"Lady Elise, it's time for us to leave."
A nearby nun gave a slight bow, then looked over at the Saintess surrounded by children.
"Is that so? It's already time, huh."
Elise sighed, seemingly regretting how short her time with the children had been.
Even though her eyes were covered by black ribbons, everyone around could still sense the sorrow emanating from Elise.
"Sister Elise, can't you stay a little longer?"
"Yeah! We still want to play with you!"
"I want to be just like Sister Elise in the future!"
A group of children clung to Elise—some held her hands, others tugged at her robe—clearly reluctant to let her go.
Elise smiled gently. She crouched down, as if looking over this group of misch… ahem, adorable little ones, and her soft lips moved.
"Parting is so we can meet again. It's not like I'm gone forever."
She patted the head of the nearest little girl and pulled her into a warm hug.
"Besides, all of you hold infinite possibilities. There's still so much beauty waiting for you in the future."
"Let's look forward to our next meeting, okay?"
Amid the children's reluctant gazes, Elise boarded the special vehicle that would take her away. Only after the car had disappeared into the distance did the children slowly return to the building and resume their lives.
"Lady Elise is so beautiful and kind..."
One of the Church workers at the orphanage wiped tears from the corner of her eyes, staring reverently into the distance.
"Yes, I've never met a girl like Elise before... Truly worthy of being called the saintess of legend," another nun sobbed lightly.
"Lady Elise has already done so much for us—we can't just sit idly by. Let's hurry and do something for her in return!"
With that, the two of them went back inside and devoted themselves to caring for the children.
...
Roughly a month ago, the Church, which had been quietly recuperating, made an announcement that shocked the world:
Elise Holiness had become the new saintess of the Church.
As countless people scoured the internet for information about this saintess, the Integrated Enterprise Foundation was the first to react.
They urgently contacted their agents embedded in the Church, trying to figure out what had happened.
But to their surprise, those agents were actually supporting Elise, and even claimed that Elise could bring great benefits to the Foundation.
The Integrated Enterprise Foundation was skeptical and sent personnel from their headquarters to investigate.
However, those who had met Elise returned with similar conclusions: Elise had immense potential. Queenvail Girls' Academy even sent representatives to invite Elise to join them.
It was no joke!
A public image ambassador this good? You'd be a fool not to take her!
After all, Queenvail was an idol academy!
With Elise's looks, figure, voice, and personality—all top-tier perfection—she was practically a dream come true for the Foundation behind Queenvail, W&W.
She might even become a global-level idol! (At this point, Sylvia had not yet joined Queenvail.)
W&W made an exceptionally generous offer to invite Elise to Queenvail Girls' Academy. But Elise wasn't interested in joining any academy just yet. She simply said she'd consider it in a year.
Seeing W&W move so quickly, other foundations began scheming—not directly against W&W, but targeting Elise and the Church instead.
Whether their interference would succeed or not was another matter entirely.
As for why Elise chose to wait a year, it was because she realized the current timeline wasn't quite right. She seemed to have arrived too early.
The story hadn't begun yet. Even Sylvia hadn't joined Queenvail.
What would be the point of going there now?
It wouldn't even contribute much toward world parsing progress.
The world parsing required by the Lord God wasn't just about the main storyline—though that did account for the bulk of it.
Take Elise's previous world for example. She traveled across the entire globe, participated in countless events, and even stayed there for ten years. Only after establishing the Church of the Saintess and amassing two billion believers did the parsing finally reach 99%.
So now, since the main story hadn't even begun yet, Elise planned to use this spare time to develop her faith power.
Speaking of faith, Elise's way of generating it wasn't complicated—in fact, it was quite simple.
Fame, reverence, affection—anything along those lines could produce faith power for Elise. The only difference was how much each source provided.
She could even draw power from the faith others held toward different targets.
Whether they truly believed in her or not didn't matter. She could exist as either a goddess or a saintess—as long as there was faith power for her to use.
The reason she had founded the Church of the Saintess in her previous world was simply because there were no gods there. It was more efficient to have people believe in her directly.
But if she ever encountered a world where gods did exist, she would absolutely think twice.
If she dared to tamper with faith in a world where actual gods were present, she might be hunted to the ends of existence.
"That said, this world is just overflowing with faith power! At this rate…"
Her sapphire-blue eyes gazed through the black ribbon at the sky, where streams of faith energy coiled and drifted. With no gods present, they had no target or will and simply wandered aimlessly.
It wouldn't be long before she had full control over the faith of this world!
"Saintess, are we really going to that region?"
The nearby nun looked uneasy.
And it was understandable—Elise was planning to head to a war-torn area.
Though it was publicly framed as a dispute between two nations, it was in truth a proxy war orchestrated by the Integrated Enterprise Foundation. Two of its factions had fought a brutal conflict there, dragging the already struggling countries into utter ruin.
"Of course we're going."
Determination flickered in Elise's eyes. War zones meant countless refugees, and helping them was an excellent way to gain believers and faith power.
"War brings endless suffering. I can't bear to see those people trapped in that pain. No matter what, I have to go and help them!"
"But… even if you're a member of the Starpulse Generation, that's still a war zone. If something happens, I won't be able to protect you!"
The nun was also a Genestella and had some strength, but she was still hesitant to agree.
"It's alright. If the Pope asks, just tell him I insisted on going, and that you had no choice."
"Saintess…"
The nun still seemed like she wanted to protest, but Elise gently stopped her.
"It'll be fine. Trust me."
Elise stood and embraced the nun gently, spreading a calming power through her.
Sacred Speech.
This was true power word magic—Kotodama—a single skill with limitless possibilities.
If Sylvia's original ability was called "universal," then Elise's ability could only be described as "omnipotent."
"I'm really strong! I'll protect everyone!"
Though the nun couldn't see Elise's eyes, in that moment, she chose to believe in her.
Truly worthy of being called the Saintess!
She could inspire such confidence with such ease!