Morning came, and with it, breakfast. The Hero is a cheat, it’s annoyingly hard to stay mad at him when we eat his food. He even made sure to go all out today as well.

Still though, after we finished eating, it was time. “So, why’d you bomb us?”

“We needed to quickly deal with the Blast soldier, so I used the only tool we had that could.” He stated.

“And why couldn’t you use it in a safer way?” I continue.

“As it’s from a blast nest, it is naturally cautious towards the smell of blast fluid, making it extremely difficult to properly use. Especially if you also want to survive the blast yourself.” He explained.

“Fair, but that doesn’t mean you couldn’t explain what you were going to do beforehand.” I press.

“You wouldn’t have agreed anyway, so explaining would’ve had the opposite effect. And.” He says, interrupting me. “Saying something about an explosion would have probably caused confusion, which would be dangerous when distance was the most important thing you guys needed.”

“Okay, I’ll admit we wouldn’t have agreed. But, why didn’t you at least wait for us to get further away from the blast?”

“I had to attack then. It was currently distracted, so it wouldn’t notice the explosive in time, and everyone was in a good enough spot to minimize the damage. I guess I could have hoped for a better opening, but I wasn’t taking the chances of either not getting one, or taking too long and another bug arriving. Like that final gambit one.”

“And the massive explosion wouldn’t just lure more over while we spent minutes struggling to leave?”

“It wouldn’t. The soldier bugs try to avoid any explosions, so one was unlikely to show up. It was still a gamble in the end though. I just chose the option with the best chances of success. Besides, I trusted that you would be able to take care of everyone.” He finished with a smile.

“Don’t try to use compliments to get out of trouble.” I say with a glare. “If I knew what was happening, I could have cast defense buffs on everyone. The injuries for everyone then would have been fairly minor, and we might have even avoided the final bug.” I explained.

“You are right, I just didn’t believe that you guys would have allowed my plan.”

“Maybe, but you had obviously prepared for this the day before, so at least some warning would have been nice, even if you just ended up forcing it on us. Besides, we are a team, we need to tell eachother what’s going on, even if no one likes it.”

“Yeah, I’ll make sure to tell you next time.”

“Well, that’s good enough for me.” Melly said.

“I agree. You have informed the Hero of the mistakes of his actions, now we shall trust him to improve upon himself.” Gregory agreed.

“Indeed.”

“You guys are too lenient. Haa, fine, but if he does something like that again, he’s on watch duty every night.” I relent.

“Nooo! Anything but that!" The Hero jokingly cries.

Whatever I guess. Everything did work out in the end. I just wish he would trust us more, being willing to actually tell us some of his plans. Well, he did say he would, so hopefully things will change. A girl can hope.

“Where are we heading next?” Rapunzel asked.

“Oh," The Hero pulled out a map. Wow, I genuinely thought he didn’t even have one. “We are heading to this city.” He says as he points. “We should arrive there in eleven days.”

I looked over at Rapunzel. Ah, it appears that she’s questioning life again. Melly pats her on the shoulder.

Let’s see if I can figure out the issue… Hmm, yeah, I’ve got nothing. “Soo, what exactly is the problem?”

“The problem is that even professional scouts wouldn’t be able to do what the Hero is suggesting!” Rapunzel complains. “I was supposed to be the guide.” She mumbles.

“It’s okay. The Hero is supposed to be the leader, but all he did was knock himself out, leaving me to pick up the reins.” I comforted.

“I reject that description." The Hero complained.

“I reject your rejection. You were unconscious at the time, so your testimony is invalid.” I turn to Rapunzel. “See, even the Hero agrees.”

The hero just grumbled

“I see. At least I can still scout, and fight, and walk on my own without having to be carried.” Rapunzel laughs.

“Yeah, even Gregory could walk by himself.” Melly adds.

We turn to Gregory. “Well, yes, I did walk with my own power, however little I had.”

“See, you don't need to worry about anything, Rapunzel, You are just fine as you are now.” I finished.

“Haa, thank you, everyone.” She says with a smile.

“And on that happy note, we should head out." The Hero interrupts.

“Yeah, yeah, let’s go then.” Melly says.

With that, we started our ‘impossible’ trek through the forest. Rapunzel was working extra hard on her scouting duties, but seeing how relaxed she was otherwise has convinced me that she’s fine. Oh, and I was also finally able to practice my preMilo spells.

A few nights later, Zarewthem had finally recovered, so Hansen summoned him. “It is good to see that everyone is fine.”

