Arc#3 Chapter 68: The Saintess (Patreon)

[Author's Note]

Hello, just a bit of a heads-up so you're not confused later. 

There will be some parts were someone talks to Reivan mentally. Those parts will be in (bold italics) and will be punctuated in the same way that Reivan's thoughts are.

Basically, like this:

'Oh? I'm talking to you mentally right now. Whoo~ scary stuff~ mind control stuff~!'

Reivan couldn't help but jump out of his seat. "Of course, not! Forgive me, but you are mistaken, Saintess Frey."

"Oh? Such a strong reaction..." The Saintess tittered on her seat, her hands clasped together atop her lap. "I exaggerated. My apologies. Please sit, Your Highness."

"Very well..." he complied.

Lady Frey smiled as she examined Reivan's face for a moment before taking her cup and having a sip. She then continued. "Well, I have my own thoughts. We have sent some of our clerics to Fort Alexander so they may aid Aizen in the conflict against Argonia. That's why I am aware that we aren't totally being replaced. But although I don't go out much, I am quite... observant. I know Aizen fights on multiple fronts. I have no idea where some of those fronts are, but I know they exist."

"Hmm..." Reivan hummed noncommittally, not wishing to confirm nor deny her claims.

"The lack of knights in the capital confirms that the fronts still exist. However, we have received drastically fewer requests for healing. And even the clerics on the frontlines have noticed that knights are more... courageous? Or reckless, is the word? Perhaps bold is the most apt term. In any case, after every battle, everyone still comes home with no injuries whatsoever. I find that very fortunate... and very strange."

'Shit. This chick has so much proof, what the fuck! Are you Detective Conan??'

The Saintess kept on smiling at him as if daring him to keep up the facade. But Reivan wouldn't budge no matter what she said since his ability was a national secret. And in any case, she would never be able to guess that the miracle medicines were mostly made by him.

"By the way, Your Highness. I heard you were quite involved with the research and development of medicine. And from such a young age too!"

'She knows!'

Reivan fixed the collar of his shirt and nodded. "Yes. Due to personal circumstances, matters of health are very important to me."

"Oh my." Lady Frey covered her mouth, feigning shock. "Even when you were so young?"

"Yes."

"Hmm..."

The prince and the Saintess stared into each other's eyes for a few moments before Frey sighed.

"You know what I think, Your Highness?"

"...Please tell me your thoughts, Saintess."

"I think you have a special gift related to medicine." Frey's blue eyes glowed gold as she smiled. "Am I correct?"

Reivan's limbs stiffened under the pressure of her gaze but he returned her smile. "You are mistaken."

════════════════════

You have used [Essence of Falsehood]

════════════════════

The Saintess Frey continued to stare at him, but Reivan placed his faith in his abilities, so he maintained his poker face.

Eventually, the Saintess tilted her head, her eyes still eerily golden. "I cannot confirm if you have a medicine-related gift, but I can definitely confirm that you have a gift for lying."

The next moment, a piercing dread crept into Reivan's heart as he felt something foreign gazing deep within him. He wanted to flee, to speak out, but he couldn't.

Just as he was thinking about letting Zourors out to ask for help...

Jingle!

...the pleasant tinkling of a bell reverberated throughout the room. And soon, Reivan felt a warm hand on his shoulder.

"I think that's enough mischief for today, Frey." Rolf sighed as he took a seat right next to Reivan. "I know you despise liars, but His Highness hasn't done anything wrong to you. Not yet."

The Saintess' eyes returned to their usual, bright blue color as she looked down in embarrassment. "Ah, I'm very sorry... I don't know what came over me!"

Rolf then patted Reivan's back gently. "You too. Frey has her own circumstances. And while it doesn't excuse what she almost did, I ask that you understand and don't resent her for it."

Reivan took a few deep breaths and nodded toward the Saintess. "I will bear no grudges for this."

"Thank you, Your Highness..." The Saintess dipped her head. "It won't happen again."

"I'm very glad to hear that."

Light chuckling filled the air as the Sword Star's thoughts entered Reivan's mind.

