“You — you crazy girl! How dare you speak such treasonous words. You’re… you’re truly infuriating me!”
Hearing Hailey question the word “faith” — his greatest pride — Hydra was incensed.
He clutched his chest and glared at Hailey viciously.
“Lord Hydra shouldn’t slander me. I’m merely speculating. After all, the Goddess loves every one of her believers.”
‘Even with the Pope’s Holy Baptism, this old man’s body is still decrepit. I hope I don’t give him a stroke.’
“However, when it comes to you, it doesn’t seem to work at all. I’m just worried about you, afraid that some evil has tainted your body.”
This counterattack left the previously dominant Hydra speechless, stammering without words.
His face turned livid before he finally spat out, “Utter nonsense!”
However, his explanation was futile.
Everyone there had been helped by the Saintess to some degree.
Hailey’s everyday words of comfort felt like a type of Magic.
She was gifted at consoling others; even the most tragic events seemed to become calm and resolved through her.
Thus, a saying began to spread that the Saintess’s voice possessed the Magic to dissolve sorrow and erase distress.
Of course, faith made it real.
Even though Hailey didn’t have a single drop of Holy Magic, the people believed in her abilities.
“Ridiculous! Utter nonsense! Can a few mere words from her heal your injuries? Have you been brainwashed by her?”
As if Hailey’s words had struck a nerve, Hydra could no longer maintain his facade of composure, appearing utterly frustrated.
But the more agitated and angry he became, the deeper the suspicion of the surrounding believers grew.
After all, who would you believe?
A withered, senile Priest who ranted in a rage, or a beautiful, gentle Saintess who remained graceful even when questioned and insulted?
Based on looks and personality alone, anyone would know who to trust.
‘Villains like this wanting a redemption arc? Maybe in the next life.’
Sensing the strange looks from the people around him, Hydra calmed down slightly.
He seemed to have underestimated this Doll who had usurped another’s place…
She was more difficult to deal with than her foolish master.
He had assumed she only survived because of Saintess Idledra’s protection.
Without the Saintess, she was supposed to be a piece of trash.
But he had finally received word and intended to take them down one by one while Idledra was away.
He hadn’t expected to suffer such a setback here.
At this moment, Hydra’s beard was practically bristling with rage.
He was one of the Five Priests of the Holy See, the Grand Priest in charge of enforcing dogmas and decrees.
How could he lose to such an evil creature?!
After thinking it over, he finally came up with a perfect plan.
Even if it affected his reputation, it didn’t matter…
“Haha, don’t you claim to be the Saintess? Don’t you believe you can heal everyone?”
Hydra snatched a silver sword from a nearby knight and slashed downward, cutting a bench into two pieces.
Seeing him suddenly strike, the surrounding believers tried to retreat from the church, but they were firmly blocked by soldiers in silver-white armor.
“Didn’t you say the Saintess’s Magic can heal everything? Today, I’ll cut off her arm to test the Magic Power of the Goddess!”
Hydra had gone mad.
He ordered the soldiers to drag a small figure out from the crowd.
Hailey’s face, which had been feigning composure, instantly shattered when she saw the person.
This Priest was simply inhuman —
The soldier was holding Little Mary, the girl who brought Hailey flowers every day.
She was crying loudly, struggling with tear-filled eyes.
“Mama… Saintess big sister… you bad people, let me go!”
Mary’s mother frantically tried to save her daughter but was held back by a silver sword.
Mary’s father, Leo, had already been knocked to the ground by several soldiers.
Even he couldn’t fight that many people.
“Hydra! For a Grand Priest of the Holy See to do such a thing… aren’t you afraid of divine retribution?!”
‘This beastly man is actually using a child to threaten me. But I have no way out. What should I do…’
“Don’t you love those rigid doctrines of yours? Did they never teach you kindness and mercy?”
Hailey tried to appeal to the rules Hydra obsessed over, but he was already showing signs of madness.
Then again, if the Holy See could harbor a lowlife like Maguire as a knight, how much better could their Grand Priest be?
Thinking of this, Hailey began to pity Idledra, who was still at home.
How had she endured this alone?
“What’s wrong, Saintess? Weren’t you very confident? Use your all-powerful Holy Magic to do something! Move!”
The silver sword in Hydra’s hand was only an inch away from Little Mary.
It looked as if he would wound her in the next second.
Every time the blade moved closer to the girl’s face, Hailey’s heart trembled violently.
The man clearly intended to use Little Mary’s life to force her to reveal her identity.
But if she truly was exposed… Pretending to be a Saintess, confusing the Goddess’s grace, and being a Doll creation of Forbidden Magic…
Every single one of those was enough to have her sliced into a thousand pieces.
‘Calm down. Think. Although he says that, he hasn’t actually done it yet. After all, in the eyes of the public, the Holy See is still a righteous and holy organization. They can’t actually harm a child. As long as I pretend not to know and give him no openings, I can find a flaw in his logic and raise an objection!’
‘In the end, I can just make this old man let her go. Besides, I’m not even that close to her… Except for the fact that she brings me those ugly, hard-to-grow flowers every day. Except for the fact that she secretly sneaks me her candies…’
“Enough, Saintess. I’m tired of your stalling. Now, you only have two choices.”
With that, Hydra swung the blade toward Mary.
In that split second, Hailey grabbed the edge of the sword with her bare hand.
“Big sister — you’re bleeding so much!!”
“Let her go. I’ll go back with you. Otherwise, I’ll kill myself right now, and your Saintess won’t live much longer…”
—
In the small villa in the Residential District, Idledra had finished a lovely breakfast and was trying to wash the dishes herself.
Although she was currently blind, she could manage reasonably well by sensing things with Mana.
‘If Hailey comes back and sees me helping with chores, she might be even happier.’
‘If only Hailey could teach me hand-in-hand how to touch the water, gently and tenderly like this…’
*Crash!*
The plate in Idledra’s hand suddenly slipped and shattered on the floor.