How Could the Villainous Young Master Be a Saintess?

“My apologies for my earlier offense, Your Holiness, Saintess.”

As he spoke, Toreka cast a high-tier healing spell on Vanessa. With the increase in mana flowing into it, a green healing light spread over her body and rapidly mended her injuries.

Vanessa felt her condition and mobility return. She looked at Toreka standing before her.

“Today’s historical records all describe that brutal battle in detail, so later generations will remember it and stay vigilant against that bloody catastrophe. But even so, the written word still could not capture how cruel that war truly was,” Toreka continued.

“If Saintess Sophia had not chosen to sacrifice herself back then—if she had not paid with her own life to kill the Demon King—humanity really would have been finished. To put it bluntly, not a single nation among humankind had anyone capable of standing against that Demon King. Even Lady Sophia herself was still a step below him. If Lady Sophia and the Church of the Dawn had lost, humanity truly would have had no chance at all,” Toreka said, his voice colored by memory.

“By that point, the war had already grown so brutal that the Church of the Dawn had no choice but to send out newly recruited knights who had barely joined the order and received no real training, along with logistics personnel. Battle priests and battle nuns were all sent to the front. Inside the Church, even ordinary clergy were picking up iron hammers and marching onto the battlefield.”

“The human camp was already on the brink of collapse,” Marshall added, “and the elites of both the Camella Kingdom and the Tyrel Empire had long since been heavily depleted in the civil war between the kingdom and the empire. Each side could only send the last remaining knightly order they had left to join forces with the Church of the Dawn’s surviving lower-ranking combat personnel. We were among them.”

“At the time, all of us thought we were as good as dead. We didn’t even know whether we would still live to see the sun a week later. After all, the Saintess had led the Radiant Cross Knights—the finest of the finest—into battle for so long without winning a decisive victory. Everyone understood that meant she had run into real trouble. If even the Saintess, a descendant of the goddess, and the nearly undefeated Radiant Cross Knights had been beaten back, then once we went, we probably wouldn’t even be able to slow the demon race’s advance.”

If she really had to describe it, the demon race under the Demon King’s command back then had been like a runaway freight wagon—anyone in its path was nothing more than a speed bump.

“At the time, despair spread through every human nation. Everyone believed that the demon race—which had never truly unified, never presented a united front—suddenly producing a Demon King capable of bringing all the demon lords together, binding them into a single rope, forging them into a single slab of iron... that unprecedented event, unseen in a thousand years, was a sign that humanity was about to be defeated. Panic filled the common people. Rumors ran wild. There were even whispers that this was divine punishment from the goddess upon humanity for its unending civil wars.”

“At that critical moment, the Facilis Family stood forth once more and saved the shattered Tyrelis Continent after the fall of the Tyrelis Ancient Empire. Only because of that were all living beings spared from disaster and mass slaughter.”

“In that battle, the Demon King fell, and that dealt a devastating blow to the demon race’s morale. The Demon King’s surviving child was still very young. The demon allied forces had only been united in the first place because of the Demon King’s overwhelming prestige. Once they lost their leader and suffered such severe damage, none of them accepted any of the others. They instantly fell apart into loose sand. After weighing the costs and benefits, and seeing that the fortified cities still could not be taken, they each withdrew their troops and went back to digest the territory they had already swallowed. Although humanity lost a great deal of land in that war, at least it was not completely crushed by the demon race,” Toreka said.

“But with Saintess Sophia’s holy fall, the Facilis Family declined completely as well.”

“...So after saying all that, what you mean is... you were acting before?” Vanessa fell silent for a moment, then swept her gaze across everyone in front of her, her eyes flickering.

“No, this was not an act, Saintess. I don’t think anyone would gather here out of boredom just to put on a performance that isn’t beautiful, isn’t exciting, and means absolutely nothing.” Toreka glanced sideways at Marshall.

“Then may I ask you this seriously? You arranged for me to be brought here on purpose, didn’t you?”

“Your Holiness is brilliant and exceptional.” Toreka lowered his head and did not answer directly, but at this point, the answer was obvious.

“What exactly are you trying to do?” Vanessa’s delicate brows knitted together.

These two did not seem like they were acting under the Pope’s orders. If they really were, then why had they wasted so much time saying all this useless nonsense after fighting her all the way to this point? With their raw strength, they could have simply subdued her and dragged her away. Anything that needed saying could have been said in front of the Pope. And if there was anything she refused to do, the Pope had more than enough ways to make her do it.

