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Aeria — the sacred city of the Luminous Theocracy. This was the only place in the world where the Radiant Goddess’ divine prophecies could be heard. Hence, countless followers of the Radiant Goddess flocked here.

For the Goddess, generations of Popes had worked hard in fortifying the city. They’d searched far and wide for various defensive spells before finally turning the city into an indestructible fortress. It was rumored that at least a hundred saint-level magic circles were buried under the city. Hence, the foundation of the city wouldn’t be damaged even if two high-ranked saints were to battle each other there.

This was also the reason Aeria had never been breached since the day it was built. Even during the invasion of the Demon King back then, they only destroyed the west gate of Aeria but never took even a single step into the city. The Demon King had always regarded this incident as a disgrace that must be erased.

In such an impenetrable fortress-city, things rarely got serious. But once it did, that meant something huge was happening.

It was at this time things got serious in the city. The gates were shut, and white armored-knights patrolled the streets. They were scanning everyone on the streets with their keen eyes, trying to sniff out any suspicious people. Magic circles that had never been operated for over a century were all activated. Various magic circles lit up in the sky above the city. Just the sight alone was breathtaking. Magic weapons were all put on standby. The weapons themselves made an intimidating sight, let alone the faint energy fluctuation released from their barrels.

Even the Demon King’s invasion didn’t stir up such a huge commotion.

However, the residents of Aeria didn’t have the slightest fear. Everyone maintained a praying posture as they gazed at the heart of the city, with piety and hope on their faces as though the Radiant Goddess herself was going to descend into the world.

But ‌it wasn’t the Radiant Goddess who was going to descend into the world. It was her surrogate.

A saintess.

……
……

“Quick, let all the priests of light get in position! The saintess is about to be born!”

“Step aside, you people from the Luminous Judgement. It would be a big crime if you guys scared the saintess with your murderous aura.”

“Hot water! Where’s the hot water? Are you guys stupid or just useless without magic? I told you not to use magic! It will interfere with the blessings during the saintess’ birth!”

“Doctor! Doctor! The mother of the saintess doesn’t look too good!”

“Argh! It hurts…!”

The Pope leaned against the door of the Sacred Delivery Room with a solemn expression, as he grabbed onto the door frame with one hand. Every dangerous situation in the room would make him subconsciously tighten his grip. The usually composed Pope didn’t even notice that he had crushed the flimsy door frame out of his nervousness.

The top priority of the church was definitely to ensure the safety of the baby who had been selected as a surrogate for the Goddess by herself. If there were any mistakes, the Pope might have to repent by taking his own life. At this high-risk stage before her birth, the Pope wished that he could crawl into the saintess’ mother’s womb and help the saintess deliver herself.

However, even if he was the Pope, there was nothing he could do in this situation aside from staring. Not inside the room, but staring outside. If he were to turn his gaze even slightly into the room, those female knights would mercilessly blind him.

“Congratulations, Your Holiness! The saintess is born!”

After painstakingly waiting for several hours, the Pope was relieved to finally hear the good news from his subordinates. Yet, his keen senses immediately realized that something was amiss.

“She’s born? Why did I not hear her first cries?”

“Well…” The unmarried female knight didn’t know the answer, so she could only force herself to come up with an answer. “Perhaps the saintess is born different from others?”

“That’s not right,” The Pope shook his head. “Even if the saintess is a surrogate for the Radiant Goddess, she’s still a human. I once heard that babies cry at birth to get enough air. Not crying may lead to complications.”

“T-Then… what should we do?”

“Fool! Hurry ‌and make the saintess cry!” The Pope glared at her.

Before his subordinate could answer, the Pope barged into the Sacred Delivery Room.

They had dimmed the initially brightly lit room down ‌to not affect the baby. The exhausted mother had passed out from fatigue, but she was still wearing a smile on her face.

The surrogate for the Radiant Goddess, the newly born saintess, was lying in the arms of the nanny. Her skin was glowing with the peculiar rosiness of a baby. Her huge and bright eyes were curiously roaming the world around her. She would stretch her short arms out and try to grab whatever that caught her interest. If it was out of her reach, she would pout in dissatisfaction. Her behavior was nothing like a newborn.

How adorable…

Looking at the saintess, the Pope couldn’t help but feel a trace of compassion, which was quickly and ruthlessly crushed by himself again.

For the sake of the saintess, he must make her cry!

“Everyone, heed my order!” The Pope’s cape fluttered under everyone’s surprised gaze as he issued a solemn order. “Be sure to make the saintess cry at once!”

Everyone looked at each other, but bowed to the Pope since they couldn’t defy his orders.

Ten minutes later…

A group of people surrounded the noble saintess, including the Pope. Looking at their distressed faces, the saintess lifted her arm and looked like she was going to touch someone’s face. Since her arm was too short, she could only babble.

“Um… how on earth are we going to make the saintess cry?” Someone finally couldn’t stand the tense atmosphere and broke the silence.

“I heard that you just need to hold the baby upside down and slap her legs…” Before the person could even finish explaining, she voluntarily shut up by the ‘Oh-I’m-going-to-kill-you’ look that the Pope was giving her.

“W-Well…” Another knight spoke up. “Children should be afraid of scary things, right? Maybe we can just show the saintess some kind of scary image?”

Everyone looked at the female knight as though she was mentally retarded. If the Pope didn’t even allow anyone to slap her legs, then suggesting this kind of obviously more excessive method was just courting death.

However, the Pope unexpectedly nodded in satisfaction. “This is a wonderful strategy.”