The Fake Saintess and the Elf Warrior

And so, Naka left the Demon King's castle. Even though there were many things left unsaid, Fan could only watch Naka's departing figure.

From Fane's perspective, he couldn't find any possibility that Naka could lose to the Hero. Naka had a reason why she absolutely wouldn't lose to the Hero... or rather, wouldn't lose to anyone. But deep down, he didn't believe the prophet was truly just a simple fraud. The scene presented in the crystal ball haunted him like a nightmare, making him restless. His desperate plea to persuade Naka, which he couldn't dissuade, continued to weigh on Fane's mind even two years after her departure. Whether his worries were unnecessary and unfounded, or an ominous premonition, the answer wouldn't be revealed until much, much later...

major city Isaac

I stood covered in blood before the Demon King's throne. The Demon King, who had sat so majestically on his throne not long ago, now lay lifeless at my feet. It was utterly ironic that such an invincible Demon King had met such a tragic end.

Now, I have successfully slain the Demon King. This world will change as I hoped. Thinking this, I raised my hands high and let out a roar befitting a victor...

"Naka...Naka!"

Jasmine shook Naka's shoulders forcefully. Naka, who was drooling and grinning foolishly, was abruptly pulled back to reality from her reverie.

"Hmm...Jasmine? What's wrong?"

"What? What happened? We've arrived. Get out of the car quickly, or the driver will charge you extra for the delay."

"Have we arrived yet?"

"Hmm, look."

Naka peeked out of the carriage in the direction Jasmine was pointing. Before them stretched a massive city wall, signifying that they had finally arrived at their destination.

"Is this Isaac...?"

Surrounded by towering walls and guarded by countless elite soldiers, Isard, touted as an impregnable fortress, is a city coveted by countless young people dreaming of becoming heroes, much like a strategic military stronghold for humans. Why? Because the headquarters of the agency that trains heroes and forms adventure teams for them is located here. Therefore, this town is also a highly developed commercial center. Naka and Jasmine, after several days of arduous travel, finally arrived at this central hub of human society.

"Thank you very much, driver."

Jasmine handed a small bag of gold coins to the coachman. The coachman accepted the coins and smiled at Jasmine, saying...

"You're too kind, ladies. I wish you both find suitable partners, slay many monsters, and contribute to the peace of humanity!"

"Of course, uncle. That's why we left our hometown and traveled all this way here. You've really had a hard day."

"Not at all. It's just work. With you two pretty young ladies keeping me company the whole time, I'm not tired at all."

"Haha, uncle, you really know how to talk."

"Hey, hurry up and get going. Watch out for late fees."

Naka picked up her and Jasmine's luggage, and tugged hard at Jasmine, who seemed to want to chat with the coachman for a while longer. Jasmine quickly said goodbye to the coachman, and the two got off the carriage together.

Before even passing through the city gates, Jasmine, a country girl leaving her hometown for the first time and arriving in a big city, was completely dumbfounded. She stared at the city gates and the two soldiers who approached to question her, as if they shouldn't exist in this world.

"Where did you two come from? What are you doing here?"

"This...this..."

The two soldiers guarding the gate were quite handsome young men. Jasmine, who had been struck up a conversation with them, was completely dumbfounded and stammered, unable to utter a coherent sentence. Helpless, Naka had no choice but to take over the conversation.

"we are...."

"...Oh, I see. Please register then. Take the identification documents we'll provide, and then you can go in."

"Thanks"

The soldier, holding the documents Naka had given them, turned back to process their entry into the city. Taking advantage of this lull, Jasmine quickly tugged at Naka's sleeve.

"Naka! Did you see that?! This is truly a big city. Even the gate guards are so handsome! Just how many other good-looking guys are waiting for me to pick in this city?"

"No, they probably just picked two passable-looking guys to make a good impression. Who would want to come if they put two ugly freaks at the entrance?"

"Honestly, you have absolutely no romance. You'll never get a boyfriend if you keep going like this!"

"You're making a big fuss over nothing..."

"First published on 705u.com - Book Club"

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

In just a few words, two soldiers returned with the processed documents. Naka, who had expected it to take much longer, couldn't help but praise them.

"No, it wasn't long at all. You guys are really efficient!"

"You flatter me. The city gate is a crucial point; the work here must not be delayed, otherwise there will be many problems."

"It seems there are aspects of human workflows that we can learn from..."

"Huh? What did you say?"

"No, it's nothing. Just talking to myself."

