Chapter 43
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: Saintess, Eve Seraphia (4)
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Squirm, squirm—
‘Man, this building sure is huge.’
After slipping into the sanctuary, I grew my body to a suitable size and wandered around the interior.
I’d gotten a sense of it from outside, but the inside was on the level of a grand cathedral.
The sanctuary was a space reserved solely for the saintess’s use. The idea of one person occupying an entire building like this felt like the height of wastefulness.
There were quite a few rooms in the building.
From scanning with Detection Tentacles and mana detection, there were a whopping five bedrooms alone, plus a hot spring and even a recreation room.
The saintess seemed to frequent the rec room. There was no dust, and traces remained of structures she’d built, like she’d been stacking bricks or something.
‘Must get pretty boring.’
This world had no game consoles or smartphones like in the modern era. To spend 28 days all alone in a massive building like this?
She was lucky not to go insane.
‘Looks like she’s got a strong mind.’
Through my senses, I could track the saintess’s location in real time. She was on the third floor of the building, cooking.
Even knowing she’d be alone for the next 28 days, her mood didn’t seem all that down.
‘That must be the kitchen?’
“Hm-hmm, hum, hm-hmm~ Hee-hee-hmm~.”
She hummed a tune as she moved about.
The saintess’s voice was bright, clear, and laced with beauty. If she’d been in the modern world, she could’ve made it big as a radio host or streamer. Her humming was downright adorable.
When she’d spoken with the other women, she’d come off as aloof and composed, but now that she was alone, her true self seemed to be showing.
Or rather—cooking? She’d just eaten dinner, and now she was making more food?
“Now to add the sugar syrup! Mmm, just 30 minutes in the fridge, and it should be done?”
From the aroma wafting over and the way she was preparing it, she seemed to be making dessert.
I quietly watched her cook.
I wasn’t exactly a culinary expert, so I couldn’t judge her skills, but her movements flowed smoothly without any wasted effort—she clearly knew her way around a kitchen.
About 30 minutes later, she finished off pancakes along with pudding and a fruit drink.
“Mmm. Delicious.”
The saintess smiled like a little girl.
With my keen sense of smell, the savory yet sweet aroma hit my Detection Tentacles hard.
As I watched her complete the dessert, I made a vow. Once I made her my woman, I’d turn her into the dungeon’s healer and chef.
She’d be essential for the kitchen.
Anyway, they say even dogs don’t bother you when you’re eating, so with kind intentions, I waited patiently until she finished her dessert.
Once she’d washed all the dishes, she headed to the hot spring next.
Swish, rustle, swish—
She stripped off the saintess robes that had covered her body.
“Ahh, these saintess robes are surprisingly uncomfortable, you know.”
She removed the veil from her head and unclasped the star-shaped pendant, symbol of Stella.
Pulling off her dress and undergarments in one go revealed her stunning, pure white skin.
‘Whoa, seriously.’
How could she have such a lewd body?
Her massive breasts showed no sag, maintaining their perfect shape. Her nipples were a delicate pink, more tempting than anything.
Her ass was so firm and plump, you’d want to smack it right then and there, and her thighs looked mouthwateringly delicious.
A figure with perfectly defined lines, yet with just enough soft padding on her belly to feel plush and yielding to the touch.
I couldn’t hold back any longer.
Squirm, squirm—
I slithered my body toward the bath where she was soaking.
“Haaah......”
Eve Seraphia was a devout follower of the Holy Stella Church.
Born into a family that had followed the church’s teachings for generations, she had served the goddess Stella since childhood.
Praying every day and keeping her body and mind pure.
Whenever she prayed at the Holy Church, she felt a profound peace.
She had dreamed of becoming a saintess since she was young.
To inherit her goddess’s power, perform miracles, and heal others—what could be more noble and beautiful?
Above all, she had once dreamed a strange dream as a child.
"Eve Seraphia."
- Yes?
The celestial realm.
In an endless expanse of sky with no visible end, a woman of indescribable beauty and distant radiance gazed upon her.
An overwhelming presence, natural and inevitable.
