The Messenger

Inside the great Lemorio central church, pope Meldario was kneeling on the altar. A nun, Sister Stella was behind him.

5 bishops came in inside the church. They were middle-aged men wearing white formal robes. "Father, we have confirmed, that the veil spiders have been taken care of."

Pope Meldario had a serious expression. He then looked at the nun stiffly, she gasped and understood she had to leave. Stella bowed slightly and went away.

When Pope Meldario and the bishops were now alone, they conversed. "Are you sure about this?"

"Yes sir. Some scholars have been referring to them as veil spiders. They were now wiped out."

The pope lifted a wry smile. "It looks like the Gods are on our side. If we can launch an attack on the Trimperial and take back Mendovia before the grand revolution, then everything will work out."

One bishop gave a nod. "Yes, it must be a divine plan for the veil spiders to just disappear overnight."

Pope Meldario was being suspicious. "Anyway, do you have an idea who could it be?"

"There were no witnesses which meant it was only God himself!"

"Just in case, launch an investigation and know who, and also, we shall proceed with the Green Army Controllion plan,."

"Yes, Father!" They replied at the same time.

Behind the walls, Sister Stella was prying on their conversation. She whispered to herself with a sneer. "I need to gather as much allies as possible."

***

Melvin, Vahenna, and Rederick went away to gather some information, while Celine and Shira handled the laundry.

Walking across the city took around half an hour. From here, Celine could even see the grand castle of the capital.

"Hey Shira, what does the King look like? Is he scary?"

"I kinda haven't seen the King."

"By the way, where are his children?" Celine was curious about what the prince and princesses look like.

Shira looked around them in caution. A few people were walking about. She went to her and hushed her up. "The Silians don't like to talk about this especially the King. But yes, according to Vahenna they are outside the island defending against the Trimperials."

What an irresponsible ruler, Celine thought.

As Celine walked across the stone-paved road, she saw a nun standing still. Her eyes were eerily locked at her. She was holding a necklace of the twin gods.

"Huh? Aren't you the one from the church?"

The nun slowly approached her. "My name is sister Stella." She lifted a smirk. She then grabbed her arm and dragged her to the alley.

"Hey! Shir--" She dropped the basket on the road and Shira who was walking ahead didn't even see her.

Finding themselves in the alleyway. Sister Stella pushed her at the wall and stared at her with malintent.

"What are you trying to do?" Celine could deadlock her in this range with her Muay Thai but she could not bring herself to harm a nun without knowing anything.

Sister Stella spoke. "Can you tell me where is your superior? I have something serious to talk to him."

"I can arrange a meeting with you to him if you tell me your motive."

"Quite persistent, huh? For a slave. Well, I'll be asking you questions if you're an enemy or not."

"I'm not a slave." Celine clicked his tongue, she readied herself in case of an attack. Stella then lurched forward and about to kiss her lip.

It made a contact for several seconds which surprised her. Celine then shoved her away.

Celine was panting. She was blushing and could not even bring herself to speak. She wondered why she had that reaction from a brief kiss. "Huh? What do you intend to do?"

Stella had an amused smile. "Looks like I wasn't able to manipulate you."

"Manipulate?"

Celine noticed that Stella had a ring with a pink stone on her finger, glowing steadily.

As Stella was about to capture her again, a fireball flew towards her. Stella leaped away in time to dodge it.

On the street, Shira was aiming at her staff. "Miss Celine, forgive me for finding you so late." She began casting her spell. "Production. Formation. Projection." She created and then shot out a bigger fireball. Stella crouched in time to evade it.

"Tell me, what business does the nun of the twin gods have with us?" Shira said.

Stella licked her lower lip. "I just want to find your superior." She rose her finger and revealed another ring with glowing stone, this time it was blue. "The liquid of life that flows through the world, flow to me and give me strength. Production. Formation. Transformation. Manipulation." A water tentacle went towards Shira and grabbed her leg. She was then pulled inside the alley.

Shira was surprised. "Huh? A four stages magic execution?"

Stella was laughing menacingly like a maniac. "Hehe, you're mine now."

Shira was below her and she got grossed out. "Stay away from me!" She was casting her spell and Stella was about to kiss her. But before that could happen, Celine stood with fierce eyes behind her.

Celine knocked her cheek out with her knee. She then got flung away. She crouched back up and spat some blood. "That hurts."

Celine was cracking her knuckles. "There's more of it where it came from." She charged at her.

Celine kneed Stella on the stomach, and Stella then leaped away into a safe distance. She spat some saliva. If not for Stella's willpower, she could have fallen unconscious from the blow. "You're a strong woman, I like you even more." She licked her lip.

Celine got weirded out. She harrumphed. "You call yourself a nun, you sexual harasser."

Stella chuckled. "I'm not sure if we can trust you or not, but tell your leader this country will get destroyed if nothing is done." She then jogged away and went into the dark corners.

