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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Simzy
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Chaos erupted in front of the inn. White-robed priests had arrived en masse, inevitably drawing attention.
“Aren’t those priests of the Church of Elena?”
“Oh… Goddess Elena…”
“Goddess, grant us your grace…”
As befitting the empire’s primary religion, the Church of Elena had numerous followers.
Most of the gathered crowd seemed to be Elena worshippers.
Lina, observing the scene from inside the inn, frowned.
Shortly after, a knock came at the door.
Knock, knock, knock.
“Excuse me. We are from the Church of Elena. We wish to speak with you for a moment.”
‘Why are the followers of that dimwitted goddess looking for us?’
It hadn’t been long since he’d met the Regressor.
Nothing like this had ever happened before, so this sudden visit seemed definitely related to the Regressor.
But Lina simply shook her head, feigning ignorance.
Since they were being polite, she decided to open the door. Standing there was a beautiful priestess, with other, kindly smiling priestesses behind her.
“Thank you for opening the door. I am Tina, a priestess of the Church of Elena.”
‘A beautiful… priestess!’
“First, I apologize for this unannounced intrusion. However, we are not here to cause you any harm, but to convey the will of the Goddess.”
But even if she was beautiful, she was still a priestess of Elena.
Lina couldn’t trust her easily.
Suppressing the anger that welled up whenever she thought of Elena, she listened calmly.
“A revelation has come down. We heard that Lina Knightly is staying here. Which of you is she?”
“I am.”
“Ah, indeed… You truly possess the dignity befitting one who receives a revelation.”
“You flatter me.”
Well, Lina was quite beautiful.
“The Goddess’s revelation instructed us to invite you to the temple.”
‘So it’s not because I met with the Regressor?’
Lina, too, had fallen into this world after being chosen by the Goddess. Of course, her first encounter with the Goddess hadn’t been pleasant.
The Goddess had been a dimwitted, incomprehensible being.
But he hadn’t expected the Goddess to send her priestesses without mentioning Kerry at all.
‘This isn’t bad for me. I’ve been feeling uneasy about saying that I was also chosen by the Goddess… If they’re keeping it a secret too…’
Since the Goddess’s favor was his only lifeline, it was natural to want to hide it.
The priestess rambled on and on about the revelation and the Goddess’s doctrines, then finally got to the point.
The main point was this:
“Lady Lina, would you accompany us to the temple?”
Given Lina’s personality, Kerry had thought she would blindly follow any word from the Goddess, but she seemed hesitant.
She was probably worried about the pig and the skeleton.
‘It doesn’t really matter if Lina doesn’t go to the temple… but it’s irritating.’
These bastards weren’t the least bit interested in him. They hadn’t even asked his name.
At this point, he had to confront them.
Why did she give him eyes he never asked for, and give Lina the ability to regress?
‘If there isn’t a proper reason, I’m going to flip everything upside down.’
He would find a way to screw that goddess over.
Kerry approached Lina and whispered in her ear.
“Lady Lina, wouldn’t it be better to go? The Church of Elena is the state religion of the Empire and holds considerable influence. Strained relations with them might make things difficult for us in the future.”
“…Yes. If you say so, Kerry, it might not be a bad idea to go.”
As a Regressor, Lina was busy with a mountain of things to do, but she seemed to be listening to him for now.
But Lina’s voice, speaking with the priestess at the door, gradually grew louder.
The story Lina relayed back was a bit infuriating.
“They say only I, the invited one, can go to the temple. The rest of you cannot accompany me.”
“…”
Natasha gently took Kerry’s hand from the bed. She looked afraid of being left behind.
‘Ugh… this is so annoying.’
So Lina was the only hero? Then what was he? Why had she brought him to this world without his consent?
If that was the case, send him back to South Korea right now!
“Of course, I declined the invitation. I have no intention of going to the temple separated from everyone.”
‘That’s right! Our Regressor is the most important!’
“That’s true. We have a lot to do, so there’s no need to split up like this.”
Quick change of attitude.
If that’s how the Goddess treated him, he would have to be defiant as well.
