Capítulo 215: All bark VS...

"What is going on? Why are there so many empty seats behind our side?"

The pale-pink-haired woman with gray eyes, donning a pure-white priestess robe, asked the leader of the forty-seven clergymen following her.

"I've been told it was a demand from the Fenrioette woman, Saintess."

"Her again… And it was approved…?"

The man answered while politely lowering his head, making the woman raise her brow and scoff with a hint of annoyance.

"Indeed. There was more. Such as the one where she demanded that the Holy Knight you'll be gracing with your blessing wouldn't be someone of political importance. Or the one where we would stay to the side of the main stage, not in the direct danger zone."

"...?!"

As the man nodded he continued his explanation with his words agitating the Saintess more and more culminating in her furious expression directed towards the seat of honor, momentarily still empty, opposing the one she would be taking.

"Of course, those others were rejected, but the one about the audience was something the Fenrioette woman wouldn't budge. In the end, the Emperor of Emperors supported her demand, and it was approved in the most forceful way."

The man added with a bitter expression, and a murmur of disapproval spread amongst the others.

"..."

This time, the Saintess didn't say a word and instead looked to the side, gazing at the sky in the direction of the Teleportation Array.

"You have doubts about His Holiness's explanation, Saintess?"

The leader of the Deacons of Blessing followed her line of sight, and upon realizing what she must have thought about, he inquired in a hushed voice.

"Perish the thought. I merely wonder whether the decision to have a clear miracle brought to us by the goddess mislabeled as something that we've achieved was the best choice. It feels blasphemous in a way."

"You aren't alone in that doubt, and I am certain that His Holiness feels great sorrow about hiding the truth. But in the face of this trial, we need the people to have complete faith in the servants of the goddess."

The Saintess denied and sighed, to which the man said with a stern expression.

As the group reached the end of the open hallway and approached the door for the participants, they were greeted by an interesting sight.

The two fighters, both clad in their respectful suits of armor, were conversing with three other people.

One of whom was unmistakable with her golden slicked-back hair and sharp golden eyes.

"..."

The Saintess's expression darkened at Melinda's sight, even though it was their first actual meeting.

Her reaction had a lot to do with the outfit the gold-haired girl donned.

Melinda wore clothes similar to the robe the Saintess herself was wearing, with only a few differences.

While both were white, the Saintess had a proper robe, and Melinda had a sort of loose blouse and baggy pants with golden bracelets keeping them together around her ankles, with cuts in the fabric that would show parts of her thighs and calves. The gold-haired girl also had a short white cape draped around her shoulders, with a golden chain keeping it together.

The sleeves of Melinda's blouse had similar cuts, showing off parts of her arms and forearms with each move. Golden bracelets secured them at the wrists.

The two people at her sides were quite an odd sight.

There was a young, light-brown-haired boy with gray eyes that looked kind of grumpy. He was wearing a proper official outfit of a noble, with his family crest and all. However, he wasn't someone important enough for the Siantess to memorize.

The last person, a black-haired, blue-eyed young man, was dressed in the same manner as the youngster, only that his crest was something that the Saintess recognized at a mere glance.

As the group approached the fighters and the trio, the gold-haired girl was finishing attaching something to the scabbard of the Holy Knight's sword.

It looked like some sort of good luck charm or other innocent trinket.

"Dispel. Purify."

"...!?"

Without a word of a greeting the leader of the Deacons of Blessing raised his hand, shocking even the Saintess, and cast two spells that engulfed the trinket with white light.

"..."

As the gold-haired girl was stepping away anyway, the two of her companions stepped in front of her, shielding her from the others.

Both of them had grim expressions but neither spoke a word despite the blatant rudeness.

"Saintess Elita. Deacons."

The gold-haired girl wasn't bothered, though, and greeted the group with a graceful curtsy from behind her bodyguards.

She was very polite, but the natural sharpness of her eyes made it seem as if she was mocking the people she addressed.

"What is it that you gave our representative?"

Instead of returning the greeting, the leader of the Deacons spoke up, continuing his rude act as if the gold-haired girl was hostile towards them.

"Her grace gifted both of us with good luck charms. In her kindness, she's fully aware that despite being opponents this time, we are not the enemies."

"Lady Fenrioette, please excuse the rudeness of Lord Ivo'nerre. His zealousness makes him speak out of line from time to time, but he is a capable individual otherwise."

"!?!?"

Shocking the leader of the Deacons of Blessing, both fighters spoke up - the knight donning Royal Guard's armor admonished him while the Holy Knight Representative lowered his head and apologized to the gold-haired girl.

"We shall take our leave."

"Is this the way you should be speaking to us?!"

The two youngsters shielding Melinda glanced at each other before nodding, and the older one declared, utterly baffling the leader of the Deacons.

"You…!"

"Lord Ivo'nerre. Do you consider your actions appropriate?"

The man clearly intended to pick a fight, but the Saintess's words worked like a bucket of icy water, cooling him down.

They only watched the girl and the two youngsters leave before moving themselves.

"...she's wasting her mana…"

"Pardon…?"

The Saintess scoffed, staring after the gold-haired girl, causing the leader of the Deacons to ask in confusion.

"That girl. She's walking around barefoot, but the soles of her feet remain clean. Or rather, they are being continuously cleansed. She's constantly casting purify on herself to get rid of the dirt. Wasting the holy attribute spell on something so ridiculously mundane is blasphemous."

The Saintess pointed out with a grim expression while the man leaned to the side to confirm her statement for himself, getting wide-eyed after discovering it to be the truth.