AN: Oh man sorry, I keep being late with this lately QQ. At least I can say that a lot of the frantic shit in my life is cooling down now, and also I should be finishing up writing my plant story this month, so I should be gaining a good bit more time to focus on keeping up with all my other stories!
Reminder: AOE stands for area of effect, meaning a skill hits in an area, usually effecting multiple targets~
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[Smite] and [Righteous Holy Fire]... the two other skills that I’d passed up to pick [Judgment] all that time ago. It’d be a lie to say I wasn’t completely freaking confused why they’d shown up here, now. Honestly, it's completely out of the blue.
For a moment I checked that green secret quest I'd been trying to do, wondering if maybe this could have been a reward for completing it somehow, but that sadly didn’t yield any results; Considering I was still 3/4ths of the way to finishing it, there’s no way it could have been related.
Well, mysterious change or not, it doesn’t change the fact that it’s prompting me to select one of these. Do I… Do I do it? Should I do what it’s telling me? Is there any way that this could maybe be bad…? And if I don’t do it, will I somehow miss the chance to do whatever this is offering me? Damn, I'd hate that...
The longer I stared at the screen, the more my shaky finger started honing in on the [Righteous Holy Fire] option. The scene of Inaiah masterfully using those flames to fight the horde of dregs kept playing through my mind on repeat, egging me on. I don’t regret choosing the powerful one-shot that was [Judgment] at the beginning, but considering how many times I’ve thought that I needed an AOE attack, I can’t help but think that this more versatile attack might just be better for me. At the very least, I wouldn’t have to worry about if it might maybe spare whoever I was using it on, right? Having something reliable to use is always better, isn’t it?
Well I say all that, but it’s not like [Judgment] has ever failed me yet. If it ever did, though, I think I might just be devastated...
Although I was still feeling a bit of hesitation, having made up my mind, I held my breath and slowly poked my finger at [Righteous Holy Fire].
{[Righteous Holy Fire] chosen. Attack successfully replaced!}
Just as the notification said, my [Judgment] skill disappeared, its spot completely replaced by [Righteous Holy Fire]. For a moment I felt worried. Yes, I’d thought that it might just work out this way, seeing how this pop-up only happened when I clicked the button next to [Judgment] and all, but part of me had been hoping it wouldn’t be replaced, you know? I was kind of greedily wishing that I got to have both of them, somehow...
My mind started reeling with all the ramifications of losing my beloved [Judgment], until I noticed that the button from before was still there, right next to my new [Righteous Holy Fire] like it had been before the switch. However, it now had a lock on it, one that read (3d) next to it with a little clock symbol. My best guess is that that must be a cooldown timer or something, right? It’s saying that the skill change is unusable for another three days then, I think… Honestly, if that’s the case, then it’s not so bad; Having more options is always better, even if I have to wait a little bit.
Still, I wish I knew what triggered this to happen. Was it some kind of hidden quest that I missed popping up? Should I check through my quest list for it, maybe? Ugh, I said I was gonna keep up with that, but I still haven’t-
“...Your Holiness, I’d like to speak with you for a moment.”
“Huh?”
Oh gosh, when did the lady paladin get here? I guess I was too distracted to notice her coming up to me, huh?
Well, it’s not like I shouldn’t have seen this coming. I'd been hoping that she’d keep fixating on what that lord did and completely forget about seeing me make that relic disappear, but I guess her memory’s not as faulty as I would have liked, huh? Damn...
Oh well. It’s not like I can run from this forever. We’re still gonna be stuck together for a little while longer, so it’s better to talk this out with her now and not leave things to get awkward. Still, maybe I should sneak a [Benediction] onto myself before I go anywhere with her…
“Umm, yeah sure. Where did you wanna talk?”
We sure as hell couldn’t talk about it right here, with everyone still bustling around us.
The lady paladin stared blankly at me for a moment, but then she quietly turned away, leading me off into the woods, in the direction of a thick bunch of trees. Can’t say I felt particularly safe going there with her, especially with how hidden her destination seemed to be from everyone else’s eyes, but at least it didn’t seem like she planned to take me very far away. If she tries to do anything, I should hopefully have enough of a time buffer from my [Benediction] to scream a little bit before she kills me. Kale is watching us leave from nearby, so hopefully he’ll also manage to jump in before anything too terribly dangerous happens.
