So, it’s been a few days, and I have luckily made some decent progress. To start, I’ve about halved the cost of my spell cluster. Which, while extremely useful, pales in comparison to my biggest discovery: the fact that I don’t actually have to cast the full suite of spells every time to learn from them.

In fact, it is actually more useful to cast them separately, as that allows me to focus on specific aspects of the robe’s spell. I do wish I had realized that sooner though…

Anyway, using my spells individually has helped me better refine them to be closer and closer to mimicking the robes. As such, even with needing to majorly rework or even replace some spells, progress has been rather smooth, especially with all the help Samuel’s been giving me.

Who is still under arrest…

Okay, I did try to release him, well, at least talk to him about having him be released, as while I can just release him, that would be extremely disrespectful to Cardinal Caitlyn. But, well, for some strange reason, he has decided that he will stay there until he has properly proved his worth. Haa, my words, which I had initially thought were fairly clever, are now causing me problems…

Oh, Mark is still always there while we work, which I feel a bit bad about. At least they seem to get along… He sometimes even joins our conversations! Even if that’s quite rare…

Anyway, I feel like I am actually fairly close to something. And I do mean something, as I am still far from having a proper cleaning spell. No, instead I’m getting a strange feeling from my robes. And it’s not like the closeness of being around my robes, instead being, well, it’s kinda like I’m feeling a cool numbness or something.

Which is very odd, considering that I can feel the robes becoming numb. And, well, with it becoming more and more ‘intense’ as I progressed, I almost wanted to quit. The only reason I didn’t, other than the fact that Melly would be disappointed, was that I was certain that the numb feeling wouldn’t go away on its own. So, I either have to live with this numb feeling for the rest of my life, or I have to do whatever it is my robes want me to do, and hope that fixes this.

Haa, this would be so much easier if I could see the past notes about the robes, but no, I’m not allowed to until I’ve had them for a few years. I mean, it sort of makes sense, they did show me the studies about how a vast majority of the things discovered about the robes, whether they are new abilities or ways to acquire those abilities, were made by people who didn’t really know about its features (even when you ignore the fact that a good few of those didn’t even have notes to work with), so it is preferable to at least try to let me figure things out on my own.

But really? Is this really the time for that? Haa, at least they agreed to let me see them once it gets close to the time of our final battle...

Whatever. So, trying to figure out the robe’s spell wasn’t the only thing I’ve done recently. I have also been helping Melly train with Pallet, though with a reduced intensity as Pallet understands that getting used to her new dragon armor is more important than conventional training. I’m pretty certain that’s actually because he wants to fight her while she’s using said armor, however…

Oh! Speaking of the dragon equipment, it’s really weird. Like, everyone’s mana can fluidly flow through it similarly to how my robes can, just without the pulling of mana or increased mana capacity. Which, is really weird now that I think about it. Like, they can ‘hold’ onto some of your mana, so you should be able to just regenerate more, right? Again, the fact that you can’t is really weird.

It’s like having a bucket of water, then using some of that water to fill up a cup, yet not being able to refill the bucket. Like, did you just put the cup inside the bucket and claim that, yes, you did fill the cup with water?

That, well, I guess it would be true…

Anyway, there are other odd things about the equipment, like how I can somehow heal them to fix damage, or how you can use your flowing mana to increase its defense, which happens to stack with buffs, which is ridiculous. It’s honestly frightening how high Melly’s defense can get with her new armor. Almost as frightening as how that defense still isn’t enough…

The last thing I’ve been doing is attending every meal, like I am right now. While not everyone has been able to, as they occasionally have other plans, it’s nice to have all of us eating together again.

“Okay, as everyone has finished eating, I have something to announce.” The Hero suddenly declared after we’d all finished eating. “So, I plan to leave tomorrow at lunchtime. I’ve already talked to the Cardinal about using a Gate, so you just need to make sure everything is packed.” Oh, that was sooner than I expected.

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“So soon? But we haven’t even gained a basic mastery of our new equipment yet.” Melly questioned. Yeah, I’m in the same situation.

