[Vol. 8] Chapter 75: A Good Cat Is One That Can Catch Mice
As soon as those words were spoken, a hint of surprise appeared in the cold, grayish-blue eyes of the short-haired girl. For the first time, her beautiful face, completely free of makeup, showed a slight frown.
“God-Chosen Hero… me?”
As if something in those words touched her, Shadow, for once, took the initiative to speak and firmly said,
“Your Highness Violet, with all due respect, I have no interest in titles. I also don’t follow any religion. As Her Majesty’s loyal shadow guard, I was born to live in the dark, away from the light. That kind of glorious identity should belong to someone like you, someone admired by all, full of talent and virtue. It has nothing to do with someone like me.”
The priestess just smiled, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
“Is that so~? I actually think you’re quite a good fit. And who says a God-Chosen Hero has to stand in the light and be worshiped by everyone? If that were really the case, then I’d say the goddess made a poor choice, only caring about appearances. In that case, being chosen wouldn’t be anything special.”
“......”
Unlike Violet, who seemed to have no fear of criticizing divine beings, Shadow chose to remain silent and let the topic drop. Seeing this, the priestess also didn’t push further and waved her hand casually.
“Alright, I was just chatting anyway. No need to take it so seriously. The gods don’t have time to eavesdrop on people’s conversations, and the goddess isn’t that petty either. Just think about what I said, this doesn’t really conflict with your current duties… Also, about the situation in the Holy Capital, for now, the Shadow Guards just need to keep watch. There’s no need to take action yet.”
“Hmm… that’s all for now. Go on with your work.”
“Yes. I’ll take my leave.”
The girl knelt on one knee, slowly lowered her head, and her figure, like a shadow, quietly sank into the ground and vanished.
“…Heh, she’s a promising one.”
With a small laugh and shake of her head, as if talking to herself, the priestess spoke softly. At that moment, golden flames appeared beside her, and Miss Dragon God stepped out from the flames, as if she had been listening to the entire conversation from the start. She looked curious and asked,
“You want to make her one of the God-Chosen Heroes? I agree she’s better than most humans, but doesn’t she have almost nothing in common with you?”
“~”
Violet stood up from the sofa, holding the cup of red tea that she hadn’t touched the whole time. She walked to the window, pushed it open, and let the fresh scent of grass and flowers fill the air. Looking down at the maid Mia, who was trimming the garden seriously and hadn’t noticed the gaze from above, she smiled quietly and said,
“Xiao Guang, you’re looking at it too simply. What’s the most important thing? Power? Wisdom? Devotion to the goddess? Or something else?”
She continued, “No, none of those. They’re just secondary. The Twilight Council has already begun to deeply invade this world. They even set a trap for both of us not long ago, which means they’re getting impatient. Since we promised Sethlin and took the time to do this, it has to be meaningful. We must choose people who can truly help us. That’s why the most important thing is personality, willpower, and whether they can be trusted.”
"I’ve actually been observing Shadow for a long time now. She’s a very reliable and practical person. She doesn’t talk much and is often easy to overlook, but every task she’s given gets done cleanly and on time. She has good judgment, speaks directly, isn’t rigid, and doesn’t play games or have hidden motives. That kind of person is really rare these days. Lilya really did send me a very helpful assistant."
Hearing some key words, Miss Dragon God raised her eyebrows slightly and naturally leaned her head on the black-haired girl’s shoulder. Her large tail, hidden behind her, quietly snuck out and gently wrapped around the other girl’s smooth, fair leg. On the surface, she acted as if she was doing nothing wrong and whispered calmly.
"But Master, she doesn’t seem very willing to accept this role."
“Mmm. If she truly doesn’t want it, of course I won’t force her. That’s why I only asked her to think about it. In the end, the title of ‘God-Chosen Hero’ isn’t absolutely necessary. You don’t have to hold that title to do meaningful things. Just let it happen naturally.”
Feeling the soft, smooth touch on her leg and knowing full well her dragon’s not-so-hidden thoughts, the priestess shook her head helplessly. But in the end, she neither pushed her away nor mentioned it, choosing instead to pretend not to notice.
Previously, to keep her dragon safe, she had teamed up with Hen to put on a show. During the key moment of a battle, she had sent Xiao Guang back to the pet space. Because of the strange nature of the Time-Space Rift, and the fact that the anchor point she used to return was set for half a month later, what was just a short moment for Violet ended up being over ten days of waiting and worrying for the dragon girl outside.
Fortunately, before entering the Time-Space Rift, she had left behind a part of her divine avatar to secretly watch over Frederica and the others. Although that part of her later lost contact with her real self, it could still act based on the last information it received. Because of this, she was able to calm the restless but much more mature dragon, who obediently returned with the delegation to the Holy Capital.
During the Goddess’ Descent ceremony, if her real self hadn’t responded yet as the time drew near, so her avatar clone, who had power similar to Violet, was preparing to step in and finish the ritual. But as luck would have it, the priestess returned to the real world just in time and appeared directly above the Grand Church, thanks to her faith anchor. Everything went smoothly from there.
Once her real self returned, the two parts of her consciousness reconnected, and Violet quickly understood what had happened during that time. She also realized just how anxious Xiao Guang had been while waiting. Even though she had already explained in detail what happened in the Time-Space Rift, it was only right to comfort her a bit more.
After all, the priestess didn’t really mind being close with her dragon girl. Thinking that, she decided to just let her be.
Still, times like these always need a topic to break the awkward silence…
“By the way... how’s Light doing? I asked her to show those Austre Empire folks something serious. She didn’t go overboard, did she?”
Miss Dragon God gave a small nod.
“The evil god called [Wild], who tried to set us up with his allies, disappeared afterward. When I went back to look for him and Lorga, I couldn’t find either of them. But Frederica, Leila and Rene, caught one of his divine messengers. According to that guy, the way their ‘blessing disappeared’ means that [Wild] probably fled back outside the world.”
“As for Light, the Austre Empire originally planned to completely wipe out the entire buffer zone under the guise of a counter-attack. Their goal was to destroy both the allied buffer zone tribes and the Holy Empire’s group, and then use some kind of ‘excuse’ to attack the Holy Empire's border. But that Behemoth named Tairnak gave up on the war. He took a group of loyal followers, protected the delegation, and moved west into the Holy Empire’s territory. The rest of the tribal army scattered quickly after the evil god disappeared, and their forces basically fell apart.”