Chapter 4 : Chapter 4
Chapter 4: A Heart-to-Heart Good Sister
“Your Holiness the Saintess, what brings you here?”
The knight training officer looked at the figure before him—someone he had only ever seen from afar during missionary assemblies—and felt extremely flustered. For a moment, he could not even remember how to position his hands and feet. He managed only an awkward salute.
“My personal guards are training here, so I came to take a look. There is no need to be alarmed.”
Fia did not mind his nervousness. If the version of herself from her previous life suddenly saw a top executive appear beside her workstation, she might become so nervous that she could not even speak.
The Church headquarters was essentially a small city. It leaned against the foothills to the north and faced the sea to the south. According to legend, this layout had been deliberately designed centuries ago to resist invasions by sea monsters. Exiting through the northern gate would lead directly to the training grounds at the base of the mountain, where the personal guard knights usually conducted their daily training.
She had come here not only to test the new ability she had just acquired, but also to gather allies. According to a setting she had glimpsed in her previous life, the knight guard unit assigned to her should be stationed nearby so they could protect her and accompany her whenever necessary.
However, this knight unit had never appeared in the storyline. Whether during the opposition faction’s ambush in the prologue or throughout the adventures in the middle and later stages of the story, they seemed like marginal characters forgotten by the developers. They existed only in a few side stories and within the background of the Saintess’s own CG scenes.
“You mean the Saintess’s Personal Guard Knights. Their camp is on the other side. I will take you there.”
The training officer sighed in relief. For a moment he had thought the Church had discovered that he had secretly extended the knights’ vacation time and had come to punish him.
Then again, if whipping soldiers as punishment were handled by the Saintess herself…
That actually sounded rather appealing.
Fia watched the tall knight nodding and shaking his head repeatedly, looking confused. Had there been such a detail in the game’s setting? Why did this knight look like he was suffering from a sudden bout of madness?
“They train very diligently and never forget their duties as knights of the Church. The Pontiff also occasionally visits to guide them personally. Many of them have already reached intermediate level.”
An intermediate knight corresponded to roughly Level 30 to Level 50 according to the game’s settings. That was already a very formidable force.
The training officer guided her carefully while explaining everything. Since the Saintess’s personal guard training was not under his authority, praising them cost him nothing. He might even earn himself a drink from their commander later.
“We are almost there… What are you all looking at?! Twenty extra laps for everyone!”
Some knights training nearby had noticed the situation and began glancing in their direction. Fia’s golden hair was simply too recognizable. Seeing that people were beginning to gather, the training officer roared angrily and frightened them all away.
The Saintess might not recognize them, but they certainly recognized the training officer’s whip.
“These fellows… honestly.” The training officer turned toward Fia. His stern expression vanished as he forced a smile. “Your Holiness, please do not mind them. They respect you very much, which is why they behaved that way. I will train them properly later.”
Wow. That was quite the performance. Instant face-changing.
Fia had originally intended to put on a polite formal smile, but she could not hide the amusement of watching a senior knight switch expressions on the spot. Her smile became noticeably more genuine.
“It is nothing. I can feel their enthusiasm. Please take responsibility and ensure that they gain a greater chance of survival on whatever battlefield they may face.”
【Morality +6】
【Evaluation: When your boss paints you a grand vision, you should always smile and accept it.】
There was no reward. The Immorality System clearly did not support this kind of morally upright behavior. However, thinking about it from another angle, if morality could not increase, how could it ever decrease? Fia certainly did not want to experience the consequences of her morality dropping into negative numbers and being despised by everyone.
Passing the training officer, who had been moved to the point of tears, Fia selectively ignored his loyal declarations and looked toward the distance.
Another training field lay beyond a white cedar fence.
Something seemed wrong.
***
“Yuna, I have already told you. Even if it was Peris’s dying wish, you cannot become one of us.”
Inside a spiritual hall decorated in white, a tall knight in silver armor was earnestly persuading a much smaller figure standing before him. The surrounding onlookers seemed somewhat reluctant, but their companions pulled them back, preventing them from speaking.
“Setting aside the fact that your physique does not meet the basic requirements for joining the unit, I must also consider my responsibility toward the other knights and toward Her Holiness the Saintess. Even if you passed the trials, I still would not agree.”
The small figure curled up, clutching an ancient-looking sword sheath tightly in her arms. Her cat ears drooped, while her long furry tail beat the ground unwillingly.
“But… this was my father’s wish…”
Her soft voice triggered unpleasant memories in Fia, who had already reached the doorway. The memories were not from the original body, but from her previous life.
“I said there are no ‘buts’! …Who is there?”
The training officer beside Fia coughed, reminding his old friend that he had become a little too heated.
“S-S-S-Saintess!”
The knight stopped scolding and followed the direction of the voice. He instinctively ignored his old colleague standing nearby. The pure white figure ahead of him looked extremely familiar.
Before his anger-clouded mind could fully react, one of the adjutants had already noticed the situation and led a large group of knights in bowing respectfully.
Well done, young man. You really want that promotion.
The senior knight reacted quickly as well. He stepped forward and knelt on one knee at a respectful distance before Fia, deliberately positioning himself ahead of the adjutant and the others.
“Commander of the Saintess’s Personal Guard Knights, Arius, greets Your Holiness the Saintess. May love and justice leave their glorious traces.”
“You may rise. May the Light bless you.”
After completing the formal exchange, Fia looked toward the cat-eared girl who was still lying face-down on the ground. When she heard the voices earlier, the girl had shifted slightly, but for some reason she still kept her head lowered and did not dare to look up.
Even before entering, Fia had noticed the white paper flowers scattered across the ground and the many swords planted upright in the earth. From the original body’s memories, she recognized this as the Church’s farewell ritual for mourning the dead.
She simply had not expected another surprise waiting here.
“Oh… this is Yuna, the adopted daughter of the Vice Commander Peris. She is a member of the Catfolk race.”
Arius explained. He raised his hand to signal Yuna to stand up and greet the Saintess. Her current posture was extremely disrespectful.
However, Fia waved her hand and stopped him.
“Raise your head.”
The gentle voice floated forward like a feather falling upon the heart. Within Yuna’s lowered field of vision, a pair of pure white shoes appeared. Golden thread embroidered sacred patterns across the surface.
She recognized those patterns.
She had seen the same ones on her adoptive father’s armor.
Slowly, she lifted her head.
The person blessed by the Goddess stood before her, extending a hand. Sunlight poured through the doorway at just the right angle, surrounding her figure with a warm halo.
Fia’s lips twitched slightly. Maintaining this posture was quite tiring, alright? Why did this cat girl stop moving after raising her head?
Still, although the face before her looked somewhat youthful, the fur color matched the shadow she remembered perfectly.
Yuna Haki.
In the middle stages of the game, she appeared as a boss.
If the hero failed to defeat her, the accompanying Saintess would be captured. She would then be stabbed with dozens of transparent holes before being thrown into a volcanic crater.
If the hero succeeded…
Then she would become a CG “good sister,” adding a special bonus to the Saintess’s ending.