“I know, but there’s stuff we need to do, and it will likely take an entire month for everyone to become suitably proficient with your equipment, so further training isn’t our priority.”

“May I ask what our priority is then?” Greg asked.

“Becoming strong enough to defeat the demon lord!” The Hero declared proudly.

We just stared at him like he was an idiot.

“Well, I guess this is another one of your surprises then?” I pointed out.

“Yes.” He smiled. “And it’s a truly great one at that.” Oh, now that’s worrying. Is this somehow going to be comparable to, or even surpass, dropping a mountain onto a dragon!? I really hope not.

“Haa, I can’t wait to tell Rapunzel the wonderful news,” I said sarcastically. She is currently busy with something, so she missed breakfast.

“Thank you,” He says as if I was serious… “So, as everyone needs to make sure you are all prepared, there will not be any training for today. I’ll see you all at lunch then.” He announced as he left to take care of our dishes.

“Well, I’m heading to the warehouse to make sure I’m properly packed, so if any of you need anything, feel free to join me,” I said as I got up to leave.

“I’ll join you,” Hansen said.

“I shall as well. I am quite curious to see how the church’s warehouse compares to my family’s.” Greg followed.

“I’ll head to my family’s place, as there’s something there I hope to receive. Thanks for the offer though.” Melly rejected.

“Any time. Okay, follow me.” I said as I led the way.

Once we’d arrived, Greg commented. “I remember that we came here to harvest the dragon.”

“Yeah, this is the center of productivity, so it’s standard for the warehouses to be located at least somewhat nearby. For example, the forge is right over there.” I said, pointing to a near-ish building.

“What are the other buildings here for then?”

“Mostly just more warehouses,” I said with a smile. “This is where most of the church’s supplies are stored, as well as where most of the ‘trading’ between different churches happens, so we need ample storage,” I explained. “So, let’s get some supplies.”

We entered the second warehouse and walked up to the, surprisingly empty, counter. “Excuse me,” I called out while hitting the little bell thing.

After a moment, a large, bald man arrived. “Greetings, how may I be of assistance?”

“We were heading out on a mission tomorrow, so I wanted to make sure my supplies were properly prepared,” I said as I handed him my ID.

“I already know who you are, Saintess.” The man said while laughing.

“Oh, have we met before?”

He just laughed some more before pointing to the top of his head. Wha- OH.

“Oh yeah, I guess my halo is pretty telling, huh.” I laughed.

“It is, especially when it’s glowing like that. That glow is impossible to replicate.”

“Oh, my halo is glowing? I thought it only did that when I was actively using it.” I asked, getting odd looks from everyone. “What?”

“Hmm, I did hear that you were pretty ignorant about these things.” The man said in realization.

“Hey, that’s not my fault this time! I’ve been denied any information about my robes.” I said in annoyance.

“But that doesn’t apply to your halo though…”

“What? Why not?”

“Because the halo is a completely separate thing.” Seeing my confusion, he continued. “So, I presume that when you got your robes, you had to infuse your halo separately, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Therefore, they are two different things.” He said with a smile. Um, is that it? “Haha, okay, I’ll stop messing with you. The reason that they are treated separately, other than the fact that they come from two different places, is that your halo doesn’t ‘grow’ like your robes do. It only has its same few abilities, having never unlocked more. So, the entire reason why you aren’t allowed to learn more about your robes doesn’t apply to your halo.” He explained.

“I see, I didn’t know that. I’m disappointed that I’d forgotten that the halo was originally a part of the old church, though.” I said with a sigh.

“Oh, so you aren’t completely ignorant.” He said with some surprise.

“Hey, I’ll have you know that I am quite well-read in regards to history. I just, don’t know as much about the present.” I muttered.

“Haha. You’re an interesting one, aren’t you, Saintess. Well, that’s enough chatter, let’s make sure you and your companions are properly prepared for your journey.” He said with a smile. “Oh, why don’t I get you a book on your halo as well?” He offered.

“Ah, thank you, that would be helpful.” I bowed.

“Don’t worry about it, it’s my job to be helpful.” He said as he headed to the back. Though, before he’d completely left, I did hear him mutter. “Quite interesting.”