Eve Seraphia found herself speaking with utmost respect.
"Hmm. You show real promise."
- P-promise...?
"Yes. Keep your body pure. Then I shall share my power with you."
- Power? Um, wait— Ah! Hold on—!
But the transcendent being vanished after saying her piece, just as before.
At first, Eve had no idea who it was. But as time passed, she came to realize.
The goddess Stella.
She had appeared in her dream.
In person!
Saying she showed promise, urging her not to abandon her devotion.
From then on, Eve served Stella even more fervently.
Praying for over three hours a day, cultivating her mind.
Keeping her body pure.
Whenever she went out, men leered with filthy gazes, strangers confessed their love, and some even followed her to the Holy Church to try their luck—but she rejected them all.
Her friends partied wildly and swapped dirty jokes. She didn’t mind being left out. She had her dream.
And in the year she turned twenty-four.
She dreamed once more.
The celestial realm unfolded again, and amid the endless sky, the goddess of distant beauty appeared.
She eyed Eve’s body from bottom to top, slick and lingering, then spoke.
"You’ve grown so deliciously."
- ...Yes?
The utterly out-of-left-field remark left Eve stunned, prompting the transcendent being to clear her throat with a cough.
"Ahem, no. I misspoke. You’ve grown so well, Eve."
Joy welled up in Eve Seraphia’s heart.
The goddess Stella had finally acknowledged her!
She nodded and continued.
"Yes, a saintess must have a body like that. How you’ve kept from having even one bit of se... No, nothing. Anyway, you’re ready to wield my power. I’ll bestow divine power upon you now."
With that, the goddess withdrew from the dream, just as before.
Eve Seraphia awoke with her heart pounding wildly.
‘It’s... here...!’
She gently swung her hand.
Something stirred. Inside her body.
A warm, beautiful, indescribably mystical energy. Eve was certain it was divine power.
She rushed to the Holy Church.
They verified her divine power. She prayed for 28 days and healed a small wound.
With the wound’s healing came the distinctive aura of divine power, earning her the title of saintess.
It felt like a dream.
She’d always wanted to be a saintess, but she’d never imagined it would actually happen.
“Saintess Eve Seraphia, we’d be grateful if you headed to Nevis Forest. Normally, we’d build a sanctuary wherever the saintess desires, but that takes at least three years. Of course, the choice is yours.”
A saintess chooses her sanctuary’s location, and the church builds her personal temple there.
During construction, she can’t perform saintess duties and must focus solely on devotion.
But conveniently, a temple from a saintess who’d fled seven years ago remained, so Eve could use that.
It was her choice: become active in three years or start immediately.
Eve chose to begin right away.
“A wise decision. Even if you start in Nevis Forest, construction on your desired sanctuary will begin immediately. You can relocate there in three years.”
Eve decided to build her temple in one of Hakapia’s cities.
Upon becoming a saintess, her affiliation shifts from territories, empires, or kingdoms to the neutral Holy Stella Church. In ancient times, temples were built only in neutral zones.
But over time, they contracted with the four major powers, guaranteeing a certain number of sanctuaries within their territories. Similar deals with others allowed saintesses to build wherever they wished.
Those healed in sanctuaries offer tithes called “miracle fees.” Twenty percent goes to the saintess, eighty to church funds.
“Nevis Forest is dangerous, but the sanctuary is inviolable. All things considered, we’ll assign 40 escorts.”
One knight, seven apprentice knights, thirty-two soldiers.
A small force, but generous for a new saintess, given the forest’s perils.
Modern temples were built in villages or cities, but ancient ones were in neutral zones. Nevis’s was a relic of that era.
The first twenty years were devotion anyway. Eve didn’t fuss over the location.
“Your monthly stipend is 1,500,000 jeni.”
A hefty sum even for a newbie—five or six times what average folk earned.
But largely meaningless. Retirement came after 250 years of service. No place to spend it before then.
Saintesses had long lifespans.
While untrained commoners lived to about sixty, saintesses could reach 300–400 years. Upon receiving divine power, they became divine beings, beyond human.
