Chapter 90: Auntie, I think I’ve received enlightenment from the goddess
At Stigma Academy, in the section where the Sacred Temple had been built for the Saintess candidate.
An elderly woman walked through the temple’s quiet corridor, her expression dark and uneasy as she carried a tray filled with fresh, appetizing food and drink.
Making her way through the empty hallway, she soon arrived at the prayer hall. Her gaze swept across the room for a moment, taking in the simple space, various offerings dedicated to the goddess Crelesta hanging along every wall.
She stepped inside, then looked toward the very center of the room. There, a girl with long golden hair knelt, hands clasped together, praying before a statue standing before her.
Her hair looked soaked, as did her face. Across from her sat a bowl of clean water, deliberately placed there as a form of reverence toward the Goddess Crelesta.
"Miss Saintess..." the elderly woman spoke, calling out to the girl in a low, gentle voice:
"It’s time for dinner."
The open window let moonlight seep through, along with the sound of insects filling the quiet backdrop of the night.
Viena slowly opened her eyes, revealing a gaze clear and bright. A sharp golden glint flickered a few times as she lifted her head, looked at the goddess’s statue, then picked up the bowl of clean water.
She then poured it directly over her own head, letting the clean water seep through, soaking her hair, her face, all the way down to her white-and-gold gown.
The woman just watched in silence, before finally hearing Viena murmur:
"I understand..."
She stood up, drew a short breath, then looked at the woman who’d raised her throughout her time as the Saintess candidate.
"Auntie, I think I’ve received enlightenment from the goddess."
The statement was simple. The smile on her face looked deep, nearly hollow, leaving the elderly woman speechless for a moment, an expression of genuine shock crossing her face.
"Miss Saintess... did... did you just say that..."
"Yes, I’m not lying. You never taught me how to do that, did you?"
Viena drew a deep breath, let it out, and laughed softly:
"I genuinely received a message from the goddess."
***
Ever since that day, Viena had always found herself wondering. Why was it her, the one meant to become the Saintess, someone who should have been a source of help for those in need, who’d instead become the one and only figure requiring constant protection?
She’d often heard them—the whispers passed around by the female priests, ever since she’d first arrived at the sacred temple.
"Is she really the Saintess? Why hasn’t her stigmata Awakened at all?"
"Right... isn’t she supposed to be blessed by the goddess?"
"Hey, do you think it’s possible she’s lying so she can live a more comfortable life?"
"Y-you mean, the real Saintess might be suffering somewhere while we’re all fussing over this fake one?"
"Right... isn’t that what the prophecy said? Just look at the current Saintess, she’s living her life comfortably enough."
At first, Viena simply ignored them. She ignored them because she trusted the judgment of the temple’s senior officials, who insisted she truly was the Saintess.
They told her there was nothing to worry about. They also taught her how to be gentle and kind, teaching her how to maintain the proper image of a true Saintess.
That had turned Viena into a naive, innocent girl who knew practically nothing about the world. So she simply convinced herself that, because she was the Saintess, everything would surely pass smoothly enough.
But that wasn’t the case. Reality turned out to be entirely different. Unlike what the Sacred Temple had told her, the reality of actual battle was far more horrific.
Monsters lurked everywhere, and while Luminous-tier supervisors were incredibly valuable, they were still nothing more than meat shields on the battlefield.
People kept falling, one after another—wounded, dying.
There was nothing easy about any of it.
Until one day, Viena decided to ask...
"Why... did you all lie to me?"
She asked why they’d lied about so many things. About the reality of war, about the countless people who kept losing their lives.
And what did they say in response?
"It’s for your own good, Miss Saintess."
"We don’t want Miss Saintess to feel weighed down by such a heavy burden of responsibility. For now, you only need to focus on building your stigmata."
"That’s right, my lady, whatever’s happening right now, you don’t need to get involved. You can wait until the future, when you’ve fully become the Saintess."
Everything they’d said was true, in its own way. But Viena couldn’t bring herself to agree with their request that she simply wait.
Catastrophe didn’t wait.
So... Viena thought it over.
’They lied for my own good.’
Lying was wrong, and being lied to was painful. But that didn’t mean lying was always a mistake—just like how they’d lied for her own good.
Right... lying for the greater good.
That was exactly what Viena had done.
She’d just lied about receiving enlightenment from the goddess. In the end, she’d done this for the greater good too.
So, there was nothing wrong with it at all.
Even so, her faith in the goddess had, over time, slowly begun to crack.
***
Moonlight seeped in through the gaps in the room. Revealing Eiros’s room, completely quiet and still, as he collapsed onto his bed, thoroughly exhausted.
He wanted nothing more than to close his eyes and sleep. But for some reason, he kept holding himself back, staring at the system screen in front of him.
[Time remaining until the corruption seed matures: two years, two months]
Of course, the corruption seed was growing at an alarming rate. That made Eiros realize the time he had left wasn’t three years, wasn’t even two years, but would keep shrinking further with every step forward he took.
He had no idea exactly how much time he genuinely had left. But he knew he wouldn’t have enough.
He got up from his bed, feeling an overwhelming drowsiness. Then he looked toward the pile of Soul Stones sitting on his desk.
He’d received several from the head of the academy, some had come from Calice, while the monthly allotment he’d earn for placing first would only arrive next month.
The rest was what he’d earned from the system’s rewards, along with the ones from that terrifying gorilla monster.
His heart pounded for a moment, his gaze fixed on the Soul Stone carrying the soul of a Luminous-tier monster.
If he absorbed that, his progress would skyrocket, letting Eiros advance to the Luminous tier possibly by the middle of this year.
But at the same time, that felt genuinely difficult, near impossible.
Could he actually withstand the influence of a monster whose soul was far stronger than his own?
"....Well, guess that’s tough for now."
Eiros didn’t feel confident about that. He couldn’t let himself take such a reckless gamble, only to find that monster shattering his own soul and taking over his body instead.
So, the only thing he really needed to do right now was absorb every single Awakened-tier soul stone he had.
His gaze then drifted to the specially crafted wall clock, showing it was a few minutes past midnight.
Eiros blinked, his lips twitching.
Of course, there was no way he’d be getting any sleep tonight. But what else could he do?
He’d probably feel drowsy, but not nearly as badly, given his body had already been tempered with Soul Essence.
Hour after hour passed, the moon moved swiftly across the sky, and by then, the sun slowly began rising from the eastern horizon. Revealing the refreshing glow of morning light, brightening the once-dark academy.
The magic lamps switched off automatically, and right along with that, the students began waking up from their sleep, starting their day.
News about Clathria was also spreading fast. What had happened had, of course, stirred up some worry, but strangely enough, that worry wasn’t actually all that severe.
I mean, in this world, something like that clearly wasn’t a rare occurrence at all, right?
Attacks, killings, battles—all of it happened every single day, just on varying scales.
So, even though the news came as a shock, the students would probably just look up the generally available information to get a sense of what had happened and how large the scale was, and after that, the whole incident would fade away like usual, carried off by the wind.
Just like what had happened at the academy not too long ago.
Right along with that, Eiros, having arrived at the academy after finishing his absorption, hurriedly prepared himself and rushed off to attend class.
He also caught wind of a bit of student gossip.
"The Saintess is actually back in class now?"
That made him turn his head.
***