The Girl Who Looted Tomorrow

“Huh?”

Jessica’s sudden change of sides stunned everyone, not just the church, but even the people from Special Affairs.

Atticus frowned and said, “What is that supposed to mean? You want to protect this bastard?”

“I’m not protecting him,” Jessica said. “I’ve already made the reason clear. Continuing to fight is meaningless.”

Archbishop Pantheon also frowned. “That still doesn’t mean we can let this criminal walk out of here without any punishment.”

“He will receive the punishment he deserves,” Jessica said. “But that punishment should be decided by His Majesty, not by you. Earth Church, I am grateful that you arrived in time, and I am grateful for your help. But in the end, this is an internal affair of the Kingdom of Tarapaca. You have no right to interfere.”

The moment those words came out, neither the Archbishop nor Atticus spoke.

They only stared at Jessica with grave expressions, and the atmosphere slowly grew tense enough to snap.

“This… what…?”

The sudden turn of events left the people from Special Affairs completely confused.

But no matter what, the Mobile Unit and Jessica outranked them. If a conflict broke out, both in duty and in reason, they had to stand on the Mobile Unit’s side.

The official practitioners of Special Affairs showed helpless or apologetic expressions as they quietly distanced themselves from the church members.

Just like that, the two groups that had been gathered together slowly separated.

It was as if an invisible wall had appeared between them.

Without exaggeration, if the situation continued to worsen, it would not be impossible for the two sides to break into a fight right here.

And the church only had three Rank Four practitioners, including Freya. Their total number was barely fifty.

Special Affairs, on the other hand, had more people and two full Rank Five practitioners.

If a fight truly broke out, the church side would lose without question.

That said, even if Special Affairs could win, the consequences would be extremely severe.

Imagine what would happen once the Earth Churches in other cities learned that the church in Auxerre City had clashed with the authorities and that its members had been slaughtered.

Not to mention, among them was a Saintess personally chosen by the gods.

If things went badly, it was entirely possible for the Kingdom of Tarapaca to fall into civil war because of this.

At that moment, Freya spoke.

“Then let’s leave it at that. I hope His Majesty gives this man a punishment worthy of this disaster.”

After saying that, she turned and left.

“Stop standing around. Let’s go. One-third of the city is still on fire. The sooner we move, the more people we can save.”

“This…”

Atticus looked at Jerome and Jessica one last time.

Only then did he turn around with a deeply displeased expression and follow Freya.

Just like that, the members of the church left.

Seeing this, Jessica could not help letting out a breath of relief.

Jerome watched Freya’s small figure disappear into the distance and could not help saying, “That Saintess is not simple either.”

Jessica cut him off irritably. “Shut up already. Come with me.”

As for Freya, there was no way she would simply swallow this anger.

It was just that fighting now brought her no benefit. She herself might even die here, which would make this Earth Path save file useless.

So her current plan was simple.

She would endure for a few more days. Once the Earth Church finished preparing the ritual and she advanced to Rank Five, she would immediately end the simulation and do it all over again.

After that, both the Earth Church and Special Affairs began rescue operations.

The fire burned for a full day and night, while rescue work continued for three whole days.

The casualties and property losses caused by this disaster were almost impossible to estimate. The entire city sank into a low, grief-stricken state.

On the evening of the fifth day, Nolan came to the Earth Church and found Freya.

He said, “Yesterday, Jerome successfully persuaded a few nobles to go with him to see His Majesty. But as far as the result goes, it seems he failed. He couldn’t convince His Majesty to change his decision. I don’t know whether that madman will do something even worse after this.”

Freya was sitting in a chair.

Her legs were pressed neatly together, and the tips of her toes hung roughly an inch above the floor. Her calves swayed lightly.

The whole time, her head was lowered, and her attention seemed fixed on her small white feet.

No joy, anger, sorrow, or happiness could be seen on her face.

“You came here just to tell me that?”

Nolan sighed. “Mm… I thought you had the right to know what happened afterward. Also, among the three cities General Jerome said might be ceded to the Pentagram Alliance, one of them is Jessica’s hometown. That’s probably why she made that decision at the last moment.”

