NOVEL NEXT Yona thought she should move to an inn as she stepped out of the tower.
The Alebians are just too overwhelming.
I appreciate the kindness, but I don’t want it to cross any lines.
“Tsk…”
I said I’d keep an eye out, but I’m not really expecting much.
If I get results, great; if not, oh well.
If I can’t feel any demons or magical power, then what’s left?
…Well, that leaves divine power.
Yona looked up at the sky.
She came out late in the morning, so the sun was already high, probably around noon.
She planned to buy the Sacred Barrier at the cathedral with Alex tomorrow, but whatever.
After a quick thought, Yona headed towards the cathedral.
As she got closer to the cathedral, she felt a strong sense of sanctity.
The divine power dwelling within Yona responded to that sanctity, wriggling around inside her body.
The tall bell tower.
Every hour, they would ring the bell to tell the time.
Considering that clocks were only available to a select few in the upper class, just knowing the time was quite a blessing.
“Yona, is that you?”
“Hey, old man.”
“Old man? You little brat.”
“It’s true, you’re an old man.”
After exchanging simple greetings with the Holy Knights guarding the cathedral, Yona entered inside.
While she had confirmed that she didn’t feel any magic from the Alebians, the fact that there was no reaction as she entered the cathedral made her wonder if there really was no magic at all.
Ironically, despite both dealing with divine power, the treatment of priests and healers varied dramatically.
Priests were even called the true daughters and sons of the heavenly gods, able to release divine power externally, making purification and healing safe to perform.
In contrast, healers were simply called healers, which meant they only used healing magic.
They couldn’t release divine power outside their bodies and could only use it on things they could touch.
So while priests could comfortably purify and heal, healers had to put their lives on the line to do so.
To purify, they either had to be in close contact with the monster or, like Yona, stick their arm straight into a wound.
Healing required direct contact with the patient’s injury.
No wonder they couldn’t be treated equally.
From the priests’ perspective, healers might use the same divine power, but they were seen as just half-baked talents, making it hard not to look down on them. Healers, on the other hand, couldn’t say it to their faces but were bound to resent those priests.
Considering how scarce divine power users were, with one priest for every twenty healers, the discrimination was growing even more pronounced.
With priests popping up like daisies, the discrimination was getting worse and worse.
“If I’m going to be dropped into a world like this, I’d rather be thrown in as a priest. Why oh why did it have to be a healer?”
As Yona trudged down the quiet cathedral hallway, she grumbled to herself.
Strangely enough, she didn’t think like this outside, but somehow, stepping into the cathedral made all her complaints bubble up.
Especially when she ran into that girl.
“Oh dear, the healer with the weird hair.”
A little red-haired girl blocked Yona’s path.
“That’s a bit rude, don’t you think? Just meeting me and calling my hair weird, Priest Vigrind.”
“I’m just stating a fact. A girl who insists she’s a guy can’t possibly have normal hair!”
Yona shut her mouth.
The girl right in front of her was literally a tiny one, barely reaching Yona’s chest.
Surprisingly, this girl was actually the same age as Yona.
They had both entered the cathedral on the same day, and since they were the same age, they had gotten pretty close—until the day of judgment.
After the day of judgment, when Vigrind became a priest and Yona became a healer, their treatment changed drastically, and since then, Vigrind had started to ignore Yona, leading them to become rivals who couldn’t stand the sight of each other.
“If you don’t have any business here, step aside. I’m on my way to Sister Aege.”
At that, Vigrind made a pouty face.
It was such a ridiculous smile that Yona’s forehead creased slightly as her face scrunched up.
“Hmph, sure. Go ahead then.”
“…Fine, I’m leaving.”
Without waiting for Vigrind to move, Yona dashed past her.
She wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible and didn’t want to see Vigrind’s face any longer.
“Teacher.”
“Ah, Yona! You’re here!”
As always, Sister Aege greeted Yona warmly.
A priest herself, she treated both priests and healers equally as fellow users of divine power.
An outstanding priest who dedicated herself to teaching children without joining any factions in the cathedral.
And—
The benefactor who had taken Yona under her wing when she was lost and confused in this world.
“Teacher, it’s been a while since we last met.”
“Has it? How have you been, Yona?”
“Yes, thanks to you.”
“Come here and sit down.”
