Volume 6, Chapter 36 – The King-Shaped Pendant

When Yisi returned to the inn, it was already seven in the evening.

Passing through the tavern section on the first floor, under the pointing gazes of the diners—mainly discussing Yisi’s outstanding appearance, although Mitters Bayer was one of the most luxurious cities in the human world, Yisi’s, or rather, Pepe’s appearance was exceptionally outstanding even in the entire continent. It would be strange not to be noticed.

As soon as she reached the second floor, Yisi saw Mary in an apron, carrying a tray of food and heading towards the first floor. Perhaps in a good mood, Mary was humming a song softly, and her long chestnut hair bounced up and down with her steps. Coupled with the white ruffled apron, it reminded one of a cute elf maid—the miscellaneous tasks like washing dishes were all handled by the inn, so the cutlery had to be sent downstairs after every meal.

“Ah, it’s Master,” Mary tried to free a hand to greet Yisi, but because she couldn’t maintain her balance, the stacked plates tilted to one side, “—Eh, eh, eh!”

Then, because she was about to cause trouble, she let out an anxious cry.

Impossible to let this scene happen, Yisi took a step forward and steadied the dishes.

“Th-Thank you, Master.”

“You should be more aware of the situation next time, Mary.”

“Yes…” Mary lowered her head in embarrassment, but quickly raised it again. “Um… I noticed Master wasn’t here during dinner, so Miss Edith said we could eat on our own. If you haven’t had dinner yet, there’s still an untouched dinner in the second-floor kitchen. I’ve kept it well covered, so it should still be warm—ah, no, I mean, I can reheat it for you at any time!”

“No need. It’s my fault for not informing you in advance. I’ve already eaten.”

Taking the tray with one hand to share some of the burden for Mary, Yisi patted Mary’s head. Mary, as if very pleased, squinted her eyes with an “ehehe.”

She and Evelyn had stayed at the orphanage until after dinner before returning. Although she wasn’t very full—the food at the orphanage wasn’t very good—she felt very embarrassed to let Mary reheat it for her.

“Ah, right, I forgot to give you something, Mary.”

Yisi took out a necklace from her pocket. This was the language-translating pendant she had taken from the church the day before yesterday. Worried that Mary would be discovered by the church if she wore it directly, she had spent a whole night modifying it, changing the original bishop-shaped pendant from a chess set into an inconspicuous heart shape. As for the other one, Yisi planned to give it to Tiffany, who only knew the language of the Hels Kingdom. Camilla, Edith, and Refina had all received a good education and had no language barriers. As long as their group did not go to the settlements of the elves and beastmen, there would be no problem with communication.

Opening the necklace, Yisi put it on Mary’s chest, but Mary already had a necklace around her neck.

She had never bought a piece of jewelry like a necklace for Mary, and this was definitely not something Mary had originally. When she had found Mary, there was nothing valuable on her, and Mary was not the type to buy jewelry with her allowance.

Yisi tilted her head in curiosity.

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“Did you buy a necklace, Mary? Although how you spend your allowance is your own freedom, a necklace is still a bit too early for you.”

As the guardian of Mary and Tiffany, Yisi would give each of them a gold coin at the beginning of every month. Although Camilla felt that since Mary and Tiffany were always by her side, their allowance was of no use, Yisi felt that whether they used it or not was one thing, and whether she gave it or not was another. After experiencing childhood, one would feel that besides food and warmth, allowance was also very important. Not only could one buy many things they wanted, but it could also cultivate the habit of saving money.

Although most of the time, this month’s allowance was used to pay off last month’s.

Mary quickly shook her head.

“N-No, I didn’t buy it! This was a gift from the Goddess! I’ve had Tiffany help me save all the allowance you gave me!”

I have a feeling it has already been secretly spent by Tiffany .

Yisi shook her head slightly. It’s better not to make malicious assumptions.

“A gift from the Goddess to you?”

Knowing that this sounded absurd, Mary lowered her head in embarrassment.

“Mm… I think so. Originally, I didn’t have that much strength to defeat the people who wanted to hurt Miss Evelyn, but at that time, my chest suddenly became very hot, and I felt like I could suddenly defeat them. Then, a golden light came out of my chest… It wasn’t until I was sleeping with Tiffany that night that I found an extra necklace on me. O-Originally, I planned to tell you today, Master, but you were never in the room, so…”

“I see.”

