A moment of silence, neither daring to look at the other.
Until a large dog burst through the underbrush and came puff puff running toward Lintis.
Lintis blinked, crouched down, and rubbed its head. Xiaobai, being petted, sat obediently on the ground, looking quite content.
That eased the tension a bit. Still scratching the dog’s head, Lintis glanced back at Shilo with slight embarrassment and said:
“Um… Mr. Shilo, I’m sorry I doubted you earlier. Your divine power does seem to have some issues. After we eat, let’s test what’s going on again…”
At the word “test,” Shilo froze. His mind involuntarily replayed the earlier scene—the touch, the scent, and… the temperature. All of it lingered, impossible to shake.
He completely failed to notice that while he was lost in that memory, a certain Saintess had already turned red-faced, stormed over angrily, and stomped on the top of his foot.
Shilo yelped in pain, about to scold the Saintess for causing trouble again, but she had already walked away. Judging by how she kept turning back to glare at him every few steps, her grudge was deep!
‘What the hell?’
Shilo felt speechless but said nothing, afraid the Saintess might come back for another stomp.
Watching the Saintess disappear into the distance with Xiaobai, Shilo shrugged, picked up the filled water bucket, and followed.
After he finished with the bucket and returned to the wooden house, he found the Saintess burying her head in a throw pillow. When she saw him come in, her pretty face instinctively broke into a smile, only to turn into a fierce glare the next second.
Shilo was completely baffled. Sticking to the principle of “if you can’t fight them, avoid them,” he ignored that resentful gaze and began preparing their breakfast.
Once the meal was ready, he hesitated before approaching the couch, trying to call out to Lintis, who was still sulking.
“Saintess, time to eat.”
“Mmm…”
Hearing him, she buried her head even deeper into the pillow.
Knowing he’d have to resolve this or she’d stay like this all day, Shilo sighed helplessly and gently pushed her shoulder.
“Saintess, please don’t be angry. And honestly, didn’t you start it by teasing me today?”
“If you’re going to get embarrassed yourself, then please don’t do that. Frankly, it gives me a headache…”
He finished, and saw the Saintess’s small head shift. She slowly turned around, revealing a pitiful little face streaked with tears. It made Shilo’s heartbeat skip for a moment.
Then her soft pink lips moved.
“Don’t…”
That gentle, sticky voice slipped into his ear, leaving Shilo unsure how to respond. He could only say reflexively:
“…Why?”
“Mmm… I don’t know… I just feel… bored?” Lintis tilted her head in a wronged way, saying something even she wasn’t sure of.
“…So you admit you were just messing with me, right?”
“Mmm… Anyway, Mr. Shilo, please forget what just happened…”
“Then I’ll forgive you!”
The corner of Shilo’s mouth twitched.
“Saintess, is that my fault?”
Lintis quickly nodded, replying with a serious look: “Of course!”
Shilo: “…”
Meeting the Saintess’s somewhat expectant gaze, Shilo felt mentally exhausted. He slowly said:
“Saintess, did something happen just now? I can’t seem to remember…” Even he felt this was childish, and his face flushed slightly.
The moment he said that, Lintis’s eyes lit up. She flipped over and stood up, squinting as she patted Shilo’s shoulder lightly, then walked cheerfully to the table and sat down.
Her rapid change of expression left Shilo dumbfounded, but when he turned and saw her bright smile, he felt it didn’t matter.
‘Whatever…’
Shilo shook his head and walked toward the Saintess, who was already urging him.
Finally, they could enjoy this modest breakfast.
After the meal.
Lintis took charge of washing the dishes, while Shilo went to handle the daily farm chores.
Once both were done, they met in the open field of the farm.
“Saintess, want to test it?”
Lintis shook her head. “No, let’s start learning the enhancement technique directly.”
“After all… Mr. Shilo, you can’t hold back anymore, can you?” Lintis grinned, looking at Shilo, whose excitement was hard to hide.
“…”
Shilo silently turned his face away.
“Pfft.” Lintis couldn’t help laughing. Before Shilo’s forehead could fill with black lines, she stopped and continued: “Alright, alright, no more jokes.”
“It seems like you’re the only one joking.”
“Hmm… let me think… let’s start with ‘Piercing Sword.'”
“Please don’t just talk to yourself and ignore me, okay?”
“Mr. Shilo, what are you mumbling about? Don’t interrupt your teacher’s lesson~”
“…”
“Hehe, that’s better… Alright, do you still remember the scene when I used Piercing Sword?”
Hearing that, Shilo, who had been exasperated, immediately nodded seriously.
“I remember. It was the technique that cut off the golem’s arm from a hundred meters away.”
Lintis chuckled and said: “That’s right. Like I said before, the three basic enhancement techniques each have their own use cases.”
“The core of Piercing Sword is precision kill and large-scale area attacks. Its essence isn’t any profound skill—it’s simply extending the divine power.”
“Extending?”
“Yeah, just simple extension. Like if there’s an apple in front of you but your arm isn’t long enough to reach it, don’t you ever wish your arm were longer?”
As she spoke, Lintis suddenly raised her index finger, and a golden droplet appeared at its tip. She then tapped it lightly in the air.
The next moment, the droplet shot forward, hitting a falling leaf dead-on, leaving a clear, tiny hole through it.
Lintis picked up the leaf, placed it in Shilo’s hand, and mischievously traced a circle on his palm before leaving.
The tip of her finger brushed across his palm, and an electric sensation shot through Shilo’s entire body. When he snapped back to reality, he couldn’t help casting a resentful look at the culprit.
Seeing him staring, Lintis just tapped her head lightly, stuck out her tongue, and let out an “ehe,” trying to charm her way out.
Shilo fell silent. He felt like he should have punched her in the head right then, but he held back, letting out a helpless sigh.
“Saintess… you just suffered a loss, but you never learn, do you?”
“Ah! Liar! You said you forgot!” Lintis immediately got worked up.
“I didn’t specify what I forgot. Also… please, no more of those little tricks. It really bothers me.”
“Huh, why?” Lintis blinked, tilting her head in confusion.
“Being touched by a cute girl like me—doesn’t that make you happy, Mr. Shilo?”
“…I only feel troubled. Are you really that happy doing it, Saintess?”
Lintis put her hands on her hips and said matter-of-factly:
“Of course I’m happy~”
“…”