Freya still did not raise her head.

She curled her toes slightly and rubbed the toe ring she wore.

Nolan continued, “After Jerome was escorted away by Captain Jessica, Special Affairs cleaned up the battlefield. The potion warehouse on Third Cross Street had been blown up, and we didn’t find anything useful there. But at Jerome’s residence, we found the complete blueprint of the occult array used to burn the city, a large amount of unused spirituality crystals, and four bottles of War Path potion.”

“In the next few days, His Majesty will personally hold a trial for Jerome. I’ll submit these things as evidence. They should serve as strong proof. Hopefully, His Majesty will give him the punishment he deserves.”

Hearing that, Freya finally raised her head for the first time.

She asked, puzzled, “Four bottles of War Path potion?”

Nolan said, “Yes. Is something wrong?”

“Can you give those potions to me?”

“Ah?”

Nolan froze.

He had not expected Freya to suddenly make that request.

After thinking for a moment, he said, “Probably… yes?”

Without exaggeration, everyone in Auxerre City’s Special Affairs now felt that they owed the church something.

And those four War Path potions were not key evidence. Giving them to Freya would probably be fine.

The War Path’s advancement method involved killing.

If someone else asked for them, Nolan might have had to think carefully.

But if it was the Earth Church, they definitely would not slaughter innocents. He could absolutely trust them on that.

Still, Nolan asked, “Can I ask what you want those potions for?”

Freya thought for a moment.

She could not come up with a suitable excuse.

So she pursed her small lips and said in a low voice, “Is that not allowed?”

Nolan fell silent.

After a pause, he said, “Fine. I’ll go back and ask. If it’s only four potions, there shouldn’t be a problem.”

After they finished discussing that, Nolan took out a bag and handed it to Freya.

“And this. The new outfit custom-made by the Earth Church. I’ve already checked it. It’s very beautiful, and it meets the standards. There’s no issue.”

It was worth mentioning that the last person who had represented Special Affairs and come to the Earth Church to protest that Freya’s outfit was too revealing had also been Nolan.

⸻

Time passed.

Soon, the day originally scheduled for the advancement ritual arrived.

Because of the citywide fire during this period, and because of the Earth Church’s tireless efforts to fight that fire, the number of people attending this gathering had multiplied several times beyond the original plan.

Fortunately, the gathering was being held in an open square.

Otherwise, the crowd might have packed the place until it burst.

Every civilian wore an expression of relief after surviving disaster, mixed with deep gratitude.

Seeing this, Pantheon could not help smiling.

He was not enjoying their gratitude.

He was glad that he had been able to help so many people.

But immediately afterward, a drop of cold sweat appeared on his forehead.

For no other reason than this.

These people were far too enthusiastic.

“Thank you! Thank you so much. Truly, thank you!”

“If not for you, I probably would have died in that fire.”

“This is a small gift I prepared. Please, you must accept it.”

“Where is the Saintess? Why haven’t we seen her? I prepared a gift for her too.”

All kinds of gifts quickly filled Pantheon’s hands.

Even so, the guests kept trying to stuff more into his arms.

Pantheon felt his head beginning to ache. As he backed away, he said, “It’s almost time. I’ll go invite Her Holiness over now.”

Then he fled the scene and returned to the church.

Freya was quietly standing before the three statues, eyes closed, her thoughts unreadable.

Pantheon gently placed all the gifts in his arms onto the ground.

Only then did he say, “Your Holiness, it can begin.”

The Rank Four to Rank Five advancement ritual of the Life Branch was this.

At a gathering of at least five hundred people, make every person sincerely grateful to you, then drink the potion amid everyone’s blessings.

The original plan had been for the Earth Church to perform a large number of good deeds and attribute them all to Freya, making everyone feel grateful toward her.

But plans could not keep up with changes.

During this period, Freya had actively fought the fire the entire time.

She had truly led the members of the Earth Church and saved who knew how many civilians.