Sister Aege gave a warm smile and offered a chair.
A simple wooden chair that perfectly suited her gentle personality.
Yona returned her smile and sat down on the chair.
“So, what brings you here?”
“Um, I was just… wondering how you were doing…”
Sister Aege smiled even more warmly at Yona’s words.
Extending her hand, she gently patted Yona’s head and asked kindly, “You haven’t just come to see me since you graduated. Do you think I wouldn’t notice when something difficult happens that you come here?”
“I’m s-sorry.”
Was that the case? It seemed so. It felt like she had only sought out Sister Aege when she faced something too tough to handle alone.
“No, it’s fine, if you don’t come to see me, I just think you’re doing well. That’s the best news I could ask for.”
“…Well, the truth is, I have a bit of a problem.”
Yona mumbled hesitantly.
She always lost confidence whenever she stood in front of Aege, and even she couldn’t understand why.
“A problem? What kind of problem?”
“Here, on my arm.”
Yona slowly rolled up her sleeve.
As she pulled up the sleeves of her priestly hooded cardigan, a dense array of characters gradually became visible.
Sister Aege’s eyes widened in shock.
“What is this? Yona, what on earth is this? What happened?”
Where to even begin explaining?
Yona took a deep breath and gathered her thoughts.
“Well—”
“And then it turned out like this.”
After listening to Yona’s explanation, Sister Aege’s expression darkened significantly.
She had no idea what these characters meant.
She was just a nun, not a researcher of the divine, so she had no way of knowing about such matters.
But the fact that Yona had gone through this and it led to this situation made her feel uneasy.
“First, let me see. So it’s like this up to your shoulder?”
“Yes.”
Yona quickly tossed off her cardigan at Aege’s prompt.
The moment she did, her shoulder to wrist was densely filled with black characters.
Seeing that, Aege couldn’t close her mouth.
“My goodness… what is all this?”
Just looking at those solid black letters sent chills down her spine.
The letters evoked an unsettling feeling, and upon closer inspection, they seemed to give an illusion of wriggling.
It felt like an optical illusion.
“Does it hurt?”
“It doesn’t hurt at all. I have no problem moving, and my divine power is fine too.”
“Is that so?”
A blue light blossomed in Aege’s hand.
As she gently stroked Yona’s right arm with her divinely emanating hand, Yona’s expression showed no change at all.
It just felt like Aege’s divine power was really warm, and that was about it.
“Does it still not hurt like this?”
“No, it doesn’t hurt.”
It was quite a mysterious thing.
Even with these ominous-looking letters densely stamped all over, there was honestly no trace of magic at all.
Moreover, considering it didn’t react to the divine power—
Perhaps, it was just writing.
“…Let me take a look too, Yona. You shouldn’t be wandering around like this… Speaking of which, what happened to the Sacred Barrier? Why are you wearing a cardigan?”
That’s when Aege noticed that Yona had come without her Sacred Barrier.
“Well, after that… I got completely soaked in magic. I kind of left it behind.”
“Oh, really?”
She had no clue what to think.
Even if she considered it, in her 40 years of living, she had never heard of or seen such a case before.
“Okay, then for now.”
Aege stood up and rummaged through her wardrobe.
Surely she must have had a Sacred Barrier she used during her active days.
There should be a Sacred Barrier she had carefully stored away after becoming a guiding nun.
“I found it.”
Inside a small wooden box was the well-folded Sacred Barrier.
Aege took the Sacred Barrier, shook it off lightly, and turned to Yona.
“Nun?”
“Take this, Yona.”
“What is…?”
Yona looked up at Aege, puzzled about why she was being handed the Sacred Barrier.
With a confused expression—
“You should wear it, Yona.”
“Pardon?”
“The Sacred Barrier is expensive. You’ve been using the free ones all this time. Now that you’re a Copper rank adventurer, you should wear something better. This isn’t top-notch, but it’s quite usable. So now, you should wear it.”
Aege smiled.
Having risen to Copper rank while being a Priest, she was now passing down the Sacred Barrier she once used as a sub-armor to Yona.
“You’ve worked hard, Yona. I know well how tough it is for a healer to survive at that rank. So please keep doing your best. Aim for Silver, Gold, and even Platinum.”
Aege gently tapped Yona’s cheek.
“…Don’t die, Yona.”