“I sincerely beg your pardon, Saintess. Even if you condemn me for overstepping, I have no choice now. But allow me to say this—this is a time when every capable hand matters. I hold an important post within the Church as it now stands. You still have use for me.”

The cardinal gave Vanessa a solemn bow.

“Even if you do not understand me, there is nothing I can do about that. What we intend to do is not child’s play or some game. To put it bluntly, we are trying to destroy the current Church and the current Pope. Once it begins, it will not end until one side has been utterly annihilated. So I had to confirm that your resolve and will were truly strong enough,” Toreka said seriously.

“If your bloodline had not awakened, or if you lacked the determination, or even if you had the determination but it was not firm enough, then everything would be meaningless.”

“And if your test had shown that my resolve wasn’t firm enough?” Vanessa pressed.

“Saintess, before I came here, I made a wager with Knight Marshall. If your bloodline truly had awakened, and if you turned out to be a Saintess worthy of satisfaction, then he and I would both become your support unconditionally.”

“We all know wagers are supposed to be equal,” Vanessa said, glancing at Marshall before looking back.

“Of course. A wager must be equal. So the stake he offered was the head on his shoulders.” Toreka smiled faintly. “Though of course, that part was a joke.”

“...Mr. Marshall, have we met somewhere before?” Vanessa turned to Marshall.

“You haven’t just met him before. You may even have seen him every day at one point,” Toreka said, glancing at Marshall. “When you were little. Though perhaps your memory of it isn’t very deep.”

“I remember now. You’re that man.” Vanessa stared at Marshall for a long moment before finally catching the impression tied to his face. “That strange uncle who used to live in the royal capital.”

“I’m honored that you still remember me.” Marshall gave Vanessa a respectful knight’s salute.

“You were sent by the Pope of the Dawn to watch me?”

“Yes. Back then, the Pope used a very noble excuse. He said that although the Facilis Family had been expelled from the Church, you still ought to be shown a certain degree of concern and provided such help as was within our means. So he intended to send someone to watch over your family. I thought that if someone had to do it, it would be better for it to be me than anyone else.”

“By then, the Facilis Family had already long since lost all power. The Pope didn’t think much of you and didn’t believe a family reduced to dead veins had any strength left to stir up any waves. On top of that, Saintess Sophia’s era had already become distant history. That was why he agreed to let me—an old Radiant Cross Knight from Saintess Sophia’s time—go and monitor your family,” Marshall said without any attempt to avoid the truth, laying it all out plainly.

“Saintess, Knight Marshall’s will is far firmer than mine,” Toreka said half-jokingly. “He has always been one of the Saintess’s most steadfast followers. As for me... in his eyes, I’m probably the sort who curries favor with the powerful.”

“...”

Marshall said nothing.

“But there’s something that may not sound pleasant, though I still have to say it. Your Holiness is a very pure person, someone with real ideals and real ambition. Not just you—your ancestors were all like that. On that point, I’m not surprised in the slightest.”

“But that alone is far from enough. People cannot talk about ideals on an empty stomach. In more situations than not, everyone still has to consider practical reality. A lot of the time, when you live under someone else’s roof, you have no choice but to bow your head. And bowing your head is sometimes how you gather strength for something greater.”

“To put it simply, the choice is yours. After hearing what you said earlier, I believe you already made up your mind. You intend to defeat the current Pope. But do you understand that after three generations, the Church of the Dawn as it exists today has already become an ‘extension body’ of the Pope?”

“To destroy the Pope means destroying the current Church of the Dawn. Completely. Tearing it out root and branch, leaving none of its power behind in the slightest. Do you understand what I mean?” Toreka said it as conservatively as he could, but what he truly meant was obvious. This would be a fight to the death. Either Vanessa would be branded a counterfeit Saintess and imprisoned or killed by the Pope, or Vanessa would seize back the title of Dawn Saintess, reshuffle the entire board, and wipe out every last piece of the Pope’s faction.

And wiping out all of the Pope’s people was no different from remaking the entire Church.

Anyone with eyes could see it. Vanessa’s chances were vanishingly slim. Standing on her side would require enormous courage and resolve.

“Your Excellency Bishop, how exactly do you expect me to trust you?” Vanessa asked after a moment of silence.

