Early morning.
The warm morning sun spilled into the room. Chirping birds nudged the young girl who was still in the land of dreams.
“Ugh… so noisy…” the girl mumbled incoherently with her eyes closed.
After a while, she propped herself up with both hands and slowly sat up. Feeling the warmth of the sun on her body, she let out a yawn and stretched.
She loosened her stiff body. As the soreness dissipated and her back cracked gently, she couldn’t help but let out a comfortable moan.
Afterward, her tense body slowly went limp. She slumped over the bed like a puddle of soft mud, remaining motionless.
A good while later, she sat up again and finally opened her eyes. As she blinked softly, those hazy, sleepy eyes gradually regained their usual lively clarity.
The moment she regained consciousness, Lintis immediately rolled up her sleeve to check her right arm.
Just as she expected, the previous abnormality had completely disappeared, leaving behind only her fair and smooth arm.
This was great news to start the day. Lintis couldn’t help but curl her lips into a smile and flip herself over to sit on the edge of the bed.
Then, with a wave of her small hand, several silver-white stars emerged from the air. They flew toward the wardrobe, lifting a set of clothes and placing them in her hands.
Taking the clothes, Lintis was about to change out of her pajamas when she suddenly paused. Her silver-gray eyes blinked with curiosity and confusion.
‘How did my holy power increase so much?’
‘Is this also a Saintess ability?’
‘How come Grandpa never mentioned this?’
‘So strange…’
Lintis tilted her head, unable to quite understand the situation with her body.
‘Well… whatever.’
She quickly changed her clothes, stepped into her slippers, and left the room.
She was best at not making things hard for herself. If she couldn’t figure something out, she would just set it aside for now. It was just like looking for something and not being able to find it; eventually, it would turn up on its own.
Humming a little tune, she slowly walked down the stairs and entered the living room.
She found no trace of Mr. Shilo, nor was he at the farm outside. He was probably still resting.
“Hmph, what a lazy pig,” Lintis tilted her head up triumphantly.
She completely forgot that she was the one who went to rest first.
After a quick wash, Lintis went to the refrigerator and pulled out the ingredients Shilo had brought back yesterday, along with a messy pile of seasonings.
The variety of seasonings in this world was rich, no worse than in her previous life. In fact, due to the existence of various transcendent powers, many seasonings with unique flavors had been produced.
This time, she had asked Shilo to buy common seasonings. To avoid the possibility of Isol City being too backward to have them in stock, she had thoughtfully listed many substitutes.
She placed the ingredients and seasonings on the cutting board, tied on an apron, rolled up her sleeves, and began cooking.
***
On the other side of the house.
A wooden door was pushed open, and Shilo stepped out, looking slightly exhausted.
Because there was a lot of accumulated work on the farm yesterday, he had been busy until late at night. He had only rested for about 4 or 5 hours.
For someone like him who maintained high-intensity training every day, this amount of sleep wasn’t enough for his body to fully recover.
Normally, if he were alone, it wouldn’t be a problem—he could just sleep a bit longer—but now he had to wake up early every day to prepare breakfast for the Saintess.
He felt more and more like a nanny…
“Sigh…”
Shilo let out a helpless sigh and prepared to head downstairs. However, he heard the clattering of metal, which made him prick up his ears.
‘A thief?’
He kept his footsteps as light as possible, creeping down the stairs little by little.
A white figure slowly entered his vision, and Shilo’s expression suddenly turned strange. At that moment, the figure suddenly turned around, revealing that familiar smiling face.
“Good morning, Mr. Shilo!”
The girl’s smile was brilliant. Her platinum-blonde hair, which usually draped quietly behind her back, was now tucked behind her ears in a loose low bun. The remaining strands were slightly curled, falling naturally down the sides of her face, with light air bangs softly veiling her eyes.
Combined with the gray apron, she gave off an impression of being both virtuous and delicate.
Shilo couldn’t help but stare for a few moments. It was only after Lintis looked at him in confusion that he regained his composure and said with feigned calm:
“Saintess, why are you cooking? Normally, don’t I handle these things…?”
Midway through his sentence, Shilo paused as something occurred to him.
“Oh, so that’s why you had me buy those ingredients and seasonings.”
Seeing that he had figured it out on his own, Lintis didn’t bother explaining. She continued processing the ingredients in her hands and quickly shooed Shilo away.
“Alright, alright, Mr. Shilo. Go and sit down first. I’ll let you taste my cooking in a bit.”
“I’m tired of eating the same things every day. I’ll let you try my hometown dishes~”
Lintis hummed and turned back to continue her work.
“The Saintess’s hometown dishes…?”
Muttering to himself, Shilo didn’t leave immediately. Instead, he stood behind her and watched carefully for a while.
The more he looked, the more surprised he became. The Saintess was unexpectedly skilled at prepping ingredients. This was clearly not something that could be achieved in just one or two sessions.
‘Does the Saintess actually cook often?’
Once all the ingredients were prepped, Lintis froze. Feeling a gaze on her, she turned around and realized that Mr. Shilo still hadn’t left.
“Mr. Shilo?”
“…”
Caught in the act, Shilo fell silent.
He knew very well that staring at others like that was impolite. His somewhat sluggish brain worked quickly, finally landing on a topic.
“Saintess, I was just looking around. I’m just a bit surprised by your skill.”
“Also… how is your body doing?”
Hearing the praise, Lintis first let out a proud “hmpf,” then stood with one hand on her hip and extended her other hand.
Seeing that the small hand was slightly damp and the skin of her arm was as white as new, Shilo breathed a sigh of relief. If anything happened to the Saintess while she was with him, he felt like that Holy Knight would chase him through several streets…
“It looks like you’re alright now?”
“Well… I wouldn’t say that…”
Shilo, who had just relaxed, was startled.
Seeing his reaction, Lintis burst out laughing.
“Hehe, I’m just teasing you. I’m fine now~”
“Not only am I fine, but I also feel like I’ve become a bit stronger. It’s really strange…”
Hearing these words, Shilo was also stunned. What did she mean by becoming stronger?
‘Is Filth really such a good thing? How come I didn’t know?’
However, despite his confusion, if even the Saintess didn’t know what was going on, how could he figure it out?
The two stared at each other for a moment before Shilo was finally driven away by Lintis, on the grounds that he was in her way.
Shilo scratched his head, went to the bathroom to wash up, and then sat on the sofa where the Saintess usually lounged. He looked at the Saintess busying herself in the kitchen, then looked at his own empty, idle hands.
For some reason, he felt out of place. Sitting there felt like sitting on needles.
‘Wait, isn’t this the sofa I bought?’
Suddenly, he felt a bit envious of the Saintess, who could slack off with a clear conscience…
After a few more minutes, he couldn’t sit still any longer. He sighed, stood up, and walked toward the kitchen.
“Saintess, is there anything I can help with?”