“Yeah, it’s all thanks to you that we made it out.” Melly thanked.

“I’m glad that I was of help to everyone.”

“Yeah, you really were. I’m sorry you had to sacrifice yourself like that though.” I apologized with a bow.

“You don’t need to worry about that, Miss Saintess. As a spirit, dying is nothing more than an inconvenience. I would gladly sacrifice myself if it meant someone else could live.”

“I understand, but that doesn’t mean that dying isn’t an unpleasant experience.”

“Then you just need to become powerful enough to not need sacrifices.”

“Well, I’ll do my best.”

______

The next few days before we arrived at the city were fairly uneventful. I did dissect a few of our defeated enemies to try to understand anatomy more, but sadly my improvements were quite minor.

“This is going to be the last city we’ll rest at for a while, so make sure to prepare everything you can over the next few days." The Hero told us as we headed towards the inn to rest, as it’s quite late.

“We really only needed eleven days.” Rapunzel said in shock. Ah, she’s down again.

“It’s okay Rapunzel, the Hero is just weird.” Melly comforted. The Hero just shrugged.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

______

The next day, after breakfast, Melly asked. “What are your plans, Eli?”

“I plan to head to the church to see about teleporting back to the capital.”

“I see, see you later then.”

“I’ll see you later.” I said as I headed to the church.

The city’s main church was fairly large this time, but as it was basically the same as where I grew up, I didn’t pay it much attention. It’s still interesting how the different churches are though,

Having learned from my past mistakes, I headed straight to the office.

“What can I help you with, miss?”

I handed her my ID and said. “I would like to use your teleporter.”

“Huh? Huh! Ehem, I’ll lead you to the Bishop right away, Saintess.” Nice, this is going a lot easier this time.

I was quickly led to an office. The priestess knocked and said. “The Saintess is here to see you, Bishop.” Well, close enough I guess.

“I… see. Let her in.” The priestess then opened the door and bowed.

“Thank you for seeing me, Bishop.” I greeted the middle aged man.

“Take a seat.” He gestured. “So, why is it that you honor me with your presence?”

“I’m requesting to use the teleporter to head to the capital.”

“Hmm, may I ask why?”

“The Hero has requested for us to camp out in the woods for a while, so I was going to gather some supplies while getting some answers for some of my questions.”

“I see, and is there any reason why you can’t do that here?” He questioned.

From his tone, I’m starting to think he doesn’t like me. Haa, that’s what I get for thinking things would go smoothly this time. “While I can easily get any supplies from here, it's hard to ask someone something when you are in an entirely different city from them.” I shrugged. “It’s nothing urgent though.”

“Hmm, I’ll see what I can do.”

“That’s fine I guess, I’d just like to know your answer soon, as I don’t want to be the one holding up the party.”

“I see, that would be problematic. I’ll make sure to inform you as soon as I can.”

“That’s all I can ask for.” I say as I get up. “Oh, by the way, can I ask something a bit more personal?”

“Go ahead.” He asks curiously.

“You don’t seem to like me that much.”

He showed a shocked expression before quickly covering it up. “Ehem, why would you think that?”

“Just the feeling I’m getting from you. The main reason I can think of for why, despite this being our first meeting, would be that you were supporting someone else.”

“Ah, it seems I’ve been unprofessional. You are right, I was hoping that my son would become the next saint, so I don’t have the best opinion of you. Especially since you don't properly respect the position.” He admits.

“Fair, I would probably be pretty annoyed with me too, if I was in your position.”

He couldn’t help but look at me in shock.

“Well, it doesn’t really matter that much in the end. All I ask is that you keep your issues to yourself until we deal with the demon lord. You can hate me all you want afterwards.” I declare before leaving.

“Wait!” He stops me. “You are right, the demon lord is more important right now, I’ll set up the teleportation gateway right away.”

“You sure?” I thought even a bishop would need to wait to use it.

“Yes, let me do this as an apology. I let my personal views blind me from what’s really important right now. I can now see why the Gods chose you.”

“Thank you.” I say with a bow.

We then headed out to the array that only large churches have. The gate is housed inside a large round fort, separated from the rest of the church, and guarded at all times by paladins. After passing through the checkpoint, we arrived inside the room.

The room was mostly empty, other than a few fortifications, and a control desk. In the middle of the room, lay the gate itself. It is around the size of a castle gate, but instead of a portcullis, it had two massive iron doors. Only once the gate has been fully linked to another gate, are the doors opened as we can’t exactly turn the gates off without destroying them. While I don’t know what lies beyond the doors normally, apparently, whatever it is, is powerful enough to destroy this entire building should they ever open at the wrong time.

