A saintess? She's just a bad woman.

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The medicinal soup is neither magic nor a magical potion; it's the kind of medicine that ordinary people can afford, so of course it can't take effect immediately.

Actually, Saint Karina had a wicked plan here; she was capable of healing Violet with magic, but she didn't.

Moreover, what is called treatment is merely a kind of sedative-like magic that forcibly relieves pain. It does not cure the damage to the body.

It would be terrible if we became dependent on this kind of anesthetic magic. Just like drug addiction, we would subconsciously forget the things that caused the pain, not learn our lesson, and dare to do it again next time.

That won't do. Saint Karina doesn't want to raise Vera into a female alcoholic hero. The damage alcohol does to the human body is almost irreversible, unless one transcends the human level and becomes a demigod or a god, then there won't be any more problems.

The hero is still human; she is merely a human blessed by the gods, possessing immense power and having reached the level of a demigod.

Even heroes can get sick, get poisoned, and experience birth, aging, sickness, and death.

"Lina, I've finished eating. The candied fruit and honey tasted very good."

Vera seems to be a girl who really likes sweets, especially since she just took bitter medicine.

Vera wiped the sugar stains off her fingers with a tissue.

If it were Phoebe, she'd probably think humans are so pretentious and just lick it off.

"As long as you like it."

"Um... Lina, could I lie on your lap and rest for a while?"

Vera was a little embarrassed and spoke in a tone of negotiation.

"Um...we're friends, right? When I was in the village, all the kids my age knew about my mother's background and were afraid to get close to me. So I wanted to try...um, is that not allowed?"

She asked Santa Karina, posing as a friend.

"I didn't say no. A lap pillow, right? Sure, that's fine~"

Saint Karina readily agreed.

Although Violet brought this upon herself by getting drunk, Saint Karina had no intention of being too harsh on her.

She was happy to offer her knee to a pretty girl like Violet, especially since Violet was a first-time offender. How could this naive girl possibly know how terrible it is to be drunk?

She had suffered enough, and Santa Karina felt she should be kinder to her.

"Come on, I'll sit here. You can lie down however you like. I won't leave."

Saint Karina sat on the bed, stretched her legs out on the mattress, patted her thighs, and gestured for Violet to come over.

"As long as it makes you feel better, I'm willing to help you, to be good to you. Or rather, to let you do whatever you want with me?"

Santa Karina flashed a radiant smile, captivatingly beautiful, like a dazzling angel.

"Lina, you're so kind."

When Vera saw that Saint Karina had agreed and was smiling so brightly, she was infected by it, and her expression changed from gloomy to cheerful. Even the pain from being drunk seemed to have improved a lot.

She sensed that the alcohol drug might be taking effect...

"Then I'll start enjoying it!"

Vera didn't miss the opportunity; she was usually shy and reserved, but this time she seemed very proactive.

Perhaps the pain eroded Vera's will, making her unwilling to endure it any longer.

So, using both hands and feet, Vera crawled over to the side where Saint Karina was sitting, placed her head on Saint Karina's lap as a pillow, and curled up in a side-lying position, which would be more comfortable.

Compared to lying flat, lying on your side makes it less likely to expose your entire face to Saint Karina, and it also reduces the weight of your body on her thighs.

In fact, Saint Karina didn't really feel how heavy Vera was.

Her hair was smooth and had a pleasant fragrance. It was probably not just the smell of the shampoo she used, but also the natural scent of a young woman.

Especially her curled-up, cat-like lying posture made Santa Karina think she was just too cute.

"Touch..."

Saint Karina stroked Vera's hair with obvious affection.

She was captivated by Vera's beautiful, long, ice-blue hair, a color so rare it was even more seldom seen than Saint Karina's white hair.

If white hair is like snow, then ice blue is as beautiful as a crystal gemstone.

"I heard that when you're giving her a lap pillow, gently stroking her head and combing her hair can be more effective than just massaging her temples. It can make her feel more relaxed and release her tension. What do you think? Does it feel more comfortable than before?"

