CHAPTER 41: DON’T WORSHIP ME

The following day after the Verdant Calamity was weird.

The village had suffered little damage, and the injured villagers were quickly healed by Marya, under the guidance of Cecilia. But carcasses of monsters littered everywhere.

Cecilia crafted a couple [diamond] boning knives and gave them to Mutt, Lyska, and Dorfin. The trio then went around, harvesting the materials from the carcasses.

It was a method that increased the chance of rare materials and also got rid of the corpses before they began to rot. That thought had been the reason she only used the radiant spear spell, which doesn’t give necrotic damage.

Monster materials are sold at a good price. In the end, thanks to Cecilia, the calamity became a financial boon to the village.

Cecilia ended up staying the night in the Wisp’s Hearth Inn, in the same room she occupied when she first arrived in this world. She was too tired to bother with going back, even though it was just a teleport.

The smell of Gertrude’s food was familiar, and in the inn she wouldn’t need to worry about too proactive maids and the state of the kingdom. She also feared that she would be roped into another trouble as soon as she arrived there.

She planned to head back after breakfast, but Marya was worried about something.

"What’s in that little mind of yours, Marya?"

She couldn’t dismiss her own fears that the experience in the basement might have left some trauma on her. And she felt guilty because of her own comment when she freed herself.

"Uh... There are some villagers that are very distraught because of yesterday. And the spell you taught me isn’t helping them... I want to help, but I don’t know how."

((Oh... So there are people with trauma, just not her.))

"I see... Well, if their affliction is mental, the healing spell won’t work. It works for injuries and illnesses, but mental trauma is neither. Can you take me to them?"

((It’s sad, though... To think that there are spells to heal even limbs that were cut off, but there’s nothing to cure depression. Well, I’m not psychologist, but I’ll see if I can do something.))

Marya happily agreed, and soon they were on their way to a village house.

:::

The people of Aberswan had no priest, and overall the devotion toward gods has almost completely faded from the minds of the people of this age. Still, they recognized the robe she was wearing the day before as the one of a priestess.

Some witnessed, from a safe distance, the way she dealt with the Calamity. And the ones who she untied in that basement also had that feat to add to the list.

For that reason, when she walked down the street, Marya in tow, people lowered their heads and muttered, ’the Saint.’

((Ugh... For fuck’s sake. Not the ’Saint’ treatment, please.))

"There’s no need for that. I’m just Cecilia. Treat me like you always did, please."

She smiled and tried, gently, to convince them to stop with the reverence. They complied in appearance, but, in their hearts, that only solidified our girl’s reputation. She was just too humble, like a Saint.

[Title Acquired: Village Saint.]

"Huh?"

There was a title tree in the game for the ’Path of the Saint.’ It was painstakingly difficult to follow, as it required acquiring religious devotion from NPCs. Despite being the founder of a religion, Cecilia always avoided it because she felt it was too cringe.

And she, somehow, unlocked it in this post-game world. Without wanting to.

The techniques that the path unlocked when you reached the end of the title tree were very neat and almost god-like, but several of them overlapped with the ones she already had in her path of priestess of death and rebirth. So she never cared about it.

And yet, now it was there. Open.

"Is something the matter, Miss Cecilia?"

"Oh? Ah, it was nothing. Just a weird notification regarding my stats."

((Whatever, I can look at it later, in the safety of my own room.))

"Ooohhh... Did you level up? Or did you unlock some nice technique?"

((Also, the fact that this girl knows about the system despite everyone else never hearing about it is sus as hell.))

"Yeah, something like that. I’ll look at it later. Let’s go. Where is the house?"

:::

In the end, they visited three different homes. The people inside had been severely frightened by the monsters and were among the last ones to evacuate because of how afraid they were, and that’s why they were caught.

Marya had also been in the last group, because she refused to leave while there were still injured people in the village. That was also the reason she was caught.

Cecilia talked to them, saying whatever comforting words came to her mind, smiling, and making an effort to sound positive. It was a tall order for a girl who had been bordering actual depression for years, but it was, surprisingly, very effective.

The people would weep and share their experiences with her, letting everything out, and, in the end. They would feel fully restored, with no signs of the trauma they had just an hour earlier.

After they finished, Cecilia wouldn’t feel weighed down, like she expected to feel. Instead, she was also feeling refreshed and vibrant.

Then, they found a patch of ground where several monsters had died together. It was one of the last places where Mutt and the others cleaned the corpses, so the corrupted blood had soaked into the ground, giving it a sickly stench of mana corruption.

Cecilia knelt next to it, letting her fingers sink into the ashen dust.

"Anthyra lysa, phaneros es phōs."

("Rebirth unbound, the soul’s journey shines.")

A ripple of light spread through the soil, and from the cracks, tiny shoots of green began to sprout. Just small ones, trembling in the cold wind, but alive. She smiled softly.

((There. The world remembers how to breathe again.))

Behind her, Marya was watching it in awe.

"You are truly blessed, Miss Cecilia."

"Hehe. No, Marya. I’m just skilled, that’s all."

Marya shook her head, still smiling.

"But blessed people are skilled too, right?"

Cecilia laughed, the sound warm and captivating.

"If you keep talking like that, people will end up building a shrine for me here."

"I wouldn’t mind that..."

Marya’s thoughts went far away, but Cecilia hurried to dismiss them.

"I would, so please don’t. I don’t want to be worshiped, ever. I’m just a mortal like you that happens to have trained a lot and learned several things as a priestess. I serve a goddess, Ephemerys. If anything, she’s the one to be worshipped, as she rules over death and rebirth."

Marya drank all that information with starry eyes. It looked like anything that Cecilia could say or do would be sacred in her mind.

"Now, let’s head back. I still need to rest from yesterday’s efforts."

"Yes, Miss Cecilia!"

The two walked towards the inn, with their hearts light.

"Uhhh... Miss Cecilia. If you are just a mortal like me who trained and studied a lot. Does it mean that I can become like you as well?"