[Vol. 7] Chapter 209: You Two Really Are Sisters, Huh
“What did you say!? Say that again if you dare!”
“Alright, alright, both of you calm down…”
To be honest, Violet really didn’t feel like dealing with him. Not only was this guy boring and full of formal, official-sounding talk, but everything he said was laced with a kind of arrogance that was hard to ignore. Not aimed at anyone in particular, but just this general feeling that Shutak truly believed Austre Empire was the greatest country in the world, and everyone else was naturally beneath them.
As the dragonkin would say, this is the classic “Imperial type”, someone who looks down on all non-citizens equally, as if the rest of the world existed just to be ruled. Some people are more extreme than others, and Shutak was definitely one of the more obvious ones.
That said, Violet didn’t actually dislike people from the Austre Empire. Sure, there were people like Xiluo and Shutak who were hard to get along with, but on the other hand, the group led by Princess Carinvega had left a pretty good impression on her. At least they didn’t come off as arrogant.
Also, “Imperial citizen” was a pretty broad label. Technically, even Sainz was part of the Austre Empire, and even that special [Tree] team Violet met before could be considered Imperial adventurers. So it was clearly wrong to judge everyone the same way.
Still, Shutak was a professor from the Frederic Royal Academy, and an official representative of that school. Even though Violet found him annoying, she couldn’t just brush him off the way she would some random fly buzzing around.
“What I said earlier was just my own personal feeling. There’s no hidden meaning behind it, and no deep reason either. You two don’t need to argue about it. Peace is better, right?”
Hearing how obviously Violet was trying to smooth things over, even Shutak, who had been getting ready to argue, froze for a second and had no choice but to nod and back off with a helpless look. As for Felina, she was already a calm and composed person, and since Violet had made her position clear, she didn’t press the matter either.
At that moment, the Judgment Saintess, Frederica, who had been quietly sitting on Violet’s right this whole time, just listening, seized the opportunity and carefully spoke up.
“Your Divin… ahem, Miss Violet. Since we're on the topic, may I ask your opinion about our Holy Empire's academy team? Uh… not just in this match, but in general too, if that’s okay!”
“Your thoughts on the Holy Empire’s team…?”
In fact, Violet had already noticed for a while, although Frederica looked like she was seriously watching the match, her eyes kept sneaking glances in Violet’s direction. Every now and then, she would even take out a small notebook (which looked oddly familiar to Violet) and quickly write something down. Overall, she gave off a very strange and mysterious vibe.
Violet glanced at the blonde Saintess who had just asked that strange question. Even though Violet was usually sharp and quick-witted, she found herself unsure of how to respond for a moment.
After all, Violet was a "Holy Envoy."
Back during the Demon War, in the River of Time, Violet had descended in front of the Three Saintesss using Edwina’s body and revealed her true power, something beyond mortal. From what Loknisa of the Cecilia family said afterward, they seemed to believe that Dawn was the emissary of the Primordial Light, carrying out the will and authority of a divine power.
In short… it was a really complicated identity.
Violet hadn’t originally planned to let Frederica know that she was Dawn, but there were some things she needed the Judgment Saintess’s help with. And it would’ve been too difficult to convince her as just “Violet.” Since both her ancestor and her sister already knew the truth, she decided to just be open about it.
To be honest, Violet still wasn’t sure what the top leaders of the Holy Empire thought she really was. After all, they didn’t worship a single being but rather the Primordial Light. According to historical corrections, their belief system had returned to that form, so calling her a “Holy Envoy” seemed to be the most reasonable explanation.
Strangely though, the Holy Empire’s church still called itself the Goddess Church. Just in case things got weird, Violet had directly asked one time, “Hey, just to be clear, who exactly is the ‘goddess’ you’re worshipping now? It’s not me, is it?”
To which Frederica had replied immediately and firmly. “Oh no, no, not at all! Of course you're not the goddess! We understand that perfectly, the goddess has never set foot in the mortal world. Lady Violet is simply a traveler blessed by the Primordial Light, wandering the world. She’s very different from the true goddess!”
Only then did Violet feel somewhat relieved.
It was still troublesome, but it was way better than being worshipped as a literal goddess. All in all, it was something she could deal with…
Come to think of it…
She had asked Edwina a similar question before. And that holy knight had reacted almost the exact same way.
Guess that’s what you’d expect from sisters, huh?
As for what the Goddess Church is actually worshipping. Well, considering the appearance of the “Holy Words of the Goddess”, maybe Edwina and the three major families just wanted to make the faith stronger. They're trying to make the 'Primordial Light' a more solid image. After all, some high-ranking people among them still remember the events of the past.
Even though the creation of the Goddess Church was probably a mistake, there are still many things worth learning from it, especially when it comes to using religion and politics to manage people. As for those methods of control, maybe it’s better not to think too deeply about them.
That said, the identity of a Holy Envoy of the Primordial Light was still incredibly special and respected. So much so that Frederica’s attitude toward Violet just now was a little too respectful. It even made a few of the more observant bigshots around them glance over with strange expressions…
“Uh… that’s right,” Violet replied casually, pretending to take the question seriously.
The Saintess seemed to realize she’d gone a bit too far as well. A small flash of regret passed over her face, though it was barely noticeable. But since the words were already spoken, trying to explain would only make it worse. So Violet just smiled and played along:
“Yep, they’re all excellent kids. You can really tell they’ve been working hard. If the goddess your church worships could see their amazing performance, I’m sure she’d feel proud of them from the bottom of her heart~”
From a logical point of view, the team from the Holy Academy that Eudora was in actually was doing the best so far. They started in a safe location, grew stronger at a good pace, didn’t run into too many strong enemies, and even managed to join forces with another Holy Empire team to form an alliance. You could say they were now a very strong and well-organized group.
Looking at the current situation, no other team could match them in a head-on fight.
As for why Violet still said Carinvega’s team would win without thinking twice, well, that was just because she believed the princess’s good luck was a perfect fit for this kind of competition. There wasn’t really any solid reason behind her guess.
Originally, Violet had only meant to help Frederica save face by responding kindly, but something unexpected happened. After hearing her words, Frederica’s pupils suddenly shrank, and even her hands, clasped together in a prayer gesture, started to shake just a little. It was as if she had been overwhelmed by excitement and couldn’t contain herself.
“Thank you for your kind words about them! If those kids heard what you said, I’m sure they’d all be very happy…! Ahem—I mean, Miss Violet, coming from someone like you, a rare and outstanding holy magic user, your praise is one of the greatest honors a human being could ever receive!”
“…?”