Why Am I a Priestess When I Reach the Maximum Level? - [Vol. 6] Chapter 3

[Vol. 6] Chapter 3: The Talisman

The valley where the teleportation exit led to was nestled between mountains, and where there were mountains and water, villages naturally formed.

In fact, when Violet used SP to investigate the surrounding area earlier, she noticed that the traces of human habitation increased as they spread out from the valley. Although she had stopped her search to avoid causing too much of a disturbance, she had already determined her direction.

“Here we are, here we are! Up ahead is our village! Sister Fairy, the people in the village are all rough folk who haven’t had any education, so if they’re lacking in manners or something, please forgive us!”

As they walked, a rough voice called out from beside her.

Violet turned her head to look and saw the speaker’s figure.

It was a woodcutter, wearing a conical hat and a light blue rain cloak. He appeared to be just over forty, with a square face that seemed somewhat honest. He wasn’t handsome, but neither was he ugly. His old, worn rain cloak showed clear signs of wear, including scratches and stains from rain, but this was a clear sign of the woodcutter’s extensive experience.

The girl’s lips twitched slightly, and she reiterated, correcting him.

“It’s not ‘sister.’ Please use a proper way to address me.”

The woodcutter laughed heartily and quickly slapped his head in realization.

“Oh, right! I forgot again! How about ‘Lady Fairy’? Is that okay?”

“Not ‘Fairy’ either… never mind…”

This man was someone Violet had randomly picked as a guide after leaving the valley.

Since she was now in an unfamiliar place, alone, she needed a temporary place to settle and someone to communicate with to better understand the local situation.

Well… it wasn’t *completely* random.

At the time, Violet had chosen to land nearby to save time, and this startled man had immediately been struck by her arrival, thinking her to be a celestial being, hence the term “Fairy” being used.

Some things were best left unsaid for now. Based on what she had observed so far, including the strange title of “Fairy” and the noticeable differences in language and mannerisms from what she had previously encountered in the Holy Empire and surrounding countries, Violet was more certain than ever that this place was definitely a region vastly different from those she knew.

And this woodcutter, whose name is Zeng Zhuang, with Zeng as his surname and Zhuang as his given name, follows the standard Eastern naming convention.

The two gatekeepers she had met earlier in the Spirit Veil Merchant Guild also had similar names, which told her a lot about this area.

By the way, Zeng Zhuang was an ordinary person.

A completely ordinary person with no unusual abilities or skills. He was just a sturdy man due to years of living in the mountains and forests.

If evaluated by level, he was probably around Lv5.

If this wasn’t an isolated case, then it seemed the base-level combat strength of this world was quite similar to the other side.

“By the way, Zeng Zhuang, have you been feeling unwell recently?”

“Huh? Not really, Lady Fairy. Why do you ask all of a sudden?”

“Just curious.”

Having given up on digging deeper into the topic, Violet turned her gaze toward the outline of the village that was now within reach.

Honestly speaking, it wasn’t anything special or impressive.

The buildings were simple thatched houses, more basic than those in the Holy Empire, mixed with a few small wooden houses. Judging by the size, it appeared to be a small village with no more than a hundred households.

There was a simple fence around the village to prevent wild animals from entering, marking the boundary, but there were no guards at the entrance. The place looked quite casual and impoverished.

No matter where you go, the scenery of the lower social strata always seems to be the same…

Muttering to herself, Violet glanced at the woodcutter beside her and pointed toward the empty village entrance.

“Are we just going in like this?”

With the help of a translation tool, her words were transformed from the Human United Kingdom’s language into the local tongue, causing Zeng Zhuang’s simple face to show a hint of confusion once again.

“Uh, what else should we do?”

“…Never mind.”

Once they entered the village, Violet realized that many of the details here were different from those found in small villages of the Human United Kingdom or the Holy Empire.

Apart from the differences in architectural style, the most striking difference might be that in many places here, or rather, on every door, window, and other openings to the outside of every house, there are particularly eye-catching, yellowish talismans that look like the kind of cheap, mass-produced charms used by Taoist priests to ward off evil spirits.

The talisman was adorned with vermilion-colored ink, seemingly depicting some kind of characters with specific patterns, or perhaps bizarre and mysterious drawings. Violet couldn’t understand it, but at least it didn’t resemble any language or script she had encountered as a priestess.

“What is this?”

Seeing the black-haired girl pointing at a talisman on the front door of a wooden house, gently swaying in the breeze and looking like it might fall off at any moment, Zeng Zhuang paused, also stopping in his tracks.

“Ah, it’s an evil-warding talisman. Lady Fairy hasn’t seen one before? Oh, right, right! [Immortals] don’t need to use evil-warding talismans to drive off demons, hahaha!”

Wow… that’s such a cheesy name.

Could it be similar to the custom many people on Earth have during the New Year, where they stick couplets on their door…?

But considering that this was a world with a style somewhat like the one she knew, but fundamentally different, Violet decided to approach it with the assumption that the talisman might indeed have some use, and decided to give it a try.

She lightly touched the talisman with her finger and activated her [Information Detection].

[A somewhat old talisman, with the words “Resplendent Divine Might, Evil and Demons Dispelled” written in beast’s blood.]

The description provided by the skill was limited to just this.

“Resplendent Divine Might, Evil and Demons Dispelled…”

Regardless of the specific content of these words, based on experience, when an item’s description is so sparse, there are usually two possibilities. Either the item’s mystery is so great it exceeds the detection limit, or it’s a completely ordinary object with no special qualities or value.

Clearly, it couldn’t be the former.

So, this is just an ordinary talisman.

If Violet had just crossed over from the game world, she would have made that exact judgment.

But now, her understanding of power and the mysterious is no longer limited to the shallow, game-like knowledge she once had.

The girl’s thoughts shifted.

Her spiritual power transformed into divine intent, reaching out to touch the talisman, which was likely handmade by the locals and had grown exceedingly old from exposure to wind and sunlight.

Then, she felt it.

Beneath the plain yellow paper of the talisman, a hidden force.

This force, although faint and almost imperceptible, still lingered near the talisman, weak but undeniable.

The source of this power didn’t seem to come from the talisman itself. Rather, it appeared to be the result of some preordained conditions being met, responding to certain laws and rules, and receiving special protection.

It was like how a traveler, lighting a campfire in the wilderness, can drive away most dangerous beasts, not because the fire could truly harm them, but because the creatures instinctively fear it, as if it were ingrained in their bloodline.

This talisman is the same. It represents an ultimate intent.

“Resplendent Divine Might, Evil and Demons Dispelled.”