“Saintess, if we were the Pope’s people, then we would never have said this much to you. We certainly would not have taken such a risk to negotiate with you alone. You should understand that within the current Church of the Dawn, no member of the clergy is permitted to approach you without authorization.”

“That order came down from above recently as an iron command. I won’t bother reading you the flowery language they used to dress up its real purpose, but that’s the substance of it. If you wish to see it, I can show you the original text. It even bears the Pope’s personal seal.”

“What I mean to say is this, Saintess. You may have the resolve to oppose the Pope and the current Church of the Dawn. But you absolutely do not know what it is you are really facing.”

“? What am I facing?”

“That’s right. As far as I know, the Pope’s condition is far more complicated than we imagined.” Toreka’s tone turned heavy. “He may already have gone beyond the bounds of ‘humanity.’”

“If that terrifying machine is allowed to keep running, there’s no telling what might happen.”

“Beyond the bounds of humanity?” Vanessa was startled by the words, but not shocked.

A man who could collude with Demon Pillars—what was there he wouldn’t dare do?

“Is he colluding with the Demon Pillars because there’s something he wants to obtain?” Vanessa asked.

“That, I don’t know either. I doubt even the most intimate of the current Pope’s trusted confidants would know.” Toreka shook his head. “The higher someone climbs, the more suspicious they become. In the end, they stop trusting anyone.”

“As for why he became like this... the truth may be very complicated. Or it may be very simple,” Toreka speculated.

“So the Church of the Dawn doesn’t know I came to the elf lands?” Vanessa asked.

“Of course not. If he knew I had contacted a descendant of Facilis behind his back, I would already have been sent to the stake.” Toreka smiled faintly. “I have to say, Saintess, you really are remarkable. You managed to make that arrogant Pope change his attitude toward your family from contempt—almost outright disregard—to gradually taking you seriously.”

“Though the reason he didn’t move against you before was probably because he wanted to watch the descendants of Facilis suffer from a superior position.”

“Your Excellency Bishop, are you sure that was supposed to be praise?” Vanessa said flatly.

“Without question. Your methods may have been somewhat improper, but honestly, everything has two sides. For example, one positive result is that you let a portion of the people within the Church glimpse a sliver of hope.” Toreka continued.

“As far as I know, there are still some within the Church who are in the same position as I am—people who understand the current state of affairs, who do not want the Church of the Dawn to continue like this, who know that if this goes on any longer things will become disastrous, and yet are powerless to change anything. All they can do is remain silent and watch.”

“And now, your rise and your emergence have undoubtedly given them hope.”

“They are all waiting for the Saintess to lead them. Quite a few of them have even openly complied while secretly resisting in certain decisions, and have already helped you in the shadows.”

“And precisely because seeing you in person is so difficult, and because your movements have always been monitored by the Church’s people, with no telling where their eyes and ears may be hiding, I chose this place—this Sanctum of the Sacred Tree, where no human should be able to set foot.”

“And your behavior was completely logical from beginning to end. You had a perfectly valid reason to come to the elf lands. The Church’s informants within the Academy would never fail to discover that. You and the second princess of the Golden Elves suffered a disaster together in an underground institute. You wished to come to the elf lands in person and return the princess’s Soul-Heart. That is entirely reasonable.”

“As it happened, I have some connections in the elf lands. And on that same day, Lady Vera had just received word from Miss Ronilei that you would most likely make a trip here, and she asked me about you.”

“With such a rare opportunity laid out before me, I made my decision and discussed it with Lady Vera.”

“...”

Vanessa looked at Toreka, then finally turned to Vera.

“Miss Vera, did you doubt my identity before this?”

“I won’t deny it.” Since earlier, Vera’s eyes had been filled with a strange, hard-to-name emotion as she looked at Vanessa deeply.

“...Little Sister Vinny, before we understood what kind of person you really were, none of us dared come to a conclusion. To be honest, I hesitated for a long time before agreeing to Lord Toreka’s request. Our elves have long since declined. We have lacked the power to interfere in worldly affairs for a very long time, and we have grown lax in keeping track of the outside world. But even from the limited information we did have, your reputation before this was not very good.”

“And on top of that, you were carrying my younger sister’s Soul-Heart without any clear explanation. No one knew what had really happened before, or what exactly caused Milian to end up like this.”

“You said you’re not the real Selivlin. Then what happened to the real Selivlin?”

“Do you know of the elf sacred tree?” Vera let out a soft sigh and looked upward.