Let’s just make sure to be extra cautious though, just in case; I don’t really feel like dying today if I can help it.
~~~
The atmosphere between us was very tense, mostly because the lady paladin had just glared at me the entire time once we got there, even though she said we needed to talk. I could see her mind churning something over, but I was a bit too nervous about what might happen if I interrupted her train of thought. She still had her sword on her, as you'd expect of a paladin. The thought that that sword might just come rocketing my way any second was a very good motivator to stay quiet.
Thankfully, after about 5 minutes of glaring, the lady paladin finally closed her eyes and let out a sigh, seemingly coming to some kind of decision.
“...Your Holiness… No, Arissa. I saw what you did to that relic.”
I couldn’t help but grimace, for multiple reasons.
“Yeah…? Um, w-what about it?”
It’s not like I didn’t already expect her to be mad at me over that. But the way she suddenly changed how she addressed me made me think that maybe there was more to it than just simple devout anger over a relic being destroyed. This wasn’t just the matter of an angry fangirl or a religious fanatic.
The way that her hand slowly came up to rest on the hilt of her sword all but verified it.
“Are you aware that only a demon lord can do such a thing, Arissa?”
…What? Huh? Wait a minute-
“Is that… Is that true?”
If that’s true, then what… what does that mean? I suppose, from what she's saying, that saintesses aren’t supposed to be breaking every single relic that they touch! ...But still, that doesn’t change that I’m a saintess, right? The system, the Goddess, Kale… They’ve all told me that I’m the saintess! There’s no way that they could all be lying to me!
“But I’m a saintess though! I’m not a demon lord!”
“Yes, of course you would say such things. You’re not the first demon lord to pose as a saintess like this.”
“Huh?! No, but wait-”
“I told you, I already saw what you did to that relic. It’s too late for you to try and pretend with me.”
Ugh, she’s not gonna listen to me, is she? I’m used to people not believing that I’m the real saintess, but having someone think that I’m actually a demon lord instead is a complete freaking curveball... How the heck am I ever gonna convince her that it’s not true? Why is destroying a relic such damning evidence?! And why was I so unlucky that she’s the one who saw it?!
Gah, it’s all so freaking frustrating!
“But I’m not pretending! I’m really the saintess, honest! I don’t know how I did that with the relic, but-”
“Nine times! There have been nine demon lords recorded throughout history! And all of them started out by pretending that they were a saintess, just like you. …I won’t be fooled, no matter what lies you tell.”
The lady paladin’s grip on her sword handle tightened. Any moment now, she would pull it out and try to kill me.
My mind reeled, from new information, fear, apprehension, desperation, all of it. Thought after thought raced through my head. I couldn’t help but regret so many things, whether it be not studying up more on demon lords or letting the lady paladin see me destroy that relic in the first place. Still, no matter how much my mind churned, I couldn’t think of a single thing that I could say to prove my innocence. I wanted to shout for help, since it was my very last option to live, but the thought that she might tell everyone about her demon lord theories and turn everyone against me was impossibly scary.
…Well, maybe I don’t have to shout for everyone. Maybe there’s just one person I have to shout for.
“...Kale-!”
“She is the saintess, Dame Rayanne. I can assure you that she is.”
Before I could even finish getting his name out of my mouth, Kale had already appeared from between the trees, seemingly having been eavesdropping on our conversation. I had to stop myself from collapsing in relief at his perfect timing. It was like a superhero had shown up to save me from a crashing building.
The lady paladin didn’t seem to be as impressed with his sudden appearance as I was, though.
“Oh… It’s you, the pet. Why would I possibly believe what you had to say about this?”
Kale’s stoic face gave nothing away as he put himself between the lady paladin and I. Though I was grateful that he’d come, even I couldn’t really guess what he was going to say. And when he suddenly handed her a perfectly golden-looking feather, I was baffled all the more.
“I was once a servant of the bird god, an offspring of the Goddess. Having spent much time around both of them, and having the ability to sense divine energy, I can say that the Saintess’s pure divine energy is exactly like that of the bird god’s. She can’t possibly be a demon lord.”
