Why Am I a Priestess When I Reach the Maximum Level? - [Vol. 5] Chapter 256

[Vol. 5] Chapter 256: The Light Worshipper Church and Special Medicine

Stepping out of the courtyard where they resided alongside Sasha, Violet was immediately greeted by the sight of a long river winding in the distance.

This was a tributary of the Star River that split off within the Sarnos Province.

As has often been the case throughout history, during times of resource scarcity, any gathering of living beings would often be built near rivers to facilitate access to abundant water sources and various supplies.

This place was no different.

The settlement where Violet and the others were temporarily staying was a small strip of land backed by the nearby tributary of the Star River and surrounded by forests on three sides, connected to the outside world by a narrow path that wasn’t particularly wide.

Thanks to this unique terrain, the area was able to be quickly established with the resources and assistance provided by the [Light Worshipper Church], allowing it to evade demon invasions and develop into a considerable size of over one hundred thousand people.

As mentioned earlier, the vast majority of these inhabitants were displaced citizens of the Holy Empire who had fled their homes during the war, with a smaller number being scattered holy knights or other clergy, as well as travelers who happened to be nearby.

After unintentionally finding this settlement, some decided to join the guard forces for various reasons and have temporarily chosen not to leave.

Of course, there was also one crucial component in the formation of this settlement.

That was the [Light Worshipper Church], which provided the primary support for the establishment of the settlement and was currently in actual control of the region.

That said, the so-called [Light Worshipper Church] was composed of 99% of the general populace of the Holy Empire, functioning as a relatively loose group influenced and led by a small number of “missionaries” and “apostles”.

This was not a deliberate facade but rather a genuinely loose organization, a fact Violet had fully confirmed through her observations over the past few days.

Take Sasha, for example. Although she was also a follower of the [Light Worshipper Church], she didn’t resemble a typical believer at all.

Everyone went about their own business, without any temples, worship services, or rituals. It was only in the unusual situations that arose in the past few days, when they faced difficulties, that these [Light Worshippers] would come together to form a semblance of an organization.

By the way, it seemed that Sasha had joined the [Light Worshipper Church] because their merchant caravan had inadvertently come into contact with those exiled people carrying the [plague]  during their travels within the Holy Empire, and they had become infected.

Violet had learned about the horrors of the [plague] during the Holy Empire’s march. Even the seemingly secretive Bright Light Saintess referred to it as an insolvable problem. It was only with the covert assistance of the white fox girl that she agreed to Edwina’s proposal to “temporarily isolate” those affected.

This made it evident how challenging the treatment was.

However, from what Sasha implied, the higher-ups of the [Light Worshipper Church] seemed to have found a way to mitigate the harm and spread of this plague, which resembled a law of nature, and this naturally piqued Violet’s curiosity.

After some indirect inquiries, the answer she received left the priestess quite astonished.

The solution was becoming a [Light Worshipper].

Of course, joining the [Light Worshipper Church] was just the first step. After arriving in the Sarnos Province, the missionary who had guided them provided Sasha and the others with a special medication.

She didn’t know the composition or origin of this medication, but it was said that taking just one pill each month could stop the continued spread of the plague within their bodies and prevent it from transmitting to the outside world, allowing Sasha and the others to live temporarily like normal people.

The pill was about one-third the size of a marble, round and smooth, and was distributed monthly by the higher-ups of the [Light Worshipper Church], namely that missionary.

In normal circumstances, Sasha would never have easily swallowed such a bizarre and inexplicable medication provided by a strange organization.

But everyone knows that being infected by the [plague] was a dead end, which was a universally recognized consensus. Thus, all they could do was strive to grasp that elusive path to survival.

And it turned out that the [Light Worshipper Church] had not deceived her.

According to some special detection methods, after swallowing the medication, the plague that had spread within her body had indeed been initially contained, as if it were wrapped in some special energy, preventing it from further expanding and spreading.

The results Violet obtained through her [Information Detection] investigation corroborated this as well.

Of course, considering privacy issues, the [Light Worshipper Church] seemed not to have publicly disclosed that Sasha and the others were carriers of the plague. The latter was willing to provide so much information primarily because the white fox girl had deliberately revealed her identity as [Dawn] and the assistance their group had provided during the previous battle in the forest.

To be honest, the emergence of this medication was somewhat unexpected for Violet. Although she had yet to ascertain its specific manufacturing method, if it had no side effects and could be mass-produced, then in the Fulan Province…

However, is the Goddess Church prepared to accept its followers converting to other faiths in large numbers, especially if it means saving their lives from the plague?

After moving a short distance within the settlement, Sasha brought the white fox girl to the foot of a relatively exquisite three-story building located in the central area of the settlement.

“This is it. You could consider it the office of the higher-ups of the [Light Worshipper Church] in this settlement. At least the uncle president told me to bring you here to meet.”

“Xavier, huh…”

When they first arrived in the settlement, the merchant accompanying Sasha seemed to have gone out to handle some matters for the true leader of the [Light Worshipper Church] here, saying that he wouldn’t return for a couple of days.

Ah, what a coincidence, running into that merchant again in the Sarnos Province, after having crossed paths with him on two occasions.

Of course, for him, this should be his first real interaction with [Dawn].

Entering through the open door, Violet and Sasha passed by many [Light Worshippers] moving in and out of the main hall. They headed straight for the second floor.

As they climbed the stairs, Sasha continued to explain.

“This place is said to be designed by Uncle Elrand, modeled after the Adventurer’s Guild in the Human United Kingdom. The first floor is mainly for dealing with the daily troubles that residents encounter, which are then referred to capable individuals for resolution, with rewards provided by the [Light Worshipper Church].”

“The second floor seems to be where the big shots work. I haven’t been here much myself, but after Uncle President got familiar with them, it looks like he often comes here to handle affairs. Busy life, huh~”

As she spoke, they arrived at the only unlocked door at the end of the second-floor corridor, marked with a sign saying [Office]. Sasha knocked lightly as a formality before boldly twisting the doorknob and barging in.

“Uncle President! I brought your esteemed guest!”

With that, the seemingly reckless archer entered the room, and the scene inside immediately unfolded before the eyes of the white fox girl.

It was a very simple and plain office.

A wooden desk, a few flower pots with fresh greenery lined up on the windowsill, their leaves slightly unfurling as they greedily absorbed the nourishing sunlight. On the opposite side, there was a row of semi-suspended bookshelves filled neatly with various documents and materials.

In the corner of the room beneath the bookshelves, a tea table stood facing two rows of sofas. A porcelain teapot, freshly brewed, was still emitting wisps of steam, creating a lively and tranquil atmosphere.

On the sofa sat a young man dressed in a light gold [Light Worshipper Church] robe, his hood pushed back, short hair shining like rays of light. He was seated across from a human merchant, around forty years old, engaged in a gentle conversation.