Having inadvertently revealed her true feelings, Naka quickly took the document, pulled Jasmine through the city gate, and officially entered the town of Isad.

"Wow... so many people... how many acres of land's worth of grain do they need to eat in a day?"

To alleviate their fatigue and hunger from the long journey, the two found a restaurant and sat down. While waiting for their food, Jasmine, with a curious look in her eyes, gazed around at everything and everyone around her. Her face was filled with surprise and excitement.

Still looking for a handsome guy?

"No, no. Why do you think I only have eyes for handsome guys?"

"Isn't that right? With a handsome guy around, I feel like you don't even need to eat."

"No, that's not it! It's just my first time in the city, I'm just finding it interesting. Please be understanding."

"Isn't this just a complete country bumpkin..."

"I'm just a country bumpkin. So what?"

"Sorry to keep you waiting!"

As the two saintesses bickered, their meals were served. Naka ordered only simple rice and side dishes, while Jasmine ordered a lavish spread of signature dishes from various regions. The table was framed by a plain on one side and a mountain stream on the other.

"Hey, can you really eat all this?" Even Naka, the Demon King, was a little intimidated. But Jasmine, eager to get started, picked up her utensils.

"Is this what city people eat? We've come all this way, we should at least try it out."

After saying that, Jasmine buried her head in her bowl and began to wolf down her food. Although the plate blocked her view, Naka couldn't see how Jasmine ate. But just from the sound, Naka's appetite was halved. The customers at the next table were also attracted by the sound, turning their attention to Jasmine with admiring looks. Then, leaving half of their unfinished food, they turned around to pay the bill.

"Jasmine, take it easy. Nobody's going to take it from you. And don't forget we're saints. At least act like ladies, okay? Didn't Sister Jess say that we must always maintain our dignity?"

That seemed to have an effect. Jasmine stopped what she was doing, gently separated the plates, and looked at Naka. She said softly...

"Naka..."

"What, are you stuffed? I'm not going to eat your leftovers for you."

"That's not it. I mean, Naka... once we leave, who knows how long it will be before we see Sister Jess again, and everyone in the village?"

Hearing this, Naka put down her chopsticks and bowl and remained silent.

"We used to do all the medical work in the village. Now that we're gone, that work has fallen to Sister Jess. Although she's a senior nun and much more skilled in healing magic than we are, she's getting on in years. I'm worried about her health... and the children. I always thought they were quite noisy, but without seeing them, I feel like something's missing, an emptiness in my heart."

Naka somewhat sympathized with Jasmine's words. Although she was a demon lord who had infiltrated this place, the past two years hadn't been entirely untouched by her. Born in demon territory, Naka possessed an appearance indistinguishable from humans. This made her feel somewhat out of place among other demons. Her human appearance had caused Naka considerable suffering. Living with a group of people who looked like her for the first time was a first for her. Naka inexplicably felt a sense of closeness to humans. Now, recalling High Sister Jess and the village's boys and girls, and the scene a few days ago when they tearfully bid farewell to her and Jasmine as they left the village, Naka couldn't help but feel a surge of nostalgia.

Jasmine noticed Naka's downcast and silent demeanor. She continued...

"Sigh. It's all that Demon King's fault. If he hadn't caused trouble and started a war against humanity, we wouldn't have had to leave our homes and take this risk..."

"Eat quickly. We need to go to the Adventurers' Guild later, so don't think about useless things."

"That's true. We don't have time to get homesick here now."

The road ahead is long. It's not time to look back. Knowing this, Jasmine suppressed her homesickness. She picked up her chopsticks and continued eating. Right now, the most important thing was to fill her stomach, then register at the Adventurers' Guild and become a full-fledged adventurer as soon as possible.

While Jasmine was still struggling with the mountain of food, Naka quickly finished her simple meal. She sat there motionless, watching Jasmine. But in reality, she was communicating with Fan, the Demon King's castle in the distance, through the cross on her chest.

"Fan, you received it, right? The information about this town."

"I can see it very clearly, Your Majesty. If possible, I hope you can tour the city more later so that we can have a clearer understanding of the internal structure of this human settlement."

"no problem"

From the moment Naka entered Isard Town, Fane had been monitoring her every move through the cross. The Demon King's army, through the images transmitted from Naka, could then formulate more precise and targeted plans to attack the town.

However, precisely because he had been keeping a close eye on Naka's situation, Faen naturally overheard Naka's conversation with Jasmine. Seeing Naka's attitude, Faen couldn't help but offer a reminder.

"Your Majesty, I know you are not without feelings. But right now, we..."