'I apologize, Your Highness. I intentionally didn't step in even though I knew what would happen.'

The smile almost fell off Reivan's face but he stopped it just in time. He threw a glance at the old man before sending out his own thoughts.

'And the reason?'

'I have known for a while that Frey has an ability related to seeing through falsehoods. I just wished to see how it would interact with your ability. We have now gained confirmation that although she can tell when that ability activates, she cannot see through it.'

'I see. But did we not lose out on this exchange? That's the only thing we found out. While she discovered that I have a lying-related ability... and she also indirectly confirmed the existence of a medicine-related ability.'

After all, what she had asked was a yes-or-no question, and she'd confirmed the activation of a lying ability. Which obviously meant that the truth was the opposite of Reivan's answer.

'No. She would've found out about that eventually. Your Father knows this too.'

'What do you mean...?'

'Frey also has a highly advanced divination ability — presumably from her god. It requires a very lengthy period of time to complete, but as long as it is a yes-or-no question, she will get the correct answer. Your [Medical Memorization] ability was as good as revealed the moment she became curious about you.'

'You've gotta be kidding...'

'I wish I was. This is the reason why we must be very careful around the Church — Frey in particular. Our alliance will break the moment she asks Sormon the right questions. Aizen is doing plenty of things that Frey will not appreciate at all. It is best she never gets wind of it. Luckily, she is a gentle soul and normally throws herself at her research. Most of her divinations are likely used in those, so she has no leeway to poke around our national affairs. We must keep it that way.'

Reivan subtly nodded and decided to just offer the information outright. At least this way, the Saintess might find him slightly more likable.

"I apologize for lying to you, Saintess. It's just that I've been advised not to tell people about my gifts lest I be... taken advantage of. I ask that you understand my own circumstances as well."

"Oh!" Lady Frey gasped, her eyes widening. Eventually, tears started to form and she hastily wiped them away. "I failed to think of it like that. The world isn't a kind place at all. It is only natural that you hide your talents. Yes... I'm really very sorry, Your Highness."

"It's fine, Lady Frey. I understand that your actions were due to your eagerness to advance medicine and help even more people."

"Yes. YES. That's right. Oh, I'm so glad you understand!" The Saintess reached over the table and grabbed both his hands. "Now I feel even worse for what I almost did!"

Reivan smiled as he looked down at his hands, grasped within the woman's soft palms. This close, he felt even more appreciation for the Saintess' divine beauty, and heck, she even smelled heavenly. He was quite confident that if he hadn't just lost his virginity to Elsamina, he may have fallen in love with the woman before him — just like how his father did when he was a child.

'Luckily, I ain't no simp!'

The Saintess seemed to have realized the inappropriate distance and went back to her seat with a slight blush. "Goodness, where are my manners? Anyway, I simply cannot tolerate my past actions. I must make amends!"

"Oh, really. There's no need, Saintess. It was just a little scary, that's—"

"To think I almost cleansed your soul...!"

'Excuse me, WHAT!? Is that what was going to happen!?'

He didn't exactly know what having one's soul cleansed did, however, with his imagination, he envisioned his soul getting burned away.

But when he thought about it, an ability that burned all liars was a strangely fitting ability for Saintess. Reivan couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat. He could probably still survive since [Indomitable Willpower] prevented his soul from being destroyed by those kinds of things. But it would've definitely hurt like hell.

And he wasn't a masochist. He'd prefer to stay away from unnecessary pain.

"Oh..." Reivan suddenly felt like he didn't want to let this subject pass with just a slap on the wrist. Still, it would make him look too petty if he acted on it. "Anyway, seeing as I have personally experienced Saintess Frey's boundless love for the common people, I see no reason why I can't reveal my ability to you."

"Ah! Is that so?" Lady Frey clapped her hands together, a beautiful smile on her face. "Thank you, Your Highness!"

With a nod of his head, he took a small bowl from his spatial ring and placed it atop his lap. He then formed a knife with his Soul Armament and made a tiny cut on the tip of his finger. A drop of blood was squeezed out and fell into the bowl.