‘Money really is pointless...’
No need to spend during service, and retirement was centuries away.
Worst, they couldn’t pass it to heirs. To wield divine power, they had to maintain spotless purity.
Bearing a child post-retirement at around 300 would corrupt the body, drain residual power, drop their divine status, accelerate aging, and lead to death.
Most who reached 250 years grew accustomed to the life and barely touched their savings.
Later, the church urged donations, drawing most back.
But Eve didn’t care. She truly revered Stella and dreamed of being a saintess.
“Hmm, a Giant Eye, huh...”
She became a saintess and carried on.
After 28 days of prayer, her day off arrived. Needing a breather, she took her escorts for a walk.
Eve had been at the temple a while but hadn’t properly explored the forest due to monsters. Knights aside, the apprentices and soldiers were all subpar, useless in a fight.
Still, Eve voiced no complaints.
This was Stella’s fate for her. Devote herself diligently, and glory would come someday.
But...
Squirm, squirm—
“W-wait! M-m-monster...!?”
What was happening to her now was nothing like what she’d hoped.
Squirming tentacles.
A body writhing unpleasantly.
A monster.
How had it gotten in here?
The monster had invaded the sanctuary, its tentacles wriggling grotesquely in multiple strands.
It felt wrong.
And strange.
No one could enter the sanctuary.
Protected by Stella’s barrier, not even humans without divine power could approach—let alone monsters.
How had a monster gotten in?
And what had her knights, escorts, and soldiers been doing until it reached here?
Why hadn’t she noticed?
Eve’s mind raced.
Inside the sanctuary, she was nigh omnipotent, aware of everything within.
Yet this monster’s presence hadn’t registered anywhere.
- Eve Seraphia, right? Heh heh, don’t resist. Just give your body to me. I’ll give you the ultimate pleasure.
‘It... speaks?’
The monster even talked.
She had no idea what was going on, but Eve glared at it.
“How... dare you...”
She bellowed in fury.
“How dare a mere monster set foot here! In the sacred sanctuary of our holy goddess!?”
This was hallowed ground.
Accessible only to the pure white saintess.
No lowly monster had the right to tread it.
Yet a mocking laugh came from the monster. Its words surpassed imagination.
- Goddess? Oh, you mean that lewd, perverted bitch?
“W-what...?”
Eve’s face drained of color. What had it just called her goddess...?
- Stella. That damn goddess. Pretty face, holy looks, but rotten to the core with perversion. No clue how something like that became a goddess.
Eve reeled from the unimaginable shock. Her mind went blank.
‘C-Calling the goddess such... filthy things...! Perverted...!’
How dare it slander her goddess like that. Rage boiled within Eve.
She’d never felt such towering fury. It surged to her head.
Rooooar—!
Eve gathered the masses of divine power within the sanctuary. She formed a honed wave of it in her hand.
The saintess was God’s proxy.
In a sanctuary brimming with divine power, she had no equal.
Normally, saintesses could only use divine power for healing.
The 28-day accumulation, the daily dissipation, the healing-only restriction—all safeguards against its overwhelming might.
But that applied outside the sanctuary.
No one but the saintess could enter, so she gathered enough to last a day outside for healing commoners.
Conversely, the sanctuary overflowed with power.
Outside limits were strict, but inside, she could wield the surging divine energy freely—no need to stockpile.
Above all, restrictions lifted for eliminating unauthorized intruders.
This was all in the scriptures.
She’d never needed it before, but she could attack with divine power.
The Giant Eye she’d seen in the forest today? She could pulverize it in an instant.
“How dare you invade the sanctuary and insult the goddess!”
No mercy.
The saintess unleashed the potent divine wave from her hand at the monster.
Boooom—!
It would turn to dust on impact.
So she thought, curling one corner of her mouth.
‘Filthy wretch. You should never have spoken ill of the goddess... Huh?’
But.
Whiiiish—
“Eh?”
The divine wave fired at the monster was absurdly absorbed right into it.
The saintess stared in utter bewilderment.