CH 53

After running for about forty minutes, we arrived at a huge rocky valley.

It was magnificent and wonderful scenery. The rocks that have been weathered by the wind and turned round are growing like mushrooms.

Kyle got off his horse, and I followed him. The largest of the rocks was as high as four stories high, and standing in front of it felt intimidating.

On the dark red rock was a sentence engraved in an unreadable language.

It was often said that priests and saintesses who participated in hunting festivals purified this rock. Although purifying the rocks doesn’t eliminate all the monsters in the Kinston Mountains, it does prevent the monsters from appearing to some extent.

As long as I have completed this mission today, even the Empress will no longer be able to attack me by mentioning the duties of a saintess.

“…”

I stared silently at the rock. Then I quietly brought my right hand to its surface.

It wasn’t difficult to let the sacred power flow now. I don’t know exactly what purification is, but I thought that maybe it could be done as if I was healing.

Sacred power flowed down the surface of the rock.

After a few seconds, the letters engraved on the rock began to glow.

I was thinking that it must be purifying well when I heard Kyle’s voice next to me.

“I have never seen such power.”

Looking to the side, Kyle’s eyes were on the side of the rock.

It was then that I saw that not only the purified rock, but the other rocks were all sparkling and shining.

Quiet little lights floated in the air, and green grass quickly rose from the ground.

“Ah…”

Even me, who was purifying, was surprised to open my eyes wide. Wild flowers were blooming here and there on the grass that sprang up when the purification was finished.

“Is purifying supposed to be like this?”

“No way.”

Kyle stared at the marvelous scenery for a long time, then turned to me.

“What on earth are you…”

Red eyes that sparkled with suspicion.

He was questioning me with his eyes, what the hell I had done. Maybe he was asking about my identity.

‘What should I answer?’

In fact, it’s the first time I’ve seen something like this, so I can’t explain it.

Only a warm wind blew through the silence.

On the way back riding his horse, the sky suddenly became dark and it started to rain.

Kyle frowned and said.

“The temple forecast said it would be a sunny day.”

In the Empire, the temple also served as a weather forecaster.

Well, even supercomputers can’t get it right, so how can the priests get it right?

Without thinking about it, I told him.

“I wish we could find a place to hide from the rain for a while.”

It had rained so much that I couldn’t even see the ground in the mud, so my body was already very wet.

After a while, we found a cave large enough to fit a horse and went into it. The horse shook its body, and water splashed in all directions.

“It’s completely wet.”

The cave was a small cave with a closed end, and seemed perfect for a short rest.

Kyle brushed his wet red hair and stared out of the cave.

It rains heavily. I sat down on a rock that protruded a little like a chair, and after a while Kyle sat down side by side.

It was then. There was a flash of light, and then thunder and lightning struck with a loud roar and bang.

Even Kyle’s horse, who didn’t run away from the monster, was surprised to the point that it raised its front legs and stirred it.

‘It was clear up until now, but why is there sudden thunder and lightning?’

“I’ve heard that you have proven your power, but I can’t believe it with my own eyes.”

When I turned my head and looked at him, his red eyes were staring monotonously out of the cave.

I turned my gaze away from him and looked at the rainy landscape outside the cave.

“…A real saintess.”

The atmosphere was getting heavy, but the sound of rain made up for the awkwardness.

He went on.

“What was the reason you hid it until now?”

It wasn’t an interrogative tone.

I hesitated for a moment, then opened my mouth.

“I wasn’t a real saintess.”

That was the honest truth.

“And I still don’t think I’m a real one.”

Drip, drip, I heard the sound of water dripping into the puddle as if water was leaking somewhere in the cave.

After a long silence, he spoke again.

“Even though you have holy power, you don’t think you’re a real saintess. Interesting.”

I replied to his somewhat cynical remark.

“I’m still just Ariel, the slobber of the temple.”

I glanced at Kyle and asked.

A pair of red eyes seemed to dig deep into my eyes.

He let out a low voice after a while.

“I thought you had changed.”

There was the sound of dripping water.

“…From one day on, you have definitely become a different person.”

“…”

“To the extent I doubt whether it was the same person as the woman I knew.”

Like a Sword Master, his senses were sharp. But I pretended to be calm and accepted his words.

“Well, everyone has a turning point in their life. I think I was too immature.”

“I agree, though.”

He raised his hand and swept away my wet hair.

My heart was pounding in the dark light in his eyes, but I didn’t waver and looked straight at him.

“Why doesn’t it seem like you’re telling the truth?”

His tightly closed red lips and persistent gaze were filled with doubts of conviction.

Thoughts that troubled my heart flowed along with the sound of rain.

“Yes. I have no way to explain it, but somehow I became a completely different person.”

I broke through the silence and opened my mouth.

I couldn’t explain this to him anyway.

“And I’m trying to live a different life than before. It’s not easy, but still.”

I could feel Kyle’s deep gaze.

Somehow, hearing the sound of raindrops stimulated my emotions.

“However, these days, I’m thinking about it. Am I better than I was before?”

Ariel in the novel was definitely a villain.

So, am I a good person, possessing Ariel?

No.

In addition to overcoming and defeating the intrigues and tactics of those who saw me as a thorn in my previous life, I ahad lso decorated the tricks and shoved their backs to drive them away.

Once I got bitten, I bit them two or three times, and only after a dog fight did they treat me as an invisible person.

The darkness that has always been upon me has become evil, and I have been supported by it. Thinking about it now, it was embarrassing. I couldn’t be one inch better than them.

“Maybe more than I used to be…”

I might be a bad girl.

Kyle’s eyes were on me for a long time.

After a while, I heard his voice.

“Well.”

It was still raining heavily.

“I can’t decide which is better, but…”

His voice was drowned in the rain and penetrated into my ears.

Drip, drip, a feast of non-stop raindrops.

“At least you look better now. If you grabbed someone else’s collar because you didn’t know where to look in the past, now you look like you’re walking straight ahead.”

Just as I was about to feel better at the unexpected compliment, I heard his words again.

“In many ways, it excites me more than before.”

I flinched at the strange tone of voice. And I felt something on my shoulder. It was his cloak.

I turned around and stared blankly at him, then looked under the cloak he had covered, and noticed that the rain had wet his shirt, revealing his shoulders and skin.

There was a rush of heat on my face.

Fortunately, after a while, the heavy rain began to subside little by little.

When it cleared up, we came out of the cave. The dark clouds that filled the sky had slowly receded before I knew it.

“Shall we go back?”

At my words, he reached out his hand towards me. It was meant to be put on the horse.

But then.

Boom! Boom!

The sound of something exploding was heard nearby.

Kyle pulled me behind him and drew his sword at lightning speed.

There was dust in front.

I didn’t notice what had happened for a long time, but what I saw after the yellow dust cleared was a rock that had turned into a lump of charcoal.

The rock, which looked quite large, was burned black and scattered with its fragments.

And white smoke was rising from the bare part.

I stared blankly at it in surprise.

“Is it… lightning?”

Kyle frowned and asked.

‘Lightning…?’

What does lightning in the dry sky mean? And why did it suddenly rain so hard?

The answers were gathered into one.

I put my hand on my forehead. And after a while I whispered very softly.

“Open the oracle again.”

Then a blue window appeared in front of me.

[The oracle has been activated.]

And dizzy messages flew into the chat window.

[The God of Love, Odyssey, starts selling corn snacks again.]

[The God of Art, Mond, grumbles while sitting down and watching you.]

[The God of Destruction, Ciel, alternately looks at Kyle’s pants and the cave you came from.]