"I know what you're trying to say, Farn."

Naka interrupted him.

"My resolve has not wavered. My goal will never change: to conquer all human cities, to kill all heroes, and to seize everything in this world."

"It was my fault for speaking out of turn, Your Majesty the Demon King."

Their call ended there.

Even though some emotions that Naka had never felt before surfaced, she quickly erased them from her mind. She wasn't some young village girl who had left her home, nor was she a saintly figurehead to save the world. She was a ruthless demon king whose goal was to rule the world. And right now, her plan was progressing steadily.

Thinking of this, Naka slightly raised the corners of her mouth, revealing a chilling smile. Of course, Jasmine, still fiercely battling with her food, didn't witness this scene.

Adventurer Guild and Lv

After lunch, Naka and Jasmine first went to scout out the location of inns in town. They found one that was relatively conveniently located and inexpensive, and after dropping off their luggage, they changed into their nunneries—a slightly different style from typical nunneries' robes—and headed to the Adventurers' Guild. They were now sitting at the reception desk.

The receptionist took the documents and identification files submitted by the two individuals, compared them one by one, and then asked...

"Your names are Miss Naka and Miss Jasmine, right?"

Both girls nodded at the same time.

"Miss Naka is twenty years old... um? Twenty years old?"

Upon seeing Naka's personal information, the receptionist stared in disbelief at the girl before her, who was two heads shorter than the average twenty-year-old. At first glance, she would only appear to be thirteen or fourteen. While women are generally smaller than men of the same age, it was truly rare to see someone this small. However, after muttering, "Oh well. There are always a few baby-faced girls," the receptionist didn't dwell on it further.

"Miss Jasmine is nineteen years old. They both come from the same village. They arrived in the city today... Are they both saintesses?"

"Yes"

"What are your reasons for choosing the profession of Saintess? There's no particular reason; it's just a procedural requirement."

"We hope to help as many adventurers and others in need as possible. Using our healing magic to save lives is also a contribution to defeating the Demon King."

"Same as above."

Jasmine answered the question clearly and articulately, while Naka echoed her. These were common phrases, so familiar that they were heard countless times every day and practically memorized. The receptionist didn't think much of it and casually wrote them down in their information boxes. However, as he continued reading, he frowned.

"Miss Jasmine, your criteria for your adventure team members... the hero must be under 25 years old, handsome, and no other members... are you serious?"

"Of course"

Jasmine's matter-of-fact expression made the receptionist hesitate. Forming an adventure team of only two people was permitted by regulations. Even if there were only two people initially, more members could be recruited after the team was formed. However, to improve the overall combat strength of the adventure team and to quickly complete more difficult tasks for better rewards, almost no one set the team size at two from the start. Ultimately, it was a matter of personal freedom. The receptionist had no intention of pursuing the matter further. Then, she picked up Naka's file.

"Miss Naka...no requirements? It doesn't matter who you're with, how many people, your experience, or your age, is that alright?"

"Yes. If possible, I'd like to meet as many adventurers as possible and then choose the most suitable one from among them."

One seemed to be there for a blind date, while the other appeared to accept anyone. This pair of saintly women were truly two extremes. With that thought in mind, the receptionist had no choice but to write down their requirements.

"Well then, our procedures are down to the last step... Ladies, what is your current level?"

"L...v?"

The two tilted their heads in unison and asked the question.

"Hey, you guys don't even know what 'Level' is?... Oh well, you're from the countryside, so it's normal that you don't know much about these things. Simply put, Level is a comprehensive evaluation of your current skills and abilities. It's your strength level. The higher your abilities and the more and stronger your skills, the higher your Level. Got it?"

"Oh"

Then, in unison, they both gave a very cold response. The receptionist couldn't help but wonder if they were even listening to her.

"...This might still be too abstract for you. Instead of just talking, let's take a test. Please look here."

The receptionist fiddled with a box-like object on the table. A mirror on the box pointed at Naka and Jasmine. As they turned to look at the mirror, two speech bubble-like objects immediately appeared in front of the receptionist, floating in the air.

"Let me see... Oh, Miss Naka is Lv4, and Miss Jasmine is Lv2... I see."

After accurately copying down the numbers displayed on the dialog box, the receptionist handed the materials to the two individuals.

"Take a look. These are your current ability stats."

Naka and Jasmine took the documents. They read the following:

Occupation: Saintess Name: Naka Race: Human

Lv: 4

Power: 7

Defense: 8

Sensitivity: 4

Mana: 11