Yvette was quite regretful about Lucia’s refusal.
Though it was within expectations. After leaving the training ground, and with Lucia’s introductions along the way, Yvette headed toward the village’s central square, picking up a good deal of common knowledge an ordinary villager in this other world should have.
During this, her face—so breathtaking it bordered on absurd—naturally drew plenty of attention.
「Hey, are you the amnesiac girl who came into the village the day before yesterday?」 As they were passing the inn’s tavern, a youth shuffled out and greeted Yvette with a grin. 「Hello there.」
He looked seventeen or eighteen, dressed in plain dark gray linen. Inside the tavern on the first floor stood two more youths wearing teasing smiles—clearly, they’d just shoved their buddy out the door.
But before Yvette could speak, Lucia’s expression hardened. She glared at the youth and said coldly, 「Mars, what do you want?」
「Little Lucia, what’s with you? I mean no harm. I just want to befriend the village’s new little sister, so if she runs into trouble later, I can look out for her,」 Mars said with a fawning smile at Lucia’s poor attitude.
「Hmph, don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to. You get all lust-crazed and spend your days sneaking around doing petty thefts and dirty tricks.
You’re not worthy of Sister Yvette. Beat it!」 Lucia snapped.
「You little brat, why are you speaking for her? Is that what she means?」 Mars’ lip twitched; swallowing his anger, he said, 「Well? Yvette?」 Lucia looked to Yvette.
「What you mean is what I mean,」 Yvette said. She didn’t fully grasp the backstory, but she trusted Lucia wouldn’t harm her. The girl’s reaction was so strong, and from her words it was clear this Mars didn’t have a good reputation.
「See?」 Lucia said tauntingly.
「Y-you—dammit, so you’re just a shameless bitch who doesn’t know a good thing when she sees it!」 Failing to hit on her and getting scolded for it, Mars’ face turned ugly. His fist clenched, but thinking of Lucia’s father, Eamon, he forced his anger down and didn’t take a swing.
He turned and walked back toward his two companions in the tavern, muttering a string of genital-themed obscenities—none of the friendliness from a moment ago remained.
「Let’s go, Yvette.」 After driving Mars off, Lucia hurried Yvette away and explained, 「That guy’s Mars Kent—the village bully. He often steals, robs, and harasses girls. He’s disgusting.
He’s also a smooth liar. When he meets a girl, he always puts on a proper façade at first, makes sweet promises, then never keeps them once he’s gotten what he wants.
You have to stay far away from him. Don’t get fooled.」
「No way to rein him in?」 Yvette asked casually.
「His dad, Old Kent, used to be the militia’s vice-captain. Ten years ago, when our kingdom fought the Eagle Roost Kingdom, Old Kent died defending the village. The elders here have a high tolerance for his son—whatever bad things he does, they cover for him and say he’s had it tough,」 Lucia said with a pout.
So it’s a compensation mentality, Yvette realized. In a tight-knit community, this was nothing unusual.
「Yvette, you’re too beautiful. Mars has definitely set his sights on you. From now on, don’t move around the village alone. Stick with me—I’ll protect you,」 Lucia warned earnestly, chin raised. Yvette hummed assent. 「Alright, I’ll be counting on you.」
Lucia brightened. She glanced at Yvette’s profile again and figured it was only human for Mars to be drawn in. A girl with such unreal beauty was overwhelmingly charming; in a tiny village like Sanglen she was basically an angel fallen to earth—never mind that Mars was the sort ruled by what’s below the belt.
She led Yvette to the village center and pointed at a stone-and-wood building. 「That’s the village church. Most of us worship the Tree God. Inside is Mr. Arnold Pitt, a priest of the Evergreen Revelation Society. If the village runs into trouble, you can go to him—especially for illnesses and the like.」
A part-time physician, huh—Yvette thought. Then Lucia added mysteriously, 「They say Mr. Arnold is also a ‘Druid’!」
「A Druid?」
「Mm-hm. I don’t know if it’s true—that’s what Dad says. Mr. Arnold can transform into a magical beast. Ten years ago, during the war, he turned into a giant wild boar and fought side by side with Dad to defeat the knights of the Eagle Roost Kingdom. But it’s been ages since anyone’s seen him use that move.」
「Interesting.」
「Yvette, you’re so calm,」 Lucia said helplessly. From showing off at the training ground till now—whether running into Mars or learning there was a Druid in the village—this silver-haired girl’s expression stayed placid, like an emotionless puppet.
So it wasn’t some lofty act before—she really did knock her brain loose when she lost her memory. Poor thing, Lucia decided privately, feeling even more pity.
Yvette had no idea she’d suddenly been pitied. Her gaze fell on the small chapel not far away, and through her powerful spiritual body she sensed something inside—a presence that seemed like spirituality yet was different from it—appear and vanish, as if being absorbed by something.
A foreign mental element?
The discovery caught her attention at once. It was an unknown element even she hadn’t recognized at first glance, but it sparked some guesses.
Following Lucia inside, Yvette saw several villagers praying. Leading them was a middle-aged-to-elderly man in green robes, around fifty or sixty, hair shot through with white, kindly-faced.
Noticing the two, he called out, 「Little Lucia, you’re here.」 He paused. 「And this is the amnesiac girl everyone’s been talking about lately?」
「Yes, Uncle Arnold. This is Yvette. I’m showing her around,」 Lucia said, handling the introductions.
With the pleasantries and introductions done, since they were already here, Lucia went ahead with her daily prayer, reciting the Evergreen Revelation Society’s scripture under Arnold’s guidance.
Facing them at the very back of the hall was a Tree God idol shaped like a great tree; the canopy was exaggerated in proportion, looking from afar like a giant umbrella.
During the prayer, Yvette soon caught—with her mental senses—a near-imperceptible mote of mental element drifting out from Lucia, who prayed with eyes closed, and merging into the distant Tree God idol.
The mote was pitifully small—nanoscopic, really. Without Yvette’s abnormally high mental power, she’d never have noticed such a detail.
Yvette suddenly recalled a new element mentioned by the Firebearer—the faith element discovered by the Holy Spirit Sect, a branch of the mental element.
So this was the faith element?
What special significance did siphoning the faith element into a church idol hold for the gods?
Could it conceal the key clue to apotheosis?
With that thought, Yvette felt a faint ripple of excitement. In the days ahead, she would study the mysterious interaction between the Tree God’s idol and its believers.
After all, this was one of the three churches of the true gods. She, the Silver Witch, learning from the elder true gods to improve—perfectly reasonable
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Book 3: Chapter 193: The Element of Faith
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