Iridia's voice drifted through my telepathic link, sounding uncharacteristically somber…
I raised my eyebrows imperceptibly, immediately entering back in my High-Speed Mode…
My mind accelerated, processing the room in a fraction of a second…
I assessed the auras and micro-expressions of the twenty or so people standing before me…
No signs of corruption…
No hidden daggers or shifty eyes…
Strange…
Humanity always has corruption and at this point there should have been some bad signs but…
But…
This Saintess was a bit too bright…
"After the Benedict incident, we became determined to remove the trash…"
Bellatrix interjected with a long, fierce explanation…
"After a series of Analysis and Oracles, we purged all harmful priests and personnel from the Church—nearly 20% of their total forces at the time…
We recruited the faithful ourselves and took the matters of that world firmly into our own hands…
The current Clergy is clean; most are commoners promoted for their high faith…
Unfortunately, over the years, too many of them have already died…"
I nodded imperceptibly…
These people were "White" in terms of soul purity—a stark contrast to the stagnant yellow of the Belzerg nobility or the murky shades I'd seen on previous frontlines…
Usually, soldiers carry a bit of "Yellow" due to the grim nature of their work, but this group was almost blindingly pale, with Clara herself radiating a Golden-White aura…
The dual color made sense: she was pure and faithful (White), but her "Merits" (Golden) were low compared to a monster like Julian…
Merits are built over time through world-shaping deeds; for a girl this young to be at the forefront of a summoning ritual only proved one thing—Valroy was so desperate and understaffed that they were burning through their youth just to keep the lights on…
Or maybe they were cutting corners???
It would all become apparent soon anyway…
I thought and then Mulled over my words and then stopped my Highspeed Mode to begin talking
"Hello, Little girl…
I am the Hero sent by the Goddesses," I said, effortlessly slipping into the role of an affectionate big brother…
I reached out and patted her head lovingly as I knelt on one knee and spoke to her at the same Eye Level…
The gesture was simple, but in this world of Despair and slow death, it seemed to carry the weight of a miracle…
Clara's breath hitched, and her pale face lit up as she smiled like a blooming flower…
Ahh, so cute…
As expected of a Good Baby…
Behind her, a ripple of movement went through the hall…
The stoic, iron-clad guards, who had stood like statues for decades, visibly trembled…
One veteran guard let his halberd tip slightly, his voice a choked, gravelly whisper that only my enhanced hearing could catch…
"He's…
He's actually here…
Twenty years of failures…
And he's finally here..."
A younger priest fell to his knees, burying his face in his hands as silent sobs wracked his body…
"The light…
It didn't flicker…
For the first time since the Fall of Venaria, the circle stayed pure... We aren't going to die today..."
The head priest watched my hand resting on Clara's head and closed his eyes, a single tear tracing a path through the deep wrinkles of his face…
"Blessed be the Goddesses," he muttered under his breath…
"A Hero who treats our Saintess with such warmth…
Perhaps there is a heart left in the Heavens after all..."
Looking at their exaggerated reactions I thought…
Awww, don't do that it's so fucking embarrassing…
"Brother Hero...
Can you save the World???"
Clara asked in a hopeful, tiny voice that seemed to vibrate with the collective desperation of years of failure…
It was the kind of question a child asks when they still believe in fairy tales, yet there was a jagged edge of trauma behind her eyes…
"Saintess!!!" interjected an Old Priest in a troubled, warning voice…
He knew the weight of such a request—it was a burden that had crushed stronger men than the youth standing before them…
Clara immediately withered, lowering her head like a child who had done something terribly wrong…
Her small shoulders slumped, and she gripped the hem of her divine robes until her knuckles turned white…
I sighed, feeling the weight of the Goddesses' expectations pressing against my own cynical nature…
Honestly I am not a good person at all…
I have too much blood on my hands but at least I can answer this child who has grown up in this crappy calamity…
I smiled, a genuine one this time, and reached out to pat her small blond head affectionately, smoothing down the stray hairs…
"Of course I can…
Since I am here, then I can naturally save the world…" I said, my voice steady and grounded…
I kept patting her head, feeling the warmth of her life force beneath my palm…
"Then why were you not there before???" Clara asked suddenly, her voice carrying a hint of grievances…
It wasn't an accusation of malice, but the pure, unadulterated hurt of a child who had been waiting for a savior who never came while her friends and mentors vanished into the black mud…
"Clara waited...
The Elders waited...
We called for so long, but the sky only stayed gray…"
"Saintess!!!" The Old Priest couldn't help but raise his voice slightly again…
He knew the situation of their world to a little extent, but I just glanced at him—an indifferent look that quietened him instantly…
"That's because I had just killed the Big Baddie Demon King of our own world," I said affectionately, leaning down to her level…
I rubbed her face and pinched her cheeks, pulling them slightly to break her somber mood…
"It has only been a little more than 2 months since I rested, and then I was told by the Goddesses that there is another Demon King here to beat…
I came as fast as the portals would carry me, little one…"
I didn't lie since it was indeed sometime since I was told about this and then I came here…
"Concerning your strength, we were actually thinking of letting you save this world before but your need for SP solved that Problem and we all got sufficient Profit…"
Said Alethia as I nodded imperceptibly…
"Ohhh…" Clara's head bobbed in a slow nod…
Her face blushed a deep, rosy red from the cheek-pinching, but the grief seemed to lift…
Ahhh, Such a Good Baby…
Emboldened, she raised her head and stuck out her tongue at the Old Priest mischievously, a flash of her true age peeking through the "Saintess" facade…
The Old Priest didn't mind the disrespect; he was too busy reeling from my words…