Chapter 230 - 230 Don’t waste time, please! part 4

230 Don’t waste time, please! part Helena walked back to their camp, fuming in anger.

First, they ignored her command to not harm her friends causing that none of her friends sided up with her, second, she saw Ryu with yet another beautiful woman by his side who turned out to be a succubus no less, and as if that wasn’t enough, he looked even more handsome than last time she saw him, making her second guess her choice of remaining in the sacred empire.

Although she couldn’t actually see him, she could perceive his well built body thanks to her newly acquired mana sense. Because of her previous naughty behavior at the Ironwoods tavern when Ryu was unconscious, she already knew every nook and cranny of Ryu’s past constitution, and just by thinking on his new muscular build her body trembled.

If only she had already finished her apprenticeship as high priestess, she might have considered going back with them. She missed her companions dearly and couldn’t wait to be reunited with them, but especially with Ryu and Anne who were the closest to her.

“Miss Helena, are you absolutely sure it is fine to just let them go back to the heathen kingdom like that? if the arch priestess finds out she won’t take it lightly.”

Stefan asked politely.

“Of course it is fine, the arch priestess and I are good friends. I, myself, am on the path of becoming an arch priestess and I hope you engrave that into your little head, because next time you disobey me I’ll have your head on a pike.”

Helena’s soft character and gentle demeanor was nowhere to be found as she threatened the paladin next to her. There wasn’t a trace of the old naive girl that would cower in fear before combat, what little time she spent on the sacred empire had turned her into an iron willed servant of the gods.

The path towards Bet-el was clear and, even though they were still far from the city, she wasn’t planning on giving a respite to the members on her new party. If these hot headed enforcers had the guts to hurt her friends, they deserved whatever punishment she saw fit for them, starting with a non stop march to the closest city.

.....

Enforcers were among the top rank soldiers in the sacred empire, one step above paladins, but they were also different in the sense that ‘enforcer’ wasn’t a god given class but an assigned rank. The enforcer corps was comprised of every class not related directly to the gods and the only requirement to join them is to be an elite.

Thief, assassin, warrior or any class really, all would be accepted into the enforcer corps as long as they had proven their loyalty and prowess to the church.

By the time they reached Bet-el gates the enforcers were completely exhausted, but they couldn’t even complain because, on paper, it was their duty to follow Helena’s every command. In truth, though, their duty was to assess the danger the heroes posed towards the sacred empire.

Contrary to the kingdom that had been in complete chaos ever since they lost the war, the sacred empire possessed more information and they were able to realize that Helena’s stats were completely out of the charts as soon as she touched the oracle.

Not just that, but it was also suspicious for her to come from the far south where there weren’t any active oracles, and yet she already possessed a class.

The small party that found both Anne and Helena lost in the western forest near the sacred empire’s borders just thought of them as potential recruits for the empire, and they left them in the hands of the church, where they took notice of Helena’s talent for the divine arts. But, by the time they realized she was different and that there was a possibility that her companion, Anne, could have been special too, it was already too late.

With the intent of keeping Helena under control, they segregated Anne little by little, forcing her into self exile.

They could have easily disposed of her, but since even a high priest was able to find the truth behind people’s words, it would have been impossible for them to keep it a secret for too long which is why they decided to simply drive her away.

In wasn’t until Stefan reported his encounter with Anne while he was on the sacred mission of securing a mage to serve the sacred empire, that the higher ups within the church realized that Helena’s high stats were unusual but not unique.

“Your holiness, we failed in bringing the others with us, she didn’t allow us to proceed with violence and we were left with no choice but to come back empty handed.”

A man crouching in front of a crystal mirror said as sweat ran down his face. It wasn’t fear what had left him in that state, but the incredibly long sprint he had to endure on his way back to the city of Bet-el trying to keep up with Helena and the enforcers.

“Don’t worry father Stefan, you did a good job. We didn’t really expect to bring them all at once, as long as the present was handed to them they will eventually come on their own volition. You must not antagonize her in any form, if she attempts to desert the sacred empire we will have no choice but to kill her to prevent her from switching sides, and that would leave us no chance at finding out the cause of their unusually high stats.”

A woman dressed in something like a nun attire, but filled with golden embroideries, said with the kindest sweetest smile a man had ever laid eyes on. Her expression shifted into one of compassion at the mention of the possibility of killing Helena, but there was no warmth in her eyes.

The arch priestess Vika Denario, head of the golden sun cult of the sacred empire, dismissed the paladin with a small courtesy. After making sure that the signal had been lost and there wasn’t an ounce of mana in the magic mirror, she stomped her feet in frustration biting her lip angrily until a drop of blood fell on her abundant cleavage.