"Hey wait!" Celine was about to follow her but she lost her presence. She eventually gave up and returned to Shira. She could not stop thinking regarding what she said.

Celine grabbed the basket they left on the road and proceeded to do the laundry.

"Even if she was a creepy person, she wasn't an ordinary nun," Shira said.

"She isn't?"

Shira nodded. "Naturally, nuns are not allowed to use magic stones. Yet, she was wielding around two of them. She's also crazy for mastering about 5 magic steps of execution."

"Really?" Celine remembered that Stella said she was working for someone else. That means she doesn't work for the church. Could she be a spy for someone else?

Shira faced her. "Anyway, I never knew much about you. Are you a soldier?"

"Well no, I'm just an ordinary woman. Melvin just called me out of nowhere when he saw me on TV and gave me this position." She chuckled. "We used to be classmates back in junior high school and he..." She paused for a bit. "He confessed to me once back then, of course, I rejected him. That was long time ago and I'm not really sure how he feels about me now."

"Really?" Shira thought about it for a bit. "Anyway, what are TV and junior high school?"

Celine sighed. She was tired of explaining everything. But she told every detail.

"This box can project an event from afar, far away? Interesting, that's a new magic device that I never heard of. And junior high school is a level of education, huh? I would like to know about it for later."

"Sure."

Arriving close to the outskirts of the city near the outer wall, they were in an open area. Several women whose clothes were poor and shabby were doing laundry. They were carrying buckets of water and cleaned them near the empty canal.

Compared to the rest, Celine had a medieval decent-looking attire that she would fit in with them. "So, where are the detergents and brush?"

"Detergents?"

Celine facepalmed. "I forgot that we are in another world." She straightened up to ask Shira again. "Anyway, what do you people use to clean the grimes and dirt?"

Shira lifted a weak smile. She pointed at a small shed in the distance. Celine noticed several women who decided to clean their clothes went from that location.

Arriving there, Celine observed a woman was taking a bottle of yellow liquid. It was probably the detergent that they were using.

"Shira, what are those?" Celine asked calmly.

"Ah, those are human urine."

"Ur-ur, eh?! Urine!" Celine was surprised.

Shira nodded. "They are turned into lye and effective in removing the grimes. That's what they are using."

Celine noticed that the shed was a comfort room. "Oh my."

Shira was worried. "Miss Celine, are okay?"

Celine was feeling unmotivated. "I don't know about that."

"If you want I can collect that urine."

"Really! Shira, you're a lifesaver."

"It's a small thing."

Shira went away to collect some. She returned with the urine of the bottle on her arm. "Here. This is what we are gonna use."

Celine was feeling grossed out that she couldn't even touch it. She chuckled nervously.

To her surprise, Shira tossed it to her. "Ah!" Celine squealed as the bottle was almost falling from her grasp yet she took grab of it. She was relieved after it didn't fall. "Shira! Was it even necessary for you to throw it?!"

Shira chuckled for a bit. "Forgive me. You act pretty funnily to me."

"Geez, you." Celine just put up an awkward smile and went away.

Approaching the well, she was surprised when one woman was guarding it. She seemed to be a peasant judging from her clothes.

Celine went closer to the well, but she got blocked by the woman. "1 silver per bucket."

"1 silver?" Celine was surprised. Right now, she only had about 20 silvers.

Shira stepped forward. She cleared her throat. "We have the permission to use this well since it's for the public."

The woman laughed condescendingly. "Unfortunately, the Lord who owned this well don't want to share it with you commoners. As their proxy, I was given a job to charge you per bucket."

"Fine, we need 5 buckets." Celine made sure to remember her face since she might be abusing everyone here. She was a tall woman with a bulging nose and visible mole.

The woman appeared glad. "You seem easy to talk to. Anyway, you're not from around here, are you? Since you're not from the capital washing your laundry here can cost you some time." She was raising a grin.

Celine stomped her foot. "Huh?! You think I'm that naive."

The woman had a shrewd smile. It was the face that showed Celine that she couldn't win. "This territory belonged to the same Lord. If you have some complaints then I can call him for you."

"We'll do our laundry somewhere else." Celine stomped her foot as she left. Though, she had to walk back and forth plenty of times to carry the bucket. They moved down to find a spot.

They tried to go to random locations and they got scolded by the guards.

Both of them sighed. They had no choice but to return.

Going back, the woman was still there with the same smirk. Celine finally gave up. "How much for a minute?"

The woman gave her a candle. Celine was curious what it was for.

"This is how we tell time," Shira said.

The woman then haughtily told them. "2 silvers per candle. Once the candle dies out, you need to purchase another one."

"Tsk, don't worry, I'll make sure to buy another one and make you swallow it." Celine was still irritated. She then went away to wash her clothes.

The woman was feeling insulted by her words. She could not help but frown. "What did you say you wench?! Hey, come back here!"