Elise had spent nearly half a year as the Church's saintess, operating in these special regions. In that time, she earned the love and reverence of countless people, gathered immense faith power, and pushed her fame to new heights.
To be honest, Elise wasn't a celebrity, but she was more famous than many of the stars from Queenvail Girls' Academy. If she chose to debut as an idol, she'd undoubtedly become a world-class star—perhaps even surpassing Sylvia at her future peak and earning the title of number one in the world.
But unfortunately…
If the saintess chose to become a celebrity, would she still be the same saintess?
Judging by the style of the Integrated Enterprise Foundation, if Elise became a Queenvail idol, they would definitely market her extensively.
No matter what kind of event Elise participated in, they would surely charge exorbitant fees. If that happened, Elise's image as the "saintess" would become heavily associated with money.
If certain unsavory organizations decided to exploit that point, it could seriously damage Elise's reputation.
Especially Dirk Eberwein!
A special mention!
There weren't many organizations or individuals that Elise truly cared about. Aside from the Integrated Enterprise Foundation, only a few others came to mind—and Dirk Eberwein was one of them!
Though not a Genestella, he possessed an exceptional mind and boundless ambition. In terms of scheming and ruthlessness, Elise wasn't sure she could beat Diruk.
And Elise still hadn't made up her mind about whether she should enroll in an academy—or which one she should join, if any.
More importantly, she had a particularly troublesome issue on her hands.
She had made the Church's influence in this world a bit too powerful. It now bore all the signs of becoming a "seventh conglomerate," which was exactly why the Integrated Enterprise Foundation had become so wary of her.
Assaults like the previous ones had already occurred dozens of times in the past six months—even assassination attempts had happened multiple times.
If Elise weren't an overwhelmingly powerful irregular, she would've long been eliminated by those special forces sent by the conglomerates.
There was no doubt—Elise had already infringed upon the core interests of the conglomerates. And yet she was still considering joining one of their academies?
Then again… what if she simply eliminated a conglomerate?
The thought had barely surfaced before Elise immediately dismissed it.
If she fully unleashed the power of faith, it was possible for her to wipe out several conglomerates. But that would raise another issue—major storyline deviation!
Such a move would impact the parsing progress of this world.
Elise couldn't be sure whether that would be a good or bad thing. This was only her second world, after all—it was better not to act recklessly. If an opportunity arose in the future, she'd consider disrupting parts of the storyline she didn't like.
As for now, she should listen to Grandpa Pope's advice!
A few months ago, when Elise arrived in this world, the first person she sought out was the Church's pope.
With that captivating gaze of hers, the pope and the Church's upper echelon became her devoted supporters. She smoothly became the saintess and made her name known for the first time.
To make better use of this identity, she proposed leaving the church to carry out relief efforts in impoverished areas—in short, charitable missions to help people and build her reputation.
A few months later, the name "Saintess Elise" had spread across the globe, and she had gained a tremendous amount of faith. Using that faith, she began enhancing the Church's personnel, empowering formerly average Genestella to unleash greater strength.
The Integrated Enterprise Foundation took notice of this as well and employed numerous strategies to counterbalance Elise. Unfortunately for them, all their efforts failed—not even their media campaigns had succeeded.
(A certain unnamed journalist states: This has nothing to do with me.)
The name "Seventh Conglomerate" had begun to circulate among certain upper-level circles. Several small and mid-sized forces had even openly pledged support to the Church in hopes of gaining early favor.
It wasn't until Elise returned to the Church headquarters that she realized this issue had become a bit more difficult to handle.
Although she intended to resolve it immediately, the Pope and bishops repeatedly advised her to rest. After much persuasion, Elise finally agreed to take a short break. They insisted that she not push herself so hard for at least the next month.
After all, in most people's eyes, Elise, as the saintess, had virtually no personal time. Aside from the basic routines of eating and sleeping, all her remaining hours were devoted to her duties as the saintess.
In the end, Elise "reluctantly gave in" to the elders' insistence and officially began her vacation.
"Mana, are you ready? We're heading out."
As always, Elise's travel companion was Sister Mana. But this time, the two of them weren't wearing their church garments—instead, they were dressed in ordinary casual clothes.
Even so, Elise's aura was impossible to conceal.
Appearance could be disguised. Clothing could be changed. But that pure and sacred presence—was something no one could imitate.
Lady Elise is so beautiful!
Mana was, at this point, the person who had accompanied Elise the longest in this world. Even she had rarely seen Elise in casual clothes, let alone anyone else.
But Elise only had one set of everyday wear. One of their goals today was to go shopping in a major city to buy more clothing—for both outerwear and underwear, which were in dire need.
Also…
Mana's gaze swept across Elise's body, eventually pausing at two particularly prominent features.
As expected of Lady Elise! Even her figure is incredible. But… can you even find that size in a store?
"All set. Let's go, Lady Elise!"
In a large shopping mall, an odd scene drew attention.
A stunning girl wearing a blindfold was pulling along someone who looked like her older sister as they browsed the stores—and she never once bumped into anything?
People couldn't help but wonder—are blind people this amazing these days? Some even felt a pang of sympathy for the girl. So young, yet already blind…
After wandering for quite a while, the two finally came upon a store called "Victoria." It looked upscale, and while some passing men stole a few glances through the entrance, Elise and Mana walked in with complete composure.
"Mana, why don't you go pick out something you like first? I'll just browse around here. If I find anything I like, I'll ask for your help, okay?"
Elise had noticed that Mana seemed quite interested in these kinds of shops, so she let her go free. Elise herself was fine with browsing casually.
"Then… alright. Please be careful, Lady Elise!"
Once Mana was gone, Elise wandered alone along the clothing racks.
As a saintess, what kind of style should I choose?
Since I need to appear sacred and pure, white might be the best choice. Maybe I should try something on?
Just as she picked up a white garment, a flash of purple caught her eye.
"Are you looking for a style? I can help you with that!"