Actually, Mowan was on vacation most of the time.
The way Iserin put it made it seem like she was busy every day.
However, Mowan was glad Iserin helped her lie.
Being busy was good; it suggested her salary wouldn’t be low.
After all, in the eyes of the public, how could the treatment for working at The Church be poor?
Speaking of salary.
Mowan and Rosa went to a tea house outside for tea.
She shamelessly offered to treat, not letting Rosa spend a single cent.
Then, she spent the few coins she had left.
So far, she hadn’t received a single penny from Iserin; everything she got from Iserin was in kind rather than cash.
“Working at The Church really is different.”
Rosa sat across from Mowan, her eyes filled with emotion.
Looking at Mowan’s glowing appearance, Rosa knew Mowan’s talent must have been discovered by the Saintess and that she was now being heavily relied upon.
“What about you? Rosa, are the missions The Church gives you difficult?”
“Not necessarily difficult, just a bit dangerous.”
“Are the monsters dangerous?”
“Yeah, but the new Priest teammate is also a senior who was awarded the Knight’s Medal by The Church. In terms of experience, she’s richer than us.”
“That means… I’m not that important after all.”
Rosa shook her head.
“She’s at most half a Priest; she also knows some combat Magic, so the captain likes her. But I can tell she’s not proficient in Healing Magic. The captain got injured on this mission, and she couldn’t restore him immediately like you could. Instead, she used pain-relief and blood-stopping spells to give him a simple treatment and let him continue fighting. Then, although the mission was successfully completed, the captain is still lying in the inn now.”
“Doing that isn’t really wrong, is it? The important thing is to resolve the current battle; injuries can be healed slowly later.”
“Sigh… but I still miss when you were in the squad.”
Rosa rested her chin on one hand.
“Rosa, people have to look forward. You can’t have disputes with the captain because of me. As long as the new teammate’s personality isn’t bad, you should get along well, be considerate of each other, and learn from each other’s strengths.”
Rosa let out a chuckle.
“Now you’re lecturing me. The salary for working by the Saintess’s side must be very high, right? You said last time you’d buy me clothes; when are you going to buy them for me?”
Mowan’s heart raced, but she lied without a change in expression.
“It’s okay… but the Saintess has only given me some daily pocket money for now. Our salary here is paid monthly. I haven’t saved enough change yet. When she pays me, I’ll buy them for you. How many days off do you have this time?”
“About three days? Once the captain’s injuries are mostly healed, we’ll set off again.”
“Oh…”
“Anyway, don’t talk about me. Tell me about you. How is the Saintess? Is she easier to get along with than she looks?”
“Yeah, the Saintess… is much gentler than I imagined.”
Recalling her time with Iserin these past few days, Mowan smiled faintly.
Rosa’s eyes suddenly lit up.
“Then you must seize the opportunity. I’ve been concerned about your situation lately, so I’ve been subtly asking the new teammate to find out what kind of person the Saintess is. I discovered a shocking secret about the Saintess. Do you want to hear it?”
A shocking secret about Iserin?
Mowan swallowed.
“Keep your voice down.”
Rosa stood up, sat down next to Mowan, and whispered in her ear in a voice only the two of them could hear.
“The Saintess is already over fifty years old.”
Mowan was only slightly shocked, as it was within her expectations.
After all, she had heard from the Princess’s maid before that Iserin was already the Saintess thirty years ago.
“Is this considered a shocking secret?”
“Does it not count? Could it be that you’ve heard it too? Then let me tell you something even more explosive.”
“I heard other Nuns mention it,” Mowan lied again.
“Is there anything even more explosive?”
“They say Her Highness the Princess is actually the Saintess’s adopted daughter.”
“???”
Mowan pretended to be shocked.
But she had actually heard this news before as well.
At least part of it.
“Her Highness the Princess’s mother died very early. When Her Highness the Princess was young, she cried and threw tantrums. Seeing how pitiful she was, the Saintess took her in and raised her.”
Mowan hadn’t heard this part.
But when she heard that the Princess’s mother had also died early, Mowan’s heart suddenly ached.
It seemed that the Human Race Princess Croll’s experience was somewhat similar to that of the Demon Race Princess Movier.
“However, I heard another version from someone else, from a Knight I just happened to meet.”
“What version?”
Rosa watched Mowan’s expression.
Seeing Mowan listening intently, she recounted what she knew.
“It’s said that before the Saintess became the Saintess, she had a younger sister. Her sister died at the hands of a monster when she was five. Because of this, the Saintess was depressed for a long time, frustrated that she couldn’t protect her sister. It wasn’t until the Saintess awakened that she stepped onto the Path of the Sun.”
Mowan felt her head buzzing.
A heavy sense of guilt washed over her, making it hard to breathe.
It was common knowledge that monsters were first created by the Demon Race.
In other words, it was their Demon Race that had indirectly killed Iserin’s younger sister.
Regardless of whether that specific monster was created by the Demon Race back then, in Iserin’s eyes, she would surely blame everything on the Demon Race, right?
She couldn’t imagine how much Iserin must have hated the Demon Race back then, and how much of that hatred still remained now?
“I didn’t expect the Saintess to have such a tragic past.”
“Yeah. So, rather than saying Her Highness the Princess is the Saintess’s adopted daughter, it’s more like the Saintess wanted to make up for the regret of losing her sister.”
Mowan couldn’t help but grip her teacup tightly.
She didn’t dare show too much emotion, worried that Rosa would notice something was wrong.
She forced herself to stay calm and asked Rosa back.
“How did you find out in such detail?”
“Isn’t it because I’m worried about you? I was a little afraid that once you left me, you wouldn’t even have food to eat, so I tried every possible way to ask anyone who might know the Saintess about how she treats her subordinates. As I asked around, I found out these things.”
Rosa put her arm around Mowan’s shoulder.
“But now I’ve seen it with my own eyes. Mowan is doing just fine, wearing beautiful new clothes, and her spirit is much more lively. From now on, I can carry out missions with peace of mind.”
“You…”
Mowan shrugged.
She only resisted symbolically and didn’t actually push Rosa away.
After that.
Mowan chatted with Rosa for a long time, as if they were trying to finish a lifetime’s worth of conversation.
It wasn’t until the sunset at dusk that Mowan said goodbye to Rosa.
Walking toward her home, Mowan sighed inwardly.
It turns out that many times, people only learn to cherish what they have after they lose it.
She used to think being teammates with Rosa was just a daily routine and didn’t think being with Rosa was something to be missed.
But now that she had parted ways with her best friend, she understood Rosa’s weight in her heart.
She had to find a way to ask Iserin for an actual salary.
When Rosa returned next time, she would take Rosa to buy clothes.
***
After bidding farewell to Mowan, Rosa didn’t head toward the inn.
Instead, she went straight to the Church.
Guided by a Nun, she arrived at Iserin’s office.
As if reporting a mission, Rosa respectfully gave a Knight’s salute to Iserin.
“Saintess, I have followed your instructions and told Mowan all the information regarding you.”