When her tears stopped falling, I took the opportunity to stroke her fox ears. Her three tails twitched strangely… She didn't seem to like to be stroked.

I voluntarily stepped away from her and looked her straight in the eyes.

"It seems that fate brought us together."

If Alessia heard these words, she would look away and change the subject. Even though she likes loving words, if they are too extreme, she will immediately think I am playing with her.

"Mn" she said, nodding with a big smile.

But on Delia, they are super effective.

Of course, she doesn't see them as love words, so it’s a 50/50 situation, I'd say.

Cheerfully, Delia took the club and started to follow me. 

The club is made of wood, and it looks like it will break if too much force is exerted on it.

"Here you have… I will lend you this spear. It will be easier for you to fight."

"It looks heavy..."

"Actually, it is very light. Take it and check the weight of it."

With much hesitation, she took the spear, and the next second, she understood my words. She moved the spear from side to side, trying to get used to her new weapon, and I, meanwhile, modified her status points.

'[Experience]'

'[90% Discount]'

'- I feel weak...'

I want her to go up a level as quickly as possible. That way, I can ensure the success of my plan. For this, I had to use 25 points of her status. So, she has likely realized her weakness since she stopped moving the spear like before.

'Just wait a bit. When you level up, I'll return the points to normal.'

[Snow Wolf Lvl 3]

'This must be my lucky monster. First, it got me Alessia, and now it is helping me with Delia. Simply the most adorable monster of them all.'

"Grrr" it growled as it moved its right paw.

"E- Emir, how about we just walk away? That monster won't do anything to me if I give him the rabbits I catch."

Emir: "..."

Unexpectedly, the wolf is a bully. It seems that it is constantly bullying Delia to go catch the rabbits for him. I already felt something weird was going on. The moment it started to move its paw, for a moment it reminded me of my mother when she would call me to reprimand me for something.

'This monster is special. It doesn't look adorable at all.'

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it."

I pulled out the bow from my inventory and drew the string. I was about to equip an arrow when Delia stopped me.

"I also want to do something. I don't feel happy if I get experience without doing anything."

"... ... ... Will you be happy if you give it the final blow?"

"Mn, yes, that’s fine."

We both know that giving it the final blow won't really make a big change, but still, it doesn't seem like she would change her mind easily. So, I deflected my sights a bit and shot an arrow towards the wolf's chest.

The arrow hindered its every move, and the wolf fell to the ground, awaiting death.

Quickly, Delia approached and nervously pierced the monster's head with the spear.

[Fang]

She approached me with the loot in her hands.

"Tell me if you feel tired! I can use magic to restore your energy."

Priestesses can perform various types of magic. Among the ones I've heard of are healing and detoxification magics. There must be more, of course, but those are the most well-known.

Also, each one possesses a small, medium, and great stage. For example, a great healing detox, a medium healing detox, a small healing detox, and so on.

'The Saints possess the same magic, but they are on a completely different level! They can even regenerate limbs and cure terminal illnesses. Everything a priestess can't do can be done by a Saint without exception.

That's why Delia is so cheerful. A long time ago, she stopped using those magics because she had lost the class and thought that she was a believer.

"When I feel tired, I'll tell you."

"I'll be waiting for you."

Guided by the map, I headed towards all the places with red dots. We defeated all the monsters near the Solitary Temple to prevent any bully monsters from appearing again.

[Delia] [Priestess Lvl 13]

She leveled up very fast. The 90% discount really is effective. Controlling the user interface, I returned the points to their original place, except for the newly earned free point. I have plans for it.

"We killed all the monsters that could endanger the temple. Plus, I acquired some of their experience. Thank you very much; there is no need to continue. Now let's go to the top of the mountain before it gets dark."

"Alright, let's go."

Since she regained her status points, she looks more cheerful. Apparently, she was a little worried about her sudden loss of strength.

"It's a little late, but congratulations on getting the [Priestess] class."

Delia: "!!!!"

Someone who does not know her story would think that Delia should be thrilled that her Believer class evolved to Priestess. But I know the truth.

"D-Did I say something wrong?"

"No, nothing... Actually... I had this class once, but I lost it."

"Ah, I see..."

I made a thoughtful face as if to say, 'Did you do something wrong to lose it?' Religious classes are only lost when they perform an action that is penalized by the temple, or when the person goes against the word of God-...

"It's not what you think!" She tried to explain herself "I didn't do anything wrong-... No... You're right, I did something wrong... Something that was very wrong."

Her eyes quickly became moist, and she looks like she'll cry at any moment.

"Calm down, Delia. If you don't tell me what happened, I won't be able to understand you. I have known you very little, but you are not a bad person. Something must have happened."

I gently stroked her head to reassure her, and then... She gave me her version of events.

She once had the [Saint] class. But like the other Saints in the Solus temple, her level rose very slowly. When she reached level 4, the temple sent her on her first pilgrimage, as this would give her enough experience to level up...

But she failed, and because of her failure, many people died.

"I accepted all the punishments of the temple. Even when they gave me a chance to defend myself, I accepted the blame. I was banished... And here I am."

Her story was not as detailed as Alessia's, and throughout, she incriminated herself. Even when she said 'bad men killed them', she added that 'it was my fault that those men came.'

'Haa... Why do all the good religious people end up like this? It's not news that the Solus Temple is corrupt. Unfortunately, though the lower offices are full of good religious people like Delia, the upper offices are all corrupt. Seeing in their hands the constant flow of money, it is obvious that at some point they will fall into temptation. However, no matter how corrupt they are, the Saints they own are very few… they will have to be very stupid to conspire against one of them. After all, the Saints are their face to the public! So...'

"Currently, the Castemira kingdom and the Drial Cenit kingdom are having some conflicts. Think about it. If they have the opportunity to decrease the number of Saints in the opposing kingdom, would they let it go?"

Delia: "!!!!"

Hearing this, Delia immediately pulled herself together and began to think.

Minutes later, she concluded.

"It was over a political, not religious fight," she ended with those words.

And with those words, there is a great change in her mood. Previously, she always spoke with a shadow of sadness, as if just one bad move was enough to make her cry her eyes out. But now she seemed more composed and able to speak on the subject more objectively.

Since she needs some time in silence, I will not speak again for the next few minutes.

Emir: "..."

'It's only been 10 minutes, and I feel I need to talk urgently.'

"Delia... Are you sure this is the right path?"

"Yes, you have to climb this cliff to get to the top."

'It's the same dead-end path I discarded before! Who would have thought that this ridge with unparalleled height would be the only way to the top? Sure, climbers would love this place. But I'm just a normal person possessing an abnormal [Status], that's all-.... Mn, it has logic. I feel like it will be easy to climb this cliff.'

"Did you say 'you have'? Won't you come with me?"

"I'd like to, but my strength is not enough. I'll wait for you here. I wish you all the luck in the world!"

If it came from someone else, I would think those words were very sarcastic. But in Delia, such words seem to contain extremely deep magical meaning. With 7 points of adorableness to be exact!

'Well, my moe bar is filled to the max. It's time to unleash my finishing move.'

"Hey! Hey?! Hey?! What are you doing, Emir?!"

"Hold on tight, otherwise you'll fall."

Without waiting for an answer, I carried Delia on my back and started to climb the cliff.