“I need you to link a gate to the capital.” The bishop said.

“Right now? Are you sure?” The operator asked.

“Yes, we need to send over the Saintess.” He says as he gestures towards me.

“...Understood. Do you have a particular gate to link to?”

The Bishop looks at me. “I’d prefer the north church, but I’ll go to whichever one is easiest for you.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” He responded.

After a few minutes, the operator said, “The north church won’t be ready until tonight, but the central church can receive you in a few minutes, should you want to.”

“That’s fine with me. Thank you.”

“Understood, I’ll start linking the gates soon.”

After waiting for a while, the operator called out. “The gates have been linked, prepare to open the doors!”

Everyone got ready, as a few people started to pull the ropes to open the giant iron doors.

As the doors were being opened, a mostly golden, prismatic light started shining through the gaps. Soon, the entire room was bathed in prismatic light. For a while, we could barely even see our own hands with how concentrated the light was. The light itself seems almost solid as I move my hands through it. It feels like flowing sand as I start to dance around in the light. Sadly, the light only lasts for a few minutes before fading completely once the gate completely stabilizes.

After the gate stabilized, everyone stared at me strangely. “I’ve never seen someone so relaxed during a gate opening.” The operator commented.

“Same, while children are usually excited, the ‘pressure’ from the gate tends to limit their enthusiasm.” The Bishop agreed.

“The light feels nice though.” I pout.

“What can I say, as expected of the Saintess.”

“Whatever, if you would just accept the light instead of resisting it, you could relax in it too.”

“So I’ve heard. Sadly, that’s easier said than done.” The Bishop sighed. “Well, the gate is open. We will make sure you can return here once your business is done.”

“Thank you. And thank you everyone. I shall be back in a few days.” I say with a bow as I walk through the gate. Ah, as usual, the opened gate seems a bit odd. It really just looks like it’s just an archway in the middle of the room, especially since every gate room is built with the same design. There is nothing off at all, even as you walk through, unless the temperature of the two sides happens to be fairly different, but even that is more like walking into a building than anything. It just feels… mundane.

“Greetings, Saintess.” I’m greeted as I walk to the other side.

“Hello, thank you for allowing me to use the gate to travel here.”

“It is no problem, Saintess. May I lead you to the Cardinal?”

“Sure, I probably should meet with her anyway.”

I am then led to the reception room of the cardinal that oversees all the churches in the Kingdom of Trimune. It is luxuriously decorated, as that seems to be important in politics, for some reason. Haa, I’m going to have to learn about this stuff, huh.

“Hello, Cardinal Caitlyn.” I greeted the old woman with a slight bow.

“Good morning, Saintess Elizabeth, I didn’t think I would see you again so soon. What brings you to the capital?”

“Our party is preparing to stay in the wilderness for an extended period of time, so I needed supplies. I also have a few things I wanted to ask at the northern church, so I figured I would try to do both at once.” I explained.

“I see, if you need anything specific, I shall personally prepare it for you.” She offers.

“Hmm, I do have something I want to acquire”

“Interesting, what is it?”

“I am currently researching preMilo buffs, so I was wondering if there were any particularly interesting or powerful ones that I should check out.”

“That’s an interesting subject to be studying, though I’m sure you have your reasons.”

“Yeah, also, even if I fail with my primary purpose, I won't lose out.” Just learning them will increase my power, after all.

“I see, in that case there are some unique spells of that type, though most of them are stored at the main temple. I’ll fetch a few of them for you to try out, hopefully they’ll prove useful to you.”

“Thank you, that would be very helpful.”

“Well, since you are here, why don’t you tell me about how your journey is going so far and join me for lunch?”

“Sounds good.” I agree.

So, after telling her a bit about my adventures, skipping some of the more… concerning parts, she said. “I’m shocked at how much you’ve done so far. I never expected you to kill a troll so soon. Your party is performing quite well.” She compliments. “But, you should be careful.”

“About the Hero’s blessing? Don’t worry, I know how it works, and we are progressing surprisingly well on that front.” And it seems oddly centered on me for a good portion of it.

“I see, so you know about that. Understood, I shall trust your judgment. If you ever need help though, feel free to ask. The entire church is at your disposal, should you require it.”

“I’ll be careful, thank you.” I say. “I guess it’s time for me to go then.”

“Yeah, while I would love to chat some more, I do have work to do.” She sighs.

“Goodbye, I’ll make sure I see you before I leave.” I say as I leave.