No wonder Mary had sent so many of the Fallen flying. She had been wondering at the time how Mary had become so strong. It turned out to be because of this strange pendant.

As if feeling that her words were not enough to convince Yisi, Mary quickly pulled the pendant out from under her clothes and showed it to her. After seeing the shape of the pendant, Yisi was stunned for a moment.

A king-shaped pendant.

The style was exactly the same as the bishop pendant she had in her hand before, only Mary’s was a king. Thinking of the scene where the group of passersby were willing to break out with Mary, a guess appeared in Yisi’s mind.

“Just in case, let me test it. Can you understand what I’m saying now, Mary?”

“Eh? Did you say something hard to understand, Master?”

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“Is that so.”

She had just used the Blood Clan’s Hyurent language, not the ‘Hels Kingdom language’ that Mary knew. In other words, the pendant on Mary not only enhanced her strength but also had the ability to translate languages, equivalent to an upgraded version of the necklace in her hand.

The remaining question was the origin of this necklace and whether it would bring trouble to Mary.

Although there was no evidence, Yisi speculated that the king necklace must have appeared when Mary was praying to the goddess.

Perhaps a god really does favor Mary.

Yisi didn’t want to think too deeply about it. No matter what, as long as it was well hidden, this necklace would only be beneficial to Mary. Out of concern that it might be discovered by the church, Yisi picked up the pendant on Mary’s neck and observed it for a while.

“Can you give me this necklace for one night, Mary? It’s shape might cause trouble. I want to change it to another shape first, and then give it back to you.”

“No problem. My things are Master’s things. You can do whatever you want with them.”

“Stop calling me Master. If you want, I can set you free at any time.”

If it weren’t for Mary’s constant resistance, she would have already set Mary free. As expected, Mary shook her head forcefully, her mouth also pouting in a sulky way.

“No! Master is Master!”

“Yes, yes. But I’ve never treated you as a slave, Mary. You’re like my—”

Daughter? Although she had always thought of her that way, saying it out loud might be offensive, and it was also a bit embarrassing. Even counting her original age on Earth, she wasn’t much older than Mary. Not to mention that Mary was already an adult, legally speaking.

Because Yisi had stopped at a critical point, Mary raised her lovely purple eyes and blinked curiously.

“Like your?”

“Like my little sister.”

“Miss Camilla will definitely confiscate tomorrow’s breakfast…”

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“I won’t let Camilla know.”

Mary’s distressed expression made Yisi smile. Holding the silver chain with both hands, she prepared to take it off. But strangely, just as the silver chain was about to pass over Mary’s lips, the necklace suddenly emitted a golden light and became as hot as lava. At the same time, Yisi felt as if dozens of mountains were pressing down on her hands. Even with her level 427 strength, it was a bit difficult to continue lifting it.

Although if she switched to her third form or pulled up with great force, she should be able to overcome the pulling force and forcibly remove the necklace from Mary, but that would likely cause the necklace to shatter and might even injure Mary. After a moment of hesitation, Yisi gave up on taking off the necklace. As if afraid that the weight of the necklace would crush Mary, she very slowly relaxed her strength. Only after the necklace had completely cooled down did she let the pendant hide under Mary’s clothes again.

Because this is a treasure given to Mary, others cannot touch it.

Mary, who didn’t know the inside story, tilted her head.

“Aren’t you going to take the necklace, Master?”

“No need. Just hide it well and don’t let the people from the church see it.”

She hadn’t seen a king-shaped pendant in the church’s warehouse, but she couldn’t assume that the church didn’t have one because of that. And even if the church really didn’t have one, they might have seen similar images in the ruins and thus mistake Mary for a thief of a holy relic from the ruins.

If this necklace were to appear and possibly endanger Mary, I would not hesitate to tear it apart. As for the necklace’s other functions, Yisi planned to scan it again with [God’s Eye] when she had time. Not to mention that she and Mary were still holding trays of food, the inn’s hallway was not a suitable place to talk.

After sending the cutlery downstairs with Mary, the two of them returned to the largest room.

◇

A silent night.

This was an environment unique to the church.

The church did not forbid nuns and priests from having their own families, believing that sex was a symbol of the future and life, not something filthy. However, once it was past nine in the evening, all activities were supposed to stop. People were supposed to be in bed, accumulating energy for the next day. So at night, except for the patrolling paladins, even if the temple was still brightly lit, there would not be a single soul inside.

