CHAPTER 49: MARYA’S HOMELAND

The next day, she went to have breakfast at the inn.

"You should come too, Mina."

"Understood, Master. Is the breakfast there so good? I should ask for the recipes, then."

Cecilia chuckled as they got out of the house.

"It’s not that, silly. I just like to be there at this time of the day. That’s all."

Cecilia was wearing a light blue and purple casual dress, while Mina wore her normal maid uniform. The duo looked a bit out of place, walking through the village streets looking like an aristocrat and her maid.

Cecilia could still hear some whispers of ’saint’ when people saw her, but they had diminished a lot since the other day.

It wasn’t something that influenced her decision to live in Aberswan, but she later had the thought that if she moved there, she would become more familiar to the people there. Familiarity destroys sanctification. That’s her train of thought.

:::

"Good morning, Miss Cecilia. Mina, too. Are you here for breakfast?"

Lyska was serving two knights who were sitting at a table. They were the knights that had been stationed in the village to keep Lyska and Dorfin under guard.

"Yes, and Mina will eat with us too. Good morning, everyone."

"Good morning."

Mina was a bit timid, behind Cecilia. This level of social interaction was a bit high after five centuries of self-imposed isolation.

"Miss Cecilia!!!"

Marya ran out of the kitchen like a little blond ball of excitement.

"Marya! Don’t go out running like that. The eggs are still on the frying pan!"

"I’m sorry, Mom."

She just waved to Cecilia, smiling, and ran back to the kitchen, prompting a chuckle from everyone.

"This inn really got livelier lately."

Cecilia remembered there being a player country to the east, on the other side of the forest. There used to be a road in the forest for trade between the two countries, which passed through Aberswan.

That road was a dirt path even in the game time. Gertrude had mentioned that Drakestadt was the only nation from that time that was still standing, and there wasn’t a road east anymore. Though it was possible to see a part of the forest where there used to be one, long abandoned.

She sat at her usual table, which was next to the one where the knights were eating. One of them had heard her comment and turned to her.

"I’m actually surprised the inn is still standing. This village used to be a stop point in the road between Elenwacht and Solcrest, but it’s been fifty years since the theocracy fell."

Solcrest was the capital of Verenwald, the player kingdom Cecilia remembered. It was in its outskirts that the tower she had visited before she died was located.

"Theocracy? I thought that people’s beliefs in gods had weakened after the closing of the server."

Verenwald was founded by a paladin player and consisted of an alliance of guilds that had in common the fact that their leaders had priesthood-related jobs related to Solenne, the Dawnbringer. It was a very stereotypical knighthood-like kingdom.

"Yes, it did. But Solcrest was different, as the church was very powerful, and the players left it in charge of the country when they left."

"Miss Cecilia, your breakfast! And Mina’s too."

"Thank you, Liska."

"Thank you."

Lyska served them, briefly interrupting the discussion before hurrying back to the kitchen.

((She seems to be really making an effort to change her life and seems to be enjoying working here.))

A smile crossed Cecilia’s face, before she took a loaf of bread and put an egg on it and munched down a bite.

"I see... So it survived by becoming a theocracy and mandating a state religion. Well, it’s a workable strategy. What happened to them?"

"A civil war torn the country apart. The Solennean Church apparently became corrupt over the centuries, and the people took action. After a decade of strife, the country crumbled into city-states engaged in an endless war."

"I see... and it’s too dangerous of a place for merchants to go... so the road to the East was abandoned."

Marya came and sat down at Cecilia’s side, but when she noticed the subject, her face immediately went darker.

Cecilia noticed it, so she changed the topic of discussion.

"Did you finish your chores already, Marya?"

"Yes! Mom said that I can study with you until mid-afternoon. Then she’ll need my help with dinner. Lyska is still in the process of learning things."

"That’s good. What do you want to learn today?"

:::

Later, they were in Cecilia’s home, in the living room. Cecilia was explaining the intricacies of how experience, stats, and levels worked and how to get more techniques and level up faster.

"So that’s why players were able to level up so much! You all knew all those shortcuts to things. It’s almost unfair."

((Well, it was a game, after all... games aren’t designed to be fair.))

"But now you know them. What would you like to do with that knowledge?"

"Help others! Like you do. I also want to learn more about Ephemerys. I feel that she’s a different god."

"What do you mean by a different god?"

"She doesn’t seem to demand anything. You are simply kind and merciful, and you don’t demand people to worship her or follow your ways. Nor do you tell people how they should live their own lives. It’s so different from them."

"Them who?"

"The priests of Solenne. They would preach all day about righteousness and truth and whatnot, all while being villains in secret and doing the most disgusting things. Like what they did with my real mother..."

Cecilia reached Marya’s face, wiping out the tears that had started to run down her cheek. Then, she silently offered her embrace, which Marya accepted.

((So that’s where she’s from, and why she reacted that way earlier. It seems that the conversation brought bad memories to her.

So, her mother crossed the entire forest carrying little Marya, fleeing from whatever danger, with the blind hope to bring her daughter to safety... I’m so glad they met this village and not bandits like those.))

She shuddered at the thought of what could’ve happened if a band like Raund’s had been the ones to find the two of them before they reached the village.

"Listen, Marya. Gods have their own things going on, and they are not responsible for the behavior of the humans that represent them. Another priestess of Ephemerys might not be like me, and, from all I know about Solenne, she would hate those priests."

"So why did she still gave them powers? They weren’t as powerful as you, but they also had spells."

((Because that’s a game mechanic that doesn’t depend on the gods themselves. But how do I explain it?))

"Remember the healing spell I taught you? It works even though you aren’t a priestess, and it works without you making any mention to any god or religion at all, right?

It would normally be impossible for someone to use it like that, but I found a way to bypass the system requirements. And, once you have it, the system works on its own."

((Actually, those gods shouldn’t even exist now, as they were just lore mentions and GM avatars...))

She thought that, yet the image of the butterfly that came from outside the room during the childbirth she helped was still haunting her.

((Was that the actual goddess...?))