The Girl Who Looted Tomorrow

Freya said awkwardly, “Uh… I don’t think an underage girl can be your mother.”

The believer, however, looked confused.

He did not seem to understand what Freya meant.

After a pause, he said, “Your very existence is a miracle made manifest.”

“You are like the Mother Goddess descended into this world.”

“And the Mother Goddess is the mother of all living things.”

“Naturally, that means you, Saintess, are also the mother of us all.”

As he spoke, there was not the slightest desire or greed in his voice.

There was only the purest worship.

The way he looked at Freya was truly like the way someone would look at the mother who had raised him.

That left Freya completely silent.

She did not know what to say.

Just then, the Archbishop walked out from the crowd.

“Your Holiness, you have returned.”

Freya hurried over to him.

“Can we go back to the room from earlier and continue what we didn’t finish discussing?”

The Archbishop nodded.

“Of course.”

On the way, he explained, “Atticus, the believer just now, was abandoned by his parents when he was young.”

“The church took him in.”

“Even his name was given to him by the church.”

“So naturally, he sees the three gods worshiped by the church as his family.”

“To him, the Mother Goddess is his mother, and the Earth God is his father.”

“Your Holiness follows the Life Branch, which symbolizes the Mother Goddess.”

“In his eyes, you are no different from the Mother Goddess descended into the world.”

“That is why he called you Mother.”

“And it is not only him. Most believers see things in much the same way.”

“So if someone suddenly calls you Mother, please do not be surprised.”

“A simple smile in response will be enough.”

Freya fell silent for a moment.

Fine.

She really had been judging noble intentions with the mind of someone far less noble.

In the eyes of these believers, the word Mother was the purest possible title of respect.

It represented gratitude and reverence, without the slightest inappropriate meaning.

Then Freya suddenly had a strange thought.

“If I had chosen the Earth Branch, which symbolizes the Earth God, would they call me Father?”

The Archbishop answered calmly, “Naturally.”

Freya fell silent again.

After another pause, she asked, “Then what if I had chosen the Giant Branch, which symbolizes the Heavenly Father?”

Surely it would not be Grandfather.

To Freya’s surprise, the Archbishop answered with complete seriousness.

“The Heavenly Father, who supports the sky, does not descend into the world.”

“So you would simply be Your Holiness.”

“There would be no additional title.”

“I see.”

Freya nodded.

In her mind, however, strange thoughts were already wandering around.

A Saintess over six and a half feet tall and covered in muscle.

That would certainly be a very powerful image.

Before long, the two returned to the previous room.

Freya thought of something first.

“By the way, I still don’t know your name.”

“You may call me Pantheon,” the Archbishop said.

Freya said nothing.

That name sounded powerful.

Freya also told him her own name.

Then she continued.

“About why I originally came to the Earth Church.”

Only then did the Archbishop realize that he still had not asked why Freya had come to the church that morning.

Instead, he had brought her inside and given her four potions in a row.

The Archbishop immediately said, “My apologies.”

“Uh… I don’t think you need to apologize for that.”

Freya gathered her thoughts.

“In short, I foresaw that twenty-nine days from now, a disaster will sweep through this city.”

“Countless people will die.”

“The mastermind behind this disaster is a Rank Five General of the War Path.”

“Can the Earth Church help me deal with this enemy?”

The Archbishop’s expression immediately became serious.

“Of course.”

He did not ask why.

He did not ask for details.

He did not even consider whether Freya’s words might be true or false.

The Archbishop agreed at once.

And it was not just him.

None of the believers would object either.

The words disaster foreseen by the Saintess were enough to convince every one of them.

The Archbishop asked, “What should we do?”

Freya thought for a moment.

“If possible, send some believers around the city.”

“Have them use Mind Sense to look carefully and see if they can find that Rank Five General.”

“Of course, if they do find him, they must not alert him.”

“They should simply remember his appearance and tell me.”

The Archbishop nodded.

“I understand.”

After Freya finished speaking, the Archbishop said, “As for the Rank Five advancement ritual and potion, I have already sent people to prepare them.”

“Starting today, the Earth Church will use the birth of the Saintess as the reason to distribute free food on an even larger scale.”

“Fifteen days from now, we will hold a grand gathering open to everyone.”

“At that time, you will appear at the gathering as the Saintess.”

“You only need to display a small amount of supernatural power, a minor miracle.”

“Then I will attribute all the good deeds done by the church during this period to you.”

“In that way, the sincere blessings of five hundred people can be achieved.”

“You can drink the potion at the end of the gathering.”

That sounded slightly unethical.

Freya would not actually be doing any of those good deeds.

The other members of the church would be doing them.

In the end, however, all the credit would be placed on her.

Even so, Freya did not object.

This was a simulation.

And Freya was a practical person with a flexible sense of boundaries.

Naturally, she would choose whichever method worked most efficiently.

The Archbishop continued, “I have also commissioned a beautiful Saintess outfit for you.”