Except for Evelyn.

Her luxurious white and gold priestess’s habit was placed to the side. In the main hall with its high dome, only Evelyn stood alone in the bath. The sound of water echoed in the vast space. The light reflected from the walls dyed Evelyn’s fair skin a goose yellow. Her long silver hair, spread out, cascaded down the curve of her back into the pool. Her perfectly developed body, dotted with water droplets, was like a treasure bestowed by heaven.

Such a sacred scene bloomed quietly only in the sanctuary.

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Of course, this was not some kind of ceremony. It was just that Evelyn liked the feeling of purifying herself. She could let go of everything and let her mind rest for a moment, thus having enough energy to think about the things she had encountered during the day—were there any mistakes? How should she remedy the mistakes? What if they could not be remedied?

It must be said that this did not mean that Evelyn was always thinking about usurping the throne, but that it was just her personality. To savor her mistakes and then learn from them. A person might fail on the same mistake twice, but Evelyn could not. In the slums, any mistake could be fatal. The habits she had formed in her childhood were still retained to this day.

Letting out a soft breath, Evelyn scooped up some water and poured it on her arm, feeling the sensation of the water droplets sliding across her skin. The coolness made her mind tighten for a moment.

“Hoh—interesting.”

‘Interesting’ of course referred to Yisi. Evelyn had never seen such an existence. In her eyes, Yisi was simply incredible, even as fascinating as the temptation of a demon.

To let the Blood Clan Queen travel freely between the Blood Clan’s territory and the church, to hide a half-elf under Julius’s nose, to look not very strong, but to occasionally show a strength—whether it was the means to defeat the bandits or the power to repel the Fallen—that made one feel she was unfathomable. If Evelyn had to find something to compare her to, Yisi was like herself. She clearly had a high status, but she always pretended to be weak to lure others into a trap. It’s just that she relied on her status to play pranks on those who were fooled, while Yisi, even with her strength, would not play with others. There was a difference between being malicious and being kind.

“The feeling back then—” raising her arm, Evelyn looked at her slender fingers, which looked as if they would break with a slight force, “—it shouldn’t have been a misconception.”

When her ability had not yet had any problems, Evelyn had quietly touched Yisi’s shoulder in the main hall. She had originally wanted to use her ability to eliminate the negative emotions in Yisi’s heart, thus making her curious about her and further using her to get the magic medicine. But in the end, not only did she not eliminate Yisi’s negative emotions, but her own mind went blank for a moment.

Just as those believers had described, it was as if her heart had been filled with light, and all her worries had disappeared. This was also the reason why Evelyn had been dazed for a moment at that time. However, compared to the description of ‘all worries disappearing’, Evelyn’s feeling was more like a puppy who had finally found its master. It was a natural master-servant relationship, a warm, reliable, and unique existence.

Of course, this was her own misconception. Evelyn warned herself. But just like a person who has tasted ice cream will always remember the taste, no matter what, Evelyn could not erase this feeling from her subconscious. At first, Evelyn thought she had been hit by mental magic, but the Staff of Divine Retribution showed no abnormality. If something had happened to her, the staff should have given some feedback. So, Evelyn chose to use the excuse of the magic medicine to get close to Yisi, trying to figure everything out.

Unfortunately, just as she had made up her mind, the ability given to her by the god disappeared.

Abruptly, without any warning.

Evelyn was very clear that she had obtained the position of the next Pope by relying on the power of a god. If she lost the power given by the god, the outcome was self-evident. And since an outsider like Yisi could see the clues from her abnormality that day, the paladins around her could as well. Instead of being reported by the paladins, it would be better to take the initiative to say it herself to lessen the consequences.

So, afterward, Evelyn took the initiative to tell Julius about her abnormality. As a result, Julius, who was hiding in the tower, not only did not pursue her fault, but also acted as if nothing had happened, letting her return to the church and not to publicize the matter. Evelyn was on the verge of suspecting that Julius had been possessed by a demon and was about to die.

“It’s also possible that he wants to settle the score after the Tower of Ymir is repaired. In that case, I’ll have to speed up my escape plan.”

The reason she wanted the magic medicine was precisely for this purpose: to escape the church’s control and no longer live a life with no future in sight.