Primrose felt that her divine image had shattered into pieces, impossible to put back together.
Just before leaving, the tsk sound Yuna made while carrying the tea tray was like a knife stabbing straight into her heart.
That tsk carried so much contempt, so much disgust, so much disdain for her, this depraved goddess!
Primrose closed her eyes in despair.
She really wanted to explain, to tell Yuna that it was all an accident, a chain reaction caused by physical and physiological collision, and that she absolutely had not been having some scandalous orgy in the room with her mother and the saint.
But she couldn’t say it.
Because Yuna’s expression was exactly the kind that said, “If you say one more word, I’ll draw my sword and cut you down.”
Cecilia was sitting seiza-style on the carpet nearby, her shoulders and head drooping, her face full of shame as if she wanted to die.
Just now, she had truly been intoxicated by the Lady Goddess’s sacred aura, losing all reason, and had done such an outrageous thing.
And moreover, she had left that kind of… that kind of shameless mark in front of the Lady Goddess.
She felt she was simply a sinner, completely unworthy of being the Saint.
The only one who was out of the loop was Lin Naiyue, lying on the long sofa.
After being helped up and seated on the sofa by Primrose, Lin Naiyue had woken up groggily.
She had no idea what earth-shattering thing had just happened; she only felt a bit of a sore neck.
“Ah, how did I fall asleep?”
Lin Naiyue rubbed the back of her neck, yawned, and looked at Yuna who was crouched on the floor wiping it. With a puzzled expression, she said, “Miss Yuna, let me help you wipe the floor. Did someone spill tea?”
Saying that, she began to get up to help.
Hearing this, Primrose nearly spat out a mouthful of old blood.
She quickly signaled her mother with her eyes, telling her to stop talking.
When Yuna heard Lin Naiyue’s words, she paused in her movements. She looked up and replied in a relatively warm tone, “It’s nothing, Lord Hero. I accidentally spilled some water. It’ll be cleaned up in a moment.”
Having said that, Yuna stood up, threw the water-soaked towel into the basin beside her, picked up the basin, turned, and walked toward the door.
When she reached the door, Yuna stopped, turned her head, and swept her gaze over Primrose and Cecilia.
“Lady Goddess, Lady Saint, the carpet has been cleaned. If you have any other special needs, please feel free to command.”
Yuna didn’t particularly emphasize the word “special,” but the words still felt very heavy in the ears of the two.
With that, Yuna opened the door, walked out, and closed it behind her.
The room fell into a deathly silence once again.
Primrose let out a long breath.
The awkwardness had finally subsided a little.
‘I can’t let the atmosphere in the room remain so strange. I have to quickly change the subject and bring everyone’s attention back to the important matters.’
She cleared her throat, sat up straight, and put on a serious divine demeanor.
“Alright, let’s pretend that… accident just now never happened,” Primrose said, looking at Cecilia, who was still moping on the floor. “Cecilia, get up. Come sit on the sofa.”
Cecilia, still dejected, found a spot on the sofa farthest from Primrose and sat down, hands on her knees, obedient as an elementary school student who had done something wrong.
Primrose turned to look at her mother.
Lin Naiyue was holding a pastry from the plate Yuna had brought earlier and stuffing it into her mouth, eating with relish.
“Let’s talk business,” Primrose said. “I’ve decided. We’ll set out for the Miracle Snowfield first thing tomorrow morning.”
As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere in the room instantly changed.
“Huh? Lady Goddess, are we really going?”
“But that’s just a legend…”
Cecilia looked up, her attention returning to worry about the serious matter, even forgetting her earlier shame.
“Last time, Cecilia said there’s an Ice Snow Dragon in the Miracle Snowfield. It’s dangerous, right?” Lin Naiyue also stopped eating, her cheeks still puffed up, and asked indistinctly.
“Yes, Mother.”
Cecilia was very moved that Lin Naiyue still remembered.
She turned to look at Primrose, her voice full of worry.
“Lady Goddess, didn’t we agree before that we would help Mother train a bit more around Tattle Town, and only go to verify the existence of the Holy Sword and armor once Lord Hero has fully mastered combat techniques?”
“Just yesterday, Lord Hero was still… still swinging wildly with closed eyes while fighting slimes. Going to the Miracle Snowfield now and encountering an Ice Snow Dragon would be way too dangerous!”
“It’s enough,” Primrose said, putting on an inscrutable expression and shaking her head.
‘The Demon King is lurking nearby at any moment. Then there’s the phantom I saw using Truth Deduction that day, whose stats were all question marks. The difficulty of this world is God-Slaying Level. I have reason to infer that this phantom is the final boss we have to face. As for the Hero’s exclusive weapon and armor, they’re still at the stage where their existence has yet to be verified.’
‘I have to speed up the schedule.’
‘Telling Cecilia about this now probably wouldn’t be good. Not to mention the phantom, just the fact that Dorothy is the Demon King—if I tell Cecilia and Yuna, it might cause problems.’
‘Now the only problem is that I know she and I are the stabilizing pillars of Tattle Town and even the entire border. As long as we are here, the Demon Race will not dare to act recklessly, and the kingdom’s border and even the surrounding countries can be temporarily safe for a while. But once we leave, and we don’t know how long we’ll be gone, it will be hard to guarantee that news won’t leak. Once news gets out, the Demon Race will surely pounce like hungry wolves.’
‘But the Holy Sword and armor have to be obtained. Even if we take a thousand steps back and stay in Tattle Town, that would probably only guarantee safety for a short while. Prolonged confrontation risks unforeseen changes, like the Demon Race brewing some ultimate move, or Dorothy the Demon King changing her mind and deciding to stop pretending.’
‘At least for now, it’s certain that Dorothy has her own objectives. Although I don’t know what they are, from observation, she can be considered half an ally. In short, I have to think of a way that satisfies both sides—a way to immediately go get the equipment while also protecting Tattle Town and the border during that time.’
Primrose’s thoughts raced as she began searching through her vast skill library and magical knowledge for a solution.
‘The first idea that popped up was putting up a barrier.’
‘Having once been the strongest Sage, I have several Original Grade defensive spells in hand. I could completely erect a Divine Barrier tens of thousands of kilometers long and reaching into the sky on the side of Tattle Town facing the Demon Territory. This barrier could be set to only block creatures with demonic essence. Humans could enter and exit freely, but any Demon Race that touches it would be burned to ash by the sacred power.’
‘It sounds perfect… but.’
Primrose simulated this plan in her mind.
She mapped out the world map in her head and drew a long red line in front of Tattle Town.
She quickly discovered the fatal flaw in this plan.