Saint Karina kept her promise to take care of Vera; her voice was very approachable and magnetic.

"I feel much better. Although I'm not completely healed, it doesn't hurt as much as when I woke up. Thank you for taking care of me, Lina."

Vera lay on Saint Karina's lap, trying her best not to let a silly grin show, and smiled slightly.

She did feel relief from the pain, though it wasn't completely gone.

"That's good. It seems that even without using magic, my hands are comparable to healing hands..."

Saint Karina made a little joke.

“Yes, if you weren’t a magic swordsman, Lina, I would have thought you were a priest. But you told me you were a saintess, and priests also have faith, so it doesn’t matter.”

"No, that's far from it. Priests rely on their faith in God to cast healing spells with divine power. The more devout the faith, the greater the power they can wield. My faction is completely different."

Saint Karina shook her head with amusement, rejecting Vera's generalization.

"You probably haven't heard my story, and I rarely tell it to you. I've told you before, haven't I? I was resurrected, or rather, reborn. My body had been asleep for over five hundred years. If it were an ordinary human, even with the Preservation Bead, the corpse would have undergone some irreversible decay."

My body has lay there for over five hundred years, and it's not much different from when I first died. Also, although I initially lost my power, I had to maintain it using secret methods to retain the strength I had in life. After much effort, I eventually regained it.

I used to worship that deity of the Eternal God Cult, or rather, that witch. Anyway, I don't know where she went.

Saint Karina directly refers to the god she once worshipped as "that guy," which shows that she no longer has much faith in that god.

They are completely different from devout believers like priests or pastors.

"I am now, for the time being, a saintess of another deity, the church of the God of Order."

If we were to give examples of the significance of these deities, then the Eternal God Cult would be like the deities worshipped by a small, self-contained island nation; the God of Order would be slightly larger, similar to those of an oil-producing country. The Central Kingdom promotes a human-god system, which represents the source of power for heroes and is a god belonging to the human race, such as the God of Mercury. This illustrates the differences and significance of these deities.

As for evil gods, there are major and minor evil gods, and their power varies greatly. The minor ones are like a village, while the major ones are like the Eternal God Cult and the Order God Cult. In fact, neither the Eternal God Cult nor the Order God Cult are true gods; they are just self-proclaimed righteous gods and propagated by their followers.

Because of its large scale of development, it has established a foothold in one country or grown strong in multiple countries, thus becoming a great evil god.

The only true deity in the human race is the Human God. The power of the Human God is far beyond what any other deity can match.

Besides gods and humans, there are also beastmen, such as Phoebe, the beast god worshipped by the cat race. There are also elven gods worshipped by the elves, dragon gods worshipped by the dragon race, and demon gods worshipped by the demon race, and so on.

These are the true gods of each race.

"What I want to tell you is that there are also ranks among the gods, though they are beyond the comprehension of us mortals. My power does not require devout faith; it is probably due to my own magic, and also, whichever god is willing to grant me power, I can borrow their divine words."

Saint Karina explained in as much detail as possible, knowing that Vera was a bright child who would understand quickly.

"Alright, enough of this stuff. Too much information will only make your hangover headache worse. I won't go on. How about a massage? I'm really good at it, don't miss out!"

Saint Karina offered a tempting offer.

"massage?"

Violet hesitated.

"it is good."

However, after only three seconds of hesitation, her body betrayed her desire.

So Saint Karina placed her fingers behind Violet's ear. The cat people liked this, so Saint Karina decided to try it on Violet as well.

Then, the demonic hand began to move. At first, Violet was a little nervous, but soon she succumbed to the demonic hand.

"Mmm...it feels so good, Lina...ah..."

If you didn't know this was a legitimate massage, you'd think you were doing something indecent.

Within minutes, Vera was completely absorbed in it.

She rested her head on her lap, her eyes slightly closed, making sounds of enjoyment as Santa Karina caressed and massaged her.

"Hmm... Lina, your hands are amazing... so strong..."

"If you're comfortable, I'll be happy too."

Saint Karina said sincerely.