“However, it may take some time.”

“After it is completed, it will need to be sent to the Special Affairs Division for review.”

“Only then can it be delivered to you.”

After all, Freya was the Saintess.

When she appeared at the gathering, she could not wear exactly the same clothing as the other believers.

A difference was necessary to emphasize her status.

Freya, however, noticed a key phrase.

“Wait.”

“Why does it need to be reviewed by the Special Affairs Division?”

The relationship between the Earth Church and the Special Affairs Division could be summarized simply.

They did not interfere with each other.

Normally, there was no contact between the two sides.

This was something Freya had found strange.

Both sides were good people.

Why did they not cooperate?

The Law Path had decent combat ability in the early Ranks, while the Earth Path had extremely strong support abilities from the beginning.

An Earth Path practitioner could close their eyes, stand on the ground, activate Mind Sense, and search for supernatural practitioners with incredible efficiency.

Then Special Affairs could go make the arrest.

Wouldn’t that be perfect?

Take the recent Obsidian Incident, for example.

Demon Path practitioners were appearing all over the city and causing trouble from time to time.

If Special Affairs brought Earth Church members along on patrols, their efficiency should increase several times over.

But Special Affairs had not done so.

And under this arrangement of mutual noninterference, the Earth Church somehow needed Special Affairs to review the design of a set of clothes.

That was very strange.

The Archbishop sighed.

“In the past, the clothing designed by the church may not have aligned with their sense of propriety.”

“When believers walked outside wearing it, the police arrested them on sight.”

“After the Special Affairs Division learned of this, they came to discuss the matter with me.”

“They requested that we add more fabric and redesign the clothing.”

“Without their approval, any newly designed outfit cannot be worn outside.”

“Didn’t align with their sense of propriety?”

“Add more fabric and redesign it?”

Freya immediately caught the important details.

“Wait. What exactly is the Earth Church’s aesthetic?”

The Archbishop answered as though it were obvious.

“Clothing is a restraint placed upon life.”

“We should embrace freedom.”

“So naturally, the less clothing, the better.”

“Your Holiness, you are now on the Earth Path as well.”

“You should understand very clearly that wearing clothing is not especially comfortable.”

Freya was stunned.

“Uncomfortable or not, you still have to wear clothes!”

“Are you saying people from the Earth Church ran around naked and got arrested by the police?”

The Archbishop said with complete seriousness, “No.”

“There have indeed been cases where believers were arrested for wearing nothing.”

“But that particular incident was only because the church robes used too little fabric.”

Freya was even more shocked.

“So there really were believers running around outside with no clothes on?”

After saying that, Freya sighed helplessly.

She pressed one hand to her forehead.

Helplessness practically overflowed from her cute green eyes.

How should she put this?

No one was perfect.

Everyone in the Earth Church was kindhearted and genuinely good.

If such good people had one small personal habit, that should be understandable.

Or rather, once someone believed in a religion, doing things that ordinary people considered unusual was itself perfectly normal.

Then the helplessness in Freya’s eyes turned into horror.

“Wait.”

“What does the outfit you’re preparing for me look like?”

She did not want to appear at a gathering in front of so many people dressed like some kind of deviant.

Not even in a simulation.

Freya quickly said, “Since I’m the one who will wear it, can I go look at it ahead of time and offer some design suggestions?”

The Archbishop naturally did not refuse.

He gave her an address.

“Your Holiness may go there at any time and offer suggestions.”

Only then did Freya let out a breath of relief.

Once they had more or less finished discussing everything, the Archbishop took out a small holy emblem and a book, then handed both to Freya.

“In any case, thank you very much for your willingness to join the Earth Church, Your Holiness.”

“With you here, we will surely be able to do even more good in the future and help even more people in need.”

“And all of that will begin with helping you advance to Rank Five and stopping that General.”

The book was self-explanatory.

It contained the doctrine of the Earth Church.

As for the holy emblem, every official member of the Earth Church had one.

The emblem bore the image of a plant taking root and sprouting.

Freya noticed that the holy emblem in her hand was different from the one on the Archbishop’s chest.

His was an ordinary silver ornament.

Hers was colorful.

Gold lines traced the edge of the emblem, and the plant taking root and sprouting was a vivid, living green.

The Archbishop said, “When I prayed this afternoon, the statue of the Mother Goddess suddenly manifested and answered my prayer.”

“She said she had learned of your deeds.”

“Then she bestowed this special holy emblem.”

“From now on, even if you travel to another city, any member of the Earth Church who sees this emblem will instantly know that you are the Saintess.”

To put it simply, the Archbishop had gone and reported her to a god.

And the god had actually responded.

This special holy emblem meant that the Mother Goddess had truly acknowledged her identity as the Saintess.

Freya looked at the beautiful emblem in her hand.

Her small mouth parted slightly.

So regardless of what had happened before, she was now officially certified.

A genuine, absolutely real Saintess.