concern.

A little sullen, Athena tossed the parchment over her shoulder. "It's not that, it worked perfectly... Don't you think for something like that?"

They stayed in the vault for a while longer until Athena chose and put armor, sword and shield in her inventory and also wore rings and earrings, as well as taking some silver coins.

Back at the reception, Athena put the necklace around Fotiá's neck while Iris was still taking notes of what was taken from the safe.

"Is it just that?"

"Yes, thank you. Now we have to go. See you later, Iris."

"Bye Iris!" Fotiá said goodbye with the cutest smile Iris had ever seen.

Iris saw Athena and Fotiá walk away when a woman with silvery black hair appeared beside her.

"Is that the holy hermit?"

The receptionist bowed to the woman that she had a holy book in her hands and dressed like a slang cleric. "Yes, your highness."

"What kind of person is she?"

"II wouldn't know how to rate a saint. Forgive me!"

The woman smiled with interest as she watched Athena go, but she wasn't looking at Athena but at the thin layer of azure mana that covered her body.

"Maybe things get a little more interesting in the world now that she's gone out..."

"Your Highness?"

"Fuhuhuhu... It's nothing."

When leaving the bench, Athena took a deep breath as she felt the fatigue of being inside a place like an office leave her body.

"Athena, Fotiá is hungry..."

"But already?!"

"Fotiá wants to eat that!" Fotiá pointed to a stall with caramelized apples.

"Aaah... Okay, as Fotiá was a very well-behaved girl, I'll buy it for you. Wait here." Athena said as she tickled the girl.

Across the square, near the fountain, the men waiting for Athena acted as soon as she saw her walk away from Fotiá.

"Fast!" The man with the big red nose said, rushing the fattest one.

Athena was putting another three apples into her inventory through the dimensional bag when she heard Fotiá yell her name.

"Hey! W-w... Let her go!" Athena screamed.

The men looked at Athena, smiled and ran. Without thinking twice, Athena ran after the men as she listened to Fotiá's screams, even what was holding her to cover the girl's mouth.

Athena followed the men as fast as she could, past stalls and bumping into people to the south side of town.

She could soon see the result of the class change, her physique was allowing her to run for too long.

The south side of the city, though still a noble part, was a dark place and so dirty as like the suburb from earlier. However, it was more empty and quieter.

"Where did they go?" Athena asked out of the blue and didn't expect an answer, but...

"Athena, Athena!"

"Fotia?" Athena heard Fotiá's voice, but she couldn't tell the direction. "FOTIÁ, WHERE ARE YOU?"

Athena could hear only the wind and the sound of the bustling city behind her.

"Athena, Fotiá is scared!" Fotiá said, but her voice was muffled, as if she were underwater.

"FOTIÁ, I'LL SAVE YOU!" Athena screamed.

Her eyes watered, but those tears were not hers, suddenly Athena was invaded by a feeling of terror and realized that these feelings were Fotiá's and not hers.

Fotiá's fear and Athena's feelings mixed, distorting Athena's expression into pure anger. Thinking only about finding Fotiá, Athena ran down the street in the district that seemed to be as frequented as a cemetery.

Her voice echoed through the empty and disrepair buildings and houses as if she were in a haunted meadow.

"Shh! Hey! Want to know where she is?" A fat man on the porch of a wooden house asked.

The woman looked at the man and immediately reached into the inventory and pulled out the sword she had taken from the bench earlier. The long sword glowed even in that dark environment.

Athena hooked the belt of the black scabbard around her waist and wrenched the sword from its rest, revealing a silver blade that gave off a faint red light.

Even though she had never picked up a sword, somehow Athena felt comfortable with one in her hand, it was as if she had grown up brandishing a sword.

'Interesting...' Athena thought and smiled, making the man shiver as he looked into her green eyes.

The man jumped up from the old rocking chair, feeling cold sweat trickle down his forehead.

"C-calm down... Heh... If you do anything to me you'll never see the little nymph again."

However, Athena did not hear the man, but neither did he move. She swung the sword back and forth, feeling the weight of the sword as it sliced ​​through the air, producing a thin hiss.

"Hey! Fat guy." Athena said in a calm voice. "Want to help me with a test?"

"There is?"

Athena reached into her inventory again through the 'dimensional pouch' and pulled out three gray parchments. She broke the seal with her sword guard and held the parchment in front of her eyes.

"W-woman! What are you doing?" The man asked as he saw Athena's eyes glow with mana and then the scroll disappear in a bluish flame.

"Wait, I have two others." Athena said as she broke the seal on another scroll.

The man drew his sword and advanced on Athena. He felt that it would be dangerous to let the woman act as he wished, and even though he felt great trepidation, he forced himself to walk towards Athena.

Athena looked at the man and sighed as another scroll burned in midair.

"You're too hasty..." Athena pointed her sword at the man. "{Slowness}"

A thin bluish layer ran through the blade that glowed red and their colors mingled, creating a tenebrous purple and then, like a flash, from the tip of the sword a wave of light flew towards the man.

Athena walked calmly towards the fat man and faced him with a smile. The smile she used to wear when she was still Hades.

The man moved so slowly that he would easily pass for a statue if he were placed in an exhibition.

However, even though his body was like that, his mind was in sheer terror.

"Now… How can you help me rescue my little girl?"