Feeling like she was being watched with pity, she finally stopped. Maybe she had just overthought it. Maybe this really was a brainless System, and she truly had been blind before. No great being would be bored enough to mess with an ordinary person like her.
"Fine, I will accept it for now. Let me see what these side quests actually are."
They had to be easier than directly becoming a Saintess, and earning some rewards might help her survive better. Her face darkened at a visible speed as she read on.
"Side quest list. Defeat an unknown Abyss Church and ensure the death of its blessed member. Accumulate over one hundred thousand instances of gratitude or support toward you. Obtain a holy relic."
The rewards were still unknown, but every single task made Alba frown. Sure, they were technically lower than becoming a Saintess, but if she was too weak to complete them, it made no difference at all.
Taking down an Abyss Church with a blessed member, with her thin arms and legs and Holy Light that barely dazzled eyes. She might as well pray that the entire Abyss Church dropped dead tomorrow. The second task did not look like combat, but it was no safer, since gaining that much support would make her a clear target.
She knew well from the simulations how ruthless people could be when competing for the Saintess position. As for the last one, obtaining a holy relic, after days of reading religious texts she understood how rare those were. Even if the Church of Holy Light emptied its vaults, there might not be ten.
She paused, looking at the hammer lying nearby. It was ordinary, just as the Simulator said, useful only for knocking heads. After checking it so many times in the Simulator, that much at least was guaranteed.
Just as Alba lay back on the bed to empty her mind, there was a knock on the door. She opened it.
"Elvin?"
Seeing who it was, Alba froze for a moment, then smiled. Over the past few days, she had gathered that the original owner of this identity and their family reputation were not exactly friendly, and might even have treated Elvin poorly. Strictly speaking, though, nothing too extreme had been done to her.
At most, Elvin had given her small troubles and chores, always with a cold face, and Alba already felt that was generous enough. The thought that she had not been secretly killed already felt like luck, though she knew that idea came from being too on edge lately.
She did not know why the Simulator described the guardian knight role as almost decorative, or why Elvin disappeared the day after certain events. So why was she here now, when this was not in the Simulator at all.
Then Alba noticed it. Black smoke was rising from Elvin's left hand. There was a smell of roasted meat, and the armor on her left arm was clearly corroded with several holes, her body trembling and her face pale.
"Do you want me to use Holy Light to treat you?"
After a brief silence, Elvin replied, "Please."
She walked in slowly and sat by the bed. When she removed the armor, the wound on her left wrist was revealed, severe enough to reach the bone. The flesh had been eaten away by something unknown, sizzling as black smoke continued to rise.
That strange smell and aura felt oddly familiar and unpleasant to Alba. She placed her hands over the wound and spoke calmly. "I am going to use Holy Light. If it hurts, you can bite your clothes."
Light bloomed from her hands, far more practiced than before. The moment Holy Light spread, the black smoke vanished as if meeting its opposite. The wound healed rapidly, surprise flashing in Elvin's eyes, followed by intense pain from the regeneration.
Seeing her trembling and strained expression, Alba said, "You can shout if you want. This place is remote, no one will hear you anyway."
By the time the healing finished, she still had not cried out. Compared to before, it now looked like a ring of flesh had been corroded around the wrist. It was still serious, but her complexion clearly showed she was no longer in danger.
Once again, Alba marveled at the wonders of Holy Light Magic in Otherworld. No need to worry about infection, foreign matter, or abnormal growths, one use of Holy Light handled everything. It felt like direct health recovery, and maybe that was exactly what it was.
After the healing, she carefully checked again and, still cautious, cleaned and bandaged the area with alcohol. "That is all I can do for now."
It was the truth. It was not that she could not heal more, but using Holy Light made her dizzy as well. She then asked, "By the way, how did you get this injury. You do not have to tell me if you do not want to."
Elvin moved her wrist, surprise still on her face, then looked at Alba's tired eyes. "It was done by a new, unknown Abyss Church."
"I regret asking. Maybe I should not hear the rest."
In the end, for the sake of her own life, she had to listen at least a little. After all, this was a new situation that even the Simulator had failed to simulate, acting up again as usual. That alone was enough to make her take it seriously.
Elvin did not put on her usual cold and sour expression. Instead, she began explaining things to Alba in a steady tone.
"The Abyss Church that has been popping up again recently like rats is called Communion of Flesh and Spirit. They use a kind of strange Magic that has never been seen before, and the injuries it causes are like mine was before. They are hard to repair and extremely corrosive."
According to Elvin, she had cut down several of them, but they were only minor lackeys. The rest escaped quickly, and the real threat was likely still hiding in the dark and watching.
Taking advantage of the moment while Elvin was willing to talk, Alba asked a question she had been holding in for a long time.
"This Cathedral City should still be territory of the Church of Holy Light, right? Then why are there so many outsider Abyss Church showing up here?"
Thinking about it carefully, the situation really was strange. As far as Alba knew, groups like Abyss Church were hated everywhere across The Continent, and most of the time they were active among Demonkind or along border regions.
There were cases of them acting inside cities, but those were rare. Most of them were insignificant trash, without anyone strong enough to support them.
After all, activities like those of Abyss Church could not be done openly. With no strong figures and nothing worth betting on, how were they supposed to grow? Who would believe nonsense like summoning your the Lord and sending everyone present straight to heaven together?
On the other hand, truly dangerous Abyss Church were those with deep infiltration, large-scale forces, experts above Gold Rank, and even real devotees blessed with Authority granted by an Evil God. Such groups were so rare that one might not appear for hundreds or even thousands of years.
The Church of Holy Light itself benefited from the unique power of Holy Light and had always struck these groups hard in public. Every pope throughout history had done so diligently, and their records were clear.
This was easy to understand. They were all part of the Church of Holy Light, with fixed numbers of believers. Competitors were natural enemies, and when that competitor was also universally despised, there was no hesitation in wiping out other Abyss Church.
So why was it that within the jurisdiction of the Church of Holy Light, in a place like Cathedral City, so many Abyss Church were clustering together? It was no different from cockroaches crawling everywhere under the sun.
Alba was especially bitter about this. Setting aside the number of times she had died directly at their hands, she had seen more than ten different sacrificial methods used on herself alone.
She was at least a candidate Saintess with official certification. Why was she always treated like some lucky passerby or cheap expendable material?
As for figuring out the reason inside the simulation, that was a joke. The other side never wanted to talk at all and would just slash her down immediately. What could she possibly investigate that way?
The gap in strength was simply too large, and she had no outside help she could ask for. Others at least had chances early on to cling to someone strong, but she truly had nothing at all.
At the moment, Elvin was her only possible breakthrough. Even pulling out a small clue would help.
Alba felt that she was starting to lose her mind. If she kept dying without understanding why, she might really go insane. How was she supposed to complete any task like this?
Elvin did give her an answer.
"Why there are so many Abyss Church here is simple. Because of you."
"Huh? Me?"