"Artisans feel their best when others affirm their skills. In short, if you like it, then I'll continue."

"Mmm, a little more. Lina, the more the better. Release me with your fingers, a little more. It hurt a lot at first, but it doesn't hurt as much now, I feel much better."

The room wasn't well soundproofed. If Phoebe hadn't woken up with a headache, asked Santa Karina for some warm water, and then gone back to sleep, she would definitely have heard everything coming from here.

Phoebe would definitely think the two of them are doing something inappropriate, and then complain about it being a disturbance to her sleep and a daydream.

However, Phoebe had no intention of getting up; she told Santa Karina that she wanted to sleep all day.

Orcs are like that; they can compensate for and heal physical discomfort with sleep. Humans can't do that; humans need to rest and take medicine.

"Mmm... Lina, you're really, really good... so good to me... I can never express all my gratitude to you, no matter how many times I say it..."

After another ten minutes or so of massage, Vera felt even better.

Her headache had almost completely subsided.

The reason for this miraculous effect was certainly not due to the nourishment of love or the effects of a drug, but rather because Saint Karina couldn't bear it and secretly used her magic to restore Vil while massaging her.

This was a numbing tactic, but Vera had already tasted the pain. After this lesson, Saint Karina knew she would never dare to drink like that again. The lesson had been taught, and Saint Karina didn't want Vera to continue lying sickly in bed like this.

It's not good to waste time like this, spending it in bed.

"It's only right that I'm nice to you. Aren't we friends?"

Santa Karina also invoked the words of her friends.

Of course, that's not the real reason, but the status of being friends can indeed serve as a shield to bring two people closer and explain many things.

At first, Saint Karina only had designs on Vil, but gradually she also grew to like this earnest, straightforward, and hardworking girl. Naturally, Saint Karina was even less likely to tell her the truth.

"You are an important friend to me, so I should treat you well and care about you."

"Hehe. Indeed, we are friends, Lina."

Violet giggled on Saint Karina's lap, her breath tickling Saint Karina's skin and making her feel a little itchy.

It felt strange, but not uncomfortable.

Violet's emotions were always on full display. She blinked her pale golden eyes, soft and clear, and changed from lying on her side to lying flat, probably wanting to see Saint Karina's eyes more clearly.

332. A rare day off

"Lina... um, I feel like I'm almost fully recovered. Are we still going on a mission today?"

Violet is all better now, or at least that's what she thinks, so she doesn't want to pretend to be sick.

She was an honest girl, and although she was very reluctant to spend time alone with Santa Karina, especially now that she had a lap pillow.

"No, we won't be going on missions today. Let me take you to buy some equipment."

"May I?"

"Your equipment is all outdated. You don't need to buy a sword, but you could look at a short sword or dagger like Phoebe's. You could also look at protective gear."

Violet is still wearing her mother's protective gear. It's not that it's so old it's unrecognizable, but Violet herself hasn't realized that her body shape is different from her mother's. In other words, the protective gear has gaps.

Normally there shouldn't be any problems. But you should still wear new protective gear that fits your size.

The Hero's Sword is indeed a good weapon, but the protective gear doesn't have that advantage; in fact, it's quite old. Although the previous hero, Violet's mother, should have been maintaining this set of armor.

"Although I really want to offer to treat you, I doubt you'll agree. You've earned quite a bit of money these past two weeks, and I've been keeping it safe for you. Now it's yours to keep. Buy whatever you like."

Saint Karina took out a money bag from her spatial storage. The money bag was bulging and very heavy, containing at least a hundred gold coins.

She had no greedy intentions to keep it for herself; Saint Karina was simply given to Violet.

"Jingle, clang, clang."

The gold coin made a crisp sound as it changed hands.

"Thank you."

Vera felt a little hot when she received the money pouch. She thanked Saint Karina shyly.

"You're too kind. This is your own money. I'm just keeping it safe. The money is all earned through your labor, so there's no need to thank me."

Saint Karina waved her hand, indicating that Vera didn't need to thank her.