'Wish I coulda just used my spit, but that's a bit inappropriate here...'

He didn't want to reveal [Medicine Memorization]'s other effects, so he left the small wound alone for now. With a wave of his hand, the blood inside the bowl lit up. A moment later, a green pill was rolling around inside the bowl.

"What?" The Saintess scurried to take a seat right next to Reivan, her eyes narrowed as she glared at the pill. "I have no idea what happened."

"Well, I don't either..." Reivan scratched his cheek awkwardly, scooting away from the woman. Her pleasant fragrance kept invading his nose and he found it hard not to notice it. "All I can tell you is that this is how it works."

"Hm... does it have to be blood? And your blood in particular?"

"No, it can be any of my body fluids. And yes, only mine."

"Hm? So it works with your saliva too? And semen? How about sweat?"

"S-Seme—!? Uh, I haven't tried it with all of those, but I'm fairly certain that I can."

"I see. I suppose you've studied it extensively throughout the years if you've been supplying the military." Saintess Frey nodded to herself. "I have some other clarifications. You don't have to answer them if you don't feel comfortable doing so, alright? Ah, and the old man probably told you about my ability to divine answers. Don't worry, I promise not to pry further even if you refuse."

Reivan nodded with a smile at her consideration. "That would be ideal for us. Thank you. And feel free to ask what's on your mind."

For the next hour, Saintess Frey asked a variety of questions, even using some medical jargon. Reivan only understood some of it though, so the Saintess had to explain before he could even give a response.

All in all, Reivan didn't give out any other sensitive information like his ability to replicate the effects directly. He did have to cut himself up a few more times so the Saintess could have some samples.

Furthermore, he also had to reveal his ability to manipulate the medicine's effects. But it was all worth it since the Saintess agreed to help him look for — or even create — drugs that were useful but had terrible side effects.

'I suppose it can be said that we've profited from this whole ordeal. Holy shit, what a morning. I just wanted to visit my injured subordinate...'

"Thank you so much for these, Reivan!" she carefully stowed away a few vials with pills inside. "Now I feel even guiltier about what I did earlier."

"It's water under the bridge, Frey." Reivan smiled, having grown somewhat closer to her during their chat. It had all stemmed from both of them being annoyed by each other's overly long form of address, so they both agreed to refer to each other by name.

'I still can't get used to not using a title for her... I mean, she's a Transcendent. And she's old as fuck!'

Although much younger than Valter, she was still more than twenty times his age. And was even the leader of the largest religious sect in Aizen.

"Oh, shush. I have to make it up to you. Uh, now where did I put that old thing..." The Saintess, unaware of his idle thoughts, dug around in her pockets for something. She then pulled out a golden necklace with the sigil of Sormon hanging from it. It was an exact replica of what she was wearing.

"That's..." Rolf muttered in shock, his eyes boring holes into the holy symbol. It almost seemed as if he wanted to snatch it for himself.

"Ah, the old man knows what this is." Lady Frey smiled wryly as she pushed the item toward Reivan. "Please take it. I hope you never get into a situation where you have to use it though."

Reivan received it and thanked the Saintess. It was obvious from Rolf's reaction that whatever the item was, it was extremely valuable.

'I hope this isn't some elaborate way to induct me into the religion...'

Curious, Reivan used [Supreme Insight] on the item.

════════════════

[Frey's Blessing]

A one-of-a-kind item that Frey - The Saintess of Sormon produced.

Active:
Cast [Sun's Halo] even without the [Faith] stat.
Stamina is used as a resource instead.

Passive:
After receiving fatal damage - The user's body and soul will be fully healed; a barrier that can withstand a Transcendent's full-powered strike will protect the user until the energy runs out.

Can only be used once and the item breaks afterwards.

════════════════

'Woah...'

Reivan gulped as he read through the item's effects one more time, just in case he read it incorrectly.

'This is an end-game item, I'm pretty sure...'

He looked toward Rolf and the old man had a huge grin on his face. When their eyes met, Reivan was sure that they were thinking of the exact same thing.

'Jackpot.'

'Jackpot.'