“That insufferable goddess.”
The old woman finally said something refreshing.
“There’s no reason for me to listen to them anyway. I’m not a citizen of the Empire, nor a follower of Elena.”
‘Our Lina speaks well!’
The priests of Elena, unable to leave despite Lina’s firm refusal, looked troubled.
‘Serves you right, lackeys of the Goddess! Ahaha!’
For the record, he hated the Goddess, but he also hated the foolish people who believed in her.
Beautiful followers were an exception, of course.
“This is an unusual case… anticipating this possibility, the Goddess also gave a revelation to bring everyone along.”
So arbitrary. It was absurd.
But why was the Goddess so eager to invite them?
‘Why is that goddess ignoring me and only focusing on Lina? She hasn’t called for me once in two years…’
He was so annoyed that a stiff expression naturally formed on his face.
The priestess and other priestesses fidgeted at his unexplained irritation, but he didn’t care.
It was the fault of those who believed in that stupid goddess.
“For your information… We not only promise the highest treatment at the temple but also a gift from the Goddess. We don’t know what the Goddess’s gift is, but even the additional gifts we’ve prepared include high-grade holy water, high-grade healing potions, and more.”
‘High-grade holy water? High-grade healing potions?’
He looked at Lina in surprise at this new information.
She had a calm expression, as if she already knew.
‘No! You should’ve agreed to go when they offered such good things!’
High-grade holy water would easily be worth several gold pieces.
Of course, selling holy water was forbidden, but there was always a demand in the shadows.
And high-grade healing potions on top of that? It was practically like getting an extra life.
“Well, since they’ve prepared so much and changed the conditions to allow us all to come, it wouldn’t be bad to go.”
“Earlier you said it would be better not to go since you had other urgent matters…”
‘You wench! That was before I heard about the rewards!’
Religious items like holy water were hard to come by.
If these were the gifts the underlings had prepared, imagine what the Goddess’s gift would be!
“Well, I’m also curious about what the Goddess’s gift is.”
‘And I’ll take the opportunity to give that goddess a piece of my mind.’
“Honestly, I’m curious too. However…”
“We don’t know what the Goddess’s gift is, but it’s highly likely to be a great help in our journey, isn’t it? Besides, Natasha’s injuries might heal faster with the priests’ treatment.”
“Then it might not be a bad idea to go.”
She came around surprisingly easily.
Regressors were easily swayed. He should make a note of that.
“Natasha, are you able to move around okay?”
“Yes, husband. Moving around is no problem at all.”
He looked at the old woman for confirmation, and she replied,
“I don’t mind as long as Natasha is alright.”
And so, the trip to the temple was decided. Lina, however, had a slightly displeased expression, likely worried about what the skeleton and pig would do.
Lina and her party traveled in a carriage provided by the temple.
Although the journey would take more than a day, it wasn’t too bad thanks to the temple’s hospitality.
The carriage was top-notch, as was the food.
Above all, Kerry enjoyed the adorable reactions of the priestesses.
Since they lived in the temple, they probably didn’t have many opportunities to see young men, and their gazes toward Kerry were filled with admiration.
Some priestesses even occasionally flirted with him, whispering compliments.
“You’re handsome, adventurer!”
“Wow… look at your nice skin.”
“Are you perhaps… the son of a noble family?”
He was average-looking back in his world, but here, he was treated like a top-tier celebrity.
He didn’t mind it at all.
Thanks to traveling with the Regressor, he was eating and bathing well, which seemed to enhance the positive reactions.
“Please forgive their rudeness. The girls don’t have many opportunities to interact with men…”
“Yes, yes. It’s alright.”
Priestess Tina, true to her position, maintained a dignified composure.
Anyway, it wasn’t a bad trip.
“Husband, I don’t like them.”
Natasha, however, had a sulky expression throughout the journey.
Lina stared out the window, lost in thought.
‘Is she not happy about going to meet the Goddess?’
Wasn’t the Goddess the one who granted Lina her regression?
If it were him, he would be ecstatic.
