Chapter 219 The Blind
"Saintess?"
Shen Xue frowned: "Isn't that the church's title for their second-highest-ranking members? How could such an important person appear in such a poor, dirty place, a place completely unrelated to important figures? Is this just another act of feigned charity?"
The hunters exchanged a glance, and a genuine smile suddenly bloomed on their deeply wrinkled faces: "No, although we call her Saintess, she is not actually a saint of the church. It's just that she has always done good deeds for us lowly people, so everyone calls her that spontaneously."
"...So according to your logic, the church should send someone down, right?"
Shen Xue frowned even more deeply, sharply pointing out the problem: "Those guys value their reputation and power extremely highly, and they absolutely cannot tolerate others touching their possessions, let alone the title of a saintess."
"If what you say is true, that saint must have already been condemned by the Church, and may even have lost her life because of it."
"Wow, is this really true?"
The hunter couple looked panicked, their pupils trembling in their sockets, then hesitated, "But... but if the rumors I heard are true, it seems that a group of people dressed in white robes and golden armor did go there, but did nothing, and then returned?"
They seemed unsure of their own words, offering only wild guesses: "The saintess must be very charming, so... so they were captivated too... right?"
Miyuki shook her head, opened her mouth several times, but ultimately said nothing more.
Even so, I think most of the people present also vaguely realized and understood the words she swallowed.
If the saint in the hunter's story could truly have escaped unscathed before the church punished the group that stole their honor and continued to run charitable businesses to this day, there are only two possibilities.
One possibility is that she truly possesses such immense personal charisma or outstanding abilities that she completely subdued the team that came to punish her, thus allowing her to emerge unscathed and even continue the good deeds she performed before becoming famous.
Secondly, the seemingly large-scale punitive operation, along with the other side's previous actions, was nothing more than a drama performed for the lower-class residents and the upper class to reassure the ignorant civilians and gain their trust so that they could scheme for greater benefits in the future.
For example, at a crucial moment, the curtain that conceals the main purpose is lifted, and those who trusted you wholeheartedly are stabbed in the back, allowing the bigwigs in the inner city to enjoy watching their betrayal and utter madness, and to laugh at it.
This is not a wild guess like a rootless duckweed.
In fact, based on what I currently know of this city—which appears glamorous but hides many horrific evils beneath the surface—the current situation may be even worse than the two options I initially suspected.
The depravity that people can commit on the path of evil will always exceed the limited imagination of the ignorant.
We didn't continue on this topic. After offering a few words of comfort to the children who were worried about their younger sister not getting treatment, we walked slowly and silently to the three-story building the hunter had mentioned.
The closer you get to that small building, the more obvious the improvement in the surrounding atmosphere becomes.
The slums, inhabited by poorly dressed people covered in sores, exuded a gloomy and sluggish atmosphere, even the magic that lingered in the air. The people's faces were devoid of life, displaying only a numbness akin to that of walking corpses, and a greedy glint in their eyes when they spotted potential prey.
On the other side of the dividing line, there are many more neat and beautiful residential areas. The people here are able to cover their healthy bodies with neat and proper clothing, so that they do not appear thin and bony due to weakness. However, genuine joy is rarely seen on their faces. Instead, there are more commercialized fake smiles and flattery.
On the contrary, in the open space near the small house, on the light blue grass that is rarely seen in this cool-toned city, children of all ages ran and played with innocent smiles and high spirits. Not far away, parents gathered in twos and threes, showing helpless smiles and talking to each other, occasionally glancing at the closed little house.
The oxcart that strolled into the open space naturally attracted the attention of the people around it. Soft whispers rang out all around as before, but I could not sense any hostility or greed from their actions and expressions.
"That's really strange."
Alice glanced around at the crowd, her soft whispers reaching my and Miyuki's ears: "Judging from the mental state of these people, if it weren't for their clothes and the surrounding environment that made me certain of my location, I would have doubted whether I had accidentally wandered into another city."
I feel the same way.
Could it be that the being known as the Holy Maiden by the people here cast some kind of spell on them that can easily bewitch, deceive, or control people's minds? As far as I know, there are spells in the discipline of illusion that can do similar things.
However, I need to have a brief contact with the person at the heart of all the rumors before I can truly know the specifics of the situation.
For example, by taking advantage of the opportunity to seek medical treatment with the hunter's family.
A disturbance began to arise.
Alice's voice, which had brought the oxcart to a gradual stop, came again from ahead on the wind: "Hey, you two, look! The door to that building is open!"
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