‘Come to think of it, she didn’t seem thrilled when she first received the invitation from the Goddess either… why?’
“Lady Lina, are you not pleased about going to the temple?”
“…”
Lina stared out the window for a while. Her aloof demeanor and beauty created an air of elegance.
“I’m not sure. For one thing… I don’t believe in the Church of Elena. I don’t understand why the Goddess Elena would summon me.”
“!”
So Lina wasn’t a follower of Elena.
Then why did Elena grant her regression?
He checked her status window, but the skill name remained the same.
Come to think of it, he wasn’t even from this world, and yet he had been chosen by the Goddess.
‘She didn’t give me a cheat skill like regression, though…’
Still, Lina’s cold attitude towards the Goddess was a bit puzzling.
He thought she would at least be acquainted with the Goddess since she had received a power from her.
Lina didn’t seem to want to talk about it further, just staring blankly out the window.
Even when she was spacing out, she was a picture. A beautiful picture.
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Lina stared out the window, recalling her past life.
The gods hadn’t answered her prayers during that horrific war.
People had gone mad with rage, killing each other, and the vast fields were stained with blood.
What was a god? What was a holy war?
There had been nothing but madness in that war. Even her strong comrades had perished.
No one survived.
She wouldn’t let such a terrible hell descend upon this world again.
She wouldn’t stand by and watch her comrades die again.
Lina clenched her fists.
First, there was the White Witch.
Her magical talent surpassed Lina’s. There might not be anyone on the continent who could defeat her with magic.
In the great war, the combination of the White Witch and her devoted followers who didn’t fear death had felt like a truly terrible disaster.
Stopping the White Witch, who was currently sealed, was the most urgent matter.
‘A few days at the temple should be fine. The White Witch’s seal isn’t so easily broken.’
She had heard that hundreds of lives had been sacrificed in a ritual to break the White Witch’s seal in her previous life.
The horrific ritual of offering people as sacrifices made her shudder just thinking about it.
‘I have to become stronger. Strong enough to protect everyone. I won’t let any more innocent people be sacrificed.’
The carriage traveled through the night. They would arrive at the temple the next morning.
It wasn’t a bad night.
Things weren’t going as well as she had hoped, but seeing her comrades gathered around the bonfire, sharing warmth, made her feel good.
The content of their conversation was a bit strange, though.
“Husband, when are we going to stop sleeping in separate rooms?”
“…Since we’re not married, isn’t it right that we sleep separately, Natasha?”
“That’s mean. But I think I’m pregnant. Lately, I’ve had no appetite and I’ve been nauseous… I think it’s morning sickness. You haven’t forgotten that you promised to marry me if I got pregnant, have you?”
“Pfft! Morning sickness? Wait… not much time has passed since then, so that’s impossible…”
“Anyway! I just have this woman’s intuition that I’m really pregnant! Let’s have a wedding!”
“I’d be happy to have you as my son-in-law. Don’t worry about living with your in-laws.”
“I said I’m not marrying you.”
In this life, she wouldn’t let anyone die.
Absolutely, Lina made that vow.
It was dawn, with a crescent moon in the sky.
Everyone was asleep by the bonfire, sharing its warmth.
Kerry quietly got up and looked around. The priestess on watch was dozing off.
‘Good. I wouldn’t be able to stand it otherwise.’
There was a reason he’d gone to the trouble of separating himself from Natasha, who kept wanting to sleep next to him.
Honestly, sleeping next to her wasn’t just okay, it would have been blissful, but he had something to do.
In Kerry’s hand was a smooth orb.
The White Witch’s seal.
Kerry planned to visit the White Witch tonight.
‘If I don’t go tonight… I don’t know when I’ll be able to go again.’
More importantly, he was finally about to learn the magic he had longed for. There was no way he could wait.
Kerry stealthily made his way deeper into the forest.
He pressed the password on the transparent, hologram-like door lock that appeared on the orb.
Kerry’s form vanished from the forest as if he had never been there at all.
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Chapter 11 is listed after Chapter 12 on NovelUpdates